[Teclo]

Its almost as if Bush is *trying* to run America into the ground

You can conceivably excuse him over peak oil. Politics is known for its short term thinking, optimisim and plenty of influential rich businesses 'donating' to political causes

But what he's doing to the dollar, and those debts is just crazy
Now the US is becoming more and more exposed to a financial meltdown which will probably be caused by a relatively small crisis

Intead of a sensible budget its another spending spree financed by more debt. The US consumer can't spend more and all their jobs are going overseas, so all the money being lent isn't going on things that will return a profit. Its going on the military so how is US supposed to pay it back?

I'm just not sure what their belief system is that allows them to do it
Do they know something we don't?
Perhaps they suspect a crisis and want to build up their power as much as possible regardless of economics, just to win out on the world stage
With Iran, Iraq and SA under their control it would make sense then they would control a lot of oil

I think the underlying plan is to manouver into a position where they have military control over the middle east oil and have the firepower to scare off anyone who doesnt like it

If that isn't it, then I can only put their economic policy down to a lot of undeserving trust in the free market model, in that its so inherently right it can ride out any crisis. They believe in it so much it simply *can't* not work
I can imagine a whole department of government accountants worried about being 'unpatriotic' so not saying anything

The trouble is that kind of powerful belief is more than enough to cause a war

I have already seen an article that suggests socialists are 'subversives' of some kind, even ones inside the US
It stupidly compared them to communists which isn't really correct. Many European governments are socialist

So it could all come down to the ego of the belief system, that to admit reform is needed makes one automatically an enemy

But what they are doing to the dollar seems crazy
Martin

[Clouseau2]

I think it has to do with the religious belief in eternal growth, which is the exact opposite of the belief in sustainability.

To BushCo, the most important thing in the world is to keep the US economy growing, so he will do *anything* to make the numbers go up. Add that to the Ayn Rand philosophy of letting the rich & powerful run the show, and we have a recipe for the current policies.

Like you said, there is no real thought of what the state of the Union will be 5, 10, 20, 50 years down the road (I really believe some of them hope the Rapture will arrive before that point).

Now that energy prices, debt, etc., are starting to make their fantasy world crumble, they are flailing about trying to keep the ship going.
It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the American public to catch on.

[maverickdoc]

I think it has to do with the religious belief in eternal growth, which is the exact opposite of the belief in sustainability.

To BushCo, the most important thing in the world is to keep the US economy growing, so he will do *anything* to make the numbers go up. Add that to the Ayn Rand philosophy of letting the rich & powerful run the show, and we have a recipe for the current policies.

Like you said, there is no real thought of what the state of the Union will be 5, 10, 20, 50 years down the road (I really believe some of them hope the Rapture will arrive before that point).

Now that energy prices, debt, etc., are starting to make their fantasy world crumble, they are flailing about trying to keep the ship going.
It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the American public to catch on.

The American public in general is very gullible. I suspect most will never get it.