Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Halliburton to Build $30 Million Guantanamo Jail

pan6467 · 06-21-2005, 12:24 PM

From the end of WW2 to the Carter Administration, America's economy was built on government defense contracts. Companies made huge money developing weapons and warcraft (ships, planes, land vehicles), this allowed them to have R&D, and provide us with the best products at affordable prices (but this also allowed unions to become greedy and lazy). The economy boomed (we had peaks and lows but nothing truly serious), then the people heard about the waste and after 'Nam wanted the defense spending lessened. We did and our economy nosedived. The money that the companies needed and had counted on was no longer there and they couldn't grow, they only barely survived.

Reagan set out to break the unions by taking bids from overseas and allowing companies to outsource. The companies started to make small comebacks but imports were drowning us and by the end of the 80's we had to cut military spending again.

Eventually, our economy couldn't handle the loss and in the early 90's we again hit a recession again. However we had tech stocks and the internet. The economy grew because the focus was off military spending and on growing sectors. But outsourcing and labor being sent overseas was not addressed and as companies paid less, factories closed and government spending on technology started to be cut, that growing sector of the economy that was helping us recover from our military economy.

Today, the economy is very unstable because we don't truly have military (although I believe Bush is old school and has tried to rebuild that way.... but the outsourcing and overseas companies taking the jobs has crushed us.) The government can no longer give USSteel big business for it's needs..... it has to take bids and ends up having to use Chinese or Japanese steel because they cost less.

Anyway my point is government contracts aren't always bad, in fact they are needed to keep the economy going forward..... however, in order to maintain a growing economy our government needs to fund more than just the military industrial and move into other sectors but make sure the companies are US and the products are made in the US. And we must keep a free market where not just 1 company gets everything..... where contracts are spread out between companies.

06-21-2005, 12:24 PM	#26 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	From the end of WW2 to the Carter Administration, America's economy was built on government defense contracts. Companies made huge money developing weapons and warcraft (ships, planes, land vehicles), this allowed them to have R&D, and provide us with the best products at affordable prices (but this also allowed unions to become greedy and lazy). The economy boomed (we had peaks and lows but nothing truly serious), then the people heard about the waste and after 'Nam wanted the defense spending lessened. We did and our economy nosedived. The money that the companies needed and had counted on was no longer there and they couldn't grow, they only barely survived. Reagan set out to break the unions by taking bids from overseas and allowing companies to outsource. The companies started to make small comebacks but imports were drowning us and by the end of the 80's we had to cut military spending again. Eventually, our economy couldn't handle the loss and in the early 90's we again hit a recession again. However we had tech stocks and the internet. The economy grew because the focus was off military spending and on growing sectors. But outsourcing and labor being sent overseas was not addressed and as companies paid less, factories closed and government spending on technology started to be cut, that growing sector of the economy that was helping us recover from our military economy. Today, the economy is very unstable because we don't truly have military (although I believe Bush is old school and has tried to rebuild that way.... but the outsourcing and overseas companies taking the jobs has crushed us.) The government can no longer give USSteel big business for it's needs..... it has to take bids and ends up having to use Chinese or Japanese steel because they cost less. Anyway my point is government contracts aren't always bad, in fact they are needed to keep the economy going forward..... however, in order to maintain a growing economy our government needs to fund more than just the military industrial and move into other sectors but make sure the companies are US and the products are made in the US. And we must keep a free market where not just 1 company gets everything..... where contracts are spread out between companies. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"