Replies to post #92186 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Good post ..

And it's obviously intentional partisan politics, because when the votes do come to the floor on some issues, the measures usually pass with large numbers. Now, try to figure that out. A senator is willing to fillibuster something, but then he votes for it later...? That's not genuine concern - it's intentional obstructionism, and it's time America knows what these guys are doing.

It's insincere. DeMint's, 'we'll beat him on Healthcare' encapsulates the insincerity the party of No exudes.

[SilverSurfer]

wbmw, sure the government should spend structure to enhance our economy. But there is just no way they can vision out what will be.. WoW the govs had 30 years to ween us off dependence on foreign oil. But what if Carter, then Reagan had launched a "program" for all citizens to drive pigmy cars and oil companies had to only buy only from a NorthAmerican PEC... mandates and incentives to steer actions in the direction the Congress and Pres. decided in 1972, what to do. Can you imagine how that would have been? Especially considering oil got down to $10 a barrell. Where would we be now? Inovaton is ignited by needs to be filled. If the govs had set it all up with their limited 1970's vision of that they "thought" it would be like, we may not have hybrid tech, or the new Natural Gas technique that has exploded our domestic potential etc etc etc.
The course of history is changed too much already by men over reacting to the 'crisis' of the moment. I am convinced a lot of scientists have gone along with AGW even though they know it is not beyond debate, because they see that 'crisis' justifies funding new inovation. In general People Motivated by profit, come up with the greatest inovations. Not Government wonks.

As far as government spending, just look at what has happened when we count on govs to decide where the money flow should go. BIG BUISNESS! Don't you gov lovers realize your affection is misplaced. BIG BUSINESS pulls the strings of GOVS. Do govs hang out with you and I? NO! Humans are who they associate with and govs are influenced by the paid lobbyists and are buds with CEOs.

Especially right now, look. Flooding money into the Too Big to Fail Banks, has not helped. Loans to small businesses are justified by the 'cash flow' of the small business. Small business create jobs, they can't get loans and worse don't see revenue growth on the horizon anyhow. Ben can keep money cheap, load zeros on balance sheets of banks and AIG and GM but that coddleing of Big Business will not get consumers back to taking risks in this deflationary environment. Mosler says the gov should not bail out Big Business. Realize Obama is still trying to fix this problem from the Top Down... Hey Fed - BAIL OUT average citizens. With a Tax Holiday. You say it is "too expensive". Read what Mosler has to say.

"Full ‘payroll tax holiday’ where the Treasury makes all payments for employees and employers.
Restores incomes to assist those still working to make their payments, keep their homes, and end the credit crisis.
Reduces corporate cost structure to help contain prices as demand increases.
$300 billion in revenue sharing for the States on a per capita basis with no strings attached.
Enables States to fund operations.
Enables States fund infrastructure projects.
Fund an $8/hr. National Service job for anyone willing and able to work that includes full health care coverage.
Addresses unemployment from the ‘bottom up’ rather than the ‘top down’ the way other measures do.
Provides for a far superior price anchor than the current practice of using unemployment for that purpose.
Eliminate the need for the Fed to demand collateral from member banks when it lends to them.
Demanding collateral is redundant and obstructive to lending.
Allows the NY Fed to hit its assigned fed funds target. "

[n4807g]

you'll know why many progressives believe the government should be spending their way out of a an economic downturn, and tightening the belt when things are going smoothly.

If they believe this then you'll have to find examples when any administration was "tightening the belt" when the economy was growing. History reveals that just the opposite is done.

Governments never have trouble spending; under any economic circumstance.

[SilverSurfer]

wbmw, to most people, talk of the U.S. government debt doesn't have much impact.

For instance, we could tell a man on the street, the annual funding costs of our national debt are approaching $4 trillion per year – that's $1.5 trillion in new annual deficits, plus $2 trillion-$3 trillion a year in short-term obligations coming due that need to be refinanced. Foreigners hold roughly half of this debt. Thus, we have about $2 trillion in foreign debt that must be repaid or refinanced each year. But this obligation is so large that it's meaningless to most people. Or we could say that $2 trillion is 20% of our GDP, but even then, most people won't understand just how much money this is. So think of it this way...

If you spent $1 million per day from the time of the founding of Rome – roughly 2,700 years ago – until today, you would have accumulated about $1 trillion in debt. Now, double that amount. And that's the size of our annual foreign borrowing obligation.

(Thanks to Eric Margolis for the trillion-dollar metaphor. See his essay "Spending America Into Ruin".)

Even with Snowbama hope and change, can we fulfill the promises made to our citizens and continue to prop up and bail out Big Business?