A national nightmare. We've had bad presidents, but Trump would be the first to try to rule outside of congress. He'd ram his agenda through despite the will of the people. He'd oppress minorities and immigrants, as he'd already promised to do. He would destroy the safety net that had held our economy together for nearly a century. He would take freedoms and rights away from women (See Pence). He'd take freedoms and rights away from the LGBT community (See Pence). He would take this country back to a bleak time when only white males enjoyed peace and prosperity. Hillary Clinton isn't perfect, but she at least wants to see America thrive. She might break a few rules to reach that goal, but she'll stop at nothing to get there. She doesn't have the most likable personality but compared to her competition, she's obviously the adult in this election. 2016 comes down to two words: Dump Trump.

Maybe you're right Oak. Trump could do alot of damage...if the House and Senate becomes Republican dominated.

Thing is, I doubt Democrats would lose both houses.

Therefore, the fears that we will lose the progress we've made on many issues, including our journey towards single payer healthcare, might be overblown. Congress passed the PPACA and the Supreme Court affirmed it. Just because Barack Obama leaves the WH doesn't mean these people will be quick to negate their own precedents.

Don't under estimate their arrogance.

By the way, did you hear about the explosion in lower Manhattan yesterday?

Actually the good thing about if Trump were elected is the democrats might actually believe in checks and balances again and become worried about the executive branch trying to bypass congress. Kind of like when Bush was president and the democrats were rightly concerned with too much power by the executive branch, and even concerned with too much government spending! Obama was against raising the debt ceiling in 06 as a senator. The Left was against the patriot act and other violations of civil liberties then the democrats got the power and that mostly went out the window.

So if trump were to be president I'm sure congress will fight him tooth and nail and won't let him pass anything. He might not even have republicans on his side.

The recession can't be avoided. Nether candidate can stop this recession from taking place. The federal reserve has worked hard for years to postpone it, and nobody knows exactly how long that'll last. Since 08 they have conducted the largest, most unprecedented monetary experiment the world has ever seen in history, with massive amounts of quantitative easing, artificially low interest rates, all in order to reinflate the bubble economy. It will pop, and there's nothing Trump or Hillary can do to undo the damage that's been done. You can deport all the illegal immigrants you want, and it won't undo any of it.

Just remembering various news headlines since the economic crisis of 2008 began, would we agree that the low interest rates are to assist banks in lending...and keeping the economy in circulation with currency, whereas if interest rates were normal, banks would not be able to lend due to the damage done to their balance sheets by mortgage backed securities?

If that is the case, then the economy or any bubble isn't the issue. The issue is bank liquidity and how long will it take for the federal reserve system of banks to return to a healthy solvency.

Can I nominate this for dumbest post of the month? Maybe the year? Oak really deserves special recognition for this one.

And keep in mind this is the guy who, while he warns us about Trump, actually thinks Hillary will be a good president. Not just the lesser of two bad choices but a good choice.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Well yes, it is to assist the banks to continue lending. But the problem is the bubble itself which is caused by artificial credit expansion by the Fed. It's what allows reckless behavior. Too much lending, too much debt, too much wild speculation on Wall Street.
It's all fun till reality hits.
I'm in the camp of people that say that many of the banks should've been allowed to fail. I don't buy into the idea that this would've been the end of the world. Things would be tough for a short period, people would naturally start to save money again, and eventually a better banking model could emerge and due to savings people can borrow again. In a healthy economy, borrowing comes from savings. In this economy, borrowing came from artificial credit created out of thin air. Overconsumption of resources in the present combined with what some economists would call "malinvestments" leads to an eventual crash or at least recession.

The Fed now has backed itself into a corner. They could raise interest rates or do more QE. Either way lots of damage has been done.

I can respect the clarity of your position, SoCal. I'm squarely in the camp of those who feel it was right to bail out the banks in order to protect the larger society from the ripple effects of the criminal actions of a corrupt few.

The solution was a quick fix and a lazy one though. I'm sure that someone could have been prosecuted for the mortgage fraud, even if Glass Steagall was shot down. You see, it wasn't just home owners and aspiring home owners that were conned with tricky mortgage contracts, it was the selling of mortgage backed securities around the world to public and possibly private investors in a fraudulent way. It might have even been Moody's that rubber stamped the MBSs AAA+ knowing they were really junk bond nuclear waste under a different name. If it wasn't Moody's, then it was someone equally as "trustworthy" and prestigious, like Standard and Poor. (Actually it was both of those firms and others.) Either way, it's RICO. So lots of people should have gone down...and the homeowners should have been bailed out [sooner] and not just the banks.

I agree that a lot of people should've gone down. The corruption and reckless behavior trickles all the way down on every level though. I view bailouts as rewarding bad behavior, and propping up the very bad models of institutions that need to fail in order to rebuild a healthy economy. I think that we will see in the upcoming years that major problems weren't avoided or fixed, just postponed and dragged out.

All that is needed is a repeal of the repeal of Glass Steagall. That one piece of legislation prevented 1929 from happening again all the way until 2008.

Now maybe Graham Leach Bliley is repealed. I am not sure. But it needs to go if it isn't.

@OakasFan,

Are you aware that last Saturday featured 3 attacks on the same day, and that ISIS supposedly claimed responsibility for at least one of them? I wasn't. That would be two bombings in two states, and a mass stabbing in a third. Plus, one of the bombs in NY failed to detonate.

Now let's say it's a false flag to get "the Donald" elected. It is still very hard to explain the mass stabbing in Minnesota where the guy is killed who attacked everyone.

Let me ask you Oak, will this help Hillary or Donald?

I wish if were that simple, but in my own research I've found no compelling evidence that the partial repeal of Glass Stegall of the late 90s directly caused the financial crisis.
Pretty much everything that happened would've been able to happen anyway. Institutions like AIG, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Freddie Mac,Fannie Mae wouldn't have been under Glass Stegall restrictions anyways. The commercial banks were also just engaging in actitives they were always allowed to do. Investments in mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. Some still argue that it's repeal didn't cause the crisis but maybe helped make it worse by allowing for more merging. Debatable.

I say avoid the problem in the first place. Stop flooding Wall Street with cheap money and credit, which encourages wild speculation, overlevered business models, and causes too much money and capital to be diverted into the bloated financial sector. We need more money and capital going towards building a real economy based on production of real wealth, not more paper shuffling and speculation on Wall Street. It is a drain on our economy, not the driver of it. But people think this is "free markets and capitalism." Nope. It's just the Fed propping up certain sectors of the economy at the expense of everyone else.

I too believe Donald Trump will desperately try to politicize these incidents.

Why wouldn't he? The Liberals politicize a damn football game. You really think Obama brought change in his administration? Since 2008 racial division is at an all time high, next to terrorists attacks. that being said, Obama's pacification of Islamic extreme attacks against the US is an absolute failure and a sissy stance on world politics. America is a joke to the world. One of our more athletic Olympic heroes is now Caitlyn Jenner. And we gave her an award for it. The rest of the World is mocking us now and the Liberals are like deer in the headlights.

Considering the country is better today than it was when Obama took office, in just about every category? Yes, Obama has brought change. He saved us from going into another depression.

That's not what I asked you.

Not answering is also an answer btw.

I gave you a much more nuanced answer than you deserved.

I have to partially retract a lot of the naive praise I heaped upon you some time back.

Good luck in November.

I won't need luck in November. Hillary's haters will need to be consoled, that's for sure.

LOL, having fun?

Without effort.

Very clever retort. We're proud of you.

You know, for someone as clever as you, one would think answering a simple question would be easy. But I guess it's one of life's little mysteries, eh?

I told you, you got a far better answer than you deserve.

Enjoy your night.

Again, thank you for the wish, but it's no effort. Really.

I know ive said this a 100 times, but, no matter who's elected there is going to be trouble coming, and its going to be far worse than the 6os, why? because trunp supporters think there can be real change, there can't be, if hes elected they will find out he was nothing but a blowhard who cares nothing about them. and if hillary is elected the far right will come undone.we are stuck in wars we cant win, we spend billions on them, and never get a return on the money. I firmly believe no matter who wins, the people still won't be heard.

What was obama he was going bring people together. You probably bought that lie. He had no history of doing that. You voted for Hope bullshit.

Now you will vote for Hillary she might continue that hope full shit.

I just voted on a poll who will win the presidency trump or Hillary. I will just say vote was 60 v 40 on the first 8000 votes. So it will be a land slide on the popular vote so I guess you won't have to vote after all.

Nothing new.

The far right is more bark than bite. They took fire in that Oregon standoff, one of their own got killed, and they tucked tail. I don't think there's been any stand off like that since. Sucker punches at Trump rallies, things like that. Bullies only pick on easy targets. Once they're faced with someone their own size, they act humble and play the victim card.