The Economy - is it really that bad?

[wilomn]

Good points Neil, but let me explain a bit more.

Let say we're spending a trillion a year on the war. It's not exact but it's an easy number to work with.

A trillion is a hundred billion, if I'm not mistaken and a billion is a hundred million. So, a trillion is ten thousand millions of dollars. 10% of that is one thousand millions or 10 billion.

EDIT: I have been informed that a billion is a THOUSAND MILLION and that a TRILLION is a THOUSAND BILLION. These numbers are SOOOOOO big, that I am speechless. If you know me at all, you know how signifigant that really is. END EDIT

What do you suppose could be accomplished with 10 billion dollars? We've already got it taken from the citizens, it's allocated for the war, so no one is going to be out one penny more than they are now.

Do you suppose we could house or educate a few million people for their lifetimes? How about some old folks. Could we take care of a few million of them until they died? How about shoring up our southern border? I bet some smart contractor would be willing to build a good fence for a lot than a billion dollars.

I'm not looking for the government to fix things for me, just to use responsibly what they've already taken FROM me.

Why are we so bloody concerned with everyone else in the world and not our own? Why do we pay to export our goods and SUPPLEMENT other countries to IMPORT here?

If it wasn't all about profit for the big money guys, things would be better for everyone. They have this idea that they need to make, and I'm just pulling a number out of my butt here, 20% profit EVERY YEAR.

What's wrong with 5% one year, or two years even? Why do you have to screw your fellow Americans to hit that magical 20%?

I know, I know, you can buy into anything like the stocks you mentioned.

IF you're a little guy, you might buy 100 stocks with a value of 100.00 each. Let's say they go up that magical 20%. Now your 10,000.00 investment is worth 12,000.00.

But the guy who can afford to buy 1,000 shares of stock is laughing all the way to the bank while you MIGHT be able to make ONE mortgage payment.

And I don't buy into the oil companies having no control over the price of crude. If they said NO instead of gimme gimme, eventually prices would come down. Yeah, we'd have to tighten our belts and maybe pay a bit more, but if we taxed and levied our competitors for that oil the way they do US, if we leveled the playing field, then they might get the idea that we would all be better off if prices of crude were lower. That would then lead to lowering of tariffs and import taxes which would make things for everyone more affordable.

We just don't play hardball anymore.

Why the bloody heck are the Olympics happening in China? Tell me they've met ANY of the promises they made 10 years ago.

We shouldn't be going but it's money so we will.

It's profit so we take it.

It sucks but no one will say so.

It's pathetic.