Posted on 12/17/2010 3:10:05 PM PST by giant sable
The recent quick fade of the Deficit Commission was the latest reminder that America no longer seems to have the stomach for big challenges. There was a time – was it just a generation ago? – when Americans were legendary for doing vast, seemingly superhuman, projects: the Interstate Highway System, the Apollo Missions, Hoover Dam, the Manhattan Project, the Normandy invasion, the Empire State Building, Social Security.
What happened?
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.forbes.com ...
What happened? Democrats and their give away policies.
We have become a total broke welfare state. Thats what happened.
Unions & government happened.
One of the best comparisons I can make is between the Mackinaw bridge in Michigan and the Hoover dam bypass bridge.
Its really quite sad when you look at the stats side by side.
We’re going into debt in a BIG way. Doesn’t that count as big?
50 yrs of Government Indoctrination Schools, instead of academics.
Did you file an environmental impact statement before you posted this?
Because we have to fight the enviromentalist to get anything done. Years of stupid paperwork and studies cost so much we can’t afford any projects.
Well, aside from the main point of this article, the Deficit Commission was appointed by Obama and the Dems. And it showed. I thought their recommendations were lousy.
Yes, we need to solve the deficit, but not by raising taxes.
“...Social Security.
What happened?”
Uh, you answered it already.
Massive entitlements.
what happened?
ALL OUT SURGE OF COMMUNISM 1963’
Congressional Record—Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
Well.. A good place to start would be with the lawsuits from the left. Take a highway project. You couldn’t dig because you might kill a population of....wait for it,,,,bugs! Now with the injunction that would take several years of courtroom battles and mucho bucks.
But let’s say there are no bugs there. Ahhh, but there are cars and that means pollution. Lawsuit, followed by years on impact studies. Which of course means boucoup bucks. So the taxpayers are getting soakek and nothing is being built.
While the next logical step would be dealing with the labor unions and the lawsuits, competitive bidding, the fraud and lawsuits from that, let’s assume everything does get built. Granted, years late and way over budget.
Now we need an exit ramp because someone wants to use that highway and generate some revenue from all those cars and trucks going back and forth. A McDonalds for instance.
Just wash, rinse and repeat.
How did it get done during the 40’s and 50’s? Bugs died, cars emitted fumes, companies participated and got paid, the road got built in months instead of years and Cracker Barrel and Stuckeys served crap that would kill you, but it was plentiful and cheap.... And no one cared.
SS, Medicare, Medicaid and now Obama care happened . We are broke and soft. One reason we can not build things is the environmental costs.
We don't let winners win and losers learn -- we "encourage a positive self-image" (as if being rewarded for accomplishing nothing is something to be proud of).
We don't say, "Get up, get over it, and get on with it." -- we say, "You gave it a great effort -- have a trophy."
We point at the great omelettes we made, but are now afraid of breaking eggs.
I like D. Miller's analogy -- we've become a mincing PC leviathon afraid of offending as we tip toe through the world.
Into our Schools, Businesses and our Government!
UNIONS And Socialists Have destroyed our schools our Government and the Government has turned our Businesses into wards of the State.
Yep!
I believe that our downfall started with our education system. When we started to teach our kids that winning was wrong because we made the others lose, we taught them to give up.
I was a football coach for about 15 years. I told the parents of my kids that I wouldn’t have them take the field unless I and them planned on winning the game. I coached this way with the little guys up through Jr. High. By doing this, you wouldn’t believe how hard those kids worked. Totally positive attitude. We need to change how our kids are taught in school. This will change them as they grow up and may save this country.
What happened?
Thank you for calling the Question Line.
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Para alcanzar un altavoz, presione el " 1"
*ring* *ring*
"Namaste! This is Ravi! Well, the reason is, you do not DO anything, anymore."
Seriously,this Service Industry fad was a really bad idea.
There was a time Making Things was respected. Two generations ago, the Temples of Industry starred in Newsreels, like 'Industry On Parade'. We still Make Stuff and Do things, but it does not seem to get the same respect or renumeration as shuffling papers.
"You (Sneer) work in a MACHINE SHOP? A FACTORY? *I* didn't get my degree to get my hands dirty!"
Big government is a big thing and that is where the problem begins and ends.
SocSec was not a superhuman project. It was, and still is, the biggest government boondoggle in history.
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