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Dude, if you would quit editing your posts maybe people could make sense of what ever the hell it is you are trying to say. Try to pronouncinicate what you mean the first time.
Yes sir. As soon as I figure out how to pronouncinicate, I will do just that!
The monster has two heads, but the body is one: you delude yourself if you seek a substantial difference between the two parties.
I'll try to answer your question.
The Bush administration did right taxation policy and trade policy.
The Bush administration did wrong the war in Iraq and monetary policy, and failed to implement the country's border and immigration laws (i.e. turned blind eye to illegal immigration).
If the democrats take control of both the presidency and the Congress, there is a great chance that, in addition to continuing the Bush administration's suicidal monetary policy, they will add suicidal fiscal policy on top of that (both taxation and spending).
If McCain is elected, there is a better chance that taxation policy will remain about the same.
Obama might be nice because he is an entertaining speaker, but only if there were the 1994 republican majority in Congress, not the bought-off Congress of the 2000s.
Inflation is rampant and there is no relief in sight.
Taxation and trade policy, then.
Short of having already very substantial wealth, the best way to have a chance to prosper is to be in some kind of successful international business, or engage in a service protected from international competition, like medical services (but more Americans are discovering health care abroad). If you depend on wage or other type of fixed income, you are worse off and, if not for debt spending, your standard of living will continue to decline.
No one is talking about how cockamamie monetary policy has impaired the ability of the currency to act as a means of exchange, unit of account and, most of all I would say, a store of value in the domestic economy. No one is talking about how to improve productivity.
If anything, what little substantive debate there is has centered around whether or not to introduce cockamamie fiscal policy on top of cockamamie monetary policy, which is guaranteed to be continued.
The monster has two heads, but the body is one: you delude yourself if you seek a substantial difference between the two parties.
I am genuinely wondering. Are there people who truly believe the US is better now then it was 8 yrs ago? I have been out of the country for a while now, so I really dont know. With the war, the economy, the deficit, our standing with the world, have we improved?
Why would you vote for McCain? Why would you not?
Play nice now, grown ups have no need for name calling and mudslinging.
America is safer than it was 8 years ago. The economy has grown and unemployment ( I think ) is still near its historical low. I make more money now than I did then.
As for the "war". Which war are you talking about? OK, the argument could be made that we could be in one war instead of two right now. Or we could be in something even worse.
Our standing in the world? We're still one of the top five nations in the world. Other countries are emerging from third world status and experiencing great economic growth. That is a good thing, right? Some groups around the world would never like America. No matter what. A lot of people around the world do like America and need it. America's generosity is unparalleled.
This is what your question is really asking:
Is the U.S. better now than it was before 8 years under the Bush administration?
Well, some things change in America that are not tied to 4 or 8 year political time frames. There is consensus here about the need for alternative energy and America will do something about it. This endeavor makes America better, right? Also, America is not as bad as some folks want to make it out to be. We are still free people.
The deficit. Government spending is out of control. Cutting out pork barrel spending is one reason I would vote for McCain/Palin. I think America is better than it was 8 years ago. And it will be better 8 years from now, if McCain wins.
The unemployment rate is about the same now as 2000. In fact, it was much higher during the Clinton years. Interest rates are lower now, the stock market has not lost any value, marginal tax rates are lower, and 98.5% of all mortgages are paid on time. Depending on the study, poverty is either flat or down slightly.
Excluding the cost of energy, and its ripple affect on food prices, many prices are actually down. If you want to blame George W. because not enough dinosours died a billion years ago, go ahead. Oil supplies are finite. The increase in energy prices is soley related to the increase in world-wide demand relative to the supply. Every President from this day forward will have to deal with it. Even with the increase, gas today is no more expensive than it was 25 years ago adjusted for inflation.
Despite all the rhetoric about the subprime market and falling home prices, it represents a small portion of the mortgage market. In absolute dollars, it is a large amount. As a percentage of the total mortgage market, it is inmaterial. Many of those impacted would have never qualified for mortgages in the past.
While home prices have fallen, my home is still worth more today than it was 8 years ago. I suspect that is the case for many. We hear about the record decline in home prices, but seem to forget about the record INCREASE in prices that directly preceeded it. It was artificial. Most intelligent people recognized this. Your home is not a savings account; it is a place to raise your family. If you were dumb enough to buy a home that costs 6 times your salary on a 2 year interest-only low-floater ARM, I have no sympathy for you. You should have paid attention in 12th grade math. Any $5 calculator could have computed the affect of an increase in rates.
I recognize there are problems. But overall the economy has shown resilence. As far as fuel prices, I bet many families spend more on cell phones, cable TV, excessive car payments and eating out each month than they do on gas. Decide what is important to you. I have had to adjust my spending. I still drive the same car I bought in 2000. I might have it another five years. I invested my time and money in my career and my business. It has paid off.
Many think that because they can no longer afford to drive their home-equity-loan-financed BMW to work every day, while sipping a $4 coffee and text messaging their buddies about the cruise they just took (on their $500 iPhone) while listening to their $300 iPod full of $3000 worth of downloaded music that the economy is in the crapper. Please!
I know lots of people who are materially worse off than 8 years ago. I don't think the Bush presidency has been kind at all to most Americans.
Some people did well in the past 8 years, but that isn't the whole story. Bush's economic policies have been disasterous for many Americans. Also, the Iraq war has been one big waste of money, and now McCain wants to start another war.
America is safer than it was 8 years ago. The economy has grown and unemployment ( I think ) is still near its historical low. I make more money now than I did then.
As for the "war". Which war are you talking about? OK, the argument could be made that we could be in one war instead of two right now. Or we could be in something even worse.
Our standing in the world? We're still one of the top five nations in the world. Other countries are emerging from third world status and experiencing great economic growth. That is a good thing, right? Some groups around the world would never like America. No matter what. A lot of people around the world do like America and need it. America's generosity is unparalleled.
This is what your question is really asking:
Is the U.S. better now than it was before 8 years under the Bush administration?
Well, some things change in America that are not tied to 4 or 8 year political time frames. There is consensus here about the need for alternative energy and America will do something about it. This endeavor makes America better, right? Also, America is not as bad as some folks want to make it out to be. We are still free people.
The deficit. Government spending is out of control. Cutting out pork barrel spending is one reason I would vote for McCain/Palin. I think America is better than it was 8 years ago. And it will be better 8 years from now, if McCain wins.
Quote:
Originally Posted by trappedinNM
I am better off. I answer yes.
The unemployment rate is about the same now as 2000. In fact, it was much higher during the Clinton years. Interest rates are lower now, the stock market has not lost any value, marginal tax rates are lower, and 98.5% of all mortgages are paid on time. Depending on the study, poverty is either flat or down slightly.
Excluding the cost of energy, and its ripple affect on food prices, many prices are actually down. If you want to blame George W. because not enough dinosours died a billion years ago, go ahead. Oil supplies are finite. The increase in energy prices is soley related to the increase in world-wide demand relative to the supply. Every President from this day forward will have to deal with it. Even with the increase, gas today is no more expensive than it was 25 years ago adjusted for inflation.
Despite all the rhetoric about the subprime market and falling home prices, it represents a small portion of the mortgage market. In absolute dollars, it is a large amount. As a percentage of the total mortgage market, it is inmaterial. Many of those impacted would have never qualified for mortgages in the past.
While home prices have fallen, my home is still worth more today than it was 8 years ago. I suspect that is the case for many. We hear about the record decline in home prices, but seem to forget about the record INCREASE in prices that directly preceeded it. It was artificial. Most intelligent people recognized this. Your home is not a savings account; it is a place to raise your family. If you were dumb enough to buy a home that costs 6 times your salary on a 2 year interest-only low-floater ARM, I have no sympathy for you. You should have paid attention in 12th grade math. Any $5 calculator could have computed the affect of an increase in rates.
I recognize there are problems. But overall the economy has shown resilence. As far as fuel prices, I bet many families spend more on cell phones, cable TV, excessive car payments and eating out each month than they do on gas. Decide what is important to you. I have had to adjust my spending. I still drive the same car I bought in 2000. I might have it another five years. I invested my time and money in my career and my business. It has paid off.
Many think that because they can no longer afford to drive their home-equity-loan-financed BMW to work every day, while sipping a $4 coffee and text messaging their buddies about the cruise they just took (on their $500 iPhone) while listening to their $300 iPod full of $3000 worth of downloaded music that the economy is in the crapper. Please!
What planet do you guys live on?? Its like you haven't ventured outside of Fox News for the past 8 years!!
Clinton left the US with a $127 billion surplus after he moved out of the White House. He also down hundreds of billions of dollars in federal debt. President Bush has produced nothing but deficits since he's been in office. Last year's, at $163 billion, was the lowest in five years. But it probably would not have been if the trillion-dollar war in Iraq hadn't been paid for "off budget." That little budgetary trick by the administration means that cost isn't tallied in the deficit and debt figures.
Then, of course, there's Bush's multitrillion-dollar tax cut.
Here's a lesson Bush never learned and one that probably could have kept the country out of recession: You can't fight an expensive war AND cut taxes simultaneously without sending the U.S. economy into the tank.
There are other contributing factors. The housing bust has hurt this consumer-driven economy mightily. Americans felt richer and borrowed heavily against home equity at the height of the boom. These factors kept corporate profits and the economy growing.
But the bust that has now followed was highly predictable. Real estate always runs in cycles. The last real-estate boom lasted an incredibly long five years. Bush should not have been piling up irresponsible debt, knowing the crash would come at some point (which Mccain called 'irresponsible' in the Senate, but now agrees with).
Then there is oil. Prices have been high since Hurricane Katrina, more than two years ago. When you consider that early in Bush's first term oil was selling for about $25 per barrel, now about four times that much, it's incredible that fact alone didn't drive the economy into recession territory much sooner.
These issues are not going to be resolved with another republican in the White House. Cut defense spending. Use a pay-go system for all future domestic spending programs and tax cuts. Get the deficit down and bring the surplus back. And pay down the national debt.
The monster has two heads, but the body is one: you delude yourself if you seek a substantial difference between the two parties.
Exactly! Repubs/Dems are just two sides of the same coin. My answer to the opening question...I'm better off NOW, than I'm going to be four years from now. And thats likely the case for most of us. REGARDLESS of which of the two evils is elected.
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Scratches head in wonderment of metaphor
