There is a distinction between power and economy, although one influences the other. Materially, the U.S. has experienced a growing standard of living up until the recent few years. Economically, however, we have watched the virtual destruction of the U.S. industrial infrastructure as we have been transformed from a predominantly producing nation to a predominantly cosuming nation. This has been accomplished, in large part, by so-called outsourcing, globalized free trade and the virtual wholesale fire sale of the basic economic foundation of the nation through deficit spending and massive borrowing from foreign nations. We have been living in an economic fantasyland believing that we can somehow wave a magic wand and create wealth out of thin air. This false economy bubble had to eventually burst - and that seems to be where we are today.

Our position as an international leader has been in decline since the 1970s, because that is when we truly began the process of gutting our basic industrial infrastructure and when our production of oil began a decline that continues today making us increasingly dependent on other nations for a fundemental energy necessity. It was about that time we became addicted to excessive consumerism and cheap imported goods and products. As that addiction has grown we have been forced to borrow money from other nations to finance a lifestyle that is ultimately unsustainable. Now the economic chickens are coming home to roost, and other nations are realizing the U.S. king literally has no clothes.

A homeless old man living on the sidewalk...

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Kingdom of Heaven- A king may move a man, a father may claim a son. But remember that, even when those who move you be kings or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God you cannot say "but I was told by others to do thus" or that "virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that.

Helder Camara- When I give food to the hungry, they call me a saint. But when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

What the hell does increasing revenues for the government have to do with the economy?

The government is not a viable economic boon to the economy. The only way government is a boon on the economy is if it gets the hell out of the way. If you want to increase revenue to the government, you cut taxes. If you are advocating raising taxes in order to stimulate growth, I dont see how you are creating wealth and revenue in the economy.

People settle down for God's sake. All this emotional doomsday talk is pointless. Our economy is not even in a recession for crying outloud.

The housing market is ok. Only what 5% is hurting? And that is mostly people in the business of trying to turn a house. Jobs are still out there to get if you want them. Are we spending too much? Yeah. Is out government hurting our economy b/c of its stupid tax structure and policies? Yeah.

We should be, as I am, writing letters and calling our reps and senators to cut back government waste spending and cutting taxes on all fronts, along with pulling back regs. If you want true economic stimulation, you put money in the hands of the people who spend it and to the companies to create goods and services.

This asinine idea that government can pull our economy out of a bad time is ridiculous. The people who are working do that, not government. How much money has the Fed pumped into the economy lately? Has it done any good? Nope, people are still here complaining about the same damn problems as before and still dont see the light flashing in front of them.

The only way to get out of a bad time (if you can call this one) is to allow the people who work to work their way out of it. Government cant do a damn thing about it. Oh they will try and make it look like they did it, but they lack the ability and the resources to do so b/c they dont create goods and services that stimulate the economy.

If the government does not have enough money to operate,or not enough money to pay out for entitlement programs, this will reflect on the overall economy.This is what Iam talking about.

OK, doesnt the government have 3 trillion dollars to spend, if not more? Entitlement programs donot stimulate the economy either. That is hundreds of billiona of dollars that would otherwise be inside the economy changing hands, creating economic wealth and prosperity, but instead is completely outside the realm of creating economic prosperity and wealth.

What are we talking about here? A false reality? The government has been throwing billions into the economy already and it hasnt done diddly squat. That is the reality of the situation, the government doesnt stimulate the economy, the working people do.

The fed sucks mainly. Look, the US dollar was way overvalued in the past several years and was definitely going to fall at some point. The fed jumps in to try and "save things" when it looks bad so they continue to drop interest rates (mainly for the stock market and corporate companies). In turn this leads to the dollar being worth even less and that is why the dollar is currently worth shit and going lower. That is why oil prices have skyrocketed. That is why everything costs more at the grocery store. Add in the fact that the American people have spent way more than they can afford for a long period of time (high credit card debt, buying too big of a house, etc) and it makes things even worse. The fed cannot fix the inevitable. Things were bound to go lower. Housing can't always go up, stocks can't always go up, economies can't always be good and soaring. We have to expect these things to happen and let them play out. The fed is stepping in way too much and is going to make things much worse. Economies go in cycles, thats how people make big money. Recessions will and are supposed to happen.

Increasing taxes now or in the near future is a horrible idea, unless its on the uber rich people only (talking millions of dollars in income per year, not 200k earning families a year.) If you think things are bad now, wait until us middle class folks get strapped even more.

Government spending needs to be decreased significantly. Get rid of the Fed, get rid of the IRS and get rid of the Education department, because none of those do us any good and increase govt spending. Don't fuck with the markets on such an extreme basis and let them play out like they should and will, and the occaisional recessions that happen won't be that bad. Prolonging the inevitable always makes things worse than it should be. Stop borrowing money (both govt and citizens) to such an extreme and things might get better. Stop creating new govt programs (i.e. universal healthcare as a possible future example) when the current ones we have such as medicare and social security are already going to become bankrupt in the near future.

Listen Grez,we need the Fed,we need the IRS, we need the Department of Education.Those are all vital departments of the Federal Government.What we need is another system to payout cash to individuals other than Social Securituy or Unemployment insurance.Some system to help the long term unemployed.And Americans need to save more money.

What was it 9 Trillion dollars in debt - 9,000,000,000,000 - O.o that's a lot of zeros... discoman, you sound like a communist!! Lol, just joking but Grez had a good statement; "If you think things are bad now, wait until us middle class folks get strapped even more."

yeah socialism!

I like Demarcoa's quote best of all;
Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes. - Howard Zinn

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Kingdom of Heaven- A king may move a man, a father may claim a son. But remember that, even when those who move you be kings or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God you cannot say "but I was told by others to do thus" or that "virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that.

Helder Camara- When I give food to the hungry, they call me a saint. But when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.

I am no Communist,as far as Iam concerned,Communism is a complete failure.I just feel America has the solutions to many of the economic problems it now faces.A simple rearrangement of the Federal Budget.A little less spent on the Millitary, could solve a lot of the current economic problems.A few Billion dollars redirected to certain social and civilian programs might be the solution to the current recession.

Completely agreed I was just joking. I'm for some socialist reforms myself.

__________________


Kingdom of Heaven- A king may move a man, a father may claim a son. But remember that, even when those who move you be kings or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God you cannot say "but I was told by others to do thus" or that "virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that.

Helder Camara- When I give food to the hungry, they call me a saint. But when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.