Quote from Dragonfiremule
Hey y'all, so there's a presidential debate going on right now.
This is actually my first presidential debate; I haven't voted before, nor cared, but decided to try it and vote this year. I'm not really sure what to think about it. I was under the impression that Obama was an excellent speaker, but ...
The debates are about as real as WWE wrestling. They're very scripted and restrictive. In Romney's case, this works out well for him. I had to stop watching after Romney tried to claim that A. Insurance costs were going up under Obamacare (I find it hilarious since it is based entirely on Romney's baby in Massachusetts,) which is completely false as insurance companies take on no additional costs from the system. and B. That twenty million -more- people would be uninsured under the system. It's such complete bogus that I couldn't handle it. You could just see Obama shaking his head, trying not to blast the bullshit. Alas, they're the presidential debates. It's a spectacle for the American populace, and the President isn't allowed to call out blatant lies veiled by, "Well we conducted a study--" just who conducted that study? The Heritage Foundation? HA.
I just wish a candidate would throw his cards in the air and turn it into a real, proper debate. Not a scripted one. We're talking a full on debate with criticisms, fact-checks, rebuttals, etc. But most of all, fact-checks. I want to know who did what study. I want to know about counter studies. I want it to be stated that the Congressional Budget Office (a bi-partisan regulatory agency) has made it clear that the Affordable Health Care Act will -save- this country money over the next ten years along with making sure everyone is insured.
The real debate will be between Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly.
Quote from StaticHD
Unless we raise taxes, this country will go bankrupt without a doubt. I'm a graduate of Economics. My second year Econ prof was a devout Keynesian. Yet as much as he loved Keynes work, he preached something that I'll never forget... something Keynes himself argued:
A stimulus is like an anti-biotic. It is meant to rejuvenate a failing system. It is meant to provide confidence where it is lacking. It works, because the economy is a living organism. It doesn't work because it's some magic medicine that -actually- revitalizes spending. It works because it is a placebo of magic medicine. It has no actual magic power, but people think it does, and therefore it works by giving people confidence.
If you keep taking that placebo, however, it is no longer a stimulant. The economy becomes dependent on it to function. It becomes addicted. Within a month of one stimulus ending, people already clamor for more. It's ridiculous. But this dependency doesn't actually boost the economy, it keeps us afloat--yet we sink ever more into debt with each one. Stimulants are not the answer anymore. They were effective when people had never used one before. Now they do not have the same psychological impact on the economy--though the impact on our country's debt remains ever the same.
Reagan's legacy to this country is a debt that has never been zeroed. He was a huge proponent of Keynesian economics, yet he never understood them. This is the result. If we keep repeating the mistakes of the past, rather than biting the bitter pill (the real medicine,) the United States is doomed economically... Though I'm more worried about the other policies the GOP wants to pursue (reinstatement of the draft to facilitate war with Iran/North Korea?)
Last edited by Spawnblade at 8:51 pm, Oct 3 2012
