tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post4677668654201365869..comments2024-01-22T18:22:29.391-08:00Comments on hedera's corner: A Plague O' Both Your Houseshederahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-33349425905292608022009-02-19T09:38:00.000-08:002009-02-19T09:38:00.000-08:00Curtis, that is all true, but it isn't necessarily...Curtis, that is all true, but it isn't necessarily the end of the story. There are possible game changers, and Obama may even employ some of them.Hal Horvathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10851897967853698214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-55885761315969072352009-02-19T08:06:00.000-08:002009-02-19T08:06:00.000-08:00I haven't exactly undergone a sea-change in my thi...I haven't exactly undergone a sea-change in my thinking about the budget crisis, but I'm beginning to see what the Republicans are getting at. <BR/><BR/>Over the last 30 years, our economy was floating on Monopoly money. People were spending plastic, investing in empty pumped-up valueless stocks, puffing up on their home values. Speculation and snake-oil deception on a grand scale. In the meantime, government kept spending and expanding cheerfully, counting on an ever-growing pot of tax money. "We're such a rich country, we can afford anything."<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, we were bleeding jobs, good jobs, and borrowing money from abroad (Arabia, China, etc.). Americans were mortgaged and overdrawn. Our balance of payments was an embarrassment. <BR/><BR/>Then, well, the banks kept jacking up fake paper until the system crashed. Not only did the emperor have no clothes, but we discovered he had boils and sores all over his body; he needed some emergency first aid.<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I don't think pumping up the national debt's the answer. <BR/><BR/>The Republicans are trying to put us in touch with ourselves. The bottom line is: We can't afford all those things we promised ourselves we could pay for. The money wasn't there then, and it isn't there now. Pretending that it will be "someday" is nonsense. <BR/><BR/>This hurts. We don't like to admit to ourselves that burning all that cash on wars and tax breaks for the rich and everything else was a really bad idea. We don't like to admit to ourselves that we can't afford to pay everyone a stipend, as the State of Alaska does. We probably can't afford free health care, free housing, free food. We can't afford to mend our roads and bridges. We can't afford to stock our libraries and pay our police and firemen. <BR/><BR/>We can't afford it. We spent that money. It's gone.<BR/><BR/>If you think these budget woes are scary, wait another 2 years, another 5 years. America is hocked up to its ears, in fact we're already "underwater" (as many home-"owners" now find themselves with more debt than equity).<BR/><BR/>You could increase taxes--at both the state and federal level--20 percent across the board, and it still wouldn't make a dent. <BR/><BR/>Welcome to hard times.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-11069450798809572422009-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:002009-02-18T13:58:00.000-08:00Hal, I hope you're right. If you're wrong, we're ...Hal, I hope you're right. If you're wrong, we're in even worse trouble than we think.hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-1284346872274734632009-02-18T13:50:00.000-08:002009-02-18T13:50:00.000-08:00Karen, I was thinking about this problem also, as ...Karen, I was thinking about this problem also, as you put it:<BR/>"The Internet has been intensifying this trend, with people only reading the blogs they agree with..."<BR/><BR/>Most people do indeed tend to just seek reinforcement of their beliefs it seems, and I think perhaps it takes a real conscious choice to actually seek out a different view.<BR/><BR/>Obama is going after a profoundly ambitious goal when he seeks to create dialouge and blend different views. His reaching out to Republicans I like to think of as similar to Reagan's visit to the Berlin Wall. "...tear down this wall!" Reagan said.<BR/><BR/>And after he left, the wall remained. But....<BR/><BR/>I actually expect, very slowly, until someday it becomes a seachange, that Obama will accomplish this. It will look like a complete failure for a long time first though I'm thinking.Hal Horvathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10851897967853698214noreply@blogger.com