Re: I detest single issue voters...look at the big picture for a change jobs are shipped overseas our ever-worsening economy plummets high unemployment the majority of Americans DON'T have health insurance the basic rights we've come to take for granted are taken away.
That's your definition of the big picture? Do you know why oil is $55/barrel right now? Bush, you say? Try Hurricane Ivan for the correct answer.
Seems that most U.S. refineries can only handle sweet crude that comes from the Gulf of Mexico. Ivan wrecked havok on the offshore drilling platforms and mudslides underneath the water of the Carribbean tossed pipelines around like so much drift wood at sea. That wiped out 400,000 barrels of oil production a day from the globe and will be enduring (estimates are about 1 year to recover), and pinched all the refineries dependent on that grade of crude (which is not available from the Middle East).
Big picture means actually recognizing the globe as a holistic ecosystem. I don't mean to be harsh, but the issues you have listed are pretty limited in scope. E.g.
jobs are shipped overseas
Outsourcing and Work VISA programs have reduced the number of jobs available to Americans. Furthermore, politicians are convinced (Kerry and Bush) that Americans are too lazy or incomptent to do jobs like working at McDonalds, working on farms, working on construction crews, building houses and offices, etc. So they endorse uncounted illegal immigrants to be allowed to roam the country at will. Bush didn't start this. Kerry couldn't stop this. Congress is starting to act after it dawned on someone that anyone can pay to be smuggled illegally into America from Mexico - including the bad guys tm. The best resolution is to deal with the root of the problem: reduce and monitor VISAs, enforce immigration laws, and finalize tax treaties with other nations reducing double taxation on multi-national or export business while enforcing tax fairness and collection. Businesses are not obliged to stay in the U.S. but I believe most would rather be here than deal with unknowns elsewhere.
our ever-worsening economy plummets
We are in a recession because too much debt is floating around. Americans must stop spending, reduce debt, or we will all go bankrupt to correct the problem. It didn't help that during the Clinton years the incredible levels of corporate fraud resulting in a very unsound and overvalued market. This is a correction period and no one can fix it without getting back to fundamentals.
high unemployment
High by U.S. standards certainly. Low by double digit numbers compared to other westernized nations. I'm not sure if we will have to accept higher unemployment in the long run, but the important thing to keep in mind is that business creation creates jobs. Not government spending nor large corporate welfare packages. New business is the lifeblood of the U.S. Start a business today and employ yourself and others - and if everyone does that then the boom economy will return.
the majority of Americans DON'T have health insurance
Yep. And they never did.
the basic rights we've come to take for granted are taken away
Do you have some you can name? I still seem to be able to breathe, work, eat, sleep, defecate, write, speak, etc.
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momijizukamori
no subject
Date: 2004-11-04 01:10 am (UTC)jobs are shipped overseas
our ever-worsening economy plummets
high unemployment
the majority of Americans DON'T have health insurance
the basic rights we've come to take for granted are taken away.
That's your definition of the big picture? Do you know why oil is $55/barrel right now? Bush, you say? Try Hurricane Ivan for the correct answer.
Seems that most U.S. refineries can only handle sweet crude that comes from the Gulf of Mexico. Ivan wrecked havok on the offshore drilling platforms and mudslides underneath the water of the Carribbean tossed pipelines around like so much drift wood at sea. That wiped out 400,000 barrels of oil production a day from the globe and will be enduring (estimates are about 1 year to recover), and pinched all the refineries dependent on that grade of crude (which is not available from the Middle East).
Big picture means actually recognizing the globe as a holistic ecosystem. I don't mean to be harsh, but the issues you have listed are pretty limited in scope. E.g.
jobs are shipped overseas
Outsourcing and Work VISA programs have reduced the number of jobs available to Americans. Furthermore, politicians are convinced (Kerry and Bush) that Americans are too lazy or incomptent to do jobs like working at McDonalds, working on farms, working on construction crews, building houses and offices, etc. So they endorse uncounted illegal immigrants to be allowed to roam the country at will. Bush didn't start this. Kerry couldn't stop this. Congress is starting to act after it dawned on someone that anyone can pay to be smuggled illegally into America from Mexico - including the bad guys tm. The best resolution is to deal with the root of the problem: reduce and monitor VISAs, enforce immigration laws, and finalize tax treaties with other nations reducing double taxation on multi-national or export business while enforcing tax fairness and collection. Businesses are not obliged to stay in the U.S. but I believe most would rather be here than deal with unknowns elsewhere.
our ever-worsening economy plummets
We are in a recession because too much debt is floating around. Americans must stop spending, reduce debt, or we will all go bankrupt to correct the problem. It didn't help that during the Clinton years the incredible levels of corporate fraud resulting in a very unsound and overvalued market. This is a correction period and no one can fix it without getting back to fundamentals.
high unemployment
High by U.S. standards certainly. Low by double digit numbers compared to other westernized nations. I'm not sure if we will have to accept higher unemployment in the long run, but the important thing to keep in mind is that business creation creates jobs. Not government spending nor large corporate welfare packages. New business is the lifeblood of the U.S. Start a business today and employ yourself and others - and if everyone does that then the boom economy will return.
the majority of Americans DON'T have health insurance
Yep. And they never did.
the basic rights we've come to take for granted are taken away
Do you have some you can name? I still seem to be able to breathe, work, eat, sleep, defecate, write, speak, etc.