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RedditAccording to a new Time/Rockefeller Foundation poll, 85% of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track.
And it is.
Our economy is cratering, homes and jobs are being lost, pensions ravaged, and opportunities dimmed. Conservative free market assumptions and shibboleths are being exposed, questioned, and recognized for their bankruptcy.
That's why Americans once again seek a government that does more to support our everyday lives: 82% support public-works projects to create jobs; 84% want new measures to improve energy inefficiency and support clean energy alternatives; 77% want the government to provide health insurance to those who can't afford it; and 83% want the national minimum wage increased to keep up with the cost of living. More than 2 out of 3 American favor government funded childcare to make it easier for people to work.
Recent numbers from The Center for American Progress Action Fund reveal the depth of the economic pain people are currently confronting: in June, housing foreclosures were up 50% compared to the same month last year; gas prices are up 33% from this time last year; there were 438,000 jobs lost in the first 6 months of the year; food prices rose 4% in 2007, the fastest rise in 17 years; heating oil costs are expected to be up 60% from last year; and real hourly and weekly wages are declining. It's no wonder that the Time/Rockefeller poll shows that 52% of Americans believe the American Dream is no longer attainable "if they work hard and play by the rules." Nearly 80% feel "the social contract has been broken and should be rewritten to reflect current [economic] realities." (Including 90% of Generation Y – those between ages 18-29 – which might partially explain their record-setting turnout in the Democratic primaries.)
I've argued in recent years that Americans want to be governed from the center – but it's a new center – one that deals with the issues that are at the center of their lives. People want policies that support affordable childcare and healthcare (the poll also revealed that 25% of Americans haven't gone to a doctor in the past year because of costs, and 23% haven't filled a prescription for the same reason); quality public education, a living wage, and retirement security; environmental protection; saving our homes and helping to keep our families together.
A wildly deregulated, reckless free market that has socialized losses while pocketing the profits for the already wealthy has made the time ripe to lay out a new idea, a new story for a more just America. This is a moment progressives need to seize. As Bill Moyers wrote in a Nation cover story, "Here in the first decade of the twenty-first century the story that becomes America's dominant narrative will shape our collective imagination and hence our politics. In the searching of our souls demanded by this challenge… kindred spirits across the nation must confront the most fundamental progressive failure of the current era: the failure to embrace a moral vision of America based on the transcendent faith that human beings are more than the sum of their material appetites, our country is more than an economic machine, and freedom is not license but responsibility – the gift we have received and the legacy we must bequeath."
If there is to be an upside to our downsized politics of excluded alternatives that characterizes the past 8 years, it will be in our hard work and success in ensuring that we never again return to an era of feckless, uninspired and uninspiring government.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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frank only begs the question: would hillary fix everything?
Posted by darladoon at 07/27/2008 @ 11:52pm
If there is to be an upside to our downsized politics of excluded alternatives that characterizes the past 8 years,
•••••••• ¿8 years? more like 38 years.
it will be in our hard work and success in ensuring that we never again return to an era of feckless, uninspired and uninspiring government.
•••••••• better convince people to stop watching "idol", then.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/27/2008 @ 11:56pm
great ideas.
the problem is how to pay for it.
the chinese and saudis are happy to finance a war that they, too can see benefit from (however nefarious those benefits may be).
maybe closing a few hundred bases around the world would free up a couple of bucks.
i know,
PRINT MORE MONEY!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:01am
I recently went to a platform meeting of 16 people here in Tucson. Many of the things you write of became part of our platform, which will be sent to the platform committee in Denver. We were mostly working class people, and we came up with single payer, non-profit healthcare, a WPA type program for reworking the energy infrastructure (more than one of us mentioned the WPA specifically), restoration of civil liberties, aggressive diplomacy and immediate withdrawal from Iraq. These are the people's issues - and finally we may be heard.
Posted by ramara at 07/28/2008 @ 12:06am
ok, frank, you "believe".
and you're going to vote for mccain now?
frank, do you realize that, when clinton lost the nomination, you became a lieberman?
Posted by darladoon at 07/28/2008 @ 12:17am
LV, Maaasch, Mark Canyon, Limbaugh, OReilly, anyone so blind to continue to deny reality and spout on about the --'liberal media'! It's the math stupid--
Major networks talking heads' stats # statements):
Obama: 28% positive 72% negative.
McCain: 43% positive 57% negative
And this underestimates Reality, as the one they spurn 72% of the time has much more coverage.
Now you know why he gets more coverage, because big media like ABC, NBC/LOCKHEED use this to lynch him.
Posted by winyahn at 07/28/2008 @ 12:30am
"Obama is at the extreme left"
the pope is an atheist.
Posted by darladoon at 07/28/2008 @ 12:34am
*m*a*t*h
the Tyndall Report... "Obama got 166 minutes of coverage in the seven weeks after the end of the primary season, compared with 67 minutes for McCain"
= MORE THAN THREE TIMES MORE NEGATIVE TOWARD OBAMA
Yep, that is the reality of the "liberal media"
>3x, not equal or even twice as biased.
More than 3 times the negativity.
Posted by winyahn at 07/28/2008 @ 12:43am
*m*a*t*h
the Tyndall Report... "Obama got 166 minutes of coverage in the seven weeks after the end of the primary season, compared with 67 minutes for McCain"
= MORE THAN THREE TIMES MORE NEGATIVE TOWARD OBAMA
Yep, that is the reality of the "liberal media"
>3x, not equal or even twice as biased.
More than 3 times the negativity.
Posted by winyahn at 07/28/2008 @ 12:44am
Study did not include FOX...
just ABC, NBC and CBS
conclusion:
ABC, NBC and CBS guilty of ANTI-liberal bias
Posted by winyahn at 07/28/2008 @ 12:55am
These are the people's issues - and finally we may be heard.
Posted by ramara at 07/28/2008 @ 12:06am
have you hired lobbyists?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:58am
nonnewsflash:
ABC, NBC and CBS don't tell ABC, NBC and CBS viewers very much about how they (ABC, NBC and CBS) are mathematically guilty of a 300% ANTI-liberal bias.
Posted by winyahn at 07/28/2008 @ 01:05am
"Obama is at the extreme left..."
Am I missing some subtle irony here? Extreme left? He's to the right of Clinton, either one, on many issues, and occupying the same space otherwise.
"Answer me this. Obama is recieving the support of 98% of the black community. Will he be in their debt if elected and how will the payoff manifest itself?"
Answer: no more in debt than when any other Democrat has received 90% of the black vote. Which is a stain on this nation, but that is another story.
Posted by onthehelm at 07/28/2008 @ 01:19am
Answer me this. Obama is recieving the support of 98% of the black community. Will he be in their debt if elected and how will the payoff manifest itself? Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 12:28am
So it's a bad thing when a group votes largely for as candidate? Since Hispanics and white females voted largely for Hillary what would she have owed them? You can say that about ANY candidate Frank because they tend to get one large chunk of the vote in every peer group. That an asinine point to make.
Also this Obama is to the extreme left thing is hilarious. Everyone is complaining that he is moving too much center. You on the other hand claim is father left that Kucinich even though is voting record and his policy proposals don't actually say that.
You live in your own made up reality Frank.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 02:10am
Which is a stain on this nation, but that is another story. Posted by onthehelm at 07/28/2008 @ 01:19am
Are you saying he black vote is a stain on this nation?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 02:11am
Prejudicial prominence, in matters economic
Reiterate the utterance, of talking heads moronic
Espousing ancient dominance, conserving shameless powers
Turning fearful imminence towards the haughty dours
A new age is upon us, but fascination's chained
By ways and means dishonest, and new fields yet untrained
Lets turn this page forever, shared destiny awaits
America together, will shed these fears and hates
The war's been remonstrated, remiss with tactics dated
The old ways are ensconce'd, and battle plans have faded
There's bound to be confusions, We'd best be level headed
It's goodbye to delusions, for futures unregretted.
Posted by ttr at 07/28/2008 @ 03:00am
The fundamental shift is occuring again, only this time it is going to the left. The real question is will the entrenched interests who make great profits from the status quo dig in their heels even deeper just to maintain their stranglehold on their personal fortunes. 30 years of Reaganomics and conservative dominance have not improved this great nation, it's now the liberals' turn to correct some of the most egregious errors of the past 30 years. I mean, it's gotta be serious when a Republican Secretary of the Treasury is calling for more regulation.
Posted by yutsano at 07/28/2008 @ 03:11am
frostyzoom - These meetings are being held all over the country, as an offshoot of the campaign, and the results will be presented in Denver. No lobbyists required (but if anybody wants to send me...)
ttr - Enjoyed the verses.
Posted by ramara at 07/28/2008 @ 04:07am
frank only begs the question: would hillary fix everything?
Posted by darladoon at 07/27/2008 @ 11:52pm
More to the point, would Hillary fix ANYTHING?
Posted by skeletonman at 07/28/2008 @ 06:28am
I believe that Obama will be next president, but he needs a powerful Progressive Democratic Congress to get things done. Electing D's to office is just as, if not more, important than getting a D in the WH. For the past 7.5 years, nothing has been done to lift up the people of this nation, in fact, many horrendous acts have come about, the loss of the 4th Amendment, privacy, property, and Civil Liberties and a host of other problems need to be reversed. The infrastrucure of the nation, healthcare, Iraq/Afghanistan, all play major roles in how people will vote this November. Only bold action can change the course we are on...the last thing this nation should become is a land of the wealthy ruling over the serfs.
Posted by rasputin195 at 07/28/2008 @ 06:57am
The poll is a major problem for McCain...
who is politically obligated to atleast offer an 75%-80% "same ol', same ol'" agenda to keep his base happy.
Too much "maverick" and they stay home, thinking "Oh screw it, let Obama and the lib'ruls ruin everything and we'll get a REAL conservative in 2012!"
But if he doesn't separate himself from Bush and BIG TIME (after the Convention of course)....he loses 70% of the rest of us.
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 07:18am
The poll is a major problem for McCain...
who is politically obligated to atleast offer an 75%-80% "same ol', same ol'" agenda to keep his base happy.
Too much "maverick" and they stay home, thinking "Oh screw it, let Obama and the lib'ruls ruin everything and we'll get a REAL conservative in 2012!"
But if he doesn't separate himself from Bush and BIG TIME (after the Convention of course)....he loses 70% of the rest of us.
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 07:18am
Incompetence does not explain any of what has gone wrong. It is the obvious answer, but it is not THE answer.
Explore the concept of "discernible reality."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality-based_community
Focus on that concept like a laser beam, because it is the key to ALL understanding - a layer beyond what is readily apparent, or even predictable.
Reporter Ron Suskind nailed it to the wall when he got Karl Rove to blurt this out:
''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html?ex=1255665600&en= 890a96189e162076&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland
Of these men whom you perceive as mortal and flawed, their own self-perception is that they are in fact the masters of the universe.
They work for David Rockefeller, his CFR, his IMF, His World Bank, His IRS, His FED, His Exxon, His JP Morgan Chase. All of them. Where will the "money" come from to create the new system from the ashes of the old, and who will be in possession of this new money, and through what means?
Here's a respected business man...Bett Midler's former Manager, the Producer of Trading Places and other successful films...listen to every word:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7nD7dbkkBIA
Then read all of this:
http://plungerspeaks.blogspot.com
There are no coincidences. Nothing is as it appears. Nothing.
Fractional Reserve and fiat currency systems are in fact designed to expand, then fail.
Do you honestly believe THEY did not plan for the aftermath of the failure? Do you honestly believe they did not select the means, method and timing of said failure?
If those who own the cabal at the top become masters of the universe, wildly rich and powerful, was it in fact a failure, or just an apparent failure?
Google "Discernible Reality."
The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''
Now how do you think Obama was allowed into the political arena in the first place? By whom? He and his wife are both members of the CFR. You call that a coincidence?
Do you think that "history's actors" are going to allow this individual to alter their plans?
Posted by plunger at 07/28/2008 @ 08:38am
Another McCain (John's Son) in a "Silver-named" banking scandal?
http://www.care2.com/news/member/434996229/828588
http://rawstory.com//news/2008/McCains_son_resigns_from_two_Boards_0727. html
Is Silver State Bank The Ghost of Silverado Savings?
Lincoln Savings and Loan
The Lincoln Savings led to the Keating Five political scandal, in which five U.S. senators were implicated in an influence-peddling scheme. It was named for Charles Keating, who headed Lincoln saving and made $300,000 as political contributions to them in the 1980s. Three of those senators - Alan Cranston, Don Riegle, and Dennis DeConcini - found their political careers cut short as a result. Two others - John Glenn and John McCain - were rebuked by the Senate Ethics Committee for exercising "poor judgment" for intervening with the federal regulators on behalf of Keating.
Silverado Savings and Loan
Silverado Savings and Loan collapsed in 1988, costing taxpayers $1.6 billion. Neil Bush, son of then Vice President of the United States George H. W. Bush, was Director of Silverado at the time. Neil Bush was accused of giving himself a loan from Silverado, but he denied all wrongdoing.
The US Office of Thrift Supervision investigated Silverado's failure and determined that Neil Bush had engaged in numerous "breaches of his fiduciary duties involving multiple conflicts of interest." Although Bush was not indicted on criminal charges, a civil action was brought against him and the other Silverado directors by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; it was eventually settled out of court, with Bush paying $50,000 as part of the settlement, as reported in the Washington Post .
As a director of a failing thrift, Bush voted to approve $100 million in what were ultimately bad loans to two of his business partners. And in voting for the loans, he failed to inform fellow board members at Silverado Savings & Loan that the loan applicants were his business partners.
Silverado's collapse cost taxpayers $1.3 billion.
Neil Bush paid a $50,000 fine and was banned from banking activities for his role in taking down Silverado, which cost taxpayers $1.3 billion. A Resolution Trust Corporation Suit against Bush and other officers of Silverado was settled in 1991 for $26.5 million.
A Republican fundraiser set up a fund to help defer costs Neil Bush incurred in his S&L dealings.
Are these related to the two banks Nevada-based that the FDIC quietly took over on Saturday?
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jul/25/1st-national-bank-nevada-fai ls/
Is Silver State Bancorp next?
Andrew McCain (son of Republican candidate John Sidney McCain) resigns from Silver State Bank 7/23/08. Previously, Andrew McCain was director of Choice Bank, Scottsdale, Arizona. from 2006 until April, 2008 when it merged with the subsidiary, Silver State Bank and Silver State Bancorp. Mr. McCain was appointed to the Board of Directors of Silver State Bank in February, 2008.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS51176+26-Jul-2008+BW2008 0726 http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS152426+21-Feb-2008+BW200 80221
At the time of Andrew McCain"s appointment to Silver State Bank, stocks were approx. $10.00 per share and continued to decline and have reached a low of $1.60 per share at the time of his resignation.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=SSBX&a=5&b=23&c=2000&d=6&e=27&f=2008&g=d &z=66&y=66
Silver State Bancorp reports $14.4 million first-quarter loss in 2008 and second-quarter reports have not been released at the time of Mr. McCain"s resignation.
http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structu res-ownership/5463236-1.html
Posted by plunger at 07/28/2008 @ 08:40am
Lawrence Lindsey & Gary North on housing and banking
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.28109/pub_detail.asp
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north642.html
Welcome to the Federal Control of EVERYTHING.
Got Communism?
Posted by plunger at 07/28/2008 @ 08:42am
PLUNGER, as we enter One Year, Four Months into "World War-3" and "martial law"...
any chance ANYBODY left who still buys your b.s.?
LOL
Posted by PLUNGER 03/28/2007 @ 7:46pm ---- BLOG | Posted 03/28/2007 @ 02:14am MoveOn Launches Online Townhalls by Ari Melber
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 09:43am
"Hillary was my first choice based largly upon the time she spent as co-president with Bill"
She was not co-President. She didn't have a security clearance, she didn't attend Cabinet meetings, she didn't get the daily intelligence briefing.
Posted by brunowe at 07/28/2008 @ 10:18am
I understand the zeal of the Greens to acquiesce to the market gluttony on higher oil prices, but there will be a price to pay when people in lower incomes realize that oil is pumping at 3.00 a barrel at the well and selling at 140.00 a barrel. I live on the per ma frost in Northern Maine and people have already burned to death, including a family of four, trying to stay warm with wood stoves. Oil distributors will not deliver oil under 100 gallons per delivery. That is presently 500.00 and the working poor don't have that kind of money. Wind/ solar isn't much of a choice. There is no sun here in the winter and wind is terribly unpredictable. We have a wind generation facility in Mars Hill that runs 50% of the time on electric company time. I realize that this isn't terribly convincing polemics, but I don't trust T. Boone Pickens or his sycophants to help us either. I think that I would rather trust Hugo Chavez. John Edwards was correct. The working poor don't have a voice in this discussion. I would have gladly paid for his 400.00 hair cut if only the silly media had given him a chance instead they played semantic games like they did with the people drowning in the sewage of New Orleans
Posted by julien38 at 07/28/2008 @ 10:46am
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter much what 85% of Americans think. All that matters is what voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida think. If a majority of them think Bush and the Republicans are doing a swell job, McCain will be our next President.
Posted by jread_21205 at 07/28/2008 @ 10:53am
Posted by brunowe at 07/28/2008 @ 10:18am
BRUNO, he worships the woman. If the tenets of that faith are that "she was co-President"...then that's what FRANK believes. End of story.
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 11:16am
frostyzoom - These meetings are being held all over the country, as an offshoot of the campaign, and the results will be presented in Denver. No lobbyists required (but if anybody wants to send me...)
Posted by ramara at 07/28/2008 @ 04:07am
oh, yes they are.
bring your cheque books.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 11:21am
"Answer me this," "FrankGrits" challenged, "Obama is recieving the support of 98% of the black community. Will he be in their debt if elected and how will the payoff manifest itself?"
Goodness! Perhaps it will happen that Obama - unlike most Democrats, who have always received the lion's share of the African-American vote, but have always taken it for granted - will regard himself as partly indebted to African-Americans , and will do a little more than most other Democrats have recently done to help the most systematically deprived, excluded, neglected, and undervalued segment of the native-born US-American population.
God forbid!
*Sarcasm alert*
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/28/2008 @ 11:59am
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/28/2008 @ 11:59am
I think FRANK made it abundantly clear his view of African-Americans with his little "robot caddies painted black" "joke" a while back.
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 12:11pm
PLUNGER,
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 09:43am
actually, what he posted about the banks was rather interesting.
read the two links. lawrence b. lindsey is an economist, not tinhat maker.
Bank Failures by Decade
2000-2007: 32
1990-1999: 925
1980-1989: 2,036
1970-1979: 79
1960-1969: 44
1950-1959: 28
1940-1949: 99
1934-1939: 312
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:25pm
Posted by julien38 at 07/28/2008 @ 10:46am
check this out:
http://www.dlsc.ca/how.htm
super cool. uh, i mean hot.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:28pm
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida think.
Posted by jread_21205 at 07/28/2008 @ 10:53am
ah, the only college where being stupid is a plus.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:29pm
the native-born US-American population.
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/28/2008 @ 11:59am
uh, that's 3/5 native born.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:31pm
Chicago chef Pat Bertoletti won the first World Grits Eating Championship in Louisiana by eating 21 pounds of buttery grits in 10 minutes.
To prepare his body to hold 21 pounds of grits, he had surgery to remove his dignity.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:34pm
my apologies to corn.
i love hominy*.
*ORIGIN early 17th cent.: shortened from Virginia Algonquian "uskatahomen".
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:35pm
yutsano at 07/28/2008 @ 03:11am
The answer to your query, alas, is a resounding YES. The people and global corporations that have profited mightily from the free-market, unregulated devastation of Middle America will do everything in their considerable power to maintain the status quo, regardless of who's in the White House, even if they can't steal the next election.
Not that I'm pessimistic or anything.
Posted by notbuyingit at 07/28/2008 @ 2:55pm
The failing of the "progressives" was to not realize, and hence not to defend themselves against an all out war on them. It has been very organized and well funded since the Reagan years when they figured out how to bilk the US treasury for billions and pass along the dirty money to the Republican "think tanks". They have succeeded in making the federal gov weak so they can further pillage billions and set up their own corporate fiefdoms outside the US. Doesn't it strike you as bizarre and telling, when we are borrowing billions from the Chinese and funneling it into Halliburton's coffers for dubiously executed contracts, they move their corporate headquarters to DUBAIS! Aren't they supposed to be an all American flag waving corporation, Dick?
Posted by snactacular at 07/28/2008 @ 3:20pm
The failing of the "progressives" was to not realize, and hence not to defend themselves against an all out war on them. It has been very organized and well funded since the Reagan years when they figured out how to bilk the US treasury for billions and pass along the dirty money to the Republican "think tanks". They have succeeded in making the federal gov weak so they can further pillage billions and set up there own corporate fiefdoms outside the US. Doesn't it strike you as bizarre and telling, when we are borrowing billions from the Chinese and funneling it into Halliburton's coffers for dubiously executed contracts, they move their corporate headquarters to DUBAIS! Aren't they supposed to be an all American flag waving corporation, Dick?
Posted by snactacular at 07/28/2008 @ 3:24pm
The failing of the "progressives" was to not realize, and hence not to defend themselves against an all out war on them. It has been very organized and well funded since the Reagan years when they figured out how to bilk the US treasury for billions and pass along the dirty money to the Republican "think tanks". They have succeeded in making the federal gov weak so they can further pillage billions and set up there own corporate fiefdoms outside the US. Doesn't it strike you as bizarre and telling, when we are borrowing billions from the Chinese and funneling it into Halliburton's coffers for dubiously executed contracts, they move their corporate headquarters to DUBAIS! Aren't they supposed to be an all American flag waving corporation, Dick?
Posted by snactacular at 07/28/2008 @ 3:27pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 12:25pm
Don't get sucked in, FROSTY...
Once down the Conspiracy path you go, forever dominate your life it will!
heheh
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 3:33pm
Once down the Conspiracy path you go, forever dominate your life it will! heheh
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 3:33pm
read the articles.
no conspiracy, just greed and stupidity.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 4:38pm
Put some bibs on libs. You're salivating all over yourselves with the idea of transforming this into the Socialist Republik of North America.
But Americans will more than likely wake up when someone presents the price tag in both lost dollars and lost freedoms.
the incessant cry of liberals for the need to have big government would be amusing if it wasn't so frightening. The left is absolutely convinced that only by having virtually every aspect of our lives controlled by the Federal government, can we be happy, healthy, and successful.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 4:47pm
But Americans will more than likely wake up when someone presents the price tag in both lost dollars and lost freedoms.=-----Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 4:47pm
Okay, again...ironic from the guy who has no problem dumping 3/4ths of a TRILLION (in debt mind you) into Iraq....
and tells us that torture, rendition, warrantless wiretaps, etc. are no big deal!
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 4:54pm
The "American dream" is in the toilet for large numbers of Americans, even in the so-called middle class. In fact, I would suggest that except for the rich, the powerful, and the privileged, most Americans live on the edge, whether they realize it or not. High debts, low paying jobs, few or no benefits, unemployment, no universal health care protection, and so on can suddenly lead to financial and other disasters. And when it comes to who has the advantage in an argument over debt or employment, the powerful creditor or the boss has it almost all his/her way. One in every 100 Americans, if I remember the statistics correctly, is in prison; the law gangs up on the poor and underprivileged. It is not about justice anymore, but about vengeance and punishment... about hard time... getting the riff-raff off the streets. "Give 'em life or the needle!" I would say that the United States has returned toward 19th century rogue capitalism; it can be a brutal, cruel place to live. Can the thing be fixed? It will take a renewal of class consciousness and an understanding of one's real interests, not to be fooled by Republican "wedge" issues like guns, religion, and abortion. Perhaps when Americans are suffering enough, they will catch on and act to improve their lives... but I am not holding my breath.
Posted by mikhailovich at 07/28/2008 @ 5:14pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 4:47pm
As opposed to the right who just want to government poking their noses in our windows, phone convos, emails and any other form of communication telling us how to live our lives, but as long as they don't touch our wallets it's ok.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 5:42pm
But Americans will more than likely wake up when someone presents the price tag in both lost dollars and lost freedoms.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 4:47pm
they haven't yet.
the dollar has depreciated 95% since the fed was established.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 5:43pm
Poverty is not relative, and it cannot be objectively determined by an expert. Adam Smith understood that very well.
Posted by marybretbrad at 07/28/2008
well, there are billions of experts around the world who can explain it to you very well........
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 5:48pm
The revolution won't be bloggerized.
∧_∧ ( ブッ ) （･ω･`) ﾉノ～′ (⊃⌒*⌒⊂) /_ノωヽ_)
Posted by chinpoko at 07/28/2008 @ 7:20pm
Okay, again...ironic from the guy who has no problem dumping 3/4ths of a TRILLION (in debt mind you) into Iraq....
and tells us that torture, rendition, warrantless wiretaps, etc. are no big deal!
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/28/2008 @ 4:54pm
Gee no surprise to see a Mask distortion posting.
1. Debt is the total of US obligations. And defense of our sovereignty and the safety of our citizens is the pre-eminent responsibility of the Federal Govt. It's not your liberal wish list of social programs.
Tell me Mask, were you all up in arms about the Debt from FDR's New Deal? How about the Great Society? How about the major social spending of the 80's, 90's, and even still today?
2. Cite where I said torture is no big deal. Another Mask lie.
3. Rendition and warrantless wiretaps have been our Fed operation since FDR. Were you writing against Clinton, or Carter about these activities?
And none of those reduce our freedoms. If you are part of a call from Al Qaeda or Hamas, or Hezbollah, you deserve to be listened to.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 7:35pm
To the person who says Obama will be in debt to the black community: Of course, all politicians are beholden to the people who voted/funded them. Look how Bush is beholden to oil interests. However, even if 100 percent of all blacks voted for Obama, it would still not come close to the total number of white people who will vote for him. I'm not sure that this is something that should cause any worries
Posted by bartley at 07/28/2008 @ 7:37pm
Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 6:55pm
Will he owe them? Not anymore than he will owe any other voter. I answered that part already. 90% of black voters ALWAYS vote Democrat. So how is Obama any different than every other Democrat who ran? How will it manifest itself? It won't that's how. He will do for them what he can. He isn't going to make blacks his priority as you seem to be implying Frank.
On a side note. McCain gets a lot of his money from defense contractors and oil companies, how will that manifest itself if he gets elected?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 7:48pm
". If you are part of a call from Al Qaeda or Hamas, or Hezbollah, you deserve to be listened to"
doe any reasonable person dispute that we must listen to al qaeda? no.
now, do reasonable people dispute that you need to get a warrant to listen to american citizens on american soil?
Posted by darladoon at 07/28/2008 @ 8:13pm
On a side note. McCain gets a lot of his money from defense contractors and oil companies, how will that manifest itself if he gets elected?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 7:48pm
basically the same way it will when obama is elected.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 8:53pm
here's a nightmare that's just starting:
As global warming intensifies wildfires, costs to fight them increase
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- The Forest Service has struggled for years to pay for fighting fires that last year alone scorched almost 10 million acres. As fire seasons grow longer and the blazes more intense in forests stressed by global warming, the agency's funding woes mount.
In fact, the Forest Service has already spent roughly $900 million this year, almost 75 percent of its fire suppression budget, and the season is just nearing its peak.
Nearly half the Forest Service's annual budget is now spent on battling wildfires or trying to prevent them. In 1991, only 13 percent of its budget was spent on fires.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/28/2008 @ 10:02pm
Says Katrina:
"A wildly deregulated, reckless free market that has socialized losses ..."
Socialized losses? What the hell does that mean? Further more, does she mean to denigrate the term "socialize(d)"? For those who don't understand, socialization generally means the even distribution of suffering. In which case "socialized losses" is exactly Katrina's end game. So why the bemoaning?
Posted by Person at 07/28/2008 @ 10:03pm
Katrina's claptrap is old hat. It's as predictable as tomorrow's sunrise or the atomic weight of hydrogen. What makes Katrina entertaining is her exploration into new and improved ways of saying the same old thing. In this case she wades into the murky water of statistics, where navigation is unreliable at best. As Homer Simpson so eloquently stated "Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. 14% of people know that."
Posted by Person at 07/28/2008 @ 10:17pm
Winyahn
Trouble (for you) is the source of the study says that Obama has been the media favorite for months. The study also seems to have a methodology problem in calculating what is negative versus positive. It uses examples that are simply horserace talk as negatives. That is flawed.
This study is not as recent (as you can see from the candidate's) but is pretty consistent with what we all see on TV every day.
http://www.journalism.org/node/8187 . Barack Obama positive stories: 46.7 and negative: 15.8. On the other hand, John McCain had the reverse media slant: Positive stories were 12.4 and negative stories were 47.9. (All numbers in percentages not raw numbers). The report also included Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuiani.
Here is another more recent survey of anti-McCain/Pro-Obama bias. http://www.journalism.org/node/11266
But truthfully, the press will do what it can to elect their candidate, Barack Obama.
Posted by usc1 at 07/29/2008 @ 08:36am
K.V.H, As a lifelong progressive who doesn`t always vote Democrartic and has never and will never vote re-puke I see this country spinning out of control due the Shrub and his small corpratist gov`t.The republicans like and want a small gov`t because the less people know what is going on the better for them to keep their wrong doings from the public.Our current administration is as crime ridden and corrupt as any gov`t can get, it reminds of Medieval monarchs of Europe.This country needs a change for the better, a gov`t that will be big and helpful to the whole country not just the privelidged and wealthy corporatist.We need a national healthcare plan to stem the rising cost,we need to help New Orleans get bcak on it`s feet , we need trade agreements that protect our jobs and our families against imports that lack safety standards we need a gov`t "for the people by the people" not a gov`t for the wealthy by the wealthy.For the Reich I say big gov`t works and your small conservative gov`t is for the wealthy and religious and their tax cuts that only concern the wealthy and not the regulur anti - abortion blue collar person, so keep voting for Mcwars and see where your kids and grand kids end up at on a war room map and pray for them everyday because Johnny Mcwars is a warmonger who doesn`t give a damn about you unless you are wealthy.
Posted by ams@50 at 07/29/2008 @ 10:36am
The Reich can`t help but to believe in the Noble Lie it`s to ingrained into their Dogma and values, they prefer to brainwashed than think for themselves.The MSM in this country is pathetica nd unreliable, that`s why I read the nation and other mags and the internet for other country`s newspapers and mags because our MSM is corporate controlled and it tells the jounalist what to say,besides they let old man Johnny Mcwars get away with Gaffe after Gaffe and don`t question his flip flopping at all.
Posted by ams@50 at 07/29/2008 @ 10:58am
it's because you're Obama's mamma.
Posted by marybretbrad at 07/29/2008
that makes you mccain's highfructose daddy!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/29/2008 @ 11:20am
Posted by ams@50 at 07/29/2008 @ 10:58am
another nutjob to ignore
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/29/2008 @ 11:20am
another nutjob to ignore
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/29/2008 @ 11:20am
hahahahaha!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/29/2008 @ 11:38am
Posted by frankgrits at 07/28/2008 @ 6:55pm Will he owe them? Not anymore than he will owe any other voter. I answered that part already. 90% of black voters ALWAYS vote Democrat. So how is Obama any different than every other Democrat who ran? How will it manifest itself? It won't that's how. He will do for them what he can. He isn't going to make blacks his priority as you seem to be implying Frank. On a side note. McCain gets a lot of his money from defense contractors and oil companies, how will that manifest itself if he gets elected? Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/28/2008 @ 7:48pm
Are you trying to turn him into a nother Jesse Jackson? Make people afraid of the darkies so we won't vote for him?
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/29/2008 @ 11:43am
It's bizarre but it seems there are more people sitting on the fence about McCave than for Obama.
Check out the favorability polls:
McCave
In the last 3 months McCave has had only 2% upward movement in positives, from 11 - 13%, while his negatives have had a back and forth 4% movement with and an increase of 1% 'very negative' to 14%. But the biggy is that 27-26% are neutral and 2-3% don't know who he is...
http://www.pollingreport.com/l.htm#McCain
Obama
In the last 3 months Obama on the other hand has had 4% movement in his positives going from 23% to 27% 'very positive' and has had a 3% decreased movement in his 'very negative', from 17% to 11%. But the biggest comparison is that Obama only has 16% that are neutral, with 1-2% not knowing who he is!
http://www.pollingreport.com/o.htm
This is putting the whole argument of Obama as being viewed by the public as the candidate that is questionably an empty suit or undefined-- on it's head. It's really McCave that is being the most confusing to the public.
There is hope after all that the McCave flippy-floppy behavior is actually resonating out there with the public; where it counts.
Posted by hsuBfools at 07/29/2008 @ 1:29pm
Contrast that to the things McCains supporters are saying: "Yeah, he's a cantankerous old fart but at least he know you can't tax your way to prosperity. Hopefully he'll die in office, quickly." Posted by marybretbrad at 07/29/2008 @ 1:36pm
Not all of them but most of them. Some people like Frank are saying that he will solve the energy problem, end terrorism, balance the budget and send us into a beautiful new age of prosperity.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/29/2008 @ 2:21pm
I wonder what the statistics used in the article would be if a conservative polling company did the polling as opposed to the progressive company that did the polling.
Posted by bartley at 07/29/2008 @ 2:42pm
I wonder what the statistics used in the article would be if a conservative polling company did the polling as opposed to the progressive company that did the polling. Posted by bartley at 07/29/2008 @ 2:42pm
Precisely why I don't trust polls. It would be the exact opposite. It wouldn't be more fair, just opposite.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/29/2008 @ 3:04pm
Precisely why I don't trust polls. It would be the exact opposite. It wouldn't be more fair, just opposite.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/29/2008 @ 3:04pm
Oh please, either the polls are scientifically based or they're not. Some polls utilize proper methodology others skew % of participants that either more closely correspond to the US population or on an anticipation based trend. The best way to understand polls is via grouping similar polls for an average and spotting the ones that are way off the reservation.
The red flag is if a poll will not give you their methodology nor has any transparency. The bias is usually pretty obvious dependent on what's trying to be proved esp if there isn't related supporting data.
Posted by hsuBfools at 07/29/2008 @ 5:44pm
Katrina, if you want a government that has a bigger role in your everyday life, good for you. But don't try to force it on me. And don't expect me to pay for it. You see, I recognize a bankrupt system when I see it too.
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 12:02pm
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 12:02pm
What party bankrupted it, bill?
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/30/2008 @ 12:24pm
You see, I recognize a bankrupt system when I see it too.
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008
so, you are ready to abolish the military and the fed?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/30/2008 @ 1:21pm
Since deregulation we have had the greatest transfer of wealth from the working class to the "entrepreneur" a French word for con artist. The Greenspan, Kudlow, Rubin class invented a word for those of us who really cared about the country we left our kids more than gluttony"protectionist". Protectionism" isn't a bad thing when you want to stop people from stealing your legacy and sweat equity. When they say; "busy creating wealth", be careful they are going to pick your pocket by selling you junk from china. 10% of the American's own 70% of the wealth in the country, the rest of us have to share our percentage with other countries, and we owe 37 trillion to overseas globals. Bush wants oil drilling by globals to export to other countries. After all the presidency doesn't pay all that much. We have exported Alaskan oil. Sovereign funds are buying and selling the same barrel of oil several times. 71%percent of the oil is on paper only, traded. oil pumps for 13.60 a barrel and is traded up to 140.00 if the banks can't sell the oil they bought at 140.00 they will suffer a loss. if foreign countries can't sell oil that they bought for 140.00, well you get the idea. There are rumors that they are storing oil off shore in tankers to keep supply down. The supply shortage is on paper only. When you are T. Boone Pickens and a billion is pocket change?
Posted by julien38 at 07/30/2008 @ 1:40pm
The Republicans did MASK, as you are of course implying. But just because THEY made a mockery of a good system doesn;t make the system bad.Same goes for the Army and the Fed, FZ
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 2:21pm
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008
spending more on the military than the rest of the world COMBINED is a bad system.
the dollar has been devalued 95% since the fed was created. is that a good system?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/30/2008 @ 2:51pm
Not if you wield more power than the rest of the world combined
I can't comment honestly on the Fed's effect on the money supply or its value. I don't know enough about it. If what you're saying involves the screwing up of yet another aspect of our society by yet another institution of gov., then I'd say we're somewhere on the same page
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 3:52pm
What is your solution?
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 3:54pm
What is your solution?
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008
commodity based money.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/30/2008 @ 4:14pm
Give me an example, if you have time. This is not my forte but I'm interested. I'll check in the morning. (Gotta pick up the wife :)
Are you talking like a barter system?
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 4:21pm
Are you talking like a barter system?
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/30/2008 @ 4:21pm
take out a twenty dollar bill. smell it. aaaaahhhhh.
it's a promissory note.
a promise of what?
based on what?
based on expectations and nothing more. when the fed says "cut interest rates" they mean "print more money; trust us".
our money was based on gold until 1971.
not now.
i don't think gold is the best choice. i believe a basket of universally traded commodities would be better.
one day........
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/30/2008 @ 9:52pm
FROSTY
Ok,
But what happens if one country has more of the commodity to sell than someone else? Or has easier access to it? Or decides to monopolize it?
I guess what I'm getting at is that a dollar bill is a THING, its only valuable because we've all decided that it is. And it is subject to our belief in it as a medium of exchange, its subject to the effects of shortages, and thievery. and monopoly and overabundance and all the rest. Wouldn't whatever commodity you chose wind up being subject to the same laws?
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/31/2008 @ 07:27am
Please go to the website below and read this article. It pertains to our government, and others, being on the wrong track.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/149626
If this doesn't raise some republican's eyebrows and cause them to think a little differently about W and company, I don't know what will. The fact that W and his family are joined at the hip with the very man the article talks about investigating should be enough to realize that W isn't the most forth coming president we've ever head.
After reading this, the strong arm tactics of the Saudi's is only matched by the republican strong arm tactics in our own government.
Posted by Wolfgang1 at 07/31/2008 @ 10:26am
"But what happens if one country has more of the commodity to sell than someone else? Or has easier access to it? Or decides to monopolize it?"
the saudis don't have to try to monopolize the oil. nature has done that for them.
the fact is that the oil producers are spread all over da woild.
we need an orderly process for the post peak oil era. america cannot go this one alone.
Posted by emile duBois at 07/31/2008 @ 10:49am
not one commodity, but many.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/31/2008 @ 11:23am
oil is da big one, vide the biggest american profit ever. an oil company. let's hope they pay their fair share in taxes.
put some oil guys in da white house, this is what you get. biggest private profit, biggest public debt.
public? oh shit, that's us.
Posted by emile duBois at 07/31/2008 @ 11:29am
But Americans will more than likely wake up when someone presents the price tag in both lost dollars and lost freedoms.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/28/2008 @ 4:47pm
Lost dollars? (Oh. Right. Like the approximately $4,500-$5,000 per second going into the black hole called The Occupation of Iraq"?)
Lost freedoms? (Ah. Like warrentless searches. Restricted access to the president's speeches. Protest zones with barbed wire. Not having the right to marry whomever we want. Citizens as terrorists.)
Don't you just love the way regressives think they are the only ones who "love liberty," are "patriotic," and have a real grasp of "American values"?
Posted by LeeAnnG at 07/31/2008 @ 3:06pm
565 Pioneer Road Waterloo, IA 50701 (319) 291-7728 mhkuester@gmail.com
Horrified at what I believe to be unwholesome economic and political trends in our country, I wrote my novel, REMEDY: D.E.T.O.X.X. AMERICA, because I realized that novels have a far wider audience than scholarly journals or the college classrooms where I spent my professional career teaching philosophy. The novel is a vehicle for consideration of contemporary United States economics and politics, using the culture of an alien planet to highlight what seem to me to be unwholesome conditions in the United States. The five action-packed days of the book center on the Living Wage Movement and our country‘s growing income disparities. The Movement has organized a bus caravan from Iowa to a huge Labor Day rally in Washington, D.C. The rally's organizers plan to demonstrate support for raising the national minimum wage to a living wage and for detoxifying our economy and corporate power structures. Through ballot initiatives and legislative action, the LWM has already succeeded in raising the minimum wage in its Iowa hometown and in neighboring towns and states. In doing so, it has had to contend with opposition from corporate power structures, most notably that of Megamart, the country's retail superpower. Factor in a sabotaged space station, the cutthroat clash of media empires, collapse of our country's financial institutions, and intrusion of humanoid aliens from the planet Pisces II. Result: the didactic thrust of REMEDY: D.E.T.O.X.X. AMERICA is subordinate to a fast-paced, complex plot which tests the insight and capabilities of all its characters to save Washington and our country. My passion and hope is that the variety of voices addressing these issues and proposing alternatives might have a significant impact on the future direction of our country. I would like my novel to be one of those voices.
Posted by HaroldKuester at 07/31/2008 @ 5:56pm
565 Pioneer Road Waterloo, IA 50701 (319) 291-7728 mhkuester@gmail.com
Horrified at what I believe to be unwholesome economic and political trends in our country, I wrote my novel, REMEDY: D.E.T.O.X.X. AMERICA, because I realized that novels have a far wider audience than scholarly journals or the college classrooms where I spent my professional career teaching philosophy. The novel is a vehicle for consideration of contemporary United States economics and politics, using the culture of an alien planet to highlight what seem to me to be unwholesome conditions in the United States. The five action-packed days of the book center on the Living Wage Movement and our country‘s growing income disparities. The Movement has organized a bus caravan from Iowa to a huge Labor Day rally in Washington, D.C. The rally's organizers plan to demonstrate support for raising the national minimum wage to a living wage and for detoxifying our economy and corporate power structures. Through ballot initiatives and legislative action, the LWM has already succeeded in raising the minimum wage in its Iowa hometown and in neighboring towns and states. In doing so, it has had to contend with opposition from corporate power structures, most notably that of Megamart, the country's retail superpower. Factor in a sabotaged space station, the cutthroat clash of media empires, collapse of our country's financial institutions, and intrusion of humanoid aliens from the planet Pisces II. Result: the didactic thrust of REMEDY: D.E.T.O.X.X. AMERICA is subordinate to a fast-paced, complex plot which tests the insight and capabilities of all its characters to save Washington and our country. My passion and hope is that the variety of voices addressing these issues and proposing alternatives might have a significant impact on the future direction of our country. I would like my novel to be one of those voices. The novel will be published by PublishAmerica in about six weeks.
Posted by HaroldKuester at 07/31/2008 @ 6:01pm
hey there, kilgore.
good luck with your book.
read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PublishAmerica
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/31/2008 @ 10:34pm
Who's better for the US economy McCain or Obama?
Some background
Corporate Taxes: In resent years the statutory tax rate for our highest earning corporations has been 35-37%. That places us as the country with the second highest rate globally; a couple percentage points behind Japan. What is often not mentioned is that the effective tax rate, the rate our corporations actually pay (the tax rate minus the incentives and tax loopholes that allow companies to reduce their tax burden) has been between 17.2% and 21.4% as reported by Robert McIntyre and T.D. Coo Nguyen in the "Multinational Monitor", Vol. 25, No. 11. That puts us in the middle of the pack worldwide--most other countries just don't have the number of loopholes we do.
Household Taxes: Since 1970 the top tax bracket has dropped from 71.75% to the current value of 35% (there was an increase from 31% to 39.6% in 1993 after which the downward tread resumed). During that same period the bottom bracket started at 14%, settled in at 15% from the late 80s through 2001 and then fell to its current level of %10. These are IRS and Congressional Budget Office numbers.
A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report by Aviva Aron-Done tracked the effective tax rate for both our highest wage earners and the middle quintile. The report showed that the highest earner's rate dropped dramatically during the 80s and then again in the late 90's while the middle quintile stayed relatively flat.
Income: The period starting with the end of WWII and extending to 1970 marked a time of great economic growth and economic parity. Since 1970 the incomes of those at the very top of the economic ladder and everyone else have dramatically diverged. These facts are not in dispute. Janet L. Yellen (President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco), pointed out that between 1973 and 2005 the highest 5% wage earners increased their earning at a rate almost 7 times that of the lowest 10% of earners.
The US Census Bureau charted the median annual family incomes for the six economic expansion periods between 1960 and 2007. The only period where the median income was flat was between 2000 and 2007--the reason, only those in the top 25% income bracket experienced growth, everyone else either stayed where they were or lost income.
Professor Larry Martles ("Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age") makes two important points in a recent New York Times article; first, "…80 percent of net income gains since 1980 went to people in the top 1 percent of the income distribution…" and second, "…the real incomes of working-poor families (at the lowest 20th percentile of the income distribution) grew six times as fast when Democrats held the White House…"
Supply Side vs. Trickle Down: Supply Side Economics is driven by two ideas. First, encouraging new businesses also encourages the growth of backend logistic support for those businesses thereby doubly job creation. Second, across the board tax reductions will both encourage new businesses plus grow the market for those businesses. What is understood by "honest" economists is that the tax reductions needed to produce this scenario will not be fully paid for by increased tax revenues from the new businesses--Supply Side Economics requires long-term deficit spending.
What has actually been practiced since the 1980s is Trickle Down Economics. David Stockman, Ronal Reagan's budget director, has admitted that the Reagan administration used the term Supply Side while they were really practicing Trickle Down. In Trickle Down Economics only one side of the equation is worked. Tax reductions are given only to the wealthy to encourage business growth. One flaw with this approach is that it is an extremely inefficient approach to economic growth. Giving those already wealthy more money doesn't assure they'll send it like we would wish--they might invest and spend some in this country, they might invest and spend overseas or more probably some combination of the two. Giving those in need money does guarantee growth in local markets--current headlines attesting to the economic benefits of the resent tax rebates prove this point.
Conclusion: This country's long term economic health will only be realized if we have a large and vibrant middle class. Re-building that middle class will require closing the economic divide between the very wealthy and the rest of us--moving people out of poverty. Republican administrations have proven they are not up to this task. McCain's insistence on keeping in place Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy will only hurt our economy.
Posted by Al4Music at 08/01/2008 @ 3:39pm
But at least its only 171 days, 5 hours and 10 minutes until Crawford Texas gets its idiot back...
http://www.backwardsbush.com/
Posted by leftofcenter at 08/01/2008 @ 6:50pm
If any of you idiots don't think we need a third party and dump these two, you really are diluded... Read B.O. book. He even admits if trouble starts, he will side with the muslims. I forsee a serious civil war in this country in the future.. It worked once, and we need a good flush.
Posted by GeorgeBush2009 at 08/02/2008 @ 8:13pm
bonk!
Posted by frosty zoom at 08/02/2008 @ 9:14pm