Work Layoffs...

No, I don't think Scott is right on. I for one have been lucky to keep my job such that it is. But on the other side of the coin I have watched my 2 step sons and my Finacee get layed of due to the sucky economy. I have also watched all three of them apply and apply for jobs in and out of their respective fields with not even a nibble at a job. I have also watched my daughter struggle with being out of high school for 2 years and not be able to find a job. So how does getting un-employment equate to welfare? the companies we all work for pay into that fund for the government. It's not everyone's fault they are un-employed. You can thank the big investment banks that blew the housing bubble to bits. I mean seriously how long were housing prices supposed rise? Till everyone had to pay 500,000 for a 3 bedroom house set so close to your neighbor that you could hear them sneeze from ten feet away? And as far as the economy goes now, where is the money OUR government GAVE to those big investment banks because they were to big to fail? The government should at least offer a bailout for the working class after all the big execs of those banks got their BIG AZZ bonuses and that was after the handout. Just my 2 cents but then withe state of the economy I should only make that 1/2 of a cent. I might need the other 1 1/2 for food later this month.

Joe

I agree with joe- give the working class a bailout.
I have a feeling that unless companies quit being so greedy and shipping manufacturing jobs overseas just to make a little bit more money, we're going to be stuck in an economic rut because manufacturing jobs used to make up a large chunk of the job market.

I'd still like to hear what the alternative is to government spending. I'll I've heard is complaining about the government spending, what is the alternative? Do you buy the point that we should avoid a contracting economy if we can? Would you prefer that all 3 sources of spending should contract at the same time?

Mark

With the printing up of money that isn't there, and trying to revitalize the economy, the long term effect will be worse than the short term boost, wait and see...
I've heard economists say that we should have not had any bail outs, and let the economy collapse and rebuild like they have in the past. Printing up money that doesn't exist hasn't happened in the past...Type out a billion, or write out a billion on a piece of paper...9 zero's...a trillion has 12 zero's. This isn't chump change...will our economy ever recover to repay the national debt? Who knows? It would take a very strong economy a long period of time for results, most of us will be pushing up daisies by the time it happens, IF it happens...
Like I said earlier, we manage our households finances, why can't the politicians do the same??
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+3][B]U.S. N[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+2][B]ATIONAL[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+3][B]D[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+2][B]EBT[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+3][B]C[/B][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica][SIZE=+2][B]LOCK[/B][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]The Outstanding Public Debt as of 14 Aug 2010 at 01:17:15 PM GMT is:
[/FONT] <table border="5" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"> <tbody><tr><td align="center">[IMG]http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/debtiv.gif[/IMG]</td></tr> </tbody></table>
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]The estimated population of the United States is [B]308,925,202[/B]
so each citizen's share of this debt is [B]$43,129.45[/B].[/FONT]
[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica]The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
[B]$4.11 billion per day[/B] since September 28, 2007![/FONT]

But if the economy collapses we all burn with it, yes? I won't argue that the deficit is a terrible thing, it is. But if the economy collapses we'll have to default on all of that debt, and I don't even want to contemplate that. If the economy can be reboosted with another 500 BILLION (or whatever) of government spending its much cheaper than starting from scratch. I don't have enough land for subsistence farming.

Scott you don't like the deficit, I hear that, but is the best way out of this recession for the government to slow its spending? If we take that course what would you expect the economy to be like over the next year or two.

Mark

[IMG]http://toycars.redlinesonline.info/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=435&d=1281740756[/IMG]I figure they divide up astronomical and incomprehensible numbers like this by the # of citizens:
[IMG]http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/debtiv.gif[/IMG]
to make it more graspable, but I don't think that each should actually owe the approximate amount of $46,000.00. I've always been of the thought that the amount owed by any one citizen should be pro-rated to your income level.

If you are a Wall Street financial tycoon who rakes in $50Million/year, you would pay considerably more towards paying down the debt than the slurpee server behind the counter at 7-11. I think folks who've financially benefited more from the system should owe a more proportional amount.

[IMG]http://toycars.redlinesonline.info/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=435&d=1281740756[/IMG]The numbers might be more like this:

Wall Street tycoon's amount oweable: $1,000,000.00
7-11 Slurpee server's amount oweable: $1,000.00

[IMG]http://toycars.redlinesonline.info/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=435&d=1281740756[/IMG]That's not to mention children, should really owe anything 'just yet' for obvious reasons, ALTHOUGH, they do stand to inherit the benefits of millions of years of progress. They weren't born in a cave, but rather into modern industrial society with all the comforts such as automobiles, paved roads, running hot and cold water, X-Boxes, stoves and fridges, someone else to kill your meat for you, etc....They're born into a system where most the the dirty work has been long previously done for them.

[IMG]http://toycars.redlinesonline.info/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=435&d=1281740756[/IMG]Your share of the national debt should be proportional to your income!

Andy[IMG]http://toycars.redlinesonline.info/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=435&d=1281740756[/IMG]

Word of the day: graspable! Never heard it, plan on using it...

Tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend, higher taxes, more spending, I would think "We the People" are pretty tired of it. If the people in charge would CONTROL the spending and cut programs, then we'd see results...they spend like drunken sailors...Federal employees now earn more than the private sector, what a surprise, never used to be that way...
We could help our economy by actually enforcing our immigration policies. 11 to 20 million illegal aliens are sucking us dry. I'm tired of hearing "they do the jobs American's won't do". They are forcing medical expenses to increase as well...and bleeding our social services dry...I'll bet there are many people out there willing to work(unless they are on the cushy 99 week unemployment compensation), or at least we could force the able bodied deadbeats on Welfare to do the same work the illegals are doing. At least they could earn their keep for once. Inmates in Prison can perform the same work too, instead of working out for hours a day...chain gangs are my vision...and they won't send the money they earn back to their home country...
We have some serious issues based on laws overlooked for years and years...our politicians can't ever agree on a budget, and seldom meet the deadlines required BY LAW to have the budget on time. They are above the law it seems...
If I were King of America...
Would anyone vote for such a mean spirited individual????

[IMG]http://toycars.redlinesonline.info/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=435&d=1281740756[/IMG]Hey Scott,...maybe you ARE cut out to be King:chef:. If you move your cursor over the little green bars by your avatar, it says you are a 'Jewel In The Rough'.

That's graspable!!!

Hmmmmmmmm..."Jewel in the Rough"...that's a line from "Ladies Room" off of Kiss's album "Dressed to Kill" I believe...

[QUOTE=mlbuser;365168]I'd still like to hear what the alternative is to government spending. I'll I've heard is complaining about the government spending, what is the alternative? Do you buy the point that we should avoid a contracting economy if we can? Would you prefer that all 3 sources of spending should contract at the same time?

Mark[/QUOTE]

Not spending. Government spending does not create anything. All it does is take from someone and give it to someone else. There is nothing created.

The government took 800 bilion dollars and gave it to Wall Street. Did you benefit from that? Do you benefit when your taxes go up to pay that money back? (it's money that had to be borrowed from places like China).

Did you gain when billions of those dollars went to banks overseas? Are you going to benefit when asked to pay that money back?