[Rhodes22-list] Political - for Brad's Eyes - notrelatedtosailing!

[brad haslett]

Stan,

Half the list isn't sailing (too cold), and the other
half is (just right) so we may as well solve the
worlds problems.  There is always the DEL key for
people who aren't interested.

Hell will freeze over before you ever hear me say
Billy was a "great President".  He did some things
that I admire, like sign off on NAFTA and bail the
Mexican government out of their financial crisis. 
Clinton swung whatever direction the wind was blowing
and after the 1994 election setbacks, he took a sharp
turn back to the middle.  His wife is not so pragmatic
and that worries a lot of folks like me.

The days of lifetime employment with one company and a
fat defined benefit retirement plan is over but for a
few lucky souls.  That is the inevitable result of the
evolution of the global economy and no party or
government can change that unless they want to
strangle their own economic growth.  Like it or not,
China is the new 900 pound gorilla with India not far
behind.  

Now as to the market, quit watching it.  The market
has averaged gains of 9 to 11% growth overall since
the Great Depression, including the setbacks of 1987
and the DotCom bust, and offers a much better return
on investment than any other investment vehichle. Just
throw darts at the Wall Street Journal or better yet,
put a steady amount into an indexed fund and leave it
be. The closer one is to living on a fixed income the
less exposure one needs in the market, but, for a kid
just starting out, 4% of their income invested in the
market for 40 years will add up to a nice nest egg no
matter how small their income.

France, Germany, and other EU countries are retreating
from their "cradle to grave" socialist programs
because they can't pay for them and remain competitive
in the global marketplace.  Any nation that ignores
the global trend will do so at its own peril.  One
doesn't have to like it, it just is.  I haven't read
"Das Capitals" in about 35 years but a few parts of it
sounded good at the time.  History has pretty well
debunked it as a workable theory.  Oh, there are a few
peasants and factory workers in China that long for
the "good ole days" but for most, the standard of
living has increased substantially.  Unfortunately for
us, its coming at our expense.  Again, one doesn't
have to like it, it just is. It is  human nature to
focus on a very small percentage at the top and ignore
that the aggregate standard of living has risen. 
Remember JFK's words, "a rising tide raises all
boats".

You'll have to solve the rest of the problems on your
own, I've got to go to work.

Brad 


--- stan <stan at rhodes22.com> wrote:

> Brad,
> 
> Hmmm - I am not always wrong.  I note that while we
> speak the market has 
> dropped 84 cents.
> 
> I also said that history would eventually show that
> Clinton had been a great 
> president - but now I hear you saying that's
> happening earlier than I 
> thought
> 
> I also thought that no way could the world economy
> take on all the job 
> retirement programs industry and governments were
> giving workers and that 
> they would have to bail themselves out of this
> "math-not-adding-up" 
> situation with a secret plan of programmed
> inflation.  But I was wrong 
> again - they had more balls than I guessed and
> either went out of business 
> with the wealthy taking theirs up front, or simply
> reneged on pension deals 
> that were, in effect, terms where workers took less
> pay to get the jobs in 
> return for the money they would get when they
> retired - really a localized 
> social security but with a different name.
> 
> The bottom line is that when the conservatives get
> in power the name of the 
> game is to take whatever can be taken, away from the
> poor.  And when the 
> liberals get in power, to reverse that damage.  And
> maybe that is nature's 
> law of the survival of the species.
> 
> But my basic argument remains;  and that is, when
> you say the poor want the 
> rich to pay, both god and I would argue that it was
> the poor who helped the 
> rich get there, so where's the beef.  Personally I
> never thought it fair for 
> W to tell the rich that the taxes they paid was
> their money so it should be 
> given back to them and the debt incurred in doing
> what had to be done, 
> belongs to the poor, so let them pay - or sell the
> debt to foreigners and 
> let the poor's kids pay.  But what do I know of
> fairness and values - I'm 
> just a leftover Neanderthal from Brooklyn.
> 
> stan.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "brad haslett" <flybrad at yahoo.com>
> To: "stan" <stan at rhodes22.com>; "The Rhodes 22 mail
> list" 
> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 10:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Political - for Brad's
> Eyes - 
> notrelatedtosailing!
> 
> 
> > Stan,
> >
> > Be careful what you wish for.  You're right, the
> > original intent was for SS to be an insurance
> program,
> > not a substitute for responsible planning.  I'd
> gladly
> > drop out today and forgo all future benefits but
> that
> > won't happen.  All the polls show that the current
> > recepients want "the rich" to pay the way and I
> fully
> > expect the current $90,000 limit to be raised. 
> Albert
> > Einstein said the eighth wonder of the world was
> > compound interest.  I'd like to see my kids take
> > advantage of that by putting a percentage of their
> > earnings into a controlled investing program. 
> That is
> > precisely the retirement program available to
> Federal
> > Government workers and I don't see a rush on their
> > part to give it up for the SS program.  I think if
> the
> > BHL's would look past their hatred of W they might
> see
> > he's hardly the fiscal conservative those of us to
> the
> > right of Attila the Hun would like.  Like my
> friend
> > always says, in many ways, Bill Clinton was the
> best
> > conservative President we had in a long time. W is
> way
> > to friendly with the pocket-book on programs like
> > Medicare for me.  As to the cuts in agriculture,
> he's
> > right on target. Sometimes things are not what
> they
> > appear.  I do think Bush is right to take on SS
> now
> > and not let the problem fester for future
> generations.
> > The devil is in the details.  We won't hear the
> end
> > of this for a long time.
> >
> > Brad
> >
> >
> > --- stan <stan at rhodes22.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Brad,
> >>
> >> I do not even remember his name yet but the
> senate
> >> minority leader sounded
> >> good to me, so far (another Truman type?)
> >>
> >> Re SS. from a selfish point of view Rose and I
> are
> >> getting ours so why worry
> >> (but you know I need diversionary entertainment).
> >> So I'll ad that we have
> >> thought that everyone was looking at this program
> >> myopically.  It really
> >> either was meant to be, or should have been meant
> to
> >> be, a Social Security
> >> Insurance program where everyone pays into it and
> >> only those who need it
> >> when the time comes take the benefits..  My
> >> father-in-law was modestly
> >> wealthy and kept getting his SS checks which
> amazed
> >> us kids because he
> >> simply didn't need it and so would put it into
> the
> >> stock market - he was
> >> ahead of Bush's time.... .
> >>
> >> My guess is that while the president is out there
> >> pushing his investing in
> >> the market idea, the market is going to be
> crashing
> >> and kill the vote.
> >>
> >> stan/ec
> >> ----- Original Message ----- 
> >> From: "brad haslett" <flybrad at yahoo.com>
> >> To: "stan" <stan at rhodes22.com>; "The Rhodes 22
> mail
> >> list"
> >> <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> >> Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 9:35 AM
> >> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Political - for
> Brad's
> >> Eyes - not
> >> relatedtosailing!
> >>
> >>
> >> > Stan,
> >> >
> >> > One of the names that keeps coming up for the
> Dems
> >> in
> >> > 2008 is Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen.  Evan
> >> Bayh
> >> > shot himself in the foot with a lot of
> moderates
> >> over
> >> > the Condi vote.  Bredesen was Mayor of
> Nashville,
> >> a
> >> > self-made multi-millionare from the health care
> >> > industry, from the Northeast originally, and I
> >> voted
> >> > for him as Governor and probably could as
> >> President.
> >> > Anyway, Bredesen just last month made massive
> cuts
> >> in
> >> > Tennessee's universal health-care program,
> >> Tenn-Care,
> >> > because it wasn't sustainable and was
> bankrupting
> >> the
> >> > state.  I think nearly everyone with a heart
> wants
> >> > universal access to health care but these huge
> >> social
> >> > programs have so far proven difficult to
> >> administer.
> >> > Ever been to a hospital in China?  Change in
> our
> 
=== message truncated ===



		
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