Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
Let’s Get This Over With
We've all been waiting long enough. Say what you have to say, and let's move on.
Lottery Payoff
Last weekend I did a post with some battered "lottery prospects" – the table is below (with one issue highlighted):
Now, just a couple of days later, a nearly 100% pop – – that's why these are called "lottery" plays!
Roubini, Taleb, Larry, Curly, and Moe
The Speech You Won’t Hear Tonight
My Fellow Americans,
Although during my inaugural address, I affirmed we were a nation of many faiths – – including "non-belivers", allow me to read from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under the sun.
A time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
a time to kill and a time to heal …
a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance …
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to lose and a time to seek;
a time to rend and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
The past three decades have been witness to an American which has seduced itself into utter fantasy – – – into a world where people believe they should be multi-millionaires in their twenties, everyone should own a large house, and no one should have any meaningful restrictions on how much they eat, spend, or consume.
The party is over. And as much as we'd all like it to come back, it's going to be over for a very long time. This is a time where we, as a nation, must act like adults and face what is before us. Our banking system is bankrupt. Our nation has financial obligations it can never fully honor. And our economy is in shambles.
What made America great is not gone, however. We have abundant natural resources; a world-class system of higher-education; a diverse, vibrant population eager to build a better life for themselves and their families; and a government and legal system which is, on the whole, free, strong, and worthy of the nation's trust.
We, as a nation, must understand there are tough times ahead, and there is no easy fix. Over the coming months, I will be working with Congress to implement The Reality and Reconstruction Act, which will, among other things:
- Phase out our unteneable obligations to Medicare and Social Security, effectively eliminating these agencies within ten years;
- Seek civil and criminal prosecution, including confiscatory asset seizure, against any senior personnel in the financial, lending, or investment banking industry which has profited unfairly from the financial bubble over the past decade;
- Shutter any financial institution unable to support itself as an independent enterprise;
- Implement a flat tax of 25% on all income, with a contemporaneous dilution of the Internal Revenue Service;
- Position our entire recovery strategy to be global-based, as opposed to US-based, striving to keep trade barriers as low or non-existent as possible
The road to recovery will be a long and hard one, but with these bold steps, we will ultimately prevail. These are hard choices, but the consequences of not making these choices now will be far more severe in just a few years. I thank you for your support, and I wish you, your family, and our nation strength, wisdom, and courage. Good night.
