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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Katherine Derbyshire who wrote (42992)	3/3/2001 6:01:12 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 70976

Re: >>There are many middle class people making decent incomes, yet are unable to save any money whatsoever. << Unable? Or unwilling? Unable Even most of the people who can "afford" luxury items such as SUV's are really cash starved. 91% of all Jaguar's on the road are leases, not outright purchases. Debt plays an increasingly major role in the lives of modern Americans, partly because of rampant consumerism, but also because of oenerous tax burdens. This ultimately is a question of whether one believes in Big Government or not. Government is by nature not as efficient as the private sector; it is horribly inefficient. How many people would even consider writing a check to the government on behalf of social programs? One would be a fool to even consider doing so over private charities already in operation, yet that is exactly what you would have us do by not going forward with tax cuts. BK

To: Katherine Derbyshire who wrote (42992)	3/3/2001 7:58:42 PM
From: Jerome	Respond to of 70976

yet are unable to save any money whatsoever This has been a complaint about Americans since the 50's. But some things did change . From 1940 through 1950 Americans bought huge amounts of Savings Bonds. A lot of folks in the 1950's lived through the Great Depression and they saved a lot, but not in banks. They didn't trust bank's because that's where they lost all their money in the first time. FDIC was a step in the right direction, but I recall the old folks talking and saying, "if you keep your money in the Bank, the Bank and the government know how much you got" I have come to the conclusion that savings, and prosperity, or the lack of it are unrelated to each other. Jerome

To: Katherine Derbyshire who wrote (42992)	3/3/2001 8:57:34 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 70976

OT re consumer spending and national savings rate: The best way to increase the overall savings rate is to put every penny of the surplus into debt reduction. This is a form of enforced savings. Thomas Jefferson recognized the danger, in a democracy, of the present (voting) generation spending on itself, at the expense of future (not yet voting) generations (who would be expected to pay back the debt, without getting any of the benefits). He said it was immoral for a government to get into debt, without paying it off within 17 years. Not "bad policy", or "not good for the economy", but immoral. For most of our history, we had zero federal debt. Small debts built up during depressions and wars would be paid off in the years right after the emergency. I'm not sure how Jefferson came up with his 17-year limit, but we are way over it now. Our generation is, as far as public fiscal policy, the most irresponsible, ever.