Paco6945

Government Action: Mission Not Accomplished

On Dec 15 10:14 AM Hot Richard wrote:

> ... But please, explain to me again the connection between 9/11 and Saddam. I mean it has been almost a decade. Surely you have tons of concrete evidence now to justify a war...

Well, actually it WASN'T about 9/11. And the primary justification at the time was also not 9/11. It was WMD (and yes, I know, WMDs were not found -- so?). If one also believes there is a reason to believe the US is (was) involved in a war against terror, it was also strategic. As you evidently don't recall, Saddam invaded Kuwait, was defeated in Gulf War 1 (under GHW Bush), and agreed to terms which he consistently violated. There was also a small matter of the incompetent UN and the "oil for food" program.

Now, agree or not with whether the US should have invaded Iraq, don't fall into the trap that it was all about 9/11. Consider:

1. What is the value of a somewhat more stablized oil situation in the Middle East? To what extent would that be possible with Saddam still in power?

2. What is the value of the possibility that there may eventually be a stable pro-western democracy in Iraq?

3. What is the value of the US being able to fight in Afghanistan relatively unfettered by the negative influence of a Saddam who would surely still be in power and probably freed by now from the constraints imposed after Kuwait (considering the corruption of the UN, the outright opposition of Russia, and the fecklessness of our so-called European allies)?

Sometimes, it makes sense to do a little analysis and think before posting.

Nearly 4 out of 10 Americans Pay No Income Tax

Yes, it's true. A large and growing percentage of filers end up not paying any personal income tax. Unfortunately, that creates an incentive for them to support more government programs and spending or at least not to care. This pushes the US closer to the tipping point between producers and takers/receivers.

Of course, the non-paying filers are being duped. They pay significant income tax inderectly through the taxes that are embedded in virtually everything they buy.

The only solution to this problem is to move from a production based tax system to a consumption based tax system. Eliminate income and payroll taxes. Substitute a consumption tax. The FairTax approach is the proper road.

Recovery on Track: Buy Equities, Sell Bonds

Debtors love inflation. Who is the biggest debtor in the world? Why would anyone think the government will resist doing what is in its best interest?

The Destruction of the Dollar: It's Nearly Inevitable

"a Soviet-style break up of the country. "

No one has commented yet on this point in the article. For some time now, I believe the US has been inexorably moving toward some type of split. Earlier this year, the so-called tea parties generated talk about "taking back the country." But taking it back from whom?

The cause of the splitup of the USSR was that it finally reached a tipping point between those who controlled and benefited from the state (the takers/receivers) and those who produced what the state needed to maintain control (the producers). Eventually, the producers could no longer produce enough to maintain the aparatchic and its constituents.

The US is getting dangerously close to the same tipping point. When that point arrives, I would not be surprised to see a powerful movement toward a somewhat loose confederation of states by region -- focused more on "providing for the common defence" and securing the "Blessings of Liberty" and less on "promoting the general Welfare."

Global Warming Models: 'Out of Order'?

Here's a safe road: Since you probably live in a house or apartment that is not completely fire proof, you should pay for posting a 24/7/365 fire guard. My guess is that would cost you more than your annual income.

I also have a guaranteed way to eliminate 43,000 deaths from traffic accidents every year. Let's require governors on all vehicles so that they can't go faster than 5 MPH.

Look up cost-benefit in Wikipedia.

On Nov 29 04:22 PM b-diddy wrote:

> Instead of taking the safe road and reducing CO2 emission's and also
> reducing use of finite carbon fuel resources let's do nothing at
> all. Let's assume there is so much easy to find and cheap to produce
> oil out there and that there are no consequences to using it all
> up. Let's take a gamble that sea level will not rise so we never
> have to decide between spending trillions to relocate most of the
> US or trillions to build a walls along the coasts. Leave all these
> potential problems to our kids and grandkids. We really don't love
> them or care about the world or resources we may or may not leave
> them, we just care about ourselves and right now.
>
> What is the rational argument for not making sacrifices to ensure
> your children, grandchildren, and descendents will have a future?
> Erring on the side of caution is the only responsible choice.

Global Warming Models: 'Out of Order'?

No one is talking about AN e-mail. There are thousands of emails. Kind of hard to manufacture thousands of email threads. And for what purpose? Also, there aren't a lot of denials from the authors.


On Nov 29 02:23 PM quick wrote:

> I don't know much about this e-mail, but isn't it a little suspicious
> that the e-mail was "hacked"? If it was hacked, it was obtained illegally,
> which also means that it could have altered to say anything that
> the hacker wanted.
>
> Also it was posted on a Russian web site. If you've ever read anything
> about all of the latest computer security threats and viruses, you'll
> find that a bunch of them seem to originate from Russia. I'm not
> saying that that e-mail was made up, or altered in anyway, but you
> have to be a little suspicious.

The Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Are Getting Richer Too

I always get a chuckle out of the responses elicited by Dr. Perry's articles. How can anyone claim, with a straight face, that Americans were not more well off economically, across the board, in 2005 than they were in 1971. Or compare 1971 with 1937 (I'm using the 34 year period that Perry uses).

For that matter, compare any 25 yer period from 1776 to 2008 and in every case, in every quintile, Americans were better off. Twenty-five years from now? I have my doubts.

BTW, it doesn't bother me a bit that Bill Gates and Michael Dell have made billions. Economically, I (along with every economic cohort) am much better off today than I was 25 years ago. That's all that should count.

Healthcare Reform: Is It Worthwhile? Can We Afford It?

I can tell you that in my company we are seriously looking at outsourcing a large portion of our software development. This would result in us eliminating four full time programmers and possibly a QA person. Something like this bill passing would likely be the tipping point.

Preview of the U.S.'s Future: Debt Burdened Nation?

WW3 won't be fought with tanks and bullets. It will be nuclear. And anyone who thinks that is unthinkable isn't thinking. If/when the US runs out of oil because someone else controls the resources in the middle east and Venezuela, that's when the clamor to do something about it will be irrestible to the politicians.

Ironically, the clamor will be the loudest from the elites and the hoi polloi in the Northeast and the left coast -- the very people who have done the most to inhibit the development of our own resources. All it will take to push us over the edge toward war is a winter in Boston without heat.

Healthcare Reform: Is It Worthwhile? Can We Afford It?

In the words of Rahm Emanuel, never let a good crisis go to waste. If health care "reform" passes in anything like its current form, there will be a great opportunity to build health care complexes in places like the Bahamas and possibly even along the Mexican border, if security can be dealth with.

I'm waiting for an entrepreneur to come up with a plan.

Global Macro Trends in Eight Charts: The Next Crisis Will Be in Currency

It seems to me that once a country decides to "buck the buck" and buy gold instead (perhaps like Mauritius, mentioned above), it would be very difficult for them to then reverse course and sell the gold back for dollars. Or possibly for any currency.

Realistically, what would their options be?

A Guide to Gold, Silver and Platinum ETFs and ETNs

Excellent summary and explanation of the various methods of owning precious metals.

Senator Dodd's Financial Reform Bill: Trying to Prop Up a Broken System

Dodd could care less whether the system is broken -- or how to fix it if it is. It's all about his re-election campaign and raising money from the financial industry.

Dodd Offers Regulation Bill

Everything Dodd is doing can be tied right back to his re-election campaign. This bill is all about raising money from the financial lobby.

Obamacare: Affordable Private Insurance Is Already Available

Oops -- jse17 pays $6K per year, not $3,500 per year. But that's for a $500 deductible. For some reason, people look at insurance for health care differently that insurance for other things.

If my house burns down, I am willing to take a fairly heavy risk in exchange for significantly lower premiums. But the premium difference between a $5K deductible on my house and a $15K deductible is negligible. On the other hand, the difference between a $500 deductible on the health insurance policy jse17 carries and the $3500 I carry works out to about $3,100 per year. That's huge.

Obviously, his coverage might be different from mine, but mine covers just about everything and there is NO DEDUCTIBLE for preventive care. In addition, I pay my deductible out of my HSA IRA, so the feds pick up about 28%.

I bet if jse17 switched to an HSA eligible policy (Health Savings Account) he would save a significant amount of money.