[George_1950]

we agree on heath care reform ...but probably not in the form it will take. Medicare ,medicaid ,VA are all examples of the inefficiency that we will expose the whole country to under a gvt. run plan.

Don't forget Amtrak, the post office, Freddie, Fannie, et cet.

[andrewc24301]

I'm back, I had to tend to some stuff around the house this week.

Anyway, going back to your last comment to me tomder. I understand what you are saying. And as I think about it, it's not so much the lack of industrial interest that has kept this town down over the years. Granted, in the last 12 months, that has been the case, but prior to that, this county has it's own skeletons in the closet that repels industry. Lack of an industrial sewage facility is among the list.

Moving onto cars:
Everything in the auto market is marked up. If you built a Ford Escort out of car parts acquired indivudually from stores, I swear the car would cost at least $100,000. I will never buy a new car. For what you get out of it, I find them to be very overpriced. Why pay $30,000 for a new car, trade it in in 10 years when a good used car can be purchased out of the trading post for under $5,000, and drive it for 10 years. I've had my car for 3 years, and paid $1200 for it, that's $33 per month. And I purchased it with one of Bush's tax rebate checks. All I've done to it is put on a set of tires and replace the window switch.

Moving onto health care:
I HATE our health care system. After years of being uninsured, I'm happy to say that our family is now covered. But at a premium price. Running about $240 bi-weekly with a $2,000 deductable. When I took on the plan, it was almost a third of my income. And to date, it is the highest bill I pay. I pay more to health care than I do to taxes to both state and federal.

[tomder55]

What I am saying is that diversity is the best bet . Detroit is getting hardest hit because it is too dependent on one industry . Look to Pittsburg. They have taken the steps to reinvent themselves from to rust belt days . Even though it does not sustain the population it did in it's hay day, they have reinvented themselves as a high-tech center . Look at the growth around the Charlotte NC corridor . It can be done.

[speechlesstx]

Going back to an original quote from your thread...

How can it work, if I ran my household budget like this, I'd be bankrupt

Doesn't work for me, I can't just hold my nose and wastefully spend money I don't have. I suppose a good sign in all this is the media is starting to reluctantly hold Obama's feet to the fire somewhat.

President Barack Obama will break a campaign pledge against congressional earmarks and sign a budget bill laden with millions in lawmakers' pet projects, administration officials said.

Administration budget chief Peter Orszag and White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel both downplayed the $410 billion spending bill and signaled Obama would hold his nose and sign it.

Orszag said: "We want to just move on. Let's get this bill done, get it into law and move forward."

Said Emanuel: "That's last year's business."

The House last week passed the measure that would keep the government running through Sept. 30, when the federal budget year ends. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a watchdog group, identified almost 8,600 earmarks totaling $7.7 billion; Democrats say the number is $3.8 billion.

Either way, it is far more than Obama promised as a candidate. He refused earmarks for the economic stimulus package he championed and a children's health bill.

He similarly pledged to reject tailored budget requests that let lawmakers send money to their home states. Orszag said Obama would move ahead and overlook the time-tested tradition that lets officials divert millions at a time to pet projects.

Is that what you Obama supporters elected him for, to hold his nose and sign a pork-laden budget? Is that what you Obama supporters elected him for, to “overlook the time-tested tradition” of congressional pet projects, to just ignore even more wasteful spending for the sake of moving on?