Decision 2006

[George Willer]

France?

France is a perfect example of what mob rule can do to a country. They've never recovered from their revolution.

[Rudi]

Oh one thing... the US must realize that if it wants to sell it's goods on a global scale and hence provide good jobs and benefits to it's citizens, it must by the very definition.. be an advocate of Free Trade -- Fair Free Trade. However, as evidenced by a lot of opinions .. Free Fair Trade is not a concept warmly accepted

Rudi......how are timber prices determined in Canada?

Harold:

I was not ignoring the thread.. in fact I was stuck in the hospital.. related thread here last night after a stupid stupid accident.

Anyways.. here in the Maritimes.. lumber prices are determined by the very same standards as Maine, Washington or any other state. Market Forces. I got timber you got money... lets dicker.. and that is the way it should be.

In Ontario, BC, Quebec and Manitoba (I think), it is determined by the Crown. It is the Crown's land held in trust for the citizens of that particular province, and much wider, for the citizens of Canada as we all share in the debt and the net profit of our nation. Just the same as the US does pretty much.

The Provincial Stumpage programs are all pretty much the same. each period, the board reviews the current market prices, forecasts and the different market forces at play, and by some arcane method, determine what the MINIMUM price will be for raw timber.. or for rights to cut on Crown Land. This is very similar to a company coming to me and saying, I will offer you X amount of dollars to cut all the trees on your land that are marketable, and me saying well no.. I think I want Z amount and we finally agree on Y. It is basically that simple.

As far as anything else..

Well here is the scoop. We both live in 2 of the world's greatest democracies.. we both live in 2 of the world's greatest countries, and we both share in the best partnership in the world BAR NONE Everything else is just perception and debate.. which is kind of neat when one considers what the down side is... No Freedoms..

Oh just as an aside... Tom....

In Europe they do drive Fords and Chevy's -- have for decades. When I was in Europe I was offered over $10,000.00 US for my 1979 Olds Cutlass S which I had taken with me. It was a model not seen often in Europe. There a NA Ford or Chevy - especially a Chevy was highly sought after. I could have had enough US Funds at that time (1983) to buy myself a nice Mercedes Wagon for Em and I and the Kids.. but she didn't want to. It was a decision we both regretted...

However.. that was then, and this is now.. and we like our Daimler Chrysler Grand Caravan

[Little Indy]

Guys,

This thread and the one about medical insurance are so interesting Little Indy, Big Red and Little Red are feeling that I am neglecting how to keep them in good health.

You would think that Guys and Gals interested in tractors would not be right up there with the best of them on subjects such as these. But you are and often think clearer than many who lwork within the beltway of Drugs and Crime.

Richard

[Harold R]

Rudi, we knew something had happened to you. Someone commented in the chatroom last night that you head-butted a pole. Tough Canadian,eh?
Anyways.............when I researched Canadian timber prices.....the Maritime provinces weren't separated out, and, I'm not sure what percentage sold, that the Maritimes make up. Gist of the matter being.....Government price control.......a direct conflict of free market trade.
I have tons of opinions and enough commentary floating around between my ears to tie up bandwidth for years. However, unless I can back it up with facts and not have to change the course of history to make it sound good, they'll never see the light of day. Besides, even though I frequently stay at a Holiday Inn Express, I'm no expert.

[PKS]

As far as anything else.

Well here is the scoop. We both live in 2 of the world's greatest democracies.. we both live in 2 of the world's greatest countries, and we both share in the best partnership in the world BAR NONE Everything else is just perception and debate.. which is kind of neat when one considers what the down side is... No Freedoms..

Rudi:

I do not disagree with your statement except to say that as a society, we as a people must continue to to seek and demand a better government. We may very well have the greatest freedoms but the money, power and corruption has reached an all time high at least in the U.S. By and large, it is the rich and the powerful that make the rules and put people in government. The gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" has more than tripled in the last 25 years. The trend is getting worse and we are at the point where the "middle class" has to be redefined. The pursuit of money and power is a cancer and always has been and always will be. We cannot take it out of our society or for that matter out of our government but it must be channeled under different rules of accountability. I would have included moral responsibility as well but that seems to be an oxymoron when addressing many of our elected officials.

Paul

[Jim Becker]

Unfortunately, part of his foreign policy included selling arms to Iran. Although Ollie North should be rotting in a Marine brig somewhere for it, I can't believe that a Major, no matter what his assignment, had enough authority to have done it on his own.

Welcome to this lively demonstration of applicable insanity, Jim.......


Yes, you point out something which is a part of the human nature...the tendency to "selectively" forget some of the bad things about people we love or admire......

At the time, it seemed plausible to me that Reagan may not have understood the entire nature of the Iran Arms/Contra exchange plan..........since the whole purpose of that exchange seemed designed to obscure itself from at least some of the government in general.....I mean otherwise, one could have just asked for the money for the Contra war, no?? But instead someone at some level decided to acquire funding by selling arms to Iran..... Oliver North took responsibility for it, but I'm sure that the scandal was not limited to him.

I'm pretty sure Reagan didn't understand what all was going on in that episode. His senility was widely reported after he left office. I thought it was showing during his reelection campaign.

They had asked for money for the Contras. After which, congress had explicitly taken Contra money out of the budget. Record budget deficits were another legacy of the Reagan era and at least some in government were trying to control it.

On the subject of deficits, the bottom line is it has to balance somehow. If you don't balance taxes and expenditures, you have to borrow. In the current situation, much of our borrowing is from foreign sources. That is what fuels the trade deficit. At some point, the foreign sources will decide they have extended far enough. The ultimate effect of continued borrowing is inflation. Reluctant lenders and inflation threat will push the interest rates higher. That will be unpleasant.

Inflation is the biggest tax in the country. But it doesn't show in the government balance sheet. The published inflation rates aren't a completely honest measure either. Currency exchange rates are the measure of what the international money market thinks of the dollar. On 1/20/00 the dollar exchanged for .99 Euros. Today it is at .78. In other words, the deficit spending and foreign borrowing has taxed away over 21% of your savings. Actually more than that, as it is 21% more than what holders of Euros lost over the same time. This is a hidden tax complements of the current administration.

[Jack fowler]

George said:

Is it just me, or are two threads overlapping? To me both are interesting but very different.

Sorry George, I thought I would try a little multi- tasking..just to see if I could do two things at one time. Carl calls it slow version of chat…. Well , I’m a little slow at the fast version sometimes two paragraphs behind…. So maybe I met my focal area.

Paul wrote:

We may very well have the greatest freedoms but the money, power and corruption has reached an all time high at least in the U.S. By and large, it is the rich and the powerful that make the rules and put people in government. The gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" has more than tripled in the last 25 years. The trend is getting worse and we are at the point where the "middle class" has to be redefined.

The pursuit of money and power is a cancer and always has been and always will be. We cannot take it out of our society or for that matter out of our government but it must be channeled under different rules of accountability. I would have included moral responsibility as well but that seems to be an oxymoron when addressing many of our elected officials

.

Yes Paul, you’re probably accurate about what you wrote, but I still believe, if you do it the”right and honest way” we will prevail. We the people have the force, if we stand together and not let the Government control us.


I know some of you are setting on the edge of your chair for the answers of my auto trivia questions. Here they are….

When was the last year Chevrolet made the two/ten model? What did Two/Ten stand for? .

Answer:.1957 and it took its name by shortening the production series number

The Chevrolet One-Fifty, or 150 was the economy/fleet model of the Chevrolet car from 1953-1957. It took its name by shortening the production series number (1500) by one digit in order to capitalize on 50's numerical auto name trend. The numerical designation '"150"' was also sporatically used company literature. It replaced the Styleline Special model available in previous years.This model was dropped following the 1957 model year being replaced by the Delray
The 1957 Chevrolet was available in three official trim levels: the base-model "one-fifty" series, the mid-range "two-ten" series and the upscale Bel Air series. An upscale trim option called the "Del Ray" was available for 210 2-door sedans. A limited production two-door station wagon called the "Nomad" was produced as a Bel Air. A fourth designation was also available in limited quantities, the "El Morocco", a custom hand-build mimicking the Cadillac of the era.

Series Wheel Base
A
1500 115
Passenger (One Fifty)

B
2100 115
Passenger (Two-Ten)

What year did Plymouth quit making the Savoy?

Answer:1964 was the last year. In 1965 Plymouth made a new larger model called the Fury. The Savoy type body style car was called the Belvedere in ‘65. If you remember Belvedere I, II, III and Fury I, II,III.

Who made a six cylinder over head valve Engine for a race car, Chev.Ford,Ply/Dodge? And what type of car was it put in?
Answer:The Chevrolet Brothers made a six cylinder over head valve Engine and put it in a Ford Model T. (I think that’s still being done)...(Maybe a 427 V-8 now)

Louis Chevrolet and brothers Arthur and Gaston built some of the finest and fastest race cars of that era under the name of Frontenac with Gaston winning in 1920 and Tommy Milton in '21. They used Model Ts Ford’s as a starting point for their cars.

Why did they use the “Ford T”? Because it was abundant back then.

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

On the subject of deficits, the bottom line is it has to balance somehow. If you don't balance taxes and expenditures, you have to borrow. In the current situation, much of our borrowing is from foreign sources. That is what fuels the trade deficit. At some point, the foreign sources will decide they have extended far enough. The ultimate effect of continued borrowing is inflation. Reluctant lenders and inflation threat will push the interest rates higher. That will be unpleasant.

Inflation is the biggest tax in the country. But it doesn't show in the government balance sheet. The published inflation rates aren't a completely honest measure either. Currency exchange rates are the measure of what the international money market thinks of the dollar. On 1/20/00 the dollar exchanged for .99 Euros. Today it is at .78. In other words, the deficit spending and foreign borrowing has taxed away over 21% of your savings. Actually more than that, as it is 21% more than what holders of Euros lost over the same time. This is a hidden tax complements of the current administration.

Ehhh.....

You're taking an over-simplistic view of some very complex structures, Jim......

The trade deficit is best explained in another way, which really has nothing to do with our government in the least.... We simply buy more goods from foreign manufacturers than foreign concerns buy from domestic manufacturers..... and what's the biggest reason for that?? Well, we don't really make anything anymore....When we speak of "trade deficits"...the floating of the national debt on foreign investment isn't even considered part of the equation. At least not THAT equation. When I say that this year, we are going to have a 1 Trillion USD Trade Deficit, I simply mean that we are going to buy 1 Trillion USD worth of foreign products above and beyond what we sell to foreign concerns........

Inflation right now, and for the most part since the "big inflation" days of the 1980's has been insignificant. Your comparison of USD to EUROs is not any sort of evidence of US inflation, but rather a comparative analysis of 2 different economies competing. Inflation is, by definition, the raising of prices....what is the biggest issue we are having right now, in regards to the causality of raising prices??? Fuel......fuel costs which drive up the transportation costs of goods...... Those bizillions of tractor trailers that we contest with on the interstates every day are running on something called diesel, and it's price has increased substantially this summer....and, although it's now been artificially lowered by dumping US oil reserves into the domestic market, people are still nervous about it. UPS and the USPS are asking for higher prices, and Fedex and other common carriers are either on the verge, or have recently increased prices. This drives prices at the store up....this is what causes inflation in a much more real sense.

I agree that budget balancing must come into play, and our debt must be paid down. This, combined with shoring up medicare and Social Security MUST be done before anyone even thinks about lowering taxes......

But lets look at this realistically....we haven't had a balanced federal budget in more than 60 years...... It's ingrained into our current model of government...... let's not blame it for more than it's share of evils, shall we???

[Harold R]

Bada Bing!!!!

The trade deficit is best explained in another way, which really has nothing to do with our government in the least.... We simply buy more goods from foreign manufacturers than foreign concerns buy from domestic manufacturers..... and what's the biggest reason for that?? Well, we don't really make anything anymore....

Alas...somebody's getting it. The slow change over to a service based economy. "We" don't make anything anymore because 1) Manufactorers can't compete with "sweat-shop" labor. 2) The US consumer has an insatiable appetite for cheap. No mater the quality. We've become a throw-away society. Use it once, throw it away....buy another. Keeps the doors to Wal-Mart open 24hrs in a lot of places. If we went back to the "Buy American" slogan........you wouldn't need all this talk of tariffs. Let the Chinese flood the market with cheap tools, TV's etc, and let them set on the shelves for a few months. It's all a "pipe dream",I know. The lid is off pandora's box.
Could we ever go back the the manufactoring might we once had??
I doubt it. Too many workers have figured out ways to sit at home and draw a paycheck. Who tha heck wants to get up at six in the morning to go sit on an assembly line making $22.00 an hour when you can make 80% sitting at home nursing a runny nose? I hate saying this.....but we are a lazy and litigious society.

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

Alas...somebody's getting it. The slow change over to a service based economy. "We" don't make anything anymore because 1) Manufactorers can't compete with "sweat-shop" labor. 2) The US consumer has an insatiable appetite for cheap. No mater the quality. We've become a throw-away society. Use it once, throw it away....buy another. Keeps the doors to Wal-Mart open 24hrs in a lot of places. If we went back to the "Buy American" slogan........you wouldn't need all this talk of tariffs. Let the Chinese flood the market with cheap tools, TV's etc, and let them set on the shelves for a few months. It's all a "pipe dream",I know. The lid is off pandora's box.
Could we ever go back the the manufactoring might we once had??
I doubt it. Too many workers have figured out ways to sit at home and draw a paycheck. Who tha heck wants to get up at six in the morning to go sit on an assembly line making $22.00 an hour when you can make 80% sitting at home nursing a runny nose? I hate saying this.....but we are a lazy and litigious society.

Oh my, Harold.....

I thought everyone was on the same page on this one...

You're saying that most people don't know this?? Seriously??

No, we are a nation of entrepreneurs (whatever that might mean), pencil-pushers, investors, bankers, and, well, medical care providers.....

Most new jobs are in the "small business" sector, and have been for a decade.....

And yes, our manufacturing base is lost forever......

There are a few, privately owned concerns that appear to be doing well in the manufacturing arena.... I assure you they are not paying $22/hr however.

The "mental change" that has taken place in all of this is that we have all forgotten the principles our grandparents lived by........

Stuff like:
Buy the best you can afford.
Take care of what you own.
Save up before buying something, instead of borrowing to buy it.
Fix it if you can, and keep fixing it, until it's altogether worn out.
But don't keep fixing it if it's not worthwhile.
Don't buy what you don't "need".....

and so forth...

The break-down of these values has led us to the "wal-mart" mentality which pervades the national psyche right now.

A recent study done showed that any politician that openly criticized wal-mart, would lose an election......that is how much we worship our new "god"..........fancy that....

[Little Indy]

I once had a long talk face to face with a high ranking exec of Vise Grips of DeWitte NE. He told me something quite interesting. His vise grips cost more than those coming from China etc but he noticed that his company was sell ing a lot in Indonesia. He asked one of his Indonesian distributor WHY?. Answer: "Only Americans can afford cheap tools. Here in Indodesia a father passes his tools on to his son and the son to the grandson". With an attidude like that you can't afford cheap tools. There you have it. Remember in the Laura Ingalls book Laura and her sister had to hunt down every nail that her father dropped?

That attitude is being lost

Richard

[Harold R]

You're saying that most people don't know this?? Seriously??

What,that we've switched to a service economy? Based on what I read, and the complaints I hear about manufactoring jobs being lost, I'd say yeah, not everybody has figured out why.

[Jim Becker]

You're taking an over-simplistic view of some very complex structures

Hard to boil something this complex down to a 2 paragraph reply without being over-simplistic.

But lets look at this realistically....we haven't had a balanced federal budget in more than 60 years......

Actually, there was a budget surplus in 1999, just before the new guys got in and gave big tax cuts to their rich buddies.

[Lurker Carl]

Actually, there was a budget surplus in 1999, just before the new guys got in and gave big tax cuts to their rich buddies.

It's hard to give big tax cuts to their poor buddies, they don't pay the big taxes.

[400lbsonacubseatspring]

Actually, there was a budget surplus in 1999, just before the new guys got in and gave big tax cuts to their rich buddies.

Any perceived budget surplus was only due to a manipulation of figures....a true budget surplus cannot occur until our national debt is actually paid off completely......Looking at the pie chart on the back of your income tax booklet (or wherever they put it these days) will show you that.

But yes, I don't think the Bush administration has made any significant inroads towards solving any of the fiduciary ills of our government. Since that is what you appear to be trying to say here, Jim.

I'm also not terribly happy with the Iraq situation.

I would be hard pressed, however, to suggest a superior alternative in either case.

The only thing I do give Bush Kudos for, is in the most unlikely of places......the environment.......particularly alternative energy development.

But, since we all seem to have a "pet issue" these days, and that one happens to be mine, I suppose I'd have to say that I'm happy with the administration overall........