Given the state of the union during the last 6 months of the election, campaign finance reform wasn't an issue for me.

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Question Authority before it Questions you.

Which is why you are doomed to be ruled by the rich, the corporate masters, and their Congressional stooges. If you call that "freedom", then war is peace, and ignorance is strength.

I've been there, much of it can be described as "rural poverty." We are talking about a coal industry that has been slowly dying for decades with nothing to replace it. It's what people mean when they use the term "working poor." Transferring just enough money to the state to keep it on life support is not the solution.

Free Enterprise capitalism is NOT the same as Big Business Corporatism.

Free Enterprise capitalism is all about risk and reward.
Big Business Corporatism is all about avoiding risk--getting into bed with the government to reduce risk, and competition.

Be careful whom you call ignorant.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

I love this! I was trying to explain this to a friend. I don't like BO taking over GM, and bailing out the banks because its removing the risk that is what is at the heart of capitalism.

I want businesses to have the freedom to grow and expand, but with that freedom comes the risk of toppling under your own weight.

I think government involvement, be it bail outs or campaign finance reform, is destroying the natural balance that exists in capitalism.

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The phrase is from 1984:

Freedom is Slavery
War is Peace
Ignorance is Strength

State Federal Spending per Dollar of Federal Taxes Rank
New Mexico $2.03 1
Mississippi $2.02 2
Alaska $1.84 3
Louisiana $1.78 4
West Virginia $1.76 5
North Dakota $1.68 6
Alabama $1.66 7
South Dakota $1.53 8
Kentucky $1.51 9
Virginia $1.51 10
Montana $1.47 11
Hawaii $1.44 12
Maine $1.41 13
Arkansas $1.41 14
Oklahoma $1.36 15
South Carolina $1.35 16
Missouri $1.32 17
Maryland $1.30 18
Tennessee $1.27 19
Idaho $1.21 20
Arizona $1.19 21
Kansas $1.12 22
Wyoming $1.11 23
Iowa $1.10 24
Nebraska $1.10 25
Vermont $1.08 26
North Carolina $1.08 27
Pennsylvania $1.07 28
Utah $1.07 29
Indiana $1.05 30
Ohio $1.05 31
Georgia $1.01 32
Rhode Island $1.00 33
Florida $0.97 34
Texas $0.94 35
Oregon $0.93 36
Michigan $0.92 37
Washington $0.88 38
Wisconsin $0.86 39
Massachusetts $0.82 40
Colorado $0.81 41
New York $0.79 42
California $0.78 43
Delaware $0.77 44
Illinois $0.75 45
Minnesota $0.72 46
New Hampshire $0.71 47
Connecticut $0.69 48
Nevada $0.65 49
New Jersey $0.61 50
District of Columbia $5.55 na

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'86 300E 5 speed
'71 Triumph TR6
'46 Cushman Scooter
'41 Ford 9N tractor

Big business LOVES regulation--it limits their competition. An example. Think about Coke and Pepsi--a new law requires them to provide some benefit for a small class of employees. Its a relatively small cost, maybe .01 cents on their product, and since both have to pay it, there is no competitive disadvantage. As usual, the customer bears the cost.
But what about ABC Cola, Inc, which was trying to become a regional competitor to Pepsi? The compliance cost to them is excessive, effectively knocking them out of the market.
Coke and Pepsi benefit; ABC suffers.

Same in the oil field.
Do you think the big American Steel corps of the last century opposed regulation? Not at all--they were facing growing domestic competition and profits were falling---until government regulation stepped in and knocked out the competition.
Same story in the medical field.
Go all the way back to the origin--the meat packing industry. The BIG MEAT packers used regulation and inspection to again kill their competition.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Please note that the lowest 17 states are subsidising all the rest of us.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I think they knew they we're heading for a loss so they went for the hail Mary with Palin.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Probably true.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Courageous? ...desperate? ....foolhardy? ...gutsy?

But really the opposite of heroic? Surely you don't think it was cowardly?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

If they did, it was a miscalulation. I knew all kinds of moderate Democrats, especially Clinton supporters, that were going to vote for McCain simply because Obama just didn't have the kind of executive experience he needed for the job. When McCain chose a right wing religious-right lunatic from the Glenn Beck faction of the GOP, he kissed that entire voting block goodbye. McCain's strength always lay in the fact his appeal among moderate Democrats was incredible, at least up until the Palin fiasco. It's over now.

IMO, the "cowardly" aspect was a last minute attempt to pander to social conservatives when it was clear he was behind.

Cowardlyly courageous?

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.