[quote=pri_dk][quote=partypup]What is my plan for WHAT?[/quote]

Your plan for resolving the big issues that you are clearly so passionate about.

You know what I’m asking for: Pick an issue and propose a solution.

What do we do about health-care? Nothing? Keep the status quo?

How do we balance the budget? What part of the budget do we cut? Military…what about terrorism? Other services?…not enough there even if we cut it 100% Or do we raise taxes?

Heck, make up your own question. Just give a specific answer.[/quote]

This is precisely why I say that you don’t think about an argument or attempt to dissect it. Nothing in my posts above indicate that I have a “plan” to fix this country. My posts were merely commenting on the significance of the MA election, which plainly resonated as such with even the most co-opted arms of the mainstream media. It made the front page of almost every major newspaper, and it has led to the Dems admitting that they will now need to “re-think” their health care plan – which is PRECISELY what voters wanted! It has also resulted in (as I pointed out in my last post) the Dems FINALLY deciding to focus on jobs and the economy, and not the lofty health care goals of an advanced society – goals that cannot be attained by a country teetering on the cusp of bankruptcy. My posts, in case you did not comprehend them, were meant to address your argument that the election was insignificant. Your assessment was clearly wrong, and if you did a better job of carefully reading and understanding what you read, you would have understood that.

That said, I will play in your sand box for a few minutes, but after that I must go off and mingle with adults. I’ve written what I’m about to say many times in the past, but I’ll do it again. Every now and then a poster like you will crawl out from the shadows and challenge me whenever I get “passionate” about anything at all, and I have to repeat my positions on topics that I have already spent considerable time discussing. But here we go again…

Health Care: Any Congressional attempt at health care is doomed to failure unless it includes three elements: (1) the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines; (2) the ability to purchase pharmaceutical drugs in the U.S. at the same prices offered to users in Canada, Mexico and the majority of the world; and (3) the ability of those with pre-existing to purchase affordable insurance. These three steps alone would greatly reduce the costs of health care beyond what either the Senate or House Bill will currently allow, in addition to avoiding the imposition of another layer of taxes on individuals and small businesses in an economy that is nowhere near a recovery of any sort. Health care in this country is without question in dire need of reform, but the goal of universal health care can not be attained until our fiscal house is in order. The argument that Obama makes – health care reform will put our fiscal house in order – is absurd.

What you, Brian, and the rest of the starry-eyed posters don’t realize is that this health care foray was not, in fact, an attempt to bring more affordable health care to us all, because it will not. It is merely a back-door effort to raise taxes in a vain attempt to counter-balance the trillions that have flown out of our coffers in the last 18 mos. If Obama and the Dems were honest about the predicament we are currently in and how we got into it, they would come to the American people and admit that they want to raise taxes to pay for the excesses that bankers – not most Americans – benefited from. But you can imagine how that would go over in a country grappling with 10% unemployment and a president with approval ratings hovering under 50%.

So these charlatans have instead resorted to shoving something down our throats that they insist is “good” for us and must be done, despite the instincts of most Americans that the whole affair is fishy and they sense that they will end up getting the short end of the stick.

What’s interesting is that in the wake of the “insignificant” election in MA, Obama and the Dems have announced today that they are now all about “incremental changes” to health care. And you know, for once I agree with these idiots. Incremental change is preferred in a country and economy of this size because (a) it is more affordable, and fiscal soundness is truly the watchword of the day now; and (b) it will give us time to see how the incremental changes are working rather than diving head first into a morass hurriedly patched together with back-door meetings merely to save political face before mid-terms. The “incremental changes” that I would advocate are items #1, #2 and #3 above (interstate insurance purchases, more affordable prescription drugs and a safety net for those with pre-existing conditions). But you know what? Congress – including Democrats and Republicans – are whores to Big Pharma and will never implement these changes because both bills in Congress – in addition to being back-door tax hikes – are effectively bailouts to the insurance industry. Despite his campaign pledges, Obama threw option #2 under the bus as soon as the health care bill began making its way through the House. So as I see it, we are FINALLY on the right course with health care reform – incremental, affordable change – but that was only accomplished because the Democratic insanity was stopped dead in its tracks on Tuesday. Hallelujah. We will now see what Obama and the Dems are made of and whether they have the stones to begin implementing the meaningful incremental changes that I have described above. Given how fu***d up our political system is and how co-opted it is by big business and banks, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The Economy: (1) Congress needs to pass Paul’s bill to audit the Fed, and not in its current watered-down version that is currently before the House, but in its original firm; (2) a full and complete audit of the Fed will lead to its dissolution, as this cabal of private bankers has spent the last 97 years treating the U.S. economy as a Ponzi scheme; (3) end the bailouts, stimulus packages and spending that only makes it to the coffers of banks; (4) engage in massive cost-cutting efforts that states have been forced to undertake – for the feds, that would include major reductions in the military (remember that’s one of the key drivers that allowed Clinton to reduce the deficit so drastically) and social programs and entitlements that this country plainly can no longer afford; and (5) only when the above has been accomplished will it be prudent to raise taxes. Otherwise, the foundation of the economy – the middle class and small business – will crumble into nothingness.

It is important to note that most of the recommendations I am making will never be embraced by the current political and business leadership in this country. They will be opposed vehemently by lobbyists. Which is why I have always argued that a collapse of the current system, most likely via a revolution (non-violent) is the only true way to bring about effective political AND economic change – through a re-building of our country. What is being attempted now is akin to borrowing money to remodel the kitchen in a home when the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs are already on fire. These attempts are futile and a waste of money. Best to stand back, let the house burn, and then begin the process of rebuilding. Not everyone will make it out of the house alive, and there will be a lot of collateral damage. But it is the only real way to repair the foundation and build a solid structure for the future.

We can’t cheat, take short cuts, compromise or spend our way back to prosperity. Pain must be dispensed, and the sooner that it is dispensed, the better this country will be for our children. You and I have seen the best that this country has to offer for the duration of our lives, but there is still hope for future generations if we lay the groundwork for re-building now.

[quote=pri_dk]
If you don’t have a plan, then at least name a politician you support that does have one.[/quote]

Are you kidding? This country is as screwed up as it is precisely because there are no politicians who have a “plan” that the majority of informed Americans can support. That’s the essence of the problem. The current crop of incumbents and the system in which they have entrenched themselves are cancerous and corrupt to the bone. I can’t support anything that comes from these vermin. That said, I do agree more with portions of Ron Paul’s and Dennis Kucinich’s fiscal platforms, including Paul’s Fed audit bill and Kucinich’s efforts to investigate why large portions of TARP monies were actually sent to overseas banks. But it speaks volumes that you are still looking to a current member of Congress to have a “plan” that I support. How can one possibly expect a good plan to come from a system that is now run by thugs? Since you are all about questions, why don’t you answer that one for me.