In challenging times, the past is a seductive distraction
My New Years Day column for the AJC:
A mere five years ago, the man who is now president was just an obscure freshman senator from Illinois; our governor was some congressman from Gainesville whose name nine out of 10 Georgians would not recognize. The national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent and your house was probably worth 40 percent more than it’s worth today.
Things change — they always have — but these days the pace of change has seemed to quicken. Maybe it’s the consequence of technology that compresses a generation’s worth of evolution into a few years of revolution. Or maybe it just feels that way, just as all of those who came before us felt buffeted by change in their own time. As participants rather than disinterested observers, we lack the perspective to really know.
Certainly, the world that many of us thought we knew and understood has been transformed in the last few years. In recent polls, only a third of Americans still say that our country’s best days are yet to come, and a majority have lost faith that our children will live better lives than we do. The economic affluence enjoyed by this country after World War II —- and the military dominance that flowed from it — feels strangely fragile and threatened.
To those who lived through the Great Depression and the horrors of a world war, that post-war affluence came as a pleasant surprise, and many knew better than to take it for granted. They had seen how it comes and goes and they didn’t trust it. As a result, they had a more accurate perspective than those of us who were raised on the idea that success was our natural birthright as Americans.
We are now faced with the realization that what we understood to be a permanent state of affairs may instead have been an aberration, a temporary product of temporary conditions. Faced with such circumstances, it is natural to seek out villains and to entertain doubts. If our affluence was testament to our nation’s strength, wisdom and goodness, as we were taught, what does its diminishment tell us? Does it mean that we have become less wise and less good? And if so, can we regain what was lost by trying to return to what we were, or what we thought we were?
Personally, it’s foolish to think in terms of “taking back America.” The path ahead is not behind us. If we are not the country that we used to be, good. We can be the country that we are going to be.
Although some may wish otherwise, the demographic, cultural, technological and economic changes of the past generation cannot be undone, and the worst thing we can do is waste time and energy trying to undo them anyway. The answers of the past apply to the problems of the past.
It is hard in a time of rapid, disorienting change to continue looking forward, to focus on what we plan to become rather than on what we used to be. As we jump from ice floe to ice floe, testing our agility, we may yearn for the days when we felt firm ground under our feet.
But that firm ground wasn’t all that firm after all.
– Jay Bookman
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611 comments Add your comment
Adam
December 30th, 2011
12:30 pm
RB: The discussion is about the sorry nature of the work ethic in the “less fortunate” class in this country.
No, it isn’t. That’s just the way YOU frame it. You assume all of the less fortunate have no work ethic because of your limited experience in hiring and firing. All the while making cheap arguments such as “I’ll ask them next time.” No, there are ways to find out and if you haven’t figured them out you should ask for help from someone who knows.
I also really appreciate you assuming I am not educated on this issue. You work for one industry and hire people in it, and from that you extrapolate out to every other industry and what the MUST be going through, all the while ignoring pretty sound advice that you should look at your hiring process if you keep getting crap workers. Don’t get me wrong, I hope you continue to NOT follow my advice because of how obvious it is that it would suck to work for you anyway, and by NOT following the advice you are sure to continue to have failures in your hiring process, leading these people to find work at much better opportunities later on.
His arrogance about it is quite annoying.
If you can’t take it, stop dishing it out.
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2011
12:31 pm
“Just think of the under-achievement and long-term economic circumstances that resulted from this one seemingly little federal intervention”
But your example was not a problem with federal intervention, it was an example of poor decision making by LOCAL entities.
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:32 pm
“Getaclue, go hump somebody else with your worthless drivel. You’re a waste of blog space.”
Bad attitude will never get you hired.
Perhaps you should change your attitude for 12 and you might get a job con.
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
12:32 pm
the good ole days werent so good for most folks
Billy Joel has the remedy, liberalefty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2pU0QJkMck
You know the good ole days weren’t always good
And tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems…..
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:32 pm
Looking forward, I am interested in how Obama is going to handle the Keystone pipeline in 60 days. With the sabre rattling in the Middle East, the price of oil is going to go up in 2012 and the fragile recovery could be destroyed with $5 gas.
The Keystone pipeline would have almost no effect on gas prices regardless of what Iran does. Unless Canada can produce enough oil to match their regular output AND compensate for Iran and any other decreases from OPEC countries, that pipeline is a pipe dream. Had the US went ahead with trying to advance alternative fuels decades ago, Iran’s threats would ring hollow. Instead, those who make the decisions made sure we stayed addicted to oil like $2 crack whores, and now we’re paying the price for lack of long term strategic planning.
lliberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:32 pm
everytime i think about the incompetent BUSH administration, i shudder at their sheer lunancy and stupidity
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
12:33 pm
Bruno: “How was the US government directly involved in the economy in those decades?? I don’t remember banks and automakers becoming government owned ala Bush and Obama. ”
The post-war economic situation was shaped by the massive government interventions of the war years, the military machine that enabled victory, the so-called “Military Industrial Complex” warned of by Eisenhower. So that’s the mighty defense industry. In addition, investments in the interhighway system, the development in computer networking that eventually led to the Internet, were other examples of PUBLIC dollars, not private, at work. In other words, they were examples of government intervention in the economy through spending on infrastructure, which we’re today told is impossible, unthinkable, and yet it was these very things that were key developments in the prosperity and growth of the economy of the 2nd half of the 20th C. An additional area of government intervention was in taxation. After all, these investments had to be paid for. Taxation rates in those decades heavily penalized wealth accumulation, a regime that has obviously been completely overturned in the decades since. In those days as your ‘earnings’ (I prefer to call it booty) went above a certain point, it increasingly was expropriated by the government and reinvested back into the society. That’s what made the safety net and widespread prosperity of those years possible, NOT the lack of intervention by the govmt.
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
12:33 pm
AmVet,
Gallup, but keep ranting.
lliberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:33 pm
i meant “lunacy”
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:35 pm
midtown guy
…but…but…that wasn’t on the liberal gay agenda…was it? Jeeeze, I need to start reading the memos…
lliberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:35 pm
SOUTHERN COMFORT
are u saying that the international oil cartel controls the worlds politics?
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:35 pm
josef
Check that 2nd 12:25 post. Seems like somebody else has been reading Gibbon lately.
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
12:36 pm
Southern Comfort@12:32
Blame the american consumer for it’s addiction to oil. Once again trying to find a fake bogeyman instead of the man/woman in the mirror.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:37 pm
are u saying that the international oil cartel controls the worlds politics?
Nope. OPEC controls oil prices. Our politicians have ensured we remain oil whores. We’re no different than crackheads trying to get to that next rock. The only difference is that our addiction is oil.
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:38 pm
We are addicted to oil because big oil money fights against alternatives and competition Steve.
Do you watch corrupt congress shilling for big oil?
It is truly disgusting.
Derek
December 30th, 2011
12:39 pm
Southern Comfort, at once that was so, we now export more oil than we import, GOVERNMENT controls prices of OIL, OUR OWN GOVERNMENT
RB from Gwinnett
December 30th, 2011
12:40 pm
Adam – “You assume all of the less fortunate have no work ethic because of your limited experience in hiring and firing.”
You call 20 years of hiring/firing “limited” experience Adam? Again, get out from behind the computer and go educate yourself. Any one of the companies I’ve listed will tell you EXACTLY the same thing. I guarantee it. I’ve asked Jay to share the comments from the restaurant owner he talked to maybe 10 times and he refuses. Why do you think that is? He knows damn well the man told him exactly what I’m telling you.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:40 pm
Steve
Are you saying the government is NOT a consumer of oil and oil related products? Think about the government vehicle fleet, military vehicles, and other oil products consumed by the government alone. Do you think that is not a large part of our oil consumption? Government workers are consumers as well. I blame the government because the Dept of Energy was supposed to be the agency responsible for curing our addiction to oil. I don’t recall a non-government consumer group tasked with the same job.
lliberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:40 pm
southern comfort
good point. it seems every presidential candidate for the past 3 decades have been preaching “energy independence”… until they get into the whitehouse.
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
12:40 pm
Immediately followed by austerity and cutbacks, before the budding recovery was allowed to grow to sustainable levels. In the 2000s, tax cuts and wars (at the same time) more than offset any supposed stimulus during those times.
Adam–FDR spent for more than 10 years without any cutbacks or austerity measures. It still didn’t work.
First of all, there is no “lack of immediate success,” there is direct and immediate and SUSTAINED failure as a result.
The austerity measures just went into effect. How does that equate to SUSTAINED failure??
Second, were you making the argument of “who expected immediate success?” when stimulus was introduced? Didn’t think so.
Of course not, my argument was the same then as it is now. Stimulus spending is, at best, of unproven economic benefit. At worst, it creates lasting debt with no measurable benefit at all ala the Cash For Clunkers Program.
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:41 pm
barton apologizing to BP was one of the worst I have seem Steve.
Did you watch him shill Steve?
Yes look in the mirror con.
You never hold your failed corrupt party accountable for anything.
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:41 pm
SoCo
Great minds! I was thinking the same thing…
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:41 pm
Derek
Got proof of that import/export statement? Concrete factual numbers please. In small denomination, non-sequential, un-marked bills if possible.
Bosch
December 30th, 2011
12:42 pm
Dang, one of the first thoughts I had today was how stupid and offensive the term “taking back America” was- words have meaning and this phrase always has negative connotations. For one thing, who are these people taking back the country from? Is it theirs alone to take? Why would you want to move backwards? The idea is so absurd on so many levels and simply demonstrates the fear so many have they are not in power and whose ideas are going by the wayside.
I’ve always preferred to move forward instead of looking back.
AmVet
December 30th, 2011
12:42 pm
I’ll just keep posting the data and you can just keep on…………………doing you ostrich routine.
In other words, DO NOT read the following if you are a neo-con…
Asked to rank the presidency of George W. Bush in comparison to those of the other 41 American presidents, more than 61 percent of the historians concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history. Another 35 percent of the historians surveyed rated the Bush presidency in the 31st to 41st category, while only four of the 109 respondents ranked the current presidency as even among the top two-thirds of American administrations.
“No individual president can compare to the second Bush,” wrote one. “Glib, contemptuous, ignorant, incurious, a dupe of anyone who humors his deluded belief in his heroic self, he has bankrupted the country with his disastrous war and his tax breaks for the rich, trampled on the Bill of Rights, appointed foxes in every henhouse, compounded the terrorist threat, turned a blind eye to torture and corruption and a looming ecological disaster, and squandered the rest of the world’s goodwill. In short, no other president’s faults have had so deleterious an effect on not only the country but the world at large.”
“With his unprovoked and disastrous war of aggression in Iraq and his monstrous deficits, Bush has set this country on a course that will take decades to correct,” said another historian. “When future historians look back to identify the moment at which the United States began to lose its position of world leadership, they will point—rightly—to the Bush presidency. Thanks to his policies, it is now easy to see America losing out to its competitors in any number of area: China is rapidly becoming the manufacturing powerhouse of the next century, India the high tech and services leader, and Europe the region with the best quality of life.”
One historian indicated that his reason for rating Bush as worst is that the current president combines traits of some of his failed predecessors: “the paranoia of Nixon, the ethics of Harding and the good sense of Herbert Hoover. . . . . God willing, this will go down as the nadir of American politics.” Another classified Bush as “an ideologue who got the nation into a totally unnecessary war, and has broken the Constitution more often than even Nixon. He is not a conservative, nor a Christian, just an immoral man . . . .” Still another remarked that Bush’s “denial of any personal responsibility can only be described as silly.”
“George Bush has combined mediocrity with malevolent policies and has thus seriously damaged the welfare and standing of the United States,” wrote one of the historians, echoing the assessments of many of his professional colleagues. “Bush does only two things well,” said one of the most distinguished historians. “He knows how to make the very rich very much richer, and he has an amazing talent for f**king up everything else he even approaches. His administration has been the most reckless, dangerous, irresponsible, mendacious, arrogant, self-righteous, incompetent, and deeply corrupt one in all of American history.”
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2011
12:42 pm
“Southern Comfort, at once that was so, we now export more oil than we import,”
got any proof of that?
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
12:43 pm
getalife@12:38 I will agree with you 50%.
I am tired though of the free pass the citizens of this country get though. Nobody is forced to drive a 15 MPG SUV, Live in a 4,000 sq. ft. house, keep their AC at 60 degree’s.
The people of this country need to take the lead and show a little reduction in excess consumption.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:44 pm
lliberalefty
If you listen to the actual words coming out of politicians mouths instead of trying to understand what they’re implying or meaning, they are all saying the same thing. When they get into office, it’s as though they never said a thing before their swearing in.
josef
I still think it should be required reading for all 300mil plus Americans now. Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:44 pm
Steve,
Your thoughts on profits over the planet and global warming con?
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:44 pm
SoCo
The oil companies? Remember this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Sisters-Great-Companies-Shaped/dp/0553242377
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
12:44 pm
Do you know what yellow journalism means?
Is that when the dog pees on the newspaper??
Bosch
December 30th, 2011
12:45 pm
SoCo
Yeah, people forget that the government is the largest consumer of goods and services in this country- and in our consumer driven economy, why in the world would you want to cut the power of a consumer to buy things?
Derek
December 30th, 2011
12:45 pm
Government artificially keeps prices of Milk, Corn, Automobiles and textiles high in order to satisfy different unions and others. Thats why we don’t build any more refineries in strategic places or why were not running cars on hydrogen.There currently is a glut of milk and oil, why aren’t the prices lower. Why was gas at $1.79 a gallon when Obama took office and about $3.20 today? Thats why instead of lowering ceral and grain prices, They keep buying corn for use in fuels, which damages engines and keeps grain prices up! Get informed people!
Dusty
December 30th, 2011
12:45 pm
NORMAL,
Bush went to Texas but he was born in New England. Obama was born in Hawaii but was in Indonesia by the time he was in elementary school. Both of them went on vacation where they wanted to go. For real!
Of course presidents are due vacations. But if you are going to say the country is broke and must have continuous stimulus money to help poor Americans, it might be a good idea to act a bit like a THRIFTY understanding president.
You liberals are the ones hollering for more money for “suffering” Americans. I just wonder when you are going to start worrying about the debt that the President is adding to everyday in every way..
I repeat:”the president is driving those golfballs for you POOR POOR Americans!” Enjoy!
Now I depart to pack away Christmas ornaments. (No, getalife, I am not running away. Just getting BUSY!)
RB from Gwinnett
December 30th, 2011
12:45 pm
Adam – “Don’t get me wrong, I hope you continue to NOT follow my advice ”
Why would anybody follow your adivice, Adam. Everybody who has hired people for 20 years knows you are clueless. There are many things you can learn in an interview, but no interview process is 100% accurate and asking a person if they tend to show up on time, have car trouble that keeps them from coming to work twice a month, have 8-10 grandmothers who tend to die often, or have dentist appointments they forgot about monthly is not going to get you anywhere. And as was already pointed out to you once, a previous employer is not legally allowed to share that information with you.
But you keep making excuses for them, Adam, cause thats what liberals do.
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
12:45 pm
getalife,
Not my party but keep getting all that anger out. It will be good for you in the long run.
Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
12:46 pm
Looks like this is the hang out for all stinking hippies in their Birkenstocks. Facts are facts, we are not better off then we were 3 years ago, Obama is clearly in over his head, and he will make it worse if re-elected. He has no record to run on, he constantly rips Americans when he can, but yet he has done nothing to improve America. Name one thing he has done for America, not to America. #LiberalsSuck
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:47 pm
“Is that when the dog pees on the newspaper??”
Funny, no it he he said she said journalism to create conflict for ratings.
wolf blitzer is the king of yellow journalism.
cnn can quote me on this fact.
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:47 pm
BOSCH
Heard your name, eh? So,, how’s business…making Ms B work on her sorry-low-down-good-for-nothing gubmint employee time off?
SoCo
Much agreed on that as required reading…
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:48 pm
Steve,
No anger here.
Just my opinion.
Dusty
December 30th, 2011
12:48 pm
AMVET,
The VA hospital is open weekends. They can help with hallucinations.
Bill Campbell
December 30th, 2011
12:48 pm
Obama is destroying the USA! He is the worst President in American History!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
12:49 pm
getalife,
So you think the American consumer has nothing to do with consumption? As I said earlier I agreed with what you said about politicians and oil companies (remember I said 50%). My point is that we have to take an active roll in consuming less. It is to easy to always blame someone else.
Understand?
They BOTH suck
December 30th, 2011
12:49 pm
Josef and Dusty
When Bush became President I let some of my friends who voted for him that the ranch in Crawford was nothing more than a way to show “middle America” he was just like them….
Even though he bought it in 1999 as he was running for President my friends laughed and laughed an called me a cynic…………..
He wasn’t even out of office and before you know it, he had shunned the “costume” (wranglers, texas ties and boots) for his Armani suits, loafers and country club home outside of Dallas…. where he resides today
I do not begrudge Bush for living of Daddy’s money….. he can live where he wants…. it is just so funny how his backers adored him when they showed the photo ops of him driving a truck………
He probably hasn’t been back and couldn’t even tell you how to get to Crawford
Republicans do not like Hollywood but will fall for an “act” in a split second
Derek
December 30th, 2011
12:49 pm
AMVET Ohhh and for AMvet , Bush 2 was not the only Bad President, Carter was horrible, thank god he was only one term and the current President isn’t far behind. Has no understanding how a FREE market should work and wants government involved in everything. As a amvet you should understand the danger of this, sic my previous post. Please study history after taking several different types of economic courses….
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:50 pm
Make that it is he said she said.
Oops.
Bosch
December 30th, 2011
12:51 pm
Josef
I think I read 4 posts above my first post – I hope my name in the conversation was good – yeah business is good – had some up and downs, but it’s a fun learning experience and of course I’m making the OB work!! No lazy slouchers here!!
lliberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:51 pm
DUSTY
WHY do u conservatives frown on tHIS president taking vACATIONS? matter of fact u people have a hissy fit if u see him enjoying himself. it couldnt be because of his race could it?
osama
December 30th, 2011
12:53 pm
bill campbell
ok
GT/MIT
December 30th, 2011
12:54 pm
josef:
In the engineering business most of the larger contracts involve government either directly or government funding, so to go elsewhere isn’t a viable option. If my comment lead you to believe that there was no profit in these contracts, then I failed to communicate my point. To shunt the contractual requirements of who, what, when, and where, it was necessary to hire to their guide lines then stack with exceptionally talented engineers, problem solved. To rebut the standard argument that you should hire talented engineers that fit the guide lines, I can only say that one can only hire from those that apply. In the end it is the taxpayers who bear the brunt of this misapplication of law and regulation.
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:54 pm
Disgusted
Am I better off than three years ago?
Yes.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2011
12:54 pm
Bosch
You know that the government is just a money absorbing green blob that’s locked away in the basement of the White House. Everybody in DC is just under some kind of mind control shenanigans to keep feeding the blob.
josef
Pulling up books like that is gonna get your name put on one of those lists…
liberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:55 pm
disgusted 12:46
please show us where OBAMA has ripped AMERICA…
getalife
December 30th, 2011
12:55 pm
Steve,
Remember Carter warning about our addiction to oil and gas lines?
The truth is big oil won the arguments and nothing changed until now.
We have electric cars and higher gas mileage cars among other new technologies.
We are just starting to change and Americans think it will happen overnight.
No, Americans should conserve but don’t expect sudden change.
Corey
December 30th, 2011
12:55 pm
Riddle me this. Why did the Republican party hide G.W. Bush, the leader of their party, during the last Republican National Convention? Did it have something to do with his 27% approval rating? That action alone speaks volumes about their mentality. They will gladly eat their own including the leader of their party to save face.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
12:55 pm
RB: You call 20 years of hiring/firing “limited” experience Adam? Again, get out from behind the computer and go educate yourself. Any one of the companies I’ve listed will tell you EXACTLY the same thing. I guarantee it.
First of all, yes it is still limited. It’s like saying you know all about every scientific subject because you have a Ph.D. in a particular scientific discipline. Or some other such analogy. The limit is not time spent, it’s time spent ON WHAT. You have a narrow focus because you are limited to the scope of who you are hiring and firing and what the business is. The same principles do NOT apply everywhere.
As for going to talk to Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc, what exactly do you think is going to happen when I start asking managers questions? They are just going to open up to me and tell me everything? I’m not the press, and would likely not get answers to most of my questions even if I was.
Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
12:56 pm
Yes Liberallefty, it is because of his race. Don’t you know, everything is because he is a black president. I love his policies, but because he is a black man, I can’t support him. And I will not vote for him again because he is black. BTW, I didn’t know black folks went to Hawaii.
RB from Gwinnett
December 30th, 2011
12:57 pm
Good to see we have some stern new regulations on the way for golf carts to have better braking systems, hip restraints, and several other safety measures.
Guess we have to stem the overwhelming tide of golf cart accidents and deaths, eh? I wonder if any of the tools involved in this realize these things will make them cost prohibitive to be used as the transportation they think they’re going to be better for? Acually, it makes me wonder if they think at all.
theyeshaveit
December 30th, 2011
12:57 pm
Well, has it taken us this long to realize what’s happening? As long ago as 1970, Alvin Toffler had just published his best seller, Future Shock. In that seminal work, he posited that our society was moving so quickly through profound technological and social change that before one could adapt to the changes one would be “shocked” by them.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
12:58 pm
Hmm, Mitt Romney won’t release his tax returns…. Wasn’t someone the other day saying how suspicious that would be if he did that, and that they were SURE that he would not refuse to release them?
I don’t happen to agree, but I do find it interesting.
Bosch
December 30th, 2011
12:58 pm
Oh I see now! Hi getalife – yeah apparently I started the wrong kind of business – I actually have to work!!
Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
12:58 pm
liberalefty
December 30th, 2011
12:55 pm
please show us where OBAMA has ripped AMERICA…
Well, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we are lazy. He might think so, but then again, he has never held a job in the private sector in his life.
Bosch
December 30th, 2011
12:59 pm
Speaking of… Happy New Years!! Hi ho hi ho… Off to work!! Later folks!!
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
12:59 pm
Disgusted: “Looks like this is the hang out for all stinking hippies in their Birkenstocks. Facts are facts, we are not better off then we were 3 years ago, Obama is clearly in over his head, and he will make it worse if re-elected”
What on earth makes you think that this president has the slightest thing to do with “liberals” ? (Hint: Limbaugh and Hannity assertions to the contrary mean nothing.)
And you really think any of these clowns on the GOP side would not be “in over their head”? (With possible exception of Gingrich.) Now THAT is a laugh.
The Real Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
1:00 pm
That 12:46 post is not mine.
Derek
December 30th, 2011
1:01 pm
libeallefty, wasn’t just Obama , but why was gas $1.79 when he took office and three years later its now $3.20? That is strange since we export more than we import now! Also Bush was involved , but why were we dumping money to save privbate industries (ie: GM). The process is , if a company can’t make it, file for bankruptcy, and a company that big won’t go away, it’ll restructure and come out a leaner more effiecient company. It’s happended to many big companies in the past. Steel, Cotton, Railroad, Textile all have gone through bankrupticies and either came back more sucessful or changed their business model. We don’t nee the government involved in everything. tharts ripping america, AND JOSEF hows your 401K or TSP doing these last 3 years compared to the 3 years before, and before you answer , I am a stockbroker
Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
1:01 pm
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:54 pm
Am I better off than three years ago?
Yes.
Well, then you are 1 of 3 things. Either a government worker, unemployed, or a damn liar. The ONLY folks who say they are better off are the stupid liberals that support his sorry a$$.
Steve - USA
December 30th, 2011
1:02 pm
I don’t have to remember Carter saying it, I pumped gas to put myself through college and saw the fights in line (odd/even days) with my own eyes.
The fact of the matter is that Americans have consistently and repeatedly turned their backs on higher MPG vehicles over the years. The automakers just build what people will buy.
theyeshaveit
December 30th, 2011
1:02 pm
Adam,
What does anyone expect to learn from Romney’s tax return? That he is sitting on a lot of moolah? Surprise!
josef
December 30th, 2011
1:03 pm
GT
Got one for you. My sister-in-law is the personnel director of their engineering firm (lotta government contracting, lotta kvetching and lotta shekels!). She was pulling her hair out over a “requirement” for x number of American Indians, sensible and rational given the project on which they were bidding. She called her Mama and was telling her she had to find at least one more Indian and was having no luck in the files or applications. Her Mama says,”did you count yourself?” “Well, no.” “Ninny, you’re and enrolled CDIB Cherokee…” “Oh, you’re right. I didn’t think of that.” See, to count as an Indian it’s not just enough to say you are, gotta have that CDIB card! But, I guess you already knew that.
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2011
1:04 pm
“That is strange since we export more than we import now! ”
got any proof of that?
Normal
December 30th, 2011
1:05 pm
Dusty
December 30th, 2011
12:45 pm
The above is classic Dusty. Read and understand her…
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
1:07 pm
they were examples of government intervention in the economy through spending on infrastructure, which we’re today told is impossible, unthinkable, and yet it was these very things that were key developments in the prosperity and growth of the economy of the 2nd half of the 20th C.
Welcome–I’m all for needed infrastructure repairs, that’s a legitimate government function. And if it produces some jobs which add to the economy as an unintended side effect, that’s fine. But, transposing the purpose of infrastructure repair into some kind of economic management tool to be used by central planners leads to trouble, as the historical record shows.
The post-war economic situation was shaped by the massive government interventions of the war years, the military machine that enabled victory, the so-called “Military Industrial Complex” warned of by Eisenhower.
Ditto for military spending.
Taxation rates in those decades heavily penalized wealth accumulation, a regime that has obviously been completely overturned in the decades since. In those days as your ‘earnings’ (I prefer to call it booty) went above a certain point, it increasingly was expropriated by the government and reinvested back into the society. That’s what made the safety net and widespread prosperity of those years possible, NOT the lack of intervention by the govmt.
Though it’s easy to prove that we had less income disparity in the 50s than now, I think it’s foolish to claim that people then were more prosperous than now. The standard of living for all people right now, even at the bottom, is far better than 60 years ago. All boats DO rise with the rising tide.
F. Sinkwich
December 30th, 2011
1:08 pm
“What on earth makes you think that this president has the slightest thing to do with “liberals” ? ”
Uh, ’cause he are one?
josef
December 30th, 2011
1:08 pm
Disgusted…
I’ll forego the silly name calling here…I am a government employee among other things…there my wages have been frozen for six years. But my portfolio has done more than well enough to make up for that…
RB from Gwinnett
December 30th, 2011
1:09 pm
Adam “As for going to talk to Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc, what exactly do you think is going to happen when I start asking managers questions? They are just going to open up to me and tell me everything? I’m not the press, and would likely not get answers to most of my questions even if I was.”
So, thats the reason you’re going to go with for being uneducated? Really??? It’s much easier to just bury your head in the sand and pretend isn’t it? Do us all a favor, Adam, stick to blogging about subjects you don’t absolutely refuse to educate yourself about.
20 years experience is “limited”. Hahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!! That’s a good ome!!!
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2011
1:11 pm
“Uh, ’cause he are one?”
Not by a long shot
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2011
1:11 pm
SoCo -
Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
—————————————————
So I take it you are voting for the Nutster?
Welcome to the Occupation
December 30th, 2011
1:13 pm
Sinkwich: “Uh, ’cause he are one?”
Ok, good. But then, on account of how this ‘liberal’ loves him some drones, picks off terrorists of his choosing like a sniper on a rooftop (dispensing w/bedwetter rule of law niceties), practices state secrecy on a level even Mr. Cheney could get behind, believes the private sector is where ‘real’ job creation takes place (’always has, always will’, I believe he said in Kansas), helped his Blue Dogs friends tank the public option in the health care fight — the list goes on and on, you get the drift — I believe we can agree maybe that we’ve whittled the meaning of “liberal” down to a point to where it’s all but meaningless, no?
That Black guy
December 30th, 2011
1:16 pm
md
December 30th, 2011
10:49 am
I get what you are saying. When I lost my job, the first thing to go were the pay channels (HBO, Showtime, ect…), then cable all together. I watched the news on the local channels.
This past Tuesday I called my neice since I hadn’t talked to her since the prior Friday when she had a Christmas party. I asked her what she was doing, she said sitting on the floor getting blazed (for the uncool that means smoking weed). I asked her if she was ok, she said she was depressed becausr her car had been repo’ed overnight. The first thought in my mind was “you don’t have money to pay your car note, but you have enough to buy weed and liqour?”. They don’t repo your car if you are 15 days late (in most cases) so this had been an issue for weeks.
Some people put wants ahead of needs.
Granny Godzilla
December 30th, 2011
1:16 pm
Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
1:01 pm
josef
December 30th, 2011
12:54 pm
Am I better off than three years ago?
Yes.
Well, then you are 1 of 3 things. Either a government worker, unemployed, or a damn liar. The ONLY folks who say they are better off are the stupid liberals that support his sorry a$$.
I take issue with this
Yes, I remain proudly a supporter of President Obama and yes we are better off that we were 3 years ago.
No lies, no government work, employed and an employer.
We will never get back that which we lost in Mr. Bush’s recession, but
stuff happens….and we are grown ups so we keep right on working.
I am sorry if you are worse off than you were 3 years ago. Perhaps
you made some poor choices.
josef
December 30th, 2011
1:17 pm
SoCo
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=Sir%20Claus%20Moser&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3ASir%20Claus%20Moser&page=1
carlosgvv
December 30th, 2011
1:17 pm
Every year at this time we look back at the old year and say “good riddance”. And then, we look foward to the new year with hope. What was it that Einstein said about doing the same thing over and over with the same results and yet expecting this time to be different?
Back Seater
December 30th, 2011
1:18 pm
AmVet
December 30th, 2011
9:34 am
Are you related to the Hororable Jeramah Wright?
Disgusted
December 30th, 2011
1:18 pm
josef
December 30th, 2011
1:08 pm
I am a government employee
Nailed that one, but can’t say I am surprised. Why not try to ask some of us that REALLY work out here in the private sector if we are better today then we were 3 years ago.
Here in the real world where Obama doesn’t have a whole lot of friends, we don’t get raises, have to deal with constant stress of lay-offs, and our health care costs are rising. We also must abide by ridiculous government regulations that have hampered the way we do business today, and we have lost our competitive edge that we had before Bozo took office. The damage this community organizer has done to the free market place will be felt for years after he is gone.
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
1:19 pm
good point. it seems every presidential candidate for the past 3 decades have been preaching “energy independence”… until they get into the whitehouse.
getalife, SC, and liberalefty–The reason we are “dependent” on oil is that it still remains the cheapest source of energy. No corporate conspiracies or lack of government intervention are at fault. It’s simply the pace of scientific advancement and the realities of economics at work. You can bet your bottom dollar that a lot of bright people are working hard on solar, fusion, etc. Whoever can come up with the patent on a cheaper energy source is going to be one rich MF.
The bottom line is that necessity is the mother of invention, not the other way around.
Granny Godzilla
December 30th, 2011
1:21 pm
Oh and disgusted…
got a raise and a bonus again this year…..
You might want to get out more or increase your circle of aquaintance.
Adam
December 30th, 2011
1:21 pm
RB: So, thats the reason you’re going to go with for being uneducated? Really??? It’s much easier to just bury your head in the sand and pretend isn’t it? Do us all a favor, Adam, stick to blogging about subjects you don’t absolutely refuse to educate yourself about.
1) I am more than happy to do exactly this. But 2) You already know the kind of response I will get. Which is exactly why you put the challenge out there. You know that I won’t get answers and you know it’s a fruitless exercise, and you can conveniently use my pointing this out to claim falsely that I am “uneducated.” It also further feeds into your pre-existing belief that most everyone is beneath you in the first place. Again, that’s exactly the point of making such ridiculous challenges.
But make no mistake, I will definitely be pursuing this and I’ll release the results here. But don’t expect it to be particularly enlightening, or confirm your views. It will be tough to get answers in the first place but hey, why not?
20 years experience is “limited”. Hahahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!! That’s a good ome!!!
You obviously didn’t read my reasoning.
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2011
1:23 pm
“The bottom line is that necessity is the mother of invention, not the other way around”
I’ve never agreed with this. It’s laziness that is the mother of invention. If we weren’t essentially lazy creatures we would still be hunting with our bare hands and living in caves. It’s is the drive to make things be LESS WORK that drives invention, not necessity.
RAMZAD
December 30th, 2011
1:23 pm
Obama’s vacation is a problem for right wing fanatics for the same reasons that day offs for slaves were a problem back on the plantation.
Why are people failing to realize that the Republican Tea Party sees Obama with the same mentality as slave owners- the slave running the plantation?
These people will never get over their racist predilections. It is the disease that each of them will take to their graves. To them Obama is not legit. He is an American political accident, and God
dealt them a dose of poison in the outrage- Obama is black!!!
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2011
1:24 pm
RB – I would suggest you head to the Lilburn Walmart when you need to pick up some new workers.
Lots of illegals to pick from there. They are used to low wages and being treated like crap.
If they give you a SS card don’t look too closely at the name just e-verify that it is a valid SS#.
There, your problem is solved at no cost
Adam
December 30th, 2011
1:24 pm
That Black Guy: Some people put wants ahead of needs.
Addiction is a powerful and sad thing. I would bet most people put some wants ahead of some needs, but I wager plenty of people have a set of priorities that a lot of other people don’t agree with, but they are doing fine anyway.
JohnW
December 30th, 2011
1:24 pm
Yea, the 50’s were indeed great. My Father returned from WWII, used the GI Bill to complete college and could only job he could get was in Maintenance (janitor) for the government. How we long for those days (right Newt).
Bruno
December 30th, 2011
1:25 pm
I am a government employee
Disgusted–In josef’s case, I’m not so sure you can completely rule out the “liar” possibility either.
josef
December 30th, 2011
1:26 pm
Disgusted
You’re not the brightest star in the constellation, are you? I said that as a government employee my wages have been frozen for six years….I’m better off because my portfolio has done well…three years ago, had to do some quick dance steps, but they paid off and I’m better off now than then…
I’m not about to claim there aren’t millions suffering. There are. But you wanted to know if I was better off, and I am.
larry
December 30th, 2011
1:26 pm
We also must abide by ridiculous government regulations that have hampered the way we do business today
Im so tired hearing about these so called reguations hampering businesses. But when you ask them for the regulation that is killing their business, they go uh , umm , mmmm, i dunno. But regulations is killing my business.
Doggone/GA
December 30th, 2011
1:26 pm
“got a raise and a bonus again this year…..”
So did I
liberalefty
December 30th, 2011
1:26 pm
hey DUSTY
still waiting for link that u claim OBAMA rips AMERICA
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 30th, 2011
1:27 pm
Obama is black!!!!!
—————————-
Dammit I keep forgetting that (note to self Obama is black).
Granny Godzilla
December 30th, 2011
1:27 pm
Doggone
Congratulations!
Feels good doesn’t it?