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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (487850)	6/13/2009 4:54:35 PM
From: Road Walker	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572910

What happened? They stopped investing in the port. It's the same story today in the US. We've allowed government and taxes to become dirty words, when they are 100%, at the baseline, responsible for our success. Could any of our great companies have been successful without the infrastructure, regulation and the rule of law of the US government? No way. The US government, going back to the constitution, allowed and enabled every part of our success. Regulation is GOOD. It allows smart people to work on a level playing field and succeed based on their talent. Funding government is GOOD. It allows the infrastructure that gives individuals and businesses the time to focus on their unique talents. I think the anti-government and anti-tax people are too dumb or too self righteous to realize everything they touch every day is regulated by government, and that's GOOD. Every day: They wake up in flame retardant clothing; They walk on carpet that is certified free of dangerous chemicals; They take a shower in water that is certified safe; They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner that is inspected and certified safe; They drive a car to work with mandated safety features; On roads cleared by government, with very strict laws and rules on speed, stop lights, etc; They work for companies that have to produce products to certain specifications so they know exactly what each competitor faces; Their office buildings and homes are safe because they are built to code; Their phones work because the government granted a monopoly to develop the system; The Internet works because the government sponsored it; Their drugs work and are safe because they are FDA approved; If there is a fire, they have a number to call; Their streets are patrolled by police to keep them safe; The country has a military to protect their borders; They have a State Department to help them if they get in trouble overseas; There are safety nets so homeless people are not a threat; They have a judicial system that puts bad people in jail; They have jails; Their kids are educated through 12 grade for free; They have snow removal; They have FEMA in a natural emergency; They have a nuclear arsenal that protects them; They have... ... ... ... ... ... (everything they touch is touched first by a very good government) These John Galt wanna be's are the most cuddled people in the history of the world, and all they do is whine about a few bucks in taxes. We ought to dump them as babies in Haiti. They would never have to pay taxes for infrastructure, never have to worry about the rule of law, and they could be truly independent John Galt types. Wish them well in their new every man for himself environment. I'm sure they would flourish.

To: combjelly who wrote (487850)	6/14/2009 11:49:23 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572910

A good case study of this effect is the city of Galveston. In the 1800s, it was one of the wealthiest cities in the country. Per capita, probably the wealthiest. It was the third busiest port in the country. Not only could they afford to rebuild after the Great Hurricane of 1900, they also raised the city by an average of 3 feet. And it has been very influential, some of the companies that were founded by Islanders are well known. American National Insurance, Borden's, Stewart Title and others. CA, esp LA but including SFO, is in the same league. When I moved to CA, SFO was still one of the major banking capitals of the country with several major national banks headquartered there including Bank of America. LA had a couple of major banks as well. I don't think there is one major bank headquartered in either SFO or LA at this point....with all the major losses occurring during the 1990s.