And to answer your question, I think government is too big and getting bigger, it should be the other way around.
But I'm asking you, if the government stopped spending money on X - how it would cause your life to change for the better. I just want you to articulate some of these concepts and translate them to the real world.
The time for blaming the previous president has come and will stay until we can undo all of his terrible legislation. This is a conservative caused problem, and the remedies are being blocked by conservatives. Simply put, the Conservatives are the problem. There is no time limit on blame. And even a inneffective Obama is far better for this country than any plan I have seen from the right.
You always do this and try and belittle people with your vast intelligence, b/c you know what is best for everyone. The exact reason I stay away from the D&D. Truth is, I'm not a politician and don't know the in's and outs of government, it just seems they are infringing on our lives more and more and pay for more and more programs with our money than I think any government should.
And I guess you weren't really trying to belittle me, I have just seen you over and over trying to bait people into something so you showoff just how much you know.
I'm asking you a very simple question about why government spending is bad for your life. You don't need to be a politician to answer it. The truth of the matter is that "government spending" is no more or less inherently bad than ANY spending. It seems like you either don't realize this, or or just don't want to admit it. Or maybe it *is* worse and I am wrong - so tell then tell me why? It appears you think the governemnt "spends more than any government should" - what is your baseline for this assessment? How much "should" a government spend? A billion dollars? A hundred? How does it make your life better/worse if it spends too much/too little?
When you look at earmarks, as in the stimulus plan, there are plenty of examples of stuff the government does not need to be spending money on whether it be a small amount or a large amount. I don't have specifics, but I remember quite a few, from both sides of the isle. This is supposed to be our money they are spending. In my mind, they are there for safety (fire, police, military), infastructure, etc. I just feel they seem to over regulate on too many aspects of our lives. It is still the best government in the world, just think it is heading the wrong direction and all the devisiveness has me disslikeing both sides.
When you equate it to ANY spending, individuals/companies seem to get into trouble when they continue to spend FAR MORE than they bring in!
Sam's shtick is tiring, and aggressive... but with regards to actually knowing stuff, he knows more than most, and his specific point here is spot-on. One of the worst things about politics, imo, is people espousing opinions that have no freaking clue why. This isn't too attack you, but people in general. The number of times I hear people talking about economic policy who clearly have no clue is mind-blowing.
But the government isn't like an individual or company, it's able to do many things that an individual or company is not. (print its own currency, borrow at favorable rates, have an army etc)...likewise it's required to do a lot of thigns that individuals or companies are not (provide public goods for free, not to turn a profit, pass laws etc). It also has a thing about being, in theory...eternal. The government doesn't save money for retirement because it's never going to retire. Why would I want to treat it like a private business or a family balancing a checkbook?
So what is your point, the massive increasing debt is great for this country? And by printing more currency, increasing debt, it is devaluing the value of the dollar that I spend!!!
I think his point is that you're repeating very generic and worthless party lines, but don't seem to have any willingness to actually expand on them. He's trying to get you to actually say what you believe - or at least, figure out if you know why you believe what you believe.
How is that a party line? I just don't have specifics or time to dive in and do research on it. It is my opinion! He seems to dissagree or have a point, just make it.
Yes. Will you answer the question? So it's your opinion, but you have no actual knowledge of why you believe it? In the simplest terms, his point is that the facts do not agree with your opinion.
Great, then with all the facts poving the the increased spending by the government is a good thing, spend away.
No, that's not my point at all. My point is that spending by the government isn't inherently bad, and that in certain situations (i.e. Europe now, or the US if it were enacted) you can make your debt problems worse by spending less. Another reason not to treat a government like a family. It's actually not though. First off, it would devalue dollars that you saved, not spent. Second, there has been historically low inflation the last few years. The worst possible situation would be if the government stopped printing money and your money didn't get devalued, but rather increased in value over time. People everywhere woudl stop spending and the economy would completely collapse. I don't understand why anybody thinks this should occur.
