Comments on MOMENT OF CLARITY: For The Poor

@anon - when have I said anything that even remote...

2011-12-27T10:21:10.841-06:00

@anon - when have I said anything that even remotely sounds like I favor poisoning your neighbor for any reason? Since you brought it up, I would appreciate it if you would quote me saying that I favor poisoning people for profit.

There is a need for regulations that keep our citi...

2011-12-26T21:27:55.535-06:00

There is a need for regulations that keep our citizens safe. You seem to think poisoning your neighbors is OK if it lets you make more money.

That still leaves room to cut government by half.

There is a need for regulations that keep our citi...

2011-12-26T21:27:35.585-06:00

There is a need for regulations that keep our citizens safe. You seem to think poisoning your neighbors is OK if it lets you make more money.

That still leaves room to cut government by half.

Great piece, Tim. Right on the money. Thanks. Ag...

2011-12-16T18:45:09.964-06:00

Great piece, Tim. Right on the money. Thanks. Again. Keep 'em coming, please.

@tprtloyal - I agree with you 100% about the tax c...

2011-12-15T22:21:45.405-06:00

@tprtloyal - I agree with you 100% about the tax code and deck-stacking by the few large corporations that engage in it. I am a Fair Tax guy as most of my readers know. The corporate welfare queens are few in number but large in influence. Most corporations are small, and anti-corporate policies are like carpet bombing, the desperately needed innovators and job creators are wiped out as collateral damage. The President has identified $250,000 as the threshold of business income that we are to penalize in the name of his "justice". Those millions of firms are not crony capitalist, those are the free enterprisers that we need to lift up the poor.

I don't know about the areas you talk about. c...

2011-12-14T11:16:54.167-06:00

I don't know about the areas you talk about. certainly everything is a mess. If you can get good outcomes from what you say, then I am all for it.

Woody, I will retract the liberal label. My vis...

2011-12-14T10:50:57.523-06:00

Woody, I will retract the liberal label. My vision is a radical change in the tax system which would automatically create a tax cut. Thirty of the biggest Corporations py no tax. Huge conflicts of interest exists when companies like GE own mass media outlets which bombard America with their brain wash political agenda. Our government is in it up to their necks, now planning for contingencies by passing more freedom restricting legislation giving the president power to incarcerate Americans without due process indefinatly. They are beginning to see the first hints of revolution. Still to this day they have not investigated 911 in respect to who was responsible. All they have to do is follow the money. The 2.5 trillion which rumsfeld said was lost was being investigated until building 7 collapsed, and all the FBI, CIA, NSI records and evidence were conveniently distroyed there as well as at the Pentagon.

Woody, I will retract the liberal label. My vis...

2011-12-14T10:50:56.818-06:00

tprtloyal, It does not help when you have politic...

2011-12-14T06:10:51.643-06:00

tprtloyal,

It does not help when you have politicians and policies that are oblivious to the situation. Sure there are lazy people, and you need a leader to get them off their rear ends, but just having tax cuts to the rich and sending jobs overseas makes no sense either. Calling me liberal shows your ignorance. I am very aware of the good old boys network in Washington and none of the candidates sound any different. Just more of the same.

As far as investing in people, our jobs went overseas, what jobs are available require different skills. And what jobs are available may be miles away from home. In any case, there are some serious problems for those that cannot find jobs.

This guy is so narrow minded and absolut that he c...

2011-12-14T05:58:13.698-06:00

This guy is so narrow minded and absolut that he cannot see the Forrest for the trees.

You certainly can object to the way all these entities do their business without being against true capitalism. Which is a far cry to what we have now. Our present form has become a good old boys society, closed to the general population and protected by lobbyists of big corporate powers who throw around billions in Washington to craft laws keeping the playing field lop sided. Common, if you call this clarity, I got some bridges to sell you.

This guy is so narrow minded and absolut that he c...

2011-12-14T05:58:12.780-06:00

woody here is where your liberal views hit a dead ...

2011-12-14T05:58:03.008-06:00

woody here is where your liberal views hit a dead end. We have been investing in people for five generations and they would rather sit on their dead azz and draw welfare than take the initiative to pull themselves out of the quagmire of self inflicted poverty.

This guy is so narrow minded and absolut that he c...

2011-12-14T05:52:46.433-06:00

I'll keep that in mind. Guess we all sound one...

2011-12-13T22:39:00.546-06:00

I'll keep that in mind. Guess we all sound one sided at times.

Woody, you've done a good job pointing out wha...

2011-12-13T22:20:11.292-06:00

Woody, you've done a good job pointing out what's wrong and how conservative actions didn't fix anything during the Bush years. Bush's cronyism and corporatism was as disturbing to us libertarians as anything that has been promoted by the current regime. You can't say the free market economy doesn't work if its hamstrung by govt. policy at all levels and not allowed to work. Right now, businesses are holding their breath (and dollars) waiting to see what comes down the pike from Washington next. Please don't mistake our libertarian vision for what has been put forth by "conservatves" Keep telling it like it is, Dr. Tim. Ben

Part 2, Now that we have lost so much, and there ...

2011-12-13T18:14:30.788-06:00

Part 2,

Now that we have lost so much, and there is little left. I can only tell you what I am for and what Tom Friedman says.

Here are my points since 2004, ever since Bush came to my state and said "free trade is good" and we watched the factories close.

Invest in your country: Infastructure, high speed internet for most of the country, energy independence, and a new air traffic control system to save 12% on fuel.

Invest in the people: Mandatory vocational training for all displaced people in a globalized world. As you do that, cut welfare.

Invest in the future: Federal research grants to universities for new technologies that can come out to the private sector.

Tom Friedman says the following:

Cut spending in which democrats don't like.
Raise revenue in which republicans don't like.
Educate the population.
Attract the best immigration and talent.
Best infrastructure.
Best rules for capital spending.
And government funded research.

Four major challenges for America:

Adapting to globalization
Adjusting to information technology
Coping with budget deficits
Energy consumption/Climate threats

Everything I have said or what Tom Friedman said is not to make bigger government, but it is to support the private sector in this need of globalization and the loss of upward movement. Ignorance and arrogance is what makes government bigger. Whether it is Obama with his healthcare, or some right winger with his only focus on tax cuts or some religious or social ideology that takes his focus off of how to run a country.

I think the naivety of libertarians or even conser...

2011-12-13T18:13:34.613-06:00

I think the naivety of libertarians or even conservatives is that they think their policies work. While, we all agree there should not be dependence on government, we disagree how we improve all people. We saw the Bush tax cuts and his "stay the course" strategy that hit a dead end. And if you are libertarian, how can you ignore the problems. The biggest challenge for the poor or even middle class is that we are now part of a global economy and some 2 billion more people want jobs. And with that many cheap laborers, just how do you keep jobs that will pay the middle class wages? Just what widgets can be made here and not some other country? I have not heard any politician answer these questions. They talk about their ideologies but they never trickle down.

Today, the middle class is up against 2 billion cheap laborers, automation, six sigma, and mergers and consolidation that all take away jobs. We were told by the 'experts' that we were going to be a service or information society. It has not happened. It is the 'experts' that are driving our economy, and they are failing us.

How about Veronique De Rugy, economist from George Mason Univ., on C-span, saying that it was okay to lose our jobs and that there was Wal Mart jobs to go to.

How about Guiliani saying that Kennedy and Reagan tax cuts is all we need.

How about William F. Cohen, former Clinton defense secretary, saying that we will export more to India. Now, this comes at a time that we closed 1/3 of our manufacturing and with China next door, they are going to buy their microwaves from China.

Lou Dobbs, saying on FOX, that we need to support small business. Sounds good, but is it doable in factory towns with factories already closed?

David Keating, Club for Growth, saying we trade with states and that we can trade with other countries. Is that happening with China? And people were calling in (C-span) with disgust.

So far, I see nothing out there. We have lost so much and we have run out of money and time. It is time to stop playing games. We need to find a way for that upward movement. You are right on some of the things you say, but Bush was a religious person, a right wing social conservative nut. To "stay the course" for our economy and for two wars and ran them into the ground. You talk about disgust. It is those with the greatest hypocrisy that I have disgust. The democrats don't know any better, but the right wing just goes back to their ideology of tax cuts and laissez-faire and ignores the problems.

(ran too long on characters, will add part 2)

Libertarians do not hate poor people; we hate the ...

2011-12-13T13:08:29.082-06:00

Libertarians do not hate poor people; we hate the things that keep them poor. One of those things is an oversized activist government that breeds dependence. Our goal is not to make poverty bearable; rather it is to make it temporary.