America's problems stem from a total lack of leadership. Both of the gangs know that the 3 headed monster(military spending, Social Security,and Medicare) require most stolen wages to support and we simply can not continue to afford these programs. Yet..In this election cycle...AGAIN...Neither of the gang leaders have courage enough to address these issues.

Everyone knows the Social Security system is doomed. There simply are not enough participants in the system to fund it. Either the age must be raised, or we must deny benefits to the wealthy in exchange for some type of compensation(probably tax reduction). I'm sure there are other ideas to consider....but...nobody is doing a damn thing!!!

We all know the the Military spending of America is totally out of hand and needs to be prudently reduced...We simply can NOT afford it anymore. Ike's farewell speech to the nation before Kennedy took office.. warned of unrestrained buildup of the industrial military complex.
He knew the danger of having so much of the economy being dependent upon building military hardware.
We know the military spending is out of hand!...Again..nobody is doing a damn thing!!

The Medicare system is totally broken...It HAS essentially become our national healthcare system. Its too damn expensive and does NOT lead to quality healthcare. Again...Nobody is doing a damn thing!

Where are the real leaders? I dont see leadership in either of these two politicians running for POTUS.

You will know this country is in really dire condition when you hear a Republican talk about reducing military spending...and a Democrat talk about fixing and reducing the cost of the entitlements....Neither of these jokers will dare show that type of leadership.

And all of this rolls up to our ongoing budget problems. Both parties are constantly talking, in one form or another, about cutting government spending. But with those three sinkholes entrenched in the budget, that's virtually impossible. Tweaking, nipping and tucking are not going to get it done.

You're spot on that it will take leadership. But it will take some dramatic leadership. Because, quite frankly, there's plenty of leadership right now, but it's gutless leadership.

Social Security will get a large capital infusion in the next year from the confiscated 401K's. That ought to hold them for 15 years or so until the Boomers start kicking the bucket.

Medicare regulated health care solves the Social Security mess since the decline in quality health care makes for lower lifespans. Today people surivive multiple heart attacks, and live past 72. In tomorrow's Obama Health Plan Universe, you won't have access to the best care.. You stand in line like in Canada. And die.

Why do you just criticize 3 areas of spending. Why not government spending in its entirety? We have been spending money like a drunken sailor at the Cheetah Club for the past 25 years.

Military spending IS a requirement. I see nothing wrong in buying the best technology and training our troops. Our Air Power is 10 years ahead of either the Russians or Chinese. With 3 Army divisions we can take on and defeat an opponet 4 times their size.

WMD Owl Wrote:Social Security will get a large capital infusion in the next year from the confiscated 401K's. That ought to hold them for 15 years or so until the Boomers start kicking the bucket.

Medicare regulated health care solves the Social Security mess since the decline in quality health care makes for lower lifespans. Today people surivive multiple heart attacks, and live past 72. In tomorrow's Obama Health Plan Universe, you won't have access to the best care.. You stand in line like in Canada. And die.

Why do you just criticize 3 areas of spending. Why not government spending in its entirety? We have been spending money like a drunken sailor at the Cheetah Club for the past 25 years.

Military spending IS a requirement. I see nothing wrong in buying the best technology and training our troops. Our Air Power is 10 years ahead of either the Russians or Chinese. With 3 Army divisions we can take on and defeat an opponet 4 times their size.

Cheetah 3..Spring Street

Of course..all spending needs addressing...Just pointing out that the Hydra is at the top of this food chain.

It's not just spending that needs addressed, that's the most prominent symptom of a bigger problem: big government.

US citizens need to stop believing the gov't is there to protect them from every possible harm. People in past generations recognized that the world was not perfect, not even "fair". Trials and challenges were recognized as part of life,* and a person could never be completely "safe" or insulated from the bad.

Now much of the US believes that Utopia is within reach, if we could all just agree on a plan. The popular media go FAR in propagating this myth. So, the gov't (happily) grows to accommodate every plan and every want put on it by some faction of the populace.

Recognizing that this world will never be perfect, what is best is a SMALL gov't designed to promote freedom. That means:

Get rid of significant amounts of regulation
Get rid of the bureaucrats required to deal with that regulation
Get rid of much of the taxes designed to support that bureaucracy

Clearly define "freedom" and "justice" so as to promote them by:
Sensible legislation
Evenhanded and equitable enforcement
Streamlined, efficient courts (including mediators, abitrators and judges) to redress complaints (both civil and criminal)

Like you, I'd love to see a leader come forth!
I'd like to him or her lead an administration that whacks about 30% of the Fed Gov't, and then does away w/ federal income tax and starts taxing states based on the number of pages in their regulatory documentation. (Then the "blue" states can have all the laws, codes, regulations, etc they want, but they have to pay for them!)

*PS that Christian doctrine that you deplore so much went very far in guiding people to accept this aspect of reality.

DrTorch Wrote:It's not just spending that needs addressed, that's the most prominent symptom of a bigger problem: big government.

US citizens need to stop believing the gov't is there to protect them from every possible harm. People in past generations recognized that the world was not perfect, not even "fair". Trials and challenges were recognized as part of life,* and a person could never be completely "safe" or insulated from the bad.

Now much of the US believes that Utopia is within reach, if we could all just agree on a plan. The popular media go FAR in propagating this myth. So, the gov't (happily) grows to accommodate every plan and every want put on it by some faction of the populace.

Recognizing that this world will never be perfect, what is best is a SMALL gov't designed to promote freedom. That means:

Get rid of significant amounts of regulation
Get rid of the bureaucrats required to deal with that regulation
Get rid of much of the taxes designed to support that bureaucracy

Clearly define "freedom" and "justice" so as to promote them by:
Sensible legislation
Evenhanded and equitable enforcement
Streamlined, efficient courts (including mediators, abitrators and judges) to redress complaints (both civil and criminal)

Like you, I'd love to see a leader come forth!
I'd like to him or her lead an administration that whacks about 30% of the Fed Gov't, and then does away w/ federal income tax and starts taxing states based on the number of pages in their regulatory documentation. (Then the "blue" states can have all the laws, codes, regulations, etc they want, but they have to pay for them!)

*PS that Christian doctrine that you deplore so much went very far in guiding people to accept this aspect of reality.

No arguments here.

I don't deplore Christian doctrine...I deplore it being used as a tool of control of others. I have no problem with people of any faith...or...lack thereof. I'm not an Atheist.... I consider myself a Pantheist..a la Spinoza.

There is no doubt that ones spiritual belief system guides them...unfortunately sometimes blindly and without use of rational thought.