[OFB Cafe] Tech Buzz: Who Deserves the Tech Vote?

[Derek Broughton]

On August 22, 2008 23:26:15 Timothy Butler wrote:

> 	FEMA did not work well, but honestly, people should not need FEMA.
> Who in their right mind lives in a city below sea level anyway? But,
> that's neither here nor there I suppose.

Poor people without options.  People who once upon a time, _didn't_ live 14 
feet below sea level, but whose homes have been steadily subsiding because 
_rich_ people control policy.

People in their right minds don't _buy_ homes below sea level, on flood 
plains, or anywhere in Florida; but people have to live somewhere.

> > whose policies have put America into war after war, caused
>
> 	Two, both of which Gore likely would have gone into as well, if he
> followed in the footsteps of his former boss.

I don't know that I agree completely, but I think it's a safe bet to say that 
_nobody_ as president could have avoided going to war in Afghanistan.  Never 
mind that history says that going to war in Afghanistan is always going to be 
a losing proposition, no president that wanted to stay out of that war could 
have kept the confidence of the people, and nobody who could have been 
elected by the people would likely have wanted to stay out of it anyway.
>
> > put the economy in the crapper,
>
> 	You place far too much weight on the power of the government
> concerning the economy. Our trade deficit is far more damaging to the
> economy than anything the Bush administration (or the Clinton
> administration) has done.

Possibly true.  However, the economy is the cross a president has to bear.  
Yes, there are things that a president can do that will change the economy (I 
suspect Nixon's recognition of the People's Republic of China was initially 
good for the economy), but for the most part a president just has to accept 
that if the market's are good, people will look back on him fondly, and vice 
versa.  otoh, trillions of dollars into a war in Iraq, are not good for the 
economy, and while I'll agree that the trade deficit is probably worse in the 
long run, _not_ having so many wars would have done wonders for Bush's image 
with the economists.
>
> > made houses worth less than what is owed on them, and tanked our
> > global reputation as a "shining beacon of freedom"...
>
> 	At least in Europe, I don't think that was hard. Places like France
> didn't like the United States before. 

THAT is American isolationism.  Places like France _loved_ the US.  Some 
politicians didn't, but you don't realize just how much mileage you got (and 
squandered) out of saving Europe from the Nazis.  They even forgave you for 
being late (the British didn't, but then they weren't occupied).

> > The smart democrat went on to teach at Harvard, win an Oscar and later
> > accept a Nobel prize for his work in the Global Warming arena. 
>
> 	Yes, for work that has been thoroughly brought to question by those
> actually in the fields Gore like to talk about. 

Not really.  It's been thoroughly brought into question by people with vested 
interests in denying global warming, who like to cite the odd question by 
others who actually believe it.

> And, the alarmist 
> propaganda so far has come without realistic solutions (that's perhaps
> the biggest problem of all).

LOL.  So unless there's a solution, let's not bother about it.  You _can't_ 
have a solution until you agree to work on one, and for the most part nobody 
wants to even admit there's a problem, so they'll never have a solution.  

> 	Confession helps restore one's reputation. It was also nearly 30
> years ago.

It's sure better than having to admit something during the campaign :-)

> > McCain has said that he would balance the budget in his first
> > term, the economist said that it is simply NOT POSSIBLE, given his
> > stances on lowering taxes and increased spending for even more wars.
>
> 	What "more wars" do you know about? 

Well, "longer".

> 	Can we guarantee that Obama would 
> not get it to a war? (I doubt -- it's now a prerequisite to becoming
> president to start at least one war, I believe).

I can certainly see the possibility of either candidate getting boxed into a 
situation in either Iran or Georgia, and something else is sure to crop up.

> 	Do tell how Obama is going to pay for all of his government expansion
> projects, such as his enormous health plan that will surely run over
> budget...

Divert the Iraq war money...

-- 
derek