Comments on: MORE RANK PARTISANSHIP FROM THE TIMES

By: Michael L. Cook

Michael L. Cook — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:03:52 +0000

Since I’m campaigning myself for a local office I am on the street a lot and one thing glaringly obvious is all the “Help Wanted” signs. I must confess–I always have had a secret urge to be a truck driver and command a huge machine. Now would be the time, as all I would have to do is go to truck driver school for a few weeks and get the CDL and I would have my pick of jobs.

Despite hordes of immigrants in this area, the fast food places all desperately need more staff.

While doorbelling (my campaign theme centers on the miserable 75% high school on time graduation rate and the drop-out plague, I encountered a Hispanic lady who expressed a not-untypical complaint in her very limited English. Her son just dropped out of his Senior year in high school despite the fact that he speaks excellent English and was getting good grades.

The problem? He was offerred a full-time job at $22/hr and he jumped on it so that he can buy a new car with spinny wheels and a stereo system suitable for a small stadium.

By: Boghie

Boghie — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 00:43:18 +0000

Rick,

We will be running budget surpluses within the next two years. I know that sounds odd - but the trend lines are there. The National economy has grown by over 33% since 2000 (pre-war and at the height of Clintonâ€™s economic miracle). If the tax base grows by 10% and the spending grows by 5% than we are within 20 Billion of balance in FY2008. Our tax base growth has easily exceeded 10% since FY2004 (after the 2003 tax code changes), and our spending is around 7.5%. Wow, that is not 5%… But, that includes necessary DOD growth and Katrina relief. This year the DOD could not even spend all it was allocated so that growth will be slashed and Katrina is basically funded. Katrina itself accounted for 2% of the spending growth. So 5% spending growth will not even cause a serious yawl from the Libs. In fact, a good year puts us in balance this FY (4% spending growth and 14% income growth â€“ achieved in FY2005

And, those trends are accelerating with the advent of the PorkBusters concept - a concept made possible by the internet and the blogosphere.

And, note that Medicare and Social Security expenses came in significantly less than expected this year. Are folks working a bit longer? More likely, are retiring folks actually paying taxes on investment income (401(k), IRA) that prior generations did not have? Are we actually a bit healthier that we were twenty years ago?

September 2006 Monthly Treasury Statement (ie. FY2006)

By: B.Poster

B.Poster — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 22:01:39 +0000

In keeping with the theme of my previous post, here are some suggestions on how we can fight a smarter war. 1.) Assist Israel to become completely militarily self sufficient. Israel is by far and away our most valuable ally. A militarily self suffiecent Israel will be a strong buffer between the Western world and terrorists. 2.) Encourage South Korea, Japan, and Tawian to develop nuclear weapons and to substantially increase the capabilities of their militaries. Those three countries would be able to act as a check on Russia and China. Also, it gives the US the benefit of removing most, if not all, of it troops from Japan and South Korea. My understanding is most of the citizens of South Korea and Japan don’t want US troops in their countries any way. This suggestion gives us stronger allies and allows us to withdraw our troops from these areas. This is a win-win all the way around. In any event, set a date certain with these governments as to when American troops will be completely out of their countries. This would give them strong incentive to implement the above policy suggestions. The date certain for US withdrawl should NOT be made public. 3.) I think we have a large number of troops stationed in Europe, specifically in Germany. My understanding is the Western European countries do not have very large militaries. We should set a date certain with our allies where we have troops as to when our troops will be completely withdrawn. We should assist them in developing their military capabilies prior to our withdrawl. Again the date certain for our troop withdrawl should not be made public. A militarily strong Western Europe will help to serve as a check on Russia. 4.) We need to secure our borders. 5.) The mosques need to be closely monitored and a moratorium should be placed on immigration from Muslim countries. In this note racial profiling is a good idea. We know who is most likely to be a terrorist. 6.) We should develop more of our own oil and gas resources. As we lessen our oil and gas imports, this will give us more leverage in any negotiations with middle eastern countries and Venezuela. Right now we have very little leverage. 6.) Somehow we are going to need to improve our human intellegence. 7.) We are going to need a frank assessment of who we are, who our enemies are, which enemies are the most dangerous, and where we are in the GWOT. By far and away our most dangerous enemy is Russia. As to where we are in the GWOT, to date the biggest winners have been Russia, Iran, and China, probably in that order. In other words, our three most dangerous enemies have been the chief benefactors of our current policies. The biggest loser in the GWOT has been Israel In other words, our most valuable ally has suffered the most. 8.) Finally, we need to recognize that the Islamic extremist/Communist alliance that is arrayed against us poses an existential threat to the USA and it should be treated as such.

There is still time to turn this around and win the GWOT. The first step to winning will be a frank assessment of our current situation. Once we have honestly assessed the situation, we will be in a better postion to develop successful policies.

By: B.Poster

B.Poster — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 20:44:53 +0000

Rick

As always, good post. You nailed it!! You write: “But we are almost certainly going to be forced to fight smarter.” I agree whole heartedly. Right now the militaries of Russia and China are every bit equal to the military of the US and, in some ways, they are militarily superior to the US. This is especially so with regards to Russia. These countries have achieved military parity with the US while spending only a fraction of the amount of money on their militaries that the US spends.

Btw, as a Conservative, my over riding theme is “government stay out!!” The Republicans have expanded the size and intrusiveness of the government at an astounding rate. Thuis is unacceptable. If there is a silver lining here, as the debt comes due down the road, government services will have to be cut. We will finally have a less intrusive government. At some point, Government services will have to be cut. This has to happen whether Democrats or Republicans are in office. The long term damage from this spending spree is to late to correct.

The Government agencies I would eliminate first would be the EPA and the Department of Education. The elimination of these useless organizations would save the taxpayers alot of money.