Thread: President Obama Q&A at the GOP House Issues Conference

Originally Posted by commiecat

It is relevant. It was his proposal made quite recently as an alternative to the Recovery Act! When you have issues with the current plan, it helps if your alternative wasn't the one shot down because nobody believed your math.



Apparently we're at odds here. I'll be the first to say that I was completely against the bank and auto bailouts, but the economy needed something according many economists. The CBO projected that our GDP growth would have been at almost -8% without the stimulus at the time and we'd still be around -6% now instead of -2.4%.

What would you propose amidst financial collapse that didn't involve the government spending money? The only precendent I know off-hand is the New Deal, and history seems to show that it worked out for the better.

First, I would pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan as there will be no victory at this point based on the poor military strategy and lunacy thinking that "we must rebuild". We should have left Iraq alone, burnt Afghanistan to the ground and left them thinking "we better not mess with them again". Let the Generals run the military, don't let politics and ideology run it. Generals and soldiers know how to win, you just let them do their jobs because I truly believe they know how to win wars if you will take the politics out of it.
Second, I would cut all forms of social security/disability for those who never paid it in. I would also cut all funding for drug rehabilitation programs. I would cut any health or government services for all illegal immigrants. If not grant them amnesty and register all of them and start taxing them so they pay their part.
Third, I would break up the bureaucracy of Homeland Security and let the military handle the TSA and let the FBI and CIA have their budgets cut, but formed back to their individual standings.
Fourth, I would have GM, AIG and any other companies receiving bailouts that haven't paid the money back cut up into pieces to see if there was a way to take all of their assets ( to include all executives homes, money, cars, and every single item they have worth value), calculate the losses and then pay them and move on. Then after taking everything from them, take from the top 10% of stockholders assets till the debt is paid. If a small business goes through hard times, they have to declare bankruptcy and loose everything.
Fifth, cut 2/3rds of public funding to useless university research until the economy recovers.
Sixth, Each congressman and senator gets something like 2.5 million for their offices expenses. Investigate every Congressman and then cut their budgets to about $500K since they don't need that much to run their office.
Seventh, Cut all forms of agricultural crop subsidies. Years ago they paid cotton farmers not to grow cotton ($.26/pound based on previous years yield). Let the free market dictate prices so that the small family farmer can stay afloat rather than a few farmers getting bigger and bigger. ALso open up local markets and limit imported food only to those foods which are unable to be grown here. Those subsidies only benefit John Deer and the Chemical companies who take what is essentially a welfare check from farmers.
Eighth, I am for federalizing oil and taking it away form oil companies because all they do is increase their profits when prices sky-rocket. Since they won't do the right thing, they should have it taken away since oil is so important to out economy.
Ninth, Work with trade such that Toyota and other foreign car makers can only make or send a car here if their home countries takes or allows a US company to make a car there. We have long made the Japanese rich. They have an island of limited resources, we should not support their economy by taking in their goods when they buy so little from us. This same principle would apply to China and other countries who primarily export goods here as well. We need to quit letting other countries sell their products here when the Chinese Government is saying "buy chinese". We should also eliminate all trade with them unless they allow their currency value to swing because if it did, then some of the things being made their could be made here and create jobs for US citizens.
Last but not least, The tax code is too complicated. Set up a new flat tax code such that if you make income then you pay a flat rate for businesses, personal income and state taxes. Eliminate tax write offs or deductions, but make the flat rate reasonable. Also any business that creates jobs over seas, outsources jobs, or otherwise seeks profits over seas, then tax them 3 times the normal rate. Also, set a rate at which the top 5% of executives can only get paid a certain percentage of the revenue. That way if the company does well as a whole then everyone gets a piece. Also give incentives for paying lower level employees more and creating jobs such that the more jobs they create the more employees at all levels can pay themselves.

These are few ways that would help the economy. Creating government jobs is only going to tax citizens. To cut costs, you must eliminate services. You can't have it all. Require people to be responsible for themselves. Liberals and conservatives can see that we are over spending and need to make cuts. So, cut what needs to be cut and then when things turn around, keep the taxes where they are at and pay down the national debt to a reasonable level. PEople should pa more state taxes than federal, that way they can get what they want in their home areas without hurting other states. This will also allow states to prioritize what they think is important.


Sorry for the long post, but these are few ideas (maybe not good) but would probably help a lot of people in my opinion.

Originally Posted by treydampier

Fourth, I would have GM, AIG and any other companies receiving bailouts that haven't paid the money back cut up into pieces to see if there was a way to take all of their assets ( to include all executives homes, money, cars, and every single item they have worth value), calculate the losses and then pay them and move on. Then after taking everything from them, take from the top 10% of stockholders assets till the debt is paid.

Originally Posted by treydampier

Eighth, I am for federalizing oil and taking it away form oil companies because all they do is increase their profits when prices sky-rocket. Since they won't do the right thing, they should have it taken away since oil is so important to out economy.

Wow, Obama made it in just one year! The socialism is here, and 'the people' love it even if they wouldn't admit to it.

Originally Posted by treydampier

Ninth, Work with trade such that Toyota and other foreign car makers can only make or send a car here if their home countries takes or allows a US company to make a car there.
...

Nice, I say don't stop there but go all the way also making sure that no student from Georgia goes to a medical school in NY unless a student from NY goes to a medical school in Georgia. After all this is a union of states, not a single state to be governed centrally. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, the best way to trade!

Originally Posted by gugi

Wow, Obama made it in just one year! The socialism is here, and 'the people' love it even if they wouldn't admit to it.



Nice, I say don't stop there but go all the way also making sure that no student from Georgia goes to a medical school in NY unless a student from NY goes to a medical school in Georgia. After all this is a union of states, not a single state to be governed centrally. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, the best way to trade!

i think Trey is correct. he is talking trade deficits. not intrastate commerce or education. although protectionism is a tricky deal especially now that we have immense world trade with each other.
as far as the oil companies go, i think a good dose of honesty and fairness in their operations would go a long way.
back to the OP, we are talking about outright lies and deception from a lot of politicians on both sides and a "real good dose" of honesty would help greatly

How is bankrupcy socialism? The oil is indeed socialistic, but I view it as being important for the economy since oil in the US is dominated by many foreign companies (ie. Shell, BP, among others). By the way, I went to a Caribbean school so I am not from GA going to a NY school. Thanks for noticing and making a false assumption though. I do agree with the exchange of students. I would love to go back to states governing more individually than having federal interference. I am so happy you agree with me! You really are a genius man!

I'm thinking everyone should read "Empire of Dept: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis" by Bill Bonner. If you've read the book, then you know where the U.S. is headed financially. But most people have no idea about the ultimate financial consequences of decades of borrowing and spending by Washington, and they remain irrationally convinced that the status quo will remain intact for eternity. No one in any position of authority, has yet admitted that the U.S. government is indeed going bankrupt.
There is a paper written by a Boston University teacher named Prof Kotlikoff, here is a link to the PDF: http://research.stlouisfed.org/publi.../Kotlikoff.pdf

The country is bankrupt.
Hyperinflation is inevitable.

Hyperinflation is nothing new for countries that allow politicians to practice fiscal insanity. The politicians make promisses to voters that the nation cannot afford with runway spending. The time is near for us to pay the piper and face the consequences. It's too late to save the United States from its financial meltdown, I believe. For starters, there is a complete lack of willingness to make tough financial decisions and begin paying off the national debt. Such an idea is so foreign to the U.S. that no presidential candidate in the last two decades has even seriously proposed such a plan, save perhaps Ross Perot.

Buy gold & silver, the banksters know that gold IS money. Nuff said.

Originally Posted by treydampier

Second, I would cut all forms of social security/disability for those who never paid it in. I would also cut all funding for drug rehabilitation programs.

Sorry for the long post, but these are few ideas (maybe not good) but would probably help a lot of people in my opinion.

How exactly will eliminating funding for drug rehabilitation programs help anyone?

I thought it was a great idea. It lived up to my expectations. I wasn't looking for winners or losers. Rather, a venue to discuss the issues. Clearly there are differences in approaches to the issues at hand. I am glad this happened. I'll leave it to the pundits and talking heads to ponder which side won because I don't think that was what it was all about, and don't really care what Keith Oberman or Bill O'Reilly think of who won or lost. To me there was only one winner, the voters. And one loser, the congressional Democrats.

Originally Posted by NYCshaver

How exactly will eliminating funding for drug rehabilitation programs help anyone?

I say we eliminate the war on drugs but keep rehab clinics.

I though it was interesting when someone asked how Obama could rail against Bush for overspending $150 Billion his last year in office when Obama's government is overspending that much each month?


Later,
Richard

Originally Posted by commiecat

I say we eliminate the war on drugs but keep rehab clinics.

That certainly makes a lot more sense then Trey's suggestion.

Guess he doesn't have an answer.