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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ggersh who wrote (111834)	5/4/2015 9:16:30 AM
From: Ken Adams	1 Recommendation Recommended By Hawkmoon Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218186

As I drove into my nearby Walmart parking lot yesterday there was a young man, not looking very clean or shaven, with a sign that read "Please Help. No Job. Family". Another 25 yards away was a sign reading "Walmart is Hiring. $10.50 to start." I don't mind helping the down and out, and send money on a regular basis to shelters in my area, but it's hard to feel sorry for this guy. I know, there may be reasons for his situation that I have no way of knowing. It just seemed ironic to me.....

To: ggersh who wrote (111834)	5/4/2015 12:17:35 PM
From: Hawkmoon	2 Recommendations Recommended By bart13 Ken Adams Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 218186

Imagine if taxes were used for building the infrastructure rather than for building the military..... Unfortunately, in this world a military is necessary. Think Russia would be doing what they are in Ukraine if the Ukrainians had a strong military (and hadn't given up their nukes)? Think China would be trying to claim the entire S. China sea if the countries in that region had strong military forces to defend their own claims? I don't see a problem spending 3-5% of our GDP on defense, so long as we get our money's worth.. (bang for the buck with the F-35 coming to immediate mind).. And recall that personnel costs make up the biggest portion of that. Were we to go to mandatory service, combined with perqs like free college scholarships for merit based students, or job skill training, I'd think that would free up a lot of the budget for actually buying the equipment. Healthcare is consuming nearly 20% of our GDP.. Something wrong with that (price wise) and we should be able to deliver same, or better, care for less.. And there are jobs out there.. If you pay attention to people like Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs fame), who has been working to place people into skilled jobs, it's evidence of that... But some people want the "Fast Money", or to live on gov't entitlements (with some engaging in illicit side businesses like drug dealing).. Or they just don't want to do the "Dirty Jobs" that need to be done (and usually require some skills).. What bugs me about deficit spending is that it's being wasted via monetary handouts, and the taxpayers are receiving very little in return. When a gov't has to deficit spend, it should be on projects that deliver an ROI, short term, or long-term.. Investment back into the country to make it more productive. Hawk