President George Bush: 'Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter'

He wasn't the first and he won't be the last President (or even politician) to use questionable judgement while making a joke. This isn't exclusive to Bush.

No, it's not equity. It's debt.

But it's hard to take you seriously today. I'm going to start calling you 1nedas on days like this!

10% stake in private equity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_equity) firm Blackstone Group (a company solely in the business of buying and selling other companies for a quick profit) and 10% stake in Morgan Stanly isn't equity? I suppose I shouldn't worry too much, Dubai International Capital (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_International_Capital) will rescue us from the Chinese with their $875 billion debt ownership funds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund#Largest_sovereign_wealth_fun ds).

-1nedas

10% stake in private equity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_equity) firm Blackstone Group (a company solely in the business of buying and selling other companies for a quick profit) and 10% stake in Morgan Stanly isn't equity? I suppose I shouldn't worry too much, Dubai International Capital (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubai_International_Capital) will rescue us from the Chinese with their $875 billion debt ownership funds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund#Largest_sovereign_wealth_fun ds).

-1nedas

You're misunderstanding, or maybe I'm not being clear. You can own assets from the issuance of debt, but that doesn't mean you own the country or it's government. In other words, I'm saying that if we default on the debt (would never happen, but think hypothetically), China has no legal or contractual claim to come in and take over our government.

And if China owns a 10% stake in our corporations, that does not get included in the National Debt or deficit figures. Those foreign investments are accounted for elsewhere.

- APC ,01deenhcS

Yawn.

This is news? When the hell does the season start anyway...