That statement blew me away!

Are you kidding?  Do you really believe the FEDS can do anything truly productive without it blowing up in their face?

They have always been too short-sighted.  We all see how well Social Security turned out, the ultra-wasteful Medicare programs, Immigration policies, or how about the billions that get lost all over the place without accountability during natural disasters.

One example of your "FDR type" program would be the National Medical Coverage program that Obama wants.

Sure a simple mind would say, "Yeah, it sure would be nice to see EVERY american have medical coverage", who in their right mind could disagree with that. NO ONE.

BUT, the point is... do you really want the FEDS to be in charge of it.  Hell NO!

Overall, I am idealogically conservative, but I don't trust any one of those (insert curses here)!  ALL of them will tell you ANYTHING you want to hear to get your vote in the power struggle.  They are all puppets!  Example, how many times has your congressman held a "town hall" meeting to get in touch with his constituents.  They don't listen to "us" the people.  It's a GRAND ILLUSION.  Slight-of-hand, so to speak.  While the people are DISTRACTED, debating, consumed with "choices" and arguing our different points of view. The agendas of the campaign donors and special interests are being put into effect.

I could go on and on, but I don't like to dwell on negative thoughts.  I'm going sky-diving, see ya!

Lantec please watch the 60 Minutes Video link I posted.  Credit Default swaps were illegal and a felony by law since 1906 and classified as an illegal form of gambling.  Furthermore, these types of derivatives came about as a result of Legislation passed by Congress in a unanimous vote by the Senate in 2000.  This act also prohibited New York and all other States from enforcing their own statutes prohibiting credit default swaps and charging those who were wanting to trade in them with felonies under anti-gambling laws.

If you wish to know more about credit default swaps, the legislative history, the historical wall street going back to the early 1900's and the huge impact this has had on global markets view the 60 Minutes video.

To make it easy:

CBS 60 Minutes credit default swaps link

I would then ask you how many financial markets existed in 1906...further do you think the Japanese give a rat's patooty about US laws or the Chinese, etc. 60 Minutes tells a lot of the story but (since they are in no way biased) don't give you the full story. Do you think MAYBE congress was trying to put the US on level playing ground with world markets in 2000? I imagine they just intended to screw the populace out of any additional dollars we might have under our mattresses.

How does one uncorroborate a hypothetical?  Just curious.

Aside from the fact that they have nothing to do with each other, you mean?  Again, a hypothetical non-sequitor.

And thanks for ceding the rights to 'GWB & the Replicans' - could end up being useful.

No.  I think they gave in to Wall Street who pushed for it and legalized gambling for them.  Such gambling would be attractive to Wall Street and hedge fund managers as a means to try and drive profits and performance.  Keep in mind please that one hedge fund manager quite literally made $3.7B in just his hedge fund performance fees during one year from these type of derivatives.  Is that kind of compensation for one person really from economic growth and competitive markets or unbridled greed and gambling?

It is pointless for me to communicate any further in this matter Daiwa.  Henceforth you will receive no further responses from me.  Figure it out for yourself.

The way I remember it....Clinton said it was needed to keep our capital from going oversees where this was common in other markets and Greenspan backed him up. Regulation IS needed but the lack of regulation is NOT due to the current administration.....The people running the big 3 involved didn't even know they were in trouble until the shit hit the fan....how was GWB supposed to know?

Hind sight is always 20-20

There's a HUGE difference between a properly vetted and facted check news organization's main articles and the politico blogosphere who are writing simple OPINION-EDITORIAL pieces. 

If someone can't be bothered to discern the difference between FACT and OPINION, then it's no surprise they have trouble reading between the lines to determine the TRUTH from SPIN.  

....this is probably where we'll disagree the most....

Do you remember the Pet Rock? Is it right that someone picked up a rock, put it in a box with some hay and then became a multi-millionare selling that kind of thing......I think anyone smart enough to take advantage of a unique idea deserves exactly what he gets....either way.

edit: sorry ID if I caused this to veer off topic back to being a Conservative......

The only people who trot out that old right wing talking point trope are people who actually don't know just how well health care works in the rest of the free world.  You've bought into a LIE based on FEAR meant to keep YOU from changing the status quo.

Actually, the government is doing just fine with Medicaid and Medicare.  All the same doctors participate, get paid, same medications, etc. etc.  AND as a person who has actually traveled and lived abroad, I can tell you our health care is no better AT ALL than that found in the civilized world.

In fact, thanks to the HMO scumbags, we're all paying THEM to tell US what we can and cannot be treated for, etc. etc.  If you got rid of them entirely, and the monstrous administrative costs we engender in our thoroughly broken system, we'd be doing just fine compared to the rest of the world in quality of care and cost per person...instead of being #38 behind, um, Columbia.

The HMO profits and administrative costs come directly out of YOUR premiums and cost American lives every day in this country.

If the HMOs had kept patient care their top priority WHILE keeping costs in line, our entire nation wouldn't be in the state it is in right now.   So, as for me, I say they had their chance.  Revoke the Nixon era law that Kaiser had created the HMO with and bid them adieu.

But I'm kind of radically anti-HMO.  As an employer, I've seen what they've done to businesses (large and small) and every hard-working American citizen.

So, a BLACK man, disenfranchised as a youth, was somewhat more liberal 7 years ago than he is today, now that he's had experience at the national level.  Say it isn't so?!  I'm shocked SHOCKED.

Puh-lease.

My favorite hypocrisy of the current GOP spin cycle is this whole "redistribution of wealth" malarky.  I guess it's okay to take $6 trillion in taxpayer funds and redistribute that to cronies of Cheney and Bush, but Heaven-forbid the taxpayers see ANY advantage of their own tax dollars in their own lives!

How about THIS for a "redistribution of wealth"?  Bring up on felony fraud charges and seize the assets of all of these financial company scumbags who gamed the system and have nearly bankrupted the world economy?  While corporate law would allow them to declare bankruptcy and keep their ill-gotten gains, criminal law (since they are clearly guilty of all manner of fiscal malfeasance involving hiding these losses from the shareholders, regulators, etc.) would be a great way to punish the guilty and obtain some restitution for the American taxpayer.

It worked for Enron and Kenny-Boy, how about for these corporate gold-collar criminals?  Or do the right-wing ideologues not believe in crime and punishment now? 

Regardless, Bushco just privatized the military (re: blackwater) and socialized the banks.  The only thing we haven't nationalized is our country's own OIL...ahem.

Hmm, is it just me or did you just contradict yourself here? The Gov't is doing fine but our healthcare is not better at all? WTH, were you trying to say here?

Actually, that minority legal opinion has since been thoroughly discretid.

Regardless, the right of habeus corpus is one of the founding principles of Western Law for 400 years.  And like the Geneva Conventions regarding torturing prisoners of War, they were established and agreed upon by all civilized nations specifically to keep TYRANTS from throwing away inalienable human rights in the name of FEAR, convenience, and expediency.

And I believe our society is based on the rule of law, which applies to all people, even terrorists.  If we can catch, try, and incarcerate serial killers and mass murderers, we can do the same with Osama bin Laden.

A free society is always at risk of being kicked in the shins by the occasional nutter.  It's why Christ preached turning the other cheek after all.  It's one of the prices we pay for being a true society.  It doesn't mean we shouldn't close security loopholes, etc. but what's been done to our nation in the name of "protecting" us has made this country LESS free and therefore more fascist.

And I refuse to let FEAR of the inevitable random nutter rule my life or restrict my freedoms, thank you very much.

Wow, be careful, your genus is showing. you seem to be in the belief that any tax cuts given to rich people or corporations somehow belonged to someone else. How is taking less money redistributing the wealth? Where did you learn math?

If person A pays, say, 28% in taxes and you give them a 6% tax cut they now pay 22% in taxes. Tell me was this giving them money or was this letting keep more of their own money?

Now, lets say person B pays 28% in taxes but gets 28% back when he files his tax return, on top of that he will get an extra 6%. Now tell me how this is not distribution of wealth when this person is not only getting every penny they paid in taxes back but they are also getting 6% more from somewhere else.

I love it when people complain about tax cuts as if evil corporations where taking money from the poor.

It's just you. 

Are you incapable of seeing that the government run healthcare represented by Medicare/Medicaid is an entirely different system from the Insurance/HMO industry?

My point is simply that we already have a government run health care system that works, and could work A LOT better if it was just expanded to cover all Americans.  That would END the HMOs and the health insurance industry as it exists today, though ANYONE who wanted to could still pay for PRIVATE INSURANCE as an add-on.  That's how it is done in Britain, etc.  The rich and those who are better off have a private system in addition to the baseline healthcare provided to all citizens, regardless of income.

I hope that is clearer.