American Election Race

[deadedith]

And as far as needing more centralized governments - NO! A government is PEOPLE, no better and usually much worse than the rest of us. It is suicide to hand ANY power to them without a system of checks and balances to restrain them - and a system cannot do it. Power to the people, not to that group of people we call our 'governors.' The whole idea of any politician being in charge of my life or my family's sickens me. I'm sick a lot...

[Nick]

And where it falls down is you end up with people in positions of power that were never voted for by the people. Our current Education minister never even ran for any electorate seat because she knew she'd be put high on "the list" and so would get in anyway. She's now running around wanting to close and amalgamate schools & is loving the power associated with it.

I rest me case me'lud
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/s ... ays-Parata
They're all a pack of self serving bastards!

[deadedith]

Nick if you had just said that at the beginning, I would not have had to write so much and try to sound so smart, at which I certainly failed.

SSB's. That's the whole dang thing in a nutshell.

[Nick]

just came across this, speaks his mind like an Aussie.

youtu.be/

[deadedith]

Like a breath of fresh air! Thanks for that.
I reckon our next few debates over here will not be quite that transparent. I won't know, because I refuse to listen to it.
That guy, I'd listen to.

[nnickusa]

Saw a piece on National Debt this morning on the news.

America $4,200,000 per person. x 300,000,000 odd persons.
Australia $10,000 per person. x 21,000,000 odd persons.



That's a lot of zeros.

the reality is that America will NEVER be able to pay off it's national debt......If you think it's bad when Greece is going under, watch what happens when America goes under......

[deadedith]

Well, nobody has the answer. Lots of people can point out the problem - the fella in that vid you posted did a pretty good job of it.

I think the debt problem is so staggering that - well it's like the Titanic going down, but since it cannot be stopped from going down, we might as well worry about something else. Irrational, to be sure, but all too human.....concentrate on smaller problems that we have a chance of solving, but all the time the boat is going to sink no matter what. Too big for human minds and emotions to deal with.

That's the way I'm feeling lately. Still, I build my guitars and try to be a good guy, show my wife the love she deserves and my neighbors the respect that I want them to show me, just like most of the rest of us are trying to do. And all the time the SSB's (self-serving bastards) are living it up, they have their own private luxurious life boats that we have bought for them with our labor, so what the hell do they care?

I'm not particularly bright and bubbly tonight.

[woodrat]

I dont understand American politics ....but its entertaining....

[deadedith]

Well we are certainly seeing 'how the sausage is made' this election cycle. And it turns out that sausage-making ain't pretty. I think that if I was watching it from afar, I would be laughing my ass off...

[Nick]

I was reading an editorial piece in our local paper at the weekend & I couldn't get over how much money was being spent by each side to run for president! $1 Billion had been spent before the "official" race had started a few weeks back & the piece was saying that most of the population already knew which way they were going to vote anyway so all the millions spent since is to attract a small percentage of the nation's swing voters. Living in a country that has capped spending (We are only talking a few hundred thousand dollars per party,total) the numbers quoted for the American race seems almost indecent when you think what that money redistributed elsewhere could do.

[deadedith]

No doubt you're right about that, Nick.
I'm also under no illusions that because a cap is put on spending, that a figure exponentially greater than that is actually changing hands, or being promised. Just as here, even with the admittedly indecent amounts being spent on elections, the total amount actually involved would be more staggering indeed.

[J.F. Custom]

Clever buggers...

http://www.romneytaxplan.com/

[joe breeden]

I respect all opinions. If you think Obama has done a good job an should continue, all I can say is " A little knowledge is dangerous thing" Joe

[woodrat]

...at that rate it wont be long and they will have the Six Billion Dollar Man as President!

[joe breeden]

Like I said, dangerous. Joe

[nnickusa]

Honestly, I don't think he's done much worse than King George the Second. Started another few wars, one to satisfy "Daddy's" failure to unseat Hussein, totally unjustified, according to all the evidence presented, the other to try to find a madman, very well trained by the CIA, who was in Pakistan the whole time. A war that has no end and will produce no positive result....Once the Coalition of the Coerced(oops Willing) leave, the Taliban of some other odious element will take over....Mark my words, Karzai will be on the last plane out. Without US backing, he's a sitting duck....Betcha he'll be pretty rich, tho.....

The US missed the boat in Afghanistan. The time to make an impact was after the Soviets withdrew. Instead, they abandoned their former partners, and bred resentment and the results that spring from it....

Fingers crossed, Jeb Bush doesn't give it a try....I don't think the world could stand it.

As to the idea that the US elections don't matter to other countries, that's false. The US, for all it's woes, is still the world's largest economy, and it has the world's most efficient military, to whatever ends it is used. I was a member of that military ands can attest to it's efficiency...

They have also appointed themselves as the planet's policemen, when it suits. Syria comes to mind. No oil, no intervention. Sad.

On the economic front, the complete lack of oversight of the American banking sector has caused the current mess the world is in....

I'm NOT a US basher. I spent most of my life there. I do disagree with the notion that the US--God Bless US--is the best thing since sliced bread.......

[deadedith]

There are also a few good things about the U.S. And they are not small things, either. If you have anything of any open mind, these things are obvious:

http://www.phillytalkradioonline.com/co ... hings.html

[Nick]

They have also appointed themselves as the planet's policemen, when it suits. Syria comes to mind. No oil, no intervention. Sad.

One of the greatest movies, it's full of laughs yet so close to the truth, it's scary.
Back to our normal programming......

[Nick]

There are also a few good things about the U.S. And they are not small things, either. If you have anything of any open mind, these things are obvious:

http://www.phillytalkradioonline.com/co ... hings.html

Hmmmmm, I can see why the author took American citizenship.

[nnickusa]

Dave, there are a great many things that I like about America. First and foremost are the people. I had the great good fortune to know some of the most caring and generous people while growing up there. As a whole, Americans give more to charity and volunteer more of their time than any other nation. I've never had a situation where someone or ones I know hadn't offered any help they could. Time, money, things, etc...even if they had little themselves. However, the US doesn't have a monopoly on these things. Australia has a similar culture.

Secondly, it is the "land of opportunity." With alot of hard work, and some luck, you can become almost anything you want to be.

It is also the great melting pot, as the author of the article says, or the salad bowl as became used later. As a nation created thru immigration, and assimilation, it allows in most cases for people to live harmoniously with their neighbors, even while in their home countries those same neighbors are busily slaughtering each other.

More recently, tho, as here, immigrant groups don't want to become "part" of the society, they want to isolate themselves from it, yet reap the benefits of that society. Essentially creating ethnic ghettos where non-blacks/hispanics/asians/indians/muslims, etc aren't welcome.

The world in general is in a mess, and I don't think anyone can fix it quickly.

One thing that needs to be remembered when talking about politics and government policy is that there is a significant time-lag between the implementation of policy and it's effects being seen.

One thing that was repeatedly stressed while I was doing my Economics Degree at NYU was that fiscal policy, in particular, takes longer to impact the economy than a president has in a single term of office. Also the notion that while Presidents, and indeed any world leader, takes credit for good times, and is given the blame for bad times, the truth is they have little or no impact on how economies operate. The economy is a living creature on it's own, and government actually has little influence on what happens to it.

My personal opinion is that it really doesn't matter who is in office most of the time, and campaigns and politics in general are run on platforms consisting of issues most people don't care about. As a case in point, the media and the politicians here in Australia are consumed by the issue of boat people. Most people I know don't give a shit about boat people, they care about electricity prices increasing by 50% the last couple years, they care about property taxes(rates) increasing at 10% a year, they care about being able to seee their kids thru school, they care about not having their car destroyed due to the deplorable condition the roads are in in my area. In short, the things "ordinary" people around the world care about. No one I knew in the US particularly cared whether abortion was legal or not(I happen to think it should be), but it's a major policy platform for the Republicans every year. Ploitics are run by special interest groups, and the public are not given the opportunity to choose the best person for the job, there are given a choice between the lesser of two evils.

Anyway, at the moment, I'm more concerned about the friends and family I have left behind in the NY/NJ/CT area. That was some storm.....

[P Bill]

It's been said before that America's greatest gift to the world is it's music . Now that the country is broke and projecting military power abroad is going to be much more limited, maybe we'll see a nation of cigarbox instrument players and makers getting back to what they do best. Peace and more music.

[P Bill]

A mate of mine here is involved in a program supplying cigar box instruments to the Diggers in Afghanistan. Maybe we could get a fiddle to Obama and a banjo to Romney and see what happens.

[P Bill]

The Melbourne Cup and the US elections are on the same day. The bookies have the mule with a 68% chance to win.This will be the 1st time I've bet money on a mule. Go Mules!

[kiwigeo]

They have also appointed themselves as the planet's policemen, when it suits. Syria comes to mind. No oil, no intervention. Sad.

One of the greatest movies, it's full of laughs yet so close to the truth, it's scary.
Back to our normal programming......

Sorry......couldnt resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cV_q-mVAAA

[Kim]

One thing that needs to be remembered when talking about politics and government policy is that there is a significant time-lag between the implementation of policy and it's effects being seen.

One thing that was repeatedly stressed while I was doing my Economics Degree at NYU was that fiscal policy, in particular, takes longer to impact the economy than a president has in a single term of office.

This is precisely why I cannot for the life of me understand how it is that so many in the USA have come to the conclusion that all of their current financial problems have been caused by Obama?? After just one term no one can possibly know the fiscal outcome of the bloke turn at the crease because their country is far too busy 'still' trying to swim its way out of the economic quagmire that, in large part, the Bush administrations had led them into.

The bottom line is no matter how big the engine was, its now broken, and it ain't gonna be driv'in anyone anywhere until someone pays the mechanic to fix the bloody thing...and that's always gonna hurt. Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that Obama is the answer to anything. But right now it's far too easy for right winged media bought and paid for by the big end of town, to sell the fallout of Bush bungling as the bastard fruit of Obama's loins in the hope that will get their boy back in the chair from where he can pull the pants back down around the ankles of the tax paying US public and allow the guys to line up taking turns at do'in it to them all over again.

If that's allowed to happen then I reckon any slim chance the US has left of getting themselves out of the money mess they're currently in will be behind them...gloomy but a real possibility all the same. As I see it, the results of this coming US elections are going to reveal more about the gullibility of US voters than much else....Then, for a while at least should Romney get up, the market will get a kick along. But I would not be holding on to any stock and bonds for too long because there's nothing left in the kitty to bail anyone out of the shit this time and the Shanghai loan sharks will move right in just as they have elsewhere to offer a few favours while they have themselves a feed.

Cheers

Kim