[plschwartz]

So if the economy tanks badly and we are left with a choice would you continue to pay for the War in Iraq at the expense of a strong stimulus package.
If needs be would you cut back on the defense budget to prove economic stimulus?

[Fidelista]

I would not cut back on defense , it would be dangerous IMO. I follow military affairs and I am not happy with what I see.
I would cut the expense of the Iraq war.
Borrowing for economic stimulus ? -I have my doubts , strong ones.
I am no economic expert , but I have reservations about borrowing and giving it away for a quick high. >f

[wacor]

This looks like one of the political polls where there is a desired result.

Define a strong stimulus package.

Define the economy tanking badly.

[linskyjack]

I agree with Fidelsta---You can withdraw form Iraq----and still budget for the military. It's amazing how many people miss the point that the war in Iraq is one of the reasons our economy has done as well as it has done. War is very good for the economy.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

It's amazing how many people miss the point that the war in Iraq is one of the reasons our economy has done as well as it has done. War is very good for the economy.

Its amazing you actually grasp that. Most moore-ons (like Schwartzy) think that every dollar spent on Iraq is a dollar out of his pocket and a dollar wasted--you know--the old "how many poor could you feed for the price of an F-18"). Makes for good knee-jerk liberal rhetoric to pull on the chains of the macro/micro economics dim wits.

I think we should stop calling people "poor." We should call them "economically challenged!"

[iltos]

Originally Posted by linskyjack

War is very good for the economy.

it's true....and that's all i'm saying about it

[Koot]

Watch out what you ask for! Without a strong defense our great country could be destroyed...

[plschwartz]

Originally Posted by Mulderator

Its amazing you actually grasp that. Most moore-ons (like Schwartzy) think that every dollar spent on Iraq is a dollar out of his pocket and a dollar wasted--you know--the old "how many poor could you feed for the price of an F-18"). Makes for good knee-jerk liberal rhetoric to pull on the chains of the macro/micro economics dim wits.

I think we should stop calling people "poor." We should call them "economically challenged!"

Actually Molder I am well aware that WWII got us out of the Great Depression and among others a recession in the late 60's was averted by Viet Nam.
Even Hitler and the Nazi industrialists knew the economic boost that war gives.

I don't have a fixed answer. It depends upon how one . defines strength. Would free universal higher education make a stronger country then Starwars Missile defense ?

What do you define by safe? I worked with a guy who spent 60% of his disposable income on life insurance. The family never took vacations, ate out etc. But his kid was protected. BTW his kid is grown and he is still alive.Maybe he will get some money back.
Everything in life is a trade-off. Do you trade four of your best minor league prospects for a front line pitcher?

But now that I have your attention do you favor any bail-out for mortgages? OC has tons of Option ARMS written last three years. Ay foreclosure signs on your block yet?

Per DataQuick, we are looking at 81,550 NOD (notice of default ) filings and 31,676 foreclosures for 4th Quarter 2007.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by plschwartz

Actually Molder I am well aware that WWII got us out of the Great Depression and among others a recession in the late 60's was averted by Viet Nam.
Even Hitler and the Nazi industrialists knew the economic boost that war gives.

I don't have a fixed answer. It depends upon how one . defines strength. Would free universal higher education make a stronger country then Starwars Missile defense ?

What do you define by safe? I worked with a guy who spent 60% of his disposable income on life insurance. The family never took vacations, ate out etc. But his kid was protected. BTW his kid is grown and he is still alive.Maybe he will get some money back.
Everything in life is a trade-off. Do you trade four of your best minor league prospects for a front line pitcher?

But now that I have your attention do you favor any bail-out for mortgages? OC has tons of Option ARMS written last three years. Ay foreclosure signs on your block yet?

I don't know what foreclosures have to do with your original thread, but why we are on the topic, why are they bad? Home prices go down and become more affordable.

There won't be any foreclosures on my street--these people don't have sub-prime loans--people living on this steet would lose a house only if they lost their jobs (long term). And that would happen regardless of whether prices were going up or down.

[iltos]

Originally Posted by Mulderator

I don't know what foreclosures have to do with your original thread, but why we are on the topic, why are they bad? Home prices go down and become more affordable.

There won't be any foreclosures on my street--these people don't have sub-prime loans--people living on this steet would lose a house only if they lost their jobs (long term). And that would happen regardless of whether prices were going up or down.

to further divert this thread....anybody got a link that takes a look of the demographics of those who bought houses using the subprime loans....i've heard stories of poor folks getting in trouble because of it....but it was also the perfect opprotunity for speculators

just curious

[LANMaster]

Won't answer the poll.
Slanted answers are worded poorly.

[Ciberblade]

Originally Posted by plschwartz

So if the economy tanks badly and we are left with a choice would you continue to pay for the War in Iraq at the expense of a strong stimulus package.
If needs be would you cut back on the defense budget to prove economic stimulus?

That's a pretty big if

[johnnyburst79]

It is not "either or". But the truth of the matter is, what nation truly poses ANY threat to the United States? What nation would dare to invade us? Barring the armed forces, how many millions of independent gun owners and veterans would be able to fight? We COULD cut back on defense but that isn't going to affect the economic stimulus package. What WOULD help out would be to reduce the massive federal bureaucracies that only exist to exhaust the supply of red tape.

[LuckyStrike]

Guns and butter, on borrowed money. Guns because we are at war and it is necessary. Butter because, if the stimulus works, it will repay itself and then some compared to the alternative. The alternative being a recession in which revenues go way down while spending goes way up.

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by plschwartz

So if the economy tanks badly and we are left with a choice would you continue to pay for the War in Iraq at the expense of a strong stimulus package.
If needs be would you cut back on the defense budget to prove economic stimulus?

Hi plschwartz,

I think the War in Iraq is going to take a turn whereby the forces will be redeployed to Afghanistan to support efforts to probe into the Waziristan provinces (Peshawar) regions along the NW border of Pakistan with Afghanistan where bin Ladin is probably hiding along with al-Qaeda among the recently regrouped Taliban.

At most, there will remain a security force (smaller than now) in Iraq for the foreseeable future (maybe for 10 years or so). We do have an obligation to Iraq as we invaded it on specious reasons that turned out to be false and virtually destroyed its infrastructure.

A strong stimulus package will not help us avoid a recession. Like we need more dumb fiscal policies - no thank you!

What I would like to see is a great debate about the core services of our government at the Federal level without which we cannot conscionably do away with. That would ultimately mean a restructuring of our Federal Budget according to priorities to manage our economy in a realistic way, without lobbies and special interests, getting back to grass roots democracy, having a balanced budget, and getting most all Americans back on the same page. No more attachments and spendthrift behavior from Congress, and no more signing statements from POTUS in order to ignore laws just signed into being. It is a serious error in judgment to believe that the DOD will keep us safe and secure.

Why is the USA still so heavily invested in policing the world? We need to cut back somewhere, and the defense budget is a good place to start.

I would voice that our reaction to 9/11 was an overreaction (when you really think about it) where we got sucker punched right in our oblivious underbelly of complacency. I agree that going into Afghanistan was the right move, but not finishing the job by capturing bin Ladin and distracting ourselves over Iraq were the wrong things to do. Talk about a lack of human intelligence - we need to correct that, and having a new agency like the Dept. of Homeland Security seems to smack of building bureaucracy rather than solving the problem of reducing our vulnerabilities to security risks. Some good things have happened: more coordination between our Federal agencies! Bad things have also happened: less capability to deal with natural disasters like Katrina. Why do we think we can solve problems by just throwing more money at them? Take the engineering of the levies in the New Orleans area, and all along the Mississippi River - when we prevent floods with levies, we destroyed the environment of the natural marsh lands that replenished the viable farmland along its banks (or something like that).

I'm all for a smarter Federal Government with a go get'em leader leading us in the right direction - not, like the last 8 years!

The problems we face in the future are a lot more complex than your poll would indicate. Doing one or the other would not go far enough to solve our problems. We need real leadership to steer us in the right direction. Without it, we will have to wait another 4 years. That is something the American people should rethink!

-- Tom

P.S. I abstain from the poll. We've still got a long way to go in solving our problems as a nation. Don't forget to Vote this Super Tuesday!

P.P.S. No more NeoCons! Run'em out of our Federal Government! Tar and feather'em!