Who You Gonna Believe--your own eyes or me???

That is essentially what we are being asked on the level of government in this country. On just about every level, from city to state to national level, the obvious bizarre pretense is the same. And it is beyond comprehension that it is allowed.

It is definitely a case of The Emperor's New Clothes. How can city after city, and state after state be in such debt? If they were private companies, they'd all have gone belly up. What is bizarre is that the same people, in a general way, who ran things up like this are the same ones proclaiming that "we need to sacrifice", etc. All act somewhat baffled; how to fix it while still keeping on expenditures which tend to buy votes?

Of course, some of the groups who have benefited personally from bankrupting the country either turn a blind eye to avoid confronting the moral issues, or they rationalize from false premises and feel good slogans, or they just stick with the idea that it is right to get what you can for yourself regardless of expense to others--as long as it is legal. What's more legal than government money?

It is a pure insult and a show of colossal disrespect for citizens to act like everything has just happened in the short term, and that it is the fault of the economy, George Bush, etc. It has been underway for some time, and the alleged fixes have thrown fuel on the fire.

It makes me feel bad to see how we've been duped, and how we keep coming back for more, following the little crumbs tossed out. Some are in the form of money, especially for public service employees, and some is in the form of sticking it to the mythical class known as "the rich".

That is why I would not begin to vote in favor of a "temporary tax hike" like Gov Brown has suggested, or any other inconvenience to private sector citizens. The problem is government itself, pure and simple. That, and the willingness of the public to compromise principle in hopes of class revenge or some undeserved personal gain.

It really is a wild scenario. I'm curious to see how it all goes. It is not a system of things in which the players are contained within national boundaries, so actually following the money and motives is much more difficult than some think. I can't follow it, but I can see the ripples and many of the actions which result in these "Crises".

Always a crisis. That gives rise to any action the powers that be want to execute. And the public somehow goes with it. Admittedly, we are ultimately at gunpoint, but plenty just hope to get along, stay off their radar, and get what they can for themselves and their families. It is natural, but, I believe, disastrous in the long run.

We're over a barrel. How do you undo and defund these psychopaths? We have fanatics around the world who want us dead, and troops spread from here to Bosnia, and beyond. Our debt is as stretched as our military, and as planted on foreign soil.
The only way to feel good about this is to pretend. History indicates that republicans don't necessarily stand up to this much more than democrats. It is a game. Blame Bush, but forget the dems had Congress for the last part of his tenure.

Drastic action is the only real hope. The logical things would not set well with environmental groups, public employee unions and all kinds of others. But it actually would be possible to revive the domestic product, balance of trade and reduce dependence upon oil imports. Wouldn't happen overnight, but it could be done rapidly. Our population's character is not yet moral enough to allow it. For one thing the state sponsored and instigated tribalism, racism and sexism would have to stop. Either it is blind equality under the law or it is not. You cannot pretend that favoritism to any group based on sex or ethnicity or whatever else is irrelevant in any way speaks to the natural rights of all or the concept of equal under the law.

Drastic things will happen anyway. They already have. Whatever the impetus, is the Homeland Security dept and TSA procedures, and multi department exercises which raid businesses and such not drastic? I guess if you've never known anything freer and less intrusive, you don't realize what has happened, and how quickly.

I will live as I see fit, as always. And I am not rabidly emotional over this stuff like it may seem. I'm just curious to see what is next, and wish I could anticipate it in a way that would make me money without it being tax dollars.

It is not a surprise, though, to see the financial distress which has swept all these bogus governments. No more surprising than maxing out credit cards, spending more than you have, and agreeing to a mass of payments which add up to more than you have coming in, then you find yourself in big financial trouble. How shocking.