Drew Dowdell

Many states and localities are already doing that. There is a "green energy development" charge added to many utility customer's bills. Only problem is that it's NOT national so you have a patchwork of inefficient programs that don't achieve the benefits of economy of scale. There are some things, like education and healthcare, that are better handled on the local level. Things like energy, transportation, and defense are best handled on the national level.

There is a difference between long term, permanent subsidies and start up funding for a new technology/business.

The only thing that will change with a McCain administration is the stationary.

I think it's best to keep it all in one thread and not spread it around. Opening new threads encourages the topic to spill over into unrelated threads.

not even close. There was an initial burst with NAFTA (we're hearing the giant sucking sound now) and then Greenspan keeping interest rates dangerously low. Congress had nothing to do with it.

Exactly like that. Although I'm probably more in favor of trade restrictions than most here. I don't believe in massive globalization.

The ecotec is untested?

I never showed you that pic!!

I don't think McCain will shut down Guantanimo. I don't think McCain, a torture victim himself, will shut down our torturing. I don't think McCain will end domestic spying. I don't think McCain will keep us out of foreign wars. I don't think McCain will withdraw us from Iraq. I think McCain believes in Horse and Sparrow economics* far too much. My protest against these things will be in the voting booth in November. *Did you know that the concept of Supply Side tax policy is so bad that they've had to rename it more than once? The original name was Horse and Sparrow theory. The idea being that if you fed a horse enough oats, eventually there would be some left over on the street for a sparrow to eat. It was later named Trickle Down theory in the 1930s and then Supply Side in the 1980s. I think the original name of Horse and Sparrow theory most acurately described supply side theory. The government feeds the rich a whole bunch of money and eventually us below get to pick through $h! in order to eat.

Not this time. And tax breaks for the wealthy are ridiculous at this point. Even Warren Buffet has wondered allowed why he only pays 17% while his employees pay closer to 30%.

Yes, however any company that receives the help should be required to manufacture a certain percentage of their vehicles in the U.S.

I've seen you post ridiculously wrong things before, but this one takes the cake. The most patriotic thing a citizen can do is stand up in protest when your country is doing something wrong! Since when are we a country that tortures? We're better than that! Since when are we a country that uses the government to take from the poor and give to the rich <Bear Sterns, Freddi Mac, Fanny Mae bailouts>? We've privatized the profits while socializing the losses! Since when do we lock people away without charge or trial for an indefinite period of time? We have our own gulag in Guantanimo bay. Don't kid yourself, it is now possible for this to happen to American citizens. We have a president that makes Carter look capable, Ford look competent, and Nixon look honest. When this country has gone so wrong, the required thing, the most patriotic thing, you should do is work to change it.

Support John McCain all you want but don't do so on premises that are so easily proven to be false. If you like Bush and support John McCain because he is similar, just say so. About the only thing that will change in a McCain administration is the stationary.

It's the symptom rather than the cause.

:duck: :duck: :duck: :duck: :duck:

I know.... I was addressing Loki's point where he called me hypocritical for wanting to make paying the debt top priority while also funding alternative energy start up costs.

Incorrect. The country must continue to operate while the debt is being serviced. In many cases the projects could be subsidized by tax breaks and regulatory streamlining of energy projects. There is also the problem of paying off the debt too fast. Yes it's possible. If we paid down our debt too quickly we could potentially cause massive inflation at home (though at the moment it would just stabilize our current deflation) and economic chaos abroad... especially in China.

No, I'm just responding to Palin and the Repulican's dis of Obama doing community service. Do your own research. Biden is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. If you're going to make statements about a candidate, at least be informed about it. You know, not all muslim ideas are bad... and a good many are bibilcally based. Again, do your own research or stop making uninformed statements. Actually, Obama would just allow the cuts Bush made to expire. Tax rates would go back to the time of Clinton... when we had a budget surplus and we were reducing the deficit. I don't care about the president's gender nor race. Palin's pastor claims terrorism is God's judgment of the Jews. Palin's husband was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wanted Alaska to leave the U.S. That should sew up the south Florida vote pretty good. Palin is not the leader everyone thinks she is.....

I think alternative energy will need some initial government funding to get it started and achieve critical mass.

Out of necessity? That is just plain fiscally irresponsible. If you want a president who will help you financially (which is what I'm reading that you really want), you want a president who will tackle the federal debt and aim to strengthen the dollar. You want a president who will enforce stricter and more conservative financial requirement on financial institutions. Yes it's more government regulation, but the banks got greedy and f-ed it up. They want bailouts so the government should have a say in how they are being run. 90% of Bush is still a lot of Bush. The REAL Bush economic record 1. The USA needs $2B a day from China et al or could not keep its economy stable or spare the dollar from collapse. 2. The USA already has close to $10 Trillion in national debt 3. The USA has a trade deficit of $800B/yr 4. The USA is the prime engine for derivatives 'ticking bomb' that grew into a massive bubble, from about $100 trillion in 2000 to $516 trillion by 2007 that is going off in blowback stages 5. The USA already has way too many Americans overwhelmed by personal debt racking up a household debt-to-income ratio of 1.42 ( for total of $13.8 trillion in debt including mortgages ) that already matches the country’s $14 trillion G.D.P. 6. The USA has Bush boy racking up $32 Trillion dollars in total liabilities and unfunded commitments for future payments since 2000. and that's just in finance. From BarackObama.com: It's called an outlier, so don't go breaking out your Vintage 2000 inauguration champagne yet. You'll get more domestic drilling regardless of who is president. Energy prices will ensure that <I work in the energy sector remember?>. I want lower taxes also, but through addressing the national debt. The interest expense on the national debt is up to $401,333,563,677.75 so far for 2008. That's $1,337 for every man, woman, and child in this country..... just in interest.

Related: Unemployment hit 6.1% - we are most certainly in a recession. And that 6.1% is just the people who are on unemployment. The government stops counting people as unemployed after their benefits run out.

I can concede those points Camino. I felt that your additions at the end of sub-point "a" and "b" were kind of assumed by my phrasing. I would make the debt the number 1 priority because of the precarious position it puts our country in. Anyone who wants lower taxes should be championing the cause for government debt elimination. The U.S. needs to borrow $2 billion a day from the Chinese/Arabs/etc just to keep the currency from tanking. It's worse than importing oil. What happens when China/Arabs/etc decide to turn off the tap?

NY Times GMAC, the financing company, said Wednesday that it planned to eliminate about 5,000 jobs at its Residential Capital mortgage unit and close all 200 GMAC Mortgage retail offices to combat weak housing and credit markets. The job cuts will affect about 57 percent of ResCap’s work force, leaving the unit with 3,800 employees, a GMAC spokeswoman Gina Proia said. Most of the cuts will take place this year.

I want: 1. Someone who will make reducing the country's debt the number one priority; No more short term tax rebates at the expense of long term fiscal stability. 2. Someone who will use diplomacy rather than cruise missiles to accomplish foreign policy goals. 3. Someone who will make alternative energy the "Manhatten Project" of our time. a. Who understands that domestic drilling is only a temporary solution to a permanent problem. b. Who will repeal the ban on breeder reactors. 4. Someone socially libertarian.

it is difficult to have a discussion when your opposition has their ears and eyes closed yet their mouths wide open.