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Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71321 is a reply to message #71219] Thu, 09 February 2012 13:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Chicken is currently offline  Chicken
Messages: 300
Registered: August 2011
Grand Master
I give props to Ron Paul for his consistency and integrity that many other politicians lack, but his ideas scare me.

I'm voting for AudioFred. Razz
Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71331 is a reply to message #71321] Thu, 09 February 2012 21:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
gofar99 is currently offline  gofar99
Messages: 1895
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
I think most of the folks running now scare me. Shocked I want to hear how they are going to fix things, not tear each other to shreds. We need some compromises, not lines in the sand. At the rate we are going our elected officials will turn the USA into the largest third rate country in the world. Crying or Very Sad

Good Listening
Bruce
Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71340 is a reply to message #71331] Fri, 10 February 2012 07:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
AudioFred is currently offline  AudioFred
Messages: 377
Registered: May 2009
Location: Houston
Illuminati (1st Degree)
gofar99 wrote on Thu, 09 February 2012 21:35
I think most of the folks running now scare me. Shocked I want to hear how they are going to fix things, not tear each other to shreds.


Here's my solution as your presidential candidate: The current crop of candidates on both sides have been focused on all the wrong issues, such as the economy, jobs, foreign wars, healthcare, etc. These issues are inconsequential in comparison to the issues I will emphasize.

My campaign will have only three issues: abortion, contraception and gay marriage. It is absolutely essential to take control of these issues that effect each and every one of us every day of our lives. If the federal government would focus all its legislative and regulatory power on these issues, and fix the problems in the bedroom, eveything else would fall neatly into place. Rolling Eyes
Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71420 is a reply to message #71340] Sun, 19 February 2012 10:23 Go to previous messageGo to next message
steve f is currently offline  steve f
Messages: 236
Registered: May 2009
Master
Hell, everyone running for president scares me. I particularly fear Santorum, as what I believe is my own business. Ron Paul wanting to eliminate the Fed would be a disaster. Obama will never be able to accomplish an economic recovery.

The big problem is that all politicians become part of a gentry where the rules we live by simply don't apply to them.
Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71441 is a reply to message #71420] Tue, 21 February 2012 08:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
gofar99 is currently offline  gofar99
Messages: 1895
Registered: May 2010
Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, I hate to say this but the republicans are doing a fine job to re-elect the incumbent. Crying or Very Sad Our elected officials are supposed to help us. Now it seems because of various agendas they are so fragmented as to collectively be ineffectual. Very sad situation. Sad

Good Listening
Bruce
Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71577 is a reply to message #71441] Wed, 29 February 2012 08:30 Go to previous messageGo to next message
AudioFred is currently offline  AudioFred
Messages: 377
Registered: May 2009
Location: Houston
Illuminati (1st Degree)
Whether you're a conservative or a progressive or somewhere in-between, democrat, independent or republican, you should be smart enough to recognize that the campaign promises of both parties are unrealistic. They are a carefully scripted narrative designed to exploit ideological differences and win votes, not to solve our problems.

Here are the recommendations of an economist who believes, as I do, that our instututions are so fundamentally flawed that they must be redesigned from the ground up:

http://www.thepurpleplans.org/
Re: Presidential Hopefuls [message #71578 is a reply to message #71577] Wed, 29 February 2012 10:25 Go to previous message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18671
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I've been on a kick watching all the history shows I can find, focusing on British and American history. One thing I am struck by is the number of times the same sorts of cycles reappear. What I see today looks very much like what was going on in earlier days.

One that's most fascinating to me is the Adams/Jefferson arguments, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans around the turn of the century 1800. Adams and the Federalists wanted strong central government, and they were somewhat allied with the English. Jefferson and the Democratic Republicans favored States rights, and less influence from the Federal government. They were more allied with the French.

The "Alien and Sedition Acts" were passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress in 1798, ostensibly to control the activities of foreigners in the United States during a time of impending war. But in truth, these laws were crafted in an effort to quash Jeffersonian Republicanism, by giving a legal means to censor and even imprison them.

A hundred years later - turn of the century 1900 - in the decade or so that followed, Herbert Hoover was the man of the hour. This was the era of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil and Andrew Carnegie's Steel empire. J.P. Morgan had single handedly acted like the "Fed", saving the economy from collapse. But each of these men were seen as industrialist robber barons, where Herbert Hoover was seen as a humanitarian.

Hoover was very successful in the coal industry, but he was best known for using his resources towards humanitarian efforts, like establishment of the American Relief Administration, feeding 200 million people between 1914 and 1922, and providing disaster relief to hurricane victims in 1928. He was America's most popular man in the 1920's, and both parties wanted him to run for President. He was friends with Franklin Roosevelt back then, and FDR tried to convince Hoover to run for president as a Democrat. But Hoover was a self-made man and felt more aligned with Republican ideals. So he ran as a Republican and won by a landslide.

Ironically, Roosevelt was born into immense wealth and lived pretty much isolated in his family (castle) estate. All his family were Republicans, including his Uncle, a former president, Theodore Roosevelt. So FDR's choice to become a Democrat was made primarily to differentiate himself within his own family. He began embracing liberal ideals, but it was only after the stock market crash that he really found traction, developing his "New Deal" ideas.

After the stock market crash in 1929, Hoover initiated volunteer efforts and public works projects such as the Hoover Dam. He also raised taxes significantly from 25% to 63% in the top tax bracket. These initiatives did not produce economic recovery during his term, but served as the groundwork for various policies laid out in Roosevelt's New Deal. Many people don't realize this.

As the 1932 presidential election campaign started ramping up, Roosevelt distanced himself from his old friend Hoover and began to promote himself as a man that sided with the "little guy". I think he was charismatic and interesting, and I like him, especially impressed with his perseverance after getting polio in his middle age. But I do think his positions were somewhat opportunistic, and don't like the way he turned on Herbert Hoover when fate intervened and caused Hoover to become unpopular.

This sounds all to familiar. I see both sides saying "it's the economy, stupid", when really neither side has any answers. They both want to take credit when things get better and both want to blame the other when things get worse. It's hubris in the extreme, since neither side is more responsible or correct than the other.

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