Biggest issues you have for the American government and what you would do to change it?

Military industrial complex.

We spend about 20% of federal budget funding our military (as much as the rest of the world combined). about as much as social security or welfare. Politicians line up to support any military spending. It's pure pork barrel politics and is a disservice to our country.

We don't need 11 aircraft carriers and the f-35.

If cut the military budget in half and spent the rest on healthcare, scientific research and education we would see huge returns on the investment and increase in US wealth.

xcskier66 wrote:

Military industrial complex.

We spend about 20% of federal budget funding our military (as much as the rest of the world combined). about as much as social security or welfare. Politicians line up to support any military spending. It's pure pork barrel politics and is a disservice to our country.

We don't need 11 aircraft carriers and the f-35.

If cut the military budget in half and spent the rest on healthcare, scientific research and education we would see huge returns on the investment and increase in US wealth.

respectfully, take a look at the middle east - that's what happens in a power vacuum. I'm not real keen on seeing that reproduced elsewhere. It is a whole lot cheaper to build and deploy a few carriers than have wars.

If I had to pick something to fix miraculously, it would be the black/brown urban underclass. Those people have little hope of joining the wealth most of the US enjoys

they have a different culture, a different standard and no clear path to get out. Esp now that government jobs are falling in #.

I have no clue how to fix this - you can't just throw money at schools - black/brown urban culture doesn't respect schools. charters seem to have some success, but not sure how scalable that is.

Fix this problem and you get millions of poeple working and contributung instead of...of...I don't really know what they do.

Race relations are so tied up in economics, it makes sense that things would be flaring up now, since inequality is so historically high. Race issues in the US are definitely pretty F'ed up. Think about how often Native American concerns are brought up in politics-- when Europeans moved here there were 100 million people living here! I read recently that black/white wealth inequality in the US is currently greater than it was in South Africa under apartheid.

agip wrote:

If I had to pick something to fix miraculously, it would be the black/brown urban underclass. Those people have little hope of joining the wealth most of the US enjoys

they have a different culture, a different standard and no clear path to get out. Esp now that government jobs are falling in #.

I have no clue how to fix this - you can't just throw money at schools - black/brown urban culture doesn't respect schools. charters seem to have some success, but not sure how scalable that is.

Fix this problem and you get millions of poeple working and contributung instead of...of...I don't really know what they do.

Just pass all the power back to the states and let the blue states f*** it up for themselves instead of blaming DC.

Randy Oldman wrote:

Just pass all the power back to the states and let the blue states f*** it up for themselves instead of blaming DC.

Yeah I thought states were doing a pretty good job till they started calling in the national guard cause they couldn't handle their own racist sh!t storms.

Welfare babies

BRING BACK THE MCDLT!

Amen! The redder the state, the better things are: Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, .... Wait a minute...

Randy Oldman wrote:

Just pass all the power back to the states and let the blue states f*** it up for themselves instead of blaming DC.

actually income inequality in the US hasn't changed for 50 years, and mobility has been relatively stable also. Wealth inequality has changed for the worse tho100 million natives? That is at the very high end of unknowable estimates. 50 million is a more common estimate.

...and the claim about black/white inequality worse in the US than South Africa is also false or at least based on absent data - http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/dec/17/nicholas-kristof/missing-data-sinks-apartheid-wealth-gap-claim/zero for three my friend!!

Wealth inequality is much more important than income inequality, the way I see it. If JP Morgan's (or whoever) great grandson goes to graduate school, he has an income of $20,000 a year. But he has a lot more ability to shape his world than someone in the same program from a poor family. Wealth also lets you ride out the lean times, and has a HUGE effect on how powerful your contacts are, which has a huge effect on what jobs you have access to.I admit, I knowingly used the high end of estimates of Native American population when Europeans came. It really doesn't change the story at all though. Let's use 50 million; the entire population of New England is only 15 million! 50 million native Americans lived here before European settlers, and the entire race is virtually invisible to politicians today.

agip wrote:

actually income inequality in the US hasn't changed for 50 years, and mobility has been relatively stable also.

Wealth inequality has changed for the worse tho

100 million natives? That is at the very high end of unknowable estimates. 50 million is a more common estimate.

Guy O'Leighken wrote:

Race relations are so tied up in economics, it makes sense that things would be flaring up now, since inequality is so historically high. Race issues in the US are definitely pretty F'ed up. Think about how often Native American concerns are brought up in politics-- when Europeans moved here there were 100 million people living here! I read recently that black/white wealth inequality in the US is currently greater than it was in South Africa under apartheid.

well I'm not sure which to pay more attention to - wealth or income. I tend to look at income because something tlike 3/4 of americans live paycheck to paycheck and then go on social security at 62 and that's what they got.If there is a thin crust of very wealthy people...I don't see how that matters much. I'm guessing here, but the effect of wealth that you are describing...it is such a small number of people as to be insignificant. How many people really use wealth and contacts to get their careers going? No one I know, and I'm fairly rich. So I think you are talking the uber rich...and that's just not very many people. Long way around, but income seems to be what puts bread on the table for almost every american...wealth...few have any. But this post is speculation - I can't cite anything to prove it.

Yep, you're right about that.For this discussion though, the important fact is that there's a GIGANTIC difference between the wealth of white households and the wealth of black households. So black families have a harder time getting down payments for loans, paying for school, and coming up with living expenses during hard times. And as the saying goes, "it's not what you know but who you know:" black families live in poorer neighborhoods for the reasons above, and so are at a huge disadvantage when looking for jobs compared to equally qualified whites.

agip wrote:

...and the claim about black/white inequality worse in the US than South Africa is also false or at least based on absent data -

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/dec/17/nicholas-kristof/missing-data-sinks-apartheid-wealth-gap-claim/

zero for three my friend!!

Guy O'Leighken wrote:

Race relations are so tied up in economics, it makes sense that things would be flaring up now, since inequality is so historically high. Race issues in the US are definitely pretty F'ed up. Think about how often Native American concerns are brought up in politics-- when Europeans moved here there were 100 million people living here! I read recently that black/white wealth inequality in the US is currently greater than it was in South Africa under apartheid.

I think you're WAY underestimating the importance of contacts in finding jobs. I'm sure it varies a ton by industry, but I've had many friends get internships and jobs with the help of somebody who knows somebody. I also have cousins who didn't grow up super rich, but went to fancy boarding schools and got mediocre grades; when the time came they somehow ended up in careers where they make more money than anyone else I know. A good word here or there from the right person makes a huge difference. The median white household has a net worth of over $100,000. That may be less than ideal, but it still makes a huge difference after a layoff, during a serious illness, or with any unforeseen event.

agip wrote:

xcskier66 wrote:

Military industrial complex.

We spend about 20% of federal budget funding our military (as much as the rest of the world combined). about as much as social security or welfare. Politicians line up to support any military spending. It's pure pork barrel politics and is a disservice to our country.

We don't need 11 aircraft carriers and the f-35.

If cut the military budget in half and spent the rest on healthcare, scientific research and education we would see huge returns on the investment and increase in US wealth.

respectfully, take a look at the middle east - that's what happens in a power vacuum. I'm not real keen on seeing that reproduced elsewhere. It is a whole lot cheaper to build and deploy a few carriers than have wars.

Respectfully, I do not see exactly what your argument is here.

Taking a look at the Middle East - OK, yeah, it IS f'd up. Doesn't seem that enormous US military power has made that problem go away. Indeed, a good case can be made that the US basically created both Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Taking a look elsewhere - are you claiming that US military power is keeping the peace in Africa? Latin America? Asia? Is it keeping Russia out of Ukraine?

Seriously, I am having a hard time seeing what your argument is.

Respectfully wrote:

agip wrote:

respectfully, take a look at the middle east - that's what happens in a power vacuum. I'm not real keen on seeing that reproduced elsewhere. It is a whole lot cheaper to build and deploy a few carriers than have wars.

Respectfully, I do not see exactly what your argument is here.

Taking a look at the Middle East - OK, yeah, it IS f'd up. Doesn't seem that enormous US military power has made that problem go away. Indeed, a good case can be made that the US basically created both Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Taking a look elsewhere - are you claiming that US military power is keeping the peace in Africa? Latin America? Asia? Is it keeping Russia out of Ukraine?

Seriously, I am having a hard time seeing what your argument is.

the argument in the middle east is what happens when there is a power vacuum. In this case, the US went in, destroyed Iraq and that created a power vacuum. Into that vacuum was sucked all kinds of violence. To walk that thesis along, if the US disappeared, power vacuums would appear all over the planet. Into those vacuums would be sucked violence everywhere.

Yeah, the US created this power vacuum. but I don't see how that should make you want more power vacuums.

And yes, US military power is keeping peace in many places. You think Putin would have stopped in Crimea w/o the US and NATO? You think China would not be taking over the entire south china sea without the US balance?

You think Japan and Saudi would be nuke free without the US? They'd have nukes in a matter of months if the US backed off. You think Iran wouldn't have had a nuke already? Would North Korea and South Korea be at a kind of peace w/o the US?

if the US backed off, all kinds of regional conflicts would flame up.

I hear you - it's just not my experience so I don't see it. My circle is solely strivers born middle/upper middle class who hyper educated themselves and moved up the ladder. I grew up upper middle class...and I saw how my peers moved up and down the ladder...I really don't know anyone who was lifted into place by wealth. Without edcuation and hard work. Many failed and live far below their parents' wealth levels. By their own hand - it's their fault. And I live in Manhattan, center of wealth.but i hear what you are saying - that's the conventional wisdom.

OK, I see your argument:

"the argument in the middle east is what happens when there is a power vacuum. In this case, the US went in, destroyed Iraq and that created a power vacuum. Into that vacuum was sucked all kinds of violence."

But your conclusion is dubious at best:

"if the US disappeared, power vacuums would appear all over the planet. Into those vacuums would be sucked violence everywhere. "

Honestly, that just seems like something of a talking point that someone pulled out of their ass sometime in the past and it has been repeated over and over ever since. Truthfully, if one were to read it carefully without being prepped one would probably burst out laughing it is just so absurd on the face of it.

The problem: government infringes on our rights as Individuals.

The solution: end all statist/collectivist policies.