RAW: Socialism versus Capitalism

Some nutter on a website left a comment that 7 of 10 Americans prefer socialism to capitalism.

First, I doubt those polled could even give the proper definition of either (the definitions are below in case you were wondering.) Second, if they really knew the definitions I doubt they would chose one over the other. When you get down to it, neither in their true form is palpable.

There is much hype on talk radio about how we are marching towards socialism. However, the reality is that the United States is already part of the way there. I would also argue that the United States will never be 100 percent socialist, just like the United States will never be 100 percent capitalist. Why you may ask? Because of what it is that makes the United States unique. We value freedom. We also look out for one another.

You see, the United States is neither a capitalist nor a socialist country. Even the European countries are not socialist by definition, they just pay more taxes and have larger social programs. The United States has a combination of socialist tendencies (defense, health care, education, social security) and capitalist tendencies (incentives to produce, ability to own shares of companies, own property, invest your money). Government also regulates the capitalist system.

We have a prime example of when capitalism is allowed to run amuck with the real estate bubble and the subsequent fall out which is why capitalism cannot be allowed to run unchecked. On the other hand, without a capitalistic system creating goods and services that the government can tax we cannot provide for the socialist programs which we can agree, to one degree or another, is needed for those destitute and downtrodden. Yes, when government grows too much and people start seeing everything as a right we tip the scales towards socialism. However, socialism may work on a micro level (Amish farmers come to mind – but even they sell goods for money), it does not work by itself on a macro level. Even countries like China are using capitalism – they have no choice but to embrace certain aspects of it.

The key to everything in life is finding moderation (the foods we eat, the debt we take on, activities we are involved in, etc.). The key for the United States is finding the balance between socialism and capitalism. I hope that President Obama and his fellow democrats in Congress understand that economic freedom is good for the economy and the American people just has I hope Rush Limbaugh and the republicans understand the need to keep businesses in check (everyone is human afterall).

socialism–noun (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socialism)
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.

capitalism–noun (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitalism)
An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. In such a system, individuals and firms have the right to own and use wealth to earn income and to sell and purchase labor for wages with little or no government control. The function of regulating the economy is then achieved mainly through the operation of market forces where prices and profit dictate where and how resources are used and allocated.

Welcome President, er, Chairman Obama

Senator and future President of the United States of America Barack Obama promises a change from the last 8 years of Bush. I believe he will deliver that change. It is just not the type of change that you and I are really expecting. It is not the type of leadership this country needs in the face of an unprecedented economic turmoil. Not that that old guy would be any better. We basically have a leadership and intellectual vacuum in D.C.; unfortunately I am ninety percent certain that Obama will be elected because cultural change is more important than substantive issues like debt, deficits, and fiscal responsibility.

The last 8 years of Bush were all about tax cut and spend. How will Obama change that? Will he cut spending? No. He will increase spending by billions taking the nearly $500 billion budget deficit for fiscal year 2008 and increase it at a time we need to be cutting spending across the board including the military. Neither candidate does not take into account the trillions spent trying to “save” the system (oh wait, that was “printed” money – my mistake that doesn't count).

Will he increase taxes? Yes and No and Yes. Those making more than $250,000 a year or the top 5% of income earners (those making more than $150,000) will pay more, (not sure which number he means) but those making next to nothing will get money. However, Obama will make plant food (CO2) a major pollutant and likely enact cap-and-trade of plant food (CO2). The dirty, little secret on that is that all our energy prices will sky rocket hitting every income class. Obama giveth with one hand and taketh with the other.

Another change under an Obama administration will be reverting to Woodrow Wilson era politics where those critical of the administration will be silenced. We already have seen the beginnings of that with the handling of Joe the Plumber. An innocent question about Obama's tax policies by "one of us" leads the press to investigate Joe's taxes and licensing. It turns out that all of a sudden Joe needs to be silenced and discredited. Wouldn't you know it, Joe owes back taxes. Never mind that a member of the United States senate, Senator Rangel (D), owed back taxes recently too, but then again he did not have the audacity to question Obama’s policies. Obama had the arrogance to say that he never heard of any plumbers making $250,000. I suppose only elitists with degrees from Harvard and Presidents of the United States are allowed to make that much. How out of touch can he possibly get? He obviously has never run a business or knows anything about running a business based on a comment like that.

Now Obama by himself with a republican controlled house and senate may be held in check and things like the Fairness Doctrine would never see the light of day. Unfortunately, we have the dumb leading the dumber. The combination of Pelosi and Reid will make a nasty three-headed monster that should keep any child from getting a good nights rest. The Obalosied tax monster is coming for your pocket book. Oh, it is a nice monster to poor people, but you rich people better watch out. The Obalosied monster will have the audacity to steal from your pocketbook in the middle of the day. Wow, I really am looking forward to the next 2 to 4 years. If you thought things were rough now, just wait, worse is around the corner.

We are so screwed. Thanks for nothing democrats and republicans. You both have put us in an untenable position. Instead of being so self-absorbed in your party’s power you should have been looking out for America. You should have been leading and not pandering. I hope you can look in your children and grandchildren in the eyes and know that you had a chance to turn the tide, but you chose to be selfish. Thanks for nothing, now go to hell.

Under Cover of Darkness...

Disgust and revulsion are only a couple terms that come close to describing how I feel about the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, also known as the “bail out plan”. This terribly crafted and short-sighted legislation is being rammed down our throats. Thankfully, a good number of democrats and republicans voted against the “bail out plan”. Please thank your representative for voting against it if they happen to have done that. If your representative voted for it, well you know what to do on November 4, 2008 to show your “appreciation” for their stupidity.

The same President Bush that cried out that Iraq was a major threat to the United States came on the radio this morning on my drive to work and claimed the sky is falling. He claims we need to implement immediate measures or we will suffer dire consequences. You really have to question his motivation here. So what if the Dow dropped 777 points in one day (an estimated $1 trillion in paper money – all I hear are crickets chirping); it went back up 485 points the next day. The markets are based on emotion not reality and not a good indicator to base economic policy on.

Most folks in the know look at the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to determine how the credit markets fair. The LIBOR is the interest rate at which large international banks are willing to lend each other money on a short-term basis. Many home equity lines of credit, small business loans and student loans also use LIBOR as an index, and this interest rate has been increasing which makes loans more expensive.

I do not believe President Bush. How can you trust Secretary Paulson after what is coming out with regard to the AIG bailout? Speaker Pelosi is utterly clueless. I have no faith that Senator Reid knows what he is doing. They are politicians first and foremost and care more for their own backsides than what is best for America. This is a housing bubble of an estimated $8 trillion of which only $4 to $5 trillion has been lost – meaning more losses to come. We should be very skeptical and extremely suspicious of anyone using the argument that we will make money from this deal. They screwed up and we are supposed to look the other way and pick up the stinking pile of crap they left for us? No thanks.

Dean Baker from the Center for Economic Policy Research was on C-SPAN talking about the failed bail out. He penned a plan that makes more sense than what Bush and company are proposing. There is absolutely no reason to rush into this. Most reasonable economists agree and would rather see a fiscal stimulus such as investing in infrastructure and direct intervention by trying to work with home owners on the edge rather than sending hundreds of billions through the financial institutions. Let the failed financial institutions hang.

Now the Senate is set to vote on their plan (read: push their failed policies) on Wednesday, 1 October 2008. The Senate will call up H.R. 1424: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, the text of which will be substituted with the economic rescue plan (a Dodd amendment which must have the consent of both the Majority and Minority Leaders).

Other than the bailout, what does their plan include?

• Raises federal deposit insurance (FDIC) limits to $250,000 from $100,000
• Adds a set of popular business tax breaks
• Adds legislation to prevent more than 20 million middle-class taxpayers from feeling the bite of the alternative minimum tax

A little bit of sugar with a whole lot of poison. Please call your senators and send them a message loud and clear that we do not like this plan and would rather see it defeated.

Photo by KCThinker, Butterfly - Omaha Zoo

What do Democrats, Fatah, Hamas, and Republicans Have in Common?

On the surface you would not think these groups have much in common. Violence rules one set and ignorance rules the other. But they do have much in common. Each group, in their own way, put their agendas and ideologies over the good of their people.

Hamas and Fatah recently went through an internal power struggle in the Palestinian territories. The result is many dead and wounded, looting, a fractious government, and leaving the Palestinian people with little hope of ever being able to have a true country of their own. It did not need to happen. But once again the pride and arrogance of men trying to ensure they seize or remain in power has resulted in misery. Hamas would not bend on their stance towards Israel. Hamas would not cease firing rockets at Israel. Israel would not stop responding. Pride, foolishness, and arrogance rule the Middle East. Pride, foolishness, and arrogance keep the Middle East from maturing.

The partisanship in Washington, D.C. has not resulted in the chaos like was seen in the Palestinian territories. However, partisanship has resulted in 74 percent of the American people feeling that the United States is not heading in the right direction. Naturally, such an open-ended question will result in significant distortion of reality. For example, is it the economy that is not heading in the right direction or is it education? Are we not heading in the right direction with respect to foreign policy or fiscal responsibility? Or is the stalemate on immigration reform causing this “feeling”? I think that the United States is heading in the wrong direction for a variety of reasons and I blame the partisanship of the democrats and republicans for that. Here again is yet another example of two parties more concerned with maintaining or seizing power while the real needs of the American people are forgotten. They seem to think that they alone have the best ideas and they alone know what is best for us. Guess again. The democrats and republicans are clueless as to what is best for the American people. Once again, pride, foolishness, and arrogance blind these groups to reality and what really needs to be done. The democrat’s hatred of George W. Bush blinds them to the point of doing whatever they can to undermine his presidency. The democrat’s ideology blinds them to the reality that this country was founded on Christian principles and causes them to needlessly burden our society with over-political correctness. The republican’s ideology of religious conservatism causes knee-jerk reactions like removing evolution from biology classes and vetoing stem cell research initiatives. Both parties cannot see the forest for the trees when it comes to fiscal responsibility and ensuring the long-term security and fiscal well being of the United States. Both parties push problems on future generations of Americans; the Americans without a voice.

In the end, unless these groups can work together, find common ground, and work to achieve goals based on that common ground everyone else will suffer in one way or another.

HAD ENOUGH?
DON’T JUST VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN
VOTE FOR COMMON SENSE

Photo by KCThinker, Old Mine Structure, Cherokee County, Kansas

The Trouble with Political Pronouncements

Martin Frost, a former democratic congressman to the U.S. House of Representatives, wrote the following in a Foxnews.com editorial about energy independence: "Like so many other Bush pronouncements, it turned out to be a statement made for political expediency with no substance or commitment behind it."

Newsflash: ninety nine percent of all political pronouncements, from both democrats and republicans, are politically expedient with no substance or commitment behind them. I have the utmost contempt for the politicians in Washington, D.C. who find it easy to promise so much and deliver on so little of substance. They play their little game with the future of the United States hanging in the balance. If there is pork to be had then everything is easy, but to actually address a real problem like energy independence or the burgeoning national debt or the unfunded trillions in Medicare and social security liabilities the politicians are strangely noncommittal and provide us with nothing but political expediency. No one wants to present the very tough and unpopular decisions needed to address these problems because they fear for their chances of re-election. All the solutions require sacrifices**: cuts in spending, cuts in benefits, and an increase in taxes - that is the truth, you have to have all three - there is no hiding from that reality. Who is willing to go to the American people and present that? Who is willing to look their campaign bankrollers in the eye and say the trough is closed? And if you do present a proposal like that you are shot down. The only thing you hear from the talking heads is criticism, nothing constructive whatsoever. Each of the key issues above needs to be addressed soon otherwise we will saddle our children and grandchildren with an enormous burden. I just do not see anyone in Washington, D.C. that cares about America. I think they care more about ensuring their party benefits and stays in power. I have found that they are all talk. Pretty speeches and flowery rhetoric does not solve problems. And I do not think I am alone in America in thinking this way.

You can think what you may, but I am as cynical as I have ever been about our elected officials and their chances of finding a "consensus" on any issue. Let's just look at becoming energy independent. It will take nuclear power. It will take new coal power plants with carbon sequestering. It will take coal to oil. It will take more wind and solar power. It will take more drilling in areas like ANWR. It will take more fuel efficient vehicles. It will take higher gas taxes to encourage a reduction in consumption. It will take significant investment in renewable technology. It will take more than just biofuels (never mind that we are taking land away from food production for energy production). It will take a change in mindset. It would not take much to convince me to change, because I know what is at stake. You need someone that has a grasp of how to convince everyone else including the anti-nuclear crowd, the auto manufacturers, the oil companies, and the citizens of this country. You need someone that can convince the left that this is a responsible way to become energy independent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. You need someone that can also convince the right that this is a reasonable way to get us out of the Middle East and other areas run by despots. In the present political climate I do not see anyone that has the ability to unify people to make the changes necessary and that is a sad commentary on our society as a whole.

**Sacrifice is not in the American dictionary anymore. It is a word that is fading fast with the greatest generation. Our society has become fat and lazy. And so have our politicians.

Photo by KCThinker, sugar cane loading appartus, March 2007

The Unfortunate, All Too Binding, Iraq Situation…

The United States of America is in Iraq. That is the cold, hard fact. No matter how you feel about how we got into this mess, the fact remains that we are there now. And no amount of hindsight will alter that fact (even if you are running for president). It does not matter if you are a democrat or a republican. It does not matter how you voted. It does not matter if you are a liberal, conservative, green, libertarian, or independent. It does not matter if you were for or against the war in Iraq. It does not matter what the reason for going into Iraq was. WE, as AMERICANS, are solely responsible for success or defeat in Iraq. The world does not care if you are pacifist, an atheist, a born again Christian, a vegetarian, or a redneck. You are seen as an American, and Americans have the responsibility to see that we leave Iraq better than before we went into Iraq.

Many mistakes have been made by foolish men who had little understanding of that region. That said, we need to look at the big picture of the region as it stands now and not just the blood and treasure that America is losing everyday. We need to realize that there are many people out there counting on America to get Iraq done and get it done right. My problem with the democrats is the problem I have with the republicans. Every thing boils down to the least common denominator - how it impacts the re-election efforts of the politicians and how much damage they can inflict on the opposing party. They could care less what really matters to the future of this country (if they did we would not have these ill-conceived social programs that we cannot afford or an education system that leaves our children ill-equipped to compete in the global economy – other topics for another day). We are there and we need to figure out how we can best help to provide a stable Iraq - if that is even possible, I am not sure. We also need to get Iran and Syria to stop meddling in Iraq as well. Iran and Syria are adding gasoline to the fire because it suits their interests in making America look weak. The democrats (and some republicans) and the media are doing their part by fanning the flames of discontent here. Discontent spread here adds fuel to the insurgent engine by making them think they are succeeding. Cutting and running (call it redeployment if you want) allows Syria and Iran to win and makes us look very weak in the eyes of the Arabs. But politicians rarely care about the over reaching impacts of their decisions or sound bites. All they care is doing what is best for their re-election efforts, presidential bids, and lobbyists.

Has the war been grossly mismanaged? YES. Is the situation becoming worse? In some parts of Iraq it is. Does the dissent in the United States undermine our efforts? Definitely. Think about in terms of the hype before a big football game. If the other team says something about their opponent it may get posted in the opponent’s locker room as a motivator. When senators like Harry Reid spout off at the blow hole you can be damn sure it gets posted in an insurgent locker room in Iraq.

The editor-in-chief of U.S. News and World Report, Mortimer B Zucherman, stated in a 22 January 2007 editorial that “American forces … cannot stop this sectarian war. The Iraqis must do it.” But “nothing good can happen without security, which is the sine qua non for success.” “We cannot just turn our backs on Iraq and hope for the best.”

A story on NPR the morning of 8 February 2007 was about the sectarian violence. The NPR correspondent interviewed a Shiite. The Shiite spoke of militias and their efforts to wipe out Sunnis (I am sure that some of that is also going on against the Shiites). But this Shiite was protecting other Sunnis. The interview ended with the Shiite stating that he wanted Baghdad flooded with American troops to provide peace and stability.

Now we have two options. We pack up and leave and watch Iraq spiral out of control into chaos, or we provide security until that indeterminate time at which the Iraqis can find peace among themselves. The situation is not going to miraculously be solved in the time it takes to make a bag of popcorn in the microwave or in the span of a 60 minute TV show or 90 days or 9 months. Despite what President Bush claimed at the beginning, anyone with real common sense knew this would take years or decades. I knew it. Could we bring Iraq back from the brink of all out collapse? Maybe or maybe not; but we owe to it the Iraqis, to the world, and to future generations of Americans to try with ALL our will and not a fraction less.

Winston Churchill once said “Once you are so unfortunate as to be drawn into a war, no price is too great to pay for an early and victorious peace.”

What exactly does a non-binding resolution accomplish? Does it not mean anything to these democrats and few republicans when General Patreous says a congressional resolution against a troop build up in Iraq essentially emboldens the enemy? They say they support the troops, but a vote for the non-binding resolution is a vote against the troops in my opinion. A vote to defund the war effort is a vote against the troops. We did not learn a damn thing from Vietnam. We did not learn that when it comes to war, we should not let the politicians make operational decisions. The only thing we learned from Vietnam was to not call our troops “baby killers” and to not spit on them when they come back to America. It is amazing that we learned anything.