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An even more important question ... are you satisfied with the return on investment that we got from spending trillions and trillions so the government could fix things?

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I like the original question because I AM better off than I was four years ago. We just moved in to a beautiful town home, which I could not have done four years ago, my bills are being paid on time, which I couldn't do four years ago, I'm not terrified of not being able to feed my girls during the final week before pay day, which wasn't true four years (or even one year) ago . . . but I don't think my responses are typical and I'm sure they have nothing to do with the second question or with the chart above.

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I am glad to hear things are going well for some.

As for me ... NO and NO !

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I really am sorry to know things aren't going well for you, but your response is what I expected--which is why I said my response was not typical. Four years ago, I was unemployed, or barely employed, and the girls and I were really struggling (yes, I was receiving both unemployment and welfare benefits) and now I have a full-time job and I can see some light . . .

I hope things look up for you soon.

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well, yes and no. Yes only because I married a man who is far better off them me financially which has allowed me to work on bills. my investments have gone done, my fuel bills have gone up.....

we both own property that we would like to sell but the value has gone way down....

my kids have struggled with jobs

if I didn't have Ralph it would be a hell no

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Originally Posted by Donna Brown:
I really am sorry to know things aren't going well for you, but your response is what I expected--which is why I said my response was not typical. Four years ago, I was unemployed, or barely employed, and the girls and I were really struggling (yes, I was receiving both unemployment and welfare benefits) and now I have a full-time job and I can see some light . . .

I hope things look up for you soon.

Thanks Donna ... but I did not mean to imply that I'm not doing well because I am just fine (better than most).  I can still pay my bills, put food on the table, helping kids out with college, enjoy some entertainment and have nights out but I am much more careful.   I watch my expenditures for sure.

Am I doing as well as I should be ?  No ... all my investments have taken a huge hit.  The value of my beautiful home (and income properties) have plummeted.   Those are investment I made to ensure my children's future and so I'd have something to leave for them ...  If I had known, I'd have kept the cash and put in under my mattress.  I can't sell now as I'd take a huge hit ... *sigh*

I am thrilled to see someone like you is doing better ... and also glad you realize you are in minority, it's still a blessing for you and your girls.  No taking away from that.   For that, I am happy for you.

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Yes, I am doing better than I was four years ago....mainly because I am always striving for more, and refuse to go backwards!

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Originally Posted by Scott Terry:

An even more important question ... are you satisfied with the return on investment that we got from spending trillions and trillions so the government could fix things?

With regards to the specific question posed, no, I'm not satisified with the return on investment...

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Originally Posted by Bob InBama:


With regards to the specific question posed, no, I'm not satisified with the return on investment...

What I keep thinking about ...

It's not just monies that have been pissed away on political patronage and "redistribution of wealth", the total amount also includes alll the money that Timmy and Benny have been printing around the clock and throwing it into the money supply.  Best guesses is that the total amount would be somewhere between 10 and 20 trillion.

At that rate, they could've simply just given every American somewhere between $33,000 and $66,000 with the provision that it had to be spent in 6 months.

I'd think that would've stimulated the economy a whole lot more.

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Originally Posted by Scott Terry:
At that rate, they could've simply just given every American somewhere between $33,000 and $66,000 with the provision that it had to be spent in 6 months.

I'd think that would've stimulated the economy a whole lot more.

Well I'd certainly feel stimulated if Uncle Sam gave me a check, free and clear for anywhere between these amounts. But I think the economy would only be stimulated for as long as people had the money to spend, and then after it's all spent, then things would return to just what they are now. Since we're not a manufacturing country anymore, I think such stimulus has a limited lifespan.

I'd like to think that a good use for this hypothetical would be in education and reeducation. But in today's non-manufacturing economy, it seems that one's current education and experience has a very limited lifespan. Personally, I'm fairly worried about the future of this country.

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Originally Posted by Shawn Ishness:

I'd like to think that a good use for this hypothetical would be in education and reeducation. But in today's non-manufacturing economy, it seems that one's current education and experience has a very limited lifespan. Personally, I'm fairly worried about the future of this country.

Agreed.

I'd add that Keynesian economic crap and its cousin ... centralized government planning/control a.k.a. socialism doesn't work.  It's certainly not the force that once made America great.  And the nanny state is a **** poor substitute for freedom and personal responsibility.

IMNSHO, if we don't make some MAJOR course corrections and begin to make them now, we're totally screwed economically ... with the replacement solution to our fleeting form of government being even worse.  And with the state and direction of our education system (not talking about you Sweetie!)  future generations won't even have a glimmer of what once was and what could be again.

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Originally Posted by Scott Terry:

Originally Posted by Shawn Ishness:
I'd like to think that a good use for this hypothetical would be in education and reeducation. But in today's non-manufacturing economy, it seems that one's current education and experience has a very limited lifespan. Personally, I'm fairly worried about the future of this country.

Agreed.

I'd add that Keynesian economic crap and its cousin ... centralized government planning/control a.k.a. socialism doesn't work.  It's certainly not the force that once made America great.  And the nanny state is a **** poor substitute for freedom and personal responsibility.

IMNSHO, if we don't make some MAJOR course corrections and begin to make them now, we're totally screwed economically ... with the replacement solution to our fleeting form of government being even worse.  And with the state and direction of our education system (not talking about you Sweetie!)  future generations won't even have a glimmer of what once was and what could be again.

I don't disagree, but in my mind I keep coming back to how do we correct the problems without stepping on Freedom's toes. Every day I see a pervasive intolerance to personal responsibility in all age ranges.

When so many people (parents) regularly fail to show up for work due to their 'partying' the night before or simply not feeling like working, and then eventually lose their jobs when jobs are desperately hard to come by to begin with, this just makes me cringe. This is just one of countless examples, but here I used "parents", and when I see the blatantly abusive natures of their parenting skills (term used very loosely), I continue cringing knowing the strong likelihood for the continuity of toxic social cycles.

And when you do see what looks like a good example of personal responsibility, they often fall under personal attack by those intolerant of responsible behavior. I'm not kidding about this, it can really seem like a sick twisted mess around these parts. I see a gross lack of healthy personal values and reverence here,,, but how do you fix this without trampling all over freedoms?

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Originally Posted by Shawn Ishness:

]I don't disagree, but in my mind I keep coming back to how do we correct the problems without stepping on Freedom's toes. Every day I see a pervasive intolerance to personal responsibility in all age ranges.

It's simple.

Unless, they're exceptional people that absolutely need society's help, you let them fail.

There is nothing so motivating as an empty stomach ... nothing so fulfilling as a stomach you fill through your own steam.

Freedom means the ability to succeed.  It also means the freedom to fail.

It's all about choices.  So you let 'em go and let life teach them rather than have the gov't reward them for choosing to be irresponsible.

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Originally Posted by Scott Terry:
It's simple.

Unless, they're exceptional people that absolutely need society's help, you let them fail.

There is nothing so motivating as an empty stomach ... nothing so fulfilling as a stomach you fill through your own steam.

Freedom means the ability to succeed.  It also means the freedom to fail.

It's all about choices.  So you let 'em go and let life teach them rather than have the gov't reward them for choosing to be irresponsible.

The only disagreement I have that comes to mind are those with children. I don't believe in children suffering as a result of slatherly parents. Children don't ask to be here; conception and life just happens to them.

But when I say slatherly, I don't mean a person who's genuinely dealing with hard times. I'm specifically referencing society's parasitic slugs. But since slugphugging procreation is perceived as a God-given right by most people, society's slugs will use any weapon available, including their own children, to maintain their parasitic lifestyles,,,, and their children suffer and typically repeat the cycle. I dislike my next opinion, but I do feel that forced sterilization may be occasionally necessary.

Is it more favorable to figure parenting to be a God-given right, or maybe a privilege instead? Well, that just opens another brutally ugly mess. But when it comes to parasitic slugs, I genuinely disagree with their becoming parents.

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The folks I see succeeding in gubmint jobs are those that have been given everything by the family or the friends they keep.
They have worked for nothing.
It makes me want to hurl.

Entitlements are going to ruin this nation. How long must we finance the slugs and those who think they deserve just by being born?

I got out of my Dad's car in downtown atlanta just barely 18 years old with a $20 bill, a gym bag with a second pair of socks and underwear in it.
That's where I fuggin started.
Give me a fuggin break.
River of tears for those who say they are trapped in a cycle.....GTFOH!
Waste of oxygen.