hugo Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 The Party's Over by Pat Buchanan on Creators.com - A Syndicate Of Talent From the article: Seizing on the crisis, the left says we are witnessing the failure of market economics, a failure of conservatism. This is nonsense. What we are witnessing is the collapse of Gordon Gecko ("Greed Is Good!") capitalism. What we are witnessing is what happens to a prodigal nation that ignores history, and forgets and abandons the philosophy and principles that made it great. A true conservative cherishes prudence and believes in fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets and a self-reliant republic. He believes in saving for retirement and a rainy day, in deferred gratification, in not buying on credit what you cannot afford, in living within your means.Is that really what got Wall Street and us into this mess — that we followed too religiously the gospel of Robert Taft and Russell Kirk? "Government must save us!" cries the left, as ever. Yet, who got us into this mess if not the government — the Fed with its easy money, Bush with his profligate spending, and Congress and the SEC by liberating Wall Street and failing to step in and stop the drunken orgy? For years, we Americans have spent more than we earned. We save nothing. Credit card debt, consumer debt, auto debt, mortgage debt, corporate debt — all are at record levels. And with pensions and savings being wiped out, much of that debt will never be repaid.Our standard of living is inevitably going to fall. For foreigners will not forever buy our bonds or lend us more money if they rightly fear that they will be paid back, if at all, in cheaper dollars. We are going to have to learn to live again without our means. Quote The power to do good is also the power to do harm. - Milton Friedman "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." - James Madison
wez Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 God I love common sense.. you da man teach! So then I must be the conservative of all conservatives to have saved and remained debt free through all this bullsh t I saw coming at the tender age of 24, 15 years ago... yay me Quote
hugo Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 God I love common sense.. you da man teach! So then I must be the conservative of all conservatives to have saved and remained debt free through all this bullsh t I saw coming at the tender age of 24, 15 years ago... yay me Somewhere personal conservatism died out. Quote The power to do good is also the power to do harm. - Milton Friedman "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." - James Madison
wez Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 And by no means was it easy.. matter of fact, hard as hell.. went without a lot.. if I had something that worked I didn't need a new and fancy model.. but knew it was the right thing to do.. The smartest decision I ever made in my life was NOT buying/borrowing a house.. yay for trailer trash! Pretty sad when people willingly enslave themselves in a "free market" that made zero sense and was anything but.. Now most everyone gets to pay it all back, with interest, on the wages one can earn through labor.. good luck. Quote
wez Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Somewhere personal conservatism died out. I watched it begin to die in the 80's with Reaganomics and go insane in the 90's as a young man.. Happy as hell I was born in 69' and came from a family that knew better and taught personal responsibilty.. I was blessed. Still am... Had I not, there'd be no way in hell I could be back in school to do something I absolutely love now in my late 30's.. Quote
hugo Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 I watched it die in the 80's with Reaganomics as a young man.. Happy as hell I was born in 69' and came from a family that knew better and taught personal responsibilty.. I was blessed. Still am... Nothing to do with Reaganomics our generation simply has never understood the need for thrift as our parents did. Part of it due to the fact government takes out so much of your money out of your check that it make saving more difficult. Quote The power to do good is also the power to do harm. - Milton Friedman "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." - James Madison
wez Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Nothing to do with Reaganomics our generation simply has never understood the need for thrift as our parents did. Part of it due to the fact government takes out so much of your money out of your check that it make saving more difficult. Yeah it did.... remember the "savings and loan" scandels and subsequent bailouts? All the de-regulation played a big part in this.. Which is not a good idea for a common tax pool for the common good.. there needs to be damn strict regulations and accountabilty for that. But absolutely.. personal responsibility is far and away the biggest factor..No one forced anyone to borrow anything..and it was this that also drove up prices of everything.. Nearly everyone bought everything on freaking payments. What a joke.. Now we see why the borrowers didn't care who they lent to.. They had no risk in doing so. The taxpayers took all the risk through no consent of their own.. More bullsh t than what started the revolution.. Way worse. That was just tea.. hahahahaha Now the guv/us is gonna buy all that bad debt too after all the bailouts to keep housing prices and the stock market artificially high.. Real f ckin' smart..I don't wanna "buy" bad debt so people who lived beyond their means don't get squashed.. Do I have a choice? Quote
hugo Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 A quick glance at this cart http://www.theamericancollege.edu/pdf/engle/2005ppt.pdf shows that personal savings rate has been declining since 1982 . Yes, it started in the Reagan era but the strongest decline was during the Clinton years. It has little to do with politics other than Americans false assurance on SS discourages saving. The fact is goverment ain't to blame for the fact people pay people to mow their yards. If you look at all the charts you must quickly conclude that healthcare costs are our biggest future concern. We could start addressing higher healthcare costs by cutting the wages of healthcare workers. Them nurses make too much money. Quote The power to do good is also the power to do harm. - Milton Friedman "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." - James Madison
wez Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 I watched it begin to die in the 80's with Reaganomics and go insane in the 90's as a young man.. I knew that.. I watched it happen. I'd nurse for food and shelter.. During Reagonomics saving got harder and harder... During the 90's it was damn near impossible up to today and beyond.. Going the other way faster and faster.. Quote
ImWithStupid Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 I knew that.. I watched it happen. I'd nurse for food and shelter.. During Reagonomics saving got harder and harder... During the 90's it was damn near impossible up to today. In the 90s, I don't know if saving was impossible so much as people didn't even try. The banks and credit card companies threw credit at anyone and everyone and people went on a spending spree. Then they extended this to housing. I blame the problem we have now on the actions of the borrowers and lenders and the inaction of government to notice/care what was past the next election. Quote
wez Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 In the 90s, I don't know if saving was impossible so much as people didn't even try. The banks and credit card companies threw credit at anyone and everyone and people went on a spending spree. Then they extended this to housing. I blame the problem we have now on the actions of the borrowers and lenders and the inaction of government to notice/care what was past the next election. Yep.. like I said, no one forced anyone to borrow anything. It wasn't impossible, cause I did it.. on a pretty small income too.. yay me The inflation that resulted from it sucks bad, however.. Not fun to be punished for being responsible..but still better than serfdom. Quote
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