The Observation Deck

I feel with my hands.


I'd like to ask some questions and just sit back and see what you have to say about them. This time, I will try to keep my own input to a minimum. I've found little common ground with many of you and I would be interested in finding more.

I'd especially love to read some in depth stuff. One sentence answers are boring.
I'd also ask that if you want to argue about things, create a new thread.

Question 1:
Roughly 9 months in, how do you feel about Obama's performance?
(Feel free to break it down by issue if you so choose.)

Question 2:
How do you feel about the state of our economy?

Question 3:
Do you support redistribution of wealth?
Does you feel differently if its government redistribution of wealth (aka social justice)? If so, how?

Question 4:
Bush said, "We must abandon the free market system to save the free market system." How do you feel about that statement?

Question 5:
Do you believe that government is the answer to our problems?

Hello? Hello? Hello?
Echo Echo Echo

Question 4 is interesting.

It was reported that Mr. Greenspan's belief in deregulation had been shaken.

Mr. Greenspan opposed tougher regulation on derivatives. Eventually he changed his mind.

Mr. Greenspan finally said, “This modern risk-management paradigm held sway for decades,” he said. “The whole intellectual edifice, however, collapsed in the summer of last year.”

Greenspan was an Ayn Rand devotee. He was a great devotee of Milton Friedman.

Mr. Greenspan noted that his "whole intellectual life was a lie."

So when Bush made that statement, were you to look at the context of a collapse that began (at least) in 1994, you might think he had a savant moment of understanding, but I doubt it.

Question 1:
Roughly 9 months in, how do you feel about Obama's performance?

He went to office with the nation we have.

Question 2:
How do you feel about the state of our economy?
it is a miracle most of our biggest, most innovative banks and shopping mall developers didn't all go bankrupt and blow away like dust in the wind.

Question 3:
Do you support redistribution of wealth?
Does you feel differently if its government redistribution of wealth (aka social justice)? If so, how?

what is wealth? what is a fair pay check. draw up the right bonds and stock and you can buy a name brand and a factory. close the factory, outsource production, spend more on advertising. you'll make at least a few ten million dollars. are you upset about not being allowed to keep all of it? donate money to the Cato Institute and right political sharks. they will get your taxes lowered. looks like the guys we outsourced to are using all their new revenue to buy up mineral resources and beef up their military. we're going to have to spend a few trillion more on our own military. embark on a few practice wars to show we can still get it up.

Question 4:
Bush said, "We must abandon the free market system to save the free market system." How do you feel about that statement?

the greatest form of fiat currency are the bonds, stocks, and mortgaged backed securities the big banks and wall street firms draw up. crank up the volume of business and all our fund managers and bankers will pour our savings into that stock.

it is okay for Bush. most of his friends converted the bonds and stocks and executive positions into big piles of money or checking accounts for at least a few years.


Question 5:
Do you believe that government is the answer to our problems?

what are the problems? what are government treatments for these problems? what are the private sector or not-government treatments for these problems?

developers rely on a lot of state and federal money to expand highways and roads to their new subdivisions and shopping malls and office parks. they rely on the city and county for subsidies and abatements and sweetheart management contracts and token rents for the arenas, medmarts, stadiums, new office and hotel buildings.

Even Bush didn't get a big chunk of a professional baseball team until taxpayers fronted the dough for a stadium. government sure solved his problems.

government solved a lot of halliburton problems: surely the folks tending Iraqi infrastructure before 1990 could have done it cheaper. afterwards 2004, surely a chinese firm could have done it cheaper. or the iraqis who had already been running things(paul bremer fired them). what is with all these blackwater contracts? it might be more prudent to move all our military operations in japan and south korea to iraq and afghanistan for the next 50 years. in for a penny, in for a pound. south korea could take out north korea on its own in about 2 weeks. China wouldn't get involved: the policy heads say we owe them too much money for that, and they have mcdonalds anyways.

NO! And poo on you Stephen for making me look at that schmuck again. hahaha