Uh oh, this can’t be good for any of us

[nostradamus]

Are you saying it’s bad for us or bad for her campaign or bad ‘cuz now she’ll get elected? I don’t follow.

Giuliani is ramping up and IMO will step in to take over the GOP as they have yet to display a clear leader. I think this election will be a piece of cake for him.

[TheBreeze]

That index is a joke. For one thing, the U.N. has a bias against the United States. John Stossel did an expose on this index and found that several of the factors were chosen in such a way as to make the United States purposely look bad.

For another thing, how many of those countries have to support a massive amount of illegal immigration from third-world countries? Maybe France and they are pretty close to us on that index.

And then you have the fact that several of the countries above us are no bigger than a single U.S. state. How can you possibly compare a tiny country against the entire United States? Last I heard, something like 99% of Icelanders are of Icelandic heritage. No way you can compare that to the melting pot of the United States. And where are the big socialist countries like China and Russia? Thought so.

The U.S. also supports a massive military. All those countries above us rely on the U.S. military to keep them safe.

When you factor in all that, the U.S. is doing pretty darn well on an index that was purposely designed to make us look bad.

As for making the U.S. more socialist, I would like to see the rich* get taxed more. The rich* are taking more and more of the pie and should get taxed more.

*The rich are defined as those making more than me.

[TheBreeze]

That index is a joke. For one thing, the U.N. has a bias against the United States. John Stossel did an expose on this index and found that several of the factors were chosen in such a way as to make the United States purposely look bad.

For another thing, how many of those countries have to support a massive amount of illegal immigration from third-world countries? Maybe France and they are pretty close to us on that index.

And then you have the fact that several of the countries above us are no bigger than a single U.S. state. How can you possibly compare a tiny country against the entire United States? Last I heard, something like 99% of Icelanders are of Icelandic heritage. No way you can compare that to the melting pot of the United States. And where are the big socialist countries like China and Russia? Thought so.

The U.S. also supports a massive military. All those countries above us rely on the U.S. military to keep them safe.

When you factor in all that, the U.S. is doing pretty darn well on an index that was purposely designed to make us look bad.

As for making the U.S. more socialist, I would like to see the rich* get taxed more. The rich* are taking more and more of the pie and should get taxed more.

*The rich are defined as those making more than me.

[TheBreeze]

That index is a joke. For one thing, the U.N. has a bias against the United States. John Stossel did an expose on this index and found that several of the factors were chosen in such a way as to make the United States purposely look bad.

For another thing, how many of those countries have to support a massive amount of illegal immigration from third-world countries? Maybe France and they are pretty close to us on that index.

And then you have the fact that several of the countries above us are no bigger than a single U.S. state. How can you possibly compare a tiny country against the entire United States? Last I heard, something like 99% of Icelanders are of Icelandic heritage. No way you can compare that to the melting pot of the United States. And where are the big socialist countries like China and Russia? Thought so.

The U.S. also supports a massive military. All those countries above us rely on the U.S. military to keep them safe.

When you factor in all that, the U.S. is doing pretty darn well on an index that was purposely designed to make us look bad.

As for making the U.S. more socialist, I would like to see the rich* get taxed more. The rich* are taking more and more of the pie and should get taxed more.

*The rich are defined as those making more than me.

[TheBreeze]

That index is a joke. For one thing, the U.N. has a bias against the United States. John Stossel did an expose on this index and found that several of the factors were chosen in such a way as to make the United States purposely look bad.

For another thing, how many of those countries have to support a massive amount of illegal immigration from third-world countries? Maybe France and they are pretty close to us on that index.

And then you have the fact that several of the countries above us are no bigger than a single U.S. state. How can you possibly compare a tiny country against the entire United States? Last I heard, something like 99% of Icelanders are of Icelandic heritage. No way you can compare that to the melting pot of the United States. And where are the big socialist countries like China and Russia? Thought so.

The U.S. also supports a massive military. All those countries above us rely on the U.S. military to keep them safe.

When you factor in all that, the U.S. is doing pretty darn well on an index that was purposely designed to make us look bad.

As for making the U.S. more socialist, I would like to see the rich* get taxed more. The rich* are taking more and more of the pie and should get taxed more.

*The rich are defined as those making more than me.

[TheBreeze]

That index is a joke. For one thing, the U.N. has a bias against the United States. John Stossel did an expose on this index and found that several of the factors were chosen in such a way as to make the United States purposely look bad.

For another thing, how many of those countries have to support a massive amount of illegal immigration from third-world countries? Maybe France and they are pretty close to us on that index.

And then you have the fact that several of the countries above us are no bigger than a single U.S. state. How can you possibly compare a tiny country against the entire United States? Last I heard, something like 99% of Icelanders are of Icelandic heritage. No way you can compare that to the melting pot of the United States. And where are the big socialist countries like China and Russia? Thought so.

The U.S. also supports a massive military. All those countries above us rely on the U.S. military to keep them safe.

When you factor in all that, the U.S. is doing pretty darn well on an index that was purposely designed to make us look bad.

As for making the U.S. more socialist, I would like to see the rich* get taxed more. The rich* are taking more and more of the pie and should get taxed more.

*The rich are defined as those making more than me.

[stansd]

Hi Kewp,

Lets continue your train of thought, but since the U.S. is one of the most free countries on the planet, rather than cherry picking the top 10, lets look a the bottom.

167 (2) Burundi 0.413
168 (1) Democratic Republic of the Congo[4] 0.411
169 (1) Ethiopia 0.406
170 (1) Chad 0.388
171 (1) Central African Republic 0.384
172 (4) Mozambique 0.384
173 (2) Mali 0.380
174 (3) Niger 0.374
175 (2) Guinea-Bissau 0.374
176 (2) Burkina Faso 0.370

Now lets look at the top 20 and bottom 20 on the Heritage Foundations index of economic freedom:

Ranking Country 2008 Score
1 Hong Kong 90.3
2 Singapore 87.4
3 Ireland 82.4
4 Australia 82.0
5 United States 80.6
6 New Zealand 80.2
7 Canada 80.2
8 Chile 79.8
9 Switzerland 79.7
10 United Kingdom 79.5
11 Denmark 79.2
12 Estonia 77.8
13 Netherlands, The 76.8
14 Iceland 76.5
15 Luxembourg 75.2
16 Finland 74.8
17 Japan 72.5
18 Mauritius 72.3
19 Bahrain 72.2
20 Belgium 71.5

137 Laos 49.2
138 Haiti 48.9
139 Sierra Leone 48.9
140 Togo 48.8
141 Central African Republic 48.2
142 Chad 47.7
143 Angola 47.1
144 Syria 46.6
145 Burundi 46.3
146 Congo, Republic of 45.2
147 Guinea Bissau 45.1
148 Venezuela 45.0
149 Bangladesh 44.9
150 Belarus 44.7
151 Iran 44.0
152 Turkmenistan 43.4
153 Burma (Myanmar) 39.5
154 Libya 38.7
155 Zimbabwe 29.8
156 Cuba 27.5
157 Korea, North 3.0

Notice anything (it’s even more compelling if you look at the entire list)?

This is not to suggest the U.S. would wind up like one of the lowest if government intervention increased. However,studies have shown time and time again that there is a strong correlation between economic well being and economic freedom.

We ignore this fact at our own peril.

Stan

[stansd]

Hi Kewp,

Lets continue your train of thought, but since the U.S. is one of the most free countries on the planet, rather than cherry picking the top 10, lets look a the bottom.

167 (2) Burundi 0.413
168 (1) Democratic Republic of the Congo[4] 0.411
169 (1) Ethiopia 0.406
170 (1) Chad 0.388
171 (1) Central African Republic 0.384
172 (4) Mozambique 0.384
173 (2) Mali 0.380
174 (3) Niger 0.374
175 (2) Guinea-Bissau 0.374
176 (2) Burkina Faso 0.370

Now lets look at the top 20 and bottom 20 on the Heritage Foundations index of economic freedom:

Ranking Country 2008 Score
1 Hong Kong 90.3
2 Singapore 87.4
3 Ireland 82.4
4 Australia 82.0
5 United States 80.6
6 New Zealand 80.2
7 Canada 80.2
8 Chile 79.8
9 Switzerland 79.7
10 United Kingdom 79.5
11 Denmark 79.2
12 Estonia 77.8
13 Netherlands, The 76.8
14 Iceland 76.5
15 Luxembourg 75.2
16 Finland 74.8
17 Japan 72.5
18 Mauritius 72.3
19 Bahrain 72.2
20 Belgium 71.5

137 Laos 49.2
138 Haiti 48.9
139 Sierra Leone 48.9
140 Togo 48.8
141 Central African Republic 48.2
142 Chad 47.7
143 Angola 47.1
144 Syria 46.6
145 Burundi 46.3
146 Congo, Republic of 45.2
147 Guinea Bissau 45.1
148 Venezuela 45.0
149 Bangladesh 44.9
150 Belarus 44.7
151 Iran 44.0
152 Turkmenistan 43.4
153 Burma (Myanmar) 39.5
154 Libya 38.7
155 Zimbabwe 29.8
156 Cuba 27.5
157 Korea, North 3.0

Notice anything (it’s even more compelling if you look at the entire list)?

This is not to suggest the U.S. would wind up like one of the lowest if government intervention increased. However,studies have shown time and time again that there is a strong correlation between economic well being and economic freedom.

We ignore this fact at our own peril.

Stan

[stansd]

Hi Kewp,

Lets continue your train of thought, but since the U.S. is one of the most free countries on the planet, rather than cherry picking the top 10, lets look a the bottom.

167 (2) Burundi 0.413
168 (1) Democratic Republic of the Congo[4] 0.411
169 (1) Ethiopia 0.406
170 (1) Chad 0.388
171 (1) Central African Republic 0.384
172 (4) Mozambique 0.384
173 (2) Mali 0.380
174 (3) Niger 0.374
175 (2) Guinea-Bissau 0.374
176 (2) Burkina Faso 0.370

Now lets look at the top 20 and bottom 20 on the Heritage Foundations index of economic freedom:

Ranking Country 2008 Score
1 Hong Kong 90.3
2 Singapore 87.4
3 Ireland 82.4
4 Australia 82.0
5 United States 80.6
6 New Zealand 80.2
7 Canada 80.2
8 Chile 79.8
9 Switzerland 79.7
10 United Kingdom 79.5
11 Denmark 79.2
12 Estonia 77.8
13 Netherlands, The 76.8
14 Iceland 76.5
15 Luxembourg 75.2
16 Finland 74.8
17 Japan 72.5
18 Mauritius 72.3
19 Bahrain 72.2
20 Belgium 71.5

137 Laos 49.2
138 Haiti 48.9
139 Sierra Leone 48.9
140 Togo 48.8
141 Central African Republic 48.2
142 Chad 47.7
143 Angola 47.1
144 Syria 46.6
145 Burundi 46.3
146 Congo, Republic of 45.2
147 Guinea Bissau 45.1
148 Venezuela 45.0
149 Bangladesh 44.9
150 Belarus 44.7
151 Iran 44.0
152 Turkmenistan 43.4
153 Burma (Myanmar) 39.5
154 Libya 38.7
155 Zimbabwe 29.8
156 Cuba 27.5
157 Korea, North 3.0

Notice anything (it’s even more compelling if you look at the entire list)?

This is not to suggest the U.S. would wind up like one of the lowest if government intervention increased. However,studies have shown time and time again that there is a strong correlation between economic well being and economic freedom.

We ignore this fact at our own peril.

Stan

[stansd]

Hi Kewp,

Lets continue your train of thought, but since the U.S. is one of the most free countries on the planet, rather than cherry picking the top 10, lets look a the bottom.

167 (2) Burundi 0.413
168 (1) Democratic Republic of the Congo[4] 0.411
169 (1) Ethiopia 0.406
170 (1) Chad 0.388
171 (1) Central African Republic 0.384
172 (4) Mozambique 0.384
173 (2) Mali 0.380
174 (3) Niger 0.374
175 (2) Guinea-Bissau 0.374
176 (2) Burkina Faso 0.370

Now lets look at the top 20 and bottom 20 on the Heritage Foundations index of economic freedom:

Ranking Country 2008 Score
1 Hong Kong 90.3
2 Singapore 87.4
3 Ireland 82.4
4 Australia 82.0
5 United States 80.6
6 New Zealand 80.2
7 Canada 80.2
8 Chile 79.8
9 Switzerland 79.7
10 United Kingdom 79.5
11 Denmark 79.2
12 Estonia 77.8
13 Netherlands, The 76.8
14 Iceland 76.5
15 Luxembourg 75.2
16 Finland 74.8
17 Japan 72.5
18 Mauritius 72.3
19 Bahrain 72.2
20 Belgium 71.5

137 Laos 49.2
138 Haiti 48.9
139 Sierra Leone 48.9
140 Togo 48.8
141 Central African Republic 48.2
142 Chad 47.7
143 Angola 47.1
144 Syria 46.6
145 Burundi 46.3
146 Congo, Republic of 45.2
147 Guinea Bissau 45.1
148 Venezuela 45.0
149 Bangladesh 44.9
150 Belarus 44.7
151 Iran 44.0
152 Turkmenistan 43.4
153 Burma (Myanmar) 39.5
154 Libya 38.7
155 Zimbabwe 29.8
156 Cuba 27.5
157 Korea, North 3.0

Notice anything (it’s even more compelling if you look at the entire list)?

This is not to suggest the U.S. would wind up like one of the lowest if government intervention increased. However,studies have shown time and time again that there is a strong correlation between economic well being and economic freedom.

We ignore this fact at our own peril.

Stan

[stansd]

Hi Kewp,

Lets continue your train of thought, but since the U.S. is one of the most free countries on the planet, rather than cherry picking the top 10, lets look a the bottom.

167 (2) Burundi 0.413
168 (1) Democratic Republic of the Congo[4] 0.411
169 (1) Ethiopia 0.406
170 (1) Chad 0.388
171 (1) Central African Republic 0.384
172 (4) Mozambique 0.384
173 (2) Mali 0.380
174 (3) Niger 0.374
175 (2) Guinea-Bissau 0.374
176 (2) Burkina Faso 0.370

Now lets look at the top 20 and bottom 20 on the Heritage Foundations index of economic freedom:

Ranking Country 2008 Score
1 Hong Kong 90.3
2 Singapore 87.4
3 Ireland 82.4
4 Australia 82.0
5 United States 80.6
6 New Zealand 80.2
7 Canada 80.2
8 Chile 79.8
9 Switzerland 79.7
10 United Kingdom 79.5
11 Denmark 79.2
12 Estonia 77.8
13 Netherlands, The 76.8
14 Iceland 76.5
15 Luxembourg 75.2
16 Finland 74.8
17 Japan 72.5
18 Mauritius 72.3
19 Bahrain 72.2
20 Belgium 71.5

137 Laos 49.2
138 Haiti 48.9
139 Sierra Leone 48.9
140 Togo 48.8
141 Central African Republic 48.2
142 Chad 47.7
143 Angola 47.1
144 Syria 46.6
145 Burundi 46.3
146 Congo, Republic of 45.2
147 Guinea Bissau 45.1
148 Venezuela 45.0
149 Bangladesh 44.9
150 Belarus 44.7
151 Iran 44.0
152 Turkmenistan 43.4
153 Burma (Myanmar) 39.5
154 Libya 38.7
155 Zimbabwe 29.8
156 Cuba 27.5
157 Korea, North 3.0

Notice anything (it’s even more compelling if you look at the entire list)?

This is not to suggest the U.S. would wind up like one of the lowest if government intervention increased. However,studies have shown time and time again that there is a strong correlation between economic well being and economic freedom.

We ignore this fact at our own peril.

Stan

[kewp]

TheBreeze,

Go ahead and pick your quality-of-life index, then. We always get beat by the more socialist countries.

I’ll agree about the immigration, however.

I think ultimately we are on the same page, however, as this really comes down to a question of wealth distribution. We did pretty good during the previous Clinton years, I would like to see us go back to that standard (regardless of who is in charge).

[kewp]

TheBreeze,

Go ahead and pick your quality-of-life index, then. We always get beat by the more socialist countries.

I’ll agree about the immigration, however.

I think ultimately we are on the same page, however, as this really comes down to a question of wealth distribution. We did pretty good during the previous Clinton years, I would like to see us go back to that standard (regardless of who is in charge).

[kewp]

TheBreeze,

Go ahead and pick your quality-of-life index, then. We always get beat by the more socialist countries.

I’ll agree about the immigration, however.

I think ultimately we are on the same page, however, as this really comes down to a question of wealth distribution. We did pretty good during the previous Clinton years, I would like to see us go back to that standard (regardless of who is in charge).

[kewp]

TheBreeze,

Go ahead and pick your quality-of-life index, then. We always get beat by the more socialist countries.

I’ll agree about the immigration, however.

I think ultimately we are on the same page, however, as this really comes down to a question of wealth distribution. We did pretty good during the previous Clinton years, I would like to see us go back to that standard (regardless of who is in charge).

[Author]

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