!@#$% Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 ok then..moving into one of the other three threads on katrina and aftermath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelofdeath Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 "My grandmother, rest her soul, lived in Ontario when she was young. And, I learned a lot about respect and manners from her, usually by her example alone. She was one of the coolest and most insightful people I'll ever know, and she was respected by everyone, it seemed. I don't see a lot of that kind of integrity nowadays in the States, and it's sad. When you think about it, if the folks in charge and the "Religious Right" were really about the Christian ideals they claim to defend, we probably wouldn't be at war right now, the people of NOLA would have been taken care of a lot sooner, and the Bible's concept of charity would have instilled the sense of duty to see the way clear to make sure that the poor and infirm of all races or creeds would want for nothing. Imagine Dick Cheney giving 10% of his dividends from Halliburton to the people he claims to be there for. Imagine Bush realizing that his much-vaunted sense of duty to democracy shouldn't be forced upon a sovereign nation, and instead putting forth the effort (peaceably) to take care of the injustices and hardship that exist right here in America." there is actually alot of truth in this paragraph. the "real" christian right is not the ardent bush supporters, but members of the constitution party. now of course these people would be considered loon balls by most, but they are definately anti bush. of course if i were to say, the liberal establishment is to blame for the decline in manners, values, and overall quality of life, i'll get bashed. Hell even chuck schumer said be blames the Warren court for being to over the top, and that he thinks the california Pledge banning is rediculous. the problem i see with this relationship between this topic and N.O. is that FEMA is turning down private donations, turning walmart trucks around, not letting volunteers enter to help. they would rather give thier employees and agents, credit cards to "buy supplies" with a 250,000$ limit, with no holds barred. this is not accomplishing anything. private aid no doubt can take care of this. just because "its the right thing to do" (throw endless amounts of money at the city, with no plan) doesnt fix things. im not sure people realize how compassionate the private citizens are in this country. one ironic note, according to a few different surveys, the states with the lowest povery levels, mississippi and arkansas, both donated the highest percentages out of all the other states. (im not talking about Katrina aid) this is ironic. while you dont hear cheney or bush shelling out money, on the same note, you dont see the generous compassionate liberals doing it either. which again reinforces that both parties are different sides of a wooden nickel. they think government, and its failed war on poverty will fix everything. we'll see. the great society failed..... lets see how this katrina rebuilding works out.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 Don't even bother argueing with that asshole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9314188/#050916 I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse district last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been without the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were excited) when the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles was positively jubilant on the live update edition of Nightly News that we fed to the West Coast. The mini-mart, long ago cleaned out by looters, was nonetheless bathed in light, including the empty, roped-off gas pumps. The motorcade route through the district was partially lit no more than 30 minutes before POTUS drove through. And yet last night, no more than an hour after the President departed, the lights went out. The entire area was plunged into total darkness again, to audible groans. It's enough to make some of the folks here who witnessed it... jump to certain conclusions. It is impossible to over-emphasize the extent to which this area is under government occupation, and portions of it under government-enforced lockdown. Police cars rule the streets. They (along with Humvees, ambulances, fire apparatus, FEMA trucks and all official-looking SUVs) are generally not stopped at checkpoints and roadblocks. All other vehicles are subject to long lines and snap judgments and must PROVE they have vital business inside the vast roped-off regions here. If we did not have the services of an off-duty law enforcement officer, we could not do our jobs in the course of a work day and get back in time to put together the broadcast and get on the air. As we are about to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelofdeath Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 16 2005, 04:12 PM Don't even bother argueing with that asshole. Quoted post so much for "ignoring" me, eh? sike you know i love you man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Wait...did I miss something here? Fermentor, are you actually IN NOLA right now, or did I read that wrong? If so, how did you get back in, as a resident or aid worker? What's the story on the businesses being told to reopen if possible, when there's massive gas leaks, health risks galore and no municipal water supply? How are they handling municipal services like garbage, and street maintenance? My guess is that it's all being handled by Halliburton at this point. Some of my old punk friends are getting organized to go down there to aid with cleanup in exchange for permission to homestead some of the less damaged buildings. Have you heard about that, or seen anything of that sort? I have more questions, in case you are there, but I'll hold off till you get back to me. As I said, I may have taken that post out of context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POIESIS Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 interesting sidebar to the animal farm thing..we all know it was a satire about the soviet union, however, not too many people are aware that orwell wrote an introductory lament about censorship in england(which was suppressed) in which he argued that basically england and the soviet union have unsettling parallels. in england people were not disappeared by secret police and whatnot, but the end result was nearly the same, where independent thinkers and intellectuals challenging the state were marginalized. carry on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 Originally posted by shai hulud@Sep 16 2005, 09:48 PM Wait...did I miss something here? Fermentor, are you actually IN NOLA right now, or did I read that wrong? If so, how did you get back in, as a resident or aid worker? What's the story on the businesses being told to reopen if possible, when there's massive gas leaks, health risks galore and no municipal water supply? How are they handling municipal services like garbage, and street maintenance? My guess is that it's all being handled by Halliburton at this point. Some of my old punk friends are getting organized to go down there to aid with cleanup in exchange for permission to homestead some of the less damaged buildings. Have you heard about that, or seen anything of that sort? I have more questions, in case you are there, but I'll hold off till you get back to me. As I said, I may have taken that post out of context. Quoted post No, no, I'm in Boston, not anywhere near the disaster. That's from a reporter from MSNBC. Sorry about the confusion, when I post something with a link at the top, anything under it is from that link until I put in something like this: -------------- Ignoring angelofdeath is the one of the most enjoyable things I've done all week. See? Like that, sorry about the confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 Originally posted by POIESIS@Sep 16 2005, 10:15 PM interesting sidebar to the animal farm thing..we all know it was a satire about the soviet union, however, not too many people are aware that orwell wrote an introductory lament about censorship in england(which was suppressed) in which he argued that basically england and the soviet union have unsettling parallels. in england people were not disappeared by secret police and whatnot, but the end result was nearly the same, where independent thinkers and intellectuals challenging the state were marginalized. carry on... Quoted post This is true, even up to the 1980's. For a much less covered stab at the subject of fascism and censorship, Alan Moore's V for Vendetta comic series from 1983 really conveys the counterculture's feelings of hopelessness at the time. Read it before they butcher it with the movie that's being made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 http://democracycorps.com/weekly/Public_Po...ember_15_05.pdf --------- Check it out, an extensive collection of pollings done during the last couple of weeks by numerous sources. Bush's ratings are at an all-time low, in fact, the only president with approval ratings this low in the past was Nixon during the Watergate scandal. The report is 50 pages long, the first 3 pages sum it up really well. The most interesting thing to look at is his approval ratings right before and right after 9/11/05. Before he was at 53.3% approval and 40% disapproval, and immediatly after he was at 84.7% and 9.2%. Shows how easily a country can be blinded by propaganda and good speech writers (even if the person reading the speeches can't speak properly). I'll admit it, for a while I thought he was doing the right thing, mainly up until the Iraq war was started, that's when I realized how badly misinformed me and everyone else was. Bush is now at 41% approval and 53.4% disapproval. Again, the only other president to acheive those numbers was Nixon during the Watergate scandal, and frankly, I believe the Bush administration as a whole is a hell of a lot worse then Nixon and is putting us in position where we will be struggling from the after-effects for many, many years. Not surprisingly, his lowest approval numbers are on how he is handling the current gas crisis. Once this winter comes, a lot of people are going to really start struggling to survive, they say the heating bills are going to go up 50 percent from last year. Of course, the government shouldn't help these people out at all and they should be left to fend for themselves and hunt rabbits and plant corn like the true Americans that founded this country on selfishness and greed (/sarcasm). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Originally posted by fermentor666+Sep 16 2005, 03:31 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (fermentor666 - Sep 16 2005, 03:31 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-shai hulud@Sep 16 2005, 09:48 PM Wait...did I miss something here? Fermentor, are you actually IN NOLA right now, or did I read that wrong? If so, how did you get back in, as a resident or aid worker? What's the story on the businesses being told to reopen if possible, when there's massive gas leaks, health risks galore and no municipal water supply? How are they handling municipal services like garbage, and street maintenance? My guess is that it's all being handled by Halliburton at this point. Some of my old punk friends are getting organized to go down there to aid with cleanup in exchange for permission to homestead some of the less damaged buildings. Have you heard about that, or seen anything of that sort? I have more questions, in case you are there, but I'll hold off till you get back to me. As I said, I may have taken that post out of context. Quoted post No, no, I'm in Boston, not anywhere near the disaster. That's from a reporter from MSNBC. Sorry about the confusion, when I post something with a link at the top, anything under it is from that link until I put in something like this: -------------- Ignoring angelofdeath is the one of the most enjoyable things I've done all week. See? Like that, sorry about the confusion. Quoted post [/b]Oh, okay. I was considering going down to NOLA to see if I could help out by doing research for individuals who lost all their paperwork and ID in the flood, so they could apply for jobs and loans, collect any benefits, pick up mail, travel... and whatever else needs ID...oh, I forgot the most important one! Smokes. They need smokes, beer and porno, man, and can't buy up w/o ID. I'm kidding...but, think on that. I'd be screwed! But, while I could easily take a month off from work (legal researcher) to do it, there's no way I could afford it. Also, the situation still looks hairy enough to give me second thoughts...and I live in Oakland? Wow. So, I kind of lost track of baseball out that way...how are the Sox doing? The Giants finally got Barry Bonds back, and their game is about ten thousand times better. The A's are smokin', though I think they're getting a little run through right now and are losing some games they need. oh, yeah...all my Boston friends out his way smiled for a month last year. Vindicated at last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villain Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by symbols@Sep 16 2005, 08:16 AM i still think that socialism, alive and well in many parts of the world (of course coupled with democracy, you narrow minded libertarians) is doing a decent job... Quoted post I have to agree with you there. It seems to me that social democracies have been most effective in practice according to historical evidence as far as large scale, modern governments go. It would be so nice if we could disapprove bush out of office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereotype V.001 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 "Shows how easily a country can be blinded by propaganda and good speech writers " I concur, I wish Clinton was still in office. Now he knew how to respond to terrorism. His non-responsive policy not only kicked ass, but was politically correct. Bush Uno was almost as good. As the saying goes "There's no defense like a good sit on your ass and take no course of action." "Again, the only other president to acheive those numbers was Nixon during the Watergate scandal, and frankly, I believe the Bush administration as a whole is a hell of a lot worse then Nixon and is putting us in position where we will be struggling from the after-effects for many, many years." You did hear about that whole Vietnam thing right? Illegal bombing of Cambodia on Nixon's behest? 50,000 dead Americans? My Lai? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereotype V.001 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Villain- They didn't call it the National SOCIALIST German Worker's party because it's a catchy name. Part of the reason of why he came to power was because he used Socialism to gain support. "I am working for the workers, I'm Adolf Hitler, and I approve of this message!" That sort of thing. The difference between Adolf and Stalin is Hitler blatantly did whatever he wanted once he was in control, while Stalin hid behind the "Communist" title and covered up his massacres. I don't have a problem with using socialist ideas to a certain extent. It is a good idea, it is just very easily corruptable. But I saw the "socialism is doing ok in europe" quote and found it hilariously ironic! "And, I'm not talking trash, but...Stereotype, what exactly do you stand for? I can't figure it out. Little help here! " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawood Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by Stereotype V.001@Sep 17 2005, 02:20 AM "Shows how easily a country can be blinded by propaganda and good speech writers " Quoted post It's not just good speech writing, It's also a conditioning / dumbing down. Most of us are so busy working and just trying to scrape by to make ends meet that we have no time to stop and take our government to task, I mean, we love our cushy sofa and that 60'' TV , right? Not to mention, the car, man, and the Computer, Damn, what the hell would you do if they took the computer away???? That's why. When do we have time to ACTUALLY do something except complain and bark at the moon? Do you think our economics system is not set for exactly that? Most people just get by, Money is like that, Even if you are filthy rich,for the most part you'll still feel like you are just scraping by, because your toys cost more than my toys. Straight up, Our lust for these worldy luxuries is what is truly destroying us. And we have the nerve to blame the next guy, when you are as greedy as the next guy. It's a disease, worse than a heart attack....this greed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermentor666 Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 ^^ It's true, we're fucked. Originally posted by Stereotype V.001@Sep 17 2005, 02:20 AM You did hear about that whole Vietnam thing right? Illegal bombing of Cambodia on Nixon's behest? 50,000 dead Americans? My Lai? Quoted post We started training the troops in Vietnam over a decade before Nixon was president. It officially started when Lyndon B. Johnson was in office, but the US had a presence over there as far back as Eisenhower. Nixon did his fair share of fucking up in regards to Vietnam, but you can't rest the blame of the Vietnam war on him. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/timeline.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by Stereotype V.001@Sep 16 2005, 07:33 PM Villain- They didn't call it the National SOCIALIST German Worker's party because it's a catchy name. Part of the reason of why he came to power was because he used Socialism to gain support. "I am working for the workers, I'm Adolf Hitler, and I approve of this message!" That sort of thing. The difference between Adolf and Stalin is Hitler blatantly did whatever he wanted once he was in control, while Stalin hid behind the "Communist" title and covered up his massacres. I don't have a problem with using socialist ideas to a certain extent. It is a good idea, it is just very easily corruptable. But I saw the "socialism is doing ok in europe" quote and found it hilariously ironic! "And, I'm not talking trash, but...Stereotype, what exactly do you stand for? I can't figure it out. Little help here! " Quoted post :haha: Sheeeeit...All right then, at least I understand now. But, which one are you? They had a a really good name for what Hitler and Stalin did- "The Big Lie." Better than anything I could come up with. Why isn't anybody talking about Cuba in regards to Socialist ideology? Sure, they're impoverished by American standards, and I'll be the last one to say I agree with Castro all the time, but he's been making it work pretty well for almost 50 years. Almost 100% literacy and no economic stratificaton are remarkable achievements, if you ask me. He's not perfect, but then again Batista was an asshole who deserved to get his ass handed to him. Let's see what the peanut gallery has to say to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 LBJ was the 1965 version of Bush. Same state, lots of the same policy, and history will show, I'm sure, the same results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POIESIS Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 another interesting sidenote/parallel, LBJ was a total brown & root crony... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF1 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by symbols@Sep 16 2005, 01:16 PM i still think that socialism, alive and well in many parts of the world (of course coupled with democracy, you narrow minded libertarians) is doing a decent job... and for chrissakes, i don't see how you can argue against that with a straight face when our neighbor to the north is doing pretty well for itself, with low crime, comparably, a decent job market and economy and no ongoing wars. not too mention they've got the 'freedom' we think we have. anyone been to vancouver lately? haha. Quoted post What's funny as shit is that I was just there today. And yes you're absolutely right about everything you said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF1 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by shai hulud@Sep 17 2005, 06:29 AM Why isn't anybody talking about Cuba in regards to Socialist ideology? Sure, they're impoverished by American standards, and I'll be the last one to say I agree with Castro all the time, but he's been making it work pretty well for almost 50 years. Almost 100% literacy and no economic stratificaton are remarkable achievements, if you ask me. He's not perfect, but then again Batista was an asshole who deserved to get his ass handed to him. Quoted post Not too mention they've been cut off by our embargo for decades and still seem to be doing alright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereotype V.001 Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 17 2005, 02:18 AM We started training the troops in Vietnam over a decade before Nixon was president. It officially started when Lyndon B. Johnson was in office, but the US had a presence over there as far back as Eisenhower. Nixon did his fair share of fucking up in regards to Vietnam, but you can't rest the blame of the Vietnam war on him. http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/vietnam/timeline.htm Quoted post We've actually had the OSS in there well before Japan called it quits, although that's besides the point. Nixon was arguably the worst president with the various fucked up things he said and did. I bet there are plenty of timelines documenting that too. (Cover up massacre of village-bomb the shit out of Cambodia-treat US soldiers as an expendable resource ect) No, he didn't initiate the Vietnam conflict, but he made it alot worse and impossible to win. "Why isn't anybody talking about Cuba in regards to Socialist ideology? Sure, they're impoverished by American standards, and I'll be the last one to say I agree with Castro all the time, but he's been making it work pretty well for almost 50 years. Almost 100% literacy and no economic stratificaton are remarkable achievements, if you ask me. He's not perfect, but then again Batista was an asshole who deserved to get his ass handed to him. " Be wary of what you hear from a state controlled media that isn't allowed to dissent. Go down to Miami and ask some of the many refugees for an opinion who would rather launch a home made raft in shark infested waters with 40-50 people onboard than continue to live in Cuba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumy Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Originally posted by fermentor666@Sep 15 2005, 07:38 PM DailyKos: This WaPo article provides a fair overview of just some of the costs of Katrina. Apparently, Rove Bush has decided to throw money at the problem hand over fist, in an attempt to deflect criticism over his administration's unforgivable bungling in the most critical days after the storm. But the last sentences of the article are so spectacularly representative of the entire new-conservative movement that they really stand as a monument to the whole disaster: To reach $62 billion in savings, Cato Institute analysts Chris Edwards and Stephen Slivinski have proposed cutting NASA in half, slashing energy research and subsidies just as Congress is gearing up to increase them in the face of soaring gasoline prices, cutting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' budget by $4.6 billion after its levees failed to protect New Orleans, and eliminating $4.2 billion in homeland security grants while lawmakers are debating the nation's lack of preparedness. A younger me would have marveled at the level of sheer square-headed poindexterism required to propose that, in order to finance the reconstruction of New Orleans... we further cut funding for the levees. The slightly older me, however, recognizes that even think-tank poindexterism isn't really at play here. These people honestly don't give a crap about the American population. Doesn't enter their heads. Their agenda is so far removed from even basic logic that it can only be compared to a religion. Conservative is less government philosophy than it is Rich Man's Religion. Gotta Cut, if it doesn't affect me personally. Gotta Spend, if I get a piece of that pie. Gotta Proselytize, if it convinces the poor suckers over the county line to check the box next to my name. Gotta Vote the way the party tells me to, or the money spigot gets turned off. So in Bush's speech tonight, we can expect to hear about a whole hell of a lot of money to be spent... and we can be assured that the money will continue to go to Bush-connected friends, not local businesses desperately in need of a way back on their feet. We can expect to hear a word or two about 'responsibility', if the focus group said it was needed. Just the word; not a whit else. Not a peep about the now hardly-shocking revelations that maybe, just maybe, Bush sycophant Brown was merely one of a sea of other Bush appointees who, to a man, didn't have the slightest idea of how to respond to an actual emergency that didn't involve making sure the Presidential Backdrop was printed and delivered in time. And still doesn't. The costs for rebuilding New Orleans are, indeed, going to be enormous. And given that the entire city is already being turned into a toxic trough for well-connected administration friends to feed at, I think we can expect the same level of corruption, cronyism, and incompetence that has been on display in every Bush-era issue from Enron and the California blackouts to the Iraq "reconstruction". It would appear Karl Rove has successfully been rid of his kidney stones. We'll watch tonight to see the first results, but I don't expect the color of the pee to markedly change. Quoted post real talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelofdeath Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 The Coming Category 5 Financial Hurricane by Ron Paul Before the US House of Representatives, September 15, 2005 The tragic scenes of abject poverty in New Orleans revealed on national TV by Katrina’s destruction were real eye-openers for many. These scenes prompted two emotional reactions. One side claims Katrina proved there was not enough government welfare, and its distribution was based on race. The other side claims we need to pump billions of new dollars into the very federal agency that failed (FEMA), while giving it extraordinary new police powers. Both sides support more authoritarianism, more centralization, and even the imposition of martial law in times of natural disasters. There is no hint that we will resort to reason now that the failed welfare policies of the past 60 years have been laid bare. Certainly no one has connected the tragedy of poverty in New Orleans to the flawed monetary system that has significantly contributed to the impoverishment of a huge segment of American society. Congress reacted to Katrina in the expected irresponsible manner. It immediately appropriated over $60 billion with little planning or debate. Taxes won’t be raised to pay the bill – fortunately. There will be no offsets or spending reductions to pay the bill. Welfare and entitlement spending is sacrosanct. Spending for the war in Iraq and the military-industrial complex is sacrosanct. There is no guarantee that gracious foreign lenders will step forward, especially without raising interest rates. This means the Federal Reserve and Treasury will print the money needed to pay the bills. The sad truth is that monetary debasement hurts poor people the most – the very people we saw on TV after Katrina. Inflating our currency hurts the poor and destroys the middle class, while transferring wealth to the ruling class. This occurs in spite of good intentions and misplaced compassion. We face a coming financial crisis. Our current account deficit is more than $600 billion annually. Our foreign debt is more than $3 trillion. Foreigners now own over $1.4 trillion of our Treasury and mortgage debt. We must borrow $3 billion from foreigners every business day to maintain our extravagant spending. Our national debt now is increasing $600 billion per year, and guess what, we print over $600 billion per year to keep the charade going. But there is a limit and I’m fearful we’re fast approaching it. Runaway inflation is a well-known phenomenon. It leads to political and economic chaos of the kind we witnessed in New Orleans. Hopefully we’ll come to our senses and not allow that to happen. But we’re vulnerable and we have only ourselves to blame. The flawed paper money system in existence since 1971 has allowed for the irresponsible spending of the past 30 years. Without a linkage to gold, Washington politicians and the Federal Reserve have no restraints placed on their power to devalue our money by merely printing more to pay the bills run up by the welfare-warfare state. This system of money is a big contributing factor in the exporting of American jobs, especially in the manufacturing industries. Since the last link to gold was severed in 1971, the dollar has lost 92% of its value relative to gold, with gold going from $35 to $450 per ounce. Major adjustment of the dollar and the current account deficit can come any time, and the longer the delay the greater the distortions will be in terms of a correction. In the meantime we give leverage to our economic competitors and our political adversaries, especially China. The current system is held together by a false confidence in the U.S. dollar that is vulnerable to sudden changes in the economy and political events. My suggestion to my colleagues: Any new expenditures must have offsets greater in amount than the new programs. Foreign military and foreign aid expenditures must be the first target. The Federal Reserve must stop inflating the currency merely for the purpose of artificially lowering interest rates to perpetuate a financial bubble. This policy allows government and consumer debt to grow beyond sustainable levels, while undermining incentives to save. This in turn undermines capital investment while exaggerating consumption. If this policy doesn’t change, the dollar must fall and the current account deficit will play havoc until the house of cards collapses. Our spending habits, in combination with our flawed monetary system, if not changed will bring us a financial whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a minor storm. Loss of confidence in the dollar and the international financial system is a frightening possibility – but it need not happen if Congress can curb its appetite for buying the people’s support through unrestrained spending. If Congress does not show some sense of financial restraint soon, we can expect the poor to become poorer; the middle class to become smaller; and the government to get bigger and more authoritarian – while the liberty of the people is diminished. The illusion that deficits, printing money, and expanding the welfare and warfare states serves the people must come to an end. September 17, 2005 Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelofdeath Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 Grand Prize by Charley Reese Grand prize for the most absurd statements about the hurricane goes to those liberal columnists who have self-righteously proclaimed that the New Orleans disaster has "forced" the American people to confront poverty. This is an example of projection. It's the media that ignore poverty. The American people, except for that 1 percent who own practically everything, confront poverty every day. You can't drive around any American city or rural area and not see it. To the members of the lower middle class, poverty is a pack of wolves loping behind them. One accident, one bout of sickness, one layoff, and the wolves of poverty will devour them. Ignore poverty? How ridiculous. These people know it because they lived it and worked hard to escape it and are afraid every day of their lives they will slip back into it. No, the media are out of touch, not only with poor people but with middle-class people. Look at the entertainment on television. Practically all of the characters in the shows are portrayed as being more affluent than the people who watch the shows. It doesn't take long for six-figure commentators to start associating exclusively with people in their income bracket or higher. Pretty soon they think everybody is worried about his or her 401(k) and investment strategy. Not so. The majority of Americans are worried about keeping their jobs and paying their bills. They are worried about health care. They are worried about their children's future. This isn't liberal dogma. It's fact. We have allowed a system to develop that makes it easier for the rich to get richer and harder for the poor to escape to the middle class. The underlying cause – and the most difficult to address – is a policy of gradual depreciation of the currency. It's usually referred to as inflation, but whatever jargon you wish to apply, the end result is that year after year, the dollar a man or woman earns buys less. To hide this from the public, the government periodically changes the base year by which it computes inflation. To further confuse the public, the government harps on the monthly rate of inflation. Measured in purchasing power, it takes $4 today to buy what $1 would buy in 1967. Now, if wages and prices rose in a uniform rate, as some imagine, everything would be equal. Trouble is, they don't. Prices, for both goods and services, far outstrip wage increases. Ever-increasing taxes chip away at living standards. Look at your telephone bill, your utility bill and your cable-TV bill. Every conceivable thing that can be taxed is taxed. The basic unfairness of our system lies in a difference in power. The business owner, the manufacturer, the professional can raises prices and fees restrained only by the competitive factor. This problem is often solved with some unofficial price fixing. Look at the near uniformity of prices among competing brands. Call five orthodontists and get a price for braces on your child's teeth. Competition, which is supposed to keep prices down, is often nothing more than a cover to keep prices high and uniform. For all the lip service paid to free enterprise, most American businesses and professionals hate price competition with a passion. So while the businesses and professionals are free to increase their income as the market or their agreements allow, the working man and woman cannot. They are totally dependent on their employer. If the employer gives them a cost-of-living raise once a year, he is, in effect, not giving them a raise at all. If they try to save money, they will lose money, as the gradual inflation will eat away their capital. If you had put $10,000 in the mattress in 1967, it would be worth $2,500 today. The $7,500 was stolen by a combination of Congress and the central bank, for they are monetizing the deficits that have depreciated the currency. America is being converted into a Third World country before our very eyes. Don't give me that malarkey about being blind to poverty. We'll all see more of poverty than we want to if we don't change the system. September 17, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 "Every conceivable thing that can be taxed is taxed." Check this out. My cell phone bill is advertised as $45 a month. I get charged $54.06 a month. I went to the store one day, and said, "Why do I pay this when this is the advertised price?" The guy said, "Tax." I said, "Why isn't that disclosed?" He said, "We aren't allowed to disclose that." So I said, "So, essentially, it's a hidden charge, sponsored by the government." "You could say that," he said. "I get dinged for it, too. So does everyone." Sales tax in CA is 8.5%. At that rate, the tax should be a little less than five bucks. instead, it's nine bucks, which is around 15%. Wow. I'm, like, totally shocked. Like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villain Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 Originally posted by Stereotype V.001@Sep 16 2005, 09:33 PM Villain- They didn't call it the National SOCIALIST German Worker's party because it's a catchy name. Part of the reason of why he came to power was because he used Socialism to gain support. Yes he used socialism to gain support but in practice he was fascist. As shai said, it was a big lie. Anytime you hear Nationalism in political speak it often coalesces with fascism. Socialism is egalitarian in principle, while Naziism (and Fascism) is elitist and plutocratic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumy Posted September 18, 2005 Share Posted September 18, 2005 break it down, my dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawood Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 my thesis on the overly-debockled underoosation of the theorocracatamaclysmic state is as follows. Boobunutronics has always played a vital role in Bartsimpsonism of society, hence, spongebobbinators are truly bipartisan peewees in actuality, you see, in all fairness to the bartites, We have undernourished the growth of structural wonderwomens. Spawning the spongebobbinators to act as peewees, In principle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shai Posted September 19, 2005 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Or something to that effect...what he said...yeah, I agree. Can anyone reading this, who may be in or near NOLA, why in God's name Nagin is letting businesses reopen when the new FEMA director is saying, "STAY OUT!" I saw this picture the other day...In light of what I said, it's kind of funny. "Do you want fries with that?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.