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In the mid-19th century there lived a very wise Frenchman named Frederic Bastiat -- a contemporary of Tocqueville and a witness to many of the experiments in democracy which went awry in the years following the fall of Napoleon. Monseiur Bastiat drove the nail home with one blow when he observed:
"The State is the Great Fiction by which everyone tries to have his way, at the expense of everybody else."
Because there are a few super rich people or families who have mega power and pay lobbyists and politicians. They are the ones who really run the country. Bankers, oil men, the military. Special interests.
Well, guess you are one of those that cannot get the facts right~ president Obama cannot either sequester or stop the sequester...that is a function that only congress can do anything about.
A lot of the problem is many people have so little idea about how our country functions they cannot even place the blame of things that happen on the actual causes of the problems.
In my experience, whenever someone gets preachy and starts scolding people, they usually have their facts twisted in some way.
In this case, the Treasury Dept. sequesters funds at the direction of Congress and has since Gramm-Leach-Bliley, but I think the poster was not referring to the mechanics of sequestration but to the fact that it was included in the last bill to raise the debt ceiling at the suggestion of the administration.
Why would they want to do such a thing?? They have NO incentive to do right by the country; they only care about getting their own sorry butts re-elected every 2 or 6 years. And we, the people, gladly ensure they stay in office. It is our own stupid fault we are in the mess we're in.
As long as we have areas with the majority of the people having far left or far right beliefs they will elect people to represent them and vote what they believe. There is no middle of the road. They do not want to work together. Watch TV.. IT IS THE OTHER SIDE"S FAULT.
Yes, both parties continue to act like spoiled children, who like other posters have mentioned, are only worried about their special The politicians (lately) have given absolutely NO reason for the public to trust them to do the right thing. Too many hidden agendas. Too much B.S. slipped into the bills they try and pass... the list goes on and on.
Quite honestly (and not to sound overly dramatic), I have given up on politicians. And I am almost ready to give up on Americans' ability to elect leaders based on what this country, as a whole, needs versus their own personal ideologies and religious persuasions. We are being duped, lied to, brainwashed and fed baloney from them and their pundits and lobbyists 99.9% of the time from every angle on every media outlet available. They play up to peoples' fears and insecurities without a slight bit of remorse or social conscience. It's bound to get worse given how globalized our lives are becoming, like it or not. The rising cost of dwindling resources (safe homes, clean water, decent healthcare, healthy food, etc.) necessary for a decent life in any country (not just the USA) are all up for trade by those in power. The "old boys club" does not have the average person's interest in mind, folks. Time to wake up and elect more leaders like Elizabeth Warren and people like her. (May the late, great Paul Wellstone rest in peace....these kind of threads always make me think of him.)
Looking at it from the outside I just don't get it. Why can't our elected officials get it toghether and do what is right for this country? Congress has been on vacation while Obama is threatening a sequester. We are again facing another fiscal cliff. How can the economy get going if every 3 months there is a threat of this cliff? It is getting to be like the boy who cried wolf which is undermining the perception that our elected actually know what they are doing.
They talk about all the cuts to basic services that will happen all the while we are still giving HUGE piles of money to countries that don't care about us. last year Hillary Clinton came out to say that we will be cutting aid to Pakistan by 1/3 which amounted to 800 million dollars!! I was shocked when I heard that. On NPR the other day Dianne Remes was talking with experts about this aid to foreign countries and cutting it but the "expert" said it wold barely be a ripple since foreign aid is only 1% of the budget?? What kind of numbers are we actually talking about if almost a billion is a fraction of 1% ???
We need to get this ridiculous spending under control and every member of the government needs to put this country and its' future #1 and get the job done despite the petty squabling of who will get the votes in 2016.
Because they're a reflection of the American people, who want more government than they're willing to pay for (and have gotten it for a long time, if you look at our accumulated debt numbers).
Because they're a reflection of the American people, who want more government than they're willing to pay for (and have gotten it for a long time, if you look at our accumulated debt numbers).
And who also fail to acknowledge that the United States is no longer the only fully developed economic superpower, as was the case for many years,
or that the basic fuctions and activites of the participants within our nation has been drastically altered, with many winners, but almost as many losers,
or that the majority of our accumulated wealth is not secreted in vaults at some country club operated by some clique of idle wealth, but is held by institutions running everything from colleges to cemeteries,
and it can decline drastically in value if the work force loses the will to compete.
Nope. As evidenced by a couple of previous posts in this thread, it's much more comfprting to buy inyo the "pop wisdom" that a handful of plutocrats are responsible for all our miseries.
So just keep guzzling that Kool-Aid, boys and girls; when the bill comes due, those of us who've been on the front lines in small farms, shops and other businesses will have options, and resources. But those who live from government check to government check, or even those who work in businesses dependent upon those payments, might have some painful "un-learning" to do.
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As long as we have areas with the majority of the people having far left or far right beliefs they will elect people to represent them and vote what they believe. There is no middle of the road. They do not want to work together. Watch TV.. IT IS THE OTHER SIDE"S FAULT.
I don't think a balanced budget with both sides giving in a little is asking too much. Do you??
