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John Stossel Goes to Washington [1/6]

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ABC 20/20 - John Stossel Goes to Washington

Segment 1 (Part 1)

Is There Anything Government Can`t Do?

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15 Comments

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exploder : LVL 49: VP 5: said:

exploder

-6 votes NegativePositive

88 days 9 hours ago...

John Stossel is always talking down. Condescending. Makes me want to hit him.

Might be interesting, but it`s *EDIT* NEARLY unwatchable.

Nose Nuggets : LVL 14: VP 2.3: said:

Nose Nuggets

1 votes NegativePositive

88 days 9 hours ago...

i dont find him condescending at all. maybe if you think you are right and he is wrong it could come off as condescending. but all that aside, who the hell cares?! hes right!

Flynn_2006 : LVL 46: VP 5: said:

Flynn_2006

-1 votes NegativePositive

88 days 9 hours ago...

^ don`t bother. I`ve uploaded these videos as a litmus test to the general audience of this site. Now I know what they are like. I am sure my upload will soon be removed. So much for selective hearing.

Nose Nuggets : LVL 14: VP 2.3: said:

Nose Nuggets

1 votes NegativePositive

88 days 9 hours ago...

LOL. well, thanks for the effort Flynn. John Stossel is one of the last great journalists.

xupz : LVL 46: VP 5: said:

xupz

1 votes NegativePositive

88 days 6 hours ago...

I quit watching after the introduction. The rule of law does not prevent anything, it is there to enforce the actions after the fact. If laws prevented crime, there would be no crime.

clicker01 : LVL 34: VP 4.2: said:

clicker01

Hidden (Show Comment) -8 votes

88 days 6 hours ago...

Its a liberal democrap website what did you expect? lol
Hell they vote down my posts even when its good

Flynn_2006 : LVL 46: VP 5: said:

Flynn_2006

4 votes NegativePositive

88 days 6 hours ago...

^ the ironic thing is, John Stossel is neither liberal democrat or conservative republican. He`s a libertarian.

Red Heaven : LVL 38: VP 4.6: said:

Red Heaven

4 votes NegativePositive

88 days 3 hours ago...

^^Exploder

You SHOULD watch this. You disagree with this guy, I`m sure, but that`s exactly why this should be playing on your screen now. In fact, the more you disagree with something, I feel, the more you should at least see what`s being said.

That said, back on point...

I think there is a good point being made here. I`m the sort that remembers, quite vividly, many of the tales of the Gilded Age. Businesses did a lot of horrible things without government intervention.

However...

The government isn`t exactly handling itself. While I may debate the "merit" of a free enterprise system, I do have to concede the point that our government is wasting tons, and tons, and tons of money.

Our government was made with checks and balances for a reason. And in my opinion, there are not enough checks here. What we`re left with is inefficiency. Our own government is supposed to run on a similar system: DO your job or get voted out next time.

There needs to be a control here somewhere. SOMEONE has to be the one that says "You`re fired".

exploder : LVL 49: VP 5: said:

exploder

-4 votes NegativePositive

88 days 1 hour ago...

^ Yeah, I already watched it. Put up with Stossel`s grating condescension, and watched it.

It was funny watching them dance around the elephant in the corner: the fact that at least half the abuse they were talking about is directly connected to the influence of private enterprise they so lovingly cherish.

THEY ARE ALL CORRUPT, LYING, STEALING SCUM SUCKERS. ON BOTH SIDES. GOVERNMENT AND BIG BUSINESS ARE THE SAME FUCKING CROOKS.

So I guess I find it just as irritating to see Tosser show such a one sided view, as if his side is all lilly fucking white, while the other side are friends of Satan. Funny too he didn`t mention the police industry. Both sides bad on that one. And how about the justice system, courts and lawyers, all raking it in.

And then that bit on the missing trillions from the military. Who do we suppose got at least half of that? Crooked fucking PRIVATE CONTRACTORS is who.

As I have been saying elsewhere, limiting the size of government is futile unless you limit the size of business. An important point, BUT HEADS MUST BE PULLED FROM IDEOLOGICAL ASSHOLES TO SEE IT.

If you want a happy party, it`s best to not invite a herd of Tyrannosaurus Rex along for the fun. Actually, not even one, not even a little one.

I actually bought and read Ron Paul`s book you know. Good read too. And although I totally respect the guy, I also think he`s caught in a dream world where private enterprise is reliably benign, and it`s actually possible to keep it separate from government. Classic Libertarian. Lot`s of great insight, huge blind spot.

exploder : LVL 49: VP 5: said:

exploder

-5 votes NegativePositive

88 days 1 hour ago...

^^ Nose Nuggets. Fuck you. He`s a biased prick like any other from any side. One sided is one sided. And "he`s right!" ??? LICK MY BALLS.

And I`ve listened to alot of people who I thoroughly and vehemently disagreed with before. Stossel isn`t even that far off, he`s got lots of good points. But I can`t fucking stand people who narrate as if to a bunch of grade 5 students. Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones don`t even hit that bullshit, you`re-just-a-dumbfuck-TV-viewer kinda tone. BARF. Maybe I read to many books.

Nose Nuggets : LVL 14: VP 2.3: said:

Nose Nuggets

-3 votes NegativePositive

88 days 1 hour ago...

Private enterprise is never going to be benign. no one is claiming it will be, either. greed and power are what drive mankind. and like i have said before, if we actually had free markets, they wouldn`t run amok. but to maintain free markets we have to have legitimate government officials. and to keep government officials from being corrupted, THE PEOPLE need to get the ones who are, the fuck out of office.

Chuckus : LVL 36: VP 4.4: said:

Chuckus

-2 votes NegativePositive

88 days 1 hour ago...

Lets start a revolution. No more government.

To do this, we`ll have to have a lot of us all on the same page. Then we have to get organized and trained on weapons and fighting tactics.

We`ll need a leader, and a command structure so we can effectively use our numbers in combat. There needs to be clear cut boundaries on authority and who has control so that everyone easily and quickly knows where to go and where to be otherwise a more organized military will mow us down.

As long as we can have order, cohesiveness of action and 1 source of orders so that we can all move together as a team, we`ll be ok. Then we can finally get rid of Government telling us what to do.....

the concept of government isn`t what`s wrong, it`s the people who wield that authority who are wrong. That was the point of the constitution, the separation of powers, the free press and free speech and the bill of rights. Government is necessary. The problem is that the system is being undermined. Don`t hate government, hate the people and interests subverting them.

Fight against UNFAIR government, not government as a basic concept.And PLEASE. Part of a healthy political landscape is a knowledgeable populace. Without that the people with power will always win.

funberg : LVL 48: VP 5: said:

funberg

4 votes NegativePositive

87 days 23 hours ago...

If he did the same documentary on private health insurance companies it would make you sick, including showing how many disgusting things they`ve gotten government to do for them.

exploder : LVL 49: VP 5: said:

exploder

-1 votes NegativePositive

87 days 22 hours ago...

^ funberg, absolutely. Let`s just not forget almost every other huge industry, and their abuses.

^^ Chuckus, your post is so full of contradictions it is frightening. You might have good intentions (apart from violent bloody revolution), but you need to clear your head a lot. Some examples:

"No more government."
"Then we can finally get rid of Government telling us what to do"
-vs.-
"Government is necessary"
"Don`t hate government"
"Fight against UNFAIR government, not government as a basic concept."

"We`ll need a leader, and a command structure"
"clear cut boundaries on authority and who has control"
"1 source of orders"
-vs.-
"it`s the people who wield that authority who are wrong" "the separation of powers"


You said one very true thing:

"Don`t hate government, hate the people and interests subverting them."

That`s a whole bunch of very rich fuckers at the moment. They work in BOTH government and business. I hope it`s obvious that it`s not the other 90% of us.

So... EAT THE RICH!!!

exploder : LVL 49: VP 5: said:

exploder

-5 votes NegativePositive

87 days 21 hours ago...

BTW, a little thought experiment for y`all:

Somewhere between massive frauds and collusion and bloated govt. and too big to fail industries, our shit got all messed up. Here`s an idea for a reset.

FACT: 10% of the US population makes 50% of the income.

If you all embraced wealth redistribution FULLY, and did a few years of forcing EVERYBODY to get paid equally, then the average income would about double.

The rule: Everybody earns $50 an hour, no exceptions.

Result:
Average personal income about $60,000
Average household income about $100,000

You wouldn`t even have to take away rich people`s actual stuff to do it, just their income over $100 grand. Shit, they can sell the odd fancy car, mansion, or yacht to pay the property taxes on their main castle for a few years, or we could even just give them a tax break.

As a result, we might see a few people quit some jobs they only keep because they make a shitload of money, but I think other better suited folks would gladly step in and do their honest best. Likewise it could weed out a lot of people who are only doing their jobs for a chance to cheat / steal / influence. They would have no useful opportunity. Maybe someone more honest and inspired could take their jobs. Who knows?

But I will ask this: how much growth would we see if 90% of us all had the cash to start something up? Get a better education? Buy something? Pay the bills properly? Pay for our own instead of doing through the govt.? Fix something up? Donate something? Save something?

It would be like pouring gas on a fire that seems all but extinguished.

Remember, it`s just a thought.

Then again, maybe all that extra money is just imaginary numbers. If we all tried to actually use it, it would be worth nothing, or inflation would do a divide by two.

And if that`s the case, then all those rich fucks who SAY they are in charge because they are so rich and "own" everything, are actually just fooling us all with imaginary numbers, and their power is based on a supposed greater contribution that is actually a lie.

Check out this if you want an interesting read:
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

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