Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Their message is all over the place...End corporate welfare, People over profit, Peace and justice, End the wars, etc. Of course it's all related, but if they don't come up with a workable, focused, believable, feasible case statement (as well as detailed plan--how they propose to effect the changes), I believe the efforts will fizzle, just like the MoveOn organization fizzled when it came to opposing the Iraq War. They need a master plan, and representative spokespersons who do not sound like emotional radicals (even though their position is radical).
Perhaps they could get Dick Armey to tell them what their position is, like the Tea Party did
"Organizers are planning a march on Tuesday that will visit the homes of JP Morgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) CEO Jamie Dimon, billionaire David Koch, hedge fund honcho John Paulson, Howard Milstein, and News Corp (NWSA, Fortune 500) CEO Rupert Murdoch."
Things could escalate, depending on the nature of the energy of this movement. It is certainly drawing a lot of attention.
If we want to get somewhere as a country, the Dem's vs. Rep's crap has to stop. They are all corrupt and all at fault. While the ows demands are radical, they are a good point to start negotiating from....a term that amazes me that many of the demands are reasonable and are no brainers....maybe even rights. It should be the gov'ts job to provide and protect an environment for our people and business's to succeed, not to be bought out and turn their backs on us while our country is gutted.
Why does it seem any move in the right direction(increase tariff's against China, write downs on upside down mortgages, lowering damagingly high energy prices-to name a few) is all a no fly zone?
Goldman Sachs was found guilty by the SEC and fined heavily....1/2 of the profits they made from their fraudulent profits. How would that work for one of us? Call your local police, tell them you intend to rob a bank and will split it with them 50/50, and let me know how that works out for you.
Instead of holding placards and beating drums why can't they gather some of the brightest economic minds around them and try to fundamentally change the way people financially secure them selves. Instead of occupying Wall Street lets turn our back on back on Wall Street. The same way the dot com generation fundamentally changed the way we; shop, keep in touch and communicate with each other.
Instead of holding placards and beating drums why can't they gather some of the brightest economic minds around them and try to fundamentally change the way people financially secure them selves. Instead of occupying Wall Street lets turn our back on back on Wall Street. The same way the dot com generation fundamentally changed the way we; shop, keep in touch and communicate with each other.
Because we can't go back in time to tell everyone not to overspend on bubble priced homes and wares because it's a "pump and dump", not inflation that is going to keep on coming as many expected.
It's hard to turn your back on Wall St. when a commodities trader decides the price of your gas, food, and clothing no matter the surplus or demand of these commodities.
I believe a large % of people have turned their backs on Wall St, but a small % of the people have so much money it's a drop in the bucket, so it's business as usual on Wall St.
]If we want to get somewhere as a country, the Dem's vs. Rep's crap has to stop[/b]. They are all corrupt and all at fault. While the ows demands are radical, they are a good point to start negotiating from....a term that amazes me that many of the demands are reasonable and are no brainers....maybe even rights. It should be the gov'ts job to provide and protect an environment for our people and business's to succeed, not to be bought out and turn their backs on us
I have felt this way for a long time. The Dem/Rep labels need to be removed - all it does is cause trouble and keeps Congress from making any kind of progress. I swear people would vote for Charles Manson if he were running under the Rep or Dem ticket. Party loyalty? I really don't get it. People should just vote for the person they feel will do the best job.
If we want to get somewhere as a country, the Dem's vs. Rep's crap has to stop. They are all corrupt and all at fault. While the ows demands are radical, they are a good point to start negotiating from....a term that amazes me that many of the demands are reasonable and are no brainers....maybe even rights. It should be the gov'ts job to provide and protect an environment for our people and business's to succeed, not to be bought out and turn their backs on us while our country is gutted.
Why does it seem any move in the right direction(increase tariff's against China, write downs on upside down mortgages, lowering damagingly high energy prices-to name a few) is all a no fly zone?
Goldman Sachs was found guilty by the SEC and fined heavily....1/2 of the profits they made from their fraudulent profits. How would that work for one of us? Call your local police, tell them you intend to rob a bank and will split it with them 50/50, and let me know how that works out for you.
[/quote]
Virtually every question you ask is a good one. I'll try to answer as best I can.
First though, you state "the Dem's vs. Rep's crap has to stop". I couldn't agree more. The problem is that it is getting worse. Why is it getting worse? Because the electorate in different regions of the country seems to want candidates who are more "ideological" these days than "pragmatic" or compromising. When before a Congress is even seated, you get virtually every republican to sign a pledge that says they will not vote to raise any tax under any circumstance that gives you a clue just how divided and partisan things have gotten. There are some taxes that ought to be raised period. I believe that unless every politician is willing to compromise on some level that they have no business going to Washington at all. This bit about "having my own way" has turned Congress into a bunch screaming four year old children who accomplish nothing.
Now, your questions:
1. Why does it seem that any move to raise tariffs against China?
The powers-that-be believe in the concept of free trade. I honestly don't feel either pro or con on this issue. I have mixed feelings. In theory, free trade should result in fewer illegals from Mexico coming to America. It should result in more jobs in every country. It should result in products being produced wherever in the world they can be produced at the cheapest cost and than sold everywhere for the cheapest cost as well. The problem is that the benefits of free trade don't flow evenly to all Americans. They flow disproportionately to the wealthiest people in our country, those who own capital. If we had a way to maintain standards of wages and workplace safety and divide more of the wealth generated by free trade, I feel it would be a much less divisive issue than it is.
2. Why can't we "write down" upside down mortgages?
The problem with writing down mortgages is that of "moral hazard". It maybe appropriate in some instances, but as soon as it becomes an "expectation" or "entitlement" everyone will stop worrying about making a good deal and will simply turn to the government when they get into trouble. That is not a recipe for a prosperous country.
3. Why can't we do something about high energy prices?
They are determined by the market. The problem is that America has many competitors who want to buy the same oil we do from abroad. It keeps the price up. I actually support a weaker currency (dollar) because it makes our exports more competitive abroad and creates jobs in America. However, a side effect of it is that it tends to make energy prices more expensive. Part of the increase in energy prices you are seeing is simply the result of the dollar losing purchasing power.
Washington deserves some of the blame for what has gone wrong in this country. However, the problems these days are deeper and more fundamental than we realize. We are now competing against countries that we never even thought of thirty years ago. China, India, Brazil, Thailand, and Indonesia are all "up and coming" societies. Their educational systems are improving and ours is not doing particularly well for reasons that are too deep to get into here. However, the average American needs to realize that to earn middle class wages and have a middle class standard of living he/she needs to do "middle class work". That standard is rapidly rising even though we don't want to admit it. We need to learn to work more efficiently and produce higher quality products and services. Germany would be a good model to emulate. They are a modern country that does most of what I have said.
We need cheaper health care that consumes a smaller percentage our GDP. Yet, almost no American wants to do the things that would make it cheaper. Number one on this list is imposing some sort of price caps or controls on medical providers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.
We need to look at ourselves more carefully. What are our educational attainments? Do we put in a honest day's work? Or is every minute of our day spent thinking about early retirement and how to do as little as we can get away with? Do we ever ask how much insurance is paying the doctor when we get medical care? Or do we only care what our deductible is?
We need to get out of the foreign wars we are fighting. We need to stop imagining we can police the whole world. We'll go bankrupt doing so.
There's plenty of blame to go around for the mess we are in. Instead of blaming people, we need to focus more on solutions.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Let's hope it doesn't escalate - perhaps then you'll get it.
