Ed Huntress wrote:
"Wes" wrote in message
...
"Ed Huntress" wrote:
Why would you buy machines if you don't have new customers, or
increased sales to existing ones? And, if you have increased sales,
why do you need to
get the government involved?

There is a good question. We, meaning my employer, invest because
we see that we can make
a profit. So how does government create real jobs? Real meaning not
taxed funded jobs.

You've opened another discussion. I will avoid it for now. g

This is a gross oversimplification, but, with some argument, I think
that mainstream economists today would mostly agree that you can't
stop a slide into recession by encouraging investment, because no one
in his right mind will increase his operating costs while his market
is retracting. But the things you can do to stimulate consumption are
limited in their ability to sustain growth. I think of them more as a
push in the rear to get things moving on their own. I see from John's
message that I will have to argue this point a bit with him. d8-)


LOL
I'll bet.


Defense is always going to be politically tough, but I'll be right
behind you.

Any significant reduction in sending will necessrily have to ne made where
the money is, not where it isn't.
You could easily, for instance, whack $100 billion a year from defense
spending without reducing readiness or otherwise impeding our global
national security posture. That would, however, require the American public
to grow a pair and stop being afraid of their own shadow. That isn't
practical with all of the hype from every possible direction so it will
require that our politicians display a little courage, possibly by falling
on their own swords for the greater good.

Here is a quote that Nancy Pelosi is said to have repeated during her
efforts to "persuade" certain Democrats to vote for the bill:

"I don't order you to fight, I order you to die."
It's the first Part of an order issued by Ataturk (Col. Kerman Mustafa) to
his subordinates at Gallipoli.
To his troops he said "You can not run away from your enemy! If you have no
amunition you have your bayonets."

It will take that sort of thing to make cuts in defense spending.

--
John R. Carroll