Artful Dodger: a huge blow which the US economy could not withstand."

I have to agree with you on this one, except that I am sure economists would have opposite opinions just as scientists have different views on global warming.

I tend to believe that the US economy would be resilient enough to rebound from anything sooner or later.... just like the global climates

Artful Dodger: Like who? Bernard Madoff??

Are you telling me that all the economists and such (you have like we have civil servants?) have now left the white house and all the related depts that deal with the economy already!!

Are you willing to stake millions on jobs on someone who will disagree just because they don't like your new government?

.. Funny, when the Bush was in power I was lead to believe (or told to) that the government is always right.

Artful Dodger: If it's not the job of the gov to not bail out failing industries.... Then why the bank rescues? Or the rescue of Fannie mae, etc?
And I would have thought that helping the jobs of millions survive while something can be sorted is a good thing... Isn't it??

And yes, some work on pay, what needs to be kept or dropped, possible mergers, maybe some more cost effective manufacturing systems, or as mentioned the production of realistic cars rather then gas eaters.

No, I don't believe the government is always right, I was told it was so by a supporter of the republicans and that we shouldn't question our leaders..

... But I know that is wrong.

And for private sectors doing better jobs... .. No, not in all cases, not even in the majority of what is effectively public sector projects. We had corporate man slaughter introduced due to a previously public sector org now gone privately owned, Surgeons over here are getting very annoyed with private run sterilisation companies mucking up kits for operations, so the operation has to be cancelled. I could go on... like how we saw a private tube maintenance team doing bodge jobs on tube tracks.

.... But the post will be two pages long.

Private are good in some instances, public in other, it's always been the way and it is a good system. The trick is knowing which and not just mucking about based on pointless policies based on ill thought ideas.

Ahh.. another, our water pipe system. The companies were told last year to fix the leaks as the leakage was so great it was diabolical.

Artful Dodger: re:" If the Republicans do to Obama what the Democrats did to Bush, then the Republicans are a lower life form than slime"

He had the country in the palm of his hand after 9/11,.....he was given a blank check and proved himself untrustworthy.Obama has yet to take office,if he performs like Bush,he should recieve the same treatment.

Jim Dandy: I agree...I think Bush should have been impeached,actually..instead he was permitted to run this country into the ground....way to go!!

anastasia: I think Democrats were very restrained,too a fault.A President should be given a degree of respect,but the rest is earned

Jim Dandy: yep...I agree yet again with ya :)

Artful Dodger: He leveraged that blank check to accomplish his agenda,fear is a very valuable tool

as are a pair of Nike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8GOrc0-Ygg

Jim Dandy: I'm sorry,but THAT is funny!

Jim Dandy: fear is a very valuable tool


Yeah, like when liberals scared the elderly into believing that mean republicans were going to take away their social security, or when liberals scared the poor uneducated minorities that mean republicans were going to take away their welfare, without scare tactics aimed at ignorant people, democrats wouldnt have near their support base!

Czuch: The issues you mentioned are typical politics,both sides play that game.The "fear" I mentioned isn't in the same league

Jim Dandy: The "fear" I mentioned isn't in the same league


I agree... the fear you mentioned is REAL(see 9/11), and the fear I mentioned is imagined, so, no, they are not in the same league at all!

Czuch: I'm not interested in either word games,or silly messege board battles where the initial post becomes twisted beyond recognition.I said my piece,carry on

Jim Dandy: Its not about word games.... you implied that the fear Bush used to get us into war was a lie and cost us way more than the fear dems use on the elderly and the poor uneducated, which you imply is more accurate and less costly, so that somehow makes it less of a problem?

Czuch: sorry bud,not taking the bait.I've retired from these types of discussions,they go nowhere

I'f you're ever in my town we can chew the fat over a bottle of wine,I'll buy

Jim Dandy: The "fear" I mentioned isn't in the same league


...maybe I shouldnt put words into your mouth, maybe you can tell me exactly what you mean with the above comment? Because I happen to believe that it isnt 'fear mongering' when it is backed up by evidence, and so the 'fear' you mentioned isnt really 'fear mongering' at all...

Artful Dodger:

"Apparently because the government feels the economy will suffer if they don't. I don't know about that one either."

.... It's like blowing up a building... uncontrolled bad news... debris everywhere.

"n fact, it was the government that caused the loss of thousands of jobs. They will claim that after deregulation other companies were created, and thereby the creation of new jobs."

Nope, not governments fault, it's called competition, free market and all. Not the governments fault that things didn't go exactly as they hoped. That was private sector decisions.

"Whoever told you that is a nut. We should ALWAYS question our leaders. But we should also support them in their difficult job."

Yes it is a nutty idea. As to support... that's a matter upto the individual, I'd say maybe a better line would be not to interfere.

"The government sucks at running a hospital. They can't rebuild New Orleans because they've created a huge process for building."

New Orleans is a big city is it not, and why not at the same time make a better city and lessen the probability of a similar event.
... And hundreds of houses compared to how many hundreds of thousands of buildings isn't exactly much.

"An excellent point which illustrates why the government often fails when it runs things: pointless policies based on ill-thought ideas. That sums it up quite nicely."

And that doesn't happen in private industry? Sinclair went under due to the C5 project, recently in the news is the trouble with hedge funds with billions been lost because (as an expert said) no-one really looked at what they were doing... and from what I hear it isn't the only case and more will apparently appear. The only thing that I see the government in the USA doing wrong in this instance is unlike the UK regulation is not mandatory in the hedge fund business.

... Oversea call centres... bad lines, badly trained staff (as I've found out) and most companies are now reversing the idea and setting things up so all call centres are based in the UK... I imagine the USA has the same problem.

All sectors private and public can make bad decisions. that is the truth of the matter.