Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: THE WATSONYOUTH who wrote (657925)	6/8/2012 10:28:24 AM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1578480

Big Labor and others grasped years ago that with an efficient and effective ground game, they could catapult their supporters into office. They won thousands of elections with union dues and union members pounding the pavement. Then without regard to the majority’s ability to pay, negotiated contract after contract that today are bankrupting governments across the country. After all, people with bad ideas and great organization will often beat people with great ideas and bad organization. The Left’s approach to organizing has relegated America’s once powerful private sector to a position subservient to a growing number of government institutions. However, what we saw in the weeks leading up to the Wisconsin recall was the makings of a pitched battle between that vaunted labor union ground game against the Tea Party movement as the Tea Party moved from simply protesting to actually organizing. Here in lies a key lesson from Wisconsin. For too long conservatives have given themselves false assurance that good ideas alone win. They do not. However, ideas powered by effective and efficient on the ground organization can, and will, win time and time again.

To: THE WATSONYOUTH who wrote (657925)	6/9/2012 8:33:59 AM
From: FJB	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578480

The Deficit Is Even Worse Than You Thought May 25, 2012 The federal deficit is worse -- much worse -- than you may think. That's because there's government-style accounting, which reported an official deficit in the last budget year of $1.3 trillion. Then there's real-world accounting, the kind that applies to businesses and state and local governments. By federal law and under accounting rules set by oversight boards, most entities have to include retirement commitments in their financial records. But Congress and the president use a different set of rules (of course), so shortfalls in obligations such as Social Security and Medicare aren't included in the official deficit report. USA Today, however, calculated the deficit with entitlement programs included. And the newspaper found -- are you ready, for this? Best hold on to something firm -- that the actual deficit last year was $5 trillion. There's more -- and you really should sit down for this one. To cover the promises it has made to retirees and current workers, the federal government would need $22.2 trillion (yes, that's with a T) set aside in reserves and earning interest. Such reserves don't exist, of course. Instead, the government continues to pile up more debt, and at increasingly alarming rates. Now some apologists for deficit spending try to downplay these types of warnings. The federal government, they argue, can do things that others can't. It can, for example, print money -- lots of it. But there's also a consequence that tends to kick in when the government increases the overtime budget at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. A wicked inflation rate, the result of flooding the market with more dollars, would help tame the debt, but it also would inflict considerable pain on lots of ordinary Americans. The government also can break ("bend" would be the more polite word here) its promises. "It's not easy, but it can be done," Jim Horney, a staff member of a liberal think tank, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told USA Today. "Retirement programs are not legal obligations." Now doesn't that make you feel better? The government doesn't really have to send you the Social Security checks you've calculated into your retirement plans. If that prospect doesn't satisfy you, this would be a good time -- in an election year -- to look for candidates who are serious about forcing the government to finally get serious about fiscal responsibility. indystar.com

To: THE WATSONYOUTH who wrote (657925)	6/9/2012 3:59:03 PM
From: FJB	1 Recommendation Respond to of 1578480

Rick Perry booed at Texas GOP convention Published: 2:00 PM 06/07/2012 Read more: dailycaller.com Texas Gov. Rick Perry was booed at the state GOP convention Thursday when he mentioned his support for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s candidacy for Senate. “We need more conservatives in Texas, and we need more conservative Texans in Washington, D.C., including my friend David Dewhurst,” Perry said, to boos from the crowd. Dewhurst is facing former state Solicitor General Ted Cruz in a run-off election for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Cruz has largely drawn support from more conservative elements of the party. The Associated Press described the boos as “long and sustained.” The run-off election will be held on July 31. After a poor performance in the Republican presidential primaries, punctuated by embarrassing gaffes, Perry’s approval rating in Texas dropped to an all-time low. A January poll found that a majority of Texans did not want Perry to seek a fourth term in 2014.