easing loan restrictions was only part of the cause. the deeper reason was the banking industry's inventive ways of packaging and selling off the poorly underwritten loans. They bought off Moody's rating service to get "D" product rated "AAA" and sold them off into the secondary market (often times to pension funds that people depend for their retirement). a well reasoned loosening of loan restricttions to enable more people to be able afford a home of their own was a good thing. The mistake was underestimating wall street's greed and ingenuity. i don't blame wall street. they're predicable. they will do whatever they can get away with. i place the primary fault with the lack of government oversight. (Clinton & Bush)
huh? i think you do have some flawed logic there. but not to quibble, the facts are, the deficits grew under Reagan and again under Bush. Trickle down, supply side economics is a sham. we can't afford 4 more years of that.
Obama is not operating in a vacuum. Obama's plans ran into a solid wall of republican opposition. many of them voted down proposals that they themselves had proposed or supported previously. ALL they cared about was party unity and shutting down Obama. in a rare burst of public honestly they said exactly that. they didn't care about the country. they didn't care about doing their jobs. u can fault Obama but at least acknowledge republican culpability.
Obama's approach is balanced. some increased revenue, which the republicans have refused (even if the ratio were to be 10-1) and some careful reduction in spending. the republicans wanted to cut, cut, cut social programs and give tax breaks to people who don't need them and really, they don't seem to care if the middle and lowerer classes ******* to death. "let them eat cake" comes to mind.
very few. but that's not the point. the point is, giving money (tax breaks) to the wealthy is not going to create jobs.
creativity and need creates jobs and they do a better job of it when government gets out of the way. yes, excessive taxation kills jobs but no one is talking about excessive taxation. we're talking about balance. jobs are created when the mix of supply and demand requires it. if i own a business that needs 45 employees to get the job done, and someone gives me a 1 million dollar tax break i won't be motivated to create even one more job. on the other hand if the middle class is strengthened and more people can afford my products, i WILL hire the people i need or my competition will. jobs are created primarily by market demand. the market for the vast bulk of products IS a healthy middle class. businesses hire when they need workers. they don't hire just because government is stupid enough to give them money without strings. let's not be naive
I'd support giving tax breaks to the wealthy IF that money was passed through to new hires in the form of wages and benefits. conservatives would vote that down though because what they really want is a no strings attached package of tax reductions. if they truly were going to use that money for creating jobs i'd support it. history teaches us different (Reagan, Bush and early Obama). current economic theory teaches us different. did the bankers on wall street hire more people when they got their payout? NO. Detroit hired more people because unlike Bush (unconditional payouts and poorly considered tax cuts) Obama's administration tied the money to performance. Look at the jobs record, not the propaganda. look at employment trend lines, not averages if u want to see where we're headed. liars use averages to hide, confuse and distract.
no, labor has NOT always been a commodity. that is a product of our industrial revolution and our public school system. the goal being to eliminate the artisan and replace his/her job with a well trained worker bee. by the very definition of "commoditty", one employee is now no different from another. an electrician is like every other electrician. a CPA is just like every other CPA. a cashier is like every other cashier. the result is that labor is easily replaceable. if i own a company i am now in a much stronger position to demand more and pay less to my employees. if some don't like it, i can lett them go and hire some of the other 50 qualified but desperate people standing in line behind them. this puts serious downward pressure on wages and benefits.
good for you. seriously, i respect that. i respect your freedom to believe and advocate for what u believe is right. someday maybe u will leave the darkside (NO racial slur intended) and come over to our side.
the reason i say "duped" is that people across the heartland and throughout the deep south, who depend disproportionately on government assistance are duped into voting against their own self interest by twisted statistics, outright lies and fear. do you really think south Carolina and Louisiana would be better off if Romney had his way and dismantled FEMA? do you really think education should only be available to those born into families that can afford it? the south is very poor relative to the rest of the nation. if their guy Romney had won? omg, i get sad just to think of it.
i'm not insulted at all. many people have the belief that conservatives and the so called "job creators" are the only ones that can create jobs. what kind of jobs is important as well. liberals are generally in favor of collective bargaining (unions). without unions businesses have an unfair advantage over workers. they would hire fewer people, demand longer hours, give fewer benefits, etc etc etc. > since workers are a commodity now and so many people are out of work, without union protections and negotiating power a labor market like we have currently would be even more devastating to wages and benefits. do you honestly believe the conservative agenda was responsible for our ch1ld labor laws? do you think a conservative authored equal pay for women? do u think they care about the "47%" Romney considers moochers?"
the economy has done better, far better, under democratic presidents consistently since the great depression.
guess what? most of that "47%" Romney disparaged live in the south and in the heartland. i call that duped. they voted for a guy who is so contemptuous of them he openly said they will never be worth anything. do u think that's the kind of moral character that brings a nation together?
I agree with 90% of that. so where is this "making sure that everybody has the opportunity to do so"? I'd add, EQUAL opportunity to that but where is it? do you think the kid from the inner city who's single mom can't find a job, who is without enough to eat, without access to medical care, without decent role models, without a decent school, without decent teachers, without, without, without, without ... has an equal opportunity. He/she has almost NO opportunity. so yes, i agree with most of your statement above but i ask you, WHERE IS IT? where is this opportunity? do you honestly think the conservative agenda gives a damn? the best they could come up with was "no ch1ld left behind" which ****** teachers to teach to a standardized test further degrading education and commoditizing humans.
in order to have true freedom of religion, we must have freedom from religion in government. separation of church and state. how can a jew have true freedom if our law makers bring their conflicting Christian beliefs to work with them? ur happy iwth the current situation because u don't see the downside. do you think Nazi Germany could never happen again? it happens on a lower threshold everyday in this country when a lesbian is told who she can love because some religious bigot claims biblical authority. do you honestly think atheists can be free to hold their beliefs without punishment if our government is dominated by people who bring their religious beliefs to work with them?
here is one of the biggest differences between liberal and conservative. the conservative believes rights are conferred by a rigid constitution and the current interpretation of it. they are afraid of change. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not. liberals believe the constitution is a living document in a changing world and that our rights (and founding documents) are rooted in our humanity and compassion for our fellow man.
i agree with you. not all change is good.
as a black man, i'd think you of all people would see the truth of where our rights truly come from. they do not come from a piece of paper. laws are not divinely inspired. they are fallible. laws change with time. our rights come from our moral character, integrity and our understanding of the nature of the world around us. our rights must be fought for and protected.
this is a REALLY important difference and it's the BIGGEST reason i hope you will consider and reconsider the conservative path ur on. you're a black guy. do you think it was a conservative who freed you? do u think it was profit that freed you? do you think it was a wealthy "job creator" who freed you? NO. abolitionists freed your people during the crucible of a crushing civil war. i know slavery was a political and economic issue with many sides but the FACT is, your ancestors were freed by the bloodshed of many who would no longer turn a blind eye.
do you think it was conservatives who passed the civil rights act of 1968? Johnson signed the civil rights act in 68 KNOWING he'd be turning the south over to the conservative (old white guys) element for a generation. Johnson did it because he had a conscience. it was the RIGHT thing to do. do you think the conservative agenda gives a damn whether you have the right to vote? (consider their recent voter suppression efforts in minority communities). do u think conservatives gave u the right to ******* from a common water fountain voluntarily?
it took 100 years after the civil war. the constitution is fallible. it is a work in progress. conservatives fight for the status quo. sometimes change is a good thing.
your people (and other so called minorities) were freed for a second time when millions of liberals of every color and creed came together at some significant cost and risk to themselves to do what was right. conservatives fought against your rights for one hundred years after the civil war and still seek to limit them today. do you believe blacks are inherently more likely to commit a crime, be arrested and go to prison or do you think it might be flaw in the system? do you think poverty strikes blacks disproportional because they're stupid and inferior, or do you think something is wrong with the system? do you think blacks die earlier and often by violence because they're genetically defective,
or do you think something should be CHANGED in the system?
frankly i hate the term minority. we're all humans, no diminishing distinctions are appropriate in a country that espouses equal opportunity for all.
conservatives WILL fight tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. is that really who u are? do you want to be on the side that fights to sustain the present day version of the system that lynched, raped and castrated some of ur ancestors for no other reason than the display of absolute power? for no other reason than to preserve the status quo. LIBERALS DID NOT DO THAT!!!
the right things to do: who tries to win at any cost? voter suppression laws, anti gay legislation, anti woman legislation, racially biased immigration laws, funding cuts for programs in education and health care. we incarcerate, incarcerate, incarcerate in this country. it's a global embarrassment, a tragic waste of human potential and a despicable practice in the wealthiest country in the world. liberals do not believe in that!!!
rights based on humanity and justice? YES. yes, universal access to health care without regard to being able to afford it. yes, woman's right prenatal care and to choose her own reproductive path. rights to privacy, and YES, ur damned right, we have a right to an unpolluted environment.
sorry but the conservative record is clear. they would clear cut and ravage the planet for a few dollars if there weren't liberals to stop them.
Arizona. as a black man, i'd think that would be an eye opening development. do u believe in slippery slopes? do u think it's okay to detain someone and ask for papers with no evidence whatsoever just because the officer thinks they don't look right? do u really want to be on the side that encourages the erosion of personal civil liberties that your ancestors gave so much of their ******* to gain? i hope u never have to wear a star on your chest and have a number tattooed on your wrist. Arizona has taken steps in that direction. if you understand the risks of "driving while black" then you understand what's going on in Arizona.
just think about it. you sound so intelligent. please, open your eyes and listen to your soul. listen to your ancestors who's struggle for a life without fear, for freedom and for simple human dignity has allowed you so much. you have the rights you do not only because of a piece of paper. u are free today because millions came together to demand it. those rights were not given to u by conservatives. they were fought for by liberals
now it's YOUR turn to make a difference. our turn. yours and mine. realize that what you do in your life (or fail to do) will help determine the quality of life for the next generation.
the liberal agenda is about compassion, empathy and justice. it's about fairness and common decency to our fellow man. do it for your *******, your neighbor's ******* and for the ******* on the other side of the world. the liberal agenda says the world can be better and works to see that it is.
i know how easily history and stats can be twisted by both sides to obscure the truth. YES, there is a lunatic fringe on both sides but the truth can always be found in our hearts if we are open to listen.
tune out the noise, sit quietly and listen for truth. change is hard. resistance is strong, entrenched and well funded. but the truth eventually prevails if good people demand it. i know many think nothing will change but change DOES happen. history teaches us that. don't be cynical. the country (and world) needs ur voice even if we don't always agree. even if you choose to remain a conservative!!!
we could have lost this election. i'm a white girl without financial worries. i do it for u and i hope you will do it for me someday.
