[Swiftwater Gazette] Dear Peggy

Fri Oct 30 18:37:28 EDT 2009

Rik,

A clean sweep on Tuesday would help.  President IWon already threw the
VA Dem candidate under the bus (anyone notice a pattern here?).  NJ is
close.  Hoffman is tied in the NY-23rd which may be the most important
race of all because it will send a strong message to the GOP, ie, the
Tea Party is not your party and you better take us serious.

If this so-called health bill passes we may be toast.  Europe has had
enough and is turning away from socialism.  Even Sweden has had
enough!  Like my wife says, maybe people need their noses rubbed in it
a while to get the message.  I hope it doesn't come to that.

Brad

On 10/30/09, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Well, truth be told, I don't either. Short of impeachment I'm not sure what
> we CAN do before then.
>
> Rik
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 5:12 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Rik,
>>
>> I don't think we have until 2010.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>> On 10/30/09, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Brad,
>> >
>> > What I don't like to thnk it's REALLY about is getting the bottom 50%
>> income
>> > earners of the voting public so dependent on the gov't that the
>> > democrats
>> > are virtually guaranteed re-election for a good long time.
>> >
>> > We BETTER get this turned around in 2010 or we're lookin' at the future.
>> >
>> > Rik
>> >
>> > On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Rik,
>> >>
>> >> Well, it's here, the almost 2000 pages of socialism is available for
>> >> the reading.  This isn't about health care, it is about nationalizing
>> >> 1/5 of the economy in addition to autos and banking.  I've said for
>> >> months (if not years) that we're at a tipping point where one half of
>> >> the electorate thinks they can vote themselves a raise from the other
>> >> half (more like top 10%).  We'll see how well that works.  Using
>> >> history as a guide, it hasn't worked anywhere else.
>> >>
>> >> Brad
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On 10/30/09, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > PS: I doubt he'll start to get it .... he'd have to grow a conscience
>> >> first!
>> >> >
>> >> > Rik
>> >> >
>> >> > On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 3:27 PM, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> Hope the BOss reads Noonan.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Too much to hope he'd actually start to get it??
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Rik
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 2:48 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>> Ms. Noonan sees the light.  I was going to write something about
>> >> >>> the
>> >> >>> "good" economic news published yesterday,  Peggy beat me.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> Brad
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> ---------------
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>    * OCTOBER 29, 2009, 7:20 P.M. ET
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> We're Governed by Callous Children
>> >> >>> Americans feel increasingly disheartened, and our leaders don't
>> >> >>> even
>> >> >>> notice.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>    *
>> >> >>>      By PEGGY NOONAN
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> The new economic statistics put growth at a healthy 3.5% for the
>> third
>> >> >>> quarter. We should be dancing in the streets. No one is, because no
>> >> >>> one has any faith in these numbers. Waves of money are sloshing
>> >> >>> through the system, creating a false rising tide that lifts all
>> boats
>> >> >>> for the moment. The tide will recede. The boats aren't rising,
>> they're
>> >> >>> bobbing, and will settle. No one believes the bad time is over. No
>> one
>> >> >>> thinks we're entering a new age of abundance. No one thinks it will
>> >> >>> ever be the same as before 2008. Economists, statisticians,
>> >> >>> forecasters and market specialists will argue about what the new
>> >> >>> numbers mean, but no one believes them, either. Among the things
>> swept
>> >> >>> away in 2008 was public confidence in the experts. The experts
>> missed
>> >> >>> the crash. They'll miss the meaning of this moment, too.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> The biggest threat to America right now is not government spending,
>> >> >>> huge deficits, foreign ownership of our debt, world terrorism, two
>> >> >>> wars, potential epidemics or nuts with nukes. The biggest long-term
>> >> >>> threat is that people are becoming and have become disheartened,
>> that
>> >> >>> this condition is reaching critical mass, and that it afflicts most
>> >> >>> broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class
>> who
>> >> >>> are not in Washington, most especially those in business.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> It is a story in two parts. The first: "They do not think they can
>> >> >>> make it better."
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> I talked this week with a guy from Big Pharma, which we used to
>> >> >>> call
>> >> >>> "the drug companies" until we decided that didn't sound menacing
>> >> >>> enough. He is middle-aged, works in a significant position, and our
>> >> >>> conversation turned to the last great recession, in the late mid-
>> >> >>> to
>> >> >>> late 1970s and early '80s. We talked about how, in terms of
>> >> >>> numbers,
>> >> >>> that recession was in some ways worse than the one we're
>> experiencing
>> >> >>> now. Interest rates were over 20%, and inflation and unemployment
>> hit
>> >> >>> double digits. America was in what might be called a functional
>> >> >>> depression, yet there was still a prevalent feeling of hope. Here's
>> >> >>> why. Everyone thought they could figure a way through. We knew we
>> >> >>> could find a path through the mess. In 1982 there were people
>> saying,
>> >> >>> "If only we get rid of this guy Reagan, we can make it better!"
>> Others
>> >> >>> said, "If we follow Reagan, he'll squeeze out inflation and lower
>> >> >>> taxes and we'll be America again, we'll be acting like Americans
>> >> >>> again." Everyone had a path through.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> Now they don't. The most sophisticated Americans, experienced in
>> >> >>> how
>> >> >>> the country works on the ground, can't figure a way out. Have you
>> >> >>> heard, "If only we follow Obama and the Democrats, it will all get
>> >> >>> better"? Or, "If only we follow the Republicans, they'll make it
>> >> >>> all
>> >> >>> work again"? I bet you haven't, or not much.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> This is historic. This is something new in modern political
>> >> >>> history,
>> >> >>> and I'm not sure we're fully noticing it. Americans are starting to
>> >> >>> think the problems we are facing cannot be solved.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> Part of the reason is that the problems—debt, spending, war—seem
>> >> >>> too
>> >> >>> big. But a larger part is that our federal government, from the
>> White
>> >> >>> House through Congress, and so many state and local governments,
>> seems
>> >> >>> to be demonstrating every day that they cannot make things better.
>> >> >>> They are not offering a new path, they are only offering old
>> >> >>> paths—spend more, regulate more, tax more in an attempt to make us
>> >> >>> more healthy locally and nationally. And in the long term
>> >> >>> everyone—well, not those in government, but most everyone
>> >> >>> else—seems
>> >> >>> to know that won't work. It's not a way out. It's not a path
>> through.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> And so the disheartenedness of the leadership class, of those in
>> >> >>> business, of those who have something. This week the New York Post
>> >> >>> carried a report that 1.5 million people had left high-tax New York
>> >> >>> state between 2000 and 2008, more than a million of them from even
>> >> >>> higher-tax New York City. They took their tax dollars with them—in
>> >> >>> 2006 alone more than $4 billion.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> You know what New York, both state and city, will do to make up for
>> >> >>> the lost money. They'll raise taxes.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> I talked with an executive this week with what we still call "the
>> >> >>> insurance companies" and will no doubt soon be calling Big Insura.
>> >> >>> (Take it away, Democratic National Committee.) He was thoughtful,
>> >> >>> reflective about the big picture. He talked about all the new
>> proposed
>> >> >>> regulations on the industry. Rep. Barney Frank had just said on
>> >> >>> some
>> >> >>> cable show that the Democrats of the White House and Congress "are
>> >> >>> trying on every front to increase the role of government in the
>> >> >>> regulatory area." The executive said of Washington: "They don't
>> >> >>> understand that people can just stop, get out. I have friends and
>> >> >>> colleagues who've said to me 'I'm done.' " He spoke of his own
>> >> >>> increasing tax burden and said, "They don't understand that if they
>> >> >>> start to tax me so that I'm paying 60%, 55%, I'll stop."
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> He felt government doesn't understand that business in America is
>> run
>> >> >>> by people, by human beings. Mr. Frank must believe America is
>> >> >>> populated by high-achieving robots who will obey whatever command
>> >> >>> he
>> >> >>> and his friends issue. But of course they're human, and they can
>> >> >>> become disheartened. They can pack it in, go elsewhere, quit what
>> used
>> >> >>> to be called the rat race and might as well be called that again
>> since
>> >> >>> the government seems to think they're all rats. (That would be you,
>> >> >>> Chamber of Commerce.)
>> >> >>> ***
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> And here is the second part of the story. While Americans feel
>> >> >>> increasingly disheartened, their leaders evince a mindless . . .
>> >> >>> one
>> >> >>> almost calls it optimism, but it is not that.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> It is a curious thing that those who feel most mistily affectionate
>> >> >>> toward America, and most protective toward it, are the most aware
>> >> >>> of
>> >> >>> its vulnerabilities, the most aware that it can be harmed. They
>> don't
>> >> >>> see it as all-powerful, impregnable, unharmable. The loving have a
>> >> >>> sense of its limits.
>> >> >>> More Peggy Noonan
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> Read Peggy Noonan's previous columns
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> click here to order her new book, Patriotic Grace
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> When I see those in government, both locally and in Washington,
>> spend
>> >> >>> and tax and come up each day with new ways to spend and tax—health
>> >> >>> care, cap and trade, etc.—I think: Why aren't they worried about
>> >> >>> the
>> >> >>> impact of what they're doing? Why do they think America is so
>> >> >>> strong
>> >> >>> it can take endless abuse?
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> I think I know part of the answer. It is that they've never seen
>> >> >>> things go dark. They came of age during the great abundance, circa
>> >> >>> 1980-2008 (or 1950-2008, take your pick), and they don't have the
>> >> >>> habit of worry. They talk about their "concerns"—they're big on
>> >> >>> that
>> >> >>> word. But they're not really concerned. They think America is the
>> >> >>> goose that lays the golden egg. Why not? She laid it in their laps.
>> >> >>> She laid it in grandpa's lap.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> They don't feel anxious, because they never had anything to be
>> anxious
>> >> >>> about. They grew up in an America surrounded by phrases—"strongest
>> >> >>> nation in the world," "indispensable nation," "unipolar power,"
>> >> >>> "highest standard of living"—and are not bright enough, or serious
>> >> >>> enough, to imagine that they can damage that, hurt it, even
>> >> >>> fatally.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons
>> and
>> >> >>> daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but
>> >> >>> they're not optimists—they're unimaginative. They don't have faith,
>> >> >>> they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are
>> >> >>> callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened.
>> They
>> >> >>> don't even notice.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> _______________________________________________
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>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>
>> >>
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>> >> >>>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> Never argue with idiots, they just drag you down to their level then
>> >> beat
>> >> >> you with experience.
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > Never argue with idiots, they just drag you down to their level then
>> >> > beat
>> >> > you with experience.
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
>> >>
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>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Never argue with idiots, they just drag you down to their level then
>> > beat
>> > you with experience.
>> >
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Never argue with idiots, they just drag you down to their level then beat
> you with experience.
>