Understanding Obama and our times.

[Spence]

I've been trying to defend Obama somewhat around my little circle who like to criticize him at every turn (I'm talking about conservatives that I know), but this presidency is really starting to get on my nerves. Who would have guessed about 10 years ago that we would have the government buying private companies that are "too big to fail"? This thing is such a charade. From my knowledge, AIG is a very politically active company as far as donations go and the politicians are just returning the favor and now scapegoating the new CEO. Not that I'm surprised that Democrats are worse than the last years of Republican leadership.

Give it time to work.
It took 8 years to get us in this mess,12 week will not erase it.

I'm not taking up for the Republicans for the mess they let happen on their watch, but no one can spend their way out of debt. You can not just print more money and go on. That causes inflation. I thought we had learned this lesson.

You are a good guy Howdy. I bet you live within your means, pay your bills, and that you raised your family with values that mirrored your life. These politicians, Republican and Democrat, do not keep this nation living within their means. Together they have created a debt that will cost us 450 billion dollars just to manage in four years. That is like the minimum payment on a credit card. Now they want us to believe that the way to fix that is to spend more money. I am not an economist, but that doesn't seem like a responsible thing to me. We spend too much time supporting parties instead of people. If we don't change that we can't survive as a country.

[donovan]

Obama said it is a false choice between science and moral values. Not only is it not a false choice it is the only responsible choice. Our moral values need to dictate all that we do. Society certainly agrees on some moral values, do not kill, steal, have ponzi schemes, let the mid majors compete for the big one...etc.

To have a President say that science takes precedence over morality is beyond belief. I know a lot of scientists...a lot....I do not know one that, no matter what their politics, thinks that morality does not come into play with science.

I am sure he may not have meant what he said.....he seemingly is doing a lot of that.....but somehow he needs to understand he is the President and start acting like one.

[WoVeU]

I've been trying to defend Obama somewhat around my little circle who like to criticize him at every turn (I'm talking about conservatives that I know), but this presidency is really starting to get on my nerves. Who would have guessed about 10 years ago that we would have the government buying private companies that are "too big to fail"? This thing is such a charade. From my knowledge, AIG is a very politically active company as far as donations go and the politicians are just returning the favor and now scapegoating the new CEO. Not that I'm surprised that Democrats are worse than the last years of Republican leadership.

I'm P - I and 55'd that they were allowed to get that big! I went crazy through the 90's over this stuff. Nobody is talking about that. They should never have been allowed to merge and get to the massive size these companies are...ridiculous. Funny enough, the idea of the government standing in the way with anti-trust laws and such drew big cries of government intervention. Which intervention would you prefer?

[WoVeU]

Wow...the one that got me was Woodrow Wilson. He served for 8 years but I would swear looking at those pictures that he served for at least 30 years. He looks twice as hold after 8 years then he did when he entered office.

Ditto. I immediately thought the same. Poor guy...how would you like to have been the guy that sent our boys into "the war to end all wars!"

[WoVeU]

I've been trying to defend Obama somewhat around my little circle who like to criticize him at every turn (I'm talking about conservatives that I know), but this presidency is really starting to get on my nerves. Who would have guessed about 10 years ago that we would have the government buying private companies that are "too big to fail"? This thing is such a charade. From my knowledge, AIG is a very politically active company as far as donations go and the politicians are just returning the favor and now scapegoating the new CEO. Not that I'm surprised that Democrats are worse than the last years of Republican leadership.

Give it time to work.
It took 8 years to get us in this mess,12 week will not erase it.

Killing babies!
Patting criminals on the back!
Giving my money to bums!
We'll get this mess fixed in no time!

No seriously. I like some of the Dems platform...mostly from naturalists and those that strongly back community involvement. But I want one Democrat to tell me why? Why we support this under-performing segment of society in so many ways.
1) I pay uninsured motorists insurance (who causes this?)
2) I have kids and don't EIC (Earned Income Credit), some get thousands back ABOVE what they were taxed.
3) I pay taxes to support, the DEA, ATF, and many police officers....most time on drugs, domestic-disturbance, gang-violence, prostitution...who is causing this?
4) I pay big taxes to support medical care for people, medical cards, increased fees for those who go to the ER and don't pay, increased insurance, government programs....who is causing this?
5) I pay taxes for schools....some people pay 0 property tax....do their kids go to school? Who does this benefit?
6) SSI - huge checks....who gets this?
7) Disability - many are real and needed, but I've seen the fakes....who are they?
Painters, Laborers, low end construction and plant laborers...low earnings checks from unemployment...months every year even in a good economy. How many of them are out for a few weeks every other month voluntarily....who gets this?

All of this is the bottom 2 tiers...the non-workers and the most base workers who screwed up and took a job and watch the non-workers and want their cut!

So when you start adding these things (rarely or never called out) in addition to welfare, food stamps, HUD, public housing, school clothes/supplies checks, noon-academic scholarships, free baby-sitting, WIC and the fact that those bottom tiers don't pay tax....what in the world. Poor them....poor me, poor Donovan, Derek, Doss, Spence, Eric...poor stupid workers. I'm telling you that total Economic debt is huge. Further this is the true basis of our economic problems...non-performers, the white-collar crap comes later when businesses get continually creative because they can't forge a fundamentally strong company not enough qualified people...but they still look for false industry and pay-off schemes. Why would these people want to work, it would be crazy?

They should make all registered Democrats take 3 Math classes and at least 2 Economic classes...just for the above stuff! You ever heard of Adam Smith or John Maynard Keynes? No, screw Smith...where my check is? Where my hand-out is!!!???? I want to see somebody add all of this stuff up and other things I did not bring up. We have non-workers who have an equivalent earning of 30K plus a year and some bottom layer people making all the way from 14k earned to 36k earned and getting an equivalence of ~32k to ~50k (I've added this up for some poor me gripers before)....what a joke!!!!!

[WoVeU]

Obama said it is a false choice between science and moral values. Not only is it not a false choice it is the only responsible choice. Our moral values need to dictate all that we do. Society certainly agrees on some moral values, do not kill, steal, have ponzi schemes, let the mid majors compete for the big one...etc.

To have a President say that science takes precedence over morality is beyond belief. I know a lot of scientists...a lot....I do not know one that, no matter what their politics, thinks that morality does not come into play with science.

I am sure he may not have meant what he said.....he seemingly is doing a lot of that.....but somehow he needs to understand he is the President and start acting like one.

He came in with an indictment to be cool. First President ever to do so. (Teddy and John Kennedy had a bit of this.) This country has few redeeming characteristics left. Looking at the actions and positions of right here and right now...not standing on past accolades that we are so fond of doing.

[WoVeU]

I've been trying to defend Obama somewhat around my little circle who like to criticize him at every turn (I'm talking about conservatives that I know), but this presidency is really starting to get on my nerves. Who would have guessed about 10 years ago that we would have the government buying private companies that are "too big to fail"? This thing is such a charade. From my knowledge, AIG is a very politically active company as far as donations go and the politicians are just returning the favor and now scapegoating the new CEO. Not that I'm surprised that Democrats are worse than the last years of Republican leadership.

Give it time to work.
It took 8 years to get us in this mess,12 week will not erase it.

8 years, 8 years, 8 years.....hah! We have been getting into this mess since the 60's. I got news for you, Andrew Jackson is not walking through the door. Roosevelt or Kennedy either...and why those types seemed to bring some good things in...they forgot Economics. You have to be very careful when you offer people a deal, even a "New Deal". Good personal, charity, and church practices don't make good wares for government. When you start and grow programs that give....a good psychologist and economist will tell you that line will grow. Well look at the line now! Good ideas for humanity aren't good ideas for government intervention...no more than government intervention into private business.

People love the potential of science and what it can do...but then ignore human science and all the observation findings, isolated research and the every day witness-able, it is elementary. You can wish, hope, and click your heals, and love everybody, and feel really bad, and be passionate, and have sympathy to your eyeballs, and cry every time you see Sally Struthers or that "Native American" by the littered highway...and it won't bend the human condition of "how much can I get out of the most minimal effort!"

Government should structure only simple programs to hedge the most horrible conditions of business problems and human suffering...to try and bring some flattening to the trough and peak curve in each...where both result from economic cyclicals. Helping either should never be a constant function.

[Spence]

Obama said it is a false choice between science and moral values. Not only is it not a false choice it is the only responsible choice. Our moral values need to dictate all that we do. Society certainly agrees on some moral values, do not kill, steal, have ponzi schemes, let the mid majors compete for the big one...etc.

To have a President say that science takes precedence over morality is beyond belief. I know a lot of scientists...a lot....I do not know one that, no matter what their politics, thinks that morality does not come into play with science.

I am sure he may not have meant what he said.....he seemingly is doing a lot of that.....but somehow he needs to understand he is the President and start acting like one.

I agree completely. What good is science without the moral values to apply it correctly. We have the knowledge and the ability to kill people we would rather not deal with. Morality and the rule of law keeps that in check. We may one day be able to create a human, but I hope our morality tells us we shouldn't do it just because we can do it. Some things are better left undone.

[WoVeU]

Obama said it is a false choice between science and moral values. Not only is it not a false choice it is the only responsible choice. Our moral values need to dictate all that we do. Society certainly agrees on some moral values, do not kill, steal, have ponzi schemes, let the mid majors compete for the big one...etc.

To have a President say that science takes precedence over morality is beyond belief. I know a lot of scientists...a lot....I do not know one that, no matter what their politics, thinks that morality does not come into play with science.

I am sure he may not have meant what he said.....he seemingly is doing a lot of that.....but somehow he needs to understand he is the President and start acting like one.

I agree completely. What good is science without the moral values to apply it correctly. We have the knowledge and the ability to kill people we would rather not deal with. Morality and the rule of law keeps that in check. We may one day be able to create a human, but I hope our morality tells us we shouldn't do it just because we can do it. Some things are better left undone.

I am still baffled in that we haven't blown at least half of the world up with nuclear weapons!

[Derek]

Obama said it is a false choice between science and moral values. Not only is it not a false choice it is the only responsible choice. Our moral values need to dictate all that we do. Society certainly agrees on some moral values, do not kill, steal, have ponzi schemes, let the mid majors compete for the big one...etc.

To have a President say that science takes precedence over morality is beyond belief. I know a lot of scientists...a lot....I do not know one that, no matter what their politics, thinks that morality does not come into play with science.

I am sure he may not have meant what he said.....he seemingly is doing a lot of that.....but somehow he needs to understand he is the President and start acting like one.

Another good post...started off with a little humor.

I think Obama means exactly what he says. He is a liberal of the highest order. HE ADMITS that in college he liked hanging out with the Marxist on campus, because he felt that he fit in better, or was that hillary?? It's hard to tell anymore, were all bombarded with so much information. Man's technology has advanced beyond his own moral ability to control it.

And as far as acting like the President, his coat flung over his shoulder, and the relaxed dress code at the White House, the Wizards game with a T-Shirt and leather jacket tell me that he is nothing more than an American Idol President. A guy who has done nothing more with his life than build basketball courts in crappy neighborhoods, and harass banks in court while working with ACORN.

I pray that we wake up from this nightmare in 4 years, still possesing a sovereign Constitution.

[Spence]

Midway through the Clinton adminstration we started to try and get things under control economically. Then the people we put in power got drunk with that power and started spending and spending and spending. Now Obama and his wisdom says the secret to getting out of this mess is the very thing that got us into this mess.

[Derek]

I've been trying to defend Obama somewhat around my little circle who like to criticize him at every turn (I'm talking about conservatives that I know), but this presidency is really starting to get on my nerves. Who would have guessed about 10 years ago that we would have the government buying private companies that are "too big to fail"? This thing is such a charade. From my knowledge, AIG is a very politically active company as far as donations go and the politicians are just returning the favor and now scapegoating the new CEO. Not that I'm surprised that Democrats are worse than the last years of Republican leadership.

Give it time to work.
It took 8 years to get us in this mess,12 week will not erase it.

Really? Did the 5-6 years of INCREDIBLE economic growth, and record setting revenues to the Treasury, go unnoticed by half of America?

[Eric]

Of course 12 weeks won't erase it, but once the guvmint releases the money they have stored (much of the stimulus hasn't been tapped into), inflation will absolutely skyrocket. The debt combined with the unregulated printing of money will make the value of the dollar pretty much plummet. It would have been nice to throw that trillion that Obama just spent at our national debt.

[WoVeU]

Of course 12 weeks won't erase it, but once the guvmint releases the money they have stored (much of the stimulus hasn't been tapped into), inflation will absolutely skyrocket. The debt combined with the unregulated printing of money will make the value of the dollar pretty much plummet. It would have been nice to throw that trillion that Obama just spent at our national debt.

With our current debt load I think the Fed Gov will do that one day. As I don't see Americans having the where with all to pay the debt properly I think they will one day start printing money to pay the debt. Purposely allowing hyper-inflation by printing 15 to 20 trillion (whatever the total at that time) to pay the debt. The resulting inflation will make that seem like 1/20 to 1/33th o the load. But I think they will roll out some "method law on wages and prices" that will put the entire US system "in phase" to avoid the problem accelerating out of control if it were to run through the economy at its own course. Meaning they would likely put price controls along with wages and salaries into effect (say a monthly percentage increase allowance.)

Then what you really have is some 1 to 3 year period of dollar value change. Cars go from 30k to 900k. Houses from 150k to 4.5 Million. The smallest bill we then will print would be 20's. 1, 5, and 10 dollars are coin along with the quarter. Pennies, Nickels, and Dimes fade into antiquity. And all that really happened is we invoked sovereign power to steal 80 to 97% of what we owed. You pay the 3 to 5% plus a 3 year period of cash awkwardness. And loans would be either non-existent at that time or locked to the inflationary rate with a value and stability review tacked to the end of the loan.

[Spence]

Of course 12 weeks won't erase it, but once the guvmint releases the money they have stored (much of the stimulus hasn't been tapped into), inflation will absolutely skyrocket. The debt combined with the unregulated printing of money will make the value of the dollar pretty much plummet. It would have been nice to throw that trillion that Obama just spent at our national debt.

The dollar has already plummeted to almost $1.36 against the euro and $1.45 against British pound. This week the dollar had the biggest drop in over 24 years. This makes everything we buy from other countries more expensive. It inflates the cost of everything. In the short term it will make our products more attractive internationally, but we get most of our money for deficit spending from China. As our debt grows to a point where they believe we can't manage it, they will charge us more interest to secure the loan because our credit rating as a country will go down. Then the government will be spending almost every thing brought in by taxes every year to manage the debt. That means taxes will have to be raised to cover the cost of just keeping the government open for business. Lots of state governments are going through this right now. California is bankrupt, they have a terrible credit rating and they are having a hard time securing credit because they can't pay their debt. That will mirror what will happen to us nationally. The bad thing about this is that our politicians know exactly what is going to happen and they are too worried about being elected in a couple years to care. That is why they shouldn't be elected in a couple of years.