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You know...when I was a Drill Sergeant in the Army, we'd occasionally have some trainee who just could not, or would not, adapt to the Army. In some companies I served with, the "solution" was to transfer him to another company.
Did that solve the problem? No. All it did was put the burden of dealing with him off onto someone else. It was, in fact, an act of cowardice.
Your plan would do exactly the same thing.
doing nothing is the act of cowardice, and we are seeing plenty of cowardice now, including legislators who actually fled their state rather than acting decisively on an issue.
keep spending, keep fighting wars, keep lying, and keep making promises that you have no intention or ability to keep. the more you spend, the more money is diverted in interest payments, which detract from even the illusion of economic growth.
what we need is a better worker-job ratio, and more small business opportunities in america.
wages would automatically rise, and people would automatically have more disposable income to be able to help the small businesses that need to spring up in this country.
you know how you do that?
get rid of non-citizen wage earners until the economy improves, and suspend the work visa program until the economy improves. i don't believe that there is one job out there that americans cannot do.
end the wars and foreign aid to countries that hate us, and that will save a bunch of money. utilize money for small business creation (sort of like the stimulus was actually supposed to do, but didn't).
get the government to cooperate with the private sector, instead of trying to destroy them with regulation and fees, and allow small business ideas a trial period of free rent in some of these empty taxpayer funded buildings that we have.
if the idea doesn't take off, the small business person isn't saddled with a huge mountain of debt, and if it does take off then new businesses and new jobs have been created. i bet there are a lot of americans with dreams, talent, and ideas, but without the capital to get it started or give it a trial run.
also, can you imagine how much better this country would be running if people were all being creative and thinking of what they could do to contribute to their OWN economy and their futures-instead of waiting for a government food stamp to get by.
finally, as always, PUNISH THE DARN CRIMINALS who are stealing from all of us-even if they are on the top rung of the ladder.
ps: The Will of The People changes over time and so do the votes of those we elect to represent us. IF the Will of The People has changed in regards to those things you mentioned, then a majority of Congress will vote to repeal them. So far, they haven't.
ah you and I both now Gov programs are like warts. Once you have them damned tough to get rid of them.
There is a reason for this. Elected reps deal in power. They are gifted in the art of deflection. When a sacred cow is questioned they make sure the public is deflected away.
For example a firm majority of citizens want an end to ear marks. Both sides claim they do also. Yet what has been done?
I agree in a perfect world our reps would do just what their job says and represent you and I the people. The problem is and hass been hardliners. Party hardliners out number free thinkers. The hardliners refuse to hold their own accountable.
Take where I live for example. 1 county away from Luzerne County Pa. Kids for cash scandal.
On talk shows caller after caller made excuses for judges selling jail sentences. Make excuses for county reps hiring family members and friends. make excuses for the corruption.
Thankfully 5 more years and I am out of here.
You know...when I was a Drill Sergeant in the Army, we'd occasionally have some trainee who just could not, or would not, adapt to the Army. In some companies I served with, the "solution" was to transfer him to another company.
Did that solve the problem? No. All it did was put the burden of dealing with him off onto someone else. It was, in fact, an act of cowardice.
Your plan would do exactly the same thing.
I may disagree with most of your posts; but, I thank you for your service. I am a Vietnam Vet. USS Mt. McKinley AGC-7. I was a crypto tech. I served aboard the "Mighty Mac" from late May 1966 till discharge in November 1968. Two WestPac tours. The second, we spent the entire time in Da Nang, and on various operations, except of course when we went for R&R. We were a Flagship.
I want to know how this country could be dug out of this 15 trillion dollar debt hole that we are in. It is probably going up a million dollars every 2 minutes judging from this website U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time.
What exactly in your opinion would have to be done realistically to start to lower our debt.
Cut the size of our federal government and it's assets in real estate office space, by 2/3 the size it is now.
Cut our military spending, by closing all foreign bases and let those countries have their own defense.
Get this, we pay them for us to be their police force around the world.
Use the money saved from foreign base closures, and spend it here on national defense.
Eliminate the subsidizing of illegal immigration! No more freebies in the welfare state. No anchor baby crap.
Eliminate NAFTA and the China Free Trade Act. Replace it with equal trade.
I want to know how this country could be dug out of this 15 trillion dollar debt hole that we are in. It is probably going up a million dollars every 2 minutes judging from this website U.S. National Debt Clock : Real Time.
What exactly in your opinion would have to be done realistically to start to lower our debt.
Spend less than we are taking in. Cut military and welfare . Pay 10 million dollars a day on the principle of the debt for a start.
could you spell out what this is supposed to mean, without using right wing propaganda words?
SS damn sure doesn't need to be cut.
Social Security is fine until around the 2030's then it starts to cut benefits. Medicare is a whole other story. It will soon be eating up a lot of the federal budget.
On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, the current Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), signaled that although it did not plan to significantly alter drug enforcement policy, the Obama administration would not use the term "War on Drugs," as he claims it is "counter-productive".
ONDCP's view is that "drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated... making drugs more available will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."(2011)[12] One of the alternatives that Mr Kerlikowske has showcased is Sweden's Drug Control Policies that combine balanced public health approach and opposition to drug legalization. The prevalence rates for cocaine use in Sweden are barely one-fifth of European neighbors such as the United Kingdom and Spain
In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a critical report on the War on Drugs, declaring "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and years after President Nixon launched the US government’s war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed."
The report was immediately criticized by organizations that oppose a general legalization of drugs.
Penalties for drug crimes among youth almost always involve permanent or semi-permanent removal from opportunities for education, strip them of voting rights, and later involve creation of criminal records which make employment far more difficult.
Thus, some authors maintain that the War on Drugs has resulted in the creation of a permanent underclass of people who have few educational or job opportunities, often as a result of being punished for drug offenses which in turn have resulted from attempts to earn a living in spite of having no education or job opportunities. Costs to taxpayers
A 2008 study by Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron has estimated that legalizing drugs would inject $76.8 billion a year into the U.S. economy — $44.1 billion from law enforcement savings, and at least $32.7 billion in tax revenue ($6.7 billion from marijuana, $22.5 billion from cocaine and heroin, remainder from other drugs).[
Heroin, the first semi-synthetic opiate, was first synthesized in 1874, but was not pursued until its rediscovery in 1897 by Felix Hoffmann at the Bayer pharmaceutical company in Elberfeld, Germany. From 1898 to 1910 heroin was marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough medicine for children. By 1902, sales made up 5% of the company's profits, and "heroinism" had attracted media attention.
Oxycodone, a thebaine derivative similar to codeine, was introduced by Bayer in 1916 and promoted as a less-addictive analgesic. Preparations of the drug such as Percocet and OxyContin remain popular to this day.
Pharmaceutical marketing, sometimes called medico-marketing or pharma marketing in some countries, is the business of advertising or otherwise promoting the sale of pharmaceuticals or drugs. There is some evidence that marketing practices can negatively affect both patients and the health care profession.
Many countries have measures in place to limit advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmaceutical company spending on marketing far exceeds that spent on research.[2][3] In Canada, $1.7 billion was spent in 2004 to market drugs to physicians; in the United States, $21 billion was spent in 2002.
In 2005 money spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the US was estimated at $29.9 billion with one estimate as high as $57 billion.
On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, the current Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), signaled that although it did not plan to significantly alter drug enforcement policy, the Obama administration would not use the term "War on Drugs," as he claims it is "counter-productive".
ONDCP's view is that "drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated... making drugs more available will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe."(2011)[12] One of the alternatives that Mr Kerlikowske has showcased is Sweden's Drug Control Policies that combine balanced public health approach and opposition to drug legalization. The prevalence rates for cocaine use in Sweden are barely one-fifth of European neighbors such as the United Kingdom and Spain
In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a critical report on the War on Drugs, declaring "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and years after President Nixon launched the US government’s war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed."
The report was immediately criticized by organizations that oppose a general legalization of drugs.
Penalties for drug crimes among youth almost always involve permanent or semi-permanent removal from opportunities for education, strip them of voting rights, and later involve creation of criminal records which make employment far more difficult.
Thus, some authors maintain that the War on Drugs has resulted in the creation of a permanent underclass of people who have few educational or job opportunities, often as a result of being punished for drug offenses which in turn have resulted from attempts to earn a living in spite of having no education or job opportunities. Costs to taxpayers
A 2008 study by Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron has estimated that legalizing drugs would inject $76.8 billion a year into the U.S. economy — $44.1 billion from law enforcement savings, and at least $32.7 billion in tax revenue ($6.7 billion from marijuana, $22.5 billion from cocaine and heroin, remainder from other drugs).[
Heroin, the first semi-synthetic opiate, was first synthesized in 1874, but was not pursued until its rediscovery in 1897 by Felix Hoffmann at the Bayer pharmaceutical company in Elberfeld, Germany. From 1898 to 1910 heroin was marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute and cough medicine for children. By 1902, sales made up 5% of the company's profits, and "heroinism" had attracted media attention.
Oxycodone, a thebaine derivative similar to codeine, was introduced by Bayer in 1916 and promoted as a less-addictive analgesic. Preparations of the drug such as Percocet and OxyContin remain popular to this day.
Pharmaceutical marketing, sometimes called medico-marketing or pharma marketing in some countries, is the business of advertising or otherwise promoting the sale of pharmaceuticals or drugs. There is some evidence that marketing practices can negatively affect both patients and the health care profession.
Many countries have measures in place to limit advertising by pharmaceutical companies.
Pharmaceutical company spending on marketing far exceeds that spent on research.[2][3] In Canada, $1.7 billion was spent in 2004 to market drugs to physicians; in the United States, $21 billion was spent in 2002.
In 2005 money spent on pharmaceutical marketing in the US was estimated at $29.9 billion with one estimate as high as $57 billion.
How many dollars will ending the War on Drugs save?
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