The Fall of America, Inc.

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  • Posted By: 9/11truth @ 10/08/2008 9:18:31 PM

    Comment: Look up infowars.com and prisonplanet.com. Watch Loose Change, End Game, or Fabled Enemies, all available via YouTube.com or the previously stated sites. Watch with an open mind, and then research the information YOURSELF!!! The problem is far greater than Democrat vs. Republican, and it all gets a whole lot scarier.

  • Posted By: Bob2in NC @ 10/08/2008 8:03:19 PM

    The reason the economy did so well during Bill Clinton's tenure was !- We had a Republican majority in congress and the senate...And we didn't have the Most liberal senator ever (OBAMA) to help Sen Kennedy and Senator Todd with their pork barrel spending. OH! and OBAMA keeps saying to McCain "YOUR PRESIDENT" Well isn't Bush his president also? Also what did OBOAMA mean in the book he wrote...If I am president and things get ugly, I will give in to the MUSLIMS? If he gets elected it will be OBOMAnation....

  • Posted By: jbullo7 @ 10/08/2008 7:10:49 PM

    HA! The belief that Obama's "temperament" is what qualifies him to be present is simply laughable. Obama said himself that he should be President because he has run a presidential campaign. I would like a presidential candidate to have FAR more experience than personality and campaigning. And why is it that no one discusses how the long list of the most inhumane world leaders support Obama??? That is SCARY - not to mention the long list of VERY questionable individuals that were "influential" in the development of Obama as a person. I hope that voters wake up before November 4th. I would hate to have to say I told you so.

  • Posted By: TheRooster @ 10/08/2008 6:36:31 PM

    Under President Clinton the U.S. had a surplus, which you credit to tax-increases. Would Clinton's plan have succeeded without the Dot Com boom?

  • Posted By: huparm @ 10/08/2008 5:17:27 PM

    This is probably the best article that has written so far that puts current economic crisis into historical and theoretical perspective. A crisis like this takes years of making. Written an article with such depth and breadth takes sharp eyes and extremely broad knowledge in economics and politics. Reading this article from Prof. Fukuyama can give us a birdview of what transpired in the last few decades that led us to where we are today.

  • Posted By: pool2000 @ 10/08/2008 2:46:55 PM

    Fukuyama has it right. The collapse of Wall Street this month is an event very much like the fall of the Soviet Union. A Reagan's bankrupt ideology has been consigned to the dustbin of history, where it belongs.

    A similar fate will befall ALL ideologies in the future. Pragmatic rationalism is the new wave of political thought.

  • Posted By: FunGuy13 @ 10/08/2008 2:07:28 PM

    Francis Fukuyama and his ilk from the right ideology has now bankrupted the global economy. What is now happening in the US & global economy is a direct result of borrow & spend byond your means, right wing supply side/trickle down economic theory. This all had it???s impetus under Reagan & has now finally ended with Bush II...hopefully we will get a more rational capitalism out of this that doesn't force public companies to report 20% returns every quarter & force them to cut employees & make risky bets to satisfy Wall Street's culture of more & more & more greed...

  • Posted By: FunGuy13 @ 10/08/2008 2:06:56 PM

    Francis Fukuyama and his ilk from the right ideology has now proven to be totally bankrupted the global economy. What is now happening in the US & global economy is a direct result of borrow & spend byond your means, right wing supply side/trickle down economic theory. This all had it;s impetus under Reagan & has now finally ended with Bush II...hopefully we will get a more rational capitalism out of this that doesn't force public companies to report 20% returns every quarter & force them to cut employees & make risky bets to satisfy Wall Street's culture of greed...

  • Posted By: dvddvd @ 10/08/2008 12:02:45 PM

    Pls break down in detail what exactly you meant by "American's are going to have to be told honestly that they will have to pay their own way in the future".

  • Posted By: dvddvd @ 10/08/2008 11:59:34 AM

    Pls break out in detail what exactly is meant by your sentence "Americans are going to have to be told honestly that they will have to pay their own way in the future". I gather you think we don't already pay our own way now. I have to pay mine.

  • Posted By: Austinjo @ 10/08/2008 9:58:07 AM

    Supply side economics, trickle down theory and then false religion and also fear were the schemes adopted by a core group to take advantage of insular, jingoistic and poorly educated white American masses. Their greed led to the creaming off of America using specially picked ill-educated fall guys who they got 'elected as president of the nation. And so the income gap between the poor and the ric h has grown ever wider and has resulted in the present debacle. Therefore, the control of the human element in human affairs is critical. Aircraft , among other human contraptions have been automated in several key areas to minimze the "human element" so why not in the market place? This contribution from a foreigner supports your argument about the appeal of the original ideals of America to most of the world. The opportunity is now before the American people to choose a bright mind to take care of their affairs or we can as well see the continuation of the fall of the "Roman Empire"

  • Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 10/08/2008 5:46:22 AM

    The financial problem in the USA is only about 0.0933% of the GNP. The amount would be less than a drop in the ocean if compared to the world's GDP. The problem is not financial, it is more of speculative in nature and all these are due to bad, biased, irresponsible and exaggerated reporting by the media. The media should be held responsible for the economic chaos in the world today, not the business community.

  • Posted By: Chrisla @ 10/08/2008 2:33:38 AM

    While Francis Fukuyama makes many valid points in this article, he loses much credibility with the statement that,, by the 1970s "telephones were expensive and hard to get, air travel was a luxury of the rich. . ." Really? My husband and I were a working class couple in the 1970's, raising 6 kids, and we had a phone in the hallway, and an extension in our bedroom. HArd to get? Not that I was aware of. And , while I traveled by plane as early as the 1950's, with an infant son, to and from Alaska, I could never have been categorized as rich.

  • Posted By: 38thParallel @ 10/07/2008 8:16:18 PM

    The Guy You Wanted to Have a Beer With...

    Steve Brodner's illustration of the late President Reagan holding a beer bottle wrap in an American flag symbolizes the recent adage, "Someone you'd want to have a beer with."

    Steve Brodner's illustration also depicts former President as a 'Cyclops.'

    Justly, former President Reagan was an exalted and Grand Cyclops.

    Those well-versed in the Secret Doctrine truly understand the message contained in Steve Brodner's illustration.

    Regrettably, former President Reagan's vision of capitalism has collapsed, and the kuklos has been forever broken.

    Forever broken because those who maintained and kept the circle closed tried to receive the same benefits as those within the inner-circle, for which it was never intended. They were only intended to relish in being the foot-soldiers.

    Senator McCain will never enjoy the priviledge once enjoyed by his Republican predecessor, because his recent conduct is not in keeping with the high standards of our society.

    Paradoxically, Senator Obama has displayed the temperament required to govern our society and to bridge the gap created by the broken circle.

  • Posted By: Jim1348 @ 10/07/2008 7:47:02 PM

    Jimmy Carter deregulated the airlines and trucking industry. Ronnie and his successors ran up huge deficits and ruined the economy (with a brief respite of economic sanity under Bill Clinton). You confuse deregulation with stupidity.

  • Posted By: Nowforthetruth @ 10/07/2008 4:58:03 PM

    ACORN Vegas Office Raided in Voter Fraud Investigation
    ACORN's Las Vegas headquarters has been raided by Nevada authorities looking for evidence of voter fraud.

    http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20081007/Voter.Fraud.Probe/

  • Posted By: donnerdave` @ 10/07/2008 12:10:30 PM

    Nowforthetruth -- are you implying that the Dems are more corrupt / "in the pocket" of Fanny / Freddie based on the remainder of your post? If that's the case, I have to say "that dog won't hunt".

    Initially, those figures you cite are campaign contributions from Fanny / Freddy employees, each governed by federal campaign finance laws and contribution limits.

    Rick Davis, (still!) John McCain's campaign manager, took $2MM over five years directly from Fanny / Freddie as the head of the do-nothing "Homeownership Alliance". Once that group was dissolved, Davis "shook down" Fanny / Freddie for an ADDITIONAL $500,000 paid directly to his lobbying firm, Davis & Manafort, again for doing nothing. Clearly, this is an attempt by Fanny / Freddie to buy access to McCain, as promoted by the man (Davis) managing McCain's campaign.

    Why didn't McCain immediately fire Davis when these payments came to light? Can there be any more clear indication of what kind of campaign McCain has run (and by extension, what kind of administration he would run) than his protection of Davis?

    I'm aghast at the public's lack of reaction to these stunning revelations; I can only assume that this story was forced out of the news cycle by the sub-prime bailout over the past two weeks. I'm hoping that the public holds McCain / Davis accountable for this Bush-style "politics as usual".

  • Posted By: Nowforthetruth @ 10/07/2008 11:41:30 AM

    The link below contains a purported list of the top 25 in Congress who got contributions from the folks at Fannie and Freddie. Obama is listed third, after Dodd and Kerry, even though Obama is just a junior Senator. Obama is followed next by Clinton. Barney Frank and Nancy Pelosi are on the list as well.

    http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=16&artnum=1&issue=20080918

    Then there is the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd who allegedly got special mortgage deals from Countrywide, who gave preferential rates to 'friends' of company's chairman.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25140560/

    For an interesting article purporting to detail the House Financial Services Committee Chairs long history with Fannie Mae, See http://www.businessandmedia.org/printer/2008/20080924145932.aspx

    "House Financial Services Committee Chair promoted GSEs while former 'spouse' was Fannie Mae executive."

    The link below describes how some in Congress tried to use the original version of the bailout bill to divert money eventually recovered to groups like ACORN. See:

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122247015469280723.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

    And then there is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who allegedly has directed nearly $100,000 from her political action committee to her husband's real estate and investment firm.

    http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/oct/01/pelosis-pac-pays-bills-for-spouses-firm.

  • Posted By: nedhamson @ 10/06/2008 1:21:02 PM

    When Professor Fukuyama frames the discussion as a matter of branding, or harming the "American Brand," give currency to a saying of a colleague in South Africa - Ketan Lakhani - "The US doesn't live in a culture, just an economy...." Framing it as a "marketing" problem is perhaps as much a part of the problem. When Americans just focus on being hard working and fair people, we do pretty well. When we worry about "spinning" or reinventing our "brand," that's when we go off track.

    • Posted By: AmericanUK @ 10/07/2008 10:26:58 AM

      Exactly my thoughts reading the article. If you need a "brand" to sell something, it must be junk.

  • Posted By: Brian2754 @ 10/06/2008 2:25:21 PM

    To suggest dumping the American economic low taxes and less regulation system for the Russian or Chinese economic plan is assinine. The Chinese people love working with no safety laws and slave labor wages. We could drop the minimum wage to .50 cents an hour to compete with Chinese economic success and dismantle OSCA and we could save money by not building earthquake proof schools and bridges. .

    • Posted By: AmericanUK @ 10/07/2008 10:24:41 AM

      How strange that China and Russia are the only alternatives mentioned. As an American living in the UK, I can tell you there are other ways.

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