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Originally Posted by pan6467
Raise tariffs on imports, give loans to small businesses, increase education and require colleges that receive federal monies to lower their tuition, with revenue from the tariffs able to offset the losses offer loans to the manufacturing sectors to build more efficient cars and offer tax breaks if they find ways to hire people.
REBUILD the infrastructure by cutting aid to foreign countries and putting that money into roads, our inner cities and urban renewal programs.
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This is one of the problems with things like this tea party... It's all outrage, no math.
Ok, let's cut aid to foreign countries. I've no problem with that, since so much of it goes to things like weapons to Israel, Egypt and Pakistan, and plan Colombia. But all outrage aside, foreign aid is about one tenth of one percent of American GDP. In terms of reverting the current economic situation, that is pretty much meaningless.
Then we might require colleges to lower their tuition. Except that most federal monies that go to universities are tied to specific scientific grants, and except that virtually every college is facing budget cuts, increasing class sizes and letting faculty go. So this is another proposal that might make one feel good, but yet again is either meaningless or harmful. After all, either colleges that are already facing budget shortfalls have to go deeper into the hole and cut more spending, or we cancel stuff like funding for laboratories because they won't lower tuition.
And then we raise tariffs. And while people may argue about tariffs and trade during normal times, the first thing one has to keep in mind is that in the short term, prices go up, and cost of business goes up.
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Regulate the industry, demand companies show how much they paid in R&D for that new med and the projections they have on how much it will make, then formulate a price that is affordable. In doing this offer them a longer patent on the med so that they aren't trying to get as much out of the system as fast as they can (which is one reason why they charge outrageous prices.)
Offer better programs for the poor, less paper work, less bureaucracy and streamline the help. Offer companies tax credits if they offer insurance. Make the insurance companies more responsible for show why they need to charge so much. Limit bullshit malpractice suits and offer doctors incentives to work in inner city ERs and hopsitals.
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Won't disagree with much here, except that this costs a lot of money. In fact, that is the precise reason why I find the so-called tea parties ridiculous. It's all about "our money," "our taxes" and so on, but they ignore the basic math of the budget. There is no free lunch. Healthcare is already close of 20% of the budget. Defense is close to 21% of the budget. Soc. sec. pensions are another 18%. In fact, if you look at the three levels of government, education, pensions, military, public safety, infrastructure and interest on previous debt you are talking pretty much about 3/4 of total spending.
Does that mean that we can cut the other 25% and reduce our taxes? No. Current tax levels cannot pay for even that without running a deficit. In other words, even cutting all money to banks, all "pork projects," all welfare spending, all foreign aid, and running the government, elections, the court system, congress, regulatory agencies and etc. for free, taxes would still not be enough to pay for these things.
And so people get together, and work themselves into a fit over "our money," but the fact is, this is nothing more than a distraction. People love the things they get from government, and only in the minds of dishonest politicians can we run these things and get tax breaks.
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Well, the banks received how many billion????? Make the banks responsible to helping the homeowner. Tell the banks they have to offer hardship deferments and cuts in payments. If we bailed the banks out then they should in return do their best to help the people who are responsible. Raising fees and credit card rates after the bail out????? Using the money to buy solvent banks out because the solvent bank refused bailout money (PNC's buyout of National City is a great example.) Come on now, that is wrong.
Really, where's Jazz's post in this thread? I must have missed it.
The government picked and chose who survived and who went under. Did they help Lehman? It's one thing to help, it's another to give money and then watch them give bionuses to the very people that destroyed the company and made that company in dire need of bailout money.
Oh those rich executives had contracts for those bonuses.... well so did the Auto workers but you made them go back and renegotiate contracts and make concessions.... then blamed them for the mess in the industry. Why didn't Congress and Obama do the same to AIG executives until it was leaked out, then they fake anger, nonawareness and act all innocent..... right.
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Yeah, those bonuses sure do suck. But other than fuel outrage, it's really irrelevant. It is 1/1000 of the money being given to AIG. Of course, that doesnt mean that they are alright, but simply that, despicable as they might be, they don't change much.
Do I like the way the Obama team is handling the banking crisis? I've said again and again that no, I don't. But, as I posted above, it is simply dishonest to think that there is an alternative that doesn't involve public money. I've said what I had to say about this above, and since that didn't elicit a response, I am not going to repeat myself.
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Sorry you are so offended, but you are to the extreme left and I have yet to see you truly be harsh on anything this administration and DEM controlled Congress do. I believe you have even gone so far as to imply that polls don't matter what the majority of the people want doesn't matter only getting through the DEM platform matters.
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I don't know if polls matter of not, but the majority of the people, according to all polls, are still behind Obama.
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Let's see the bills when they are signed and implemented. But it's too little too late IMHO and that isn't necessarily Obama's fault.
Oh you mean giving our Congress what 24/48 hours to read the stimulus package, not letting the people see it, then taking a vote without any debate whatsoever?????
What's in the stimulus package that is going to help the average citizen DC? And what is pork lining our politicians and their backers pockets?
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Well, the bill has been available for a long time now and people still haven't read it.
So here you are either conflating the bailout with the stimulus bill, or you haven't read the stimulus bill.
Taking Apart the $819 billion Stimulus Package - washingtonpost.com
22% are tax cuts, so I guess that helps the average citizen. 11% is education, and since you said you are in favor of more education spending, I guess that also helps the average citizen. And on and on.
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Going against the majority of citizens and ramrodding whatever they want through?
Yeah very open.
Again, let's wait and see what these new Guidelines are and how well they are applied. But again... too little too late and not necessarily Obama's fault.
But forgive me and the majority of the people, we have heard all this before (1994 Contract with America, Bush, the Dems in 2004) and nothing changed. I think people want to see immediate actions not just lip service anymore.
I responded. Did you think I wouldn't?
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Pollster.com: National Job Approval: Pres. Barack Obama
Pollster.com: US: Obama, Stimulus (CNN-2/18-19)
Outrage is no substitute for a plan.