I think about Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado, but is being rebuilt by its residents as a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community ”“ how it can bring jobs and businesses to a place where piles of bricks and rubble once lay. “The tragedy was terrible,” said one of the men who helped them rebuild. “But the folks here know that it also provided an incredible opportunity.”
And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina -”“ a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, “We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.” We are not quitters.
These words and these stories tell us something about the spirit of the people who sent us here. They tell us that even in the most trying times, amid the most difficult circumstances, there is a generosity, a resilience, a decency, and a determination that perseveres; a willingness to take responsibility for our future and for posterity.
Their resolve must be our inspiration. Their concerns must be our cause. And we must show them and all our people that we are equal to the task before us.
I know that we haven’t agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways. But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed.
A lot of things sound good when said, but are not possible in reality. Tax cuts for 95%? 50% paid no tax to begin with how can they get a cut? Call it what it is welfare. The free flow of credit is paramount but continued meddling with banks is not helpful. Is that not what got us here, being forced to give loans to people who could not afford them? Though it might not be popular no one can argue that not all people can take on that type of responsibility and see it through, the same can be said for higher education, we can’t all be doctors and lawyers. Class envy and an unrealistic ideology will lead to only one thing socialism. The easiest path is seldom the best. The best and brightest will lead us out of recession but they seldom work in government do they?
The [url=http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1417894.html]Associated Press[/url] has done some fact-checking on various Obama statements. Some are trivial, but some are serious. For instance, “If the administration has come up with a way to ensure money does not go to home buyers who used bad judgment, it hasn’t announced it.” The AP also points out the questionable assertions on cost savings and job savings or job creation.
Dawson, how is the government meddling in banks? I’m gathering you are opposed to encouraging banks to lend to businesses. That’s the nature of credit. It’s not being “helpful” actually indicates that banks don’t know their long term interest.
Who forced who to give loans? The CRA had been around for a long time before the disaster was on the horizon. What “forced” people to create NINAs and the like was the promise of great returns. Do you normally reject great returns?
Class envy? Not wanting your pensions slashed is class… envy? wanting good health care is class envy?
Do the best and the brightest work in government? Some people do believe in public service, and decide that public service is more important than personal wealth. They choose to work for the public, and in exchange get a reliable pension and health care.
Others really hate the government and don’t want the best and brightest to work there. For example, for 8 years we had people who didn’t believe in government running the government. They had no incentive to run things well, because they didn’t believe that government could work. Expectations produced the results they wanted.
If you don’t want government to work, it won’t.
The federal government has no business owning a stake in a private co. It only leads to the kind of micro management that we are starting to see now. Business has to be free to create to advertise and to grow. Those things are not possible under too much government ownership, too many cooks to stir the soup. They were maybe not forced to give bad loans but certainly coerced, Fannie and Freddie [ the government] bought up bad paper at an alarming rate speeding the collapse as things went soft. Yes, Bush had some blame but it is no reason to surrender to socialism being spread now as the only fix. As far as pensions and health care both are freedoms certainly not constitutional rights. Bad choices by some individuals should not necessarily punish all. To prop up the weak only stalls the inevitable, harsh but reality.
#3 “If you don’t want government to work, it won’t.”
So that was Lyndon Johnson’s secret agenda. Good to know.
Dawson, “Business has to be free to create to advertise and to grow.” and FAIL. Putting a safety net under businesses only encourages increases in bad decisions with citizens picking up the bill, this is what we are seeing now!
exactly!