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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (2599)	10/16/2000 2:09:04 AM
From: Zeev Hed	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10042

I think that you misinterpret Alan Greenspan, he would rather all surpluses go to reduce the debt (a mistake in my opinion), until the debt is more "manageable", probably half what it is now. AG is also very much against investing part of SS into the stock market, and I think he has that one quite correct. Why is it a mistake to pay down the debt as rapidly as possible? I think that budget surpluses much in excess of 1% to 2% have real negative economic implications. Historically , we have gone into recessions after such surpluses, and recessions are followed by budget deficits that are much greater than the surpluses in the "good years". May be the reasons for surpluses precipitating recessions is simply that surpluses occur when the economy is growing faster then normal and thus the old cycle of inventory retrenchment came into play. Personally, I think that very large surpluses syphon money from the economy. The government takes in more than it pays out, or in essence it is following a restrictive fiscal policy. If that "restrictive stand" is not too large (like 1% to 2% of the budget and thus a much smaller percentage of GDP), soft landing can be achieved, if the surplus is much greater, look below. One of the reasons I am worried about next year's market is that the surplus will probably exceed 2% of the budget. I am not sure where the gentle British economist (the story in a prior post) got his number of $30 B of treasuries being bought back, my calculations show that we have gone down by $100 B in the last 10 months (since 12/31/99) in the "public debt", thus the buy back must have been a solid $100 B, and that is a serious chunk of money to take out of the economy. Zeev irrevolute.iuma.com

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (2599)	10/16/2000 10:56:56 AM
From: TimF	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 10042

Ron, if the government did have surpluses that it "invested" in treasury bonds, and it didn't spend the money, might it just amount to a reduction in the money supply? The bond's eventually payback would amount to a promise to increase the money supply at some future date. In other words it would create deflationary pressure now and inflationary pressure at some point in the future. Tim

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (2599)	10/16/2000 1:08:06 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 10042

all, a "Must Read": WorldNet Daily CIA official: Gore compromised by secret past Says Russia has dossiers on VP's former drug use, Hammer connection -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's note: The following report on Vice President Al Gore's alleged past drug use, as well as his deep connections with Soviet operative Armand Hammer, was researched and written by native Tennessee reporters Charles C. Thompson II and Tony Hays. Thompson is a long-time veteran of network news, having been a founding producer of ABC's "20/20," as well as Mike Wallace's producer at CBS's "60 Minutes." His most recent book, "A Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion on the U.S.S. Iowa and Its Cover-Up," was released by W.W. Norton in Spring 1999. Hays is a veteran journalist who has written extensively on political corruption in Tennessee. Recently his 20-part series on narcotics trafficking received an award from the Tennessee Press Association. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Charles Thompson and Tony Hays © 2000, WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. According to a former high-ranking official in the CIA, Russian intelligence agencies possess thick dossiers concerning Al Gore's heavy usage of drugs three decades ago as well as his father's questionable dealings with Armand Hammer, a dedicated Soviet operative for 70 years. The CIA source, speaking to WorldNetDaily on condition of anonymity, has since the 1970s routinely advised American presidents, including President Clinton, on Russian intelligence. There is credible evidence, says the source, that these dossiers have already been employed to alter Gore's behavior on issues affecting Russia. As an example, he cited Gore's acquiescence to the corruption of former Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, who co-chaired a commission with Gore to encourage Americans to do business in Russia. Chernomyrdin accumulated from $1 billion to $5 billion in personal assets from the systematic looting of the Soviet state treasury during the time he co-chaired the commission with Gore. Republican presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush brought this exact point up during last week's second debate with Gore. "We went into Russia," said Bush. "We said, 'Here's some IMF money,' and it ended up in Viktor Chernomyrdin's pocket and (cont) worldnetdaily.com