Land of the "Mostly" Free?

Krieg

How do you feel about being "mostly free?" Is that the current American dream? Maybe we need to change our National Anthem to "the land of the mostly-free."

Perhaps when you were growing up, you were under the assumption that you were "totally free." You would probably be correct, because until now the United States has been considered "totally free" on the index that defines "economic freedom." This index defines "totally free" as follows:
"You can follow your dreams, express yourself, create a business, do whatever job you want. Government doesn't run labor markets, or plan what business you can open, or over-regulate you."
For the first time in 16 years, The Index of Economic Freedom has moved the United States has fallen from being "totally free" to "mostly free."

What do you think, folks? Is that "close enough" for you? Are you thinking, Eh that's just one notch down but we still mostly have our freedoms .. I'm OK with that as long as I can watch Entertainment Tonight and listen to sport talk radio. It should scare the pants off you. Perhaps you should be asking yourself is what you can do to get us back to the top of the rung, to re-establishing our total freedom. If we continue this backwards slide, where will our country be by the time your children are adults? What about their children? A Bloomberg National Poll found that more than 50% of Americans are NOT confident or are just somewhat confident that their children will have better lives than they have. With each passing election, presidential or otherwise, we have a chance to do something about the people leading this country. In 2008, I believe we took a giant leap backwards in terms of government's size, government dependency and restoring our freedoms and liberties. I didn't know it at the time. I should have seen it coming .. and the months that followed brought us pork-laden spending bills under the guise of "stimulus," a takeover of a hefty portion of the auto industry, ObamaCare, financial reform, increased burdensome regulations and soon tax increases. The combined efforts of a Democrat Congress and an anti-private sector, anti-freedom-loving president have primed the pump for our "new economy," led by the government rather than the private sector. This is the fundamental change that Obama spoke of. A quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson reads ...

"Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of the day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pursued unalterably through every change of ministers (administrators) too plainly proves a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing us to slavery."
That is what you are up against. You can change the path of this country on November 2nd. So long as the Republicans are willing and able to put a stop to this tyranny and oppression, you may save your children from living in a country where their exist to serve the state.

Krieg

Oh and one more thing...

Just so you know ... this 2010 Index of Economic Freedom was compiled from data from the last eight months of the Bush Administration. Obama wasn't a player in this one. The Republicans don't deserve to be handed control of the House and the Senate. The problem here is that our country cannot survive continued Democrat rule ... not the country you've grown up in at any rate. A change must be made, and right now the GOP is the only viable choice. Frankly, I'm looking forward to getting on their case when they move into the control role.

Think about it this way: It's one thing when the Democrats get power and start acting like Democrats. They can be removed and the Republicans put in their place. But what do you do if the Republicans start acting like Democrats again? Power can do that, you know. That's why we're going to have to be even tougher on the Republicans after this election than we currently are on the Democrats. This tide has to be turned.

stephen_hannibal

John Stossel much?

phobicsquirrel

The dumbest post ever! Wow... Yeah you republicans go a head and vote for lies, and more failed policies. The money from the very organizations that are destroying our country and having a field day with funding mostly republican and mostly the ones who are up against dems who went up against the very industry. Just because there is an R in front of the name doesn't mean they stand for anything that will help you. Though I know it's taking a leap of faith that republicans actually read and know about their candidate but it might enlighten them, however with posts like this and other crap that has been spewed around I doubt it will make any difference.

If the Bush admin and since the 80s has proved anything is our govt is so heavily influenced by money and corporations that we the people are left fighting amongst ourselves with upset people voting for people that are for the very thing the voters won't benefit from. Krieg you make their case very well. Good luck, and let's keep giving tax cuts for business's who outsource, large oil companies, private prisons, private health companies, private military contractors, lied invasions, decreased environmental protections, and more of our money backing up wall street. That's just to name a few. Oh and let's privatize police, fire, education, hell let's just cripple govt so much it operates so badly that people think it doesn't work,,.... oh wait that has already happened.

stephen_hannibal

Pheebs did you read his second post? He's saying we need to keep the power that has so royal f*cked us in check.

Vulchor

Either side of the political spectrum...and anywhere in between for that matter, can only restrict freedom. Man is born free and it is the role (albeit defacto) of govt. to restrict freedoms. The level of restriction is a point t debate, as is the type of freedom's being stripped, but the idea we are now only "mostly" free is something we have basically been since we stopped clubbing people over the head and lived solely for ourselves.

Hays

Vulchor:

Either side of the political spectrum...and anywhere in between for that matter, can only restrict freedom. Man is born free and it is the role (albeit defacto) of govt. to restrict freedoms. The level of restriction is a point t debate, as is the type of freedom's being stripped, but the idea we are now only "mostly" free is something we have basically been since we stopped clubbing people over the head and lived solely for ourselves.

I am officially surprised here.... I 100% agree with this statement.

Krieg

Hays:

Vulchor:

Either side of the political spectrum...and anywhere in between for that matter, can only restrict freedom. Man is born free and it is the role (albeit defacto) of govt. to restrict freedoms. The level of restriction is a point t debate, as is the type of freedom's being stripped, but the idea we are now only "mostly" free is something we have basically been since we stopped clubbing people over the head and lived solely for ourselves.

I am officially surprised here.... I 100% agree with this statement.

I was rather shocked too, lol.

lilwing88

phobicsquirrel:

Yeah you republicans go a head and vote for lies, and more failed policies. The money from the very organizations that are destroying our country and having a field day with funding mostly republican and mostly the ones who are up against dems who went up against the very industry. Just because there is an R in front of the name doesn't mean they stand for anything that will help you. Though I know it's taking a leap of faith that republicans actually read and know about their candidate but it might enlighten them, however with posts like this and other crap that has been spewed around I doubt it will make any difference.

You could switch out every "Republican" in the above statement with "Democrat" and it would make just as much sense...... just sayin.......

I find it funny that you assume its only Republican voters that make "blind faith" decisions in their elected officials. It's a pretty well known that MOST voters, Dem and Rep, just look for the R or D after a name and base their vote on that. I'm guessing here, but I would say that 90% of the voters in this country are uninformed about their candidates (and that's a generous estimate).

wwhwang

lilwing88:

phobicsquirrel:

Yeah you republicans go a head and vote for lies, and more failed policies. The money from the very organizations that are destroying our country and having a field day with funding mostly republican and mostly the ones who are up against dems who went up against the very industry. Just because there is an R in front of the name doesn't mean they stand for anything that will help you. Though I know it's taking a leap of faith that republicans actually read and know about their candidate but it might enlighten them, however with posts like this and other crap that has been spewed around I doubt it will make any difference.

You could switch out every "Republican" in the above statement with "Democrat" and it would make just as much sense...... just sayin.......

I find it funny that you assume its only Republican voters that make "blind faith" decisions in their elected officials. It's a pretty well known that MOST voters, Dem and Rep, just look for the R or D after a name and base their vote on that. I'm guessing here, but I would say that 90% of the voters in this country are uninformed about their candidates (and that's a generous estimate).

Pretty close, lilwing. Political statistics show that roughly 85 percent of voting Americans have no effin' clue how the political system actually works or even have their own independent beliefs (as opposed to what the media or their parents force feed them). About 10 percent actually capable of forming their own beliefs and educated enough to know how the political system works. The last 5 percent are the Americans that know the system enough to actually be capable and competent enough to teach politics CORRECTLY.

Just one of those tidbits of info I actually managed to memorize from many, many political science lectures. ALSO! Just to clarify, both sides of the political spectrum are guilty of the ignorance plaguing 85% of American voters and the media just reinforces it. Just keep in mind...when you point your finger in accusation, four are pointing back at you.

Fourtotheflush

You have all been duped! All people who sit on either extreme have been duped into beleiving that their party is doing whats best for the country. when both sides are just sitting there feeding at the trough! Give me some damn government reform!

Vulchor

Fourtotheflush:

You have all been duped! All people who sit on either extreme have been duped into beleiving that their party is doing whats best for the country. when both sides are just sitting there feeding at the trough! Give me some damn government reform!

+1----And for those of you I have suprised, I do have a few "rational" ideas in my head , lol.....I love a good theoretical debate on politics, law, life, ect....Less people to offend and more abstract ways of thought than just this side vs that side.

Amos_Umwhat

wwhwang:

lilwing88:

phobicsquirrel:

Yeah you republicans go a head and vote for lies, and more failed policies. The money from the very organizations that are destroying our country and having a field day with funding mostly republican and mostly the ones who are up against dems who went up against the very industry. Just because there is an R in front of the name doesn't mean they stand for anything that will help you. Though I know it's taking a leap of faith that republicans actually read and know about their candidate but it might enlighten them, however with posts like this and other crap that has been spewed around I doubt it will make any difference.

You could switch out every "Republican" in the above statement with "Democrat" and it would make just as much sense...... just sayin.......

I find it funny that you assume its only Republican voters that make "blind faith" decisions in their elected officials. It's a pretty well known that MOST voters, Dem and Rep, just look for the R or D after a name and base their vote on that. I'm guessing here, but I would say that 90% of the voters in this country are uninformed about their candidates (and that's a generous estimate).

Pretty close, lilwing. Political statistics show that roughly 85 percent of voting Americans have no effin' clue how the political system actually works or even have their own independent beliefs (as opposed to what the media or their parents force feed them). About 10 percent actually capable of forming their own beliefs and educated enough to know how the political system works. The last 5 percent are the Americans that know the system enough to actually be capable and competent enough to teach politics CORRECTLY.

Just one of those tidbits of info I actually managed to memorize from many, many political science lectures. ALSO! Just to clarify, both sides of the political spectrum are guilty of the ignorance plaguing 85% of American voters and the media just reinforces it. Just keep in mind...when you point your finger in accusation, four are pointing back at you.

A second to this remark, a friend of mine who recently graduated med school put it this way: Only one in four Americans is capable of rational thought, and only one in five is capable of moral reasoning beyond the level of concrete operations". This comment was in relation to a discussion concerning the fact that the voting populus is probably about to replace the nuts we've got with the ones who screwed everything up.

lilwing88

Amos Umwhat:

wwhwang:

lilwing88:

phobicsquirrel:

Yeah you republicans go a head and vote for lies, and more failed policies. The money from the very organizations that are destroying our country and having a field day with funding mostly republican and mostly the ones who are up against dems who went up against the very industry. Just because there is an R in front of the name doesn't mean they stand for anything that will help you. Though I know it's taking a leap of faith that republicans actually read and know about their candidate but it might enlighten them, however with posts like this and other crap that has been spewed around I doubt it will make any difference.

You could switch out every "Republican" in the above statement with "Democrat" and it would make just as much sense...... just sayin.......

I find it funny that you assume its only Republican voters that make "blind faith" decisions in their elected officials. It's a pretty well known that MOST voters, Dem and Rep, just look for the R or D after a name and base their vote on that. I'm guessing here, but I would say that 90% of the voters in this country are uninformed about their candidates (and that's a generous estimate).

Pretty close, lilwing. Political statistics show that roughly 85 percent of voting Americans have no effin' clue how the political system actually works or even have their own independent beliefs (as opposed to what the media or their parents force feed them). About 10 percent actually capable of forming their own beliefs and educated enough to know how the political system works. The last 5 percent are the Americans that know the system enough to actually be capable and competent enough to teach politics CORRECTLY.

Just one of those tidbits of info I actually managed to memorize from many, many political science lectures. ALSO! Just to clarify, both sides of the political spectrum are guilty of the ignorance plaguing 85% of American voters and the media just reinforces it. Just keep in mind...when you point your finger in accusation, four are pointing back at you.

A second to this remark, a friend of mine who recently graduated med school put it this way: Only one in four Americans is capable of rational thought, and only one in five is capable of moral reasoning beyond the level of concrete operations". This comment was in relation to a discussion concerning the fact that the voting populus is probably about to replace the nuts we've got with the ones who screwed everything up.

To be fair, some of the nuts we got ARE the ones who screwed everything up. But that goes back to the argument that things went downhill when the Dems took control of Congress vs the argument that the Republicans didn't take enough advantage of their power when they had it to shrink government. Both sides are to blame for our economic problems. Squirrel was kinda right about one thing, voting for any candidate is a leap of faith, no matter what their record or stance on the issues. Obama is a perfect example of that. The majority of Dem voters feel duped. His approval rating is evidence of that.

It's too hard to follow every election race going on right now, but I've noticed that it seems most Democratic nominees are focusing on character issues, while the Republican candidates are focusing on political issues. Who knows? Given the average voters method of thought behind their decision, maybe the Dems are the smart ones here........

clearlysuspect

People are descending into idiocracy in this country because no one reads any more. They base all their decisions on what the television tells them, on what some journalist or "analyst" said who probably has just about as much of a clue about the topics they're speaking about as the people they're talking to. (The blind leading the blind) And even if they did read, every idiot in the world has a book now so they can try to get rich. When we do read it's usually just blogs and senseless stuff we found on the internet written by god knows who. I love technology as much as the next person but most people are using it to make themselves dimwhitted instead of intelligent.

Also note that recent studies show that most americans are rapidly losing their memory and mental capacity. What is primarly attributed to these problems: internet (particularly search engines like Google) and Fox News. OK.... I just made up the Fox News part but people are getting dumber because of search engines. No one is trying to retain information and actually use and excercise their mind any more. There is simply no need to when you can Google or Wikipedia anything you need to think about.

Again, I love the technology and Google as much as the next, but it's simply no substitute for formal education.

fla-gypsy

deleted

Hays

Vulchor:

Fourtotheflush:

You have all been duped! All people who sit on either extreme have been duped into beleiving that their party is doing whats best for the country. when both sides are just sitting there feeding at the trough! Give me some damn government reform!

+1----And for those of you I have suprised, I do have a few "rational" ideas in my head , lol.....I love a good theoretical debate on politics, law, life, ect....Less people to offend and more abstract ways of thought than just this side vs that side.

Once again I agree... I love debating on theoretical basis. Vulchor, maybe you and I should talk more! Who da thunk?

phobicsquirrel

stephen_hannibal:

Pheebs did you read his second post? He's saying we need to keep the power that has so royal f*cked us in check.

forgot about this.. okay yeah I didn't see that.. I resend my post then. krieg's got a point. 2 party systems suck.

btw, I think we can all agree that this huge flood of money in our system is very dangerous. I read this tonight:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20koch.html

And I also read about how hedge funds and banks (although not directly) are buying up say back taxes, water bills, basically maniciples and then going to the person they belong too and telling them you need to pay this bill(s) oh and you also have to pay for our costs and up to an 18 percent addtinal charge for their trouble. And if that's not bad enough, they get all the power as the state in collecting, such as taking your home. It's happening and it's sick. Oh and a lot of these bills are like under 1000 dollars but after the fees are attached many people are F'd!

http://huffpostfund.org/stories/2010/10/new-tax-man-big-banks-and-hedge-funds

Huffpost is really the only place I found this at, as they did a investigation on it. I've found a few other pieces of info on it that mentions many people's stories but it's on my work laptop which I can post tomorrow. This is horrible and just another addition to what is happening.

phobicsquirrel

Money and our politics, a great union!

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/10/20/beck-koch-chamber-meeting/