Thread: This Is Not A CraigsList Notice

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Not being hard on him,I'm just realy disapointed, and ashamed.

How about a little ray of hope......................no, I mean REAL hope, not an empty campaign slogan.

To those of us of a more conservative nature the following statement might induce a very hearty DUH!, but you need to keep in mind that the Brookings Institute self describes as an "....institue with a left-liberal inclination....". Most often those on the left choose not to accept that their ideas fail time and again no matter how they claim them as "new" or "progressive". It's inconceivable that their ideas are rejected by those who recognize that reality, instead it's that not enough of someone elses time/money was "invested", or that they were outspent (see all the commentary following the whipping the left took last week).

This from today's Wall Street Journal "Notable & Quotable" section referring to Senate testimony last week. Maybe, just maybe, the more thoughtful on the left can steer their side back to reality:

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Ron Haskins testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, June 5:


I want to emphasize the importance of individual initiative in reducing poverty and promoting economic success. Young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary rules for success—complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby. Based on an analysis of Census data, people who followed all three of these rules had only a 2% chance of being in poverty and a 72% chance of joining the middle class (defined as above $55,000 in 2010). These numbers were almost precisely reversed for people who violated all three rules, elevating their chance of being poor to 77% and reducing their chance of making the middle class to 4%.

Individual effort and good decisions about the big events in life are more important than government programs. Call it blaming the victim if you like, but decisions made by individuals are paramount in the fight to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in America. The nation's struggle to expand opportunity will continue to be an uphill battle if young people do not learn to make better decisions about their future.

OMG - it took a 'highly regarded' think tank with highly compensated people to come up with that widely known (at least I thought so) common sense info. We here in the US of A are deep in that smelly barnyard stuff!!!

Bob that pretty much sums it up. Around here, a lot of unemployment is by choice and sense of entitlement. The more we tax ourselves(those of us currently working and paying taxes) the more the entitlement programs offer excuses for people to not work. Sad but very true. I know it's hard, most of us live paycheck to paycheck, while putting money aside where we can for emergencies, and retirement. The irony is, I'm slowly going negative, not positive, despite working more. Increasing my taxes is no longer an option. So I will be changing my voting party for the first time, not because I agree with conservatives or liberals, but because, the system is broken, and the rapidly increasing few who support it are being bled dry by those who chose not to. I get it now!

Our government is expanding more A special group has been hired to find the leak in the White House about our Special Drone attacks. Those guys OR girls will be on the payroll till they retire. One would think there are enough Special groups out there now!!! If and when they find out who it was they should have a poll on what to do with them. Maybe give them a ride on one???

Anyone else feeling the pinch? I retired a few years ago then when we thought we were going be fine, my wife pulled the plug as well. While we haven't lost too badly, our investment portfolios are struggling to at least stay even. Add a couple of years of no SS increases, the fact that I missed my GE pension increase by 24 days, we're in a home that hasn't had any appreciation in 4 years and even in our 5% unemployment area. I'm still driving a 2006 pick up truck tho my wife did have to buy a new car this year (bottom of the heap Fusion - which is really a nicely equipped car). Now, this is makes my suspicions confirmed:

"The net worth of the American family has fallen to its lowest level in two decades, according to government data released Monday, driven by a more than 40 percent drop in their stakes in their homes.

The Federal Reserve’s detailed survey of consumer finances showed families’ median wealth plunged from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010 — a 39 percent decline. That put them on par with median wealth in 1992." Fed Report: Family Net Worth Falls Almost 40% Between 2007-2010

Oh and don't forget, this started under 'W' - but that fact that the Senate and House were under Dem rule seems to be ignored/forgotten by the Libtards

Then there's this little gem:
"Since President Barack Obama was inaugurated in January 2009, the Federal Reserve’s holdings of U.S. government debt have quintupled, according to the Fed’s official monthly balance sheet." Top Customer: Under Obama, Fed

How's that 'change' workin' for you now???

Dave, if it makes you feel any better you're not alone...............but I suspect you already know that and it's of little comfort.

Again, to resurect one of my frequently made statements, it would take a long, analytical book to go through all the interconnected reasons why it is what it is. But a quick commentary on the subjects you posted. The drop in net worth actually started with the dot.com bust in '99/2000, though it became most visible at the beginning of the G.W. regime. His biggest sin was not weilding the veto pen enough and taking on a spend thrift Congress. Funny how the current Pres., and even moreso his sychophantic supporters, want to lay off responsibility for the economy on the Congress today, while recently they blame all eight years of the 43 Presidency for the economic contraction that preceded him. I guess I missed the Constitutional Amendment that passed limiting Presidential power when Mr. Obama took office.

The biggest hole in the bucket of family wealth in the past five years is almost entirely the result of the retraction in home values with the real estate crash. Some is attributable to 401Ks shrinking, especially for those who panicked early, sold their stock holdings at market lows and either didn't reinvest or spent the money. Much of stock market value has recovered, but then that's of little solace as even if an investor held relatively pat they have not seen much gain in 4-5 years. Which leads to the inflation hole in the bucket.

The Fed increasing it's balance sheet by buying Federal debt instruments is a ticking time bomb that, when it explodes, will release a wave of inflation like we haven't seen since since the '70s. If folks think the real estate market is slow when we have mortgage rates around 4%, imagine how it will look if they get back up to 17-18% like they were in 1980!

Geez you bring up some real cheerful stuff!

Part (only part) of the problem is we live a lot longer. Retiring at 60-65 means that something around 45-50% of men will likely live another 25 or so years. Women five or so more than that on average. That's a long time to survive on a fix or modestly growing savings/income base. Not going to get into too much detail here (A. it'll be real boring, B. this is the internet and not willing to release TMI), but the bride and I have living mothrs. Mine 94, hers 88. Mine is eating up whatever money she has as well as a little help from her kids to keep up with assisted living costs. Her house in So. Cal. has almost halved in market value in the last 5 years, which doesn't mean much to her, but if we kids were silly enough to have counted on that to help in our future net worth we'd be sucking wind. (there was an article in today's WSJ about this phenomena also). My MIL is getting pretty deep into Alzhimer's and we have her in a full time care unit. She and her husband were very conscientious savers/investors, so again, there's funding for now to cover her costs. Last week we started hospice care for her, but the end is not as iminent at that could make it sound. She'll likely not run out of money enough to cover the care, but again, there won't be much left. We're fortunate because in either case it isn't going to hurt any of we children of theirs, but the only reason I tell the tale is that it's a lesson that even rigorous saver/investors who lived through the most robust economy of all time barely accumulated enough to cover their extended life situations. And we're not typical of most Baby Boomers................the large majority of whom haven't been as responsible with their money.

Doom and gloom? Not exactly, what it probably means is we're looking at a more austere future. The big lie that we can tax the "rich" to pay for it will not pan out, even the rich don't have enough to carry all the potential hangers on..........even if they'd let the politicians steal it, which they'll fight tooth and tong. Perhaps that's why the government employees got a wake-up call last week in Wisconsin. Perhaps we, and the generations behind us, are starting to wake up to the unaffordability of a bloated government. Maybe we'll wake up to the reality that if we freed up the private sector we could earn our way to restoring some prosperity as we did in the late '80s and into the '90s. Those are big maybes, but to me it's a fight worth waging.

I think it's going to take a whole lot more then getting rid of Obama in November to turn things around!!!! Unless people start taking action to get the government out of all the non-governmental things they're involved in, doubt the government will be willing to give up all the power and control they have stolen from the private sector over the last two or three decades!!!! Look what it takes for a business just to keep their operations up to "government standards"!!!! The government payroll just keeps growing, constantly!!!!! All these employees have to do something to justify their existence, so hassling businesses of all and every kind with new rules and compliance issues is their course of action! Companies in the private sector are fighting an uphill battle to just survive these days, let alone expand and hire new employees.... Guess I don't understand how going from Obama to Etch-a-Sketch will address these issues.... Is the government, the way it operates today, going to take action to make itself smaller????

Another thought, with all the pressing issues facing the country which could well lead to our demise are there any estimates on what voter turnout will be in November????

Small companies don't stand much of a chance.There is just to much B/S to try and stay in business.My license came up for renwel in 2011. ( I started the bus. in 94).They added that I had to go to school for lead and asbestos removal to get a renewel,there isn't much of either in remodeling homes built after 91 and realy not much in new construction. I just decided that rather than contend with more of the crap (taxs and insurances) it was easier to just close. I still do small jobs for people that I have worked for before, but nothing that requires a crew.

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

.... Guess I don't understand how going from Obama to Etch-a-Sketch will address these issues.... Is the government, the way it operates today, going to take action to make itself smaller????

Another thought, with all the pressing issues facing the country which could well lead to our demise are there any estimates on what voter turnout will be in November????

I thought you were one of those who advocated throwing the incumbant out each election cycle until they get the point?

As for turnout, that's a tough one. Will the enthusiasm level be as high? Will the racists on both sides, (those who vote FOR based on color are just as racist as those who vote against for the same reason) be motivated? Will the squishes be demoralized or hopeful that another change will increase their hope? Too many disperate motives to draw a clear view this early.

Besides, the Congressional elections may be our best hope no matter which of the two it is. One to be blocked at every turn because he's too committed to his collectivist ideology, the other because he'll go with the flow. (Although, the Supreme Court Justices are too big a factor to risk a bad choice.)

Originally Posted by cffisher

Small companies don't stand much of a chance.There is just to much B/S to try and stay in business.My license came up for renwel in 2011. ( I started the bus. in 94).They added that I had to go to school for lead and asbestos removal to get a renewel,there isn't much of either in remodeling homes built after 91 and realy not much in new construction. I just decided that rather than contend with more of the crap (taxs and insurances) it was easier to just close. I still do small jobs for people that I have worked for before, but nothing that requires a crew.

You Charlie are representative of what could be referred to as the "New Silent Majority".............within the ranks of the business entrepreneurs anyway. Too many of our citizens have no idea how regular jobs are REALLY created.

I am for throwing them all out!!! Didn't vote for Obama the first time, sure as heck won't this time!!!! My point is, what can the other guy do besides say all the things people want to hear??? The President is just the first guy to get blamed... The bureaucrats and the politicians will continue to do as they please regardless of who the "blame guy" is.... Seems to me that the government no longer works for the people but the people seem to work for the government instead!!!!

Voter turnout will be low, mainly because of apathy IMO. All the lofty goals and high ideals of all the candidates are forgotten as soon as the last voting precinct closes on Nov. 2 and we'll be back to business as usual. The government has become an institution that is accountable to no one. I predict voter turnout to be 40%, another sad state of affairs for a country on the brink of economic chaos when 60% of the people won't even bother to exercise one of their few remaining rights!!!!

I guess Ron Paul is my man for 2012. He has some radical ideas, few of which he could ever get implemented but nevertheless it would be good to again see a politician who will stand up for what he believes in regardless of what the most recent poll shows to be the most popular idea!!!

Expenditures have to be cut, no matter who or who much you tax there's not enough money to pay our bills. When private businesses have more expenses then revenue they take drastic and deep cuts, usually an XX% cut that EVERY department takes. How about challenging the government to apply a 10% cut to EVERYTHING it does, all the departments across the board including wages. Then, announce the lay-off list and send 10% of all the employees of the federal government home! Bring all our troops home from the countries that don't want us there and have 1/2 of them start picking up everyone without a green card and deporting them while the other 1/2 guard our borders and prevent illegal entry into this country. Find a candidate or a party with those items in their platform and maybe, just maybe, people will wake up to the fact that the government isn't going to solve our problems and it's up to the people to put candidates into office who will pass the legislation essential to this country's survival.

Business as usual, regardless of who the President is, isn't going to solve this debacle!!!!

It dose "seem" that Companys are laying off cutting back CLOSING Not our government BAU they are the ones that truly need to cut back and QUIT expanding. Wisc. had a great turn out for there most recent election and I think it went the right way. Now if the rest of the country gets off there dead rears and votes we could be a bunch better off. If nothing elseit maybe different.

I was going to type out my views but I have a lot on my plate today & Dave pretty much summed it up, so I'll just save myself some time & say 2X to Dave's post.
back to work now.

Once again I would like to thank all (mostly) of this threads participants for keeping things civil. 450 posts later and we have yet to actually lose any CHR members because of this thread.

Staff and management at CHR highly appreciates this.



Bill S.

It helps to be grown up, and dealing with people who realy care. Thanks Bill. Maybe we should run Congress