Find something you can pursue as a positive, rather than wallowing in your own misery. It's destructive not only to you but those around you as well.

-- shooter242

Why don't you take your own advice and get the hell out of here. All you do here is pursue a negative and wallow in your own misery. It's destructive to yourself, and I don't know if you have anyone around you to be destructive to.

It is not just the Busheviks who wallow in their own reality, it goes down to the least of their supporters.

"In my view, if a balance of people have a favorable view of the future, we'll have a good economy. If a balance of people have a negative view of the future, we'll have a bad economy."

I suppose insufficient people have a favorable view of subprime mortgages, shooter242? Are you really such a moron or are you just playacting here? I suppose having one's own reality requires a certain lack of ability to be embarrassed.

http://mises.org/Community/blogs/tokyotom/archive/2008/08/01/pickens-buys-eminent-domain-powers-and-wind-power-transmission-rights-for-his-personal-8-acre-quot-water-district-quot.aspx

"....let me note that Pickens and the Republican-dominated Texas legislature have just put on a marvelous display of how government, in Texas at least, is by the rich and for the rich, who are allowed to ride roughshod over the "property rights" of others.

Last year the Texas legislature, greased by $1.2 million in campaign contributions by Pickens over the previous election cycle, modified its laws who can create a "fresh water supply district" that has powers of eminent domain - powers to forcibly take land from others - and authorized such water districts to use their rights of way to carry power transmission lines. Such water districts are authorized to raise cheap money by issuing tax-exempt bonds. By securing rule changes in his favor, a Pickens-controlled district covering eight acres in the Panhandle acquired the power to issue tax-exempt bonds and to condemn private land for a pipeline and power transmission lines all the way to Dallas. In Texas, money talks and money rules - and "property rights" means nothing more than the right to collect reasonable value in compensation for what the rich want to take from you. "

http://mises.org/Community/blogs/tokyotom/archive/2008/08/01/pickens-buys-eminent-domain-powers-and-wind-power-transmission-rights-for-his-personal-8-acre-quot-water-district-quot.aspx

Ah hell, it would seem our real difference is optimism vs. pessimism....

Not at all, not at all. What we have here is a failure to communicate; because you do not want to communicate. You want to paint every situation as Republican/rich v. Democrat/poor and declare Republican/rich == good. ( the == has meaning if you obtained an education)

Pessimism/optimism is not the issue, as assessing the facts is something that the human must do to properly interact with his world.

Fact: this Repugnant Administration has spent money (borrowed money, inflated the currency, taxed the poor) like a drunken sailor on long delayed leave.

Fact: the interest on the debt grows each year and we will get our loans "called" in the near future. Iran and others want to conduct trade in Euros rather than dollars. When the dollar stops being the reserve currency, you are screwed.

As always, life is a matter of degrees and there exist several places where government is beneficial whether we like it or not. The repeal of Glass-Steagal separating banks from brokerages is a good example of what should have been left alone. Broadcast spectrums, utilities, the FDA, etc. are examples.

Life does mean making choices between various options that are available to one at the time. Life does not mean pretending that one of those choices are good when they are not. Humans need to address reality no matter where that leads them. You choose fantasy.

Consider your example. The federal reserve is responsible for the housing bubble and you pick one small piece of banking legislation to quibble over. You are saying that you love government managing banking, but you want to play Monday Morning Quarterback when the inevitable harm becomes apparent. And you choose to want to pretend that the Republicans are not first in line at the blame window.

The Democrats are not always blameless, but this major disaster is a Republican one. What solutions do you offer?

Dishonest? If you would stop being defensively insulting you'd see I'm talking about the same things you are. Pork that isn't voted upon covers all the items you listed. Slipping millions upon billions of welfare for the rich into omnibus conference bills with no vote is the current way pork is distributed. Yes really. No vote. Transparency there would go a long way to exposing exactly what you are railing about.

Transparency will help, and I support it. Transparency will never happen. The powerful monied class is clever enough to make the cooperate welfare look like the best thing for the country.

The Classic Liberals saw that the power of the government to interfere was the problem. I think human nature has not changed at all; we need to start removing some of the power of the central government to interfere.

The best place to start is by slashing the defense budget and then slashing all business substitutes --- even the few that might be "good" since the one or two "poster boy" good ones support the thousands of evil ones.

Milk. God damn milk. I went to a wedding yesterday and saw all the little kids in the family at one time. Why does the government keep milk prices high? With my taxes they keep food prices high. Is Stalin still running things? 5 year food plan?

The reality is we'll probably do both. Debt repudiation could consist of cutting benefits in SS and Medicare. They are responsible for most of the debt you're playing Chicken Little over. And as for the rest of the world, we'll pay it down a little at a time with both debt retirement and a bit of inflation.

I have paid a substantial portion of my earnings into the SS fund over the years involuntarily. The Republicans have looted the trust fund and now you want to cut the fund. Put back what the government looted and the fund can stand on its own. Or move to a fully funded privatized fund for those who so desire. But stop pretending that stealing money from SS to fund your god damn military empire is the reason we are in debt.

All that said, it's your attitude that's the problem. In my view, if a balance of people have a favorable view of the future, we'll have a good economy. If a balance of people have a negative view of the future, we'll have a bad economy. If you want to have a half empty attitude, be my guest. But amplifying the chorus of doom does no good at all and just scares the ignorant.

Don't worry; be happy!

That is not an answer, it is an old song.

It is also the stupidest thing you have ever written here in UT that I have seen. If you spend until there is no hope of ever repaying the debt, then all the "let us pray the money in" bullshit will not pay the piper.

For all the crap I give Glenn

You never give him "crap" as that would take having a point once in a while. I would like to see a point out of you; but "don't worry, be happy?" Please!