Lion's Weekend Blurb - Sat., Sun., Dec. 20-21

[Lion]

On Friday President Bush announced an emergency $17 billion bailout for the US auto makers to keep them afloat at least for the next month or so. The $17 billion loan comes from the original $700 billion federal bailout package that was to go JUST for financial institutions. So the game has been changed. To date, half of the $700 billion is gone. The Obama administration will have $350 billion to give out to whoever wants it I guess. It's a safe bet that he'll five more billions to the auto peeps cause they have to keep the unions happy. Insurance companies are in trouble, state and local governments are going broke, small businesses are struggling, and of course many families across America. Should they get a piece of the pie too? To top it all off, Barrack Obama's soon to be installed administration is putting together another estimated $650-$850 billion stimulus package to get the economy going again. That's on top of the first $700 billion. I thought the first $700 billion was suppose to do that? Just take $700 billion and give each American a share out of that. We'll spend it and get the economy moving. That little $600 check me and other tax payers got from the government back in the spring did nothing. Show us da money. Meanwhile, America digs a deeper hole and slips slowly into the ever growing money pit.

[Thumper]

sinking ship. move to alaska, live off land.

[berlin88]

Another bailout or stimulus package would be a disaster.

Obama and other Democrats think they can get out of this mess by spending money, raising taxes, more government regulation and printing money. WRONG!

1. Printing money devalues the currency and raises inflation rates. Unless your goal is to destroy peoples finances/ bank accounts, this is not the way to go.

2. Raising taxes during a bad economy discourages people from spending money and investing in the economy. They should be lowering taxes, not raising them.

3. You can't get out of debt by spending money your don't have. We have been trying to fund big government agendas with money that doesn't exist. We deceive the voters into thinking the welfare programs are affordable because we just jack up the debt/ print more money.

If a state like California or New York tried to fund these welfare programs on there own without printing endless amounts of money, they would either go broke or the citizens would revolt once they learn the cost.

The greatest deception of our time is big government claiming their agenda is affordable. Its not, they just use deficit spending and the printing press to make it appear so. So long as the federal government picks up the tab, the tax payers don't concern themselves with the cost of having it.

4. Bad regulation time and time again has killed our economy. People come up with this bad regulation thinking it will do some good or correct a social injustice, and completely ignore the side effects and long term consequences.

5. From the Democrats perspective, the Unions are innocent victims whenever there is a dispute between them and the company. They side with the unions 100%, just like they are now doing in the auto industry.

The average American doesn't understand the power, money and yes corruption these Unions have. They just view the Unions as "protecting workers rights/ wages" and ignore the greed and spoiled nature of the unions. If they knew how much the Unions spent on supporting politicians instead of actually helping their members, they would be surprised. If they knew how "coddled" some of these Unions are, they would be just as amazed.


6. With both parties they use one liners and moral arguments to advance their agenda, while putting a blindfold over peoples eyes.

With Republicans its the whole "kill the evil terrorists", "defend your religious beliefs" and "defend traditional values against the secular progressives". They also advance small government and free markets as well.

With Democrats its "socialism and regulation are good", "Labor Unions are innocent victims of corporate power/ greed", "Secularism is good", "Welfare programs are good"


7. Back in High School when Iraq started, I was one of those "go fight" people. Bush claimed Iraq had WMD's and I believed him. I firmly supported the Iraq war. I viewed the Dems as the anti military, anti war peace activists who never supported any military action, even when justified. I firmly believed that if we were to fight, go all in and defeat the enemy.

Well I was wrong. Sadamm had no weapons of mass destruction and posed no real threat to the USA. Maybe Israel or the Saudis, but not the USA.

I have stated before that most young voters are blind/ brainwashed followers of the Dems, well I was the opposite. A loyal follower of the Republicans. I am unsure why or how I turned out Republican when most of the other students I knew were Dems, but I did.

It wasn't until college when I started to research the history of the two parties and look up all the facts/ evidence behind the two sides. To see for myself what "conservatism", "liberalism", "secular progressive" or "socialiasm" actually is. Thus how I came to be a Goldwater Conservative.

[General Al Ramsey]

It is very similar to a person who is already in financial trouble and you give them a home equity loan and consolidate their payments and extend the terms of the loan. All it does is allow the person to continue spending their way into a deeper pit. I have been laid off twice this year and I have never been laid off in my whole working life. (I am 53 now) So that is 35 years. My unemployment benefits just ran out this week! (Merry Christmas) I could apply for the federal unemployment extension, but I don't want to do it.

So I would have let the car companies fend for themselves, and we will recover from this recession sooner rather than postponing it longer. Bush just pushed all his republican friends under the bus. (Congress)

My kids will end up paying for all the taxes that will have to be raised to cover these bailouts plus Social Security. I can hear them now (why work)!

[Statalyzer]

The $17 billion loan comes from the original $700 billion federal bailout package that was to go JUST for financial institutions.

Any people who thought Congress would abide by its word when it voted for the bailout were kidding themselves.

Also, as a side note, that $700 bailout of institutions that Congress had pushed down the road to ruin in the first place was not the only bailout passed, it was just the only big one that made the news. The dearth of leadership in all categories but panicking has actually cost the USA over a trillion bucks.

That's on top of the first $700 billion. I thought the first $700 billion was suppose to do that? Just take $700 billion and give each American a share out of that. We'll spend it and get the economy moving.

Another good idea would have been to use it to reduce our embarrassing and gargantuan national debt.

[truefeel]

1. Printing money devalues the currency and raises inflation rates. Unless your goal is to destroy peoples finances/ bank accounts, this is not the way to go.

Dude, they are not going to print extra money. That money would probably be lent (from China perhaps again ?), and that money will mostly be giral money. America is not going to print more money; they know that will not help a thing.

2. Raising taxes during a bad economy discourages people from spending money and investing in the economy. They should be lowering taxes, not raising them.

You think that they are going to raise taxes, but will it actually be like that ?

3. You can't get out of debt by spending money your don't have. We have been trying to fund big government agendas with money that doesn't exist. We deceive the voters into thinking the welfare programs are affordable because we just jack up the debt/ print more money.

Here I agree with you, but on the other hand: there is not much of a choice, is there ?

4. Bad regulation time and time again has killed our economy. People come up with this bad regulation thinking it will do some good or correct a social injustice, and completely ignore the side effects and long term consequences.

No, the sole thing that killed your economy were the bad loans, which affected the economy. The big three would otherwise be in problems, but not that big problems and it would still be overcomeable.

5. From the Democrats perspective, the Unions are innocent victims whenever there is a dispute between them and the company. They side with the unions 100%, just like they are now doing in the auto industry.

Dude, a goverment cannot give unions a big advantage. The goverment only gives in big lines some laws. Seeing how poorly you Americans are paid when working for mcdonalds, it's obvious how much those laws contain. The problem was very local in those big three, the unions really did not wanted to know anything that would affect negatively the workers. That played inside the organisation, not outside.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by truefeel

Dude, a goverment cannot give unions a big advantage.

Ohhhh yes they can. They can make it illegal to work in an industry without being a member of the union (and paying union dues), they can make it impossible for companies to bust strikes, and they can force a company to come to the table under any terms the union offers. Some unions have become ridiculously powerful, the UAW is a leading example of this.

Seeing how poorly you Americans are paid when working for mcdonalds, it's obvious how much those laws contain.

Fastfood isn't unionized and generally gets paid minimum wage. The employee turnover in such an industry would make unions useless. Its not a career job.

[truefeel]

Ohhhh yes they can. They can make it illegal to work in an industry without being a member of the union (and paying union dues), they can make it impossible for companies to bust strikes, and they can force a company to come to the table under any terms the union offers. Some unions have become ridiculously powerful, the UAW is a leading example of this.

The bolded part does not mean necessary a big advantage, as the bargaining stands outside that. Also the fact that America is very liberal gives me the impression the USA would not force companies into something like forcing companies to accept unions offers. Something like that does not even exist in Belgium, which you savely can say the Utopia of unions.

[nilloC]

Originally Posted by Derek

Ohhhh Fastfood isn't unionized and generally gets paid minimum wage. The employee turnover in such an industry would make unions useless. Its not meant to be a career job.

I added 3 words in your last sentence to make it more accurate.

No one thinks the fast food industry is a valid career job. However I'd wager that quite a few people do get stuck in the industry; first a burger-whore, slaving over the grills in the back. Then you get "promoted" to cashier". Then, maybe, just maybe night shift assistant manager.

Again, no one wants to be locked into the fast food industry for their life. But with the state of our current economy, and refusal to aid underdeveloped areas such as the inner-city areas of our country, many people get stuck working in the fast food establishments. It's not the person's choice, but it's all they can muster at the time.

[Camel]

Only McJobs left to do???