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85% of U.S. Unhappy with Economy

time.com — You would expect Americans, in a period of falling home prices, a wobbly stock market and an ongoing war, to be less than satisfied with the direction of the country. It's natural. But Americans are not simply dissatisfied.

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  • w3rdn4, on 07/17/2008, -27/+20Housing Bubble(Citizen level) -> Subprime Mortgage Lenders (Big Banks) -> Oil Bubble

    That is how the deck of cards were stacked and the order in which they will all fall; Unfortunately the United States Congress thought that TAX Rebate would solve the issue for citizens, no that caused inflation due to printing out money that does not exist;

    Now Congress thinks that spending 900 Million to bail out the Big Banks that flat out failed at doing their jobs will solve the issue on the economy; Wrong

    Oil Bubble? Well Republicans are Robots working for Corporate Oil Industry to open more than 68 million acres of land already available for drilling. What happened to those Energy bills Bush Vetoed that would of required higher MPG cars, before accepting the compromised bill?

    Our Government who wages political war in this two party system will not be capable of solving real issues.

    My two cents on how to solve this. . .Look into John Bedini Technologies, and invest into research and development of quantum cell batteries, declassify all government documents on negative resistance utilized in the military; and show the people the technology Gabriel Kron produced the for Navy.
    • DrunkenDigger, on 07/17/2008, -16/+6try to relax, pal.
    • hellbent187, on 07/17/2008, -1/+11Yes, if we all just ignore the problem and think happy thoughts everything will be ok.
      • Eric3k, on 07/18/2008, -6/+1There is a difference between relaxing and ignoring, but maybe you are the hysterical type?
    • aspec, on 07/18/2008, -1/+13"Housing Bubble(Citizen level) -> Subprime Mortgage Lenders (Big Banks) -> Oil Bubble

      That is how the deck of cards were stacked and the order in which they will all fall;"

      Isn't it kind of easy to predict things if they've already happened? Also, is your name John Bedini?

      • w3rdn4, on 07/18/2008, -3/+3Actually Ron Paul is now talking about how there is a Monetary Bubble due to the FED printing out lots of fake money;
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3Dot-Com Bubble -> Housing Bubble -> Oil Bubble
    • Brian48216, on 07/18/2008, -2/+3I'm burying you for the massive pile of ***** that you had to tack onto the last paragraph of your worthless rant.
    • koft, on 07/18/2008, -1/+6Sorry, but throwing money at crackpots isn't going to solve anything. This guy is just like all the others. He comes up with wild tales about how the universe works that aren't based on any evidence whatsoever and of course he claims he's being dismissed by main stream science who can't think outside the box. When he's not blaming the scientists for holding him back he's blaming corporations who are colluding to keep his technology out of the market.

      Of course he's got gobs of pictures and videos of his machines rotating and lighting up incandescent bulbs, outputs on meters, etc. The problem is his machines only "work" in his lab. Whenever somebody asks him to demonstrate it, sometimes even offering to pay large sums of money to do so, he gets offended, flies off the handle and starts talking *****.

      Every time some intrepid experimenter builds one of his machines from his plans, it never works. The guy has sold countless books, dvds and plans for free energy generation devices and nobody has ever built a device that works. The batteries always die, the machine never throws off more energy than what was in the system to start with. This is why nobody takes him seriously except for people chasing perpetual motion.

      If he's the real deal all he would have to do is wheel his machine into the physics department of the nearest university and once confirmed he'd win the nobel ***** prize and companies would line up to throw money at him and he'd be the most famous person in the world. Instead he's selling books and dvds about machines that never work.


      • w3rdn4, on 07/18/2008, -3/+2I agree with you, but Bedini has released his patents to the general public to rebuild his device; So to some extent one could potentially learn through experimentation. . .which in and of itself isn't a bad way to learn if one actually tries to build what he patented.

        I'd say dumping money into Quantum cell batteries would be the future aspect, b/c Bedini's invention requires batteries. So improving those first would be a giant leap forward. . . Here is my take on the batteries.

        Quantum cell batteries utilizing the piezoelectric effect from diatomic atom's Quantum harmonic oscillations to perturb a crystal lattice is anther area of research. There is a lot more out there to research and look into as well.

        two more cents of ideas
      • koft, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4I think it's great he put that patent up there. At least he didn't go the oh so typical route of "I have this wonderful physics breaking machine and no I won't let you peek in the box, gimme some money." At the end of the day it just doesn't work. So has anybody really learned anything by building this thing other than some basic electronics concepts and how to coil wire? I'd argue that if you follow his lead and integrate his pseudoscience into your mind you'll actually end up knowing less. Some of the stuff he presents is just flat out wrong and easy to demonstrate that he is wrong. Other stuff is just his opinion really and has no basis in reality. He actually has the gall to state that math isn't important and then turn around and dump a bunch of math on people, some of which is just plain wrong or has absolutely nothing to do with what he's talking about

        Filling up your head with pseudo science and building machines that don't work just teaches you the wrong stuff. You'll just wind up a hack with a pile of garbage on your workbench and nothing to show for your effort. I know it's a lot of fun to play with magnets and ***** but poorly thought out random experiments rarely leads to anything interesting. Combine this with a lack of understanding about what's going on, you'll eventually misinterpret the results of your latest mechanical abomination and scream from the rooftops about how you're getting more energy than you put in. The physics geeks will come have a look and show you why you're wrong in 100 different ways. Do this a couple of time and you'll find that nobody wants to listen to you anymore except for a handful of high school dropouts, gullible folks who want to invest in the next big flop and of course the charlatans who want to steal your crackpot ideas and make a buck at the expense of idiots.

        If you really want to learn something and work on cutting edge stuff the best chance for success is to goto college and get a degree in physics or some related field of science. If you work hard and keep at it, you'll find that people are willing to pay you good money to research cool ***** every single day and you'll have access to insanely expensive equipment to help you along the way.

        I've read up on dozens of experiments involving energy extraction utilizing the casimir effect and quantum harmonic oscillation and there is demonstrable energy there but any time you attempt to use it you have to turn around put all the energy right back into the machine to keep it going. Of course even that doesn't work because in practice you can't build a machine that 100% efficient.

        I think the idea of producing a machine that gives us something for nothing is pretty absurd and even if it is possible it surely won't be found until long after the last oil well has dried up. I don't see why it's a good idea to dump truck loads of money on research into what very well could be a complete impossibility when we are already swimming in a sea of, for all intents and purposes, free energy coming from the sun. We already have the technology to convert it into electricity in a relatively efficient manner at an affordable price. Same with wind, hydro, tidal, nuclear and geothermal. I think our biggest obstacles in this energy issue have more to do with apathy and political problems.
    • stagmire, on 07/18/2008, -6/+1"caused inflation due to printing out money that does not exist"

      If it doesn't exist, how can it cause inflation?
    • spankaccount, on 07/18/2008, -3/+4No, what we really need is to ignore the fact that we are going to be using oil for many more decades to come and halt all exploration/drilling AND prevent nuclear power (thanks dems). Then we need massive government spending and higher taxes, a la Obama. Yup, thats the ticket.
  • stephenhacking, on 07/17/2008, -6/+12i bet that there should be change in the arrogance of the economy system in the united states
    • gplpark92, on 07/17/2008, -0/+6oh now you guys are concerned?
    • rudeboyskunk, on 07/18/2008, -1/+7I want to know who the hell the 15% morons are.
      • Ajajadude, on 07/18/2008, -1/+15The people with all the money.
      • norman619, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2People who are so well off they don't need to worry about the economy. DUH!
      • RationalXubrnce, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3 The one's our money is being transferred too. The money of the populace is not being destroyed, it is being transferred. There are record waiting times for cars that costs several 100k. 10,000+ square foot homes are going up in large numbers all over the country. Those are the people not complaining.
      • HeavyWave, on 07/18/2008, -7/+1maybe people who've been to other countries? like where people can't afford (and never could) 50" HDTV screen.
    • oldgal, on 07/18/2008, -0/+7Actually there should be a major change in senior management in many of our corporations. Good management in the banking, investment banking and auto industries would not have gotten us into this mess. Times were good in the 90s and incompetents were promoted through the good old boy networks. Then times got tough and these people were not up to the job. The same thing happened in the 60s and 70s. In the 80s there were lots of management changes and the mess got cleaned up. The sooner things get shaken at the upper levels, the better.
  • erichansa, on 07/17/2008, -3/+3that is true.
  • dracheflieger, on 07/17/2008, -23/+26Am I unhappy? Hardly...I'm cautious. Is this the first time in my life prices have gone up?...no. I was pumping gas in the 73 and half of the world hated me on even days and the other half on odd days. I lost the only business I ever owned in Jimmy Carter's reign and the only other time I ever lost a job was during Cliton's (pun intended) 'best economy in 50 years' era. If you don't live to expect too much you're not as disappointed when you can't afford things. I thought the 60s were the ME TOO generation but I see the latest bunch of KIDS are just as big of a$$holes as were most of my generation.
    • Drogoganor, on 07/18/2008, -11/+5"I was pumping gas in the 73 and half of the world hated me"

      You poor thing you.
    • altgeeky1, on 07/18/2008, -3/+6Why do you hate the middle class?
    • biogears, on 07/18/2008, -11/+6More posts like this, and I'll start to respect digg. We need some adults here! People who was born before microwave ovens, VCRs, and the internets. People who remember what the Carter years, and how stupid the 60s really were.
      • pcpimpster, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4Slow death I see in your respect for digg in the future...
      • 1timeuser, on 07/18/2008, -5/+1Those aren't Adults. Those are the living dead.
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -2/+11You are a cranky old bastard aren't you? You start with saying you aren't unhappy, but you sure sound sour.

      Carter was not as bad as he seemed at the time; Clinton and Nixon were choir boys compared to the shenanigans pulled by the latest group of crooks and they were at least impeached.

      If you cannot see how absolutely horrid the last eight years have been politically and financially, then your age has not brought much wisdom.

      You are the one seeing this from a selfish perpective, given your comments. The world does not revolve around whether you or I had a job or not.
    • stagmire, on 07/18/2008, -4/+5"the only other time I ever lost a job was during Cliton's"

      lol, you must be a real loser. Dumbasses who could barely click a mouse were getting $70k jobs under clinton.
    • toddc612, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1What else happened in the 'ol days? Did you have to walk to school uphill both ways?

      Sorry, but I don't buy that this administration's economic policies are part of the cyclical American economy. These careless ways could have been avoided and now we're all paying the price.
  • thcanalichio, on 07/17/2008, -4/+6dugg for the bitters
  • gavinhudson, on 07/17/2008, -4/+8915% are happy???
    • PolishLogic, on 07/17/2008, -2/+26Well, it is definitely possible to make good money in a down market.
    • patpl22391, on 07/18/2008, -15/+4If you look closer, the vast majority of people are happy about their own circumstance. But, they feel that everyone else is having it bad. This is a result of the media perpetuating that we are in a recession (which we still have not reached) and that we all need to panic.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4Yeah, just look at that GDP!

        Everything is FINE!
    • 2h3px, on 07/18/2008, -3/+990% of statistics aren't representative of anything, including this one.
    • OtterStratton, on 07/18/2008, -1/+863% of people will believe any statistic told to them, even if it isn't true.
      • grumpyrain, on 07/18/2008, -0/+5Thanks. I never knew that.
      • 2h3px, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1Don't you just hate it when someone uses your joke formula exactly ,but does it better...
    • neil1492, on 07/18/2008, -0/+18The other 15% can't locate economy on a map.
      • Puffles, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4Everyone knows it's just south of Poland.
      • hankWK, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1yes. they forgot about poland.
      • NRay7882, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1The other 15% need to be shot in the face.
    • Psi57, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1Bush's approval rating.
    • tastynuggets, on 07/18/2008, -3/+0Exactly - I'm happy. Now is the time to buy buy buy!
    • RationalXubrnce, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3 I'm sure the board of directors of Indymac, Fannie and Freddie have done quite well these last few years and will be allowed to keep everything they "earned."
    • PwrUps, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1Sadly my uncle is one of those that thinks the economy is doing well.
      • marx2k, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1haha why would people digg you down for something your uncle thinks?
    • nickvdk, on 07/18/2008, -1/+415% are the defense contractors, oil execs, financial execs and Bush's cronies. Those guys have made their money at the expense of the economy.
    • richmomz, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2I noticed that this is roughly equal to Bush's approval rating and that of Congress. Conclusion: 15% of the U.S. population is bats*it crazy.
  • Shigglyboo, on 07/17/2008, -2/+26are you happy that the economy is in the *****? hrm.... we probably need a poll to figure this one out.
  • hellbent187, on 07/17/2008, -5/+54I think most people fail to realize that it's the people that used to work in manufacturing making $10-20/hr that are the backbone of the American economy. I say used to work in manufacturing because ever since the import tariffs have been lifted most of the manufacturing jobs have moved into other countries because of their cheap labor. The problem is when that product is shipped back into the US a lot of people no longer have nice paying jobs to buy that product.
    • TheGuruStud, on 07/18/2008, -3/+15If only everyone understood that. It's so pathetic.
    • fireballfreddy, on 07/18/2008, -11/+1So where's the problem?

      Most (not all) of the people in US manufacturing are uneducated workforce. High school degree or GED, if that. They are the ones who won't have these frankly high-paying jobs. They won't be able to afford the pretty things because it doesn't make sense to pay them to do jobs that someone in another country will do for much less.

      I'm ok with that.

      In the US today, if you aren't selling your brain then you're most likely condemned to a life of low pay and little reward, because bodies are cheaper almost anywhere.

      And who will have the nice-paying jobs to buy the product? The educated workforce, which will by necessity grow larger as the uneducated manufacturing positions disappear. People will be forced by economics to either learn or be left behind.

      So, you know, where's the problem?
      • TheGuruStud, on 07/18/2008, -3/+14If you haven't noticed, 4 yr degress don't get you a good job either. But you can stick with the mainstream that still believes that. Look up the facts and it's basically useless to go to a 4 yr school considering that you will most likely never be able to pay off the loans.
      • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -0/+13"Most (not all) of the people in US manufacturing are uneducated workforce. High school degree or GED, if that. They are the ones who won't have these frankly high-paying jobs. They won't be able to afford the pretty things because it doesn't make sense to pay them to do jobs that someone in another country will do for much less."

        This is the thinking that got us where we are. Either you're for or against this kind of rhetoric, it is what got us where we are. You can't sell out the backbone of your economy and expect things to be peachy keen.

        So when you say "WHERE'S THE PROBLEM", well, the problem is our entire economy is turning into a pile of *****. That's the problem. Your moral high ground of "well, they're not educated, so screw 'em! ha! I'm edgy and I'm not afraid of being politically incorrect."

        Well guess what, if you're proudly politically incorrect, then you should be proudly economically incorrect, as well.
      • mrraven200, on 07/18/2008, -0/+9It's all good until they out source YOUR job buddy. Hint design, marketing, management, and other high paying white collar jobs are now ALSO in the process of being outsourced. Say hello to your new 15/hr bartender job douche.
      • brad3378, on 07/18/2008, -0/+11So is it safe to assume you're part of the 15% minority?
      • avengingturnip, on 07/18/2008, -1/+10@fire, So why is ok for uneducated people to be really poor? What moral code do you follow?
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+10"In the US today, if you aren't selling your brain then you're most likely condemned to a life of low pay and little reward, because bodies are cheaper almost anywhere."

        Hey dumb-ass, call tech support for any of your technology products and you will find that brains are cheaper elsewhere as well. Where I work, we are no longer hiring any "brains" in the United States. All new brains are being hired in India, China, Russia and lately Puerto Rico.

        Amazingly, the people paying the salaries realized that people in other countries can write software, troubleshoot systems, write tech documents, design websites and probably do whatever job you are doing as well.
    • Mononuclear, on 07/18/2008, -7/+2Maybe the US should focus on jobs we can do better than other countries? It's called specialization. It doesn't make sense for country A to try and grow bananas for 3x the cost when country B can do it for cheaper. It doesn't make sense for country B to try and grow coffee when country A can do it cheaper. Yes all the banana workers in Country A will have to find new jobs but making huge import taxes on bananas and government subsidies to save the bana workers hurts the country. Countries with cheap labor force should concentrate on cheap labor. Countries like the US should focus on service industry, research, high tech etc.

      Artificially protecting failing industries with tariff protections and government subsidizing doesn't help the country. It may help the people who work in the factory for a little while but it doesn't help the country at all. Why the US is so determined to make ***** that other countries do much better and cheaper (IE steel industry and cars) I will never figure out.
      • avengingturnip, on 07/18/2008, -1/+10It is quickly coming to the time when there is nothing left that we can do better and cheaper. What then?
      • mrraven200, on 07/18/2008, -2/+6Because everything other than service jobs CAN be outsourced moron. An economy with nothing but crony capitalists and service workers isn't viable. If you don't believe me check out this article by REAGAN'S ex deputy secretary of the Treasury:

        http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts07102008.html

        Then when you are done with that right wing perspective read Naomi Klein's lefty Disaster Capitalism then get back to me.
      • Ythan, on 07/18/2008, -7/+2Sad to see you dugg down for such a common-sense post. (Or at least I thought it was common...)
      • Mononuclear, on 07/18/2008, -5/+2@Mrraven I could list 20 books that would contradict everything in that article and Klein's book. The problem with economics is there are so many theories and schools of thought that all disagree and no one can decide what works better. They all have plenty of examples and things to support their claim. I just gave my opinion that specialization and free trade is better than subsidies and limiting trade.

        @Avengingturnip If there is nothing the US can do better and cheaper then what the ***** is wrong with us? Maybe we can't do something cheaper but we do it better so it is worth more and thus make it a commodity. We need to export what we have and can do and import what we can't. As a result prices of everything will go down because you are no longer paying inflated prices for made in the US ***** but instead stuff that is of a higher quality and cheaper from somewhere else. The things we do right will be cheaper because we will export that around the world.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4"Maybe the US should focus on jobs we can do better than other countries? It's called specialization."

        Wasn't this whole "specialization" bit in a Bush speech?
      • chumpbender, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3I can see where you are coming from on some of what you said, but this part:

        "Countries with cheap labor force should concentrate on cheap labor. Countries like the US should focus on service industry, research, high tech etc."

        Seems a little elitist.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+5"I could list 20 books that would contradict everything in that article and Klein's book."

        I challenge you to list 5...

        "there is nothing the US can do better and cheaper then what the ***** is wrong with us?"

        1. We don't have slave labor or child labor.
        2. We are not a 3rd world country.
        3. We have regulations around work-place safety.
        4. We have regulations around pollution control.
        5. Too much profit going to the CEO's and stockholders and not enough in to driving down the price of goods.

        At some point (could be 50 years or 100 years from now) the whole thing will hopefully level out or other countries will start outsourcing to us as they start to have more consumers and their workers demand higher salaries.

        "Countries with cheap labor force should concentrate on cheap labor. Countries like the US should focus on service industry, research, high tech etc."

        Research and High-Tech are being outsourced as well. Call tech support and see what country answers. Look at the latest medical discoveries and you will see that most happened outside the US. People in other countries are not idiots, they can do so-called "high-tech" jobs as well.
      • avengingturnip, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4What is wrong with us? We bought into the idea that could import ourselves to happiness. Read some Paul Craig Roberts to learn how free trade is really just labor arbitrage.
      • RationalXubrnce, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4 The problem is the third world will do things so cheap that it becomes a race to the bottom. Do you really want to barter your wages against people who live in grass huts in China and Vietnam? And yeah some people can be surgeons and software engineers but half the population is below average and they need to live too. You're entire post was the kind of babble that led to this whole mess of us losing our manufacturing base.
    • CarzorStelatis, on 07/18/2008, -3/+1What you have to remember is that, while people in manufacturing jobs have lost them thanks to free trade, the removal or reduction of import tariffs in other parts of the world means that America now exports a lot more of the products and services it can do better (rather than cheaper) than other countries.
      • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -0/+5What exactly do we export? We export mostly raw materials.
      • mrraven200, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Dadvidyeah is that true? I'd like to see a source on that as that would confirm my suspicion that we are now a third world economy.
    • Troy64, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1There is actually a shortage of manufacturing workers in the US. The average age manufacturing worker is 53. So the situation is only going to get worse. That is why a lot of companies hire illegal immigrants. I live in Oklahoma and I can tell you there are tons of manufacturing companies here.

      What is gone are the union jobs that pay $50 an hour and had benefit packages that were running companies into the ground.

      • mrraven200, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4Yeah how dare working people demand a living wage in exchange for their hard work? They should knuckle under and do with less so the CEO can buy a third 2 million dollar vacation home with an olympic size swimming pool. Obviously anyone who questions that is a "socialist" who is "stealing" money from the poor struggling rich people.
      • rearlgrant, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1"[thunder roars outside] And I was going to buy that ivory back-scratcher..."
    • hobophobe, on 07/19/2008, -0/+3It's obviously a big issue. We need to be building things. That said, a lot of the crap that we're importing (little trinkets and such) should not be made at all. It's basically just pre-fabricated waste. The good news is that we don't make it anymore. The bad news is it still gets made and we still import it. Like Mardi Gras beads. Mardi Gras: Made in China documentary trailer: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9469948749 ...

      What we need to be making are new and better products. Part of that is setting up agreements with companies that make a lot of money by saying "you have to move 50% of the manufacturing of these goods onshore within five years" or something along those lines. Expect more of that as we start to take more action on global warming.
    • rearlgrant, on 07/20/2008, -0/+2hellbent -- I find it sad how Henry Ford and his generation understood that but modern Republicans don't.
  • PorkTornado1102, on 07/17/2008, -32/+12In related news, 85% of Americans are whiny bitches.

    I could personally care less about the "economy" - it's all about how you are personally doing financially. If you aren't doing good, turn off American Idol, go get educated and make more money. People need to stop thinking their welfare depends on the macro-economic situation and that they are just along for the ride.

    Rich people exist in bad economies and poor people exist in booming economies. Take some personal responsibility.
    • Drogoganor, on 07/18/2008, -5/+12I bet you're as priveliged as *****.
    • wooFmeoWoinK, on 07/18/2008, -8/+1Hail Eris!
    • starmanfalls, on 07/18/2008, -1/+5Only a %15 chance that you are not a whiny bitch. And you are whining. Bitch!!!
    • pgrit154, on 07/18/2008, -1/+8You, my friend, are not only an *****, but also a *****.
    • Mononuclear, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6When you work in an international market and your $1 million is suddenly worth $500,000 because of inflation and the devaluation of the dollar then you need to worry about the economy. Getting educated has nothing to do with it. It is that the US economy is screwing your international business and if the US economy doesn't change fast many businesses are going to take their operations somewhere else.
    • 1timeuser, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6So in other words, you're just an *****. Why didn't you just say that in the first place and not bore us with your long inane chatter?
    • stagmire, on 07/18/2008, -4/+0Funny, the only people I know who talk like this are unemployed.
    • kineticarl, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2In related news, "in related news...." comments are tired. And don't "this just in...." me.
  • o0adam0o, on 07/17/2008, -2/+13Thank you Captain Obvious!
  • CLAWC, on 07/17/2008, -1/+3085% sounds like a majority to me. There's always SOME idiots who can't admit we're in ***** and think everything's Jim Dandy
    • leladax, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2fear of "democracies" that give very high majorities for they are usually concealed dictatorships.

      of course in the case of a clear event it's not a difficult choice so not much undemocratic if large majorities exist. e.g. if a meteorite falls from the sky, few would say it didn't if they saw it.
      • JigoroKano, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1I think the majority of Americans would agree the Sun will come up tomorrow.
      • CarzorStelatis, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Hence why you need absolute, set-in-stone protections for human rights in a democracy. Without the right to a fair trial, the right not to be tortured and so on (regardless of how unpopular a particular individual might be) what you have is not democracy but mob rule.
    • BehnoodMarvazi, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Yeah, they are called rich people, my friend.
  • poprocksandsoda, on 07/18/2008, -8/+23I think if you trace back you will find Bill Clinton's championing of NAFTA to be a major contributor to the decline of industry in our country.
    • TheGuruStud, on 07/18/2008, -2/+8and it can be undone, but I don't see anyone doing that, *****.
      • poprocksandsoda, on 07/18/2008, -2/+5This is one thing I disagree with Bush about. Their even building a highway as you know. It just makes no sense.

        http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15497
      • TheGuruStud, on 07/18/2008, -2/+2unless you want to make tons of money by cheating Americans, then it makes total sense. Of course, I don't even really have to say that.
      • hellbent187, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1@ poprocksandsodapoprocksandsoda. I'm a professional truck driver and I've known about this proposed super highway from Mexico to Canada for a while now. It's very disturbing indeed. Of course the Bush Administration would want to keep a low profile on it.
    • wonderchemist, on 07/18/2008, -10/+4I'd blame it on FDR.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4You're right, we should have just let the poor die off.

        Seems to be the underlying goal nowdays.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4That would take more explaining to be taken seriously.
    • mrraven200, on 07/18/2008, -2/+1Dimocraps, Repigagains what's the diff?
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+8I think if you trace it back, you will find just about everyone in power in the last 10-20 years has had a hand in the current mess.
      • RationalXubrnce, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4 If you won't participate in the looting you'll have a hard time getting in power. Ron Paul is an exception in that regard.
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3NAFTA, GATT, and the WTO.

      And as has been pointed out, that's not just Clinton. If there's one thing both parties can agree on it's that corporate ***** is yummy.
      • CarzorStelatis, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1GATT has been going for 61 years (since 1947) so I don't see how it can be to blame given that the American economy has been in fantastic condition during much of that time.
      • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2GATT continues to be modified and extended.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2The problem with free trade is that we continue to trade with countries without free people. Countries that subjugate their people do not have the same restrictions as a country with free people who elect their government. Free people demand a certain amount of safety, free people do the jobs they want (mostly), free people can bargain for better pay.

        There is not the same freedom in Mexico and China to name a couple of our larger trade partners. We should either stop trading with them or add a hefty tariff to make it fair to our industries.
  • slvrbullet87, on 07/18/2008, -20/+785% of people never notice the good news, oil costs $16 less a barrel today than it did monday but it hasnt been widely reported. Good news doesnt sell
    • TheGuruStud, on 07/18/2008, -3/+9Gas prices won't fall by much, so who gives a *****. In a week it'll just jump by 20. It's a moot point that oil fell.
    • pgrit154, on 07/18/2008, -2/+2Epic Fail at proving a ***** point. The percentage it feel is more important.
    • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4Let me guess, the savings will "trickle down", right?

      *Looks at the gas sign across the street and taps on wristwatch*
  • StarWarsFever, on 07/18/2008, -0/+9what's with all the common sense news on the front page these past few days?
  • leladax, on 07/18/2008, -7/+12Considering 15% are always mentally retarded or high on Extacy, it's pretty much 100%.
  • proficient, on 07/18/2008, -4/+78No, 15% of Americans don't understand what the economy is.
    • altgeeky1, on 07/18/2008, -2/+7No.
      13% of them are snapping up "bargains" with GLEE. What's bad for America's Middle Class is good for the US Rich.

      The other 2%? Dual-citizen neocons like Michael Chertoff, head of the United States secret police. He's only staying here while the going's good, then he's off to that OTHER country he swore an oath to.
    • AltF3, on 07/18/2008, -0/+6Yes we do, its a type of cake.
  • JoeVet, on 07/18/2008, -8/+25Let me guess who are the happy 15%. Could it be the same ones making 90% of all the money.....you know, the ones who need those tax cuts?
  • tones1, on 07/18/2008, -19/+9We're not in a pile of *****. Compared to the 70's we're living the ***** life. Stop whining and let the economy act like it's supposed to act.
    • flip2trip, on 07/18/2008, -9/+5You're talking to a bunch of spoiled kiddies on here who don't know what real hard times are.
      • RationalXubrnce, on 07/18/2008, -4/+6 That denial attitude will ensure they find out soon enough.
    • altgeeky1, on 07/18/2008, -2/+10No, compared to the 70's we're oblivious.

      Or didn't you know that 18 cents of every Federal dollar is being spent on the INTEREST portion of the national debt.

      Dunno bout you, but if 20% of MY paycheck went to Mastercard's interest... I'd admit I had a problem, instead of hiding from reality at the shopping mall!
      • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -1/+9"Stop whining and let the economy act like it's supposed to act."

        By "how its supposed to act", you must mean "isolate the vast, vast majority of the capital into the hands of a tiny minority." That's what is supposed to happen. I guess I should be comfortable with that, huh?
      • altgeeky1, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3DavidYeah: you attributed that quote to me, when it's the parent poster...
      • DavidYeah, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1Sorry for the confusion.
      • thealsir, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0I'm willing to bet at least 20% of most people's paycheck goes to paying interest on loans and credit cards.
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -1/+5In the 70s we had a manufacturing industry and we weren't up our own asses in debt.

      Are things as bad now as they were at the peak of the oil crisis? No. But then again this crisis JUST STARTED.
  • Evilblobs, on 07/18/2008, -8/+0You can thank socialism and corporate power being fused with the state for our crap economy.
    • amoro99, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Wow I thought those things were opposed. So you are saying it's socialism and capitalism's fault. Does that leave us with any ism's?
      • Evilblobs, on 07/18/2008, -3/+0socialism fuses corporate power with the state, federalizes and regulates it to the government's will.

        true capitalism allows corporatations to run independently
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1@Evilblobs

        You really need to study your "ism's"

        ALL HAIL THE ALMIGHTY MARKET! ALL HAIL RON PAUL!

        *chuckle*
      • Russellk30, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1@Bjornski

        Its called fascism stupid!

        "Fascists opposed what they believed to be laissez-faire or quasi-laissez-faire economic policies dominant in the era prior to the Great Depression.[114] People of many different political stripes blamed laissez-faire capitalism for the Great Depression, and fascists promoted their ideology as a "third way [disambiguation needed]" between capitalism and Marxian socialism.[115] Their policies manifested as a radical extension of government control over the economy without wholesale expropriation of the means of production. Fascist governments nationalized some key industries, managed their currencies and made some massive state investments. They also introduced price controls, wage controls and other types of economic planning measures.[116] Fascist governments instituted state-regulated allocation of resources, especially in the financial and raw materials sectors."
  • wooFmeoWoinK, on 07/18/2008, -1/+36When we get to 90% everybody gets naked.
  • Urbalist, on 07/18/2008, -5/+25The remaining 15% are filthy rich..
    • Psi57, on 07/18/2008, -0/+13No, 1% are filthy rich and 14% are mentally retarded.
  • judicar, on 07/18/2008, -8/+6This assumes there was actually a time in our history when people were happy with the economy.
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Everyone was happy at the peak of the bubble. Don't you remember all that mid-90's dreck in Businessweek about cloning Greenspan so he could be Fed chairman forever?
  • Br3ach, on 07/18/2008, -1/+5Id say not so much unhappy with the economy as much as unhappy that the era of jaded ignorant spending beyond you means is coming to a close.
  • mrogi, on 07/18/2008, -12/+3The Democrats are so gaddam lame. Despite 8 years if a disastrous Bush presidency John McCain will still be elected president in November.
  • redfred18t, on 07/18/2008, -3/+39Wow, I didn't know 15% of Americans were oil speculators.
  • esquire360, on 07/18/2008, -2/+3duh, its a waste land....
  • solboldi, on 07/18/2008, -12/+2When are Americans ever satisfied with anything?
  • URnotheonly1, on 07/18/2008, -14/+4then stop watching CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, PBR, BBC, you will never be happy. Get to work folks!
  • JK1150, on 07/18/2008, -3/+5But Americans are not simply dissatisfied.
    ... they are unhappy!
  • NelsonR, on 07/18/2008, -3/+4Since commodity prices have been artificially increased, now the money is going back to Wall St. in the mistaken belief that the indicators say were out of the market slump and prosperity is here to stay. WHAT? A declining housing market, increased personal debt, financial institutions writing off billions while many billions of future debt to be disclosed yet the Bulls on Wall Street desire to perpetuate one huge lie. We are in recession and it will get worse but you can bet your Aunt Millie the future will be truthful and not with shenanigans that our Federal Treasury, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac attempt to peddle with your representatives influence.
    How in the hell can anyone truly believe, after seeing the market over years, what the future now holds. We are part of the global economy and everyone cannot live as they once did.
    • biogears, on 07/18/2008, -5/+1Wrong, the US is not in recession. Saying it over and over and over doesn't make something true.
      • mrraven200, on 07/18/2008, -3/+4@NelsonR

        "We are part of the global economy and everyone cannot live as they once did."

        Unless we chose not to be part of the global economy last time I checked the U.S. was a sovereign independent country and hadn't ceded total control to the globalists. IMO we need a Ralph Nader/Pat Buchanan left right alliance against the globalists who are ***** us over. If you read between the lines of Buchanan's "A Republic not an empire" and Naomi Klein's"Disaster Capitalism" the message is a lot more similar than the MSM would have us believe.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -1/+3But...but...but... THE GDP!

        Nevermind that spending for people is down, wages are stagnants, costs of living are going up, expenditures on "luxuries" are going down, and jobs are being lost here and created in Malaysia....

        LOOK AT THE GDP! WE'RE FINE!

        And the next version, where we take out the bad things? EVEN BETTER!

        You can't argue with numbers like that!
    • Olfster, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4Globalization is the future for the wealthy, and the demise of the USA middle class. We just gave the wealthiest in the USA reduced taxes over the last 8 years to decimate the middle class and reduce the middle class standard of living.
  • hairulezmy, on 07/18/2008, -2/+4As we are developed country, we are suffering more..just how the heck this issue cannot be settled faster? I am guessing that they must something to do with political and interest issue..
  • ousthouse, on 07/18/2008, -3/+6I'm not richer than all you people - thus, I am unhappy with the economy.
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2I am (currently) doing quite well as are most of my friends. I am still concerned about the direction we are headed. If you are not then you are either so rich you don't have to ever worry about money or you are a total idiot.
      • ousthouse, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3I was mostly joking around, buddy. However, I'm probably closer to the latter.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Sorry, I'd been typing angrily for the last 30 minutes and lost my sense of humor :)
  • amightywind, on 07/18/2008, -14/+3What does the war have to do with the economy? I am very happy with the progress in the war on terror. I am also happy with the general state of the economy. Our current low growth pattern is nothing tax and spending cuts won't fix. Socialism failed in the 60s and 70s. We shouldn't be screwing with it now.
    • cadmiumpaint, on 07/18/2008, -2/+9you should look up how much money we've wasted on the war and then try to tell me it has nothing to do with the economy.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -2/+6But see, the war went on the credit card.

        It won't affect him. Only his kids.

        He doesn't care.
      • amightywind, on 07/18/2008, -4/+1You should try to understand the long term cost to world markets of the menace of Saddam.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2The "menace" of Saddam?

        Like dumping oil on the market, driving prices down from the awful, evil price of $28 a barrel?

        Oh, the horrors!
    • rhart23, on 07/18/2008, -1/+11I think we found a 15%'er
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -1/+5Actually, the 40's and 50's were a lot more socialist than the 60's or 70's were as far as government control of commerce. Yet people usually speak fondly of those times, minus the obvious racial and sexual equality issues.
    • jodes440, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3*facepalm* I don't even know where to start....
  • richw, on 07/18/2008, -3/+885% of U.S. Unhappy with Everything except their new iPhone
  • Petestreet, on 07/18/2008, -10/+2Most Americans are experiencing one of the highest standards of living of anyone in history.
    The level of luxury we experience is unprecedented and unsustainable. So people may look back in wonder.
    Yes my latte is expensive. but it has coffee grown in Indonesia in it and sugar from South America. I stir it with strips of wood created and provided for free just for that purpose.
    While I drink it I drive my car with god known how many hundreds of miraculous innovations in it while I listen to recordings of the greatest musicians on earth playing my choice of thousands of songs.
    I run my air conditioning and still can drive 20 miles at 75 miles an hour, on a road that is smooth, for $4.
    Appreciate how good we have it.
    Indoor plumbing, electric lights, glass windows, a safe food supply, TV, DVDs, Ipods, Cell phones, digital cameras, powerful computers
    antibiotics, motor vehicles, Clean water, refrigeration, Air conditioning, Microwave ovens, Inexpensive good quality clothes.
    This is the greatest time to be alive.

    • flip2trip, on 07/18/2008, -2/+2Yeah bu..bu..bu...but the news tells us things are BAD and they know don't they?
    • trafficlight, on 07/18/2008, -2/+0Why is this getting dugg down? It certainly doesn't look like famine-stricken Africa outside while I drive down in the freeway with thousands of other people?

      Things are just different now than they used to be. It's called change and it happens everyday.
    • marx2k, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1Meanwhile, we work more than most any other country to be able to afford (I mean charge) these luxuries. In the race to get the most things, we are also in debt to our eyeballs or losing our property because we don't live within our means. Just because we have all of these things available to us doesn't mean we can afford them.
    • Petestreet, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1Most of the things I listed are cheap.
  • FoxtrotUSAF, on 07/18/2008, -3/+11This just in! The sky is blue!
  • nellyspageli, on 07/18/2008, -1/+8this is surprising?
  • Kevin108, on 07/18/2008, -7/+22The biggest problem? 70% say more government programs should help those now struggling. The amount of government we have has gotten us to where we are now. More government will only mean more taxes and more problems. We need to eliminate income tax and personal property tax right off the bat. From there we need to reduce our military involvement from 130 countries around the world to one: ours. We need to stop foreign aid and take of ourselves for a change. We need to drastically reconfigure our government to a simpler, more economic version, the likes of which we haven't seen for nearly 100 years. But as long as 70% of people think MORE government is the answer, we will only continue along this path of decline.
    • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -4/+2"We need to drastically reconfigure our government to a simpler, more economic version, the likes of which we haven't seen for nearly 100 years."

      That would put us in the robber baron era and the Guilded Age, which had massive wealth polarization and horrible human rights violations in big business. That's basically where I think a lot of conservatives want us to be again.
      • Kevin108, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2Call it what you want, but this was the level financial freedom that gave birth to Rockefeller and Carnegie, whose commercial successes were rivaled only by their philanthropy.

        I think it is people like you, jealous of the success of others and wanting to degrade their image, who have allowed the government to get us in the mess we're in today. I finish with a quote for you and your kind:

        You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
        You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
        You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
        You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
        You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
        You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds.
        You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
        You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.
        You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.
        - William J. H. Boetcker
      • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4It's just shocking to me how far back democracy is being dragged. People are now WILLING the emergence of economic aristocracy.

        You're sitting here telling me that the emergence of economic royalty is the greatest, high points of society, times that we should be recreating. Nevermind the poverty that the rest of the nation was in.

        Nevermind the general, widespread wealth that was accumulating for generations during the post-depression era and up until Reagan got into office. We didn't see many massively wealthy families emerge, and I see THAT as a positive thing.

        So really, we have two competing worldviews.

        You, who believe that economies should be shaped so that economic royalty can emerge, and not to mention that we'd be experiencing boom-and-bust economies that have been going back since the dawn of modern civilization.

        Me, who believes that economies should be shaped so that general prosperity is possible. That means a social safety net, that means billions of dollars of investment in physical infrastructure, and oh yeah... that means DEMOCRACY and GOVERNMENT.

      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Hey, who cares if millions are *****.

        We might created another Rothschild!

        Idiot.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4@DavidYeah

        Exactly. Thomas Jefferson is rolling in his grave over the new aristocracy.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3"You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
        You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
        You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
        You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer."

        Since these all say the same thing in regards to this argument...
        Nobody is talking about pulling down the rich, we just need to stop lifting them up so high.

        "You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income."

        Tell that to our president.

        "You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatreds."

        There should be no class distinction in a free society.

        "You cannot establish security on borrowed money."

        A rich man once wrote (can't find an exact quote or the person), "Don't spend your money on an investment, spend the bank's money."

        "You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence."

        Nor can you build character by giving someone an inheritence or giving someone more money than they are worth.

        "You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves"

        Such as manual labor? When is the last time Paris Hilton did something for herself?
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+4@WileEPeyote

        You can't argue with a Randroid.

        You will never change their opinion that unbridled greed is the ultimate human virtue.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2@bjornski

        Heh Heh, it took me a second to get that, I was looking for someone named randroid.
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -2/+4If we took all the money we sink into corporate subsidies and sunk it in to things that would help our society as opposed to our GDP, maybe we would be a bit better off.

      All this country seems to care about anymore is our GDP. How about being able to provide for your family without taking two jobs and living on bare necessities. How about pride and compassion over GDP.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1This is compassion.

        Compassionate conservatism.
      • Troy64, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2You do realize that GDP is directly related to how well people can provide for there families. When the economy grows companies hire. When we approach full employment wages are forced up.

        If you are really looking for the government to provide all of you needs you are looking for a communist society.
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3GDP is a measure of our productivity, it is not a measure of how well the people of the US who work are being paid. If a company is outsources half it's workforce it just posted a gain for the year as it significantly reduced its overhead without actually producing more.

        Nowhere did I say the government should provide. The government should govern. Part of governing is ensuring our economic system does not fail. Part of governing is ensuring that the system is fair to all.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1@Troy64

        If that was the case, my standard of living would be going up with the GDP.

        It's not.
    • Olfster, on 07/18/2008, -3/+1More people work for government than there are in the private sector, there is something very wrong with that.
      • marx2k, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1Really? I thought that was always a doubleplusgood situation.
    • Shivetya, on 07/18/2008, -2/+5Kevin108,

      If you read the other comments here your speaking to the wealth-envy crowd. A group that somehow thinks its unfair that others make more than them or have more than them. When they see someone in a fancy car or has a big house they bitch instead of asking themselves "what do I need to change in my life to be able to afford that"

      The majority of the people who bitch and moan about the success of others don't even take the first step. They refuse to change their lifestyle, their activities, and don't even try to improve themselves. Then there is the group which quits as soon as it gets difficult or they experience one setback. The minority who puts in the time are the ones who will reap the rewards.

      It really comes down to the fact that too many want instant gratification. They give up cookies and get mad when they don't wake up slim. They don't want to wait the five to ten years it will take to accumulate some wealth. They don't want to take night classes to learn a new trade. They don't want to take a second job to get out of an apartment. To them "it is not fair" that they have to do all that.

      As such we will end up with a government that further burdens those who are doing all of this for those who found the easiest route to being happy is to find someone else to take other people's money and give it to them.

      Bad economy? *****. Gas prices are high, big deal, we still have it so good compared to friends from Britain. Housing slump, well if you had been saving your money instead of wasting it on starbucks, forty dollar a month cell phone plans, leasing a car you could not afford, and eating out for lunch with your co-workers EVERY DAY you would be one of those buying and living in a new home.

      We have a nation of wimps now. The generation that fought WW2 and the Korean war would not believe what we have become. We have turned from being a nation of self responsible doers to handout wanting whiners.
    • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2"If you read the other comments here your speaking to the wealth-envy crowd. A group that somehow thinks its unfair that others make more than them or have more than them. When they see someone in a fancy car or has a big house they bitch instead of asking themselves "what do I need to change in my life to be able to afford that"

      You're arguing from the consumerist point of view; so ***** shallow, so pointless. Oh, they can afford a big house and a faster car? Big ***** deal. I didn't make a single mention of any of that in either of my posts.

      What I'm talking about is power through economic means. In America, spending money is legitimate, First Amendment protected free speech. It can be used to buy time with senators, it can be used to influence our culture through public relations and marketing, et cetera et cetera. That is the big picture problem.

      As far as I'm concerned, big house and fast car doesn't mean *****-all. Conservatives never have any response to the reality of their economic interests, I guess they just presume everybody's more concerned about cookies and cell phone plans and eating lunch with co-workers. Sometimes I think they're right.
  • kelmaster1, on 07/18/2008, -0/+10they need a poll for this?
  • 3drage, on 07/18/2008, -7/+7It's America's own fault for sitting idly by and expecting the government to take care of them. Bunch of stooges.
    • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -1/+6All 300 million of them! They're all so lazy! It couldn't be a larger, systematic issue of any sort, it's just a bunch of lazy individuals!
      • Olfster, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3Isn't that what they have us all believing now? Unreal isn't it?
      • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3It is unreal, and it's totally intentional. It's the revolt of the wealthy. Democracy took the throne of their heirs, and now they want it all back.

        The best way to do this is convince them all that the massive majority of people who aren't rich are somehow dysfunctional, while the tiny fraction of the population that is rich is actually completely normal.
      • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -1/+3And people are so greedy and stupid they're falling for the "but YOU could be filthy rich too someday! You don't want someone to take that away from you, do you?" *****.

        Most of this drivel is coming from someone who just signed a $400 million contract, and they're fighting for the right of Rush to make his huge salaries, while other Rush listeners (who own the companies) fight to keep their worker's wages low as humanly possible.

        They've been fooled into voting AGAINST their own best interests.

        With a pipe-dream.
      • DavidYeah, on 07/19/2008, -0/+1"and they're fighting for the right of Rush to make his huge salaries,"

        You know what-- I support Limbaugh's salary. HE is the talent. HE is the skill that keeps the Rush Limbaugh show floating and keeps listeners listening. I don't agree with a single word he says, but I believe he deserves whatever it is he's making, because he puts butts in the chairs, as it were.

        What I have a problem with is these corporate income kings that sit by the pool waiting for checks to arrive. I'm sure lots of rich people earn their cash, Limbaugh being one example, but I'm ***** sorry------ making a six figure or seven figure income off of nothing but the fact that you have money is just ***** absurd.

        That's completely in contrast with Limbaugh's hundreds of millions of dollars of income, which is earned.
      • bjornski, on 07/19/2008, -1/+2It's only "earned" by pushing the corporate message that allows these people making a six figure or seven figure income to do nothing but earn money because they have money.

        He's a paid propagandist, being paid handsomely for toeing the corporate line and helping push the mindset that "the rich should get richer".

        Talent? I guess, if you consider people like Bill O'Reilly and Michael Savage talented.

        A high priced whore, selling the corporate message? Absolutely.
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -1/+3By which of course you mean everyone who takes government handouts, including the big businesses.

      Right?

      In that case I will digg you up.
    • rearlgrant, on 07/19/2008, -0/+2Rush's salary. Proof Republicans have no idea who said "self-interest rightly understood."
  • FluffyRadish, on 07/18/2008, -5/+1How odd, I was not polled. Was anyone else polled for this? Where did these statistics come from?
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3They don't poll every American. They use a mathmatical equation against a sample polling and arrive at a number that is suprisingly accurate (born out by testing).
  • ancientshoes, on 07/18/2008, -9/+3let's just blame everyone's favorite scapegoat

    buh...buh...BUSH!
    • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2Ruh... Ruh... REAGAN!
    • Olfster, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3I called this in 2000, seriously. Anyone with half a brain knew the outcome of a Bush administration. I just did not realize it would be this bad.
  • fearziz, on 07/18/2008, -4/+8I'm afraid America will cease to exist before 2100 with the rapid decline of our overall society. It's pretty sad really because our generation is mankinds last hope.
    • bjornski, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2I lost hope a generation before yours.

      Sorry.
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3The successor states to the US are going to be all kinds of awesome. I'm torn as to whether I want to live in Ecotopia, the Golden Bear Republic, or the Republic of Texas.

      Probably the Republic of Texas. They don't put sour cream and Thai peanut sauce on all their food like the Golden Bears do.
  • pjpark, on 07/18/2008, -5/+7I am among the proud 15% who are not unhappy with the economy because I don't watch the news. I am also one of the 94% of Americans with a job, one of the 8% without a car, and one of the 1% of Americans without a television. So get rid of your car and your television and get a job and you could be happy like me.
    • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -1/+4Yeah, sounds like a great way to live, "***** you all, I got mine".

      What happens when the economy fails so badly you lose your job? Guess you'll be one of those people saying, "how did we get this ***** up?"
      • winnestow, on 07/18/2008, -2/+3no i bet he'd keep his mouth shut and go find a new job
      • WileEPeyote, on 07/18/2008, -0/+2Or he would stand in the soup line with everyone else.
      • marx2k, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2Well, at least he won't be worrying about how to make next month's car payment, insurance payment, fuel bills, mechanics bills, cable payments, etc
    • HencheMann, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3Uh...the point is to stop wasting your life on crap that wastes your time, energy, money and pollutes your body and mind: cars and televison are the root of it all dontchya think?

      Think of ALL the money you spend in one month on that piece of ***** car you have: car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance, aggravation. ARE YOU MAD???!!!
    • hellbent187, on 07/18/2008, -1/+1Some of us don't live inside a city with public transportation and need a car to get back and forth to work.
  • arvvvs, on 07/18/2008, -4/+7Look at the statistic carefully. 85% are unhappy with the direction this country is taking.
    Who is satisfied: the Bush lites.
  • HeyArnold, on 07/18/2008, -2/+485% of Americans don't like being broke?
    whaaaaaaaaaaaat?
    This just in, 100% of Americans dont like being hungry.
  • vdoogs, on 07/18/2008, -2/+4The statement from the article - "Do Americans really want more government? The answer to that question may be provided in the November election." Is patently ridiculous. Neither candidate has come out for or against "more government". To suggest this is both dishonest and poor conduct for a national new magazine such Time.
    • xanadu420, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1I totally agree with you; Also no one did more to increase the size of the government and government spending than George W. Did they miss that?
  • mrzack, on 07/18/2008, -4/+17I'm Chinese American, and all my Chinese/Taiwan American ABC/FOB friends are working in China now. From finance majors, Harvard law school graduates, engineer with mbas, programmers, some going to study learn Chinese.... they got so much debt from college, and they get paid more by going overseas, and plus there's more opportunities in China.

    The American dream is dead.
    • Vessol, on 07/18/2008, -2/+12There is a reason they call it The American Dream, you have to be asleep to believe it.
    • DavidYeah, on 07/18/2008, -3/+10Economic mobility in America is now at its lowest since the great depression.
    • Hangly, on 07/18/2008, -0/+3All true. Salaries over here are going up fast.
    • Cryoniq, on 07/18/2008, -1/+2Well.. it was just a dream..
    • logandurand, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1No, the American dream simply became the worldwide dream. Now you have to share those same economic freedoms that you've enjoyed with people in other countries, and that means that they can get jobs too.
  • Vessol, on 07/18/2008, -1/+7The other 15% are making a killing off the oil market.
  • ren1999, on 07/18/2008, -2/+6Another Digger posted that many manufacturing jobs have moved to over-seas cheap-slave labor since import tariffs have lifted. I think that every nation should protect its own citizens first, then from its abundance engage in world trade. I would also like to mention stagnant wages. Both parents are working and earning an average of $14.00 an hour with a .50 raise every 6 months for 2 years before being laid off. They have reduced buying power. One of their parents used to earn an average of $50,000 a year. Want to fix the U.S. and world economy? Put an end to slave labor and pay people what they are worth. All people. Then they will have the power to buy things and improve the economy.
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