So conservatives, why shouldn't I be bitter?

Question

I have been accused of being bitter. Five friends and I went out to dinner last night, we made a list of 20 reason why this country has made us bitter. My contributions focused on the fact that last November my tuition fund was worth over 40,000 dollars...enough for me to finish my masters. Now its value is below 900.00 dollars. My mother is a very successful retired investment banker. She lost 180,000 dollars in June. Bush says the economy is doing GREAT! McCain says our problems are "psychological".

My mother is a hardcore republican, voting for Obama. She is very disgusted with the current economy. She has seen the value of her home go from over 300,000 dollars when Clinton was in office, to a value of 120,000 dollars today, and yet she is still being taxed as if she has a 300,000 dollar home.

Tell me why we shouldn't be bitter that our country is paying 10-12 billion dollars a month for a war that we shouldn't be in, and yet the Iraqi government has a 79 BILLION dollar stash on Wall Street.

Why shouldn't we be bitter?

Answer 1

  first of all if your mother votes for Obama she is not a hardcore republican. During Clinton the economy was out of control, for the house to be worth $300,000 in the first place was caused by infation not value, now we are being put back in perspetive. As far as property taxes are concerned contact your state repesenitive, don't blame it on conservatives.

Answer 2

Sounds like a lovely dinner conversation, five people sitting around thinking up reasons to dislike their country.

I highly doubt that if this country were not involved in a war, they would be using the money to refurbish your tuition fund.

You live in a country where you have the opportunity to succeed, that's pretty much all they owe you, and it sounds like you are taking that opportunity. Congratulations.

Wasn't it the legendary Democrat John F. Kennedy who said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"?

And if your mother feels she is being taxed to death, does she really think Obama will help her plight?

Answer 3

She should protest her tax valuation.  I protested and they reduced one house without making be go to the appraisal board.  I appealed the other one and the appraisal board reduced it to a reasonable level.

Answer 4

you have a right to be bitter as well as do others.  Republicans had a field day taking Obama's "bitter remark" and spinning it dizzy.  The truth is that Barack was right. There are people in this country losing their jobs, homes, health, and futures. Many of these people had faith in America and the ideals that make the country great. Are we to assume that these people are “happy?” What Barack highlighted is what many of us do when times become difficult; we TRANSFER our despair, difficulty, depression, etc., to something else. Some of us go to the gym and work it out. Some of us fall to our knees and ask God to guide or deliver us from the difficult times. And then, some of us go to the range and fire off a few rounds to let off steam.  

Answer 5

Everyone is in one way or another-we've all lost value on our homes and in the marketplace etc. As to how your Mom is being taxed-she can get a review on that and get her home revalued and it would be a good idea.

The senate and congress have been a wash too in my opinion so the govt as a whole needs to be renewed with new blood.

I don't agree with you about Bush and McCain but I am so ready to see him out and am not sure if we have a decent candidate for the job either way.

Answer 6

becasue, as any economist will tell you, the economy is cyclical.

Also, maybe you need a better broker.

Answer 7

haha, yeah get a better broker. and have you ever taken an economics course? also, look up the word inflation.

Answer 8

you have every right to be bitter.  but aim the vitriol at the proper source.  bush had nothing to do with the sleaze balls who orchestrated the mortgage meltdown.  he had nothing to do with the financial institutions that are going belly, taking many people with them.  pure greed is responsible for this, and it falls under a system our country has used for generations, not just one administration.  you want the best chance of improvement?  throw the entire congress out and start over.

Answer 9

So because you and your mother are very poor investors it is the governments fault? Interesting theory, I bet you learned that in liberal arts.

I agree, the investing environment could be better but as a trader there is much profit in either direction. Perhaps you should examine your own strategies and find out where the real problem is, because I assure you that it lies within yourself.  

Answer 10

fire your broker and do it yourself. you lost your **** and are bitter about it. get with you r broker and make them tell you what happened to your money. maybe you should have paid more attention to what was going on. not americas fault. there are people out there making money on their investments. i am i also intending to start doing my own stock investing. i have been paper trading and doing pretty good. so i am going to put some money on the line and make it make money for me.

the stock market is actually doing quite well. i remember when 9/11 happened my portfolio went down to less than half of what it is now. i

didn't sell a thing i held on and now i am back to where i am supposed to be. as for the housing problem. that was coming. people saw it a year in advance that the prices were way too high.your mom needs to go down and contest the taxed value of the house. as a banker she should know this. that is her own fault. just like your interest rates on credit cards. call them up and ask them to lower the interest rates. if you are a good client of theirs then they will drop them sometimes you can get them to drop and reimburse the fees.

the economy is going so well here it is unbelievable that people are saying the economy is bad. more jobs than workers. how many jobs can you work in a day. i work two. the work needs to be done and it might not last forever but i am going to get my share of it while it is going good.  

Answer 11

What the h**l were you invested in? Enron? World Com?  

Your investment went from $40,000 to below $900? And what were you doing at the time? Surly it didn't lose $31,000 overnight. Fire your investment advisor - and quick!

Houses have not decreased in value by a third - at least not where I live - not even close.

While the Clinton's and you and your mom were busy counting your money, alQaeda was busy staging an attack - do you really want to return to these policies?

Answer 12

Your country gave you the opportunity to amass $40K and your mother $180K, which you are reasonably able to afford to lose, it also provides you with the opportunity to pick yourself up and do it again and again.

There are a lot of poor devils around the world who would be happy to be in your place, for the food and shelter, never mind the cash.

Just out of curiosity, if the Iraqi Government has 79billion dollars on Wall St. how much did they have last November?

Oh! and never take politicians seriously, they are only earning their living, vaudeville had to go somewhere!

Answer 13

the powers that be and the aristocracy has been raping the common man for thousands of years. It's about time you got used to it. It will never change and despite your previous nostalgia or good times it was never any better to begin with.

Answer 14

If you lost $39,100 in the stock market, you weren't very diversified.  There are plenty of stock taht have soared since November 08.  If you were still in bank stocks at that point, with the foreclosure trouble coming down the pipe, then you were very unwisely invested.

Answer 15

Clinging to Guns and Religion is NOT the answer.

Answer 16

And you think Obama has the answer?    He wants to create "ladders of oppurtunity" so all people can be middle class, he wants to redistribute wealth.  He wants to take money away from hard working American's to give to those that don't work.  Obama will make this country worse with his socialist ideas.    

The economy is cyclical  - it goes up and down.  We're in a down period and it WILL get better, but with Obama's ideas, he can prolong our pain and suffering with his bleeding heart socialist ideas.

Answer 17

Your blaming one person for the world economy and one political party ? The WORLD is in turmoil right now .Have you not noticed?.We have countries that want America taken down , Why don't you take a look at the many business that no longer produce out of th U.S. look at what NAFTA did to our economy nobody is exporting it is all free importing, Look at America the hardest working country in the world our time clocks run 24-7 so we can stop at Waly mart and pick up products from china, produce from south America,oil from iraq. Who invoked NAFTA before he was done in office Mr. Clinton . Learn your history those who do not are doomed to repeat it . You can be bitter if you want but it seems it is all for the wrong reasons.  

Answer 18

hello - the economy will always go up and down (look at history).  consider stop loos orders on your money in the future.  and perhaps a new broker.  i agree with the first post, life is too short to be bitter.  obama does not have the answer either, dont be fooled into thinking he does.  if he did he would not have to worry about getting elected, and he has a real fight on his hands, this is a close race and he may not win it.  good luck with school.

Answer 19

Sounds like you didn't diversify your portfolio. So you are expecting the government to make sure you never lose money on investments?

Once you learn that in life you control your own fate, you can have hope.    

Answer 20

The reason your mother's home is worth less is because so many people took on loans they couldn't afford. So when record forclosures happen, the homes forclosed on are sold for reduced rates. Banks have tightend up the requirements for loans, so this naturally would bring down the value of other homes. By the way, if you have a college fund, and it is there as a savings for college, it should be in a very low risk fund. I have heard of no low risk fund that has lost 4000%. No market, even risky ones, have lost 4000%. Unless it was all in real estate, or very short term, ultra high risk, which no successful intelligent investor (who is retired) would be involved in. But the good news would be if you were in real estate, you should knoiw that the market did self adjust, it will be back, and your funds recovered, if you are not too over extended.

Answer 21

Wow, mine suffered a no growth period due to one stock doing poorly and the others only marginally well.  To lose 39,000 blame yourself or your stock broker for investing in high risk stocks and not getting out when they started to tank.  Don't blame Republicans for your mistakes.

Answer 22

Well we do have Bush's war in Iraq and the needless sacrifice of our troops that we can all be proud of.

I feel the same as you, bitter about these last eight years of incompetence, cronyism, and corruption in the highest offices in our land. We definitely need a change. Bush, Cheney, and the rest of their co-conspirators need to be locked away from society for the remainder of their natural lives.    

Answer 23

Dont be bitter!

the economy is cyclical, and dont worry, things will eventually perk up!

we are all going through some major losses from this economy, but keep strong, and just wait and see, things will bounce right back to the way it was

and as the 1st poster wisely said: lifes too short to spend it being bitter!!

Answer 24

because life is too short to be bitter