tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088603658552825500.post8657724334702998231..comments2023-11-05T05:53:29.465-05:00Comments on The Hickory Hound: Is the Economy being used as a Political Football? -- Silence DoGoodJames Thomas Shellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04359970774315269896noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088603658552825500.post-20186609981433269542011-09-30T18:31:55.622-04:002011-09-30T18:31:55.622-04:00I like that Harry. Makes perfect sense. Concerni...I like that Harry. Makes perfect sense. Concerning the media, they seem to want to make the news rather than report the news. This whole "on your side" conceptual crap is just that. They are making news rather than serving as intermediary by reporting and bringing the news to the people.Silence DoGoodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088603658552825500.post-29204035930303394812011-09-29T18:51:31.512-04:002011-09-29T18:51:31.512-04:00There is not one mind when it comes to politicians...There is not one mind when it comes to politicians but there is too much: <br />a) personal political ambition<br />b)our side/their side herd mentality<br />c)disdain for the public<br />d)true partisan believers who think that if they can just get complete control and not have to compromise they can really make everything good. <br />e)corruption<br /><br />There are real differences of opinion on whether a small government approach or a more state interventionist approach is the best. The money/power/media dynamic we have is not working and there are few who really represent the people as a whole. Politicians no longer fight for a short election season the move on to serious, statesmenlike governance. The election never ends and it's not all politicians. The regulatory and bureaucratic apparatus that has grown up doesn't get enough public attention. <br /><br />When will an "arab spring" come to the US?harryhippsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088603658552825500.post-67806862213090977462011-09-29T09:19:13.592-04:002011-09-29T09:19:13.592-04:00I understand completely and I appreciate your tole...I understand completely and I appreciate your tolerance of my thoughts and observations, and find them to be worthy of inclusion. Maybe, if we can get people to read, think, and engage in decent intelligent discourse, what we see happening will eventually begin to turn around and shift. The problem is, I don't know that it can shift fast enough to stop what has been put in motion.<br /> <br />Right now, I'm not really sure what is going to happen. I agree with tariffs. I think if you take the lucrative aspect away from off-shoring, companies will stay here. Right now though, if we implement tariffs, with so many component parts being made off-shore, I fear it would only serve to drive consumer prices up here. All those little electronic components that run everything in our lives today isn't made here any more.<br /> <br />Rolling into the 'blackness' of October. The Great Depression happened because of laissez-faire economics and the notion of the system being self correcting and leaving it alone. I wonder sometimes though if too much tweaking can have the same effect. That “no knife is so sharp that it doesn’t require constant sharpening” concept is just great for keeping a sharp knife, problem is, it wears the blade out sharpening it.<br /> <br />The best hope currently is that people are pissed off. That however, usually causes the pendulum to swing too far in the other direction. Looking at the platform, if the Republicans would concede to closing the tax loopholes and to tariffs on imports, I think it would show a good faith effort to the middle section of this country that is breaking under the strain. But they aren't going to do that. They are going to stand firmly cemented in their cheap labor, every thing for the affluent and business front to the nation in order to have a polar opposite stance to the Democrats. And the Democrats have the same mirror image of that stance to the opposite pole.<br /> <br />I see Republicans as being necessary to the system as well as Democrats. As long as they engage in the traditional political give and take that is supposed to be what the process is supposed to stand for. Doing that with a two party system is substantially streamlined as opposed to bringing 4, 5, or more parties to the table. What I fear with a third party is that it would be a splinter faction of one we have. I'm afraid that if a bunch of parties rise to prominence, the nation will be rife for revolution. And that would be like negotiating a new labor contract with a union. Everything would be on the table and at stake.<br /><br />Now, that might not be a bad thing, but we know how some people fear and loathe change while others embrace it. Maybe revolution is the only answer at this point. But who knows what we would end up with in place of what we have. I mean there are only two ways to go, if the perception is, it can't get any worse, I think we know what will happen. The question there will be, who or what will be demonized and vilified as the enemy.<br /> <br />The country didn’t get in this shape in just two years, or four. What we have today is a culmination of outcomes across time; time as multiple years and decades. This President was hopefully naïve in his failure to perceive the depth of the damage he inherited. To fix what is wrong is going to take time. What I don't know is, how much time we have left or how much time it will take. However, every journey begins with that first step. I think it’s time we begin to walk the walk.Silence DoGoodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088603658552825500.post-7522466076996796902011-09-29T01:41:59.769-04:002011-09-29T01:41:59.769-04:00I printed this because I like DoGood's style a...I printed this because I like DoGood's style and critical thinking and anyone who offers up thought provoking dialogue deserves to participate in this forum. That being said, there are parts of this submission that I don't agree with.<br /><br />In looking at the situation, I believe the parties are a combination of inept and prostitutes. They are looking at the current situation and trying to figure out what they can do under the constraints of their masters on Wall Street.<br /><br />It is really rather simple what needs to be done. There needs to be tariffs to level the playing field related to US workers having to compete against Slave Labor and third World Economies. We are heading like a freight train towards Third World status, because of this competition which we are going to lose... We are guaranteed to lose folks. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. I don't mind competition. I loathe rigged games.<br /><br />I think we are going to see a severe correction in the stock market in October. I could be wrong. It is all about timing and timing doesn't always work out in the manner you see, but the biggest crashes in Stocke Market history have occurred in Octobers. <br /><br />The Fed is finagling with interest rates, which investors believe to be triggering a deflationary event. This would mean that the government would not have money for a QE3 program and money is going to be pulled out of the system and there has been a lot of money put into the system. That means contraction and that is why you have seen Gold, Silver, and Oil prices fall.<br /><br />The government has been the only entity infusing cash into the system;. What this means is that no one is going to be seeing much of any money. That is the reason why you are seeing commodity prices fall over the last few days. In the end, I think that QE3 will be pushed out after the official acknowledgment of what they are calling a double dip, but what it is is the next leg down in the depression.<br /><br />The problems that we face are structural. They cannot be fixed within the current economic system. The Economic problems are real, so believing they are caused by the political football idea is a little off base, but working towards solving the problems is definitely political... Everything in life has political strings attached. <br /><br />There is going to have to be a cleansing of the system. The issues of corruption are going to have to be addressed. Neither the Dems or Pubs have a monopoly on corruption. We have no choice amongst the current crop of politicians.<br /><br />Right now, I'm going for Ron Paul, because he isn't the same ole song and dance. I didn't get a chance to hear his message 4 years ago and the lame stream media is not allowing him to be heard now.<br />I really don't like any of the other possibilities. I think the Dems are going to throw Obama under the bus in the next few months, but their solution will be to trot out Hillary. That ain't no answer either.<br /><br />Honestly, I am begging for a third way. These two parties have lived beyond their usefulness. I don't think people want middle of the road meaninglessness either. I think people want to take bold steps towards solutions and the current system will not offer that. All the establishment wants is the status quo to protect their vested interests. They are control freaks in their desire to shove the status quo down our throats.<br /> <br />And the controlled status quo is going to lead to an opposite and equal reaction, which is called anarchy.James Thomas Shellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04359970774315269896noreply@blogger.com