feedback.pdxradio.com forums › feedback.pdxradio.com forums › Politics and other things › SALON: America Is Ready For Socialism
- This topic has 8 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 9 months ago by
Chris_Taylor.
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July 11, 2015 at 10:39 am #12244
missing_kskd
ParticipantThis piece has some great links out to studies and polls that highlight support for specific problems and solutions.
It also makes a interesting distinction where conservatives typically win with sweeping generalizations, “low taxes” style, where liberals typically win on specifics, “medicare for everybody buy in” style.
We all know the political dialog is really broken. This piece goes in to a little detail on how and why that is.
July 11, 2015 at 10:52 am #12245Deane Johnson
ParticipantSooner or later the liberals will run out of other people’s money. Anyone who things we can afford any more socialism needs to do some serious monetary study.
I’m sure Sanders will have a few months in the sun just as Obama did when he had a lot of blacks believing their financial troubles were over if he was elected.
July 11, 2015 at 10:59 am #12246edselehr
ParticipantOne of the most profitable capitalist institutions – the insurance industry – is based on a socialist precept: many people paying into a collective coffer, and spending that money where and when needed for the benefit of the financial community. Just redirect the profit skimmed off the top back into the benefit pool and – viola! – you have socialism.
Socialism is not your enemy Deane; neither is capitalism the enemy of the left. Both are essential parts of a healthy economy, but both must be regulated, controlled, and balanced.
July 11, 2015 at 11:04 am #12247missing_kskd
ParticipantYep.
It’s how the money gets spent that determines it’s contribution to the debt.
Spend on things that pay back, and the debt will be diminished. Spend on things that don’t, say a war, and the debt will grow considerably.
July 11, 2015 at 1:11 pm #12249Deane Johnson
ParticipantAnd what is Obama spending it on that will pay back?
July 11, 2015 at 2:03 pm #12250missing_kskd
ParticipantThe ACA, Stimulus, Medicare reform, for starters.
The stuff Bernie wants to do would pay hack nicely as well, and those items have 70 percent public support on average too.
July 11, 2015 at 2:25 pm #12253Deane Johnson
Participant“The ACA, Stimulus, Medicare reform, for starters.”
Ya, right.
“The stuff Bernie wants to do would pay hack nicely as well, and those items have 70 percent public support on average too.”
Freebies always get a lot of support.
July 11, 2015 at 2:47 pm #12254missing_kskd
ParticipantHey, you run a business and we’ve been through this before.
Quit with the freebies bull shit. We all know that’s not accurate at all.
So you’ve got a cost center, and cash flow, debt, etc… If you are lucky, you’ve got a cash business and are capitalized to some degree to hedge your risk. If not, then a credit line is going to have to do, and it make make sense to buy the money on the credit line anyway too.
Can’t grow the company without being able to afford some changes. Product costs, transaction costs, etc… all add up to make the margins just shy of what is needed to continue capitalizing and competing.
This is your deficit.
The accumulation of those costs are your debt, and it’s growing.
Right now, the US is in this scenario. And your money, your future, your opportunities are linked to how it all goes.
If we do Austerity, pretend we can’t make investments that pay us back, those things you sell will just not sell as well, demand will drop, so will your revenue. Not good.
Most of us are in that same boat Deane.
So, if we look at the US in a macro sense, the idea that we just can’t improve is bullshit. We’ve got people, resources, money, time, knowledge, and every other thing we need to get things better.
What we don’t have is a reasonable legislature willing to do the work to get us there, instead focused on making sure government doesn’t work so an all private ideology becomes more possible. And that’s no joke.
Going back to that business then, what to do?
The answer is obvious. A review is done, and either the working capital or credit is used to make investments that pay more back to the business, and or reduce costs.
Initially, the result may be a somewhat quicker debt growth as those things need to be funded on credit, or it may be a moderate increase in risk due to the capital being in use, or both.
(I would be paying back the capital as I would a bank loan, but without interest, if cash is in play)
As those investments deliver their returns, the longer term result is better (more) cash flow and a reduction in either the loss of capital, or if credit, a reduction in debt.
This is a no brainer thing. Every business owner worth anything at all gets it.
Of course, the alternative is to just let the company die.
So are we saying we just want to let the US die, and whoever and where ever they are just buy the pieces?
Seems to me, Republicans want just that.
But how does that actually benefit you and me? Truth is, it doesn’t. What it does do is make some wealthy people a lot more wealthy and it puts them in charge of a lot more things, and it’s gonna cost more of us too, because they want to not only serve the public, but make profit on doing that.
Over the last 10 years of obstruction, we’ve lost a lot of ground as a nation. There is absolutely no reason for that to continue, unless we want to continue to lose standard of living and leadership as well.
There isn’t a single thing on Bernie’s agenda that is foolish. We have the data to back it too.
The biggest obstacle happens to be, “government can’t work” types who refuse to believe we have any capacity to work as people to improve our nation.
July 13, 2015 at 10:58 pm #12290Chris_Taylor
ParticipantPreach it, Bern…uh…Doug!!!
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