"The man comes between Romney and Sarah Palin as far as I'm concerned. But that is a treacherous low. Items 1 and 2 on the list are not compatible whether any one has the guts to admit it or not. Item 3, . . ." more
"Jim,"Now they calculate your 2011 SS check again (Minus the $250 one-time check) as $1,000 X 2. 5 % = $1,025 in 2011."Where did you arrive at this bit of information? I never learned the "new math."" more
"Gilbert,Good comments. If competition among insurance companies would do it, it would have happened by now. Essentially the insurers charge what they want and utilize some rather dubious techniques to . . ." more
"Col,If you look up the definition of oligarchy I think you would have to agree that it perfectly describes the government we have and have had throughout my memory. Form a new government, socialist, fascist, . . ." more
"Jim,I'm not from Chicago but I do agree with you. The job of police is not to protect you specifically. It is to apprehend the criminals after the crime is committed so they won't have a chance to do it . . ." more
Thanks, Charles! I always enjoy a good debate with you and do respect your opinion whether or not I agree. I'm frustrated that the paragraphs do not show up here, it does make it hard to read.
For some reason the paragraphs aren't separating. That makes for a hard read and even harder to figure in context. I'll try more spacing next time! Glad to see you back on here, hadn't had the pleasure of an argument...err debate with you for awhile!
James. I don't think Obama is deliberately leading us down any road to Marxism. I do find it ironic that a former communist nation and its leaders do think he is though. I do know Obama has no more respect for a market based system of economics though than many in his party and to think otherwise ignores a lot the man has said and done recently. I ranted against the TARP I under Bush and feel it has to rank as one of the worst economic decisions of a man who made quite a few poor ones in his 8 years. TARP II is no different and that's why I feel this recession will rightly be known as the Bush/Obama one. The money has done little if anything and Obama's spendathon (which likewise has done nothing measurable) has set the stage for both inflation and increasingly large deficits for the foreseeable future. I actually think his deficit plans are very optimistic and based more on wishful thinking than any economic indicators I can see. I criticized Bush a lot too and I'll continue to criticize Obama as he is making continuously wrong decisions, especially economically. Given the record of all that he is attempting to do (not one bit of it is new) there is no need to wait for a jury. Use history as a guide. Obama has made three correct decisions so far that I've seen. First, he stopped the raids on medical marijuana clinics and patients where such is legal. That was great. Two, he stopped the release of the "torture" pics upon realizing this issue is settled and reopening it would do nothing positive. Three, he has vindicated Bush in virtually all of his war policies. I do have a problem with us expanding the war into Pakistan but I think Obama is likely doing what he feels he has to in that case. I know we don't see eye to eye. As a student of history I cannot but help feel depressed and sickened to see Obama's attempts to force a nation to make a sea change in so many things. The only thing that cheers me a bit is seeing the rise of state after state at least making some noise about resisting Federal overreach. Montana fired the first live round though some 25 others are firing blanks as a warning. I hope DC wakes up, people aren't just scared/resigned anymore--more and more are getting mad.
James, I wrote a short response to one of your comments "I condemned Obama here? I posted a foreign news article James and I've rechecked what little I wrote as a preface and I didn't see a mention of the President" Oh you can blame everything on Bush and (only) previous Repub administrations all you want James, that's a reflexive stance to put it mildly and ignores the bi-partisan guilt for the nations mess going back decades. Obama has already surpassed Bush in spending deficits (the forecasted and VERY optimistic ones too) and has come to sound just like him in policy statement after statement in foreign affairs. The Congressional Dems are spending even faster than Bush's worst year while planning on trying to impose some pretty crippling economic moves (cap and trade for example) on us. Economically speaking, Obama is well on the way to making even LBJ look like a Coolidge.
