http://www.cnbc.com/id/31526130 In a live interview on CNBC today, Warren Buffett said there has been little progress over the past few months in the "economic war" being fought by the country. "We haven't got the economy moving yet," he told Becky Quick. READ THE FULL CNBC INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT While the economy is a "shambles" and likely to stay that way for some time, he remains optimistic there will eventually be a recovery over a period of years.BECKY: The last time we sat down to talk to you was on May 4, and at that point you told us that you think we're in an economic war right now. How much progress do you think we've made in that war? BUFFETT: Well, it's been pretty flat. I get figures on 70-odd businesses, a lot of them daily. Everything that I see about the economy is that we've had no bounce. The financial system was really where the crisis was last September and October, and that's been surmounted and that's enormously important. But in terms of the economy coming back, it takes a while. There were a lot of excesses to be wrung out and that process is still underway and it looks to me like it will be underway for quite a while. In the (Berkshire Hathaway) annual report I said the economy would be in a shambles this year and probably well beyond. I'm afraid that's true. Buffett also noted that he had a cataract operation on his left eye about a month ago. He joked that he thought it might help him see "green shoots" for the economy, but so far he hasn't seen any hopeful signs. Taking a firm position in an ongoing debate in the financial markets, Buffett says he's not concerned about deflation, but thinks inflation will be a problem in coming years. Despite his negative view on the economy, Buffett still believes the stock market is attractive "over the next 10 years" when compared to alternatives like Treasury bonds. Buffett endorsed Ben Bernanke's reappointment as Federal Reserve Chairman, saying "you couldn't do better." He also praised Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. Asked about how Apple handled Steve Jobs' liver transplant, Buffett said it is a "material fact" when the CEO of a company is facing major surgery. He thinks criticism of Apple over the matter is appropriate. Buffett repeated his criticism of "cap and trade" as a method to control pollution, saying it would be a huge, regressive tax.
Some "stimulus" package. The Republicans need to hang this bill around the Democrats' neck. What a clusterfuck.
Yeah I especially hated the last 8 years of democratic control...oh wait. So we're just picking and choosing our historical timelines now? No doubt the current stimulus is, as you said totally worthless, but it's not like the Bush admin didn't add to the problem by pushing for politically convenient rate drops + a multi-trillion dollar war of choice. I'm really sad that McCain didn't win cause in republican land everything would be fixed by now. And in reality land the blame for the current unfixable melt-down of Western Power via decades of economic stupidity by both parties could be laid at the feet of the Republicans. This is so far beyond a partisan problem as to be a joke. Republicans had sole control of the country (Executive, Congressional and Judicial) from 2002 to 2006 a mere year before the tipping point was reached (2007). So then why didn't the republicans in their infinite wisdom and impeccable business sense why didn't stop the crisis? Oh right it was too big to stop and better to stave it off as long as possible for someone else to clean up. Make no mistake a democrat would have done the exact same thing but the partisan crowing of the Republicans after a scant 5 months of Obama's reign is really pathetic. Full Disclosure: I didn't vote for Obama and hate the Repubs and Democrats for different reasons.
You let me know in the time where the Republicans controlled everything that they passed through a $678B spending package. And the Republicans never had a veto-proof majority in the Senate. That difference changes everything. As for McCain, I think he may have addressed this recession the same way the one in 81-82 was handled, rather than turning a recession into a depression through profligate spending.
Didn't Bush have the power of Veto still in September when they passed TARP? Maybe Pelosi snuck in and stole that along with the integrity of the Republican party. Oh wait they lost that themselves. A Veto proof majority is a difference and I have no doubt the Democrats will use it to further destroy our economy as they are short sighted idiots. While we're fantasizing about what McCain might have done lets imagine if H.W. had won a second term and was succeeded by Quayle perhaps we would still be enjoying a growing dot com bubble. If Bush had no responsibility for the security failure of 9/11 and it was a circumstance of history then so is the financial collapse. I didn't see the Republicans work hard to regulate derivatives from 2002 to 2006 when they had the power. I didn't see them get rid of the Shadow Banking system either. I also saw Bush appoint Goldman Sachs alum Henry Paulson who said trade away derivatives dealers! Believe me I blame Clinton for this too, I just am not so blinded by partisanship as to think one party or the other is solely responsible.
I'm not defending the Republians who went native. They deserved to be bounced out of office. However, if I have to pick between two imperfect groups, I'll pick the one who generally prefers less government than more.
I hated the last two years of the Dems controlling Congress, which is when shit started to go into a spiral and I hated that people who thought that W. Bush was a fiscal conservative. I know hate that our dipstick President doesn't even listen to people like Warren Buffet while ramming through global warming hocus pocus that will increase energy costs for all Americans, regardless of socio-economic class.
I love people who think that instantly the entire government/economy is absolutely in the iron clad grip of the party that heads the executive or congressional branches. So I guess all that great early Clinton years was all his doing and had nothing to do with H. W. Bush. Oh wait, that's right only the Republicans ever do good and only the Democrats ever do bad unless you are a Democrat in which case you can reverse that. What did Nancy Pelosi suddenly start trading credit default swaps and push credit on Eastern Europe? Oh that's right a bi-partisan field day of getting rid of intelligent economic law like Glass-Steagall. They compounded things by not putting the brakes on derivatives after Long Term Capital management went down in the 1990's. That kind of stupidity is what's to blame and that kind of stupidity is bi-partisan. No single party is at fault. Central banks and the investment banks that created the horror of the Shadow Banking system are definitely valid groups to blame. Just wait til the derivatives really start to unwind. The blame of Democrats and Republicans lies with their taking of money from the Financial Industry and doing their bidding no more no less. If you think that the Democrats are completely responsible for this mess I feel sorry for you. I actually agree with what Maxiep said above The problem is there is no party of less government. Maybe less overt government and more shadow government (Bush era republicans), but certainly not less government.
