Exactly right. There are too many people here who are always assuming the worst of this extraordinarily decent, intelligent, talented man who has dedicated his life, like Obama, to public service to the nation he was born. Some idiots here even keep insisting that he changed his name to Bobby for cynical political reasons, even after it is pointed out over and over that he adopted that nickname as a very young boy and that his legal name remains Piyush. That shows that there is a strong emotional and irrational component to the rampant Jindal-bashing going on here.

By the way, I have noticed that the most vociferous opponents of Jindal also happen to be the most outspoken defenders of hindu casteism. That should tell us something about where these haters are coming from.

It is not just the conventional wisdom in the US but even more so around the world. Leaders around the world have pointed the accusing finger at the Republican Party’s agenda of deregulation, starting with Reagan, for the current crisis. Heck even the high priest of free-market capitalism, Alan Greenspan, was forced to admit in front of congressional leaders that he had made a mistake in thinking that financial markets are self-regulating. Something you would expect anyone with simple common sense to know, yet these libertarian nutsos cling blindly to their quasi-religious faith in the “invisible hand” that guides and regulates free markets without need for human oversight.

Deregulation, small government, and tax breaks for the wealthy and for businesses are the three pillars of republican ideology. Which is why it is funny to see Republicans blaming some clintonian democrats for getting caught up in the Republican fervor for deregulation! As Obama has said he does not think of Bill Clinton as a transformational President like Reagan was. It is now upto Obama to undo all the wrongheaded transformation that Reaganomics wrought.

The Nehruvian License Raj was basically a corrupt nexus between brahmin babus and bania industrialists. It is obscene to call that corrupt farce socialism.

Another ignorant rightwinger. Hey Lupus, FYI India’s population is well over THREE times that of America. China’s population is well over 4 times America’s yet it has done a remarkable job lifting its citizens out of poverty. Using population size as an excuse for India’s inability to overcome extreme poverty and hunger just doesn’t fly.

You appear to be mathematically challenged Yoga Fire. Do you really think the population of India increased by more than 20% in the last 5 years?

Unbelievable how dishonest, deluded, ignorant and irrational these right wingers almost invariably are. Which wiki states that India’s poverty line is $7 a day?? Did you bother to use your brain before posting that falsehood?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/File_How_to_cross_the_poverty_line_In_urban_areas_earn_Rs_455_a_month_Govt/articleshow/3710177.cms

The sharp erosion in the value of money and the spiralling prices of essential items may have played havoc with people’s lives, making it difficult for them to maintain their living standards, but the government is stubbornly sticking to its definition of who is `poor’. In an astounding position before the Supreme Court, it has held that one has to earn only Rs 455 a month in urban areas and Rs 328 in rural areas to escape the poor tag………Despite using these ridiculously low monthly incomes to classify a person as poor, the government has identified a huge chunk — over 26 crore — as poor because they do not even earn these paltry sums.”

That 25% poverty figure (26 crore) by the indian govt is really an insult to both intelligence and morality for it classifies urban indians making more than 30 cents a day or 9 dollars a month as above the poverty line! For rural indians the official poverty line is even lower. Even if you use PPP the official indian poverty line is less than a dollar a day. In nominal exchange rates 80% of indians live on less than $1 a day making India home to the largest concentration of the world’s poorest of the poor. Yet amazingly we observe the ridiculous phenomena of indians boasting of India’s accomplishments!

The ratings of MBS were actually key to the expansion of the US economy 2000 – 2007. This allowed US to be a giant vacuum that sucked money from around the globe – all because of a AAA rating. Securitization is great, if rated accurately. The underlying assumptions being the key. Now, because of the disastrous consequences of overrated MBS all securitization has become suspect and money is not moving. In your bar example if common sense dictated that OJ is AAA and vodka is BBB. Just because in the last 2 years kids that had vodka+OJ and drove around without any more accidents (than the OJ only kids), the bar now decides to classify 2parts OJ+ 1part vodka as AAA.

This post should actually be classified under humor Because, the % of people below the poverty line has increased by 20% in India in the last 5 years. India shining indeed !

You have to consider, though, that while the headcount goes up the overall percentage of the population could still shrink. All that says is that the poor are reproducing faster. I think usually the “halved poverty” claim is based on the $1 a day/$2 a day poverty lines while India’s official poverty line, according to Wiki, is about $7 a day. So even if you have more poor people below the line, the ones down there are still liable to be better off than they were before. Long story short, poverty statistics are hard to calculate and even harder to interpret.

Because, the % of people below the poverty line has increased by 20% in India in the last 5 years.

India shining indeed !