Hoo yeah! The economy's ON FIRE!
POSTED BY: SignyM
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 5, 2025 02:39
VIEWED: 7512
PAGE 4 of 7
AnthonyT
"I understand your comments, but please don't compare the first WTC attack to the second."
To some extent the reason the first had a smaller impact was because of the way it was handled. So much so, that people completely forgot it happened. Even now people refer to 9/11 as 'the first terrorist attack on the US mainland'. It clearly wasn't.
The first attack really was the first. The US was unprepared and taken completely by surprise. Psychologically it could - and maybe should - have burst the bubble the US seems to live in. That it didn't is a testament to how well it was handled.
Compare that to how Bush handled #2, including the politically motivated jiggering of shades of orange even years after the fact. That had quite a lot to do with creating fear across the US, not a good basis for an economy which is 70% consumer spending.
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"Global warming - it's not just a fact, it's a choice."
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Rue,
I understand what you are saying, but I just can't agree. The destruction of the WTC and the attack on the Pentagon couldn't be swept under the rug and forgotten the way that the firecracker in the garage was. For one thing, 9/11 featured successful catastrophic damage, whereas the original WTC attack failed to do what it was intended to do, and featured a much narrower target profile.
I honestly believe that the best response to the terrorist attack of 9/11 would have been to rebuild the WTC exactly as they stood before, fix the Pentagon, enact no new 'Patriot Act' laws, put an air marshall on every flight, go to war with Afghanistan, and STOP. I agree with you that a minimalist approach to the problem would have been best. But NO ONE wanted a minimalist approach at the time. If the president had said, "Eh, ignore them and they'll go away," he'd have been denounced. We needed to see the government doing things, and the government did things. They did too much, it turns out, but there were few enough naysayers in the early days after 9/11. It really wasn't until Iraq that some people (not nearly enough) started to look up and cry foul. And it isn't until recently that we have a popular consensus on the issue.
So, yeah, it might have been better to pretend it never happened, as they did after the first WTC attack. But no, it wouldn't have been possible. Too many people were affected, too many people were afraid, and everyone wanted to see the government doing something about it.
--Anthony
"Liberty must not be purchased at the cost of Humanity." --Captain Robert Henner
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"No one has EVER gotten rich by accepting Gov't hand outs and subsidies. Ever."
Bullshit, and for the record, that's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.
Corporate welfare is the BEST way to get rich, from the railroad barons to the savings and loan industry, and currently housing lenders, cause if you lose money, the government just gives it back, yay!
(after fucking over us mere peons for it at the paycheck.)
And the very finest form of corporate welfare there is ?
Why, wars, of course.
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
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The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits – ah! that is another matter – twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent – the sky is the limit. All that traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let's get it.
Of course, it isn't put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and "we must all put our shoulders to the wheel," but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed. Let's just take a few examples:
Take our friends the du Ponts, the powder people – didn't one of them testify before a Senate committee recently that their powder won the war? Or saved the world for democracy? Or something? How did they do in the war? They were a patriotic corporation. Well, the average earnings of the du Ponts for the period 1910 to 1914 were $6,000,000 a year. It wasn't much, but the du Ponts managed to get along on it. Now let's look at their average yearly profit during the war years, 1914 to 1918. Fifty-eight million dollars a year profit we find! Nearly ten times that of normal times, and the profits of normal times were pretty good. An increase in profits of more than 950 per cent.
Take one of our little steel companies that patriotically shunted aside the making of rails and girders and bridges to manufacture war materials. Well, their 1910-1914 yearly earnings averaged $6,000,000. Then came the war. And, like loyal citizens, Bethlehem Steel promptly turned to munitions making. Did their profits jump – or did they let Uncle Sam in for a bargain? Well, their 1914-1918 average was $49,000,000 a year!
Or, let's take United States Steel. The normal earnings during the five-year period prior to the war were $105,000,000 a year. Not bad. Then along came the war and up went the profits. The average yearly profit for the period 1914-1918 was $240,000,000. Not bad.
There you have some of the steel and powder earnings. Let's look at something else. A little copper, perhaps. That always does well in war times.
Anaconda, for instance. Average yearly earnings during the pre-war years 1910-1914 of $10,000,000. During the war years 1914-1918 profits leaped to $34,000,000 per year.
Or Utah Copper. Average of $5,000,000 per year during the 1910-1914 period. Jumped to an average of $21,000,000 yearly profits for the war period.
Let's group these five, with three smaller companies. The total yearly average profits of the pre-war period 1910-1914 were $137,480,000. Then along came the war. The average yearly profits for this group skyrocketed to $408,300,000.
A little increase in profits of approximately 200 per cent.
Does war pay? It paid them. But they aren't the only ones. There are still others. Let's take leather.
For the three-year period before the war the total profits of Central Leather Company were $3,500,000. That was approximately $1,167,000 a year. Well, in 1916 Central Leather returned a profit of $15,000,000, a small increase of 1,100 per cent. That's all. The General Chemical Company averaged a profit for the three years before the war of a little over $800,000 a year. Came the war, and the profits jumped to $12,000,000. a leap of 1,400 per cent.
International Nickel Company – and you can't have a war without nickel – showed an increase in profits from a mere average of $4,000,000 a year to $73,000
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Quote:
"I blame Bush for actively transferring wealth from the poor to the rich."
Quote of the Year!
Sentiment of the Year!
Utter, mindless Bush Derangement Syndrome statement of the Year!
Congratulations!! You've won the Dennis Kucinich Medal of Freedom for that one.
How much "wealth" have the "poor" transferred to the wealthy again?...I forgot.
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"I blame Bush for actively transferring wealth from the poor to the rich."- Signy
Utter, mindless Bush Derangement Syndrome statement of the Year! How much "wealth" have the "poor" transferred to the wealthy again?...I forgot.- JSS
Wow, and speaking of mindless statements. Maybe math is too complicated for you? Anyway, the answer is: about $40B in 2006. 
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Always look upstream.
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Ummm.. Jong ?
Rich assholes in the immensely corrupt home finance industry realize the hard way that you can't squeeze money out of broke people.
Rich assholes go running to the Gov for a bailout to protect their profits.
Big daddy Gov loots MY paycheck and yours, and gives the money to THEM.
I'd say that fucking qualifies.
-F
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Quote:You are so right.
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Ummm.. Jong ?
Rich assholes in the immensely corrupt home finance industry realize the hard way that you can't squeeze money out of broke people.
Rich assholes go running to the Gov for a bailout to protect their profits.
Big daddy Gov loots MY paycheck and yours, and gives the money to THEM.
I'd say that fucking qualifies.
-F
Chrisisall
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"If the president had said, "Eh, ignore them and they'll go away," he'd have been denounced."
If the president had said ... we've been tragically wounded but our future is still bright. We will mourn our losses, and remember for all time our grief, but we will be a strong and free country now and in the future. We will seek justice, we will seek security, we will work with our friends and allies around the globe to insure a safe and secure world. ...
I think that would have gone down just fine.
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"Global warming - it's not just a fact, it's a choice."
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Quote:Those would have been the words of a thoughtful and reasonable President, yes.
Originally posted by rue:
If the president had said ... we've been tragically wounded but our future is still bright. We will mourn our losses, and remember for all time our grief, but we will be a strong and free country now and in the future. We will seek justice, we will seek security, we will work with our freinds and allies around the globe to insure a safe and secure world. ...
I think that would have gone down just fine.
Chrisisall
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Quote:Not to mention one that couldn't get elected in the US.
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Those would have been the words of a thoughtful and reasonable President, yes.
More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.
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