The pulse of America

[watglen]

But wait a minute. Lets not forget the US is a great country.

I sat with a ships doctor (another cruise) drinking brandy i think it was. Anyway, it was during the Obama run up. He was not impressed with his country and the way Bush had done things and the path Bush had chosen (Can't say i didn't agree with him)

But i had to remind him that if it wasn't for the US health care system, the world wouldn't have MRI, CAT scans, organ transplants, viagara, and a whole bunch of other great stuff. I pointed out that socialized medicine does not have the cash to go around inventing stuff. The only way it works is if the technology is invented elsewhere, developed into an affordable product, and then brought in at lower cost. Canadian health care couldn't exist if the US didn't have for profit health care.

That argument can be made for a whole host of technologies in our world today. This is the reason the US is the greatest country on earth. You guys have built this world into what it is today. This is one Canadian that understands this, and i try to spread it around up here.

I know that if you watch the news (Fox in particular) it looks like the country has gone the hell. But it hasn't, and it won't. Good luck to you all.


Ken

 

[Orchard Ex]

The answer to ending this cycle is term limits which has been stated more than once in this thread. All that would take is a constitutional amendment. I believe that requires an act of congress and ratification by two thirds of our states. It's an easy fix except that we are forgetting about the "Catch 22". Our politicians will never cut their own throats and the electorate will not take the risk of harm to themselves in voting for new politicians every four or six years. You see everyone wants term limits for everyone else's politicians, not our own. The trap our founding fathers could not possibly have foreseen has come up to bite us two hundred years later.

I think that the answer to getting term limits passed is to exempt every current Senator and Representative from the term limit. As stated before, none of them will ever vote to cut their own career short, but won't care so much about the next guy down the line. That means that it will be a slow progression toward real limits, but at least there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Let them have 4 terms as a Rep. and/or 2 in the Sen. (if they can win the seat). 14 years total in politics is a respectable career and enough time to do some real good or real damage.

 

[Iron@Dirt]

Wow! Has this thread got some legs! Great Stuff.

I must say that after many hundreds of years of lawmaking like that, the US has one seriously screwed up set of laws. Seems to me the US should start over, keep the constitution and bill of rights, scrap the rest and start over.

Anyway, that is just my opinion, and I’m no expert.

One thing is for sure, the grass is always greener…

Back to the constitution would be GREAT, but do you realize that without an injured party there would be no crime. Most americans could not handle that much freedom. DC would be reduced to a shadow, it wouldnt go quietly. Great Stuff..

 

[stock]

Took this from the "Construction equipment guide......................




President Touts $50B Transportation Proposal



WASHINGTON (AP) President Barack Obama on Oct. 11 lobbied for Republican support from Capitol Hill for a burst of spending on transportation projects, calling his proposal a jobs creator for the middle class and an overdue investment in the country’s foundation.
“There’s no reason why we can’t do this,” Obama said in a brief Rose Garden event. “There’s no reason why the world’s best infrastructure should lie beyond our borders. This is America. We’ve always had the best infrastructure ... All we need is the political will.”
Obama is proposing a $50 billion plan as an initial step toward a six-year program of transportation programs. It calls for building, fixing or maintaining thousands of miles of roads, rail lines and airport runways, along with installing a new air navigation system to reduce travel delays, and other projects.
The president unveiled the idea over Labor Day. The event amounted to another chance to promote it. The president met privately with governors, mayors, transportation officials and Cabinet secretaries and then stood with some of them before the cameras as he made his case.
The timing also comes as Obama is eager to show action on the sluggish economy just ahead of the Nov. 2 congressional elections, with his party in jeopardy of losing a sizable number of seats in the House and Senate. Obama asked for Republican support, saying infrastructure work typically draws bipartisan support. But such cooperation seems unlikely in the current partisan atmosphere.

The economy continues to dominate public concern. The public sector slashed 159,000 jobs in September, including the largest cuts by local governments in 28 years. Obama said his program would boost employment right away and help make up for what he called years of costly inattention to the country’s infrastructure.
“Everywhere else, they’re thinking big. They’re creating jobs today, but they’re also playing to win tomorrow,” Obama said of some of the top economic competitors to the United States. “So the bottom line is our shortsightedness has come due. We can no longer afford to sit still.”
The administration released a new analysis of Obama’s plan that said it would particularly help with middle-class jobs in construction, manufacturing and retail

 

[Nothinbetter]

Why believe them now?

Took this from the "Construction equipment guide......................




President Touts $50B Transportation Proposal

Why should we believe this garbage now. The stimulus bill which they have spent 60-70% of the $800 billion was suppose to be for that. Remember "shovel ready projects", "put people to work rebuilding roads and bridges". So now lets spend another 50 Billion that we don't have and slush more money to special interests.

I personally don't think any more money should be spent till after January 1, and I hope and pray that this November some people with common sense get voted in.