How do a person's political views relate to self sufficiency?

[me&thegals]

I was hoping others would jump on this one and help me out...it was early in Oboma's presidency that he did these things...

Well, Obama doesn't introduce ANY bills, as that's Congress' job. I remember seeing things floating around relating to organic growing, but some of those insane bills stir up a lot of hoopla and never go anywhere in Congress because they are just that: Insane. Now THAT would hugely affect my ability to be self sufficient and my heirloom seeds would just go "underground," double entendre intended.

 

[bibliophile birds]

10 Ways that Liberal Socialism Makes People Poorer:
http://www.nikitas3.com/10_ways_that_liberal_socialism_m.htm

i had to stop reading that. there were so many things i wanted to comment on, but that would have been unproductive. so i picked one:

The South is booming economically. The most vibrant economy in the nation is in Texas! Yes, evil George Bushs Texas offers opportunity, hope, jobs and prosperity. How could this be? Is not Bush the embodiment of rapacious capitalism?

What other states are booming? How about Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and other redneck states.

whoever wrote that has obviously never been to Tennessee. nor have they been paying attention to our political/economic situation of the past few years. former Governor Sundquist, a Republican, tried to instate an income tax, which was so unpopular that his own party basically disowned him. even his former conservative supporters turned on him, going so far as to lead street demonstrations against the man.

his successor, Democrat Phil Bredesen, however managed Tennessee through a fiscal crisis without raising taxes or cutting funding for education. he passed four balanced budgets, received top rankings from national bond rating agencies and raised our Rainy Day Fund to a record high.

we've also got a majority of Dems in the House of Representatives and the same number of Reps and Dems in the Senate. we are very far from being a conservative controlled, capitalist driven state. the state might have gone to the Reps in presidential elections, but that doesn't mean we have "long histories of conservative policies."

and that's not even touching on the fact that the business sector with the largest growth in the state of Texas is wind energy, something that the conservative Bush administration (in Texas and in Washington) had almost no interest in. wind energy was brought to Texas by community co-ops in farming communities that were dying. now they are thriving... on environmentally based, community welfare minded, AMERICAN grown energy.

eta: the other business that is based in Texas that make's it a vibrant economy- ExxonMobile. they don't really employ that many Texans since most of their business is in foreign oil investments. but Texas collects a lot of $$ from them, so they get that nice little boost in the economy. the area in Texas with the most actual fiscal growth is Austin, the hotbed of liberalism (and self-sufficiency) in the South.

 

[On Our own]

Capitalism without any governance very quickly becomes predatory. Because it is by its nature short sighted, unfettered capitalism with no controls burns itself and its resources, be they people or natural resources, without regard for future needs.

Milton Friedman was the proponent of a form of "free market" that was without ethics. He taught widely that business had no right to focus on anything other than generating profit. When you combine that with an ethos of self centeredness you get a shark. It is not evil for it is without morals, it is soulless.



Edited to add: Friedman's theory depends greatly on rational behavior from everyone involved. History has shown us repeatedly that humans are least rational about money.

 

[Ladyhawke1]

Hey ya all! Ah came late to the party but......

Political parties dont do squat! Its the corporations who pays them that ya all have to aim at. We have the best Congress that money can buy.

Unless Amerikans can git tough and demand what is rightly thars, then fergit it. We is sunk!

 

[Big Daddy]

The million dollar question LH is how do you change the system? The biggest problem as I see it is that the corporations are the biggest campaign contributors. They literally put these guys in office. The American people tend to vote for the candidate with the best TV commercials. So how do you get Congress to pass a bill outlawing corporate contributions? Then hopefully our Congressmen will vote for what their constituents want instead of their contributors.

 

[sylvie]

The million dollar question LH is how do you change the system? The biggest problem as I see it is that the corporations are the biggest campaign contributors. They literally put these guys in office. The American people tend to vote for the candidate with the best TV commercials. So how do you get Congress to pass a bill outlawing corporate contributions?

Maybe with one of those executive orders I've been readin about.

 

[me&thegals]

Yes, the system is very skewed to guy/gal with the most $. It was sad to see third-party candidate virtually ignored in the last election. They don't even stand a chance of being in on the debates and giving America a chance to hear their ideas.

When politics come up, campaign finance reform eventually ends up entering the conversation. I think it's amusing, because we generally think of "other" developing nations as having the corrupt politics.

Very cool to hear about the windfarms in Texas! Ironic, too . I hear Iowa is getting a 100+ mile wind farm, part of the energy going to WI. Very exciting! Helps farms/communities/states be more self sufficient rather than relying on imported energy.

 

[ScottSD]

Maybe with one of those executive orders I've been readin about.

You mean from a president who's in bed with them?

The million dollar question LH is how do you change the system?

And the million dollar answer is NOT the way the government is currently trying to do it.

And what? No comments on my facts (what you call ....bait) earlier?

I hear Iowa is getting a 100+ mile wind farm, part of the energy going to WI. Very exciting! Helps farms/communities/states be more self sufficient rather than relying on imported energy.

I agree that it is a good thing.....but how does that help farms be more self sufficient?

 

[On Our own]

OK Scott I have discussed this before:

When in US history did the government most resemble the definition of socialism that you have given?

 

[sylvie]

Progressives want to change it back and forth just to meet their whims.

Citation needed.