Against spendthrift Christians

We urgently need to examine them all in the light of the faith we profess, and figure out a new way for our country to do its business--one that's a little more... Christian. Or at any rate, rational.

Whereas I, an agnostic Stoic, live simply, have no debt aside from a $16,000 mortgage, and pay cash for everything or do without.

Does it surprise any of you what happened when Sarah Palin got her RNC expense account, and went hog wild at Neiman Marcus? It's the same thing that happens to good-hearted, church-going folks who win the lottery--and end up nearly broke, cut off from their friends, within a decade. What is missing from the equation is a virtue that our churches have long stopped preaching, since it's even more countercultural and unpopular than Chastity--namely, Thrift.

Why would you listen to, or approve of, someone who gets that entirely wrong? Seriously, Rod. Palin did no such thing. The war in Iraq has proven to ultimately be an undeniable and great success. You repeat and quote others who continue to repeat all kinds of stuff that's NOT TRUE AT ALL. How could we possibly believe someone who is so shallow as to fall for this stuff and never bother to check facts?

Wait a minute - I thought this wasn't a "Christian" country so why would we do business that way. You can't have it both ways.

The large majority of economists think that a stimulus does make sense now, but on Zmirak's larger point, he is largely correct. We as individuals and as a country have run up too much debt. Deficits dont matter said our leaders. They always do eventually. We should have paid down the debt when things were better. Romer, new head of the CEA, actually studied this. Increasing taxes for the purpose of paying off debt, does not adversely affect the economy. We made a start at paying down the debt in the 90's. I hope we go back to this once this crisis is resolved.

"The war in Iraq has proven to ultimately be an undeniable and great success."

First, in the area of finance, the given topic, we have hidden the costs of the war. We have borrowed to pay for it. Secondly, it aint over til it's over. We had "won" in Afghanistan also. If you really care to be informed, which I kind of doubt, you might add the new Foreign Policy site to your bookmarks that Rod has noted. The big issues of elections, shared power and oil are not resolved. The situation in Gaza should, again, point out the difficulty in finding lasting solutions in the Middle East. This is likely to be a continuing financial for years.

Steve

Ants and grasshoppers, Jon W, ants and grasshoppers...

"And many of them went right back because they didn't fit."

As opposed to going right back because she didn't believe the money should be spent. Unless she was dressed in Neiman-Marcus frocks at gunpoint, she was a willing accomplice to this boondoggle.

What's the difference between the bahavior that got the country -- from Wall Street to Main Street -- in this mess and the kind of ghetto nihilism that keeps the underclass . . . an underclass?

Nothing that I can see.

Americans of all stripes, it would seem, are hell-bent on eating, drinking and being merry today because the only thing we can see for tomorrow is *die*.

At Nationa Review Online, Derbyshire quotes Peter Schiff:

"In the next few years, I believe U.S. citizens will undergo a profound identity crisis. No longer citizens of the world’s wealthiest creditor nation, they are now citizens of its biggest debtor, though most continue to act as if the rest of the world bows to the United States’ economic might. In the 1930s, the Great Depression affected not only the United States but nearly every nation on earth, so hard times here were matched by hard times elsewhere. This time it will be different. Even the most uninformed U.S. citizens will be forced to notice that other nations’ living standards are on the rise, just as ours is on the decline. This may finally force them to realize just how badly the United States has lost ground as an economic power — and how much work it will take to dig ourselves out of this gigantic economic hole."

One trivial I thought I had, thinking about this, is that it has not bothered me (a college teacher since 1981) to wear surplus, badly-worn clothing, etc. Not much anyway. But you know, I think it is going to bother me when pretty much everybody dresses shabbily. I didn't quite realize that till now.

First, in the area of finance, the given topic, we have hidden the costs of the war. We have borrowed to pay for it. Secondly, it aint over til it's over. We had "won" in Afghanistan also. If you really care to be informed, which I kind of doubt, you might add the new Foreign Policy site to your bookmarks that Rod has noted. The big issues of elections, shared power and oil are not resolved. The situation in Gaza should, again, point out the difficulty in finding lasting solutions in the Middle East. This is likely to be a continuing financial for years.

Iraq war and finance?

It doesn't even register on the screen.

We have now spent more on "bailouts" than ALL the wars we've ever fought, combined.

And according to the twit-elect... It hasn't even had an effect.

BTW, Saddam is gone. Iraq is reasonably peaceful. And it's not a radical Islamic state. The transition continues. That looks like a success to me. And at the cost of less deaths for Americans than Saddam killed of his own people every month.

Afghanistan COULD have been a success, but we let the UN get involved, which generally gaurantees failure.

Oh, and why does the smear against Palin continue? Especially from the self proclaimed beacon of righteousness types?