| Author |
Message |
    
Bob Wall
Advanced Member
Username: Brewdudebob
Post Number: 609
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 05:30 pm: | 
|
The Democrats promise "A New Direction For America"
The stock market is at a new all-time high and America's 401K's are back.
A new direction from there means what?
Unemployment is at 25 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?
Oil prices are plummeting.
A new direction from there means what?
Taxes are at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?
Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs.
A new direction from there means what?
The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
A new direction from there means what?
Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years.
A new direction from there means what?
Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means what?
Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/01.
A new direction from there means what?
Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Qaeda’s top dogs are either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel.
A new direction from there means what?
Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the anniversary of the 9/11/01 attacks.
A new direction from there means what?
Just as President Bush foretold us on a number of occasions, Iraq was to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just as President Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are arriving from the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in order to get their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding planes and heading to the United States to wage war on us here.
A new direction from there means what?
Now let me see, do I have this right? I can expect:
The economy to go SOUTH
Illegals to go NORTH
Taxes to go UP
Employment to go DOWN
Terrorism to come IN
Tax breaks to go OUT
Social Security to go AWAY
Health Care costs to SKYROCKET
But what the heck !, I can gain comfort by knowing that Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Teddy Kennedy, Howard Dean, Harry Reid and Barak Obama have worked hard to create a comprehensive National Security Plan, Health Care Plan, Immigration Reform Plan, Gay Rights Plan, Same Sex Marriage Plan, Abortion On Demand Plan, Tolerance of Everyone and Everything Plan, How to Return all Troops to the U.S. in The Next Six Months Plan, A Get Tough Plan, adapted from the French Plan by the same name and a How Everyone Can Become as Wealthy as We Are Plan.
Forgot the No More Katrina Storm Plan.
Now I know why I feel good after the elections. I am going to be able to sleep so much better at nights knowing these dedicated politicians are thinking of me and my welfare.
Give a man a beer and he'll waste an hour. Teach a man to brew and he'll waste a lifetime.
|
Doug Pescatore
Senior Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 2053
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, December 21, 2006 - 06:07 pm: |
|
Bob,
I'm not sure which America you live in but a lot of what you say is going in the right direction sure isn't going that way for me (sitting smack dab in the middle class).
The economy to go SOUTH
The economy has been pretty much flat lined for me for many years. If it were not for artificial increases in home values I would say it was already going SOUTH
Illegals to go NORTH
On going problem, that is why there are between 10 and 20 million here. Hey Let's just give them Amnesty in the form of a "guest" worker program.
Taxes to go UP
I am not in a tax bracket that saw more than a couple of bucks decrease. My property taxes have gone UP at a fantastic rate thanks to artificial inflation of property values.
Employment to go DOWN
Much of the middle class has employment in lower paying jobs than they did 5 years ago. A sad truth. Take a tour through Ohio and you see what I mean.
Terrorism to come IN
I'll leave this one alone. Much like the topic of religion, even people that agree don't seem to see eye to eye.
Tax breaks to go OUT
Still waiting for them.
Social Security to go AWAY
Bush already tried to do away with Social Security in favor of individual investments. It didn't fly.
Health Care costs to SKYROCKET
This is the one and only topic that inspired me to write back. In the past 5 years my share of my families health care coverage has gone from $110 per month to $460 per month. I work for the state which is supposed to have great benefits, I can't imagine what it is like in the private sector. I have had entire pay raises wiped out by increases in Health Care coverage.
I can debate everything said point by point and in some cases would concede things are good or better than they were. But for the most part my family's quality of life has been on the decline for 5 years.
No amount of whining is going to reverse anything. It is what it is and we will all move forward. Why not give the new Congress a chance? You can't change anything by not giving them a chance. Maybe we can get ourselves back to the good old days where our government was actually paynig down its own debt. I certainly was leading a better life then.
-Doug |
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 6103
Registered: 01-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 22, 2006 - 04:08 am: |
|
Bob, I'm not sleeping any better or worse these days (of course I'm north of the border, anyway, although as a US citizen I'm still entitled to vote) than I was when Bill Frist and Trent Lott and Dennis Hastert and Tom DeLay were in charge of things in Congress. One decade's and party's "New Direction for America" is another's "Contract with America," and to tell you the truth I'm not sure it makes much difference, especially to the average American. |
David Lewinnek
Intermediate Member
Username: Davelew
Post Number: 289
Registered: 02-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, December 23, 2006 - 12:45 am: |
|
I don't want to get into a discussion over whether the country is going in the right direction or the wrong direction, because that's too subjective to be worth arguing about.
What struck me about your post is that, in the statements about the stock market and housing market, you didn't seem to be correcting for inflation. If there were high inflation and prices tripled in a year, a doubling of housing prices wouldn't be a good thing. This graph of the stockmarket shows that although the trend is good, we're still a long ways away from the all-time high:
And this graph of housing prices shows that the current trend (at least for single family homes around where I live) is negative, though it is trending less negative over time:
The country might be on the right track, it might be on the wrong track. All I can say is that, if you adjust for inflation, housing prices have been declining for a year now and the stockmarket is 25% below its peak.
--Dave |
Phil Lapp
Junior Member
Username: Phil_lapp
Post Number: 44
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 05:31 pm: |
|
I also won't comment on the big picture, but to pick on the details:
The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
The deficit is down from the "projection" of the deficit, which everyone except the white house agrees was a bad projection. We are still running way in the red, and if we didn't hide the expenses of the two wars we are in, the real cost of medicare, and the money we are stealing from social security, I think we would look a lot like a nation in financial crisis.
But, you are right, the deficit spending, as defined by the white house, is down 50% from the projected deficit spending, as defined by the white house.
Reality, however, is not defined by the white house. |
Denny Conn
Senior Member
Username: Denny
Post Number: 6091
Registered: 01-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 08:18 pm: |
|
Last week, inflation was at 2%. That's 4 x higher than the predicted .5%, which was thought to be very bad by itself.
LIfe begins at 60...1.060, that is.
|
Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 6119
Registered: 01-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 26, 2006 - 09:11 pm: |
|
In fairness to the conservative economists, 2 percent is probably a reasonable target, providing that it doesn't rise much above that. With a much lower inflation rate, there is the danger of the economy stagnating because of overly tight regulation. Of course the worst thing that can happen is both high inflation and unemployment. |
Carl McCoy
Junior Member
Username: Ib4it
Post Number: 95
Registered: 08-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 05:22 am: |
|
Seems like everyone has forgotten about the ANTHRAX attacks, these were post 9/11.
Do you really think inflation is "in check"? I guess it is if you factor out the cost of food, energy, insurance, drugs and housing.
I am so glad they found WMD's in Iraq, Saddam and his crew will never crash airplanes into any of our buildings again. |
Brewtun
New Member
Username: Brewtun1
Post Number: 11
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 09, 2007 - 04:48 pm: |
|
Why can't we all just hold hands and sing Kum Ba Ya? Then we can send out for some tofu pizza. |
Tim Wi
Senior Member
Username: Riverkeeper
Post Number: 1049
Registered: 03-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 04:31 am: |
|
Looking back from 2010 makes some of the comments in this thread more interesting.
T |
|
World Expressions