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Politics : Bush-The Mastermind behind 9/11? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: twmoore who wrote (11734)	10/4/2005 7:29:16 AM
From: Don Earl	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20039

Off topic. The article is false to fact right out of the gate. To the best of my knowledge, the so called trade deficit does not take into account, in any way, shape or form, the fact that the majority of the goods we "import" are being produced off shore in US factories. It's not the least bit uncommon for a company to "export" raw materials to their off shore factory, where they use cheap labor and receive big tax breaks, only to "import" the finished goods to the US. There are also plenty of companies which set up factories in their foreign markets where the US goods being sold never see the US and are never "exported" as a result. There are more than a few so called "market indicators" that are completely useless as a real world picture of economic conditions, as they are hopelessly out of date as far as what they are intended to describe is concerned. The trade deficit numbers are one of those. In the 1950s an American car was made in America, today an American car may not even be assembled in the US, and even if it is, the parts come from US factories all over the world. I think you'd have an equally difficult time making the case on oil imports as the majority of that is being operated by US companies as well. The bottom line is the trade deficit numbers are an attempt to describe economic conditions that haven't existed for half a century. If there's something to be worried about, it's the amount of tax money going into producing obsolete reports every month. We live in a world economy, largely dominated by US companies. Tracking the money only at the US boarder is pure foolishness. I can't help but wonder if those writing articles of the subject are trying to work their way up to a staff position with the Weekly World News.

To: twmoore who wrote (11734)	10/4/2005 7:42:08 AM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 20039

OT twmoore, thanks for that piece which I agree with. IMO, however, the argument has moved further than merely exposing the iniquities of the present US administration and the precarious US economy -- the questions to be asked are, "Why? Why do the American people tolerate a government which is so rotten? And, indeed, why do they tolerate a situation which is so contrary to their own best interest?" The answer is because it suits them to. Because they actually believe what is going on is in their own best interest. One may not agree with this argument but there has to be a ring of truth to it. In fact, if it wasn't so the Americans would surely be doing something about their predicament because things can only get worse? xymphora.blogspot.com >>The dirty secret of American politics is that most Americans, including those who like to think of themselves as progressive or leftist or liberal, actually like the policies of the Republican Party. They will swear up and down that it is not true, but you can see it with your own eyes. They like using American power to murder a few rag-heads to save a few dollars on filling the tank of their SUVs (even if the attack on Iraq has actually resulted in an increase in the cost of gas!). They fear reduction in their property values if the American Empire, fueled by control of cheap energy, starts to crumble. They enjoy paying less taxes, and don't mind the injustices of the accompanying reduction in social welfare (they secretly resent their hard-earned money going to 'welfare queens'). They still fear Willie Horton, even if they can't quite remember who he is (the traditional Republican pandering to racism now takes the form of the 'war on terror', another secret love of liberals). Crooked computer voting machines allow them to maintain their political illusions of being progressive. They can continue to vote Democrat or even Green, happy in the knowledge that some Diebold technician is working diligently to ensure that the Republicans are reelected regardless of how the votes are cast. You can be a racist, selfish, stupid, war-mongering pig, just like the red-neck crackers that you so despise, and still maintain the illusion that your politics is as pure as the driven snow. The Right likes a corrupt voting system because it keeps the Republicans in power; the Left likes a corrupt voting system because it allows them to feel good about themselves and their virtuous voting, while ensuring that such virtuous voting doesn't put a stop to the worst of the Republican policies. The reason Americans use crooked computer voting machines is that everybody likes them. And that's why the Democrats are so dumb.<<