The evil rich are here...resistance is futile.

DennisE... I used to think the same way you do, but I have given up hope of our nation ever being just. I think we are too morally bankrupt and we have gone too far to ever recover. I know that sounds incredibly pessimistic, just watch the news and how can you think otherwise? We have a whole segment of the population that is too blind to see that they are being used as pawns, to their own detriment, for the benifit of the rich and powerful.

In regard to the budget crisis we all are facing, I would suggest that we immediately make 10% cut to all budgeted items and do this for the next 3years. Next we eliminate all subsidies, I realize this will take some thought and strategy but begin. There are whole departments we can eliminate such as the department of education, also we need to fix Freddi Mac and Fannie Mae or end government funding or underwriting of them. We need cut regulations that are intended to hinder some and favor others. Let the market work justly. The real issue is to once again create a just and morale society that is self governing and cares for fellow citizens. Stop dividing us according to race, ideology or any other point of difference that is not immoral or illegal.

A good explanation of the consequences of the Grahm Leach Bliley Act.
http://www.ickypeople.com/2008/04/bill-c...

The regulators did not twist the arms of banks forcing them to give out bad loans. The banks lobbied for a change in regulation that would allow them to do this so that the insurance industry could turn around and sell insurance against these bad loans. What happened to the comment that was posted about the repealing of the Glass Steagall Act and the passage of the Grahm leach Bliley Act. That is where it all began. The Glass Stegall Act seperated Wall Street, Commercial and Investment banking and the Insurance industry because this is what caused the crash of 1929, only then it was stocks. The GLB Act enabled the banks to bundle loans and sell them. As far as Bill Clinton saying everyone should be able to own a home. That was also a Carl Rove/George Bush policy aka The American Dream. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjo.... This video shows G.B. stating that Fannie and Freddie will be required to make loans. Neither party is free of responsibility for this mess, they are both bought by the banks and Wall Street. Until people open their eyes and at least try to inform themselves of history we are screwed. Just repealing the GLB act and reinstating the Glass Steagal Act would clean up this mess but we will never see that happen. The rich and powerful run this country and Paul Ryan's lips are pressed firmly on their butts

mrsmithgoestowashington, your perception on taxes is alarming. First, allowing people to keep their own money is not a cost to the government. Second, spending money is the problem our government has not collecting it.

If higher taxes fixed problems why did our nation still have a budget deficit when the highest tax rates were 91%?

Until our politicians start funding ONLY needs and not wants the fiscal mess will only get worse. The latest congress created more debt than the first 100 congresses combined. It is time people start to see what the problem is, SPENDING, and stop the lame distractions.

Obama is finally seeing the light. You cannot tax and spend your way into prosperity.2 Years of bailouts and stimulus have only pushed us further into an economic hole with no measurable results.Obama agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts, A surge in Afganistan and keeping terrorists at Guantamano. Sounds like Bush is in office again?

" We have to prioritize—and often this requires difficult trade-offs." This comming from "our representative" that voted to retain the temporary tax breaks for the wealthy, adding 800 billion to the deficit and then the next week voting no, to funding 40 billion for health care for the 9-11 responders. I guess this shows where Ryan's priorities are.

Paul---I have seen your voting record and based upon your actual voting record you do not support what you say...

http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category...

I am patiently awaiting your recall election because you do not represent Congressional 1 very well. You do maneuver facts well but your record shows what you are really about!

"retired air-force" it is ironic that some of the people who wail the loudest about taxes are the ones who benefit the most by them. If the government allowed us to "keep all our money", military retirees would have no pensions. Be careful what you ask for, Mr Ryan just might give it to you.

The lack of taxation to pay for two long-term wars is in large part the cause of our looming future deficit. Ryan's votes to extend the wars while simultaneously voting to not pay for them is economic suicide. The former Soviet Union couldn't win in Afghanistan on borrowed money to fund their war machine and neither will we.

tj, I do blame the gov't as much as anyone. Since it's no secret that the corporations (especially the banks) own the gov't, we should have seen this coming. The same thing happened in 1929 (only it was stocks, not houses) and in the early 80's when the S&Ls were deregulated; they made risky loans they shouldn't have and a lot of them failed - however they weren't bailed out and the economy did't crumble (although it wasn't good for quite a while). My point is that you can blame the little guy all you want but the lenders gave the loans and they should have known better. They were the one's with the money and should have been more responsible with it. They should have been forced to pay for their greed, but they weren't-we are. No I didn't take the bait, but a lot of people did and they were lied to by lenders as I was. I had the education and math/business knowledge to say no, but to many people who didn't, the prospect of being able to own a home they thought had been impossible was very attractive. They show you a piece of paper with a lot of numbers and ratios on it and tell you that you can afford this and sign here.

The realtors didn't help, telling people to buy all the home they could possibly afford. A lot of people who should have been smarter weren't and now a lot of really big homes are in foreclosure. These people are a big part of the problem.

Corporations and banks have a lot of money, which means they have a lot of power. I really don't think that they are going to let the masses have any of that power, let alone the power to wreck the economy as a whole.

Their latest line is that if anything is done to slow down the foreclosure rate (robo-signers, foreclosing on people who never missed a payment, etc.), the housing market won't recover. How whacked is that?

By the way...the banks didn't get billions...they got trillions!

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/eco...

Oh I don't disagree the banks were opportunists. To answer your question, yes people buying homes they could not afford was a major factor in the housing crash. Who was pushing them to make loans to low income and risky folks? I'll give you a hint. "Every American should experience the right to home ownership." See also Bill Clinton. DTB, when the bank (or more sounds like a mortgage broker slime) offered you 125% did you take it? No, because in all likelihood you have 2 or 3 brain cells rolling around in your head to know better. If these folks were stupid enough, which many were, then they got what they deserved. I also disagreed with bailing out banks so no quarrel there, but the consumer themselves is, in the end, solely responsible for their own decisions and they should have known better. DTB, there are predators everywhere, cell phone companies, car dealers, time shares, any number of leases, insurance annuities, you name it. The consumer is the ultimate watchdog. These folks simply were dumb and did not do their research and they payed dearly. No, I take that back, you and I payed...for other people's stupidity. You can blame banks, fine, but don't forget the governments role in greasing the rails, and most of the blame rests with the idiotic consumer whose eyes were bigger than their wallet.

tj, you know not of what you speak. I have plenty of personal responsibility; I have not missed or even been late on a house payment since I bought my first house in 1998. I am not the problem. I do know that when I refinanced my house in 2003 (as the bubble was growing to bursting proportions) the loan officer was pushing me HARD to borrow 125% of my home value. He was also pushing me to lie about my income so he could lend me more money (especially since my income was not to be verified except by what I told him my income was). I didn't bite on either of these. Do you really believe that all those poor people who were told by banks that they could afford the payments had the power to wreck the economy? The truth is that the banks are and were predators who prey on those who are not very educated or didn't read the fine print, etc. The banks are the ones with the money and the power and their greed for more and more and more is what wrecked it all. They should have been allowed to fail but instead got billions of our money to give millions in bonuses to those who created the fiasco by giving loans to people who couldn't pay them back.

Whose responsibility is it to determine your own financial position? Where does the buck stop when determining if you can afford a new car? DTB, people like you are a major source of the problem. Its always somebody elses fault. Never do you look in the mirror when dolling out blame. Do you understand the concept of personal responsibility? Apparently you and a lot of other borrowers do not.

Blaming the victims? Wow! You are so deluded. What about federal regulators twisting the arms of banks to give loans to people that never should have had them? The government did way more than encourage these loans. Victims? That's rich. I am gut laughing at you.

"The housing market collapsed because too many borrowed beyond their means to buy homes they could not afford." Nice job of blaming the victims. The housing market collapsed because greedy unregulated banks were giving loans out like candy without bothering to check if borrowers were worthy of credit or not.

How about cutting out 450,000 tanks? Tanks requested because of a unnecessary military engagement. Or here's a thought, take all of the soft money spent during the election campaigns on those lying ads and charge a 100% tax on them. We could either get rid of the ads or balance the entire debt of the country, either is a win in my book.

Assuming a tax cut costs us money? That assumes the money first belongs to the government and then they decide how much they think we should keep. Scary people still have such faith in government.

Mrsmith......Yes, we should have all been expected to send more of our money to the government. Time and time again they have proven that they are much more able to put it to better use than we can.............

Sad people believe the hoax, allowing you to keep your money, is a cost to the government.

If Ryan were serious about "righting the federal budget" he should not have voted last week to retain the Bush era tax cuts - a vote that adds another trillion dollars to the deficit and primarily benefits billionaires at the expense of those of us who work for a living.
When the rest of us will be working until we die because our pensions are gone & the health care CEOs (who benefited by Ryan's vote) are gauging us of every last penny we make, Ryan will be living comfortably on his gov't pension, paid for with the working class' dime. Paul will never feel the pain he is causing through his half baked, retread, anti-working class "ideas."

Probably the only guy that has any idea what needs to be done.