Change happen Part III

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Danny Brooks

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To Gina1

I am glad to hear that you are a shooter and wish you the best of success in that area.

And I agree with your assessment of watching C-SPAN. However, I have watched the CNNs, MSNBCs, and Fox News. Not to mention the regular network news programs. I believe that I get a better view of what is really happening with Fox. We can agree to disagree and most likely will.

What I can't understand is where is all the accomplishments that those on the left tout that Obama has done. he had the first two years of his administration to get what he wanted passed, but did nothing but spend more money to increase the deficit in those two years than W did in eight.
Now he claims that increasing taxes on the "rich" will pay off the deficit over ten years. According to the math, it will bring in 68 billion per year. The math doesn't work.

Plain common sense says quit spending the money that you don't have. Cuts are going to be made that hurt all walks of life in this country.

Romney's comment about the 47% was about those who don't pay taxes or are on the gov't dole. He didn't say slackers, that was injected by the pundits on the left. To clarify, since the economy turned down in 2009, after the Dems took control of the House & Senate, I haven't been making enough money to pay taxes either, like I was before 2009.

Romney wasn't going after Social Security, Medicare, or anything else that people paid into. But he was going after the 1000s of programs that have been milking our treasury for a long time. Welfare has been corrupted for a long time. PBS should have to compete with the rest of the networks, and they make enough money to do so. Sesame Street's marketing itself could pay for PBS all by itself.

At this late hour, I can't go into all of the programs that I have read about over the last ten yeras that should be scrapped, but trust me, when I say that we could pay off the deficit within 10 to 15 years if we cut out all of the BS programs that just are pork for someone's district or state, depending if you are a Senator or House rep.

And don't confuse me with those that the left would say " would leave babies out on the street or push Grandma over the cliff". There are many in this country that we should help. Some for a lifetime and some until they get back on their feet. But not for years on end. I know of people who have milked the system for decades and have been reported but nothing is done to them, but they still collect those checks and food stamps.

When I asked where you were coming from, I had never seen a post from you on the forums. So I glad that you are a shooter and competitive at that. I just wanted to make sure that you were not someone new wanting to start trouble and get someone here to make a statment that could be twisted around and used wrongly in another medium.

Again, I know that we will have to agree to disagree, and we have our opinions. Also, I don't agree with everything that is touted on the right either, but as an independent, I lean to the right.

let's just hope that Common sense will prevail and soon, or we are really going to be in trouble for a long time.

Danny
 
Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel , "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land." Nearly 75 years ago, (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land." Today, Congress has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land! I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc .... I called a Suicide Hot line. I had to press 1 for English. I was connected to a call center in Pakistan . I told them I was suicidal. They got excited and asked if I could drive a truck...... Folks, we're screwed. :(
 
Danny, I was a teenager in the early 1960s, a part of the so-called cultural revolution. When it started to look at the political stage for instituting change, I said then, and believe today, it took the wrong turn. It was essentially just another attempt at a quick fix, and ultimately, turned into passing off any individual responsibility to some amorphus "government function."

There was a reason for that cultural revolution. There were things wrong in the early 1960s. Kids were going to bed hungry, then as now. What was different then was it was covered up. It was Micheal Harrington's book, The Other America, that caused a bunch of us Sputnik-Means-Science kids toward the humanities. The turn to political fixes came a bit later, and as I said, I think was wrong.

Flash forward to last weeks 60-Minutes (CBS program). According to the program, there are 3 million MANUFACTURING jobs available in the U.S. which go unfilled because there are no qualified applicants. They used an example -- entry level jobs paying $12.00/hr, using CNC machining equipment. Not particularly a high salary, but better than flipping burgers. And running a CNC machine is not a terribly hard thing to do...

Why unfilled? People coming out of high school don't have the skills. Like being able to write a sentence without a grammatical error. Like understanding basic geometry, and basic trig (essentially, knowing enough to use the tables in a book). The guys in shop that I went to high school with could get a job in today's world.

So back to Gina's post: All I see from the right is opium promises. "This is America. You can win the lottery." Or, "forget this world, it's the next that counts." There is a lot of BS from the left, too. All this touchy-feely stuff that is another opiate. Elevating touchy-feely BS in high school programs to a greater importance than forming good sentences and having basic math skills is, in my humble opinion, why there are 3 million manufacturing jobs currently open in the U.S.

Having said that, a centerist is now called labeled a radical socialist, usually by people who don't know what "socialism" is. There are things that the government can do. Hobbes called life in what he termed state of nature as "nasty, brutish, and short." Well, "pleasant, civil and long" is the other end of that continuum, and I suppose a morphine cloud furnished by the government might qualify. Don't think that's what Obama's pushing.

Jerry Sherrett thinks we've lost America. I think that until Americans take an active role in their community, helping their schools, helping their neighbor, he'll be right. Oh yeah, you may not like your neighbor. Is that a good excuse?

Problem I have with Obama is when he gets rolling, he sort of says he'll do it for you. Wrong. But to be fair, when he's candid, all he promises is to cover your ass while you get out & do it for yourself. I don't see that from the extremes, either right or left, but today, to be a successful Republican, you have to be extreme.

Anytime you expect the government to do more than cover your ass in this fight we call life, you're in trouble. The right after Regan just said "what fight?" I think that's what Gina's talking about.
 
someone will have to explain to me...which generation is going to pay the bill ??
16 trillion in debt and still spending.
not me
not my children
not my grandchildren
those three generations will not make enough to pay the bill.


the real question is how soon can we get the bubble to burst so we can try for recovery...

think brazil, argentina, greece.........

you may live in a nicer house and have nicer things...today.....

but the bill is past due

40 plus years of spending to buy votes.....money we did not and do not have...will not have....

mike in co
 
Charles,

I had to read your post twice to get an exact feel of where you were headed, but I think I got it.

I agree with what you say about the manufacturing jobs and the relevance of math skills. Education is just another problem in this country that has taken a very liberal lean. We are graduating students today that can't read properly, do even the simplest math equations, or even know history to the extent, that they are doomed to repeat it. Teacher are not teaching, just passing on students to the next poor teacher who have not mastered the skills of that level. Somewhere supposed self-esteem entered the picture. What happens to the kids self esteem when he/she can't get a job because of not being able to read clearly or do simple math.
Those are the two most important skills needed to survive in life. Everything in life involves math, and reading is so that you can learn history, as not to repeat the mistakes of others.

And I believe that some of our elected officals fall into these failed areas as well. Those on the left want to raise taxes to cut the deficit and pay off the National debt. It ain't going to happen. HISTORY, shows that every time they raise income taxes, they get less investment and less tax revenue. This goes back to when JFK was in the Whitehouse and he cut taxes. lower taxes and get more investment and recieve more revenue from those who capitalize on the investments they make. Proven time after time.

Example; In 2006, there was a developer here in northern Va. that has been around a long time, who watches the political climate and how it affects his money. He found out what the mid-term elections were going to do and prepared for it. In one day, he laid off 4500 people. Then later over the next 18 monthes he laid off more until he had just over 100 people working for him. He stopped creating jobs, because he knew that with the Dems taking over, they were going to pushing higher taxes. They were, but they haven't been successful yet. He has started hiring some, but not even close to the scale of before.

I forgot to mention in another post before, that the current recession is because of a bill that went through congress back in the 90s, that helped lower income people get into homes that they couldn't afford. It created the preditory loans that bankrupted Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. this was the brain child of Barney Frank & democrat senator from Conn., whose name escapes me right now.
I remember recieving offers through the mail and on the phone every day about refinancing for 1.2% loans. The rate was good for only 3 years at best, then the rate was jacked up to an average of 8% or better. Then the low income people were trying to save their homes by any means possible.
It created a false Nirvana (spelling?) at we are now paying for it with lower property values, morgages that are under water, millions of lost jobs that would not have been created, and still millions of empty homes throughout the country.

Dodd was the senator's name.

In closing, as I need to get back to work, let's push those in office now to lean towards not the right or left, COMMON SENSE.

Danny
 
Gina1 seems to have a short memory. Witness her comments about G.W. Bush and the recent war. Hmm, does Gina1, at age 69, remember Vietnam? Does she recall that JFK and LBJ got us and kept us in that? Does she remember that most who served were drafted? Does she realize that today's military forces are ALL volunteers? Does she remember that more than FIFTY THOUSAND American lives were lost? And that more than that number has since taken their own lives? Ironically, JFK would be to the right of Romney in today's political climate. The left think Fox news is uber-conservative, which is a joke. Compared to the disgustingly biased other news outlets, Fox is slightly more balanced. That's how far the left has tilted. Socialism. Big government, hell-bent on promising what they can't (and shouldn't) deliver. Failing, and then saying "give us more time and more money". Insane. Irrational. Misery loves company, and their ranks are growing. Government doesn't solve problems. Government IS the problem.
 
Gina1

Not sure what great bills Obama wanted that the Republicans blocked. IF you remember correctly for TWO years he had a Democratic House and Senate. He got thru any bill he wanted and could have pushed thru anything he really wanted to, so you have very selective and jaded memory.

Plus the exact opposite of everything the liberals claimed about Obamacare and his programs has happened.

1. Insurance costs are going up, not down
2. Companies are dropping coverage, not adding it
3. Part time workers are having their hours cut to get under the magic number for the company to be liable for health coverage. My friends wife got notified last night that YMCA as a national policy they are cutting hours to do this. Obamacare just cost them $200 a month.
4. The estimate of costs and revenue is now stated as being off by 25-40% of the widely exaggerated hopeful projections. This is by the CBO. It is totally unsustainable without more huge Federal tax increases. It already has 21 new and different taxes in the first round in hopes of sustaining it and we now know there will be more. That is just at the Federal level, not even counting the mandated state level exchanges which are paid for by state taxpayers.
5. Businesses are laying off people left and right now, with hundreds of notices every day since his election. Boeing announced 65,000 alone.

Not to mention, the rampant voter fraud (51 precints in PA with zero votes for Romney and some reporting more than 100% voter turnout) and campaign finance fraud. Obama campaign did not require the use of the security code on credit debit cards to verify US citizens and it is estimated that up to half his campaign financing came from overseas. One newspaper, sent money to him from a Pakistan computer IP address under the name of "Osama Bin Laden". They accepted it even with that name; blatantly knowing it was an illegal foreign campaign donation and asked 8 times for more money within the first 24 hours. Story was published, but not by the major news media.

3rd debate he let the cat out of the bag that he is going to try for limits on guns; thru the UN or Executive Order. How many times have you and everyone else say "he does not need Congress, to do what he wants!"

Personally, I am afraid of a crushing depression coming and a second civil war if that fool continues on.
 
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Danny, just one more thought, then I gotta go to back work, too.

Yeah, Dodd/Franks was the first step. Which would have been fine if a lot of statutory fraud didn't follow. Hold on just a minute. For example, did you ever rent a car? If so, you signed a document that said you'd read and understood the rental agreement. Really? Most are about 4 pages of 6-point type. So you held up the other people in line for a half hour while you read it? And where did you go to law school, that you could have *understood* it?

Same with the mortgage fiasco. Most of the people who took one out were assured it was OK, everyone did it, whatever. Just like renting a car, because the people pushing them just flat lied.

On the other side, investors wouldn't have loaded themselves down with high-risk instruments if the risk hadn't been so well concealed. Those banks worked hard at hiding what they were selling, on both sides. And since it was profitable, they set up a whole market to keep it going as long as possible.

Those guys should be in jail.

That's what I mean by having government covering my ass. I haven't had any debt, including a mortgage, since 1987 (my wife & I bough a car on time to see what it felt like. Not good.) Also, I own my own business, and business has been just fine these past four years, thank you.

So, how did this latest recession hurt me? Because what my wife and I had saved & invested took a 10-year hit. Right about the time I turned 65. Will we survive? Yeah. Was there anything I could have done about it as an individual? No, I believe shooting bankers is still illegal. Their risk is not determined by me, but what by what government let them get away with.

* * *

As to clarity, yes. Internet forums, at best, allow you to do a quick charcoal sketch.

As for common sense, Amen. But we need to be sure what is common sense in our time. I don't mean common sense changes, but circumstances do. Example: there are 10s of billions of dollars sitting around waiting to be invested right now. So, it is common sense that we don't need more investment dollars, we need to know is WHY that money is just sitting there. Anybody gone & taken a look?

And for anyone with a prepackaged answer (e.g., government is too large or too small or too whatever) -- that's just a slogan, not common sense.
 
Charles E said:
As for common sense, Amen. But we need to be sure what is common sense in our time. I don't mean common sense changes, but circumstances do. Example: there are 10s of billions of dollars sitting around waiting to be invested right now. So, it is common sense that we don't need more investment dollars, we need to know is WHY that money is just sitting there. Anybody gone & taken a look?

And for anyone with a prepackaged answer (e.g., government is too large or too small or too whatever) -- that's just a slogan, not common sense.
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Charles,

That is easy. NO ONE is going to risk investing big $ right now with Obama in charge. Look at what he did with GM. He turned the normal bankruptcy process upside down where investors normally have legal priority to the bottom and gave priority to the unions. He totally subterfuted the normal bankruptcy process for 100 years and thru normal investers out the window. Plus, he wants capital gains and dividends taxed as income when you earn the money and then taxed again at normal income rates when you are paid dividends are sell as a capital gain. Under Obama regime, the investor has no protection and is a fool to invest.

It is a no-brainer: When you go after the investor and his money, you de-incentivise any investment. It does not get any simpler than that and has been that way for hundreds of years. The liberals just never learn it though. Always looking for someone elses money to take for their pet projects.

So common sense says as long as that clown is in charge, stick your $ under a rock. Why take the risk?
 
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Almost every morning my dog and I walk and frequently meet people and the people talk while the dogs entertain themselves being dogs. Mostly we don't mention politics, and aside from a very few other folks I think a lot of the other two leggers are liberals who believe that taxing the rich and corporations is only "fair", that more regulations are exactly what's needed for everyone and everything (except themselves from what I gather), and that "free" stuff from the government is the way to go. Work is a four letter word don'tcha know. Today's kids don't want to have to get their hands dirty for the most part, they want to sit in front of a computer (I'm sure one to talk!) or play video games, and have mom and dad or whichever parent or the government take care of them. No thought is given to who is paying for all the good stuff either.

Yesterday I walked with another guy and the conversation turned to politics and how another guy who frequently walks his dogs hates "rich people". I'm not sure what qualifies as rich, or why the guy who hates the rich didn't get educated or trained to get a good enough job, or come up with a good enough idea that he's not well off, or at least better off. He seems to be a nice enough guy, but hating people because they're successful is a lot like hating someone because they're good looking except that the rich mostly have worked for what they have. Some succeeded and others failed. If a person has their health, a roof over their head, clothes on their back, something to eat, and hasn't been screwed out of whatever they've earned or could have earned hating someone is pretty stupid IMHO.

I'm not rich by any stretch, but I've tried to be careful with what money I did have. That's apparently not good either.
 
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With over 1/2 of the states sueing the US gov't over Obama care, and about 1/2 seeking petitions and/or looking into seccession from the US, and the 51 to 49% vote in the Pres election, I would say there is a problem a lot bigger than one might think. I don't remember, however I could be wrong, when half the country was taking legal or constitutional action against the govt on big issues like this.
 
Considering the number of people who flat didn't vote in the presidential election, the idea that 51% of the voters gives someone a mandate is like saying that my current wife really likes me, but the six ex's don't concur. It hardly computes.
 
no she likes you for the same reason they like the current admin....the money they do not work for...


ouch


mike in co
Larry Elliott said:
Considering the number of people who flat didn't vote in the presidential election, the idea that 51% of the voters gives someone a mandate is like saying that my current wife really likes me, but the six ex's don't concur. It hardly computes.
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ladies and gentlemen,
as long as you play THIER game...THEY win.
they have been winning for 40 yrs....
the spending has not/will not stop

as long as you look at the small short term picture..THEY win

it is NOT dems against repubs..
it is PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS against the united states of america.

clancy wrote a book where do to a freak incident, the usa got the chance to start over...

its a book ..it aint gonna happen..

the only tool WE have is to vote......

the only vote that works outside THIER game, is to vote OUT ALL INCUMBENTS..EVERY TIME.

only once the system is purged of PROFESSIONAL POLITICIANS do we,the people,stand a chance.


mike in co
 
i agree it is a problem...
but
the professional politicians have no desire to fix that problem( it can't be "fixed" by the way).
the only solution to the debt is to crash and burn...bankruptcy...default..what ever.. we cannot make enought to pay it off...
even when we solve that issue ..we will still have professional politicans....they are the cause.
if you want to elimiate problems....eliminate the cause..not the symptom...

mike in co

gme said:
This right here is the problem that by far poses the greatest danger to our country and both parties are guilty of getting us here
http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/us_debt/us_debt.html
Gary Eliseo
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Charles,

I have known you for over 10 years now and I know you put a lot of thought into what you say when you say it. That being said, I don't know what type of business you have, but I am happy to hear that you have been prosperous over the last four years.

My business as you may remember is in the Land Mobile Communications industry. In other words, two-way radio. Due to the recession, I have lost over 70% of my clients due to down sizing, going out of business, financial cut backs. I have had two customers decide to dispatch their work force by Iphones, ( less than 1% of what I had in 2006). There will always be a need for my systems, even with the wide use of cell phones. I know one day that business will again increase, but with the current attitude on Pennsylvainia Ave., it won't be within the next 4 years.

To give you an idea why the billions, if not trillions of dollars are not going to be invested, let's say you have 1 million to invest. If you invest it with the current tax on capital gains and turn a profit of $400K over say 4 years. you will pay a 28% tax on the gain. $112,000 in simple math. But the most conservative of the pro-tax proponents want to take it back to 39%. That leads to a tax of $156,000. Plus, some want tax you again on the same money for income tax. So before it is over with, that 400,000 is going to be taxed at a rate of over 60%. The rates are not set in stone, but you get the picture.
You tied up 1 million for 4 years, made 160,000.00, plus or minus several thousand. That is a profit of only about $40K per year, for what was most likely a high risk investment. No serious invester is going to put that kind of money at risk for that low of a return. And that was a very simplified version. There are more costs, fees, that I don't know about, as I am not a CPA.
Some of the more liberal tax proponents on the Hill want to take the capital gains tax to over 50%, plus another tax on the income. If that happens, there will be not investment to speak of in our markets, no new job creation by new business start-ups, and more lay-offs than we have seen over the last six years. And all of that will snow ball into higher prices for goods, fuel, and those 401ks won't be worth a damn, because stock prices will drop to the cellar again. Did everyone forget that the Dow was into the 6000s back in 2009. Yes it came back, but a lot of folks lost a lot of money during that period.

You asked when I was going to start shooting again, a few months ago. I might see you in 2017, unless I hit the lottery. And I afraid that I am going to sell all of my bench guns, just to get by. That is how scared I am.

Danny
 
Mike in Co.

You want to get rid of the carreer politician, get rid of the federal pensions that they get. I mentioned that in another thread a few days ago. Also, make them have to use ObamaCare like the rest of the populace.

Danny
 
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