Remember the movie DUMB AND DUMBER. How could anyone forget such a classic comedy. There is a scene in the movie that basically explains why Republicans oppose raising taxes ever. Harry is the Republican and Lloyd Christmas is the even Dumber Democrat Harry: I can't believe we drove around all day and there's not a single job in this town. There's nothing nada, zip. Lloyd: Unless you want to work 40 hours a week Lloyd: I'm going to the store Harry: Okay, just get the bare essentials, thats the last of our dough. Lloyd: Hey, what do I look like?? muttcuts: One of my favorite scenes..Harry: I can' Why do Republicans always oppose tax increases? Because all the Democrats will do is spend the additional money on frivolous new programs despite their assurances that they will be fiscally responsible.
Simplistic but accurate. No one has any faith that a Dim tax increase will result in deficit reduction- history has proven that when dims get a few more tax dollars they just increase spending even more.
And no one has any faith that Repo spending cuts will result in deficit reduction- history has proven that when repos get a few more programs cut they just cut more revenue. The only real way to make headway on the deficit is to do both spending decreases and revenue increases.
Will that work? Lets say They cut spending. On a simple scale. Say Dell has a deal with the Govt. The Gov say we arent going to need 10 thousand laptops @$1500 ea. We only need five thousand. So Dell charges them $3000 for the laptops. Where's the savings? And dont complain because a lot of members here would say thats capitalsim, and God bless it. Even clembo said he would lower his make believe filling station's gas price to run out the competition and then raise it higher. And do any of you think a Republican senator who says he needs his office painted, is going to go to Home Depot, buy paint, and do it himself just to save the Gov some money? Yes Dems too.
It's all funny, until you think back about the last few Presidents and compare which ones left office with a deficit and which ones didn't.
For the most part, the government gets good prices on stuff these days. We are a huge consumer and even at a lesser amount of consuming, we would still be huge. We might not get quite as good of a discount if the volume went down but the government can buy from pretty much anyone these days - internet and better purchasing mechanisms have helped - so companies don't seem to get away with gouging. Except for medical related companies. But they gouge everyone, not just the government.
If you mean by these days; the last six weeks, then I guess. But I recall those trailer homes the US purchased during Katrina were about three times their worth. And that wasnt back in the day was it?
All they have to do is devalue the dollar in half. That should give the powers that be, 6 trillion dollars to spend wantonly like a drunken sailor.
For the most part. I am just going by what I have seen in the last 20 plus years of government buying in a couple of large government agencies with very large budgets. The way the government buys has changed tremendously over the last decade. I am sure there are still situations where they overpay for stuff. But, in your Katrina example, for instance, that is a very time constrained situation during a natural disaster. Not uncommon for anyone and everyone to get gouged during times like that. I remember gas prices skyrocketing on my drive home right after the towers fell for instance.
