Politics
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- GeorgesII0
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full version
http://video.google.com/videopla…
- ukit0
President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning - but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation.
- tommyo0
"When Timothy Geithner arrived for his confirmation hearing in Washington yesterday, nerve-jangled bankers on Wall Street glued themselves to the television, anxious to glean any insight into how the Treasury Secretary nominee plans to stabilize the country's precarious financial system.
But the only concrete thing they learned is that Mr. Geithner, who will also oversee the Internal Revenue Service in his new role, uses TurboTax to prepare his tax returns - and apparently not all that well.
As lawmakers lingered over this irony, and grilled Mr. Geithner over his failure to pay $34,000 (U.S.) in taxes dating back to 2001 (he has since paid it), economists and financial leaders were left guessing about the most crucial issue facing President Barack Obama: How will he respond to new fears about the health of major U.S. banks, and thwart what appears to be an escalating phase of the credit crisis?"
Wtf? Really? And wasn't it Obama who said that a lot of this financial crisis had to do with confidence? I agree with him on that point ... but, how does this help? I didn't pay my taxes for three years but I also wouldn't expect to be put in charge of the United States Treasury Dept.
- designbot0
825 Billion dollar stimulus plan! WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU OBAMA?
Apparently his "Change" is to plant explosives on this sinking ship that is America and push us past the trillion dollar debt mark where we will sink forever.
- tommyo0
Seriously. I can't say that I'm shocked, but I am. I haven't heard one lucid argument on how the previous 'we just picked a high number' bailout was supposed to save the economy and they're already lining up for more. I'm no economist but as far as I'm concerned the ONLY thing that's going to fix this economy is more responsible banking and time. The only way the banks are going to fix their issues is to feel a little pain, tighten their belts and reinvent...which takes time and we should all know that we're going to feel some pain too. Instead, we've got this government filled to the brim with a bunch of Barney Franks, we're fucked in the long run.
btw, 'pushing us past the trillion dollar mark'...we're already at 10.6 trillion. Which amounts to 34k per person.
- utopian0
Considering that the Iraq war alone will cost the American tax payer at least 2 Trillion dollars and not one American will see any financial benefits except for Haliburton and or Blackwater, the 1 Trillion dollar stimulus package is just spit in the bucket.
- utopian0
We all should write former President George W. Bush a letter thank ing him and his adminstration for the largest national deficit in U.S. history along with bankrupting America!
God Bless America!
- ukit0
The $1 trillion stimulus, as big as it may seem, is not really going to make or break our future. It will probably ease the economic pain for a lot of people, and hopefully some of it will go to projects that will help improve our infrastructure long term. Either way, once Obama rescinds the Bush tax cuts, it will be paid off in a few years.
A much bigger problem is how to fix the broken financial system so that we can pull ourselves out of this mess. A lot of people seem to think that this is just a normal recession and if the government just leaves everything alone we will recover, but the situation is much more serious than that.
Read this and you will see how bad the options all are:
- tommyo0
None of those options are good. Nationalizing the banks, oh man I might seriously consider moving out of the US if that happens. That would be it, game over, for this country. Creating a bad debt bank, even worse of an idea. Really the only thing that would leave us any hope to leave the framework intact and possibly survive the way we are is to leave the shit alone, minimal government involvement. Just name me one government run institution that is actually efficient and productive. Just one.
- well I'm sure we're all thankful for a plan like Social Security. Even if it isn't perfect, the alternative is far worse.threadpost
- where the hell would you move? haha this is comedy.DrBombay
- threadpost0
^ In addition to the SSA... fire, police, schools, universities, libraries, medicare/medicaid, hospitals, roads, bridges etc. soo so many to mention. These government programs are so absolutely vital to our day to day lives. You cant really say that all governmental institutions are wrong, I mean they aren't perfect, but hell, tell me what private/for profit institutions are that much better? I'm happy we have a free standing military securing our boarders, and plenty of social programs to make us at least somewhat secure in the event shit really goes down. Of course there's more we could be doing, but so many competing factions make that real utopia impossible. But leave everything to the corporations and stock holders? do you really think these fucks care about the general well-being?
- and pretty efficient too, given the magnitude of the issues they deal with day to day. its easy to point to a $200k toilet, but truth is, most run pretty well.threadpost
- ...truth is, most run pretty well.threadpost
- tommyo0
You're joking. You just have to be. Either that or you just haven't taken a look around or read about the state of affairs in these programs. Yes they're all very nice and wonderful, if you're speaking from pure idealism. A lot of these systems ARE vital, I agree with you there. My point is that our government isn't doing their jobs in running and securing the future of these vital systems.
I'll give you libraries. I mean the last time I went into one it seemed pretty out-of-date but I think this is more of a state issue and it will vary.
Schools? Failing badly.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.co…
http://www.pbs.org/merrow/tv/ftw…
"It's a 51 year old facility. It was built for 800 students, we now have 1410 and of those 1410, 90 or 95 percent qualify for free lunch."Hospitals:
http://www.rwjf.org/reports/grr/…
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf…Roads and Infrastructure, got a D+...meaning, they're in horrible shape. Don't you remember that bridge in MN that collapsed a little over a year ago?
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/…Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (won't even be around when it's time for you to collect).
http://www.heritage.org/research…So yeah, in summary. I don't know which US you live in where the government is actually efficient with our tax dollars, because the one I live in isn't. Now just imagine when our banks are in the same shape as our roads!
- tommyo0
btw, this quote scares the living shit out of me:
"Security trust funds, estimates that, in 2020, 26.6 percent of all federal income taxes will go to paying for Medicare and Social Security. By 2030, that number will increase to 49.7 percent."
- Oh man and just imagine when healthcare is free! Holy shit. You'll get to keep 1% of your paycheck! Buy some gum.tommyo
- yep no doubt it has to evolve with changing times. You wont find anyone, from either political spectrum that disagrees.threadpost
- welcome to belgium ;)tank02
- but keep cutting taxes, right tommy?DrBombay
- Why do you have such a hardon about me wanting taxes cut? You think I want 0% taxes. I don't, I know some taxes aretommyo
- good. But this is getting stupid.tommyo
- threadpost0
You can point to individual failures, that's for sure. But on the whole, they service far more people than they fail. I'm absolutely not kidding. Were a private corporation left to their own devices I guarantee there would be FAR worse corruption and failure. Sure the bridge collapse in Mn was a tragedy, but I believe they do the best with what they have. Also I believe that dollar for dollar, these programs serve the people far better than if the same money were being put into these Halliburtons, Blackwaters, Carlisle group etc.
- how many bridges haven't collapsed is the relevant question...TheBlueOne
- threadpost0
One thing's for sure, since the Gingrich contract with America, 15+ years ago, your ilk have been in charge. And just look where we are.
I'm going out on a limb here, but I guarantee things are going to get better without so much lobbyist and corporate interference that the repugs fight so hard to protect.- My ilk. Oh here we go. And this all has nothing to do with the New Deal eh? You think our current state started 15 years ago.tommyo
- I dont see any correlation to the new deal? point is repugs have been in charge for 15yrs. lets see if things will change nowthreadpost
- I guess you don't do math so well. Bush = 8 years. Clinton = 8 years. There are your last 16 years.tommyo
- I do math well thanks, Gingrich and Co took power and neutralized Clinton for 6 of his 8 years.threadpost
- designbot0
I am with you tommyo, nationalizing banks is an extremely scary scenario. The huge ammounts of debt we are willing to go into is bad enough, but when the government starts owning everything as a result (or at the very least is able to exercise it's power within those bailed out entities), that is when things will get ugly.
- TheBlueOne0
..and so the wheel of history turns once again. Doomed to repeat and all that...private corruption leads to nationalization, the usual cast of characters (southern/states rights vs. northern federal supporters) wheel out the same shit they've been doing for over 200 years now...and around we go...
- ukit0
What do you guys think of this?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS…
Fourteen states will be able to mandate greater auto fuel efficiency than the federal government requires under a plan that President Obama will announce on Monday, a senior administration official said.
California and 13 other states would be permitted to set their emission standards under President Obama's plan.
Obama will do so by directing the Environmental Protection Agency to grant a waiver for the states to allow them to set their own standards for emissions, the official said.
The waiver was denied under former President George W. Bush.
Automakers agreed with Bush and vehemently opposed the waivers, saying creating another set of rules regarding pollution standards for some states would be confusing and unenforceable.
- considering the auto makers ran their business into the ground, it's time to apply some "Opposite George" thinking...TheBlueOne
- It's ironic that the greatest opposition comes from those demanding greater states rights and local vs fed law.threadpost
- designbot0
^This sucks, bad idea. Here's why....
In Colorado we are one of the few states left with mandatory emissions testing for non-commercial vehicles. It is a major pain in the ass, I can tell you from experience. Because of this, I personally am not able to drive a car that works perfect. My car (98 Jetta) will not pass emissions simply because the check engine light is illuminated. I won't go into the details, but the part I need to fix this problem is near impossible to find...and as a result I can't fix my car that works perfect already. It is not polluting whatsoever either, but of course they don't care about that. Obviously I can't drive a car without current tags without getting pulled over, but I can't get tags cause the car won't pass emissions....what a mess.
- @ ukitdesignbot
- overall a good thing to give states more power , something that has been dwindling over yearsBattleAxe
- why not just disconnect or break the light?DrBombay
- The problem is with the VW check engine light, not with the emissions testing. I ahve a Jetta and had the same problem.Josev
- problem. Massachusetts failed me once. Get the light fixed.Josev