It seems our local grocery is trying to foist two items on us

[Chief Arrowhead]

mangoes and pomegranates. I think not!

They keep putiing them right in the way of everything else. I reckon since they are 'exotic' they have a high profit margin. Some old bird is standing at a table (blocking the way!) handing out free samples. No thanks!

[Berni]

Yottam Ottolenghi loves 'em, though.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

What, not at all?

A mango salsa is lovely with a piece of seared tuna. Mmmm mango.

[Chief Arrowhead]

I'm not paying $2.50 for a mango when a box of strawberries is close by.

I have no idea what you do with a pmegranate.

[Berni]

Delicious. Quite impossible to eat without getting covered in sticky fluid, though.

[7evens]

Although they can get stuck in your teeth..

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

From between the cheeks of your best girl, if at all possible.

[Chief Arrowhead]

and, no, I have no idea who that is.

The other thing I laugh at are these bone-in rib eye steaks they have in the meat case now. They call them 'cowboy' steaks and are about 1 kilo apiece. I mean, really.

[Pat Vegas]

I know it varies by region. What do you have Vons?

Like Ralph's in California. Loved that place. Your shopping is 35 do you have a raplh's card? erm no here you go. Your shopping is now 24 dollars :cloud9:

[Chief Arrowhead]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

I didn't tell her it was the whole darned thing :-(

[Pat Vegas]

[Chief Arrowhead]

Dierberg's and Schnuck's. They are pretty much only here in the St. Louis area.

We have your odd Aldi and Shop & Save, but the 2 first mentioned control this area.

Yeah, those places like Ralph's rip off the visitor. You have to be a member of their club. Other areas have the same thing. Harris-Teeter in Nashville comes to mind.

The check out gal says, "Would you like to join our club?"

My pat response, "Well OK, but I can't go to a lot of meetings."

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

I read the other day that US debt is really quite high. I was wondering whether you think President Obama's spending policy has been a good thing for the US overall?

[Berni]

[Luis Anaconda]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

Chief can fill me in a little.

[Berni]

http://dailyinspires.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Yosemite_Sam_desktop_wallpaper.jpg

[Chief Arrowhead]

government spending produces nothing, it can be helpful as a short term panacea, but in today's global economy all it does is weaken a country over the long term. Plus it's rife with graft and corruption as the government is only incentivised to spend as much as possible, not to spend it wisely. It also crowds out investments by the private sector, which is money carefully invested in pursuit of growth.

It never works, it didn't here, and the rationale is that you didn't spend enough! In the last 50 years we've spent 20 trillion on the "War on Poverty" and we are still losing that battle. Yet you hear folks like Obama say that this is a stimulus to the economy.

In the old days you could rationalize so much debt if it were held by predominately domestic entities, but owing China so much money can't be a good thing.

But we've had 50 years of deficit spending so it's not all Obama, the last six years it's been turbocharged.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

I'm not asking you to tell us whether you stand on the Democrat or Republican sides, of course; that is a matter for you alone.

[Berni]

Surely you'd have to concede that defence spending has given the US an unrivalled position in world affairs that can only be to the benefit of its wider economy?

[Classic Jorge]

Which not only rebuilt the entire economy of europe, giving you a massive amount of trading partners, but also turned a pretty profit in interest.

You'll be preaching trickle down and voodoo economics next

[Chief Arrowhead]

Congress, specifically the House, is the controller of the purse. That has been run by Republicans since 2010. they have passed budgets there multiple times. the next step is for the Senate to pass the budget. Usually they disagree with some things and a compromise is hammered out between the twop Congressional bodies. It then goes to the President for his signature or he can veto it.

Since 2010 the Senate has refused to bring the House budget to a vote, they have also refused to come up with their own budget. The Senate is controlled by Democrats. The government has been funded by 'Continuing Resolutions" this whole time. Basically that means that each governmental entity goes by the same budget they had the year before, plus some percentage increase. This is no way to run a government. There's plenty of blame to go around.

So the President theoretically does not authorise spending, but he can issue executive orders, thus bypassing Congress. Depending on what those are it can set up a Constituional Crisis because he can't just willy nilly order money to be spent.

[Chief Arrowhead]

That is one of the few areas specifically provided for in the Constitution, the defence of the country. The defence budget has been dramatically reduced as a % of GDP. It's the entitlements, i.e. welfare, that have skyrocketed and will continue to do so. In fact Interest on the debt and entitlements make up the vast majority of what is spent, and there's no turning those off. Hence the problem.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

We have a much simpler system. But then, ours is very old, and we're not so bright.

I jolly well hope it all works out for you chaps, though.

[redgunamo]

[Chief Arrowhead]

DO we want more government spending or less? I don't believe that more spending is the way to go for the reasons denoted above.. mainly becvause it doesn't create anything. I'm for priorities that empower the private sector. Mr. Obama and his compadres believe that an all powerful government controlling as much as possible will result in more fairness. I argue just the opposite. You can't call yourself a free society if the government has its tentacles everywhere. Some would argue we have passed that point and are no longer a free society. I am optimistic that we will eventually come to our senses and begin to rein in the beast.

[Berni]

think) and has provided benefits for your economy. Thus, the idea that 'government spending produces nothing' is obviously untrue, isn't it? If you believed that, you would recommend slashing military expenditure.

[eastgermanautos]

the thing I do blame obama for is not helping out regular folks enough. but maybe you boys in the gop should suggest something constructive in that regard.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

Who knew?

[Chief Arrowhead]

Which is kind of the point. Our resources are tapped out.

What if the big one finally hits LA? We would need to raise at least 10 trillion in the capital markets quickly. Given our debt profile do you think we could raise it? Not without massive concessions.

Point being that we have strayed so far from limited government as outlined by our Constitution that we have no wiggle room for a real national emergency, which should be when a federal government is needed!

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

political debate. It is a s if we have gained access to the inner sanctum of the Chamber of Senatories. Thingy.

Just one thing - what is a 'gop'? If something is horrid or dirty, we call it 'gopping'. Is it the same thing?

[Chief Arrowhead]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

I mean, if the worst came to the worst, you could just tell the Chinee to f**k off. What are they going to do, invade your asses?

[Chief Arrowhead]

You are aware that the current tax system makes it fairly impossible for a man on salary to achieve wealth. The more he makes the more government takes. It benefits those with invetable assets, not income. In that regard you are right, the tax increases were absolute killers.

If you mean those on government assistance, you must be joking. He's handing out bennies left and right to anyone, even non-citizens!

[Classic Jorge]

Small government is nonsense, it makes it impossible to do anything with.

Would you have put a man on the moon or won the cold war with a limited government? No, of course not, you'd be repelling advances from an emboldened Quebec and angry mexicans.

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

I remember him from school.

Not that I went to school with him.

[Supermac1976]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

I think their mayors are called Guv'nor.

[Berni]

done beyond the local level.

By 'works' I of course mean 'survives very long before being crushed by monolithic centralised top-down state communism. No form of communism actually 'works'.

[Classic Jorge]

Which is why Trotsky was right, or at least righter than anyone else.

[Berni]

everything looks pretty sweet.

So how is this form of government not working again?

[Classic Jorge]

No form of government actually works.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

Nothing's failing.

[Berni]

fine.

[Berni]

the left disappears in a puff of smoke.

[Chief Arrowhead]

The production comes from private companies, not the government itself. government spends money, but doesn't produce anything, except for rules and regulations I guess.

[Chief Arrowhead]

more government = less personal freedom?

[Classic Jorge]

....it works.

[Classic Jorge]

Look at the social democracies of the north of europe. More social mobility, more social security, a higher standard of living and higher educational attainment.

That's freedom right there. It's not about how many guns you can own or how much alcohol costs, they are straw man arguments.

[redgunamo]

[redgunamo]

You and I are in a minority in believing that people are actually rather good eggs.

[eastgermanautos]

:-)

[eastgermanautos]

[eastgermanautos]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

You know. Minging.

[eastgermanautos]

[Chief Arrowhead]

making your views understood is sort of the first step in communicating.

[eastgermanautos]

of analyzing every proposition is tiresome in the extreme.