Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned

Quote from Cesko:

The US may become as impoverished as Mexico but will it become as corrupt at the local police level?? I don't think Jews and Protestants, the target of all this decline in the US, are going to take corruption to that level, just my opinion.
I think you made an error here. If that happens U.S.will get impoverished because of the corruption(lack of management). If Catholic Hispanics become overwhelming majority why should they leave corruption in Mexico? They are going to bring everything with them. Jews and Protestants won't be able to prevent it. (Jews won't be hurting no matter what anyway.)
U.S. becoming Mexico, it seems to me it's majority of Americans major fear. Wildly expected disasters almost never happen which makes me think future is going to bring something else.
Thread started with comparing U.S. to Rome which became stupid cliche by now. Except few parallels, Rome was imperialistic, U.S. is more of a commercial superpower. Huge fundamental difference.
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Commenting on a few things ...

First off I see a big problem with all the illegal immegrants coming into the US. We dont want the US turning into mexico. Poor healthcare, a huge amount of corruption and crime. You know the murder and kidnap statistics in mexico city? ... its scary.

I agree with the OP and his article ...

The US is too cocky; we still think we are #1 with so many things. So many nations are mistrustful of the US and its policies. A report came out the other day that we are rated what was it 43rd on the longevity factor. Thats 43rd. With supposedly the best healthcare in the world.

Imagine if all the money that is being spent in iraq was instead used for the US and its economy ...

Then you throw into the mix 20 million illegal immigrants.

We need a president thats going to step up the ball and help america. Not be docile when it comes to the 20 million illegals or to have to make a tough decision about pulling out of iraq.

Time to focus on the US.

Oh and for all those that thinks its good we are in iraq ...
Tell me again what are the reasons we are there?
- To fight terrorism ... oh ya sadam opposed al-Qaeda
- Weapons of mass-destruction (remember this???)
- The people want us there?
-Oil ... are we even getting enough oil to even put a dent in what we are spending on this war?
- Stay the course ... ahh reminds me of one of my first trades as a newb. I 'stayed' the course with the stock just because it did so well before.
 
Am I the only person who sees this report from the head of the GAO as a ridiculous exercise in megalomania? I mean, who does this guy think he is? Last time I checked, the GAO was tasked with running errands for congress, not formulating major fiscal policies for the US. This report is a joke, and the guy who wrote it should be fired immediately.
 
I am a dual citizen and so is my wife....my daughter can get an EU passport on a day's notice, do I have a leg up on most of you.
The USA is on the wrong path, mainly because of these reactionary industrialist who would protect their interest and turf in the world even if it costs the USA decades of debt and misery.
The reactionary forces of the industrial and military complex and namely from the energy sector are clinging on straws for several trends that are inevitable.
1) USA dollar will not be the reserve currency for the next 100 years, FACT!
2) Military might do now count for too much when China, which happens to be a communist country has us by the scrotum and we own them like a two bit crack whore.
3) Education of the average US public school kid is among the worst in the world (at least in the industrial world, Japan, China, EU) and this is not good for an "Empire". In fact this is one reason the Industrialist decided to shit all over the American public. They prefer an illiterate Mexican to a semi illiterate but arrogant and stupid American with expectations.

Quote from DHS:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/80fa0a2c-49ef-11dc-9ffe-0000779fd2ac.html

Learn from the fall of Rome, US warned
By Jeremy Grant in Washington

Published: August 14 2007 00:06 | Last updated: August 14 2007 00:06

The US government is on a ‘burning platform’ of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.

David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulations”.

These include “dramatic” tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.

Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.

“Sound familiar?” Mr Walker said. “In my view, it’s time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time.”

Mr Walker’s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress.

While most of its studies are commissioned by legislators, about 10 per cent – such as the one containing his latest warnings – are initiated by the comptroller general himself.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Walker said he had mentioned some of the issues before but now wanted to “turn up the volume”. Some of them were too sensitive for others in government to “have their name associated with”.

“I’m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,” he said. “As comptroller general I’ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on.

“One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough,” said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term.

The fiscal imbalance meant the US was “on a path toward an explosion of debt”.

“With the looming retirement of baby boomers, spiralling healthcare costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal risks,” said Mr Walker, a former senior executive at PwC auditing firm.

Current US policy on education, energy, the environment, immigration and Iraq also was on an “unsustainable path”.

“Our very prosperity is placing greater demands on our physical infrastructure. Billions of dollars will be needed to modernise everything from highways and airports to water and sewage systems. The recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis was a sobering wake-up call.”

Mr Walker said he would offer to brief the would-be presidential candidates next spring.

“They need to make fiscal responsibility and inter-generational equity one of their top priorities. If they do, I think we have a chance to turn this around but if they don’t, I think the risk of a serious crisis rises considerably”.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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Quote from mschey:

The fall of Rome, or at least a contributor to the event, is thought to be the LEAD pipes the romans used to transport water.

TODAY, we have CHINA, giving our kids TOYS tainted with LEAD, and this is not a scattered event, but hundreds of Toys. I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but this smells, and I wouldn't put it past the Communists to pull some shit like this.

BOYCOTT CHINA!
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There are FDA acceptable levels of lead for candy, no need to eat your toys.
LATEST

Lead candy lingers
May 12, 2007 : Tainted Mexican treats turn up at a California distributor despite promises by manufacturers.

Mexican candy makers will get the lead out
June 29, 2006: After two years of wrangling, they settle with California, agreeing to annual audits, testing and paying legal fees.


PART ONE





HIDDEN THREAT
Regulators have found unsafe lead levels in 112 brands of candy – most made in Mexico – but test results almost always are kept from parents and health officials

http://www.ocregister.com/investigations/2004/lead/index.php
 
Quote from djxput:

-Oil ... are we even getting enough oil to even put a dent in what we are spending on this war?
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The guys that are going to cash in on the oil are also lenders to the US govt. They make money on the loans, they make money on the oil, the taxpayers get yet a bigger burden and come more under govt. control and dependency.. it all works for them.
 
Quote from AAAintheBeltway:

I mean, who does this guy think he is?
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He's the Comptroller General and director of the Government Accountability Office.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller
<i>A comptroller or controller is a person who supervises cash flow in an organization.</i>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Office
<i>This Act required the head of GAO to "investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President...and to Congress...reports (and) recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures" [...] The agency exists to support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.</i>

If it's not his job to raise questions about the long term sustainability of US fiscal policy, whose job exactly would it be?

This report is a joke, and the guy who wrote it should be fired immediately.
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A joke because it is wrong, or a joke because it is right?

AAA you are too smart for this. You are falling into the role of a loyal Bushie, shooting the messenger because the message is devastatingly critical yet factually unassailable. Leave policy through character assassination to Karl Rove.

Fortunately you and your ilk can't fire the Comptroller General. The position is one of the most independent in the Federal government, appointed for a 15 year term and only impeachable by the full Congress. And strangely, in a Federal government that has been politicized and cronified to an unprecedented degree, nobody else seems to notice that Bush's tax cuts and deficit spending are digging a fiscal hole that threatens the future solvency of our nation.

Martin
 
Quote from Sparohok:

He's the Comptroller General and director of the Government Accountability Office.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller
<i>A comptroller or controller is a person who supervises cash flow in an organization.</i>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Accountability_Office
<i>This Act required the head of GAO to "investigate, at the seat of government or elsewhere, all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement, and application of public funds, and shall make to the President...and to Congress...reports (and) recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures" [...] The agency exists to support the Congress in meeting its Constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.</i>

If it's not his job to raise questions about the long term sustainability of US fiscal policy, whose job exactly would it be?


A joke because it is wrong, or a joke because it is right?

AAA you are too smart for this. You are falling into the role of a loyal Bushie, shooting the messenger because the message is devastatingly critical yet factually unassailable. Leave policy through character assassination to Karl Rove.

Fortunately you and your ilk can't fire the Comptroller General. The position is one of the most independent in the Federal government, appointed for a 15 year term and only impeachable by the full Congress. And strangely, in a Federal government that has been politicized and cronified to an unprecedented degree, nobody else seems to notice that Bush's tax cuts and deficit spending are digging a fiscal hole that threatens the future solvency of our nation.

Martin
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You don't understand his responsibilities, but because you think it is anti-Bush, you are thrilled by it. He is non-partisan, and the things he criticized, such as unsustainable entitlement spending, are staples of Democrat policy. Actually, I pretty much agree with most of what he wrote, but we have an elected government to make those decisions.
 
Nice job of backpedalling, AAA. Good to see you agree with me and disagree with your own post! :)

For my part, I agree that entitlement spending is a big part of the problem and it'll be a tough getting Democrats to bring entitlement programs into solvency. But they can hardly be worse than Mr. Bush and a Republican Congress. From 2000 to 2006, the <i>present value</i> of US government liabilities increased from $20T to $50T, mostly due to tax cuts and expansion of Medicare entitlements under Republican rule.

Democrats are "tax and spend." Today's Republicans are "don't tax and spend even more." So, while Mr. Walker's office is non-partisan, it's a hell of a stretch to blame the Democrats for the problems he's talking about.

(If I wanted to be excessively fair, I'd admit that part of the problem is not just the Republicans themselves, but the fact that any government where the same party controls the legislative and executive branches tends to result in out-of-control spending.)

Martin

Source:
http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d071164cg.pdf
page 5
 
Rome?

It wasnt built in a day, and didnt fall in a day. The only reason it stayed affloat so long, was robbery-empire building, to get much needed resources.
They ran out of gold, to pay troops.......devalued the currency.....they had to keep invading countries, to provide legionaires land grants.....

Rome existed as a powerfull force, if not the penultimate force for some 500 years after the golden era of the "good emporors', and after that, they just changed their name really.
Even after rome was sacked by the visigoths, it was rebuilt-even after attilla the hun was bought off by the emporor , rome continued.

The very idea, that rome declined due to its citizens "lacking morals" is truly freaking absurd, when you look at some of the laws brought in by various nutcase emporors, let alone the fact the seat of constantinople became the base for a "restored" roman empire....with a new gold standard.........and it was sacked and destroyed by christian crusaders.
 
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