Posted on 12/15/2013 5:41:15 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
My bookshelves sag with encyclopedic volumes arguing that America and the West are in decline. But proving that a picture is worth a thousand books, the “selfie” seen ’round the world ends the argument.
It’s official — the government of the United States of Obama consists of boobs and bores and is led by a narcissist. It is no consolation that Great Britain joins us in racing to the bottom.
President Obama’s flirting with Denmark’s prime minister would be shameful on any occasion. That it happened at the memorial for Nelson Mandela only adds to the embarrassment.
But the “selfie” episode also symbolizes the greater global calamity of Western decline. With British prime minister David Cameron playing the role of Obama’s giggling wingman, the “look at me” moment confirms we have unserious leaders in a dangerously serious time....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
When Obama loses the SNL crowd, he’s lost the low information voters........
Used to be most people were serfs or slaves of those landowners.
What’s your point?
Who do you think the pogues in the various agencies will listen to? Their boss Odumass or the Senate?
“...exec. orders can be overridden.”
Thanx. Did not know this.
“Their boss Odumass or the Senate”
a bunch of those political hacks have lied under oath in testimony already
Either Americans with IQs of 85-95 will learn life skills while producing raw materials and goods, while gaining financial independence and founding families, OR they will be bitter, dependent peasants ripe for communism.
C. Edmund Wright has “given up” and “lost interest” in the American worker. However, if you do have children and grandchildren, and if you don’t plan expatriation, the quality of life of all those non-working American workers will determine the quality of life, and maybe the quantity of life, for you and your progeny.
Bring the jobs back,
“We start by charging (everything) imported into America a 10% tariff. By this I mean everything.”
In 1960 the average tariff was 7.3%. Today it is 1.3%. I would agree that 10% is more than a reasonable fee to apply to foreign factories for access to the US market. After all the US taxpayer pays to maintain ports, the Coast Guard, the US Navy to keep the seas open, the Customs service to inspect goods coming in, and a highway system to give the ports access to inland markets. Why should foreign factories and importers receive these services at no charge?
Personally I’d like to see tariffs raised to the average 25% to 35% rates the US employed from 1865 to 1900. During that period the US became an industrial power using high tariffs to protect developing industry. Over the past 20 years we engaged in ruinous free trade policies that gutted our manufacturing sector, exported millions of middle class jobs, and resulted in two decades of declining standard of living for most Americans for the first time in our history.
We’ve played the low tariff game for 25 years and the verdict is in with respect to the economy and the American people. It has been a disaster for all except those at the very top and the multinational corporations. It is time to rebuild our industrial infrastructure and to do so we need to adopt the tariff policy we employed successfully to become the greatest industrial power on the planet.
We would be better off economically eliminating the corporate income tax on profits derived from production inside the US, and raising tariffs to offset the revenue, than to continue raising margin rates on individual income or continuing the recent practice of hiding new taxes in our healthcare costs.
Our policies over the past 25 years have allowed China to become a global power and emerge as a long term military threat to the homeland. Enacting high tariffs now will stop Chinese industrial expansion in its tracks while providing a powerful economic incentive for investment in US manufacturing expansion.
China today levies a VAT on all imports ranging from 13% to 17% plus additional duties and tariffs depending on the product category. In addition the Chinese government subsidizes its manufacturing industry with low or no interest loans and export rebates up to 25%. Add to that the slave labor wages of $1.00 per day and the standard 10 hour factory day. No wonder US manufacturing has been decimated over the past 25 years while we’ve dropped our tariffs to virtually zero and eliminated non-tariff barriers to trade (i.e. quotas).
Restoring the tariff is essential to restoring the US economy. Unfortunately our Congresspeople in both parties are beholden to multinational corporations and Wall Street banks earning billions from gutting the US economy.
For those who believe the academic free trade propaganda that the Smoot Hawley tariff cause the Great Depression, consider some facts:
1) Smoot was passed in 1930, after the 1929 market crash when the economy was already in a nosedive. The tariff did not cause the collapse.
2) When Smoot was passed, US manufacturing exports comprised less than 2.5% of GDP and total exports were less than 5% of GDP. From the 1929 crash to the bottom of the Depression in 1933, GDP dropped 50%. If the US had lost 100% of its exports during that period (which it did not), the most the loss of exports could have affected GDP was 5%.
History in fact shows the US economy prospered during periods of high tariffs (19th Century) and has stagnated during the low tariff periods from 1988 to the present.
The fact is the US has the land mass, natural resources, technology base, and population to be self sufficient as it was through much of its history. We should be reinstating high tariffs now where there is still some manufacturing base remaining on which to build. Also, rebuild now where we have a military infrastructure strong enough to discourage our enemies from retaliating against the US for applying higher tariffs.
We are in an economic war with China and will likely be in a military war within 25 years if we don’t take action now to rebuild our economic system and stop subsidizing the industrialization of our emerging enemy.
You misunderstand, probably on purpose.….I’ve given up on the American low skill worker…as an employer only. I don’t care to deal with them as their boss any more - in that narrow construct. I did that for a couple decades…been there, done that. Have you ever done that?
Now, as a consumer, or contractor, and neighbor and fellow American and so on - I’m not giving up on them…because it’s not my place to do so. It’s only as their employer that I’ll never participate again.
Now, I also don’t think it’s necessarily a slam to Americans to say that they are not good at low skill labor and have no interest in doing so. Perhaps you can tell us why it is patriotic to say YES AMERICANS ARE GREAT AT LOW SKILLED AND uNSKILLED LABOR….USA USA USA USA!!
Now, I see you have the very valid notion of the sub 100 IQ workforce. Well I got news for you: until we stop the ability to live a 60K lifestyle by sitting on your ass and collecting hand outs, we’ll never have the careers for the 85-95 IQ group. IT’s not China. It’s not companies who outsource. It’s our own government that is making this work force obsolete. Businesses have to try and survive in the climate they’re in…..they are NOT RESPONSIBLE for that climate. Government largely is.
Your anger is simply misdirected. You and I want the same things…you just have no clue why we don’t have it….and I do.
Awesome post.
EXACTLY.
Bring back American industry. Now. Stop fighting the last struggle.
We need to re-industrialize our own nation.
That is an outstanding post. My sincere compliments.
I encourage every FReeper to read and understand what you said.
Thanks.
Once upon a time, we lived in a world where people had the decency to both be upset at uncouth behavior and to demand real consequences for it.
Now we simply laugh and go back to watching the Kardashians. Alas, my country.
Yep, they wanna tell you what they’re NOT going to do and for HOW MUCH they’re NOT going to do it, paid vacations, paid sick days, paid holidays, raises, bonuses, benefits, company vehicles, clothing allowances, food allowances, etc, etc.
This is expected from DAY ONE.
Forget about EARNING,is about GETTING
That's not the fault of the leaders, though. The simple truth is that our countries are filled with unserious citizens. There's no fixing that in a democratic society.
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." -- H. L. Mencken
Local races are an area where a single citizen can take a few hours a month and have a direct impact. Politicians are more accessible, financial contributions are cheaper, and individual actions matter. In a recent race, where a couple of us spent two days standing on a street corner waving a candidate sign, he won by less than 20 votes. He knows everybody who pitched in for him mattered.
Particularly in medium and small towns, showing up at city hall for a meeting is easy, and it's done so rarely that by the third meeting the politicians will have noticed. There are formal public input sections in most states, but even if one is in a state without one, much of the lobbying is done in the casual pre and post meeting conversations, and in correspondence with the politicians who have come to know who you are.
Besides, local issues are an education all their own. Ask the finance director how the government's funded, sit through a presentation from the people who are responsible for keeping water in the taps, find out how ridiculously expensive it is to keep the roads paved, all stuff most people just take for granted.
Believe me, the liberals are showing up, they win by default if there's no conservatives to counter them.
“We start by charging (everything) imported into America a 10% tariff. By this I mean everything.
Food. Gas. Anything which enters America.”
Cool! Raising the prices we pay for everything by 10% is a great idea./sarc
Did you also protest at burger doodle to raise the minimum wage?
Perfect.
Progressives like you love income taxes but hate tariffs. Progressive...
The world's adoration of the terrorist, Mandela, is an embarrassment. I can't fault him for the selfie since it appeared to have occurred when nothing was going on on stage but Moo's drama was priceless. Typical for her, but still priceless.
Progressives like me? lol.
What is your favorite flavor of paint chip, green, blue, red?
Would you want to replace all income taxes with tariffs and sales taxes?
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