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Quote:
Originally posted here by preacherman481
Hi,
The Old Man, I agree with you. Bush inherited a lot of problems. This stuff was brewing before he ever got in office.
I love hearing that, it's very easy to blame the previous administration for current problems- this debate could go on forever , so I'd rather not get into it. But regardless of who caused the problems or where they came from, it is the present administration's duty to resolve them.
Quote:
Originally posted here by Lucas420
Your a communist. We live in a capitalistic society where the economy is governed by business and not by the president. The free market system decides when jobs should be opened and closed. As long as I'm around, I will not let the government control the business world.
SANDMAn
While the government doesn't - and shouldn't - control the economy, it sure as hell has a huge impact on it. The US's economic system is that of free enterprise, however it is not in any way completely free from the public sector. The government plays a huge role in the US economy.
Government laws shape much of what businesses can and cannot do. The Fed manipulates interest rates and by several other methods influences the economy. Can you not tell me Alan Greenspan has no effect on the state economy? To find more on the roles of the Fed refer here: http://www.frbsf.org/publications/fe...ief/roles.html .
Do you not think that the 18th amendment of prohibition affected the economy at all? Does it not affect the economy when the national minimum wage is rased? Did WWII not help us out of the Great Depression?
The fact is our free market system, isn't totally free from government. Government is nessarry to atleast enforce the rules of a free market, but how big of a role should government play?
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I'm just a hard right-winged son of a gun.
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this guy wants me to believe in one side of a one party system. hes no better than the rest everyhting he says is bullshit trying to get us to believe more of the same. vote for the other party and things will be right as rain. sorry, but i think i've been dosed me with a red pill. im not buyen' it.
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Well you gotta admit Tedob, we have been getting shafted by both Dems and the Republicans :D. I mean it's gotten to be so that my vote really doesn't count. I want my Rep and my Senator to be accountable to ME! Not some corporation which gave him $10k for his campaign.
And Lucas, we are actually socialist. Ever heard of govt subsidies? Ever heard of the WTO allowing the EU to slap sanctions on US products coz it constituted unfair trade practices? Ever heard of Worldcom and Enron filing for bankruptcy protection?What do you think that means...it means my tax dollars go to boost a lousily run corp and payoff shareholders. while the CEO makes a 20 mil mansion in Fl! We're socialist and dont let anyone tell you otherwise :) Just not in it's true sense.
Anyone wanna know how much their companies CEO makes visit AFL-CIO
My rant is done....and anyone looking for a laugh can visit this website
Peace
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I used to be skeptical of Iraq being a 'phony excuse for a war'. But from all the articles I have read on this whole issue, it sounds like the US is targeting Saddam, not Iraq, and also that Saddam has very little support from his fellow Iraqis. If the aim of the US is truly 'regime change' (not something I agree with btw) then they could achieve this without having to start another war. And if even half of those accusations from CK's first post are true, then a war would be a very effective way of encouraging the public to forget about these things - remember Wag the Dog?
Also, there are no truly capitalist or truly socialist nations in the world. Capitalism in its pure form entails no government interference in business whatsoever. Look at the Microsoft antitrust case for an example of this happening in the US. Public welfare also has absolutely no place in a capitalist society. But these things do not make the US a socialist nation - more a capitalist nation with parts of socialism, just as the nations that we think of as socialist or communist have parts of capitalism.
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Originally posted here by Wickdgin
Government is nessarry to atleast enforce the rules of a free market, but how big of a role should government play?
Ideally, the only thing the government should do as far as business is concerned is protect from undue force in transactions, to ensure that each of these transactions is based entirely on the merits of the product or service involved, rather than on any other influencing factors (threats, violence etc.). However, this is not a limit placed on governmental activity in most 'capitalist' nations.
-toad
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its only socialist if your amoung the economically elite, its the working person that always has to shell it out. we must subsidise the airlines, who in turn ****-over all the travel agents, not to mention their own employees.
your right Mahakaal our government no longer represents us. its all about big bucks.
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Just to point out that there is no way we could have had a "budget surplus" during the Draft-Doger- in- Chiefs run as President or when GW took office... The National Debt is well over a trillion dollars... As long as the debt exists there can be no surplus... Unless the US decides to implement a Marshal Plan for ourselves and forgive the debt we will always have a deficit... To blame GW for the deficit is wrong... To say that the war with Iraq is just a smoke screan is just as wrong... Iraq is a prblem because of the paper tiger that is the UN... If they had allowed for his remoal during the Gulf War there would not be talk of war with Iraq now... The blame lays with the UN and no where else... unemployment was going up before GW took office... I doubt it has risen 35% since he took office... I do not know for sure but I doubt it... Since I have a bigger stake than most here, as far as I know, in any war we may or may not have with Iraq I and my wife feel that war with Iraq is justifed... He is a despot who has the serious potential to bring an even worse attack to America... Not the Iraqis themselves but terrorists... Who IMO he would not hesitate to give biological or chemical weapons to if he thought he could get away with it... And if not us than Israel... I for one think that if he did hit Israel with any type of chemical or biological weapon the middle east would become a lake of nuclear fire in lees time then it would take the UN to grab its colective butt and say ooops... maybe we should have supported the US... I would rather it gets over with now than wait for him to build even more of the crap...
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Just an observation here....there are three sides to every story. Side 1 (Republican), side 2 (Democrat) and side 3 (the truth), which lies somewhere inbetween sides 1 and 2.
When it comes to the economy, it's kind of hard for me to put the blame on one administration. The Federal Reserve has been run by the same man since the Reagan administration, and IF you have to assign blame to a branch of the government, thats where the blame should go. To be perfectly honest though, GREED is what got our economy into the shape its in today, pure and simple. People were out to make a quick buck, and were willing to go to whatever means neccesary to do so.
But now don't think I'm defending GWB....I'm not. I don't think that the executive branch should have the far-reaching powers that our president covets so much....thats a sttart down the road to a dictatorship, and I don't want to go there....EVER. And I do think that Kenny-boy Lay, along with the rest of our scandelous corporate execs need to be waking up snuggled up to 'Bubba' every morning, having lost their ability to make noise while 'breaking wind' in the process. Put the SOB's in jail and sell their assets to refinance the 401k's they destroyed. So yeah, GWB is guilty of taking advantage of the crisis to divert our attention from the really important stuff, but I would bet the farm that Bill Clinton would have loved to have had a crisis like this about the time Monica and her stained dress took a stroll across the headlines. Bad qualities don't recognize party lines folks.
To put it plainly, we need election reform in this country BIG-TIME, and fast. America is run by big business at the present time, and will continue to be until the system as it is now is re-vamped. For a look at a discussion of this very subject (and hopefully some fresh input), take a look at The separation of Corp. and State , although I had some difficulty getting that thread to pull up, it was a pretty good discussion of the problems with our electoral and campaign finance systems.
<EDIT> Lucas420......please do not post while under the influence of mind altering drugs....it confuses us...
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For Allen...the Fed isn't actually Federal. It is owned by it's members which happen to be either private OR publicly held banks who want to make use of it's facilities(like storing/xfering currency). I should know, I work at one.
Edit:Oops :D I'm getting off topic.
2nd Edit: I wasn't at all trying to take the blame off the Fed that belongs to it.
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Point well taken my friend, but I still think it belongs in the crosshairs when shooting the bullet of economic blame. Not to say it is the only place to direct responsibility for the current situation, just one of the main ones. Don't even get me started on the SEC.... ;)
