Balance would be a good thing if it happened naturally, but trying to force it upon people through government regulation will never work. Politicians are not smart enough to see the unintended consequences of their actions and unless government is VERY LIMITED they will be constantly creating imbalances by taking freedom away from one group in order to "protect" another. Just as there is SUPPOSED to be a separation of church and state there should be a separation of the economy & state. Until there is a constitutional amendment restricting spending and total debt there will never be true fiscal responsibility in Washington.
but they aren't "forced" to buy that useless shit like they are forced to pay for the useless shit coming out of washington.
Homeland Security dollars at work: Air marshals face smuggling charge Two federal air marshals are facing drug charges after allegedly agreeing to smuggle cocaine from a man who turned out to be a government witness, the U.S. attorney's office in Houston, Texas, announced Monday. Shawn Ray Nguyen, 38, and Burlie Sholar, 32, were arrested Thursday after allegedly receiving 15 kilograms of cocaine and $15,000 cash delivered to Nguyen's home and agreeing to take the drugs on a plane, prosecutors said in court papers. The U.S. attorney's office accused the two men of agreeing to use their official positions as federal air marshals to bypass airport security and smuggle the cocaine on board a flight from Houston to Las Vegas, Nevada, in exchange for the money.
United Arab Emirates Firm May Oversee 6 U.S. Ports A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism. The Bush administration considers the UAE an important ally in the fight against terrorism since the suicide hijackings and is not objecting to Dubai Ports World's purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. DP World said it won approval from a secretive U.S. government panel that considers security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry. The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States "thoroughly reviewed the potential transaction and concluded they had no objection," the company said in a statement. ----------- Unbelieveable.
Convertibility that is un-friggin'-believable isn't it. The President is all for it.. and anxious to sign-off on it. What's also amazing is that Congress isn't raising the question of our security. The President's war on terror is a fraud/opportunity to feed his cronies pockets. Period! What about our borders as porous as they are. Why Is the Administration so worried about the Middle East when they show to not give a shit about our own border & port security.
Here is another little tid-bit of the Administration's spending policies. The President and his cabinet have spent $ 1.6 Billion on public relations/propaganda. The GAO (Government Accountability Office) is reported to refer to this extremely offensive and is admonishing the President's administration for it.
Sometimes, more is lost by inaction than wrong action. By doing nothing or continuing along with business as usual, the government is making the situation worse. Politicians argue about this and that and at the end of the day just throw up their hands. It's like a trader who hides under his desk when a trade goes bad instead of actually addressing the problem at hand. He just hopes that everything will work itself out in the end, but eventually such a course of action (or rather inaction) will prove disastrous.
Posted on 02-10-06 Posted on 02-13-06 The problem right now is a conflict of interest. The government is running up enormous debts. We are just giving it all away in terms of economic advantage and momentum. America buys T-Shirts, China buys T-Bonds. But if the Chinese or (OPEC) or some of the these other foreign interests stop supporting our government deficit spending through bond purchases, the government will quickly become insolvent. At the same time, you cannot continue to lower the standard of living for your people. You cannot take away their jobs and cut their pay, because then who will repay these debts (or simply maintain them with tax dollars to make the interest payments)? Because you are correct when you say that we are helping other countries to prosper at the expense of our own people. That is the inevitable conclusion to global free trade. The President is right when he says that foreign workers cannot out-produce American workers. But they can produce at comparable levels at much, much cheaper prices. Production is one thing, but cost is quite another. I would say that we cannot compete for price, but we can compete for value. But that will require some changes in not only the way we act, but also the way we think. The simple fact is that the government is failing the people. It has started selling this country to the highest bidder. We are rapidly becoming slaves to debt while they chant freedom and liberty all the way to the shackles. Would we be making these same decisions if we had a budget surplus? A trade surplus? Would we need excuses or convoluted economic theories if we were running surpluses? Economists can dream up all the theories in the world, but a little common sense goes a long way. Street smarts will tell a person all they need to know. This government is exhibiting all the signs of a junkie. Denial, false promises, excuses, selling, borrowing, etc.
US army charges troops in gay porn scandal Its time to outsource the army. Someone out there can win desert wars cheaper and more efficient than this moneypit insitution.