Things I Learned Last Week; Be Afraid of Paul Ryan

I am of the same thought process as you. I think we need more industry in the US than we currently posses. One area I think we really need to invest in is renewable energy sources. Battery production can go a long way as well as windmills. I think we need to incentive more small business to invent these types of products. Another area is infrastructure. A high speed railway could create a mass of jobs that would stay here in the states ranging from maintenance to service to manufacturing. It could create a whole new industry that would create tons of jobs.

Point in case. We need to start manufacturing goods, not financial products.

nofluer -

1) Along with free bird dreaming I would LOVE to see your source that we have 300-400 years of oil in the USA. I know you are wrong. And this is why.

- http://www.dailypaul.com/node/124621

- http://peakoil.com/

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbert_peak_theory

There is simply no way we have that much oil left around the world, let alone here in the US. Countries in the middle east have their oil reserves year after year stay the same despite all of the oil they pump out of the ground. The number NEVER changes. It's all about politics.

2) You are missing the point on renewable energy if any of the resources you listed, minus wind, are utilized. We need clean and renewable energy. Oil natural gas coal etc are not that. Wind hydro etc are all clean and renewable. I agree we have a piss poor policy but I do not think we need to utilize the old methods and instead put all of the money from the wars we have fought into a Manhattan project for energy and create a new energy source.

3)Batteries are going to be essential in the future due to storing the electrical charge for different appliances. It is one thing to have the energy it is another to be able to use it whenever you want and still be able to retain all of that energy. If we are no longer using oil, which is the goal, you will need something to hold the energy that we are using, right now its the gas tank, soon it will be the battery.

4) Windmill tech is expensive and that is why we need to invest in it and use a cap and trade system to incentivize and move towards those technologies over the old dirty technologies that are killing us. Just as any technology is expensive when it first is created you need more investment and more money flowing into those products if you want them to be cheaper. Thus why a cap and trade system is necessary.

5) "I'd prefer they keep their cotton-pickin' hands out of my pockets. I earned it, I should get to spend it. Or waste it. Should be - individually, MY choice."

Luckily for the US we have a system called taxation that is the way the government raises revenue to pay for things. Personally I am getting really sick of people saying the government needs to take their hand out of your pocket or what not. It is so lacking in historical context, why we have a Constitution instead of the Articles of Confederation, lacking in reality, how do you expect a government to pay for things which is one of it's essential functions without taxes, and empathy for ones own fellow citizen, love thy neighbor as thyself.

We are not socialists, never will be never have. However the argument that the government is taxing us too much and being oppressive with taxation is the most ludicrous statement that you can hear these days. The top tax rate since WWII has dropped almost without fail every single year. Meanwhile the average citizen's tax rates have only decreased. This is a graph from 1980 onward. There is no doubt that the tax code needs revamping. The thing is so complex and ridiculous that no one can usually figure it own by themselves and requires someone with a good amount of training to get it done correctly.

However, that does not change the fact that people stating their taxes are too high is complete rubbish. As our country gets bigger, and we have more people who require services from the government then our taxes will increase. We do not live in a small country like Japan. We have a vast amount of space and people that is growing exponentially. No one likes taxes, but they are essential to our security our livelihood and our survival as a nation. The reason we had taxes in the first place was in order to pay our military in the revolutionary war, that is why we changed from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution, among other reasons. Yes this is the land of freedom, but when people want to act selfishly over the concerns of their nation then that puts all of us at risk. I want to spend the money I earn too, however there is a social responsibility that can propel us to further greatness or cripple us permanently. If all of us are well off, have good jobs, have good health care, etc, we can be more productive and better off as a society. However if one sector of society does not want to help others and wants a lower tax rate at the expense of every body else that will cause services to be cut such as education, health care, transportation services, etc; all which will hinder our nation immensely, much worse than a few bucks more out of your paycheck. There should be limits, but the argument that the government is taking all of our money and our tax rates are too high is getting a little old. Since when did the golden rule not apply to countries and governance? If it is supposed to apply on the micro level of our everyday lives then it must apply on a larger national and international level.