Obama still pushing Congress for stricter Gun Control Laws

[Slimdog71]

@ Ritter, here is what I found under gun shrouds.  http://vpcblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/assault-weapons-guide-barrel-shrouds-and-forward-grips/

[Czeetah]

Don't fool yourselves. It's not the liberals pushing the anti-gun laws.

It's the privileged classes, bankers, and corporate rich.

They have divided 90% of the populace along lines carefully constructed so about half will believe they are democrats, and half will believe they are republicans. Each side has there own things they do to keep the money in the hands of the wealthy while providing just enough "difference" so people will be satisfied they live in a "democracy" where they can choose between one or the other party, both of which have the job of keeping the rich rich and the poor poor.

The rich want low taxes and no help for the poor (college, education system) so the children will turn into worker bees in the factories, enter Republicans. The rich want less and less people to have guns and means to protect what little "freedom" they have, enter Democrats. The rich want money poured into their factories to build bombs and tanks in the name of "defense" while their war machine profits amass from your tax dollars, enter the Republicans. Insert some thing here associated with liberals but really serves the rich, enter the Democrats. XXXX, Republicans.

Just as the sheeple vote against their own interest in support of Republicans, likewise the sheeple who identify themselves as Democrats are brainwashed into thinking the "war on guns" is a righteous fight, and also vote against their own interest.

Just enough difference to keep the country voting for one of two choices, both of which are the soldiers (or active part of) those at the top.

If support of gun rights was not needed to keep the vote balance equal, republicans would vote against the 2nd amendment every time as it serves the people at the top of the pile. Each party will adjust their message just enough to keep the US equally divided and elections close enough, insuring the illusion of democracy.

If only we were all more concerned that 90% of news and media outlets are owned by massive corporations whose job is to feed us what they want us to hear, keeping us divided as liberals versus conservatives in an imaginary fantasy land where the real news goes unreported and never talked about in the papers and TV channels that 95% of the population gets their "news" from.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

Yea this is something I have thought about for many years. I feel that neither side is really on our side and they have us fighting each other over things that both sides were in total agreement on just a few short years ago. God help us.

[czechyoself]

Very well said Czeetah. To me, it's interesting to see which group of people aligns itself with which party, even if the party's advertised interests are in direct opposition to their own. The Democratic party hasn't always been known as the blue collar, working man's party, and these days, those same people tend to call themselves conservatives.

The only conservatism I see going on is the less than 1% conserving everyone else's wealth. How can the stock market continue to climb without jobs, and with a high unemployment rate? Why do gas prices climb even though the US is using less gasoline annually now than in the past 15 years? The system is rigged, the market is decoupled from typical supply and demand economic theory, and big banks call the shots in the market. Financial services are up over 11% of GDP which traditionally has been very dangerous for any country because it's artificially inflated and unsustainable. We used to rely heavily on consumer spending (as much as 75% of GDP) but once the deregulators loosened up the rules, financial services filled in the gap, and appears simpler to maintain because it doesn't require jobs to grow. Maybe I just answered my own question as to how the market continues to improve despite actual real jobs.

Labor has always been the biggest drain on, and threat to, capital (hence all the recent union-busting talk from every major news channel). Creating markets where labor isn't necessary is the golden goose for Wall Street and the money that runs it.

Sorry to get on a tangent and possibly derail the thread, but I figured someone would enjoy reading some ramblings. One thing we can all agree on is that shooting is fun. 

[fatbaldguy]

  How can the stock market continue to climb without jobs, and with a high unemployment rate? Why do gas prices climb even though the US is using less gasoline annually now than in the past 15 years?

Because the Treasury is printing $85 Billion dollars a month.  Dollar becomes weaker (worth less), oil is priced in dollars, oil costs more in dollars.  The printing also keeps interest rates artificially low.  That helps keep Wall Street busy/profitable, better to put money there, than in a bank earning less than 1%.

[czechyoself]

  How can the stock market continue to climb without jobs, and with a high unemployment rate? Why do gas prices climb even though the US is using less gasoline annually now than in the past 15 years?

Because the Treasury is printing $85 Billion dollars a month.  Dollar becomes weaker (worth less), oil is priced in dollars, oil costs more in dollars.  The printing also keeps interest rates artificially low.  That helps keep Wall Street busy/profitable, better to put money there, than in a bank earning less than 1%.

And the point about "in the bank earning 1%" is valid, because fractional lending allows banks to profit from loans by inventing money from thin air, so they quit paying out decent rates on any kind of deposit (savings, CDO, etc.. I love hearing news stories on local or national news saying how Americans don't save enough. They used to, when banks paid a decent rate, but now a savings account offers zero benefit, unless you are banking with a credit union.

Funny how media still hasn't brought up the I word (inflation) although fuel, milk, meat, etc. continues to rise while wages remain flat.  That's the very definition of inflation; when your dollar loses buying power because everything you buy daily goes up and doesn't come back down. This leads some people to desperately play the market, buy lottery tickets, etc. Biggest jackpots in history over the past few years. Easy to see why everyone is willing to risk a few dollars despite the odds being horrifically low.

[1SOW]

The FED sets the National Bank Rate.  Independent banks compete.
Don't be a Republican or a Democrat, vote for issues; and pick candidates that support what you believe in.

[czechyoself]

The FED sets the National Bank Rate.  Independent banks compete.
Don't be a Republican or a Democrat, vote for issues; and pick candidates that support what you believe in.

Agree 110%.

[DenStinett]

The FED sets the National Bank Rate.  Independent banks compete.
Don't be a Republican or a Democrat, vote for issues; and pick candidates that support what you believe in.

You bet?.
Vote for a Candidate that shows some Common Sense
There really hasn?t been a Candidate (on either side) worth voting for, for decades

[czechyoself]

The FED sets the National Bank Rate.  Independent banks compete.
Don't be a Republican or a Democrat, vote for issues; and pick candidates that support what you believe in.

You bet?.
Vote for a Candidate that shows some Common Sense
There really hasn?t been a Candidate (on either side) worth voting for, for decades

Indeed. Like I said to my friend, a binary party system with only 2 parties is great for robots, but humans need a few more options. Then again it wouldn't matter if we had 15 parties to choose from if the Goldman Sachs/Koch Brothers/Rupert Murdoch superpac is funding them all equally as a hedged bet. That's what happens currently with the 2 party system.

Ok, I'll  now and let someone else talk.