AIG wants another 37.8 billion

[The Buddha]

Lets see, 2 weeks ago they got 85 billion.
Then they want 37.8 billion.
Not a problem, check OK ?

Couldn't Cindy McCain just put it on her amex card

Cool.
Buddha.

[yamahonkawazuki]

Nope obama taxed her out of it. translation, this country is f%&ked, and in a bad way

[The Buddha]

Naaa Obama only taxes the interest on it. Which she does not have to worry about ... cos Bush has been in office so far.
Now even if Obama comes to the office, she still dont have to worry about paying that tax, AIG is gonna eat another 100-300 billion of taxpayer's money and then ... fail.
Cool.
Buddha.

[frankieG]

bush jr spent more money than any other president and mccain is going to do more of the same.  so why is it that obama gets the tax and spend tag?  it is just a lie that the republican love to tout.   obama and Democrats reduce the deficit and increase taxes for the higher income persons and companies.  hopefully obama will win.. but even so the country is in terrible trouble financially and so are the citizens.  our debt is 1.67 of our gdp.  that means we owe 67% more than we can produce.   which puts us in the category with 3rd world and developing countries for debt.  our nearest neighbor, Canada, has not had a deficit for 15 years.  so there is no need for us to run one.

[The Buddha]

Yea, its especially significant cos canada has no economy ...
In spite of that they are staying less broke than we are ...
Socialism is a bad option ... except when there is free market capitalism and when that begins to tank, there is socialism ... like now ... freaking cry babies. Wanna bet the next set of failures are going to be in energy secotr when recession hits ... and people rather freeze and sit at home rather than heat the house or drive ... bingo ... its comming ... probably before bush leaves office ...
Cool.
Buddha.

[frankieG]

Canada has a great economy just not as high as us in the USA.  it has natural resources that other countries dream of. it has the largest reserve of our outside the middle east and is #3 or 4 in the world in oil production, i  just can't remember the exact number. the reason(s) Canada seems to be doing better in this situation is that the greed factor is not the end all be all like we have in America. so people are less likely to go into crazy debt like we do in America.  Canada is not a socialist but is more left than America.  unabashed capitalism is like unabashed communism it does not work.  in a true capitalist society bail outs would not happen and deficits would not be allowed. so who is more socialist?  American deficit is out of control and will take centuries..no not decades, centuries to correct if the will in Washington is there.  but that is not likely to happen.  why we live beyond our means is baffling to me.  but it is the way we work .

[The Buddha]

I have 1 answer to that ... illegal alien tax.
There is prolly 100 million in the US, and we are planning to tax them 10K extra per year.
Deficit over in no time, as well as Illegals flowing it is out as well as the ones that are here will get out ... and when they try to get out ... the electrical border fence comes in ... its not to keep em out ... its to keep em in.
Cool.
Buddha.

[jserio]

better idea.... legalize pot, let the government set whatever tax/price they want on it. people would still buy it. they're buying it now anyways. this would help aleviate "bad cuts" in drugs and take the criminal element out of it. the govermnent could use the money to pay off our debt. 

[frankieG]

why is it that some of the most vocal against illegal immigration are immigrants themselves?  there is too much money poured into our American economy by migrant workers to make taxing them logistically feasible or to sell to the business community.  Americans will not take these jobs unless the pay is increased and the labor decreased. so we would probably have a labor shortage right off the bat.

[The Buddha]

Oh yea, AIG needs another 45 billion ... I think they are trying to get all their money as quickly as they can before Obama takes office and shuts down the candy store ...

FrankieG - Immigrants who have entirely been legal think of immigration as a holy rite of passage. Almost with the same reverence that born here citizens associate with what was done to drive the brits out. The legal immigrants attach value to following the laws, and making good choices about everything.

Here is a small tidbit to help you along about what legal immigrants have had to do. From 1992 to 2001 when I got my green card, I was on a visa called a H1.
The H1 ties you to 1 employer. The portability came after 2002. Essentially you get laid off, fired or anything else and you lose your employment, you have 30 days to leave the country.

Or you become Illegal. The H1 also expires in 6 years, after which you have to live outside the US for 1 year before you get it again.

You start a green card and you list your dependents in stage 2 of that green card. If you are not married by then, you cannot add your wife to it and once you get your green card you will have to wait 3-5 years for the process to go through for your spouse. Till then she cannot visit or move here with any sorta visa. I started my green card in 95, I got married in 94, I had to do those in that narrow window I had, I also had to leave the US and move to canada (my choice over India) for a year in 98 when my H1 ran out.

The worst part is, since your employers know you cannot go anywhere, you get shitty everything. Of course that depends on the employer. I have had a few bad ones but a couple of great ones and my worst employer was the one that bought the company I worked for for 5 years.

Now, I will be all for illegal immigration and farm work being doled out to illegals. However I am not for letting the back door open into the legal immigration.
The second problem is, all the illegals are from 1 country ... if we were to ship people from all the countries based on a number/quota system I can see it being fair. Green cards are given based on a similar quota system. if its unused by 1 country then there is a recapture back into the main common pool for the next year or somehting like that.

If illegal immigration were cut down, guess what, the menial jobs will pay more and maybe people will do it. I wont do factory work at 7 bucks an hour, unemployment pays me more. I will gladly do it at 15-20. It will make sutff cost more, but even so, labor is less than 5% of an items cost. Especially mass produced low skill stuff. I would be for illegal immigration ... if they were doing illegal BS, 10 people using 1 legal SS#, or they hold rallies saying immigration system is broken ... no its not broken, you need to get in line and wait your turn, we all did. And we didn't break any laws when we were waiting in line.

Cool.
Buddha.