As it usually is. The latest CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll confirms that the economy has replaced the Iraq war as the most important issue in the upcoming presidential election.
Seventy-four percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey say the economy has entered a recession.
That figure is up from 66 percent who felt that way in a similar survey last month. The number stood at 61 percent in January and 46 percent in October.
It’s no surprise then that the economy remains the key issue in the public’s mind.
By a 2-1 margin, it tops the Iraq war as the No. 1 issue for Americans in their choice for president.
Illegal immigration continues it’s slide as an important issue to voters, falling to just 7% from its high of 15%.
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In Texas 3 non-binding resolutions passed by a whopping margin of 92-94%. I am sure the American people are concerned about the economy #1. If a poll were taken asking those three points on the ballot, I think the numbers would be different.
McCain blames illegal immigration for the loss of seats. Guess he reads the WSJ. After all we need to keep cheap labor, these companies need large profit, and stock holders need to make lots of money too.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0308/McCain_cautions_candidates_on_immigration.html
So right now it’s the Economy according to CNN. More reason for McCain to have Mitt Romney as his VP since McCain admits it is not his strong suit.
Regarding the CNN poll, wonder just how the questions were worded. Slanted to achieve the desired result perhaps? After all it is CNN…
Haley Barbour signs bill in Mississippi to use the new employee verification system. An illegal found working in Miss could get one year in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.00
link to 5
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080317/NEWS01/80317042/1002
The news outlets realized that their coverage on the war was working against them, so they decided to switch to another topic… “It’s the economy, stupid.” The housing bubble is definitely a large cause for the problems, but the news outlets are not helping the situation. With reporting on how bad the economic outlook has become, it has spead fear among investors and in to Wall Street.
Now look at Bear and Stearns. The Gubmint is coming to their rescue.
“The sky is falling. The sky is falling. We are all gonna die.” (said with absolutely no emotion)
I don’t know how you can separate the economy without addrssing the illegal problem. For a major portion of the economy they seem to be linked together.
The questions are linked above. Why are polls always biased if they don’t agree with someone’s preconceived ideas?
BigJ because polls are biased. The sampling is of 1050 people. Those 1050 people can be ” random” or slanted. The way a question is worded, repeated, and the choice of answers to the question can be worded to obtain a preconceived truth. It’s human nature to agree with polls that reflect one’s own thinking. It’s human nature to be skeptical of polls that disagree, but it’s wise to be skeptical of all polls.
#5 - Ah Mr Barbour - another good Prez hopeful IMHO……..too bad HE aint runnin!
#9 BJ, thanks for the steer to the questions. Wonder what the other ones were. And the obverse of the coin, why are polls always biased if they agree with someone’s preconceived ideas?
#8 blackgirl
You are right. If we did not have to subsidize the illegals with our social services we would be able to pay less tax and have more of a disposable income.
The thing I worry about is that the down turn in the economy will cause many illegals to go home and as a result people would be demanding a secure border.
I’d like to see on of the Front Pagers do a post on the Iranian Oil Bourse and how thier selling of oil in Euros is a lot of what’s driving the fall of the dollar.
Polls can be very inaccurate if the sample is not large enough and randomly selected. Also the method of polling can skew the results, for instance a telephone poll taken during the normal work hours will include mostly people at home.
If you don’t think polls can be very inaccurate just go ask President Thomas E. Dewey
10 AW,
All true. Harry Truman once said that there were three kinds of lies. Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics.
Regrettably, polls can be steered, but those who do produce such data find their product not in demand.
It is in the commercial best interests of the polling organization to have an accurate track record. Good polling data is used by political organizations, foreign governments, candidates, and business to chart policy. Good data has a marketable value.
I do wish that polls would present some of the underlying data regarding degree of confidence, standard deviation, mean, and median of the sample population. I suspect most folks don’t care and an individual’s rating of a poll’s accuracy is more a degree of how much it agrees with their personal philosophy.
Political parties and candidates ignoring economic issues during a downturn do so at their own peril. The party holding the White House is almost always voted out of office during a downturn in the economy. Want to get the average american’s attention…hit him in the wallet.
Simple
If you don’t think the economy is a concern just think of this. We had a major US investment bank go bankrupt because there was a run on the bank due to rumors of insolvency. Meaning, someone said the Bank could not cover all of their holdings with cash, so people were pulling their money out so they would be the ones to get what limited cash the bank had.
#13
I meant to say , “as a result people will not be as concerned about a secure border”.
14 Sarge,
Iran accounts for only about 13% of the oil exports in the region. While I have no doubt they have an impact, it is hard to see how they can be the root cause of the current energy crisis.
Indeed, their demand for oil is expanding a rate that would make them oil importers in a few years. They already import most of their gasoline.
P.S. I got that from that lefty rag “The Oil and Gas Journal”.
Simple
Since ORC/infoUSA chose to publish a very limited sketch of their questions, we are not able to make a complete judgement. The poll may be accurate, but who can really tell ? I’m always amused by polls asking randomly selected Americans if we are in a recession. If you ask 5 economists that question, you will get 8 opinions about the definition of a recession, when it started, how severe it was and when it ended. And I am supposed to believe the average citizen knows whether we are in a recession or not ? Give me a break !
There are valid reasons to be skeptical of CNN and especially Opinion Research Corporation. Vinod Gupta founded and controls InfoUSA which purchased ORC in 2006. Others have questioned his methods and stockholders have sued Gupta accusing him of illegally misappropriating funds and assets of infoUSA. Here is Dick Morris on Vinod Gupta:
Below is a link to a wrapup on Gupta. My primary question is why is a man whose objective credibility is critical, given the nature of his business, so deeply involved in questionable dealings with the Clintons ?
http://www.blogsofwar.com/2007/05/27/guptagate-bill-and-hillary-clintons-ties-with-vinod-gupta-raise-suspicion/
I am very surprised that you guys don’t see the economy as an election year priority and instead focus on who conducted one poll. Any number of polls, taken by very different researchers, show the same thing.
http://www.pollingreport.com/prioriti.htm
What is it that you guys think will drive the election?
#21 BJ
I don’t disagree at all with that statement. The economy looms very large in every presidential election. I just question this particular one.
You really do need to work on that reading comprehension thing.
This is not about oil production. I said nothing about oil production. It’s not just Iranian oil that is traded on their bourse, it’s a ssytem for trading oil from all nations which operates like the Stock Market and they will not accept dollars for making the transactions.
When a commodity so widely in demand across the planet as is petrochemical products cannot be purshcased using doallars, the dollar becomes less valuable because of that.
Not a terrifically hard concept to grasp.
http://www.countercurrents.org/po-nunan310106.htm
I first heard about it here from one of the Front Pagers. I’d like for the issue to be revisited by someone better at it than I so that folks like you can understand the problem.
In my memory, I cannot recall a single election in which the economy did not eventually become the number one concern of the electorate. So there really is no surprise here in any of the polling results. Carville was right.
The economy (whatever that is) is a big deal, if you mean the financial markets. The dollar is down to peso levels, there are other large financial institutions on the ropes, and commodity inflation is about to go to Jimmah Carter levels. Pres. Bush seems to be just trying to defer the ill effects until after the election, but I don’t know why since he will get the blame anyway (always blame prior management when things don’t go right, then reorganize). Anyway, I for one would like to see some informed opinion here about what’s happening in the money markets. Looks pretty serious to me.
WOW
Sarge is blaming Iran for the tanking dollar.
Thats rich
If the republicans would send the sierra social club packing and start exploration domestically that would solve some of our problems. I say republicans because the democratics will not!
#26 yeah, everyone knows it’s the CFR
Nope! Its Iran.
23 Sarge,
I think it is you that work on economic comprehension period.
Try to think of that black gooey smelly stuff as dollars. Industrial economies run on it and expensive energy impacts our economy especially.
Simple
It’s the Bilderburgers / Tri-Lateral Commission! 8^)
I think its Elvis. He’s everywhere, and everyone has a little bit of Elvis in them…except for one person.
Well if the No. 1 problem is the economy then you don’t want some Dimwit in office whose policies are “TAX AND WASTE”. Let’s face it either Dimwit, “BO” or HELLary’s solution is socialism.
Sarge says its Iran….so it is IRAN!
Dont we have another nation to invade?
Daniel, it is a fact that Iran switched to Euros for oil payments with the expressed purpose of devaluing the dollar. They said that’s what they wanted to do. Venezuela is following suit. I’m not smart enough on economics to know how much of an effect they will have but those are the facts.
All bubbles burst. This oil bubble is no different.
BigJolly - You are entirely correct. It is the economy, and it will continue to be the economy as long as the Federal Reserve continues to pursue a reckless inflationary policy and attempts to manipulate the housing market with interest rates. We’re aiming head on into an expectations trap with all these ailing sector bailouts, while the dollar keeps sinking lower and lower.
Remember stagflation from the Carter years? Well, the perfect storm is forming for its return, and stagflation - not the war on terror - will be Bush’s lasting legacy if we continue much further on the economic path we are on right now.
It is amazing that the economy was NOT a presidential topic until it started to sour… until then, it was the war.
This couldn’t possibly be a left-wing source trying to do whatever it can to make the GOP look bad, could it? I mean, they wouldn’t report ONLY bad news when the GOP is in office, unlike the rosy economic news we were bombarded with while Clintoon was in office.
No… they wouldn’t do that, would they?
hamous
Why should they continue to use the dollar? It clearly is not in their best interest to do so. The feds constant printing of greenbacks for liquidity is the major reason for the devalued dollar.
#8 blackgirl,
I agree! They are intertwined.
Illegal aliens hurt the taxpayers, they hurt the schools, they hurt healthcare,they fill the jails and stretch police forces thin,in other words they cost a lot more than we can afford, cheap labor is not cheap for the taxpayers.
But our polititians are beholding to the big businesses and supply them with plenty of cheap labor so they can make more obscene profits. And when the big banks get in trouble because they make bad loans, they bail them out with taxpayer dollars, which incidently we do not have!
#35 - The actions by Iran, Venezuela etc. are contributers to the dollar’s ills, but they are symptoms of a weak dollar rather than the cause. Iran may be dumping dollars out of its political motive against the U.S., but there are plenty of other people all over the world who are dumping dollars as well for completely non-political reasons.
Simply stated, the dollar is weak because expectations of future inflation of the dollar supply are extremely high right now. They are high because we have a conscious inflationary monetary policy, and that policy is being embraced by Bernanke as a means of enabling all the bailouts and housing market manipulations he is pursuing right now. CPI inflation is currently over 4% - the highest it’s been in almost two decades. PPI, which will eventually creep through into CPI, is almost 8% right now. As long as people know that they will expect inflation of the dollar, and when they expect inflation they dump dollars.
The current energy “crisis” is a combination of two factors:
1. The aforementioned inflation, meaning as the dollar loses value prices - including oil prices - tend to go up.
2. Severe over-regulation of domestic oil production and oil production from other “first-world” regions (e.g. Canada, North Sea drilling). These regulations are usually the result of goofy politically-driven environmentalist causes and, to a lesser degree, supplier regulatory collusion with the governments that enact them. When supply is artificially constrained, prices go up and production shifts to other places like the mid-east - not because they have so much oil, but because they are willing to produce it with little to no regulatory burden.
#40 Phil_M
There’s not a speck of dust to back the dollar.
We are way too deep in debt. We do not have the money!
Like I said, I’m not smart enough on economics to grasp all the nuances (although I don’t buy the RP “fiat currency” rant) but this I do understand: bailing out banks and borrowers for their stupid decisions is another stupid decision. The end result will be the same, just delayed. I’m not worried much personally since I’m debt free. I survived Carter’s stagflation making not much more than minimum wage (thank God for Ramen noodles!) so I’m confident I can survive this bump in the road.
Hamous - the problem with fiat currency is not represented very well in the ideological attachment to gold that some Paul followers have. It’s fault is the fact that it is unchained from any independent store of value. That means inflating the money supply is a virtually costless activity for the government (though it is very costly on individuals in the form of higher prices, and tends to discourage savings in the long run).
When the money supply can be expanded at little to no cost, and when that expansion can be used to carry out other policies of the government (such as, say, crooked investment firm bailouts), there’s virtually nothing in place to discourage them from doing it even though it ends up harming a lot of the “little guys” in the process. A chained or non-fiat currency corrects this problem by imposing a cost on the government itself to inflate the money supply (e.g. a dollar chained to a 5% gold backing where the government holds that much in value for the money in circulation - expanding the money supply forces the cost of that 5% chained base on the government)
#27 - aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaMEN!
#26
What better excuse for WAR?
After all, we’re not WINNING or having fun unless we are at WAR. It’s who we are, don’tcha know. All the old movies say so…
Get with the program!
The current crisis is the very predictable result of 30 years, almost to the day, of Congress’ passing the Community Reinvestment Act which required lenders to seek out loans in less than desirable areas, or to address claims of “redlining.” Put another way, privately owned, but having federally insured deposits, lending institutions were forced by the government to seek out inferior quality loans, and ultimately, the overall reduction in lending standards up and down the ladder leads us to where we are today. When credit standards are reduced, volume increases - it’s a lot easier to make bad loans than it is to make good ones. This debacle we are facing can be laid directly at the doorstep of the Congress of the United States, but I’ll bet they won’t take responsibility. How the administration is dealing with the crisis is another matter, and whether they have the necessary tools to effectively defer the problem into the next administration remains unknown. Don’t be fooled by thinking this is a simple matter - it is not. It is almost a convergence of events leading up to the perfect storm, financially speaking. The only thing that keeps the dollar, financial institutions, and the economy in general afloat is the public perception of confidence. If you think a bank will fail and withdraw your money and tell others who then do the same, the bank will fail - due to the lack of public confidence. It’ll take a while to regain the confidence of the world in the dollar as long as we continue to espouse liberal policies. If we turned into a mean, snarling dog determined to protect ourselves, you would be amazed how quickly the rest of the world would snap to it.
Interesting words from Obama:
Forming a more perfect union “requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams,” said the Illinois senator running to be the first black president.
Since when are my dreams at ANYBODY’s expense? Just what does he mean by that? Nobody is excluded from education anymore regardless of race. Perhaps based on performance, but not on race. I doubt there are many employers out there who even secretly discriminate based on race. They are looking for the best performer.
But who is going to get hired: The kid wearing the baggy pants with tattoos all over, or the neat dressed kid who uses proper English and knows how to say yes sir, no ma’am? Reverse the color of these two kids to any group, race, etc. Who gets hired?
Extremely few are going to succeed in the world of business unless they intergrate in ALL aspects to that community. It is up to the individual or group to adapt to the norm of the mainstream if they want to succeed. If they want to stay on the fringe and not partake, and maintain themselves separately, that is a choice, but please don’t whine.
46, Liz
Normally, I would say that a war is a pretty good way to pep up the economy, but today we would first have to borrow the money from the Chinese and then ask them to pretty please ratchet up their manufacturing capability so we can buy the needed materials from them with the money we borrowed from them.
Simple
#49 Thanks for the “Gotsit!”
#44 Phil
Thats a perfect explanation. Thanks
#46 Liz
Its all Irans fault.
Lets invade!
DJ, I don’t think you would have taken Tojo and Hitler as a serious threat in 1938 because our economy sucked. Just curious if you think we should have ignored Hitler and only gone after Japan.
#51 It was a good explanation. So why can’t you Rombies explain it that way without using any of the following words and/or acronyms?
CFR
Neocons
Amero
NAU
Blowback
NWO
Oh, and Halliburton!
LittleIron
Please lets not get off base here. Sarge blamed the tanking dollar on Iran. Liz and I had a little fun with it. It is NOT Irans fault. OK?
I am in the blame the federal reserve camp.
hamous
I think Phil did just that. Or did I miss something?
You seem to be the one always bringing up those acronyms in your sarcastic rants.
I will not participate in your circle jerk. I will not particpate in your cirlcle jerk. I will not paerticipate in yur circle jerk. I will not….
Adios
That’s what I just said, Daniel. Then I asked you why you Rombies cannot follow suit. I’ll just guess that such a reasonable explanation is not conspiratorial enough for you since it doesn’t involve nefarious hidden characters and mythical organizations exerting covert influence on an unsuspecting public.
Why would I follow suit when Phil kicked asss?
I can only guess by your #56 that something is wrong with your thinking capabilties.
Phil explained it as good as can be explained. I said as much. Then you ask why I cant follow suit then throw in conspiracy shiicrap. WTF is wrong with you man?
Why would I re-explain what Phil has already done with perfection?
Take your meds dude.
#27 blackgirl and #45 Katfish. So right about slugging the environuts/enablers and drilling/exploring where we know the reserves are.
On another note, has anybody seen the proud advertising for latest generation TVs (Sony had a slick ad insert in the paper) trumpeting its use of Organic Light Emitting diodes (OLEDs)? How many dorks will salivate over that, having no clue what it means? Oooh, organic, gotta be good. For that matter, how many salivating sophisticated shoppers comprehend what organically grown plants or organically raised meat means?
OLEDs are made of plastic = hydrocarbons = carbon-hydrogen-oxygen = organic chemistry; does not mean grown in manure without pesticides. And where do these hydrocarbons come from?
O I L & N A T U R A L G A S
Older generation LEDs are made of silicon and oxygen.
Sorry, this rant has been stuffed in the closet for a long time.
Here is a list of Houston area psychiatrists. Seriously you need to make the call. Take some time off.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=houston+psychiatrists&spell=1
Local business results for psychiatrists near Houston, TX
Menninger OCD Program - http://www.menningerclinic.com - (713) 275-5000 - more
Tarnow Center for Self Management - http://www.tarnowcenter.com - (713) 621-9515 - more
O’Doherty Denise - http://www.relationshiptherapistrn.com - (713) 524-9525 - more
Psychology Resources - http://www.psychology-resources.com - (281) 335-3942 - more
Texas Law & Psychiatry, PLLC - http://www.txlap.com - (713) 667-6903 - more
Leng Bang, MD - maps.google.com - (832) 876-2050 - more
Menninger Foundation - maps.google.com - (713) 733-3320 - more
Deena Gandhi MD PA - http://www.deenagandhi.yourmd.com - (281) 277-9137 - more
Martha St. John, MD, PA - maps.google.com - (281) 497-3500 - more
Cornerstone Psychiatry - cornerstonepsych.com - (281) 580-8086 - more
Do you really want me to go back and pull your past “explanations” of the flaws in our monetary policies? ROFL! The point is, Daniel, most sane people are willing to listen to reasonable explanations for things they don’t understand. When your explanations are given in Alex Jones-style rambling theories about secret plots going back to Prescott Bush, most people blow you off as a kook. But hey, whatever works for ya, bro!
I just can’t believe this. It’s like some kind of rejected sitcom script.
#58 Adee
You’re just showing off your superior knowledge of biochemistry.
#61 It is to laugh, no?
#61 and 63, Golly, you couldn’t make this up.
#62 Texpat, No chemistry expert am I, just recall some of my HS and college intro. chemistry plus a nodding familiarity with the Periodic Table. Never did learn all the valences and was more interested in the atoms. Married a nuclear physicist who works in the O&G industry.
Had to find out what OLEDs were and figured lots of others wondered also.
To quote Benzion:
I’m laughing my a** off. This is better than anything on cable…
It’s all a matter of tradition.
http://karws.gso.uri.edu/jfk/conspiracy_theory/the_paranoid_mentality/the_paranoid_style.html
#61, I thought I was the only one saying ” I don’t believe this”
Dang, I keep forgetting about the Illuminati!
A question was asked Americans. What is a recession? Most could not answer. A recession is two or more quarters of negative GDP growth. We haven’t had that yet. But, because of the MSN, a huge number of folks think we are in one. Have you ever been polled by CNN? or any major news source? I haven’t. We’ve got to have a bad economy, for the dems to have a subject. Do we have the dollar devalued, yes. Do we have lenders going belly up because they made the most ridiculous loans, yep.
Remember the dems want us to believe we need the government to take care of us, because we cannot. If we think we are doing fine, how will they ever convince us we need them, and let them win the game?
#70 That’s the problem. This is not a game where we should used as pawns.
And BTW - It’s not a Repub vs Dem battle where the “good guys” win. That’s why we are ALL losing.
The ‘State’ of the economy is equal in importance to………… ‘Change’.
Well Liz, you know you and I mostly have opposite ideas….. so here goes with this one. It is a republican versus democrat thing, because both have very different views of the direction this country should take. In a Utopia, there wouldn’t be the two party system, and all would love one another. But, we have what we have. Power and money control events. The outcome of these events may be harmful to citizens, and excuses may be made or persuasions made, to convince us otherwise. The question is, which party does one want to control the power and money? Which one will be less harmful to us as individuals? Which one best endorses, love of country, personal responsibility, morality, religion, opportunity?
It’s no surprise that DJ has a ready list of for psychiatric help. When one gets tired of the misplaced paranoia along with the failure to recognize real problems, well, you need a continue line of fallback shrinks. But DJ, they appreciate your business. But you even get Christmas cards from them they appreciate your business so much.
Hamous, I refer to them as the Dimalloti. We have them on both sides of the isle. The libnuts who think they can talk their way out of attacks by terrorists, and the Paulettes who think we can hide behind a wall and not be attacked by terrorists.
Liz, so if the war is such a disaster, why are the reenlistment rates so high in the war zone, and why do men like my nephew keep volunteering to go back?
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-07-17-soldiers-re-enlist_x.htm
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,80190,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,118112,00.html
I apologize for breaking the two link rule, but this needed reinforcement. And please, don’t tell me they do it for the money.
From a Texas newspaper:
Thanks, Phil. I think I now know Hamous is a spy for the Vatican. I’m sure the Holy See feels threatened by LST.
#73 Yes, you and I have opposite ideas, but damn gal - you present your points well!
Please allow me awhile to ponder what you said before I get back to you. OK?
Texpat, it’s worse than you think. It’s a cabal. Hamous reports to Mattzilla.
#76 - Muahahahaha. Soon you will all be required to recite the Nicene Creed, three Hail Marys, and the Glory Be before you post a comment!
What? You mean we have not instituted that rule?
Special dispensation will be given to a select few. They will be allowed to recite excerpts from Jim Garrison’s transcripts.
#75 Big, I respect you too much to argue w/ you. When it comes to men like you, I will back down and concede every time.
Liz, don’t look at me. I didn’t volunteer for a second tour in Vietnam.
Liz,what does your son tell you. If I recall, he pulled a tour as a Marine in Iraq, correct? What year was that if I am right?
2003,2004 & 2005 Big, why? he is recently OUT.
I got a recent email explaining the high energy prices. In a nutshell:
Our oil reserves have not been verified correctly. All the oil is in Texas, Alaska, and Oklahoma, and all of our dipsticks are in Washington, DC.
Those years may not be exactly correct - the past 5 years with two combat deployments, and the adjustments back have been a blurr.
#40 Phil_M
I forgot to say I agree with your take on Bernanke and the monetary policy.
#84 To answer your question: Big, my son doesn’t regret anything and wants to go back. Civilian life is boring…
My nephew just got back in May, and is already back in Iraq as of a week ago today. All his team is volunteer - 10 man mobile training unit. General consensus amongst them was that it’s going to take alot of time, but they are definitely putting the hurt on the bad guys and the people are seeing we are the good guys interested in their safety and success - something the terrorists just can’t compete against because they simply have nothing to offer the people other than death and oppression.
Like Ireland, it’s going to take generations to undo the hate between Sunni and Shia, and build trust and good will. Something that is expediting that though is that they are serving together in the military. When their lives and safety are dependent upon one another it builds a trust that transcends just about everything. Simple knows what I’m talking about.
As this permeates their society, we will slowly see changes occur. They won’t be rapid, but they will be steady. Again, you look at our own nations history. It was pretty messy and bloody from 1775 right through the 1960s. Our young military are great ambassadors to the Iraqi people. And the Iraqis are afraid we will abandon them to repression again, so they are slow and careful to come on board to helping us. When they hear Democrats saying we’re pulling out, they remember what happened in 1991 when Bush 41 failed to protect them and Saddam slaughtered them.
It’s not easy, but in a nuclear age, we can’t afford to lose with Iran next door. And remember, if we do need to go into Iran, it’s good that we have them covered on 4 sides: Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan.
Big, Provided that plan could work in the longer term, exactly who do you suggest we tax to pay for it? Or maybe we could just keep borrowing more (what the heck, that seems to be working fine so far, right?)
What if tomorrow, or the next day, or next year, Saudi Arabia decides they’d like protected their interests with a massive nuclear arsenal.
Do we try to bribe them into not doing it? Or perhaps invasion might be cheaper since they seem to have plenty of money already.
I say we just let them all get nukes. Once they see how nice we are by letting them have nukes they’ll forget all about their 1300 year old promise to Allah to wipe all infidels off the face of the earth. Then we can all join hands across the world and sing “Muhammed Row Your Bomb Ashore, Allahu Akbar”.
“Let them all get nukes” suggests that you have a method in mind that can stop that. So again, who do you plan to tax to pay for it?
Why the Chinese, of course!
Best answer yet.
Bob42, how much did 9/11 cost, and what would the price have been if there had been 4 planes with nuclear devices in 4 different cities? Remember, Khadaffy gave up his nuke program because of our actions, and we discovered he was less than a year from having a working nuke. That’s what I can’t seem to get through to you Bob. If we get hit by a nuke, will you know where it came from? Who will you attack? What about the 10s of thousands of lives lost? The billions of dollars damages and the trillions of dollars in lost economy? What will you do to prevent it from happening again?
#96 Big, that’s a horrible, fear filled image you portrayed there. I wouldn’t want to live in a world like that.
Hopefullly we will elect people who know how to prevent such a thing.
Liz, we already live in that world. Short of nuking Islam out of existence in the next couple of hour, I know absolutely no other way to prevent it other than the slow course we are on now. It’s not perfect, but I see zero other options. Surround Iran, steady pressure, invade if necessary, prevent other countries from obtaining nuclear capabilities. Failure to do so….well, I don’t want to risk it.
#96 Big, the total cost of 9/11 is still undetermined. I’m traveling next week and noticed that there’s still an additional line item charge for each flight segment to cover the cost of my body cavity search. Rest assured the world is safe from my nuclear powered finger nail trimmer.
The current strategy does not scale up. I don’t have all the answers here, but it’s clear to me we need to keep looking.
Oh, and if you don’t think so, I’d bet we have teams ready on very short notice surrounding Pakistan that would have those nukes secured in very short order and sent out of the country. So I’m not too worried about Pakistan having nukes. Sane people control them at this time, and if it looked like they couldn’t control them we would just go take their toys away.
Bob, I am willing to listen to any plan that offers to defeat terrorism on a WORLD WIDE basis in multiple countries, some who cooperate with us fully, some partially, some not at all. I want the plan to be able to defeat chemical, biological, and nuclear threats, without the restraint of free trade that keeps the world’s economy from descending into the series of wars we saw from the time of the fall of Rome to 1945. I also want the plan to allow me maximum freedom as it exists today while being able to snoop on potential threats.
Since 9/11 we’ve had no additional attacks in this nation. We’ve stopped dozens of plots at home and abroad. We kill more babies in abortion clinics in two days than we’ve lost in 5 years of this war.
That’s 34 million dead American babies in 35 years. I’d say that would have replaced the labor pool from south of the border.
We do need to secure the border tight for multiple reasons. I don’t think any conservative is happy with that. But Ron Paul sure wasn’t going to be able to accomplish that. Ron Paul wasn’t going to be able to accomplish anything. He would have been a 4 year lame duck. So he wasn’t the way to go. Only by getting officials elected from the ground up are we going to change things. We just need to vet them better.
Has anyone else noticed this morphed into the Open Comments thread? Not complainin’…just sayin’…
We all need to take our Havidol.
And if Havidol isn’t right for you, talk to your spin doctor about Incarcerex today!
Sorry bob, I’m wrapped up in some Marshall Tucker right now. Can’t watch it, but I’ll catch it later
#104 Bob, I watched it and it’s hilarious! Pay attention to detail, and it’s roflmao hilarious.
Liz - that chart at the top made it possible to include all things!!
Bob, the best one is the chemical Hillary is giving Bill to prevent AIDS: Trinoacetol.
108, I’ve heard that Trinoacetol 100% effective, but I seriously doubt that Bill is taking it as instructed.
106, Glad you liked it AW. It’s funny (and that’s how I remember the name) but has a serious side too.