Behold..The Zero Dollar Bill!

[CensoredAlso]

But then again, congress is the one that has the most power over the president of the good ol' U.S.A

That is definitely true!

And I agree, many politicans just want the power and our votes, they're not interested in us beyond that.

 

[D'Snowth]

The Demies have been in control of congress since 2006 and have yet to do anything of significance, other that the rescue bailout of the past few weeks.

The Republicans were behind the bailout, but The Democrats aren't in complete control since we still have a Republican in Office.

Besides, thanks to the mess Bush has made, it's going to take Dems a LONG time to clean it up.

 

[ryhoyarbie]

The Republicans were behind the bailout, but The Democrats aren't in complete control since we still have a Republican in Office.

Besides, thanks to the mess Bush has made, it's going to take Dems a LONG time to clean it up.

Doesn't matter if there is a Republican in office right now, the Democratic controlled congress has the power, not the president.

Take a look at President Truman. The man wanted to pass all sorts of bills and laws that wouldn't see the light of day until the 60's with JFK and LBJ. The Republican controlled congress did not pass a lot of Truman's proposals and made Truman look like a weak president. It's all about who is in control of congress.

 

[Drtooth]

That said, let's not just point the fingers at politicians... people have been living way beyond their means for too long, maxing out their credit cards for Ultra huge TV's so they can watch their blu-ray copies of Big Mamma's House 7.

Deficit spending at time of war is a huge part... and corporations NOT investing the tax cuts, and corpprations moving jobs overseas, so they can get tax loopholes and take advantage of the non-union labor they can pay whatever they want.

But worst of all? Investors. All the crap that's been happening would have a much much softer blow IF these chicklen hearted investors just rode the slump, lost their "Extra money" and kept buying up stocks. Look at how their greed sent oil prices up.

But enough of this...

I understand. But personally I like that people like Ralph Nadar are trying to break the two party system that continually has let us down. Both sides. Sadly there are few third party candidates who are viable (and the ones that are won't ever get to be seen because they don't have the money. That's the big ticket to being a viable candidate).

I actually have to agree on that... though, I think the problem is that we really need someone with big political experience coming in and making a third party. As I said, if Ron Paul ran for independent, enough ticked off conservatives/former Republicans would have his support. I once read that out of all the money soldiers collected for the presidential campaign, Obama got the most, but Ron Paul got 2- 3 times as much as McCain got. I feel that there WILL be a bigger call for the third party in the future, but they need to organize themselves better.

That said, whoever we have next will be a transition president. Even if we get the most out of either, it's gonna take years to clean all this up.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

It's all about who is in control of congress.

I agree with this statement, While the president is certainly not blameless in all this, Not everything that has happened is all his fault. It's takes every one to make this country work. That is congress, The president and most importantly the people!

The people! La-la-la-la, la--la!

Here's something in the form of stupid. This past week people who worked at AIG got money from the government in the form of relief and used some of it to go play golf, had a nice fancy dinner, and got manicures. Unbelievablyfreakin stupid.

Yeah I heard about that. Unfortunately it really does not come as much of a surprise these days.

 

[Drtooth]

Yeah I heard about that. Unfortunately it really does not come as much of a surprise these days.

It's the same thing that happened with Enron, without the government "rescuing" them. Companies are run by greedy moron, rich kids of rich parents (of all ages), and they grow up with the sense of entitlement and wanting success on a silver platter without work. Something I've been saying a long time. And it's like there's a new wave of business apathy... no one likes their cushy job, or they just don't care to work hard.

So we either get this sort of thing, where someone runs the company into the ground, or something where they run the company almost into the ground (cough cough... same thing I've been whining about Cartoon network for the past year and a half...cough cough).

Personally, I want to see the government say, we gave you the money, we own AIG now, fire the shell out of everyone involved, and take away ANY money they would get for leaving.

 

[frogboy4]

It's the same thing that happened with Enron, without the government "rescuing" them. Companies are run by greedy moron, rich kids of rich parents (of all ages), and they grow up with the sense of entitlement and wanting success on a silver platter without work. Something I've been saying a long time. And it's like there's a new wave of business apathy... no one likes their cushy job, or they just don't care to work hard.

So we either get this sort of thing, where someone runs the company into the ground, or something where they run the company almost into the ground (cough cough... same thing I've been whining about Cartoon network for the past year and a half...cough cough).

Personally, I want to see the government say, we gave you the money, we own AIG now, fire the shell out of everyone involved, and take away ANY money they would get for leaving.

I won't get too particularly political with this except to say that this economic problem isn’t necessarily a partisan issue or one that stems from people of privilege in general.

I am from Houston where Enron was based and have lived in San Francisco for over 13 years. We were hosed by Enron execs more than anybody. The truth is that Kenneth Lay types are out of touch with the common man therefore out of touch with humanity itself. People of that sort aren't evil or stupid, merely missing a key component of compassion even with all of the philanthropic things they do (and they do a lot). But compassion and responsibility are everyday actions not just items on a checklist that come due quarterly. The thing is, not everyone from privilege or the conservative party is missing this component.

Business has always had a firm place in politics, but seldom has it reached the extreme imbalance of the last several years. It is a problem that transcends party lines, yet has seldom been so callously inflicted on the average American citizen than with the current administration. It's not that these guys are truly evil; they just do things for their pals and don't get what's wrong with it. It eventually messes up the lives of the working American majority - that's what is wrong with it. However the people responsible will not only refrain from admitting it; they truly do not understand their direct hand in creating the problem.

I just wanted to make sure that this was a balanced discussion. All politicians have had their hands in creating this mess in so many ways and few of them understand that they are supposed to represent you and me and not be exclusively beholden to campaign contributors. I say term limits for everybody! It's unlikely to happen unless there's an enormous outcry from the public.

As for my vote – it goes to who I think Kermit is voting for. It may have been a joke, but after addressing Congress he used a key word when asked if he would ever run and repeated a particular candidate’s slogan. I’ll leave it at that.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

So we either get this sort of thing, where someone runs the company into the ground, or something where they run the company almost into the ground (cough cough... same thing I've been whining about Cartoon network for the past year and a half...cough cough).

Yeah! Heh... I see what you mean.

But compassion and responsibility are everyday actions not just items on a checklist that come due quarterly.

I completely agree with you there. Things like compassion should not be somebody's big project to take en for the year.

However the people responsible will not only refrain from admitting it; they truly do not understand their direct hand in creating the problem.

Have to kind of disagree with you there. Jamie. I think that some of these people truly know what they are doing, and it's just that some of then just don't care.[/quote]

I just wanted to make sure that this was a balanced discussion. All politicians have had their hands in creating this mess in so many ways and few of them understand that they are supposed to represent you and me and not be exclusively beholden to campaign contributors.

Kind of what I was thinking. That wrong is wrong no matter who is doing it. Maybe on party is more right than the other but from what I understand they both have had there good and bad points to them. And neither one of them has ever been perfect of flawless...

 

[frogboy4]

Yeah! Heh... I see what you mean.

I completely agree with you there. Things like compassion should not be somebody's big project to take en for the year.

Have to kind of disagree with you there. Jamie. I think that some of these people truly know what they are doing, and it's just that some of then just don't care.

Kind of what I was thinking. That wrong is wrong no matter who is doing it. Maybe on party is more right than the other but from what I understand they both have had there good and bad points to them. And neither one of them has ever been perfect of flawless...

Many politicians have an "ends justify the means" philosophy, but lately the ends and the means are pretty rotten. I still think that some of these people have deluded themselves so much they are beyond the aspect of caring. There is an old saying about the uselessness of debating the drunk or the foolish. It's best to stay away from them. With elected officials that is impossible. I hope regime changes occur in all sections of government and not just in this nation. I believe politics should be about service and not a lifelong career. That’s where business and economic issues arise in all candidates.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I believe politics should be about service and not a lifelong career.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't it be both. I mean couldn't you have a life long career where you serve the people? If only some politicians could do this. It shouldn't just be for self of self interest.