[TheCoolinator]

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

Maybe so, but most of these jobs were from industries (paper, automobiles, steel) which were poorly run for decades. Fat dumb and happy were the executives, right before they all jumped ship with their golden parachutes. Chainsaw Al Dunlap comes to mind.

"Maybe so” ?

And we aren't discussing how they're run; we are discussing how laws and regulations have been put in place to encourage off shoring of our manufacturing base. Which HAS happened, there is no "Maybe so". There is the giant sucking sound of our jobs going down the drain.

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

And I think that our CEO would take issue with you calling our sales figures small potatoes.

I believe you were the one that referred to yourself as small potatoes.

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

I'm not an economist, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. However, I would think the current job market gives one plenty of incentive to start their own business.

I person who is in debt and getting paid half what the guy before him made is "plenty" of an incentive to start their own business?

And I'm not going to bring up all the taxes, licenses, and selectively enforced regulations that small businesses have to follow. Did you know in the new Obamacare bill private employers MUST provide healthcare for their workers? That will bankrupt a large portion of them, allowing the giant companies like Wall-Mart, Target, to move in.

Why didn't they just expand Medicare?

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

The standard of living in the USA is not what it once was, but I would hardly call it "low" by any stretch. I'd reserve that right for countries like India or Brazil.

"not what it once was"

That's the understatement of the year. US citizens living standard has been cut by 2/3rd ! College graduates can't even get jobs washing lettuce at the local Jack-In-The-Box. Older workers are having to take jobs at drastically reduced pay. Depression!

Why? Because of Free trade, destruction of the manufacturing base, and corporate welfare.

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

Say what? Now you're saying you want the GOVERNMENT to run the oil industry? You trust the government to do the right thing? Ummmm.....

If the government was run by the people for the people then common sense would suggest that all the natural resources in this country our ares....not to make private individuals mega profits to use against the American people. Try getting a bill that gives significant funding to Alcohol, Biofuel, Biodiesel, as a fuel source. Not going to happen because of the Oil cartels lobbyists. AKA Bribes.

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

However, the economy has cycled more than once or twice since the 1960's. Both downward and upward. Unless you have some macroeconomic background of which I am unaware, I'm extremely skeptical of your "doom and gloom" take on things. It's just not that cut-and-dried, my friend.

You cannot compare the present depression to anything in past events, this is so many times worse than it ever was before that Carters / Reagan's / Bush recession will look like a sunny day compared to what's in store for this country.

If you count up all the money that has been spent on bailout and then count up all the Derivative debt that's STILL on the books of the investment banks and still being created then it is 10x the amount of the global GDP.

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

In a phrase, "bring it on". That's essentially our corporate philosophy. We can compete with anyone from overseas, even with our labor base being domestic.

I highly doubt that. How can you or any other business compete with people making 25 cents an hour?

It's impossible. I'm sure you have a lot of customers but you as like others have been can be undercut in a heart beat.

Watch: Wall-Mart - The high price for the low cost

Originally Posted by Colonel Flagg

No they're not. You need to understand the tax laws and how they can be read to favor small business and industry. In my view, the playing field has been leveled somewhat, and we've come ready to play.

Are you kidding me? Small businesses cannot compete against multinational corporations. The laws that are on the books are directly squarely at small business while large corporations get a free pass, pay literally no taxes, get tax incentives, and welfare.

Have you seen all the "For Rent" signs around? Take a trip down to your local shopping center. I bet half of it is empty.

It will be here soon and the rose tinted glasses will have to be adjusted. You'll see. The bailouts, austerity, countries in turmoil, and the drop in DOW is just the beginning. The dam will break soon.

Originally Posted by Jeanette X

Are you referring to La Raza?

Originally Posted by Jeanette X

You naive idiot. How can you be so mind-boggling stupid as to believe that Latinos aren't being hassled in this country due to race?

Because they aren't. We have a huge illegal alien populations destroying our society. It isn't focused at latinos its focused at committing the crime of entering the country illegally.

Originally Posted by Jeanette X

If you support the law, and I take it that you do, what exactly do you think that "reasonable suspicion" for stopping somebody and demanding to see their papers is? Do you really think that the cops won't use this as an excuse to hassle every brown person they see? That other minorities (such as the Chinese) won't be unfairly targeted?

Unfairly targeted? Last time I checked everyone whose gotten pulled over by a police officer in the last century has had to show their drivers license. If a police officer sees a bunch of people waiting to be picked up for work and they are all kinds of races he has more then enough reasonable suspicion to ask for all their identification.

We have to remember here that its fault of both the employer of illegal aliens fault AND the illegal aliens themselves.

They are both committing crimes and harming the social fabric of this country NO MATTER what race they are.

Originally Posted by Jeanette X

Sure there aren't. I'm sure you're in an excellent position to know what its like to be Latino in this country. I'm sure that you know far better than the cultural leaders and the people who listen to them about the issues facing Latinos today.

Originally Posted by Jeanette X

Hell, why don't we make you a cultural leader, since you know so much?

You should, I can teach you how to not use infantile expletives in a conversation.

La Raza and other ethnocentric groups are here to cause fissures within our society. They are here to push a race war between Hispanic / Latinos and whites / blacks.

The Ford Foundation is to push blacks into a race war against whites / Latinos.

This is all blatant incendiary rhetoric being placed out there to agitate the local populace into attacking each other instead of going after the real criminals. Wall street.