OT of an OT: Ethanol

[Hunpecked]

Renegade 13: "Might as well stop....but don't view it as me conceeding your arguement, since I'm not"

Actually Renegade did concede, partially, when he wrote

"Here I agree with you. I was mistaken in my original post that the American economy was circling the drain, at least in certain aspects."

We actually agree on other points, too, e.g. deficit spending is bad, Canada has a strong economy, and Canada and the US are far better off as partners than antagonists. He seems a bit overly optimistic about the effects of a hypothetical US-Canada trade war, but I certainly can't fault his patriotism.

[Azselendor]

I don't know why people don't understand the US's spending policy. the US government buys something, looks at it, then buys two more at twice the cost.

But Deficet (spelling?) spending can be good if done wisely. FDR did it to reboot the economy and get people back to work. The US had to do it during the revolution in order to pay for the war.

The way it's used now is reckless. Let's curb the problem with a $100,000+ pay cut for elected officials in the federal government!

[Suicide Junkie]

I didn't mean that...
It just seems to me that if you're running consistent defecits, your *country* is going downhill.
At some point, you're not gonna be able to pay your dues, and then the fecal matter hits the fan.

[Atrocities]

I vote that we rebel and establish an entitlement state where upon I can sit on my *** all day long and never have to worry about a good GD thing ever again!

[Suicide Junkie]

All we need is to form an SE4 commune.
We could buy some abandoned building to live in, do the paperwork to become a tax-exempt branch of the Church of Aaron, and share the rent of a T1 line to the PBW server.

[Phoenix-D]

Imperator Fyron said:
Or, you know, reduce spending so the govt. doesn't have to borrow or raise taxes...

From..where, exactly? If you nuked everything except SS, Medicare, and defense, and interest payments we'd STILL be in a deficit..

[Atrocities]

You guys need to learn the golden rule. Nothing means nothing were all going to die. So if you can't effect change, learn to live with what is what and f*** the rest. It don't mean jack for were all going to be long dead and forgotten by the time that it matters. And by then, no one will care. So nuff said, move on.

[Renegade 13]

Hunpecked said:
Renegade 13: "Might as well stop....but don't view it as me conceeding your arguement, since I'm not"

Actually Renegade did concede, partially, when he wrote

"Here I agree with you. I was mistaken in my original post that the American economy was circling the drain, at least in certain aspects."

Partial. Compared to the economies of many countries, the US is doing great. However, in my opinion, in comparison to Canada's it's not as good, and it's on a downward spiral. That spiral might be slow, but a spiral it is.

You guys need to learn the golden rule. Nothing means nothing were all going to die. So if you can't effect change, learn to live with what is what and f*** the rest. It don't mean jack for were all going to be long dead and forgotten by the time that it matters. And by then, no one will care. So nuff said, move on.

That's a bit of a fatalistic attitude. There's always something the public masses can do, if united, demanding change. No gov't can resist the demands of their united people.

[Atrocities]

Public masses are considered MOBBS and therefore your right to gather and conduct free speech activities is null and void as Posse Comitatus (sp) is suspended and the armed rebellion is put down with excessive and brutal forces.

No gov't can resist the demands of their united people.

If the citizans of that government have been duley disarmed, then the above passage holds even more weight.

[Will]

Well, part of the reason that Clinton managed to get surpluses by the end of his time in office was by realizing that the US wasn't in an arms race with the USSR any longer. Then Bush got in office, and brought with him a bunch of advisers from the Reagan and Bush Sr. era, who are still of the mindset that the US needs a large standing army (while slashing taxes to boot, 'Reaganomics'). Only problem is, there isn't a national enemy to justify it. The closest thing we got is "terrorism", and that's not something you fight by throwing more bodies at it, it's fought via infiltration.

You might say that countries like China could become an enemy, but I don't think so. Both the US and China have too much to gain by staying on each others' good sides, and the Communism boogeyman is no longer effective as a justification for the 35-and-under age group (people who grew up watching USSR fall).

Let the tax cuts expire, freeze military spending at the current amount (sans Afghanistan/Iraq spending) for a decade or so before allowing it to grow with inflation again, and there will be a federal budget surplus again. After that, you only need 536 miracles to get that surplus to pay off the debt to a more reasonable level (say, $1 trillion instead of the over $8 trillion it's at now). Because every time you get a politician to pass up the opportunity for budgeting something to make themselves look good, it's a miracle, and it would take convincing 435 Reps, 100 Sens, and 1 Prez to make that happen.

Anyway... ethanol. Not only would it be cool to have cars that use it, but if you drink it in little tiny cups, the world gets all wobbly!