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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Lokness who wrote (210717)	12/6/2012 2:01:30 PM
From: cosmicforce	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 543262

One of my impediments to being what opponents call "liberal" is that I think it is unsustainable to simply spend and spend. The party of easy money has to end, but I've been wrong on this point for better part of 20 years. We refinanced what was left on our house for 3 1/4 percent for the next 15 years. So I'm with you on the deficit reduction - in principle - however, the reason this financial screw up hasn't become the 1930's Depression is IMO precisely because of the spending. I'm unhappy that there have been no perpetrator walks by the bankers who tried to get returns of 15% a year from fraudulent banking activity. Traditionally returns had been about twice inflation, not five times inflation. But, the deficit is not my major worry. We need to have the agencies come back with aggressive plans for reducing overhead and increasing efficiency with employee bonuses for doing so. That is the low hanging fruit. And most of all, we need to quit acting militarily when our lives are at stake less so than the risk from heart disease and other major killers of Americans. Even 9/11 produced a fraction of the deaths that we suffered from other causes that year. Want to make America safe? Provide good health care and incentives for lifestyle changes. Top 15 Causes of Death 1. Heart Disease 2. Cancer 3. Stroke 4. Chronic Lung Disease 5. Accidents 6. Alzheimer's 7. Diabetes 8. Influenza and Pneumonia 9. Nephritis/Kidney Disease 10. Blood Poisoning 11. Suicide 12. Liver Disease 13. Hypertension/Renal 14. Parkinson's Disease 15. Homicide

To: Steve Lokness who wrote (210717)	12/6/2012 2:05:18 PM
From: Wharf Rat	1 Recommendation Respond to of 543262

"left...thinks all we have to do is outlast the republicans and tax the bastards more" No... we have to spend more, too. Gotta put people back to work. We wouldn't be us if we weren't "tax and spend", aka "earn and invest". I'm good with not spending more as long as we spend it all differently. Whack Big D and spend it all on Green and potholes, failing bridges, overflowing sewage plants, watertight doors for the NYC subway system, a seawall around Florida and the Jersey Shore,... Cops, firefighters, and teachers, too. We've been firing at a time when we should be hiring. Also, put a temporary tax on the trillions the corps have sitting around in their piggy banks and duck ponds. Big, punitive tax, to come off when they all produce their own energy from panels in their parking lots and windmills on their roof helipads. A few (Google, FedEx, UPS, WallyWhirled) are already close.

To: Steve Lokness who wrote (210717)	12/6/2012 2:13:49 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 543262

"That the left has been deceived into thinking all we have to do is outlast the republicans and tax the bastards more and that will fix everything is precisely why I worry so much about the fiscal cliff. " I don't know anyone who thinks that, except right-wingers spewing their garbage, defending the wealthy with their ridiculous, logically flawed argument that since taxing the wealthy doesn't solve the ENTIRE problem, it shouldn't be done. I DO know that letting tax rates for the wealthy rise to Clinton-era levels will raise 1.6 trillion in revenue over ten years. It's a great and obvious place to start. We'll also need a lot of spending cuts, elimination of dumb deductions that benefit people who need no help and perhaps means testing of social programs. It really isn't and shouldn't be that hard. Obama is prepared to make the spending cuts. It's the (R)'s that absolutely REFUSE to raise taxes on the wealthy that are the obstacle. So, let the automatic expiration of the Bush tax cuts happen, then propose cutting taxes on 98% of Americans. The (R)'s will HAVE to vote for it, or at least not vote against it.