...   
      
    LL>>> GWB was only doing what we hired him to do.  I mean, really.   
    LL>>> Isn't the proper role of government to spend as much of our   
    LL>>> money as possible in the shortest period of time?  Think   
      
   BK>>Not in the shortest possible time, but in the most effective   
   BK>>manner.   
      
    LL> The most effective manner would be for the president to   
    LL> declare martial law and then rule by decree.  The manner   
    LL> that is normally used is very cumbersome and ineffective,   
      
    Only true in the short run. In the long run it becomes corrupted   
    and inefficient.   
      
    ...   
      
   BK>>If he had rebuilt infrastructure and educated the young   
   BK>>it would have paid off in spades. Spending on war is pure   
   BK>>economic waste.   
      
    LL> We can cut defense spending in half and still have more arms   
    LL> than the rest of the world combined.  But what would happen   
    LL> if we were to take an isolationist approach, defend   
    LL> ourselves only, and say the hell with the rest of the   
    LL> world?  Would we be safer, or less safe?   
      
    Yes.   
      
    LL>>> about it.  Bill Clinton left office with a surplus.  Within   
    LL>>> eight months of taking office, and one month before the   
    LL>>> terror attacks of 9-11, GWB managed to spend our way into a   
    LL>>> deficit.   
      
   BK>>The 9-11 attacks were a blip on the economic radar. It was the   
   BK>>follow up wars that brought this country down. Had he not turned   
   BK>>to invading Iraq even that would not have happened.   
      
    LL> The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy was the first step that   
    LL> got us into the fine mess we are in today.  It was   
      
    True.   
      
    LL> compounded by the events of 9-11, which came *after* GWB   
    LL> had squandered the surplus.  While the events of 9-11 were   
    LL> nothing more than "a blip on the economic radar" there were   
    LL> other factors that did much more damage.  Such as the   
      
    True.   
      
    LL> unfunded leave no child behind act, the unfunded wars in   
    LL> Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the unfunded prescription   
    LL> drug program for seniors.  How did Americans pay for all   
    LL> that?  We didn't. GWB borrowed those funds against future   
    LL> generations.  We could have our cake and eat it too.   
      
    Yep. And they complain about Obama who is trying to put the   
    economy back together again.   
      
    LL> Meanwhile, our kids and grandkids won't get any cake at   
    LL> all, as it will be all gone by the time they grow up and   
    LL> realize what we did.   
      
    Not if they do away with free trade and raise tax rates on the   
    rich.   
      
   BK>>Pat Buchanan is wrong about a lot of things, but he was right   
   BK>>about one thing. He said, "Perpetual war destroys democracies".   
      
    LL> Buchanan was also right about another thing - we need to   
    LL> make more babies.  Not really sure what his solution is for   
    LL> how to care for those babies once we are gone.  But then,   
    LL> folks who make babies really aren't concerned about how   
    LL> those babies are going to take care of themselves when they   
    LL> are actually making those babies ...   
      
    Yeah, they often are. Which is why they are making fewer babies   
    in this economy.   
      
    LL>>> And eight years later, when GWB finally left   
    LL>>> office, this country was so much in debt that it took a   
    LL>>> Democrat to quadruple our spending in order to keep us from   
    LL>>> going into another Great Depression.  And now, having won a   
      
   BK>>Spending went up to almost 25% of GDP under Bush. The deficit   
   BK>>went up to $1.6Trillion under Bush. Obama did not quadruple   
   BK>>that, he didn't increase it much if at all.   
      
    LL> Of course spending went up.  There was a war going on.   
    LL> Actually, there were two wars going on.  And then Bush lost   
    LL> an American city. The residents of America's Atlantis had   
    LL> to relocate.  Some of them to a military installation in   
    LL> Utah.  Not many black folks in Utah. Until after Katrina.   
    LL> :)   
      
    Smiley noted. Irony noted. Teeth gritting can be heard all the   
    way up here.   
      
    LL>>> second term, that same Democrat wants to do it again, thus   
    LL>>> leading this country to even greater heights than ever   
    LL>>> before...   
      
   BK>>All he has to do is get unemployment below 5% *real*. That is   
   BK>>also what he absolutely must do.   
      
    LL> FDR created projects so people could get back to work.   
    LL> GWB let God do the work, sending FEMA to clean up the mess.   
      
    Nice backhanded way to put it.   
      
    LL> Obama had a better idea, with his stimulus bill, cash for   
    LL> clunkers program, free phones for the homeless, and   
    LL> affordable (i.e. free) health care act.  For an encore, I   
    LL> expect Obama to make everything free, not just healthcare.   
      
    Nah, just make sure everybody has a job.   
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
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