The Grinch Who Stole America

(Nothin' against Texas or Texans, just certain Texans...)

Happy Holidays! Enjoy the hell out of them because next year you won't be able to buy scads of Chinese-made crap for low prices. Next year, the store shelves will be largely empty, and you may well be out of a job. If you're retired, your savings will be worth a lot less. So party on, dudes! Enjoy it while it lasts because it won't last much longer.

But when it comes down, make sure to blame the Texas 'tards (and their minions), the Grinch that stole American wealth, power, and credibility. Unlike the Grinch, they won't be giving it back. They don't have it to give back; they squandered it in its entirety.

Ho ho hum, more housing news...

Housing prices dropped a record 4.5 percent in the third quarter even as the dollar tanked. So now your house is worth even less worthless dollars. But it's OK because it means lower taxes (YeeeeHAAAWWW!). The hit on local governments will only be about $6.6 billion next year. That's doable, right? It's not like municipalities and states are already drowning in debt or anything. Red is the new black. Everybody's in debt -- the federal government, the current account, local governments, and average everyday citizens. Woohooo! It's a debt hoe-down! It's not like any of this will ever be paid back. Hey, who needs to create wealth anymore when you can just borrow it! It's the Texas 'tard way!

The Enronization (oh great Texas company of yore, how we mourn thee) of the American economy is nearly complete, with the first pages of the final chapter being turned even as I type. Everything is Enron now: cooked books, byzantine financial instruments, uncertain values, a giant shell game. You don't even know who owns your house anymore, but don't worry about it because they probably don't know either.

I'm so glad we "elected" an administration whose biggest donor was Enron. Those Texas cowboys have been such responsible stewards of our once-mighty economy with their shoot-em-up, masked bandit approach to economics. It was brilliant the way they disarmed the guards with tax cuts and down-home Texas charm. Who woulda' thunk a bunch of damn Yankees would take such a shine to whittlin' an' spittin'.

They've planned their escape well, too. The Fed will undoubtedly shovel more increasingly worthless money on the ever-growing bonfire. The smoke from the fire should provide cover for the Texas bandits to escape, if nothing else. They'll blame it all on the Fed (and it will have been largely the Fed's fault, truth be told) to such an extent that nobody will notice the trillion or so they blew on their dumb wars or the devastating effects of their giveaways to the already obscenely wealthy.

Speaking of war, we're losing two of them in poor, dinky little countries in which our enemies lack air or naval power and fight us on the ground with WWII-era Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers. The Chinese and Russians must be shaking in their boots. So much for hard power. Soft power (economic and cultural) is long gone. They've effectively destroyed America as a major player. Thanks, Texas 'tards!

And Happy Holidays to everybody else. I'm serious -- enjoy it while it lasts 'cause it's lookin' like next year will be quite a bit different.