Very good observation on recent U.S. troubles

[Mondo]

I totally agree wih this guy. Am I wrong?

 

Warning... it's about 20 minutes long

 

 

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09262008/watch.html

[slngsht]

good read. nobody is able to man up and do something about it though, because there is no chance in hell that our "nation of whiners" (as Phil Gramm put it) would ever elect someone who'll tell us to tighten our belts, work hard, quit borrowing and consuming.

 

our foreign policy is a joke as well. obviously under Bush, but also with others.

 

on the domestic front, we have become so politically correct, we can't even speak the truth or stop shooting ourselves in the foot. everybody jumps on the home ownership bandwagon with feel good legislation that gives out loans like candy - creditworthiness be damned. Dems are guilty of it (google community reinvestment act, and clinton administration modifications to it), and pubs have had 8 years to stop it.

 

All we get is a joke at the end "Give us 700B in 3 days or we're all gonna die!!!! :willy: ". Give me a break. I remember Bush and Cheney on TV every day pushing for congress to authorize the Iraq war. Why not the same arm twisting the last 6 months of this supposed pending economic dooms day? Fortunately Pelocy is a complete idiot and crapped on the whole deal right before the vote. Kudos to the pubs ( and dems) who stepped up and said No - although I'm sure for different reasons.

 

As far as I'm concerned the failure to pass was a really good thing. There is NO WAY anything remote to a well thought out package of that size can be put together in a week.

 

The root cause of our problems is the political party system. unless you kiss azz and make promises to all the special interest groups on the left and the right, you can't even get on the dance floor.

 

we are becoming more socialist every day :nonod:

[Mondo]

Yep,

 

The way we elect these guys is so polarizing that we get politicians that promise things to their far right or left and no one will compromise for fear of it ruining their re-election (which they start working on as soon as they're in office).

 

In California, at least, we really need some redistricting and/or open primaries to get politicians to pander to majority of moderates (most of us our not conservative or liberal on all things).

[gjslutz]

I’m appalled over this register and vote in the same day in Ohio. I have voted in Ohio for too many years to have the election corrupted here. Now I know why all the old people in Ohio move to FL, they can screw up the election there also.

 

Gary

[Ian7]

"The root cause of our problems is the political party system"

 

Not sure I agree completely. Root cause for me is our ridiculous "I'm entitled..." consumerist society that no longer works to earn the things they want.

 

Like people buying $500,000 houses on $50,000 salaries, and now whining because they can't make the payments on mortgage deals they didn't read before they signed.

 

Ever wonder how the whole idea of vehicle leasing became mainstream? So people could have vehicles they normally couldn't afford to buy.

 

It's probably not nearly as simple as this, but I'm not very sympathetic...

[slngsht]

"The root cause of our problems is the political party system"

 

Not sure I agree completely. Root cause for me is our ridiculous "I'm entitled..." consumerist society that no longer works to earn the things they want.

 

Like people buying $500,000 houses on $50,000 salaries, and now whining because they can't make the payments on mortgage deals they didn't read before they signed.

 

Ever wonder how the whole idea of vehicle leasing became mainstream? So people could have vehicles they normally couldn't afford to buy.

 

It's probably not nearly as simple as this, but I'm not very sympathetic...

 

It is exactly as simple as that. How did it become this way? It helps our candidates get elected when in the short term you can get people in million dollar homes, driving expensive cars.

 

about political parties... think of what you have to go through if you are a democrat, and you don't want to kiss up to unions, or if you are a republican, and you don't salute the religious right.

 

If you are an independent, you're pretty much up the creek. why? you don't have sheeple lined up to vote the party line for you. There is enough smear generated by both sides that their entrenched base can not even look at one positive thing about the other candidate.

 

Primary elections in many states are closed. As an independent, I have no vote in selecting the people who will be on the ballot in November.

 

Then, there is the blame game... :banghead:

[slngsht]

I’m appalled over this register and vote in the same day in Ohio. I have voted in Ohio for too many years to have the election corrupted here. Now I know why all the old people in Ohio move to FL, they can screw up the election there also.

 

Gary

 

community organizing in action :lol:

[MHKflyer52]

I have to agree with him and I do believe Andrew J. Bacevich has correctly identified why our government is the way it is today but it goes even deeper than what he has said.

It is my belief that most of our problems stem from individual greed and the lack of caring about one-anthers beliefs and feelings and our societies attitude that it is their right even if they have not earned any of those perceived rights that most Americans think they are due.

If you want to open your mind talk to some older folks that lived through the post depression era and ask them why they think our country is the way it is today and you might be surprised to find that they think our generation (baby boomers) have really screwed up in lots of ways but mainly by not having a spine to say hell no to the liberals and greedy individuals that are out there.

Well enough of my rant...sorry if I have inflamed anyone’s beliefs but that is why this is America...the land of the free...for at least my life time I hope and pray.

 

[slomove]

I agree with most of what is said here....but I think there is nobody out there with the leadership to convince the public and the government of the the need to save (or at least to not borrow). I suspect all the rescue attempts are futile and we just have to come to terms with a new economic reality that the party is over. That may come quickly and painfully or slowly and just as painful but I guess with every year of continued "American Way" we are just taking out more of the the family silver to the pawn shop. Well, when it is gone it is gone.

 

On a lighter note: We might solve all the problems by selling Alaska back to Russia at a handsome profit (sorry Alaskossie). I think some kind of Lemon Law should apply here. I suppose we could pay off the national debt from the proceeds and maybe there would be even a dollar or two left for the coming Medicare and retirement funding crisis. We should probably not try to reverse the Louisiana Purchase because the French are not in much better shape.

 

Gert

[MHKflyer52]

On a lighter note: We might solve all the problems by selling Alaska back to Russia at a handsome profit (sorry Alaskossie). I think some kind of Lemon Law should apply here. I suppose we could pay off the national debt from the proceeds and maybe there would be even a dollar or two left for the coming Medicare and retirement funding crisis. We should probably not try to reverse the Louisiana Purchase because the French are not in much better shape.

Gert

 

Hi Gert,

 

Maybe selling back SoCal and Southern Arizona and Southern Nevada and Southern Texas to Mexico could also help and all of us that live in these areas really would not see much of a difference I don't think.....something to think about.....

[ayseven]

Would you consider selling Alaska to somebody in Europe or something? I know a lot about Russia, having one of my university minors in Russian language and culture, and I don't want them as a close neighbour!! Nothing too personal you understand! Generally speaking, we quite like having Americans as neighbours thank you very much.