You do whatever you must do to disengage. Increasing troop strength in order to redeploy is a standard military procedure.
Winston, I agree with the basic premise of your post. I have been disappointed in this election that the candidates have not talked more about the role of government because I believe it goes to the heart of most of our disagreements. I do believe that there is too much regulation on certain businesses. I have a friend who owns a fairly prominent and well-established body shop in our area. When he starts telling me about all the regulations and regulators that he has to deal with it is enough to make anyone's head spin. Any reasonable person would agree that the kind of toxic chemicals that he handles should be regulated to keep the general public safe but right now it is too much. On the flip side when I get on an airplane I want the assurance that someone who is qualified has examined the air craft and deemed it in good mechanical order. Same thing is true of our food supply and pharmeceutical supplies. My issue is with those who would imply that we nix government at every turn, regardless of the rewards or consequences, without a thoughtful discussion about the ramifications. When I watch the Republican primary debates and you see twelve people trying to one up one another about who will kill more government agencies, it leads me to believe that they are serious. YOu have to take people at their word, right?
Based on what? be specific. Don't be obtuse. Republican fervor for reducing government is obvious to all. Despite deregulation that led to the economic crashes, the want more deregulation. Despite tax cuts for the rich that failed to produce economic benefits, they want to extend and add to them. The kind of cuts envisioned by the Tea Party cannot happen without dramatic slashing of government services and regulations as we have always known them. You cannot hide this. It is the elephant in the room.
I do agree there is a tendency in the extreme right wing to forget the the phrase "the government that governs best governs least" forget there was a big but at the end with words to the effect that no government at all is worse. I do think much is in reaction to many on the left who see a problem and think a government solution is the only fix that have permeated government since LBJ or before. They have seen a creeping government intrusion on basic issues like your friend's body shop. Unfortuntely there seems to be an attaction to this intervention that takes even the right. You see it in many places. We do need the thoughtful discussion you posit but in election time don't expect it.
The problem with this post is that it requires you to make several assumptions about me. First, I do not hate the rich because I am one of them. The tax increases on the wealthy that I support apply to me also. I am a small business owner; have been for several years so I know the challenges that small business owners face and I can tell you with a great deal of certainty, Barack Obama isn't one of them. As a small business owner I do not have the luxury of hanging onto ideological nonsense because that is not the way that business is conducted. Whether I am working with a customer or a vendor, we both have a vested interest in reaching a deal that we both find mutually beneficial,or the very least, mutually acceptable. I keep hearing people arrogantly stating things like: "If Obamacare were repealed I could hire five more people tomorrow!" yet any good business owner knows that the only thing that makes you hire more people is to have more customers, more demand. Otherwise, your just a jack ass who ends up paying five people to stand around and collect a check. Second, if you had been listening all along, Mitt Romney has promised us that he will spend trillions more than Obama. So far he has assured us of a 5 trillion dollar tax cut that he cannot pay for, making the Bush Tax cuts permanent which are also not paid for, increasing military spending without a means to pay for it and somehow we are supposed to believe that all of this equals a net decline in our national debt. Question: do you guys own calculators? if so, why do refuse to use them? And this is the "business" guy who is going to fix everything? Sure he is.... At least you are correct about one thing: Mitt Romney will likely win NC.....and it just might be the only swing state that he wins.
I'll get back to you later Red right now I am going to Tiger stadium and yell my ass off for the Tigers.
Good...go vote for Obama. You won't be alone. Many people are in bad shape (income, employment, education, etc.) and will continue to be. They don't vote Democrat because they're in bad shape. They're in bad shape because they vote Democrat. This will not change with four more years of Obama. Your genius candidate had the Oval Office, House, and Senate and couldn't even pass a budget. Blame anyone or anything but the fact is he's a failure. Obama doesn't need to defeat Romney to win. He just needs to continue fooling people like you. That will be enough to keep him in office. America was great while it lasted! He'll likely get four more years to continue burying us.
Back to the Electoral College and less important issues that don't mean **** in the grand scheme of things: Nov. 2: For Romney to Win, State Polls Must Be Statistically Biased. I don't think that the odds are very good that al of these polls who were leaning to Romney a few weeks ago are suddenly biased towards Obama. Even Rasmussen is swung to Obama. It's not looking good for Romney and there is little time left. He better pray to Joseph Smith that Obama ****s up soon. 83% chance Obama carries at least 270 electoral votes now...
You must be an incredibly cynical person. All of this talk about America's demise is foolish and not at all reflective of the facts. In fact, there is good reason to believe that the economy is entering into a new phase of recovery. Housing is showing real signs of life, manufacturing is picking up, congress will have no choice but to agree to a debt and deficit reduction deal in the next few months which will loosen the purse strings on capital. There is actually very good reason to be optimistic so cheer up.
