posted
I don't like that widows only receive 50% of a partners benefit after death either.
or widowers. it's a rip-off.. it was set up at time when women were seen as property (it wasn't that long in our country either)
furthermore? the whole SS cash fund is spent already and then some to pay as we go..
if you are under 50? you will not likely get any unless we somehow pay off the 30,000$ (give or take) worth of govt debt per PERSON that we have right now.
the Iraq war was presented as costing maybe 200 billion, and the ally they "would become" would be generous to US with their oil.. what a joke. it's going to cost at minimum one trillion$ before the end of the next presidency and all of that is borrowed from foreigners, and we don't even know where half the money spent on the war is going...
one trillion represents about 1/8th of our total public debt...
that does not even include the cost to consumers it has created by the tripling in the price of oil. Iraq still does not produce as much oil as it did under Sadam... ado you, or does anybody really think supporting the war is patriotic? it's destroyig our economy
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posted
Mission accomplished in Mississipi, now back in Memphis for the night. Doesn't look like I missed anything to exciting around the allstocks world today....am I right?
-------------------- If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?
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I’ve seen the bright lights of Memphis And the Commodore Hotel And underneath a streetlamp I met a southern belle
Well, she took me to the river Where she cast her spell And in that southern moonlight She sang this song so well
If you’ll be my Dixie Chicken I’ll be your Tennessee Lamb And we can walk together Down in Dixieland Down in Dixieland
Well we made all the hot spots My money flowed like wine And that low-down southern whiskey Began to fog my mind
And I don’t remember churchbells Or the money I put down On the white picket fence and boardwalk Of the house at the edge of town
Oh, but boy do I remember The strain of her refrain And the nights we spent together And the way she called my name
If you’ll be my Dixie Chicken I’ll be your Tennessee Lamb And we can walk together Down in Dixieland Down in Dixieland
Oh, well it’s been a year since she run away Guess that guitar player sure could play She always liked to sing along She’s always handy with a song Then one night in the lobby Of the Commodore Hotel I chanced to meet a bartender Who said he knew her well
And as we handed me a drink He began to hum a song And all the boys at the bar began to sing a long
If you’ll be my Dixie Chicken I’ll be your Tennessee Lamb And we can walk together Down in Dixieland Down in Dixieland
posted
You know...the more I think about it the more I think that Edwards has the right strategy. (If my opinion of what he is trying to do is correct, that is...)
He's a young man who is popular with those who know him but doesn't have the name value buzz like some of the others.
So, he's going after certain sectors and laying a strong foundation while the big kids bash it out for the popular vote. Whoever ends up winning the nomination Edwards becomes the most viable candidate for V.P. and gets 4-8 years in the White House with free publicity. Then in 2016 he gets another shot to run for Pres. this time as the automatic #1 seed for the Dem party.
It's a long view approach but it could potentially give him 16 years in the White House and make him one of the most notable names in early 21st century politics.
(The above is all dependent on the republican party failing to overhaul their image i.e. remembering their roots)
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posted
"(The above is all dependent on the republican party failing to overhaul their image i.e. remembering their roots)"
It looks like they aren't, as you suggest, thus putting a democrat in the White House and that person chooses the VP.
But what about other persons he (or she) will select ....... AG, Sec. of State, head of CIA, etc? I have been thinking and have a few suggestions:
head of CIA: Joe Wilson has ambassadorial experience in both Africa and the Arab nations, lots of experience dealing with Islamic governments and is familiar with the CIA operations.
AG: Elikot Spitzer wouldn't hesitate in investigating anyone.
Sec. of State: Richardson has dropped his presidential candidacy. I thought he had the best experience and qualification of any presidential candidate in decades. Why not put that to use?
Sec. of Defense: Wesley Clark has vast qualifications.
And maybe Howard Dean might be a good Surgeon General.
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Head of homeland security should be Clarks job with Biden as Sec Def.?????
IF it's Hillary? she is going to have to go way out of her way to try to make nice with the Def Dept. they hated Billy boy, i know, i was working with them as a cicvie when he got elected, and alotof 'em were foaming at the mouth... civvies and mil types both...
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posted
Powell ruined Powell with that speach to the UN "proving" that Saddam had all those WMDs. The whole world remembers his "guarantee" that war in Iraq was Saddam's decision and Bush and crew had no option.
If the next VP should be allowed to have even a hint of the power dickie boy has had, I like Biden there....or maybe Dodd.
There are a number of possibilities among the democrats for any of the positions. But, should some magic event put a republican in, which republicans are free enough of the taint of the culture of corruption of dubya and Abranov and DeLay and this generation of republicans that they might have a real chance of honorable leadership in any of the positions.? The world wants to see us beyond what we are now and I don't think ignoring them would be wise. Our credibility is long ago used up and we have been on the dole for years in that consideration.
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posted
if the next VP has the power that dubya bestowed up dick then it's time to start looking at migrating IMO... as it is? i will be very unhappy if Hillary is ur next president simply because this is becoming aristocratic.. like royalty... totally UNamerican IMO...
i think Hillary is the one Dem. of the top three that can actually lose against the top four GOP's..
i also noticed that the exit polls were wrong again...
in Iowa? the vote had to be honest.. you take it by standing up.. in NH? they have diebolds.. they are programmed by LHS...
if we keep getting bad exit polls? the country is doomed.
exit polling has been used in many other countries to determine voting irregualarities, but here, nobody seems to mind other than to say the stupid media got it wrong...
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: Ban exit polls until all the voting is done.
why?
i can show you a half dozen examples where we have accused other countries of running "crooked" elections based on them...
do you like the idea that your vote MAY NOT matter?
in Afghanistan and Iraq? our military ran good (no they were GREAT) elections. we used paper ballots with pictures on them, but here? we settle for touching a screen and not even getting a printed receipt? remember the purple thumbs to prevent double votes?
at minimum we should get two receipts.
on to be deposited for posterity and one to keep.
the receipts could even be color coded and bar coded for quick counting by human or machine..
walmart can process some billions of transactions daily this way...
is it so important to know who won before we go to bed on election day that we are willing to allow some programmers somewhere (hackers or "legit" employees) dictate the winners?
i want to vote with a SHARPIE marker.
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posted
I'm not suggesting a complete ban. I just think sometimes when exit polls are used to projects winners and losers some voters stay home feeling what's the use. Use them as a tool to insure honesty no problem.
Purple finger ok. I'd draw the line at pink.lol
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posted
walmart can process some billions of transactions daily this way...
Now you've done it Glassman. You mentioned that most evil of capitalist enterprises - Walm-rt. You certainly don't want to use Walma-t as an example of anything done right. What's next? Free Enterprise? Bdgee is going to go crazy!
This would be a good time to repent (before bdgee wakes up).
Repeat after me.
"I believe in socialism" "I believe in socialism" "I believe in socialism"
quote:Originally posted by Propertymanager: walmart can process some billions of transactions daily this way...
Now you've done it Glassman. You mentioned that most evil of capitalist enterprises - Walm-rt. You certainly don't want to use Walma-t as an example of anything done right. What's next? Free Enterprise? Bdgee is going to go crazy!
This would be a good time to repent (before bdgee wakes up).
Repeat after me.
"I believe in socialism" "I believe in socialism" "I believe in socialism"
Now, don't you feel better?
lol
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: I'm not suggesting a complete ban. I just think sometimes when exit polls are used to projects winners and losers some voters stay home feeling what's the use. Use them as a tool to insure honesty no problem.
Purple finger ok. I'd draw the line at pink.lol
OK, i get you, you don't want to hear the numbers...
i agree..
but i think the GAO should be conducting studies.
i know some people don't like big govt, but i have grown up and lived around civil servants (state and fed) all of my life.
most of 'em grumble alot, and they do be a little lazier than entrepeneurs, but they also (generally) have a certain moralistic attitude about fairness that isn't seen in the "free market"... mostly cuz they can afford to be fair and they rarely have to worry about the same kinda stuff that small biz people do...
it really is pretty stupid to expect your vote to be counted when it just disappears into a "black box"
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.
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posted
Interesting mission statement. Do they consider themselves American's or African's? How close is Obamas ties to this church? I can't see this helping him.
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posted
It does seem we have to have faith in our election process. I'm sure there are all kinds of tricks that can be played. In CT we just switched to a ballot similar to an sat test. Fill in the blank dots. They screwed up the first one in a recent Mayor election an gave some people a card from another district. Most people don't even know who their Rep. is so they vote party lines.
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quote:Originally posted by Lockman: Interesting mission statement. Do they consider themselves American's or African's? How close is Obamas ties to this church? I can't see this helping him.
back in the early 90's i asked one my African American friends why suddenly he and alot of others decided to begin calling themselves African Americans.
i explained to him that it concerned me that they seemed to be putting Africa first.
his response was short and on point.
Africa is not a nation. It is a continent with many nations. there's no patriotism involved.
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posted
I didn't see any mention of America in that mission statement. Just an observation. Opponents of Bama could and probably will spin this in a negative direction.
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quote:Originally posted by Propertymanager: walmart can process some billions of transactions daily this way...
Now you've done it Glassman. You mentioned that most evil of capitalist enterprises - Walm-rt. You certainly don't want to use Walma-t as an example of anything done right. What's next? Free Enterprise? Bdgee is going to go crazy!
This would be a good time to repent (before bdgee wakes up).
Repeat after me.
"I believe in socialism" "I believe in socialism" "I believe in socialism"
Now, don't you feel better?
Ok, so you say, but I don't doubt that you believe in anything other than the almighty dollar and then only as you are permitted to accumulate them, whether legally, morally, or otherwise.
And I am certain you have no idea what socialism actually is. Or at least what you imagine socialism to be, which, with your constant fallacious postings, you have proved to be a collection of misunderstanding of fact.
Let me correct a only few of your misunderstandings:
Socialism is not communism.
Communism is a political not an economic system.
Capitalism is a financial not a political system.
The Constitution does not outlaw socialism or require capitalism or provide any support for or restrictions on the form of our economy, however, it does define itself to be primarily concerned with promoting "general welfare".
Fascism thrived in Italy and Germany and Japan during the 1920s and 1930s and early 1940s in an essentially free market economy, where government was essentially controlled by the vastly wealthy corporations. That is the essential and defining principal of fascism, as it can only exist via governmental subjugation to the interests of vast wealth and financial interest. Fascism in Germany and Italy, was brought to bear on those nations through democratic process (Japan at that time was a semi-religious dictatorship).
I am not a socialist or anything close thereto and I am fed up with you saying, implying, hinting, or suggesting otherwise....display your ignorance of and confusion about political and economic systems in some other way, please.
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quote:Originally posted by glassman: i agree, anything can be spun...
last night i saw Huckabee being commented on by two coonservative think tank stuffed shirts on hardball..
they hate Huckabee, they called him a liberal :eek:
I saw that program too. They certainly were against Huckaby, but they expressed near hate toward Guilani. We should be careful, though, in trying to extrapolate from that, as they expressed nothing very positive about any candidate and quite clearly were praying for the discovery of some mythical perfect evangelical far right-wing republican free market anti-communist Mr. Clean to appear like a bolt of lightening to capture the heart and sole of all Americans, whisk out the dirt and grime of politics from my ladies conservative kitchen, and save the day for all that is right and good.
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posted
"the middle is bigger than either the far left or the far right... much bigger."
YES!
Which makes me wonder about who Romney gets his advice from. He has a natural constituency far bigger than the evangelical right by claiming to be his father. So, why on Earth is he switching his long time positions to try become like them?
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quote:Originally posted by cottonjim: The funny thing about this election is, it is not about Dem. or Rep. or Ind. or issues ironicaly enough............. It is all about getting rid of Bush and the war scandle. It was the same in 2000 when we elected Bush "who had no position on any issue BTW, just a famous last name" but we still elected him.. WHY, to get rid of Clinton and to have a president that didn't have "those kind" of scandals in the White house.
Let's reflect now on the pro's and cons, LMAO. I will take president B.J. over President Blow **** up any day. BUT, he was elected for the wrong reasons, and the American people are probably going to make the same mistake in this election.
FOCUS ON THE ISSUES.
Glass, I think you just echoed my thoughts from a few pages ago. The Presidental position has been filled for the wrong reasons for the past few elections.
-------------------- If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?
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in '00 i was for McCain, i was living in SoCali, and lemme tell you, i took some serious grief for being a redneck conservative...
how Bush beat him is anybodies guess, Dubya stumbled all over himself in every debate, and i couldn't believe people thought the smirk on his face was a smile...
Now? McCain seems to have sold out to the Bush doctrine, i won't vote for him unless it's achoice between him and Hillary..
i don't agree with him on immigration and i still don't understand what he means when he says win the war in Iraq..
i am not for pulling out immeditaley, but i am for repositioning ourselves there, and i am definitely for a full accounting of all the g-damn money..
every penny.
whistle blowers should be given rewards and promoted to top level positions because they are showing intestinal fortitude and doing the right thing, not put in front of a firing squad. esp. when you consider these whistle blowers are civil servants making 90 grand a years or less and responsible for literally 100's of BILLIONS of our tax dollars.
the GOP was once about fiscal repsonsibity...
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An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government rather than by private enterprise, and in which cooperation rather than competition guides economic activity. There are many varieties of socialism. Some socialists tolerate capitalism, as long as the government maintains the dominant influence over the economy; others insist on an abolition of private enterprise. All communists are socialists, but not all socialists are communists.
When people show a disdain for the free market, private enterprise, big companies, and anyone making a dollar, that sounds like socialism to me. Let's face it, the left wing of the democrat party is certainly squarely in the socialist camp. Our country is on the fast track toward socialism while the socialistic countries of the world are on the fast track toward democracy and free enterprise!
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heh, there's a difference between earning a dollar and making one..
the treasury MAKES dollars...
if our country is on the fast track towards socialism it's because we are losing the global economic war to the damn socialistas...
China, Russia, the whole mideast
name me one other economic powerhouse that is not socialist, and don't point to Japan, they have a very unique stratified power structure there that you can spend your whole life studying, and never understand some of the finer points... we do not want their economic system..
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.
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posted
These economic systems seem to differ between nations even if they are seem on the surface to be the same.
But the bottom line here is how does our system and the majority of people survive?
I see three major problems that have to change:
1.Imports have to be slowed up.(import taxes) 2.The war has to end.(not 5 years from now) 3.Corporate goals have to change among many of the larger companies.(they need long term goals for the benefit of the companies and majority of the workers)
The first two "Should" be pretty easy the last much harder.
Where is our society headed in the next 10-20 years if we do not make changes in the direction we have been headed for the last 20+ years?
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posted
Iwish If we would bring back the use of the tariff like we use to. not only would we control imports but we would increase much needed tax revenue. We are the biggest consumers on the face of the earth the other countries would pay it.
Those that invested over seas tough to them tratiors.
If you were to look up the history of the tariff you would see that our forefathers ran the entire government on them and thought it was the American thing to do.
Just another thank you to that criminal Ronald Reagon for starting the process of free tarde.
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quote:Originally posted by Propertymanager: bdgee,
Here's a very good definition of socialism:
An economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government rather than by private enterprise, and in which cooperation rather than competition guides economic activity. There are many varieties of socialism. Some socialists tolerate capitalism, as long as the government maintains the dominant influence over the economy; others insist on an abolition of private enterprise. All communists are socialists, but not all socialists are communists.
When people show a disdain for the free market, private enterprise, big companies, and anyone making a dollar, that sounds like socialism to me. Let's face it, the left wing of the democrat party is certainly squarely in the socialist camp. Our country is on the fast track toward socialism while the socialistic countries of the world are on the fast track toward democracy and free enterprise!
No, it may be something that suits you, but that is NOT a good definition of socialism. It is a biased misstatement of the purpose and the process to make it look to be something "controlling and unfair". That is not part of what socialism is about and does not define socialism any more than do the dictatorial practices of the fascist governments of the first half of the twentieth century defined capitalism Those horrid systems were, in case you didn't know, or, in case you choose to ignore the fact, purely capitalistic). There are socialistic societies that are essentially democratic and others that are not. There are capitalistic societies that are essentially democratic and others that are not.The claim that in socialism, "the government maintains the dominant influence over the economy" is false as is also the claim that "the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government".
"When people show a disdain for the free market, private enterprise, big companies, and anyone making a dollar, that sounds like socialism to me."
No, what sounds to you like socialism is anything other than what you want to be. No matter what it may sound like to you, it is not socialism to find fault with "free market, private enterprise, big companies, and anyone making a dollar".
"Let's face it, the left wing of the democrat party is certainly squarely in the socialist camp."
That one is simply a lie.
"Our country is on the fast track toward socialism while the socialistic countries of the world are on the fast track toward democracy and free enterprise!"
And that one is foolish nonsense and about as significant as passing wind in a hurricane.
The human race adjust itself and the systems it manages for its well being to circumstances as circumstances change, according to necessity and expediency; thus, there is change, even in economic practices. Fail to adjust, and you die out.
You show disdain for everyone not like you and any system that places any restriction on your financial wishes. Government sets restrictions in order to prevent what it decides is counter productive and to provide the most for the most people over which it holds sway (such decision may be due to the will of the people or not). Governments that fail in that task, or confuse it with being there to the protect the financial or social standing of the privileged don't survive, quite commonly, via violent revolt, whether or not they are socialistic. (See for example England just before the Magna Carta or France just before the revolution or The U.S.S.R. more recently.)
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posted
i think he's correct about US being on the fast track to socialism in a way...
i don't know his reason for saying it, but my reason for saying it is what bond006 said...
bond is correct IMO, the founding fathers did in fact expect to run the country on import tarrifs..
since the "free trade" deals have been made? we have shifted to a service economy. IMO? a service economy means we are becoming a country of servants...
sooner or later our economy will eat itself
because basic econ tells us that we cannot continue to import products at a net loss indefinitely. as that happens? socialism will be the only answer..
we already hear about how Ford and GM can't afford to compete with Nissan Honda and Toyota in this country because they have health care costs that are too high..
somehow? those costs have to be absorbed. socialised medicine is one answer to making the US MORE competitive int eh world market..
am i a proponent? no, i'm simply being a realist..
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.
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posted
One area that is overlooked in general is the changing of corporate goals.
Most of the corporate goals of these large companies are focused on short term profit. The bonus structues are such that they want short term profit at all cost.
Over time the results of the goals put in place during the last 10+ years is starting to destroy companies. Long term company health is continually sacrificed for the short term goal that will generate bonuses!
The quickest way to meet the short term gaols is to cut down overhead which includes many employess that are keys to the companies success.
Employees are expected to have a new job every five+ years or he is thought to be lazy. What does that do for these companies that want to succeed in finding employees who really care or go that extra mile for the benefit of the company.
One of the targeted age groups for overhead cuts would be the over 40 age group. Although there is always some dead weight in any group this group is hit the hardest in cutbacks. This is not only because of their higher salaries. In some cases their history with the company makes them a threat to the revolving door of upper management.
Those who have been with a company the longest often have the greastest amount of knowledge as a group on what has worked in the past and what hasn't. Don't get me wrong, new blood is vital. But companies also need to value those who have established themselves and their knowledge.
Corprate America does not want to talk much about how they have messed up in their plans to grow their business. They will blame everything else instead of the changes they have implemented. Part of this might be because many stockholders are only concerned about today... until tomorrow. I think we are seeing a little of the "tomorrow" in today's stock market.
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