The new Political/off topic sticky chat thread (money, company)

[Jungle George]

Religion!! Politics!!! As said in an old Woody Allen movie....

"May all your ups & downs be just in bed..."

[Jungle George]

The Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier
seated nearest to me.

'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time...

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up
to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

[EnyaGirl]

Originally Posted by The Commish

We are.

Oy! We aren't....at least I am not. I strongly regret my vote....

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by EnyaGirl

Oy! We aren't....at least I am not. I strongly regret my vote....

Good girl. You are not blind to what is going on.

[AbbeysMom]

George that was the best story, I would have reped you for it, but I have to spread it around. Loved it!

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

I guess you want this country to turn into a socialist state. I do not. Bailing out companies and banks for billion of dollars is un-American. How could you be happy and support this? Our tax dollars going to a corporation with a bad business model.

(1) I believe the bailouts were necessary to forestall an even greater, even costlier economic downturn. It would be nice if you recognized the economic arguments to support Obama's action and not just the gaudy dollar signs and fake bluster on right-wing talk radio and Fox News.

(2) You have no idea what a "socialist state" is. A socialist state features a centrally planned economy. Anyone who suggests we're headed towards a centrally planned economy doesn't have it all upstairs. It's right-wing paranoia, especially disingenuous in this case.

(3) You don't get to define what is "American" for everyone else.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by The Commish

(1) I believe the bailouts were necessary to forestall an even greater, even costlier economic downturn. It would be nice if you recognized the economic arguments to support Obama's action and not just the gaudy dollar signs and fake bluster on right-wing talk radio and Fox News.

(2) You have no idea what a "socialist state" is. A socialist state features a centrally planned economy. Anyone who suggests we're headed towards a centrally planned economy doesn't have it all upstairs. It's right-wing paranoia, especially disingenuous in this case.

(3) You don't get to define what is "American" for everyone else.

Whatever. Tell me the last time the government owned 2 auto companies and banks. Obama was pleading that we can't let the auto makers go bankrupt. What happens? We bail them out with billions of dollars and they go bankrupt anyway. That there is crazy, not paranoia. You know what, I think I'll declare bankruptcy and then hope the government gives me lots of money. Sounds silly put in that perspective, doesn't it? And how is it that you know what a socialist state is and you say I don't?

We need this country to come back to the Reaganesque conservatism of lower taxes, smaller government, a strong national defense, and respect for the strength of the family as the core of a strong America.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

Whatever. Tell me the last time the government owned 2 auto companies and banks. Obama was pleading that we can't let the auto makers go bankrupt. What happens? We bail them out with billions of dollars and they go bankrupt anyway. That there is crazy, not paranoia.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Chrysler received a few billion from the "socialist" Bush Administration in 2008. As a condition for the receipt of new funding, Chrysler had to meet certain government standards by April 30th. It did not. Chrysler declared bankruptcy then in order to restructure itself and meet the government standards for the receipt of new funding. What happened was that a group of secured lenders held out, and it's only through bankruptcy proceedings can Chrysler rid itself of the claims from those secured lenders (and meet the government standards for new funding).

Obama never said the automakers can't go bankrupt. Obama said we can't allow Chrysler to be liquidated, which would likely happen in a bankruptcy proceeding without the promise of additional funding from the government. A liquidated Chrysler would make a bad economy even worse, as all these people would have been laid off and such. This is classic Keynesian economics.

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

You know what, I think I'll declare bankruptcy and then hope the government gives me lots of money. Sounds silly put in that perspective, doesn't it?

It sounds absolutely idiotic.

Chrysler going under (liquidated) has a bit more of an effect on the economy than NYRangers 2008 going under.

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

And how is it that you know what a socialist state is and you say I don't?

You have absolutely no idea what socialism means.

Socialism is a centrally planned economy. If you think any of the Obama administration's actions lead us to a point where we will eliminate our regulated market-based economy in favor of a centrally planned economy, then that's nothing more than a paranoid right-wing conspiracy theory. Nobody's buying it but the talk-radio and Fox News media consumers.

[NYRangers 2008]

Socialism is advocating state or cooperative ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal opportunities/means for all individuals. Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls capital, creates an unequal society, and does not provide equal opportunities for everyone in society. Therefore socialists advocate the creation of a society in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly based on the amount of work expended in production, although there is considerable disagreement among socialists over how and to what extent this could be achieved.

I remember Obama saying that the car companies couldn't go bankrupt because no one would buy cars from a bankrupt company. That was the whole point of the bailout. It is their fault for making inferior products and having a bad business model. Why do the taxpayers have to foot the bill for their mistakes?

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

Socialism is advocating state or cooperative ownership and administration of the means of production

Who is arguing that we should have a centrally planned economy (which, in case that isn't clear, is another way of saying what you cribbed unattributed from another site above)? Exactly no one (except, perhaps, the lone socialist in our legislature, Sen. Bernie Saunders of VT). That our government now has a stake in Chrysler does not mean we're on the road to the government owning and controlling every single business, like what would happen in a truly socialist economy. Right?

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

I remember Obama saying that the car companies couldn't go bankrupt because no one would buy cars from a bankrupt company. That was the whole point of the bailout.

My god no.

My god no.

We bailed out Chrysler because it would have been liquidated if we failed to act. And a liquidation would further imperil an already weak economy. Where in the world did you hear otherwise? Fox News? Talk-radio? Wherever you did, you need to do a better job of learning accurate information.

The President gave at least two significant addresses on the auto industry: one on the state of the auto industry, another the day of the Chrysler bankruptcy filing, and he addressed the auto industry very briefly in his remarks to Congress. Perhaps you should look to those remarks for discerning what the President thinks about the situation.