ryan costa wrote:I don't know of any President who hasn't used a teleprompter or notes when making speeches.
Yes, every president has used a teleprompter but none have used it as a life support system like Obama.
ryan costa wrote:so far he has demonstrated superior speaking skills to both Presidents Bush, both in interviews and in speeches and in debates. Bush was pretty notorious for screwing up his speeches, and appearing to get stumble when some kind of coaching audio device in his ear malfunctioned during a debate.
I’m convinced that Americans would rather have as president someone who is a good speaker and makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside than someone who can actually run the country but public speaking is not their strength.
Re: berlin wall anniversary
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:39 pm
by Roy Pitchford
ryan costa wrote:it is just as easy to find quotes from the people you listed supporting tariffs, taxes, and "government".
Go for it, I'll wait.
ryan costa wrote:Your quote from Washington actually supports tariffs.
Really? A duty imposed on goods when they are moved across a political boundary. A tariff placed on a good coming into the US would make it more expensive and more difficult for the consumer to buy. A tariff placed on a good leaving the US would make it more expensive and more difficult for the distributer/seller to sell. Either way, it hurts the economy by reducing the amount of money/goods that flow.
Who gets that tariff? The government. Sounds like a kind of tax to me and Washington was speaking against heavy taxes.
ryan costa wrote:Jefferson was generally regarded as a weird utopian who made his living inheriting property and with government jobs.
It wasn't much of a living. He died in rather deep in debt. Back then, even being a politician didn't pay well. Oh, how things change.
"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic." --Ben Franklin
Incidently:
Mr. Costa, do you have an axe to grind? Not with me, but with someone else? When I read what you write, I get the feeling that: 1. You think all big-business is evil and needs to be controlled or else they will exploit the common man. 2. A democrat-run government can do no wrong. 3. Combining the 2, government-run business would be the answer to all our problems.
Re: berlin wall anniversary
Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:55 pm
by Charlie Page
Roy Pitchford wrote:Mr. Costa, do you have an axe to grind? Not with me, but with someone else? When I read what you write, I get the feeling that: 1. You think all big-business is evil and needs to be controlled or else they will exploit the common man. 2. A democrat-run government can do no wrong. 3. Combining the 2, government-run business would be the answer to all our problems.
4. Everything is Ronald Reagan's fault 5. Capitalism is the root of all evil (or is it Reagan?)
Re: berlin wall anniversary
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 8:54 pm
by ryan costa
As President, Washington personally lead an army to put down a rebellion of whiskey brewers. the whiskey brewers were protesting a tax on whiskey. They got their land cheap through the actions of big government, but didn't want to pay their taxes.
America has always been about the redistribution of wealth. The colonies rebelled because they wanted the land. The British spent a lot of money driving out the French, netherlands, and spanish claims. a lot more than they got back. After the Revolution, Uncle Sam doled out a lot of land. About 95 percent of the contiguous continental united states. There is no libertarian history of the USA. There is simply an Abundance history of the USA.
Washington's farewell address called for a national industrial self-sufficiency only possible with tariffs and import duties. The Constitution explicitly gives Congress the power to set duties, tariffs, trade policies, and currency policies.
How much more stuff do people need? Obesity is an "epidemic". America is "addicted" to oil. employment for the lower and middle classes is increasingly scarce. The educational requirements for the regular old jobs keep getting higher: the cost of education keeps getting higher.
The spillover costs of "outsourcing" are the waste of physical resources on so much disposeable or quickly obsolete crap. and a lack of jobs for the lower 60 percent of Americans. it shrinks the lower rungs on the ladder and moves them further apart. politicians white wash it with stuff about "education" and "america is not afraid to compete" while their biggest friends and network connect the mark-ups on imports. Jack Abramoff flies his friends to Japan to pick up perks from Willie Tan. Goods are cheaper for a few decades, but it essentially is a lot of cheap entertainment that dumbs Americans down. so it is time to spend a lot more money babysitting kids at school. then on police, social workers, and jails as civilization gets increasingly dysfunctional. Tell me what you do for a living and i will tell you how it depends on big government and how the economy can "grow" by replacing you with someone cheaper.
Historically, American economic "growth" has generally been higher when tariffs were higher, and when progressive income taxes were higher.
The greatest Social Engineering in the U.S. has been suburban sprawl, automobile addiction, and the subsequent oil "addiction". The greatest beneficiaries of this social engineering are more likely to be found marching in "tea parties". (I watched many of them drive in from out of town and park within a few blocks of the Browns Stadium.) It is the most expensive social engineering program in America. in upfront costs, and then in spillover costs. Nothing wrong with that. Plenty of Americans got rich or wealthy enough building it and furnishing it. Thank the wealth redistribution programs.
Washington tried to institute the national holiday of Thanksgiving. Thomas Jefferson dissolved it when he was President. Did Thomas Jefferson hate Jesus Christ and America? I doubt it. but that is the argument fox news columnists would use against any president today who tried the same. probably call them "marxists".
One of the Biggest Differences between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams is that John Adams could balance a check book. If I remember correctly, the President was paid $25,000.00 dollars a year back then. if adjusted for inflation, this is much more than today's presidents are paid. On top of all the other government jobs he had and property he inherited, he still managed to go enormously bankrupt. Michael Jackson couldn't have done it better.
corporations are not inherently "evil", but when one does something blatantly wrong and their is valid criticism against it it justice is necessary. I realize many people want to get rich by buying stock that magically appreciates when "government" stays out of the way.
but all of our high tech industries are propped up by massive government contracts, government subsidies for R & D, the education of engineers, and the like. The Aerospace industry. the I.T. industry. the software industry. the pharaceutical industry. Get in on the stock early. you can make a lot of money. The Feds doled out a lot of money to get computers in the schools and libraries. The States doled out a lot of money to get the computers in schools and libraries. this redistribution of wealth was great for Microsoft, the PC industry, the Server industry, the contractors, and numerous software and contracting firms.
Ronald Reagan wasn't evil. he just had things easier. The Soviet Union was dissolving itself. Reagan new how to make the best of photo-ops.
