I see an economic diasater coming...

[triffid]

CAN'T YOU SEE IT?
The economic crisis in Ireland and other EU countries has nothing to do with socialism or social programs. It is the result of UNRESTRAINED CAPITALISM. the same thing that happened here int he U.S. Financial institutions made risky bets that resulted in huge losses and now they are looking for a government bailout at the expense of YOU THE TAXPAYER.. THE TAXPAYERS ARE PAYING FOR THE BAD HABIT OF GAMBLING WITH THE ECONOMY BY THE RICH AND THE CORPORATIONS.
It is really amazing to me how ignorant people are in this country. Why don't you take a basic economics class, or go to Europe yourself and talk to people to learn about their system. If you are getting your knowledge of world affairs from Fox news and AM radio you are being woefully MANIPULATED AND MISINFORMED.
.
The oligarchy and plutocracy the 'ruling class" have you brainwashed lemmings believing: If you start talking about the inequlities of income they will call you a "socialist" "Commie", "maxist"
I do not know which makes a man more conservative â€" to know nothing but the present, or nothing but the past.
Today, because of stagnating wages and higher costs for basic necessities, the average two-wage-earner family has less disposable income than a one-wage-earner family did a generation ago. The average American today is underpaid, overworked and stressed out as to what the future will bring for his or her children. For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.
But, not everybody is hurting. While the middle class disappears and poverty increases the wealthiest people in our country are not only doing extremely well, they are using their wealth and political power to protect and expand their very privileged status at the expense of everyone else. This upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country.
The 400 richest families in America, who saw their wealth increase by some $400 billion during the Bush years, have now accumulated $1.27 trillion in wealth. Four hundred families! During the last fifteen years, while these enormously rich people became much richer their effective tax rates were slashed almost in half. While the highest-paid 400 Americans had an average income of $345 million in 2007, as a result of Bush tax policy they now pay an effective tax rate of 16.6 percent, the lowest on record.
Last year, the top twenty-five hedge fund managers made a combined $25 billion but because of tax policy their lobbyists helped write, they pay a lower effective tax rate than many teachers, nurses and police officers. As a result of tax havens in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and elsewhere, the wealthy and large corporations are evading some $100 billion a year in U.S. taxes. . . .
But it's not just wealthy individuals who grotesquely manipulate the system for their benefit. It's the multinational corporations they own and control. In 2009, Exxon Mobil, the most profitable corporation in history made $19 billion in profits and not only paid no federal income taxâ€"they actually received a $156 million refund from the government. If you just ask just compensation for your hard work, Is that Marxism, Communism?

[the_big_m_in_ok]

On top of it all you have to worry about ATM theft.   http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111407/atm-fraud-gets-even-more-brazen   triffid

I saw a morning TV cable news program segment that featured that problem.  An Internet company sells conductive, (probably metallic) sleeves that slip over your credit/debit card which shields the card from detection.
(Covering the card with aluminum foil will do the same thing, but is a crumpled hassle to deal with.)

Also, triffid is right about the Europeans and their debt.
I say, if the Irish have been bailed out, and their still scared about the future of their money and economies, they have reason to be.  No amount of money they throw at the problem will stop their, and our own, downward slide---as triffid and I have indicated all along.

--Lee

[the_big_m_in_ok]

That may be so, but look at this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

This is getting worse and worse.  Millionaires may be a thing of the past, as it were.

Case in point:

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111434/familys-fall-from-affluence-is-swift-and-hard
(This article may---or may not---be replaced in the future with fresher news on the news agency's computer's hard drive.)

--Lee

[triffid]

free land if you will homestead it.   http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/7-towns-where-land-is-free.html   triffid

[triffid]

Some ways to reduce your debt.Don'tforget to read readers posts.
http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-111092-7153-1-how-she-paid-off-big-debt-in-a-few-short-years   triffid