“Things in our country run in spite of the government, not by the aid of it.”

10 Stars. This is exactly right and it's also why the very notion of "stimulus" (which is nothing more than inflation) is an insane act. The result of which is merely theft of public wealth and the mass denegration of human effort.

Anything the government touches-it ruins.

LOL, J ignores that there is a significant probability that the stimulus will actually result in a direct profit for the people, to say nothing of the indirect benefit of avoiding a second "great depression". Government can act for good (as in the case of TARP) or bad (as in the policies that lead to the need for TARP).

The US stimulus, patterned after Hitler's rise to power, would have failed as miserably as the US's is now failing except for the quick change to the war economy. The statist theocracy's de-industrialization of the US, to secure its socialist (communist to fascist) patrons, is a testament to the accuracy of the quote.

Reston ignores the fact that any profits are diminished by a devalued currency that is already counterfeit. The overall effect can be found in the history pages of the Weimar Republic, Zimbabwe and Venezuela. Laugh it up Socialists...the truth is coming home soon.

While surfing this morning, I've seen a couple of ads from Canada seeking US businesses to move north. The reasons given were lower taxes and less regulation with an underlying hint at stability (go figure - directly associating to the here quote). Hmm, you're right J Carlton, the progressives are laughing all the way to the US's devastation and the loss of personal prosperity, freedom, liberty, and rights. Such loss is in direct proportion to a foreign non-representative despot's (government's) involvement in progressing tyranny from a government of law to a government of men.

Reston, you are either a hypocrite or an ignoramus. You once said, "Fear more of fascism, hatred and corporate socialism than equality and compassion..." LOL! What do you think TARP is?!! Equality and compassion? It is corporatism through and through. Who do you think gets the bulk of the TARP money? How many monopolies are being protected and/or bolstered by these borrowed funds? The Treasury has no money to prop up these corporations, they print it up and make the People pay interest on it and call it 'credit' when in fact it is unpayable debt. By promising to nearly double the money supply by creating more money (out of nothing) to give to these uber-corporations, Obama and his ilk are devaluing the currency by half. It is a theft from every person who has a dollar in their pocket -- and those hurt most by such a policy are the poor and the middle class which become even poorer. You condemn the churches but insist that government do their work of charity and compassion essentially creating a national religion that worships power and will enforce like the popes and kings of old their dictates upon us 'for our own good.' You ignore REAL compassion, that of people giving of their own free will from their own pockets. Instead you call robbing one neighbor to help a neighbor of your choice 'compassion' -- that is not compassionate, that is thievery based solely upon envy and self-righteousness -- and where does it end? 12% of our labors? 25%? 35%? 50%? 75%? Is there no limit to your 'compassion?' It is a hatred of excellence, of ingenuity, of independence, of individualism, and the love of collective power and the destruction of the 'self.' I have never heard a charitable word from your writings, Reston, only contempt for free will and the call for totalitarian control of the state. THAT is fascism, it is not compassion. Wake up.

wow Archer, said well

Mike, Canadian Business Magazine's front cover this month says, "US Dragging Canadian Business Down". And for a country that openly advertises itself as a Parliamentary Democracy with a big dollop of Socialism thrown in...it has a healthier currency, stronger banking system and more (actual) free enterprise than the "Land of the Free" does anymore. Which is not to say it doesn't have it's share of government inspired problems, but they seem to pale in the face of the takeover by the Feds in the US.

Mike and J, it is war, make no mistake about it, and we are all supposed to just wait for a better round of choices already chosen for us. False 'democracy' is killing America, and Americans are being conditioned to accept it as a 'sacrifice' to the common good. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain... I hope there are some real Tyler Durden's out there -- will we really see any changes after Nov elections? I believe we are being prepped for a neo-con recovery and a war economy with Iran and the rest of the middle east with trillions up for grabs while the domestic police state ever grows out of proportion. Will we not save ourselves?

We must have the world's strongest economy to survive with all the "help" it gets from Washington.

Archer, you are absolutely right. I've given up going to court because of the corruption and ultimate futility (the last of the 70s marked the last acceptance of law and Constitutional principles in any court). I've tried my hand at a couple of tea-parties but too many neocons. The war is being reduced to but just a few remaining fields. The statist theocracy (progressives to neocons) have sufficiently dummied down the general populous to the point of apathetic imbeciles. There does seem to be an awakening of freedoms lost though. The plan of stimulus and tarp type economics followed by continual war is an historical re-do. I am currently working on saving me and mine, with as many others as I can afford, but to the rest ?

The American public, has been told what they wanted to hear. That the Government will take care of them. Every time the Government takes more of our Freedoms and our money. The Government grows bigger each year. Because People want more from the Government. America will not change until we own up to our own responsiblities.

I give Will a two for he is far to shallow and narrow here. The fact of the US "common market" a continental trading arrangement as well as the wisdom of the men who over the years have gathered on the banks of the Potomac River, in order to purchase land, (Lousiana Purchase et al) create highway systems (the corduroy road and Interstates) go the moon etcetera have certainly had a huge impact on what runs and how they run in this country. Agriculture has been in disarray for example with farmers trying to get rich by outproducing each other only to starve and throw their crops down the drain due to low prices. Other farmers destroyed land and forests due to bad farming practices. So again I think Will should be read for humour not for rectitude.

All you lovers of Canada should consider they vaunted health care system. I have Canadian friends who say they have never paid a medical or priscription bill. One friend apologized for saying that because he paid for a $35,000 cancer priscription only to later to recoup that amonut form Health Care Canada. Canadian Companies are free of the albatross of employer based health care, yeah that must be a great freedom indeed. I really am sorry but I never think that J, Jim, Mike and Archer have a clue about anyting thing they are writing about.

I lived in Canada for a few years and even worked for Health Canada. Let me say right now that ObamaCare is NOT even close to Health Canada, not one iota. For one thing, each province provides its own health insurance plan. Should a Health Canada type solution be proposed for the US, I would support it. But this is not the case. Also, employers do offer additional health insurance to make up for what the provincial plans do not not cover -- and there are plenty of people who pay for certain procedures in the US and Europe that are not covered in Canada or for which there may be a waiting list. Medical professionals in Canada make a fraction of their counterparts in the US so health care is less expensive to begin with. Certainly, in the Canadian system, citizens are not required by law to buy health insurance -- they simply have it, case closed. But with a 35-45% income tax rate for middle class families and a 15% sales tax, they pay dearly for such services. Canada also does not wage war in foreign countries to the tune of 1 trillion per year -- that helps a lot. Also 25 million people living in a country twice the size of America (which has 300 million people) makes a difference -- Canada is a very wealthy country in comparison to the States -- their debt is not out of control either. I like Canada a lot, and if things keep going the way they are in the States, I may as well live where there is no hypocrisy about their social services -- there are no Canadian slums and there are no welfare families for generations and generations. There is something special about Canadians -- maybe its because they don't push themselves upon every one else...