Socialism cannot compete!

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+92 / -38

329 Comments

    • Wed Nov 5th 16:43 PM | Rating: +1 0
      Commented on:
      The Biggest Bubble of Them All
      Here's an excellent essay on Islam and the Crusades, including a timeline of Islamic conquest & warfare:

      www.americanthinker.co...

      Quite well-balanced, as it does not excuse the excesses and behaviors of Christian Crusaders, such as "forced conversions", etc., but rather seeks to show that the Christian Crusades were, in their motivation, a response, not a first action. The author acknowledges that the Christians often strayed from their purpose during the course of warfare, and from Christian principles.
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 5th 16:34 PM | Rating: +2 0
      Commented on:
      The Biggest Bubble of Them All
      "But Islam is the religion of violence. Hilarious. Ever heard of the Crusades?"

      My friend, you need to check your history!! The Crusades were the *reaction* to Islamic conquests!! Ever since Mohammed "founded" the religion, Muslims conducted raids and wars -- just google for history of Islam and look at the timeline. Eventually, Europe decided that not only was the Holy Land being overrun, but now that the Muslims were taking Spain, they had to do something.

      Islam has *never* been a peaceful religion. Among its core tenets is the belief that Muslims must either convert or kill every infidel, leading to the eventual Islamification of the entire world. Nothing less is acceptable.

      This is not new with the Gulf war or with Bin Laden...nor even our troubles with Iran during the Carter admin -- America has had trouble with Islamic militants from the days of our founding: our merchant ships fought the Barbary pirates (Muslim coalitions from Algiers, Libya, and Morocco) in the Mediterranean for almost 30 years, before we sent a Navy fleet to take care of business!

      Seriously...you'd better go check your history!!
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    • Wed Nov 5th 14:03 PM | Rating: +2 -1
      Commented on:
      The Day After: Is the Honeymoon Already Over?
      Marxism is NOT profitable. Cap gains taxes to rise. Dollar is headed lower with the Fed printing money left and right...but mostly left. Why invest in America? Give me one good reason!
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    • Wed Nov 5th 13:03 PM | Rating: +1 -1
      Commented on:
      10 Points About the Markets
      @bricki: the ability of the American worker to accomplish anything is lessened by the new Marxist government which will abscond with a goodly portion of that and waste it on its new entitlement class. Hope you read about the new Civilian National Security Force. Ask the survivors of Holocaust camps how well that mantra of "Any challenge can be overcome" rings in their ears. I'm not making light of that era -- I am all too fearful that we have just anointed another cult-like leader with very Marxist ideas. Americans voted for pocketbooks instead of principles, and they will have neither as a result -- we will be lucky to escape civil unrest and international chaos as a result.
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    • Wed Nov 5th 12:58 PM | Rating: +4 -1
      Commented on:
      Obama and Your Portfolio
      I don't think Americans realize who they voted for. We now have a Marxist in the White House...and you seriously think partisan rancor and dysfunction are behind us??? It's only beginning, my friends. Be prepared for internal strife in the U.S., and foreign conflict as well. This is seriously bearish for the dollar and the U.S. as a whole. Laugh all you want with your bunker jokes...there will be those who are prepared, and those who wish they had not been blind as to what this man represents.
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    • Wed Nov 5th 12:45 PM | Rating: +1 0
      Commented on:
      Kill Sarbanes-Oxley - Gingrich
      Israel...Ireland...etc... -- there's something else involved than just SarBox: it's called "corporate taxes". And Obama is *not* going to help that situation. We are going to see a flood of tech companies relocating overseas.


      On Nov 05 10:59 AM SteveTN wrote:

      > It's hard to believe, but a country as small as Israel with 7 million
      > population, but a powerful technology sector may have more new high-tech
      > companies going public next year than the U.S.
      > Get rid of SarBox...it's a cancer!
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 5th 12:34 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Biggest Bubble of Them All
      @HARM:

      Regarding Iraqi uranium:
      archive.newsmax.com/ar...

      Re. bailouts -- I was and am absolutely against them! That is not free-market economics, and we should *not* have capitalism when profitable and socialism when unprofitable -- for-profit companies need to stand on their own feet!!

      @otbricki: show us the data, re. those socialist countries where the overall picture is supposedly better! Most European countries have 10 to 12% unemployment! Regularly, not this year!
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 5th 12:21 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Can Gross World Product Shrink?
      @Smarty Pants: there are some important misconceptions to note regarding the "Dark Ages":

      First of all, they weren't all that "dark"! It was a transition period following the collapse of the Roman Empire where regional powers morphed into nations. There was alot of warfare in the process -- that certainly was a "dark" thing. But by comparison, the Roman Empire fought alot of wars, enslaved many, many people, and ruled dictatorially over them. Return of control to smaller regional concerns meant a breakup of the "order" that the R.E. had established, but the flip side is that the order had been imposed by far-away power. What kind of order was it? It became increasingly corrupt and oppressive...and eventually collapsed under its own corruption. The return to local/regional governance by fiefdoms and principalities meant at least a modicum of concern for the maintenance of the local folks existence by the local lord -- his power depended upon his people at least having enough to eat to remain strong enough to fight for him. We view their existence as a condition of servitude, but in reality it was a step up from life under the Roman Empire, at least in its latter days.

      Secondly: the Church is often maligned for having somehow caused the "dark ages", or having prolonged them. Nothing is further from the truth! The church is the institution that kept literacy alive during a period where it was a daily struggle to survive, produce food, etc. Monks in monasteries hand-copied the texts of the Greek and Roman philosphers and passed them along through the generations, promulgating what learning they could. Looking at history, many of the developments in math, logic, and science that brought about the Renaissance were derived by monks or their pupils. A very strong case exists that the Church in fact brought about the Renaissance -- that it planted those seeds of learning, which then flourished once political stability took hold.

      So what is my point here? Look at historically, what were the fruits of faith: good morals and character made people hard-working, and there was a tie-in to how hard you worked, and the rewards reaped. As technology and political circumstances have advanced through the present, we have seen that tie-in accelerate. Until now. It is clear that we are experiencing serious social problems -- a breakdown of the order and character needed to sustain growth and prosperity. In short, our return to faithlessness (i.e. like the Roman Empire in its days of corruption) will return us to a new "dark ages"...where we have to suffer and relearn morality, before we can return to prosperity! The election of a pro-abortion Marxist to the presidency is not a step in the right direction on this front: everything about abortion as well as Marxist redistribution of wealth both deny personal responsibility and the rights of others -- it will lead to social unrest, because rights of the human person to life and personal property are denied.

      All those who think Obama is a man of "Enlightenment&qu... again. There are truly Dark Ages ahead.
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    • Tue Nov 4th 17:42 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Market Bottom: Historical Norms May Not Apply
      Agreed: it will be long and deep, particularly because the government took the wrong direction for a "solution!" Socialism and nationalization of banks and private companies NEVER ends up generating better returns than letting free-market economics work!! All we've done is try to credit-spend our way out of a *credit* problem!! And Neel K., "boy wonder", has his stated goal to grease the wheels for renewed lending at the banks!! Um...wasn't too much lending the problem?

      We need to learn to live on income, not credit. That goes double for the government!! And by the way...the only viable long-term solution that will enable us to get the government back under control is an abolishment of the income tax and a Balanced Budget Amendment!! The former is necessary in order to return control to the people over their own property! As long as the government has a preemptive claim on your hard-earned money, there is no limit on its grabbing more. When (not if) we go to solely consumptive taxes, *you* are in control of how much tax you pay...by deciding whether and when you want to buy something!!

      Wake up, people!! Obama isn't going to go this route -- he is FINE with the tax & spend paradigm -- and will not only retain it at all costs, but EXPAND it...in order to redistribute to the entitlement bunch!! Sigh. We will learn the hard way, it appears. Let's hope we have a country to vote for in 4 years. :(
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    • Tue Nov 4th 17:36 PM | Rating: +1 0
      Commented on:
      Can Gross World Product Shrink?
      Heh. We have gotten used to growing. And we are just going to have to wake up and realize that much of the growth in recent years was "faux growth"...until we quit living on credit, and allowing governments to spend more than they take in, we won't have *real* growth. The real solution is minimal government, as the Founders intended -- only when the people are allowed to retain control of their own property will we have real growth and lasting prosperity -- redistribution is a stick in the spokes!!
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    • Tue Nov 4th 17:30 PM | Rating: +1 0
      Commented on:
      Regardless of Who Wins, Government Percentage of GDP Likely to Grow
      The only way to ever regain our Liberty is to abolish the income tax. We need to do it post-haste! Consumptive taxes only, coupled with a Balanced Budget Amendment, will restore control to the people!!
      View article »
    • Tue Nov 4th 17:23 PM | Rating: +2 -4
      Commented on:
      The Biggest Bubble of Them All
      "I am an economic libertarian, socially a conservative, but utterly against the recent wars that we have pursued."

      Economic libertarian? What the hell does that mean? If it means liberty to retain your own money and use it as *you* wish, rather than as the government deems best, then I'd call that economic conservatism to the n-th degree!!

      As for the wars...I don't know that we've ever had a more "gray area" set of decisions to make. I can't really blame anyone for having either opinion. What is clear is that Islam is *not* a peaceful religion -- it has consistently, since its inception 1400 years ago, sought to impose itself on the entire world. Many have forgotten that the U.S. has been down the road of war with Islam before, with the Barbary pirates (largely Muslim coalitions of pirates from Algiers, Libya, and Morocco) between 1785 and 1815! Then, as now, we were forced to take the fight TO THEM, in order to resolve it...hence the wording in the marine hymn "...to the shores of Tripoli...."

      It is pretty clear that Muslim nations are not aligned with the interests of the U.S. -- which are principally, to be and remain, a nation of liberty for all its people. Saddam Hussein was known to have met with Bin Laden, so although Hussein may not have had direct involvement in the 9/11 attacks, the association was there, and we do know that he was working on WMDs...whether we found ready-to-deploy weapons or not is irrelevant: we did find weapons-grade uranium, and he had every intention of developing capabilities to harm the U.S. Couple that with the mass-murders of his own people...and there were plenty of good reasons to take action in Iraq.

      Was it the right action? Was it too much and too prolonged? Those are different questions. My point is simply that we cannot minimize the threat of radical Islam, and those who denigrate Bush for taking the action he believed best to protect this nation are sadly mistaken!!

      Now...about the bubbles facing the U.S. -- we have a bubble of moral bankruptness that is causing MANY of our troubles:

      1) People complain about the HUGE cost of healthcare? The spread of STDs, early and unwed pregnancies, drug and alcohol addictions, obesity, and more...are ALL due at least in part to moral character issues.

      2) Worried about government debt? Maybe we should reconsider entitlement government -- again, a moral and character issue! Those who are mentally and physically able should earn their own way. Period. The government as an entitlement machine fosters this moral delinquency that is our entitlement nation! We won't shrink the national debt by remaining on this socialist path. And incidentally, has any people ever retained their freedom by continually expanding their dependence on government? By very definition, it is impossible to do so!!

      The bottom line is that our REAL bubble is one of moral decrepitude -- the solution to MANY of our problems is a return to moral truth, virtues, and character. Economically, this means self-reliance and the economic system that rewards work and ingenuity as directly as possible: capitalism, not socialism!!
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    • Tue Nov 4th 11:06 AM | Rating: +1 0
      Commented on:
      Nationalizing Detroit? It's a Good Idea
      @Kunst: ok...took a few minutes and recalculated, then dug up the info online -- it's 7.65% for the whole FICA shebang, which includes both SS & Medicare. If you're self-employed you pay double that though, since you're then paying the employee and employer part! That's not me. But...I would still make the following points:

      1) 7.65% still does not represent the whole tax burden per person for SS & Medicare! It's just hidden from the average taxpayer how much the gov is really getting per person...HR people are much more aware of this. The point is that SS & MC are pyramid-scheme entitlement programs that rely on a growing base of workers paying in, in order to be able to pay out to recipients later. As we know, we have a flaw in that theory already with the Boomer generation, who vastly outnumber their progeny. Socialism is burdensome -- we ought to phase these programs out and allow people to keep that 7.65% and save for their OWN retirements!

      2) Total tax percent of total income: I don't make 6 figures, for starters. About 2/3 of the way there. I *do* pay over 33% total. As you can see from this...WI is a high tax state. I oughta think about moving elsewhere!

      www.taxfoundation.org/...
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    • Mon Nov 3rd 12:37 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Nationalizing Detroit? It's a Good Idea
      Kunst: YES, i do!! For crying out loud, it's 14% for the SS & Medicare alone...and then you add on the federal income tax withholding! Let me ask you this...why should the government be entitled to even 14%?? That's enough for a total already. Ask yourself honestly if you actually think the Founders would have gone for 14%!! No way. They fought a revolution for much less than that. Although...keep in mind...it was as much about the principles of small government and representation, and having *minimal* government interference in their lives. And in *those* regards we are being even MORE egregiously wronged than in taxation!!



      On Nov 02 01:40 AM Kunst wrote:

      > Socialism, you do not pay 40% of your 100K income on FICA, Medicare,
      > and income taxes (unless you are intentionally overwithheld on the
      > latter). That is propaganda, untrue.
      View article »
    • Mon Nov 3rd 12:22 PM | Rating: +6 0
      Commented on:
      The Shallowest Generation
      Don't talk about what you don't know. Doctor salaries are not the cause of the exorbitant health care costs -- and your comment about the "few allowed to be licensed" is dead wrong! My sister is a doctor -- we are *not* from a wealthy family -- she had to go into serious debt to do med school. And as for pay, i have two notes: a) doctors make a fraction of what pro athletes do, and provide far, far greater returns for society. Their grueling course of study, the service they provide in saving and improving lives, and the sometimes very long hours they put in mean they merit every dollar they make! b) many doctors are scheduled for a 6 or 8 hour shift, and end up putting in a couple extra hours beyond that to finish seeing patients for complete the accompanying paperwork at the end of an already long day; additionally, quite a few volunteer at free clinics or on yearly (or more) mission trips to poor countries (or even poor places in the U.S.). Talk to us about doctors' pay when you study up on things a bit more.

      As for Ron Paul specifically, I haven't studied his position on all issues in enough depth. But I've heard some of his comments on needing to fund governement by other means than the income tax, and needing a Balanced Budget Amendment -- and he is right on! Power won't be returned to the people until we go to a tax system of solely sales tax. We currently have a 66,000+ page tax code for federal income taxes -- small wonder the super-rich can find loopholes!! By going with a sales tax on non-essentials (i.e. no tax on food and a few other essentials, but on discretionary items) to fund government, the public can decide to stop spending if they don't like what the government is doing!! You don't like the Iraq war? If we had a consumptive tax, and an amendment saying the government has to pay with money it already has...vs. debt...the people coulda shut that down.

      People have to stop thinking that we can't do anything about this, and also that concepts of redistribution are the answer too...they're not...and start realizing that we are *all* taxed too much!! The government is outsized, and should not have a preemptive claim on *anyone's* income!!



      On Oct 31 07:54 AM copperbaron wrote:

      > iAccountant siad - "In my opinion it will take a total collapse of
      > the system to bring the type of change that you are referring to.
      > Is this the beginning?"
      >
      > I believe it may be. We are seeing the joints coming apart, the beams
      > sagging and about to crack under the weight of massive debt and enormous
      > corruption. Paulson is just trying to steal a few billion more for
      > his beloved financial organized crime rings, before he retires to
      > a life of wealth and luxury, under very heavy security.
      >
      > Many hail Ron Paul as some sort of visionary, but I would argue differently.
      > He espouses "Free markets" but made all of his money as a doctor.
      > As anyone who bothers to examine the facts knows, doctors bill enormous
      > fees to patients (and Medicare/Medicaid) in a system that in no way
      > resembles a "free market."
      >
      > Rather, it is a rigged market that controls the number of available
      > doctors, and legislates their financial advantage, to an extraordinary
      > degree. The A.M.A. is the most powerful and mercenary union in this
      > nation's history, and is sucking the country dry.
      >
      > I would never vote for Ron Paul on purely moral grounds - he was
      > part of the problem, in my opinion. If you are a wealthy doctor (one
      > of the limited number allowed to be 'licensed' that is) then it is
      > easy to throw stones and criticize others for debt. These jokers
      > live in a fantasy world, just like the IB types shuffling paper around
      > and committing fraud for million-dollar bonuses. Their sense of true
      > economics is deeply distorted by their own self-manipulated and outsized
      > pay package.
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