Re: Back to Colonial Status Again

Cheer up. It isn't as bad as you think. After health care "reform" kicks in you won't be able to get treatment for what ails you and you may be happy to have the Chinese come in and end your suffering. Better to die at the hands of your enemies than at the hands of your friends.

Re: TIPS will tip us

You make some good points are some that are not so good.
If you are eligible for food stamps you need them. They are for low income people. Same with welfare. Unless you are committing fraud.
Cash for clunkers is necessary to get rid of the gas slobs. However, someone made a good point. If they bought gas sippers in the past, why should they be penalized (not entitled to the $4500) for acting responsibly, while the gas slobs get rewarded? He makes a good point and I have no answer for that.
First time home buyer credit is to help the housing industry.
Do not combine medicare and medicaid. Almost everyone pays for medicare with taxes. It is insurance. medicaid is for low/no income people.
Good point for living beyond your means and buying a house you cannot afford.
Your socialism nonsense is just that. His policies are necessaqry to get us out of the depression caused by George Bush. Otherwise we will have a great depression.

Re: TIPS will tip us

For worker fed; the answer to your question , because those acting responsibly have always been the group to take it. These are the ants, bees, squirrels or other groups of animals that work, put aside, save for a rainy day and live within their means. These are the people that support the grasshoppers, those that just want to sing and dance all summer then when winter is knocking at their back door cry because the responsible people are warm and clothed and fed and they have nothing. So the federal government comes up with all these special programs (take from those responsible citizens) so the happy dancer doesn’t have to work or be responsible but those that are continue to pay and continue to lose, little by little.

Re: TIPS will tip us

worker: You do make some good points. However, you are wrong when you say George Bush caused the depression. There are many politicians on both sides of the aisle who had a hand in the economic downturn. Telling us that GWB caused it is a catchy partisan sound byte but falls far short of a real world explanation of what really happened.

Re: TIPS will tip us

To analyst DOD
Your analogy isn't so bad. It is just not totally accurate. I live within my means (sometimes too much so). But, since I work for the government, I have never been laid off. I have a health insurance plan that is decent. I will have a CSRS pension plan plus the TSP. I have neither prospered or gone belly up.
What about those who get laid off and cannot get a decent paying job? What about those working for a company that does not provide health insurance, or provides a lousy policy? They need health insurance. That is why good workers get screwed also.
To Programmer TSO,
I believe his policies were a major factor in causing the depression. A major cause was the undocumented and falsely documented loans done by banks. Although the Fed is involved in this area, George could have become involved also. Instead he ignored the issue. Also, do not forget his wasteful spending in Iraq. Do not forget his tax cuts for the wealthy. That is deficit spending.

Re: TIPS will tip us

Fed worker, I wasn't talking about people that actually worked and got laid off I was talking about those, and there are a bunch, that stand there doing nothing for themselves except holding their hands out feeling they are owed just cause. These are the dancing grasshoppers. Those that got laid off through no fault of their own I feel for them. Two of my children are now unemployed (through no fault of their own) and I, being fortunate enough to have a stable job am doing my level best to help them because that is what families are for.

Re: TIPS will tip us

worker - Regarding the mortage loan situation you're right about them being a major cause of the downturn, they were actually the catalyst that started the dominos tumbling. You're wrong telling us GW ignored the issue though. When Fannie and Freddie (which are under congressional oversight) blew up, the slide started. GWs administration warned congress multiple times over the years that congress needed to get control over them, warned that if they didn't they would blow up and start a financial chain reaction. Congress ignored the Administrations warnings, Fannie and Freddie blew up and the chain reation started. Could GW have pushed harder? Probably so but he did not ignore the issue as you say. Congress did the ignoring.

Taxwise - the top 10% of wage earners pay over half of all income tax (after the tax cuts). That's not much of a break. The tax cuts for the rich line is another partisan sound byte that doesn't adequately address reality.

Re: we have met the enemy and they are us.

Perhaps during your trip to China you noticed portraits of a certain Communist despot. He may be gone, and the Communists taking on the face of entrepreneurs, but there are certain rights the Chinese do not share with you. One is freedom of speech. Of course, they get crackerjack health care, much like the Cubans. Ready to trade your inalienable rights for acupuncture?

Re: we have met the enemy and they are us.

Retired Fed - I made no comparison to their rights as citizens, just what is obvious - that they are out running us as capitalists and are willing to invest heavily into their own infrastructure to improve their productivity and therefore their return on investment. Their investment in our debt is small potatoes in their economy. Marxist Communism as you and I were taught it in school is totally dead. They have a one-party government, but its based on capitalism. Gee, our founding fathers never foresaw multi-party democracy and thought it would doom America. The title of my comment is two edged - like their ying and yang, We have met the enemy and they are us. We are our own worst enemy and they have become more like us than we or they care to admit.

Re: we have met the enemy and they are us.

REtired FED - on freedom of speech and the despot you mention - There was no reluctance on the part of any Chinese guides (and they are govt. employees) and individuals I asked about the Chairman and how he was viewed now. Their view was that he had good points and bad points. That he pulled a weak China together after WWII is viewed as positive, the cultural revolution as a very bad black period in their history. In viewing Chinese tv for a number of nights, the channels are full of documentaries and history movies that explore both the good and bad. One inflight movie was a movie set at the end of the cultural revolution and how students were reacting to their return to universities, free to get an education. Deng Shou Peng (sp?) who opened China up to capitalism is viewed as the great reformer and leader. Real freedoms are developing if slowly due to rising economic conditions. They are not 'contained' by the govt., and very aware how those in the U.S. live and view the world

Re: Debt

This is why, as a relatively young worker, I took almost all of my retirement out of the G Fund and put it into stocks, which at least act as somewhat of a hedge against inflation.