stevenash

Would love to know the sample size of the tea party and of the "Americans in General".  Also noticed that over half of Americans in General felt the President was moving the country towards socialism.  The article certainly was written without bias( :lol:)  I wonder if Dan Rather was involved in this polling effort?

Very racist book title.  He needs to be treated the same as Donald Sterling

BINGO

Few things, if any, are absolute.  But when it comes to operating a business, the chances of the private sector doing a better job than the government has a higher likelihood than most situations.   If I were wrong, you could depend on this current administration being involved in as many businesses as possible.  And, since they can't get involved on the operational side, they simply do so on the regulatory side.

And California will do the precise opposite

TXHOOPS- Not offended in the slightest.  These types of exchanges are always instructive and stimulating.   Also, I don't know that I am particularly bright.  I would guess that I am average.  But I do know how to work and apply myself and I believe that those qualities have, sadly, been minimized in importance by our society.

Long term solutions are great but in the case of Greece and Detroit, shorter term ones were needed to deal with problem at hand.  Not too long ago, our debt rating was downgraded for the first time in the history of this country.  That ought to suggest to anyone with half a brain that the situation is serious now and more education for more people does not address that issue.  As for my questions not being able to withstand objections in a court of law, I don't believe we are in a court of law and I don't profess to be a lawyer.  I believe we are on a message board exchanging thoughts about the country and its circumstances.  In regard to Alan Greenspan, I have read his book " The Age of Turbulence" in its entirety but it was several years ago.  I recall him lauding Clintons intelligence but don't remember the other President he held in high esteem.  As for the questions I asked, isn't that how the less intelligent gain knowledge from the more intelligent?  Alan Greenspan basically tutored Bill Clinton very frequently about how the economy works and hence Mr. Clinton put that knowledge to good use.  I don't think Mr. Obama gets tutored and I don't think he cares a bit about the economy just as long as he can institute his version of social justice.  I heartily disagree with you suggestion that the governments "ability" to bail anyone out implies business savvy.  And lets be clear that the bailout is ultimately a taxpayer bailout and the government is the only issuer who has unlimited check writing ability ( until we become Greece or Detroit).    I am quite confident that UPS is in much better financial shape than the US Postal Service who, incidentally defaulted on $5.6 billion payment last fall and projected losses of 15 billion for last year.  That's just one shining example of private vs govt. Amtrak also comes to mind when considering  successes/failures of govt managed business efforts.

And they say that all necessary investigations have taken place and it is impossible for new evidence to surface.

While the education theory you suggested certainly is an admirable and worthwhile cause,  don't you think we need some solutions a lot quicker than it takes to get more people educated?  I know I have said it before but I must repeat it because it is important.   We have been in our "recovery" for some time now and it simply is too weak.  Following a recession, the average recovery has a GDP in the 4 to 4.5% area.  This one has been running in the 2% arena.  The markets are telling us that the administrations polices are counter productive.  The bulk of the Presidents financial advisors come from academia rather than the business world.  I have yet to meet anyone with any business sense at all who believes raising taxes in the middle of a recession or early part of a very weak recovery is good policy. Our corporate tax rate is, on average, 10 percentage points higher than it is in Europe and yet they just cant figure out why so much corporate cash is saved and invested somewhere outside of the U.S.  I have heard often ( and this sort of relates to our exchanges tonight) that the President is super smart and knows the law very well.  While that may be true, he has little if any knowledge of the economy and is willing to sacrifice it in order to advance his social agenda.  I think Detroit( and some others not far behind) and Greece are shining examples of what happens when one takes the " to hell with the economy and to hell with fiscal responsibility" approach.

Do you have a problem with candidate Obama, with the debt then at 9 trillion, telling us how irresponsible and unpatriotic it was for the debt to increase by 4 trillion( over an 8 year period)with Bush at the helm and then to, in six years, increase it by 7 trillion?   Do you have any problem with the statement " If you like your doctor/healthcare plan, you can keep it"?   Do you have any problem with President Obama stating that if you just pass his stimulus bill, the national debt will be halved by the end of his first term and unemployment will be at 5.5%?   Do you have any problem with half of the wage earners in the country not paying any Federal Income tax and, simultaneously, most of those who do pay are told they are not paying their fair share?   I am sure that education will help deal with crime, poverty,drugs and homelessness but family values play a critical role in those issues to and we do very little in this country to promote the family and family values.

I know of whom you speak and there is a good possibility he is what you say he is.  My guess is that he is a democrat for a reason relating to tort reform/politics but that is just a guess and I certainly cant prove it.( never have yet met a plaintiff attorney who is a Republican)  I just am curious why you imply that you have many answers and know many things but wont volunteer any of them.  In lieu of dealing with the question, you get very enchanted with your ability to circumvent it by discussing the ambiguity of the question posed.  We have already had Bill Clinton tell us that " that depends on what the definition of is is.  Furthermore, if one acquires wealth, the results/intellligence are not what I have determined but what the markets have determined and the collective wisdom of the markets far exceeds anything learned on the bar exam..  I will ask you once again ( and wont be surprised if you re-circumvent) two questions and would assume you have very good answers because you elucidated on your degree of intelligence.  In what instances is the government  more efficient, profitable, and accountable in a business pursuit than private enterprise?  Mr. Jobs and Mr. Gates had little if any formal advanced education.  Were they highly intelligent?  I agree with your decision not to become a trader.  The markets have a very strong preference for veracity over double speak and they will severely punish the pretenders.

Iraq is about to crumble and yet our President says the world is safer than it has ever been and Al Qaeda has been decimated.

Congrats.  Now that you have established your clearly superior intellect and business mind, perhaps you will offer some answers/solutions rather than just promising how insightful and clear your answers are going to be.  Sooner or later you are going to have to deliver rather than saying things like be patient, the intelligent answers are imminent.  By the way, you have misinterpreted my comment about google.  I have been having trouble posting links on this board so will often recommend that someone consult google. ,How much $ did being in the top 10% of your exam  group pay?  Did it pay any more than the guy who passed at the very bottom? There are lots of people who test well and there are others who don't test so well.  Neither is directly correlated to successful productive careers.  I passed my exam with little room to spare but am in the top 10% of all who are in my field.  Does my google comment prevent you from giving opinions about the economy, business, etc etc.?  I am particularly interested in your comment "depends" when talking about the government being as productive/efficient/accountable in a business pursuit as compared to private enterprise.  One more thing: even though you have told me how dangerous it is, I am going to assume that I am more than qualified to discuss the business world with you.

Did you join the BPM?

The one who wouldn't know the truth if it looked him in the eye.

Ok  I don't mind comparing educations.  Keep in mind that there are a lot more "educations" available out there than a formal one.  Ask Bill Gates or Steve Jobs if they agree.  I have a basic 4 year college education( very average grades or maybe even slightly below average) and that's all and I know a number of Masters and Doctors whose annual income is less than the taxes I pay annually.  If you have a PHD from  Wharton, I can quite easily debate business issues with you.  So I would say, abandon the "my dog is bigger than yours" and just simply humble me via the debate..  I have a very close friend ( drummer in band I played in when in High school and college) who is a department head at NYU International School of Business and has served as a consultant to the Federal Reserve..  He and I have frequent discussions regarding business and economics that are pretty interesting.  Even though he is just a PHD at NYU, I have this suspicion that if I can discuss/debate with him, I can do the same with you.  One more note-  When I passed the securities exam a number of years ago, I was told that it is the third most difficult exam behind the Bar exam and the MCat.  ( don't know if that is true or just an opinion of people in my industry)  Our Chicago office recently had two Ivy League grads join our firm and, like every other potential advisor, they were told they  would have to pass the securities exam.  They felt it would not be a problem because they had recently completed an education that was second to none. Both flunked the exam.  Pretty interesting, huh?

Its really odd, because Enlightened/chosen has been on this board under several other names and, each time before he was banned, he went on liberal rants from both a fiscal and social standpoint.  Now he suddenly has a new name and a new outlook.  Kinda reminds me of our President when he spoke of attacking this deficit with a "balanced approach" (implying that he wanted tax hikes and spending cuts)  Well, I am experiencing the tax hikes but the spending cuts just don't seem to have materialized.  But, saying "balanced" sure sounded good and so does "moderate".  One more thing that really sounds good:  " If you like your doctor/healthcare plan, you can keep it".  One of these days we will elect someone based on substance rather than symbolism. 

"Some of my ancestors may have initiated the good ole boys club but it has since been refined, just like the game of basketball.

I am glad to know that you fully agree with my contention that this administration is the most incompetent manager of the countrys fiscal policy ever.

Wow!!! You are rich. You are smart. You work in one of the most competitive and and lucrative industries( no doubt you dominate your competition) Your political affilation is a secret. You've got the whole situation under control. Thanks for taking the time to wax eloquently to the commoners today.

Ahhh, another response to the commoners for which you normally dont have time.

This means you are obviously one of those evil "1 percenters" that your party dislikes so much. This would further mean you arent paying your fair share in taxes. Are you ashamed?

This stuff has gone too far. One must walk on eggshells anymore or they must simply not speak because somebody, somewhere, in some way, will be offended by it. I don't like Kobe Bryant and I am sure somebody will turn that into racial hatred when it has nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Dove, do you honestly not have any thoughts on why BISD did not try to recover the money from Mr. Walker? ( for a short historical perspective, I believe it was you who felt that Mr. Walkers hiring of a famous lawyer would somehow get him off the hook)To quote "other people", could Mr. Walker, Mr. Thomas, and a few others been joint members of an "old boy" network?

    Sorry, the government has a well documented track record (regardless of party affiliation) of being a very failed business manager. You stated you were well equipped to have these discussions so please counter my claim and explain why. And since you are "well equipped" you shouldn't need to google so much.