freepressmyass, October 12 at 3:44 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Stuck between a rock and a hard place for the next election?  Anyone who says they have no choice but to vote for the Dem party is a f—king idiot. Stay home and let this chips fall where they may.

Those who love their country will find this suggestion repugnant, I know I do. If you do not vote, if you do not participate, then you are a part of the problem.

For the Bruddas & Sistahs of Hawaii, where I lived for 12 years, and watched this happen there first. I watched as peoples jobs and rightful claims to family lands were taken from them because it was worth large, no huge, monies for the State, and investors who could manipulate these properties for their benefits. These lands were sold to Japanese, German, Korean, and mainland U.S. people at largely inflated monies and resold at larger costs until vastly overpriced and unaffordable to anyone. Kind of Ponzi scheme-like in a way, but none-the-less destructive to the State and more importantly, to the people who deserved these lands to live and maintain good family structure. Ecological laws were changed to accomodate and building codes were changed as well, which contributed to the ugly changes still present. People could not even see the beauty of the lands we all know to be because the building height limits were allowed to rise(thanks to Donald Trump and his kind)and blocked the sightlines. No wonder the Hawaiian people want to forego statehood. My point is that it also happens here and we let it, you and I. The only colors of our country are not red, white, and blue, but cash green. Intelligent rebellion is a must. It cannot and should not be done through violence, but should be done with intelligence. The lands and principles we hold dear must be respected or be lost, and where would all go to have the likes of what we could have here. I trust no person that doesn’t DEMONSTRATE through their actions these same beliefs, and if a politician they better be CLEAN. Lobby money is DIRTY money, no spin here. I don’t want to see your ugly faces on TV telling me what you will do for me, I want to see you in the mud pit getting down & dirty with us to help. If not, get out of the way, I’ll steamroll you how ever I can.

All of Roosevelt’s stimulus money couldn’t pull us out of the first republican nightmare.  It took WW2 and much more borrowing.

However, I see no recovery as long as American corporations continue to be lazy.  There is little to no R&D.  Essentially we’re good at nothing; we don’t make anything anymore but people rich off of stock mergers and manipulations.

I remember republicans telling us how good it would be when government got of the way.  Well, it’s out the way and Am corporations stink.  No regulations, no unions, little EPA impact, and no inspections.  The ball is in their court and they’ve done nothing but dribble all over themselves.

Okay!  Enough Already!  All I see when I read these posts is people complaining about how our government is spending money we do not have and we will not have.  How it is supporting the rich and letting the rest of us lose our jobs and our homes.  Right!  Agreed!  But what are any of you doing to change that?  Are you writing your Congressional delegation everyday or phoning or are you going to Tea Partys or Glenn Beck marches?  What exactly are you doing to hold those we all elected last November - Republican and Democrat alike - accountable?

I have sat here for over 8 years paralyzed with fear, not of terrorists but of my own government and what it was doing to us and to the world.  I saw the housing bubble debacle years before it hit, and I am seeing the continuing collapse of our economy as jobs continue to disappear, probably never to return because the businesses are disappearing as well.

Well, I now realize that if this country is going to change, we need to do some very drastic things, and that includes putting ourselves into horrendous debt in order to create new jobs and a more sustainable economic base in this nation.  This will mean dismantling banks “that are too big to fail” through nationalization (probably); passing expansive health care reform that will weaken the gluttons of the insurance companies; expand our alternative energy programs and the job training programs that go with them; re-establishing our public schools systems to the highest possible standards; creating government work programs that train people to do new work and then helping them start new businesses with refunded SBA programs; and finally, holding those who oppose government spending, after spending us into a disaster where this is the only alternative left, accountable for their pandering to banks and special interests instead of addressing the needs of the American People - and I am not just talking Republicans either.

Join me as I drive across this nation to Washington, DC.  This is a peaceful effort to make those in Congress and the White House see us - the American People, and understand that it is us to whom they are accountable and that they better start helping us first, last, and always, or we will vote them out of office. 

Please go to my website and see the first of my videos about American policy and the American people as I travel across the country.  Then join me along the way or create a work stoppage in your local areas so that the corporations who are profiting while we suffer get the message as well.

We need to make America heard in Washington over the greed and the power grabbing.  We need massive numbers of Americans across this land to be seen and heard on November 3rd.  Join me.  We are America.

Let America Roar!  Let Freedom Ring!

http://www.letfreedomring.community.officelive.com

People who say that a “depression” has been averted and that we are in a “recovery” are dead wrong. This is a depression, and make no Goddam mistake about it. More people are unemployed now than in the “Great” depression. The statistics on home foreclosures and homelessness are staggering and are growing worse day by day. And nothing of substance is being done about it by our so-called leaders. Because our country has been divided and this depression is only for the blue collar class. The white collar class is choosing to ignore the plight of the mule they are riding on and that mule is dying. When the mule dies, you’ll be wading through the mud yourself. Or maybe the mule will come to it’s senses and throw you off. Mules are unpredictable creatures after all….

Quote: “lost jobs and income are simply ruinous to families struggling to find their way into the middle class, because of the effect on children’s educational progress.

Although the Obama stimulus package stopped the worst recession from turning into a global depression, the nation’s working families and small businesses have gotten too little help so far. Even if Congress is not yet ready to pass a second stimulus, which will ultimately prove necessary”

Absolutely. A huge portion of the problem here is ideological mantras which serve no useful benefit to address the real issues of the day.  People are hurting and the domino effect is happening, while to a much LESSER degree than what would/could have been, nonetheless it IS still taking its toll.

The most despicable among us (who probably have work or worse yet earn their living from TAXPAYER DOLLARS) are fighting against real reform and relief, it is obvious the latter haven’t any respect for the taxpayer dollars which put the bread ON THEIR TABLE.  This debasement is seen in our blue-dogs, the GOP and in many local authorities.  Their TRUE COLORS are certainly shining through.

From Alternet:

“When I was a small boy my father told me that I and my kids and my grand-kids would be paying down the debt created by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Depression and World War II. I didn’t even know what a debt was, but it kept me up at night.

But if government doesn’t spend more right now and get Americans back to work, we could be out of work for years.
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/143067/americans_are_jobless_and_scared_—_the_government_must_spend_more_to_kickstart_our_economy

I wonder sometimes, do these types want America to fail…. or are they seriously that stupid!  Ye ol’ “me first crowd” in the buff, strikes again.  Why is acting like an actual grown-up so foreign to them…...

Aren’t these wars being fought with National Guard and Reserves that were taken from jobs, and aren’t they allowed those jobs back upon return? Where then would be the savings compared to the cost? Give, give, give more money in stimulus-no thanks. Lets fix unemployment with workers rights reform. Abolish the “At Will” statute for starters which will help to keep people employed in these large corporations. Give taxation help to small business in line with that given to people new to this country who start new business. This along with healthcare reform, like I think I heard the Pres outline in his ways of paying for single payer/public option. These are examples of ideas (not mine) that seem to make sense and are certainly up for discussion. Lets find answers folks. We are not dumb, ignorant to things I’m sure, but very capable of helping in solving this dilemma through ways this country has always excelled in. Ingenuity not negativity. Not rah-rah but stand up & be counted in with the solution. I know we the people can help to fix this dilemma if we decide to not destroy ideas. I don’t want hand-outs-I want work.

hello. the politics of doling out massive chunks of unspent bailout money to generate green jobs for Main street America just in time for the 2010 election cycle is dissolving with the value of the dollar. perhaps buying back American debt and opening oil reserves in the American market will save this administration, along with ending the undeclared war against the Taliban (on drugs). my prayers go to everyone reuniting behind someone solving the domestic issues, be it: over-taxation, privacy, misrepresentation, deficit spending, tort reform, welfare, infrastructure, illegal immigration, education, cronyism, windfall profits, Czars, carbon credits… we just do not seem to have anyone at the rudder. how much longer must the list grow as we tread dangerously closer to the abyss? will our celebrity transform himself into a man right before our eyes and star in the greatest political drama never told? tune in next election…

ardee, 
    Where I am registered all the local slots have three choices for us: 

    Republican, Libertarian, abstain.

And usually there are no Libertarian candidates either.

Hulk2008, October 8 at 5:41 pm

I vote for Nader because, of all the candidates in the last three national elections, Ralph Nader made the most sense to me.

Unless somebody comes up with a valid 3rd party, kicking out Democrats just means shoving back in the do-nothing GOP.  I’d vote for Nader if he could actually produce a national slate of candidates.

Do not expect the totally corrupt U.S. government to do anything whatsoever that actually helps ordinary people.

I’m sure that there are many who would like the government to spend more money. The same ones that got the money from the last bailout or two would be first in line.

While those, like me that can’t afford a large legal department, won’t be heard or seen.

Congress has become expert at handing out pork chops, and making it seem like it’s for our own good.

But here’s a better idea, gut the credit card companies, roll back bankrucpy reform, re regulate the banks, pass consumer protection, fufill those promises to those on social security.

And stop looking for military solutions to religious wars, this never works, instead seek cultural ones.

and above all else Tax heavily every bit of corporate money sent to lobbyists.

If you wait around with your thumb up your b*tt trying to analyze the situation and try and make everyone happy, you’ll be too lake. It’s almost too late now. If you don’t 2010, will be a lot worse than 1929. I think it’s more likely we’ll be back to 1858.

You can’t fix anything until you stop the war. Then you’ve got to introduce public works programs to get people working. You’ve got to tax the bejeezus out of the rich to rectify the imbalance that has resulted fron twelve years of Republican rule. And you’ve got to institute mechanisms to restore our global trade imbalance and bring our manufacturing jobs back from overseas. If those steps are not all being taken right now, then we are in a depression and we’re never going to come out of it.

Conason does not exhibit much knowledge or thought, but I believe he’s following Krugman here, who should know better.  Krugman, with Conason panting along behind him, makes the error of supposing that money is guaranteed to be worth something.  In fact, unless its value is attached to labor and the goods and services that labor produces, it’s worthless.

Now, the money which has been given to bankers, brokers and such over the last several years has been largely fictional.  That is, it was ginned up out of nothing in order to solve certain financial difficulties which arise because of the incompetence of those members of the ruling class who play with money, and because the U.S. government wants to live beyond its means in order to pay for its program of war, imperialism, and world domination.

The gaseous quality of these rich folks’ money isn’t obvious, however, because working and middle-class people for the most part can’t touch it.  They still have to work for money; therefore, the money they get is “scarce” because it represents work and is worth something.  Clearly, if the huge bundles of the fictional money were to flow into the real economy, wild inflation would result, because the fictional money doesn’t represent anything other than some guys in suits fiddling around in a board room for half an hour.

If wild inflation results, it will be harder if not impossible for the U.S. government to borrow the money it needs for war, imperialism and world domination, because lenders will not be interested in getting paid back in increasingly worthless dollars.

Therefore, the huge bundles of money created by the government must not and will not be allowed to flow into the working-class economy.  Working people and the poor must continue to suffer low wages, unemployment, foreclosure, homelessness and destitution in order to keep the value of the money up.  In fact, I think things will get worse because the ruling class is now taking so much out of the real economy that it can’t regenerate itself, that is, it’s being decapitalized.

Hey, if all they can do is spend on empire building and giving money to Goldman Sachs, give me back my tax dollars, I can sure as hell spend it more wisely than they can. 

I take it your new business is related to the offense industry, weapons technology kinda thing.

Let’s close about 700 military bases overseas, take back OUR money from the banks that haven’t been lending, and give each American who’s working or on unemployment about $2500.  Except for those making over $400K per year.

Won’t happen in my lifetime!  The Congress is lost to the special interests, never to be seen again.  And Obama seems far too concerned about his prospects in 2012 (especially the money part) to really worry about us.  I mean ... who else are we going to vote for?  A Republican!  We are stuck between a rock and a hard place and the Dems know this.  Obama will get his second term simply because the Repubs are so far to the right that only the right fringe will follow them.  The unemployment numbers will get “better” over the next year or so as the long-term unemployed fall off the rolls and disappear.  We will have full employment with only 20-30 million “lost” and ignored.  That’s how things are going.

Gee, all the money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan might have served a better purpose here in America.The trillion or so of corporate welfare given without a string attached, or a clue for that matter, might have been better spent as well. While Obama may “see” a problem he seems willing enough to continue to enrich the few at the cost to the many.

The current defense budget is yet another increase over that of the previous year, a fact not often heard amidst the bragging about defeating one single weapons system. The supposed line-by-line inspection of the budget is yet another campaign promise gone into limbo as well.

All the pretty words add up to the same old rip off.