Change

[pingjocky]

Here's some food for thought....

R/
Pingjocky


CHANGE ?



George Bush has been in office for 7 1/2 years. During the first six years, the economy was fine.
A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;
3) the unemployment rate was 4.5%.
4) the DOW JONES hit a record high--14,000 +
5) Americans were buying new cars, taking cruises,
vacations overseas, and living large!...

But Americans wanted 'CHANGE'!
So, in 2006, they voted in a Democratic Congress & yep--we got 'CHANGE' all right.
In the PAST YEAR:
1) Consumer confidence has plummeted;
2) Gasoline is now approximately $4 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $12
TRILLION DOLLARS & prices still dropping;
5) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
6) As I write this, THE DOW is probing another low (11,100);
$2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS HAS EVAPORATED FROM THEIR
STOCKS, BONDS, & MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT
PORTFOLIOS!

AND IF THAT ISN'T ENOUGH...
Speaker Of The House Nancy Pelosi & Senate Majority leader Harry Reed
will not allow a vote on more oil exploration in the USA .



YEP...IN 2006, AMERICA VOTED FOR CHANGE!..
...AND WE SURE GOT IT!!!...

NOW OBAMA, the DEM'S CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, CLAIMS THAT HE'S GONNA REALLY GIVE US CHANGE!!....
JUST HOW MUCH MORE DEMOCRATIC 'CHANGE'
DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND???...

[03_SHOOTER]

Barry Hussein? Just what we need, ANOTHER bum in Washington DC begging for change!!

[PaulR]

Wow Pingjocky! I have never seen it all laid out like that!! Your post could be a Republican advertisement in it's own! Any idiot can see the damage done by the Dems in your post!

Thanks!

[SlightlyCatholic]

Ping,

You didn't mention the cost of our military operations in the Middle East. Do you think those have detracted from the performance of our economy? The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost billions, that's got to affect domestic economics somehow...

[pingjocky]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

Ping,

You didn't mention the cost of our military operations in the Middle East. Do you think those have detracted from the performance of our economy? The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost billions, that's got to affect domestic economics somehow...

Granted, I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but that money is a drop in the bucket compared to how much is spent on wasteful programs such as:
1.) the welfare system in its current state leaks money like an egyptian submarine
2.) "fighting" illegal immigration...while letting them vote, and giving them driver's lisences(sp)? how much money is wasted there?
3.) need I say "government waste"?
4.) illegals will soon be eligible for social security - THAT YOU AND I PAID INTO!!
5.) how about the trillions of dollars being spent to try to bail out mortgage companies?
6.) "free" healthcare for lazy sacks o' poop who refuse to work but want the gumm't to take care of them?
7.) too many more to list............

Please, the wars are the least of our fiscal worries......

R/
Pingjocky

[SlightlyCatholic]

Originally Posted by pingjocky

Granted, I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but that money is a drop in the bucket compared to how much is spent on wasteful programs such as:
1.) the welfare system in its current state leaks money like an egyptian submarine
2.) "fighting" illegal immigration...while letting them vote, and giving them driver's lisences(sp)? how much money is wasted there?
3.) need I say "government waste"?
4.) illegals will soon be eligible for social security - THAT YOU AND I PAID INTO!!
5.) how about the trillions of dollars being spent to try to bail out mortgage companies?
6.) "free" healthcare for lazy sacks o' poop who refuse to work but want the gumm't to take care of them?
7.) too many more to list............

Please, the wars are the least of our fiscal worries......

R/
Pingjocky

Well, we could always just print more money, right? That seems to be the new strategy for all our fiscal worries. Maybe I can go to a gardening store and pick up a pack of Money Tree seeds. I hear they take 100 years to germinate, though, so I'll never see the money in my lifetime.

[03_SHOOTER]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

Ping,

You didn't mention the cost of our military operations in the Middle East. Do you think those have detracted from the performance of our economy? The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost billions, that's got to affect domestic economics somehow...

According to THIS, and THIS source, the war in Iraq (as of Sept. 23, '08) is somewhere between $550 and $580 Bn dollars for the past 65 months of operations there, or an average of $8.92 Bn per month. Compared with our annual $3 Tn budget, the $107 Bn a year that we're spending on operations in Iraq don't account for 1/6th of what we're spending on Social Security alone!

To put that in perspective for you, according to a Sept. 10, 2003 article in the Washington Post, in 2003 inflation adjusted dollars (my numbers are average per month over the entire time of the conflicts):

WWI, which lasted 19 months, cost the US $588 Bn, or $30.94 Bn per month.
WWII, which lasted 45 months, cost the US $4.8 Tn, or $106.66 Bn per month.
Korea, which lasted 36 months, cost the US $408 Bn, or $11.33 Bn per month.
Vietnam, which lasted 108 months, cost the US $800 Bn, or $7.4 Bn per month.

If you'd like a REAL eye opener, and you care to do some seriously in depth research, take a look at the costs compared to the GDP of the country at the time. During WWII, America was literally 6 months away from being completely bankrupt.

[CAPSmith]

Originally Posted by Seminarian_Tim

Ping,

You didn't mention the cost of our military operations in the Middle East. Do you think those have detracted from the performance of our economy? The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost billions, that's got to affect domestic economics somehow...

The affect on domestic economics is stimulus (Minus the money we "give away" for rebuilding) all that money goes right back into the US Economy, which is then taxed and produces more money to spend. The money spent on war related expenses puts money back in the hands of American's who in turn spend it on their Playstations and cable television.

WWII war expenditures and production run ups can be attributed to pulling this country out of the depression.

The social handouts (money for nothing) are what kills us because they pay out more than they take in and rely on "future contributions" to ensure their financial stability.

But it's ok, we'll continue to socialize our debt and reward those who made poor decisions and investments as our dollar continues to get weaker.

As we plunge deeper into debt and reach the $10 Trillion mark it's time for us to re-evaluate our tax system and expenditures. I hate to say this but we're going to have to start paying some taxes here eventually to knock out this debt. I for one don't feel like learning Mandarin.

[03_SHOOTER]

Originally Posted by CAPSmith

The affect on domestic economics is stimulus (Minus the money we "give away" for rebuilding) all that money goes right back into the US Economy, which is then taxed and produces more money to spend. The money spent on war related expenses puts money back in the hands of American's who in turn spend it on their Playstations and cable television.

WWII war expenditures and production run ups can be attributed to pulling this country out of the depression.

The social handouts (money for nothing) are what kills us because they pay out more than they take in and rely on "future contributions" to ensure their financial stability.

But it's ok, we'll continue to socialize our debt and reward those who made poor decisions and investments as our dollar continues to get weaker.

As we plunge deeper into debt and reach the $10 Trillion mark it's time for us to re-evaluate our tax system and expenditures. I hate to say this but we're going to have to start paying some taxes here eventually to knock out this debt. I for one don't feel like learning Mandarin.

Um, before you finish chowing down on that "Fear Mongering" sandwich and chugging down the DNC "China owns America" Kool-Aide, you might want to go back and review the debt and defecit as a function of the GDP. It might also interest you to find out that, provided the Dims don't do anything else foolish, the debt will be paid off by 2012. I suggest you take a look at the Federal Budget, and specifically the Historical Tables at the OMB website.

[PDudkowski]

Ping, you can't be serious. While you have cited some statistics regarding a pseudo timeline, you can't blame this Congress. Remember, this Congress has literally done nothing. The Republicans have made that perfectly clear. They have passed no major legislation with regards to our economy or anything having an affect on the budget. With the exception of today's cost of gasoline, go back and look at your financial statements starting, oh say about 9/11/01. Look at the trend. One big dip that lasted several years and the start of a bounce back. It wasn't until the "mortgage crisis" became a household expression of pessimism that things really started to tank. For facts I used my own investment portfolio so the sample was small.

If I go back even farther, Reagan was in the White House. I bought my first house with a 16 1/2% mortgage. Not exactly the rosy picture we were led to believe. Some will retort and insist it was a failed system under Jimmy's watch that led to the problems but given enough time, Reagan's policies fixed it. That being said, then all of the good days recently passed where handed down from Clinton and not created by Bush 43.

The even more astute would tell us that the president doesn't have the power, nor does the Congress to influence the economy in that large of a way. Free markets are the all the rage and all the blame. Our situation was created by greed, corporate and personal. To blame it on a Congress or a President is to give them too much credit. They can influence the world economy in small ways but nothing like what we are seeing today.

Then again, if your intent was to solicit more political noise, your post looks successful.

Once again, I'm still anti-obama. Just probing for the truth.