This is very thought provoking about the mess we are in -- and see my last post about the two party system. This is a RTWT:
I go to a 4th of July party | zero hedge: "So I go to a 4th of July party. Lots of people; tons of screaming kids. It’s one of those get-togethers where everyone brings some food to share. (As a result there is ten varieties of potato salad, a half dozen vegetable dips and five plates of deviled eggs. And it was hot out.) I brought vodka.
It was a mixed crowd. A few local business folks (my plumber was there). Mostly commuters to the Big Apple. Lawyers, a doctor or two. I met one accountant. The Madison Avenue types are always a laugh. A number of Wall Streeters (more women than men). And one blogger.
So I started an argument. It got out of hand. Some spouses had to break it up. One lady later accused me of pushing the row; I was ‘raining’ on the holiday fun. And anyway, “there were kids around”. What type of example were “we” setting arguing like that?
At one point I found myself in a small crowd of folks. Being the provocateur that I am, I asked the ‘right’ person what she thought of Obama’s comments last week about taxing the shit out of those who use corporate jets.
The response was an unequivocal (and predictable) voice of approval. This person is a teacher. She knows first hand about the squeeze her profession is facing. She says:“Those who fly on these planes have to pay!”
I asked this particular question because I happened to know that one guy in the mix worked for GECC (and knew a thing or two about aircraft financing). Another has a wife who makes a decent buck as a ‘Stu’ on private flights. They jumped all over the teacher.
That husband:“You think it’s okay to put my wife out of work? So teachers can get a bloated pension?”
The GE guy:“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Private aviation contributes $150 billion to the US economy. It employs 1.2mm people, most of those are union jobs. This is a success story. And you want to cripple it!”"
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