All of the things you fear will surely come to pass if things do not change. Truly many of the things you mention we are paying for/experiencing now in this so called free market.

The problem is that our politicians are bought and paid for by corporations, unions and PACs.

The way to reign in compensation for executives is very easy. If we simply regulated shareholder votes to "voters only" and did not allow BODs to vote un-returned proxies, we would regain control over the corporations.

As it is, BODs vote themselves raises, and give the CEOs huge bonuses and when it comes time to vote for a new BOD, they vote themselves in because typically a huge (if not a majority) of proxies are un-returned.

To overturn a BOD would take a huge response from shareholders, and even with that the odds of overturning them is very small.

The SEC could enforce such a rule easily, but nobody puts that rule in place because the regulators are bought and paid for by the regulated.

Same goes for union management. They are not truly subject to union members.

I hope much of what appears under Obama does not come true... However the American people may need to get slapped into reality and may at some point wake up! It would Take a united effort down the road and require everyone to do more than sit on their a$$ and just complain! Can we afford the Demo lifestyle.... I don't think so.

One should be very concerned about this proposed health care reform or what ever you want to call it.

A really BIG red flag should be that this proposed legislation will not take effect until 2013. Well if we have such a health care crisis now.... why in the heck will this not go into effect for years to come and AFTER the next presidential election????

Could it possibly be that if Obama is not elected for a second term than he can not be held responsible for another failed government program?

Would one of you really smart people divide the population of the United States into the total money spent on the stimulus plans and let me know how much money every citizen would have received it the government had just written a check to each of us? I think it is a really big number.

JONGREEN, You are like a broken record.

Would one of you really smart people divide the population of the United States into the total money spent on the um... umm... well whatever Bush/Cheney/Doolittle spent all our money on and tell us how much I would still have in my wallet if it wasn't for the "Conservatives."

I guess no one wants to do the math.

Jon, well my caculator does not go to the 1 trillion dollar level, but by reducing the number of decimial points and dividing that number by .350 for roughly 350 million of us here in the states that works out to be about 29 million for each one of us. Just a guess-ta-met but that is a lot of money for each of us.

BTW: How is that 24 thousand dollar car of your neighors doing after you paid for it for them?

Wow! First Jon "the director" Green with his assignments, and then chase2you with his amazing math skills. No doubt, chase wouldn't even question that high number and just immediately believe it. Is this what is left of the GOP?

All of you that are hailing the demise of the Republican party are in for a nightmare as a one party system is called a dictatorship. It appears we have gotten very close in the last few months. Health care reform is needed, what is being offered is not reform.

Jon and chase2you,

Since you seem unwilling to do your own calculation, and since chase seems to lack a fundamental understanding of division, I will do the calculation for you.

Total stimulus amount projected: $10,155,300,000,000 (source: Motley Fool)

Population US 2008 :304,059,724 (source: U.S. Census Bureau)

Equal distribution of the total projected stimulus would be about $33,399.03 per person (if none of the projected stimulus is paid back).

Breakdown of projected stimulus can be found at: http://www.fool.com/investing/international/2009/02/19/86-trillion-was-a-drop-in-the-bucket.aspx

fourgen,

Who said that the demise of the Republican party will result in a one party system? Most likely the sane republicans would form their own party which would attract some conservative democrats, while the batship crazy republicans (Beck/Palin followers) would remain in the obsolete albeit somewhat comical Republican party.

So JP, according to your calculations a family of four would receive over a $130,000.00. Now that would be a stimulus plan that would work.

Jon,

No, that is not what my calculations say. Look at the breakdown and revise your statement please.

JP, 33k per person is what you calculated.

JP: Thanks for you expert mathematical skills, Ya my math skill have fadded in this here old brain of mine that is for sure. That is why I said it was a guess... Any way I still think it would be more than 33k per-person out of 10 trillion dollars as you so accurately stated. But, hey 33 thousand is o.k. with me, why heck that is just enough money for another round of the oh so successful cash for clunkers program. :)

JP: Thanks for posting the link went over and took a look at it. Interesting. Though that is not the answer that Jon was asking it was nice to learn that the 33 thousand that you are talking about is how much debt each of us now owes because of the stimulus spending. AHHH what a comfort to know I and my children are in more debt that we ever expected.

Jon,

I wonder how you are able to successfully run a business. Look at the breakdown on the link I provided. I did the calculation for you. Do I have to explain significance now too? Shall I come over and chew your food for you too?

chase2you,

The 33k is not how much debt each person will be in because of the stimulus spending. I want you and Jon to look at the breakdown, think about it real hard and then tell me why each person is not on the hook for 33k.

What ever happened to the "windfall tax" on corporations? Most likely the recent profits from the coup de coin of AIG, Enron, Goldman Sachs, Chevron etc etc would more than fill the hole. Of course, we have to get over the idea that these people have a right to steal the American peasant blind.

Hey Regressive4marxism, Do you believe in liberty? Or not? Why don't you get the hell out of this country and go to Venezuela where they have all the "windfall taxes" on corporations you could ever dream of. Maybe after a year or so of living under conditions of "shared poverty" and "food shortages" and barely subsistant working wages for the Venezuelan Government, then you can come back to us and report on how these "Evil American Corporations" who provide us with cheap fuel for our vehicles etc. etc. are so stinking rotten.

FreedTinkerton - I see you've used the sophisticated and highly persuasive "Love It Or Leave It" argument. That should convince them.

JP, Where is the stimulus money coming from? Out of our pockets.