If You Buy One, I'll Be Forever In Your Debt
"Hey! I need some cash. Do you have any cash?" I yelled up from the bottom of the stairs.
"Um, yeah. I do. Actually, I've got a lot of cash. Look in my wallet."
"Yesssss. I knew there was a reason I married you."
*****
My husband created this piece in the early 90's when Ross Perot was all deficit, deficit, deficit. Which made 17% of the American people polled at the time all about the deficit, too.
Not so much today. In January 2006, Just 2% of Americans pointed to the budget deficit as the country's most important problem, a number that has remained stable throughout Bush's presidency.
I am not well equipped to discuss this sort of thing. When reading articles to write this post, I ran across this comment to a post by Matt Yglesias. (I'm not well equipped to type that guy's name. I had to look back at it 10 times before I got it right.)
Anyway, here's the comment to his post:
Although foreign money loves 10 year Treasuries, the Fed tightening and the continued jawboning on the part of various Fed governors seems to have had an effect. Longer term maturities now have gradually increased in yield, and if we return to a normal yield curve, where longer term Treasuries yield more than the shorter term, it will mean increased interest expense across the board. Although over the longer term, overall interest rates may remain lower by historical standards, it will still mean our debt and continued Bush deficits will have to be serviced by higher rates of interest than in the immediate past years.
This may be why the deficit is currently of lesser concern. Unfortunately, we are dealing with very large sums of debt financing and even small changes in the prevailing interest expense can have profound effects upon our current accounts and future budgetary considerations.
Um. Ok. Yeah! I totally agree! He's absolutely right. It is indeed why the deficit is currently of lesser concern. Especially the part about longer term maturities now having gradually increased in yield. I know when that happens I just don't seem to worry about the federal deficit at all.
But that doesn't mean I don't worry about my own personal deficit, which brings me to another point. The image you see above is actually printed on a beautiful cream Strathmore cover stock and measures 9 1/2" x 13 1/2. We've got 100 of them. I would call them posters, but I prefer to think of them as finely engraved, highly conceptual lithographs. Where a pressman, who's father was a pressman, and who's father's father was a pressman, dedicated to his craft, upholding the family tradition, slaved over every press sheet, loop in hand to make each one the glorious masterpiece that each truly is.
Each are numbered and signed by the artist and await a new home.
AND YOU CAN GET YOUR VERY OWN TODAY FOR JUST $10! THAT'S RIGHT! FOR JUST $10, YOU COULD BE THE PROUD OWNER OF A MASTERPIECE! JUST IMAGINE! WITH ONE OF THESE HANGING IN YOUR OFFICE OR FAMILY ROOM, YOU WOULD BE THE ENVY OF YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!
THEY'LL THINK YOU'RE FUNNIER, SMARTER...SEXIER!
WOMEN WILL LOVE YOU AND MEN WILL WANT TO BE LIKE YOU. AND IF YOU'RE A WOMAN, VICE-VERSA! WHO DOESN'T WANT THAT? YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL! JUST $10 EACH!
IT'S SO EASY! JUST EMAIL BLUE GIRL AT BLUEGIRLBLOGGER@YAHOO.COM TO PLACE YOUR ORDER!
BUT YOU HAVE TO ACT SOON! EACH JUST $10!* DON'T WAIT! GET YOURS TODAY!
*****
I opened his wallet and there was a whopping twelve bucks in it.
"Hey! I thought you said you had a lot of cash? There's only $12 in your wallet!"
"Well, how much did you have before you took my $12.00?"
"None."
"Well, compared to *none*, $12.00 is a lot of money!"
Now that's an economics lesson I can understand.
*****
Thanks to Ezra Klein for the links.
*While supplies last. Hurry! Order yours today!
your husband is a wonderful artist
or poster maker, however you call it. more, more!
Posted by: daveminnj | March 21, 2006 at 04:14 PM
I sorta almost kinda understood the paragraph quoted!
Hey, I think since terrorism has happened on Bush's watch and ever since has been force-fed to us as our #1 concern AND since Bush, Inc started the fiasco in Iraq and caskets started coming back overseas - because of all this maybe money does seem less important. Not that the deficit won't haunt us for a long time...
BTW: Can I borrow a coupla bucks?
Posted by: Kevin Wolf | March 21, 2006 at 04:31 PM
BG- I'll trade you a Thelma for a well-hung Georgie!
Posted by: Uma | March 21, 2006 at 05:53 PM
Oops! My cover is blown! Sorry BG. I'd feel worse if I didn't recall you inadvertantly using "The Clam".
Posted by: Jennifer | March 21, 2006 at 05:59 PM
Okay, this image of George Washington stuck in my head and I kept thinking of how he, as the "Father of Our Country", must be spinning in his grave with the current George in office... I kept thinking, what would the current George be??? It came to me... George Bush is the "Failure of His Country".
Posted by: Jennifer | March 21, 2006 at 06:29 PM
From my email order:
Gimme Gimme Gimme!
And PLEASE don't tell me there was a caveat I missed saying this is just a joke!
Do I send a check? Ya want my CC #s? How 'bout that first born I ain't likely to have? It's yours! LOL!
Okay, so you couldn't have me kiddo even if'n .. uh, forget that altogether. doh!
That's nice work, but the reason I initially had trouble readin' the Economics para is the (paranthetical) about you trying to spell Yglesiwhatsis had me laugin' too hard to focus! Thanks!
Posted by: Michael Bains | March 21, 2006 at 07:30 PM
Oh the sadness! Oh the disappointment!
{sighhh}
From YahooMail:
Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:
blugirlblogger@yahoo.com
Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 12): 554 delivery error: dd This user doesn't have a yahoo.com account...
Now I'm so mad, I'm not gonna read your blog again...
until tomorrow.
{-;
Posted by: Michael Bains | March 21, 2006 at 07:47 PM
"blugirlblogger@yahoo.com"
Michael...what's wrong with that address?
I'll give you -- a *Democrat* -- a few seconds to figure it out.
Hee-hee-hee.
Posted by: blue girl | March 21, 2006 at 08:10 PM
eeeeeee haw!!!
Woo Hoo!
LOL!
Posted by: Michael Bains | March 21, 2006 at 08:25 PM
blue girl, your post needs a Johnson Box at the top -- I had to wait all the way til the end for the offer ;-)
Posted by: Brando | March 22, 2006 at 04:24 PM
Oh Lord. The *Johnson Box* -- I thought I was the only poor soul who knew of that phrase...but, yes! The way my *ad* is written -- it certainly is deserving of a Johnson Box!
Posted by: blue girl | March 22, 2006 at 06:24 PM
a. Asking for money without giving any reason totally rocks. I do that with World's Best Boyfriend. It's not that I am any poorer than he is, but I never carry cash, and he always seems to have gobs and gobs of it. Maybe he's a hooker?
b. As re: the budget deficit, that paragraph made my feeble mind tremble and ache. I took economics in college, but I didn't really get "in to it". Or "read the book". Or "attend class". Anyway, no one can convince me that it's just no problem at all for our government to spend money it doesn't have, unless it's an emergency of some sort. Tax breaks for the rich =/= an emergency.
c. I'll take a poster. Email me at respublica at republicofdogs dot net and tell me if you'd prefer a hot check or some complicated paypal crap.
d. What's a Johnson Box? It sounds pretty pervy, like "check out that dude's johnson box!"
Posted by: Res Publica | March 22, 2006 at 07:43 PM
That was a copywriter-to-copywriter joke between BG and I. *Big boring explanation alert* The Johnson Box is a block of copy, usually in a box, at the top of a direct mail letter that states the offer or some other tidbit of info that gets you to buy shit you don't need.
Not to be confused with a Don Johnson Box, which is where Philip Michael Thomas's career is held prisoner.
Posted by: Brando | March 22, 2006 at 07:55 PM
I shall create a Johnson Box for all to see and truly appreciate.
Stay tuned!
Posted by: blue girl | March 22, 2006 at 08:33 PM
gotta have one of those.
If you take Canadian at par I'll take two, one for my bro in PA who had Malkin's Unhinged on the dining room table last time I visited. Haven't spoken to him since.
send instructions for pmt fwdg to alta at rogers dot com
Posted by: sluggo | March 23, 2006 at 07:58 PM