The American Empire

Oh I see, still a valid point though. I was just saying the consumer did turn a massive blind eye to it all, or was woefully ignorant. But yes: Congress, Wall Street, Banks, regulators all deserve blame and I agree. No one learns a lesson if they get off without punishment? Well, I would love to see some people punished.
Nothing made me angrier than seeing the CEO's that almost ran the US economy into the ground, get bailed out and use a lot of that money on giving themselves bonuses.... Should've been forced to step down and these "golden parachutes" that reward those who fuck everyone over and ruin the company is ridiculous.

There was an interesting docudrama about the whole crisis, get this: The major banks only accepted the capital injections (handing money over them so they would lend it) by having the government promise they wouldn't tell em how to spend it. Surprise....they didn't lend much out and kept it for themselves.
Better thank the gods I wasn't in charge. They would've either spent it as I said, or I'd nationalize them. Temporarily of course, but I would've in a heart beat and if they think I would've felt bad about it/over the public backlash. Nope

As for the tax issue..not necessarily. Federal income tax the max is 35% but remember we are decentralized. There are also state income taxes, if they choose to do so.
New Jersey has a max of 10.75%  So in this state you could pay a max 45.75% in incomes taxes. Some cities also have their own, so when that is added on in New York City a top bracket person owes like 48 or 49%   I think that is pretty much in the European ball park right? Sweden is 60% not too far away! Oh, also there are property taxes and the sales tax, all this takes out of your income. Added up, us in the middle classes here in the states pay a lot of tax.

Ugh, the GOP is just the most disgraceful thing on Earth. I mean I don't like the Democrats at all but god those Republicans..... I'm not sure, at this moment the only one that I think has a legit good shot of beating Obama is Ron Paul. All the other candidates...they all have a chance but I only see Paul being the largest threat. Of course if the party is to divide at all it would help Obama.

It's all about the economy. If it picks up, Obama is pretty much good, if it doesn't or not enough to the public's satisfaction...he is toast.
What's sad is the GOP has not done a single thing since Jan 2009. Not one. They've made it painfully obvious. I think they don't want to help the country, they want everything to stay stagnant...so they can win. Others must feel the same way, they have been making it very clear these are their intentions. It's disgusting.




Edited by The Angry Scotsman - 16 Jul 2011 at 5:21pm

From some brazilians comedians:

SolarLuna96 wrote: It is, however we have enough allies to keep us going for at least 50 more years

cannon wrote: The U.S.A. has a huge debt/deficit, high unemployement, fighting three wars, many companies out sourcing jobs and moving abroad for cheaper labour, factories and industries closing down due to not being competative, mass illegal immigration especially from Mexico, the ever increasing gap between rich and the rest, the ineffectiveness of the federal government(congress), the lobby of special interest groups, profits over people(greed, Wall St., etc.) and other factors. Most of these factors have contributed to the fall of many empires through history. Do you think the American empire is crumbling?

What we are seeing is the failure and endgame for capitalism that has run out of fuel. It thrives like a virus needing new resourses and new cheap labor to constantly and exponentially expand. It's like a star that has run out of fuel and becomes a super nova. We are now experiencing the point where everything is hyper exaggerated and bubbles appear in every economic nook and cranny. I truly believe (and hope) the capitalist countries adopt some of the social democratic principles of Scandinavia and Singapore, the frugality of Bhutan and the innovation in renewable energy like in Germany. Unfortunately we still have a worldwide situation where the banks and petrol industries have a stranglehold on world economies but that is slowly unraveling. The trick is to survive after the crash. One of the reasons i go to the Burning Man event is because it teaches radical self survival in a gift economy mentality.

old thread

America is still right fucked, and they are taking Canada with them (we currently have an evangelical wanna-be-dictator tea partier in power, who does literally anything the US, China or Israel wants him to)

Yep.  this is a good read if you're interested.

Although I see it hasn't been updated since he signed a backdoor deal with China that will let their corporations sue us if our environmental regulations (what few there are left) get in the way of their profit margins.  Without taking it to parliament.  Which is effective for 31 years and no opportunity to back out of it.  Good ol' Canada.

I'm so tired of politics man, that's just screwed here in Europe so much. You guys are in a deep shit of its own but at least there's just three of you. There's 46 countries in Europe - each and every one of them with their own language, traditions, pride, and fair share of idiots. Dependent not only from China, but also Russian "Empire" and USA. Add global crisis, Ukrainian crisis, war in Syria (Asad's backed by Putin), crumbling Euro zone and so on, I'm done.

bartosso wrote: I'm so tired of politics man, that's just screwed here in Europe so much. You guys are in a deep shit of its own but at least there's just three of you. There's 46 countries in Europe - each and every one of them with their own language, traditions, pride, and fair share of idiots. Dependent not only from China, but also Russian "Empire" and USA. Add global crisis, Ukrainian crisis, war in Syria (Asad's backed by Putin), crumbling Euro zone and so on, I'm done. Why can't you guys be an example for Europe, why? Oh I know, Christianity  Our common tragedy.

bartosso wrote: I'm sorry, I know nobody's asked me to elaborate. What a damn windbag I am. Besides. it's a thread about the US, not religion. But seriously how can someone think of USA without taking religion into account? Okay, I shut up already.

No, it's ok, and I agree with you