I want to thank all businesses who are examples of capitalism. They make my life easier by providing me the products I need and I want.
I was buying milk the other day at Walmart, who is probably one the best examples of capitalism working, and realized that although government policies had pushed food prices out of sight (thanks to turning corn into fuel) we still had businesses who could deliver basic needs.
I hurt every time I have to pay for groceries these days because of how high they are, but without companies like Walmart who have taken the idea of mass production and delivery to a new level our food prices would be further out of sight.
There have been studies proving that Walmart by itself has had a major impact on keeping all prices low throughout the economy. (I used Walmart as the example just so some could go nuts, but there are other examples like Microsoft or Stanley Steamer)
I wanted to write this because of the political season. We are facing turning away from capitalism to socialism in this election. We have Obama's "Spreading the Wealth" type of government, which is his slip of the tongue that shows his philosophy is the same as a socialist.
We also have McCain who will stay capitalism because he knows that this is best way for people to realize their dreams.
I must point out though that capitalism is under attack in small bites all the time and even under Republicans we have the increase of government in all areas of life. But you just have to look at Obama's background and his voting record to know that he will increase taxes on everyone. He will take further control of health care, tax profits from legal businesses (which will raise costs to all of us), and he will weaken our military. We will start down the path to socialism like France.
We are not a socialist country yet and it can be turned around, but not if the national Democrat Party is given more power. This is the country where Joe the Plumber can achieve his dreams without government help. Many seem to feel that we should take the money Obama is offering, but that is just another welfare program and it is socialism. Also, anyone who really believes that taking from the rich will make you more wealthy is fooling themselves. Giving government the power to take from oil companies or Walmart will see all their costs go up and that is just another tax increase. It is also wrong. That is not America.
We are the place that all people want to come to, I don't believe there are many Americans who want to live in France. There is a simple reason for that and it is freedom. Electing Obama is going down the path of giving up that freedom.
Bruce Caldwell
Signal Mountain
sarmatt25@comcast.net
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Mr. Caldwell, I shop Walmart as well. I get more for my dollar at Bi-Lo than Walmart as far as groceries go. Walmart groceries are high.
How can anyone praise Walmart's practices? They have for years underpaid employees, employee discrimination, employees working off the clock, etc.
There's going to be a tax increase to pay for all the bailout money being paid no matter who's elected President. What Obama has proposed is tax relief for Americans making $250,000 and less.
I want you to actually do some math. If you take the percentage of Americans making $250,000 or less and take the amount of taxes we pay and compare it to the smaller percentage of Americans making more than $250,000 with all their offshore investings, tax writeoffs, etc., you would conclude that Americans making $250,000 and less have always carried and supported this country. The way the system is now, we all have been waiting for the trickle down money to lift us. It will never happen.
I don't think spreading the wealth is what will happen, but making people pay their share of taxes. The only true and fair way is to have a flat tax of let's say 15% for everyone. No deductions. This country moving toward Socialism because of one man, I don't think so.
Look at the capitalism right now. How's your retirement looking right now? Look at all the foreclosures, loss of jobs, and big business failures brought forth by greedy capitalism. What do you call the daily stock market turmoil?
There has to be a change in this country and how we deal with international policies. Obama may not be the total change, but we need something different from what we've had.
We all need to look in the mirror and ask what I can do to help the ecomomy, environment, education, crime, etc. and start implementing and holding our public and government officials accountable. Stop pointing fingers, stop the racism, and come together.
Gerald Parham Sr
Chattanooga
par214@earthlink.net
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Mr. Parham,
Stop the presses. Where exactly did Mr. Caldwell show racism in his remarks? I didn't see it, and neither did you. Just because he has issues with Sen. Obama's political views does not make him racist.
This is just a canned response by Democrats trying to push Sen. Obama's political views. I have heard this till it makes me sick. The Democratic Party of today is not "the working man's party" it once was. Instead, it has become a collection of left wing special interest groups pooled together to get all their agendas pushed through.
Ron Robertson
Harrison
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In Mr. Parham's response, he was clearly not regarding Mr. Caldwell's article as showing racial remarks. Mr. Parham's statement, "Stop pointing fingers, stop the racism, and come together," is a call for all voters across America to stand back and seriously consider what candidate will be the President that we need right now.
The fact is racism is out there. We see it at political rallies, we see it in our communities and we see it in our families. The fact is, there is finger pointing. Both campaigns are working increasingly hard to paint themselves as the better candidate, in doing so they are blaming the other candidates for failed policies using half-truths which are not fair to the millions of voters looking to hear about the real issues.
Finally, the fact is America is divided over what is the best course of action economically, socially, and internationally. And so, while Mr. Parham's response was aimed directly at Mr. Caldwell's article, his final statement was very clearly a more broad statement covering some major issues we are facing this election.
Matt Davis
Chattanooga
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Mr. Caldwell,
If America's capitalistic policies are working so well, why are you "hurting" when you buy groceries?
You write about the ability of Americans to achieve their dreams... is it your dream to struggle to buy food at Wal-Mart? All political rhetoric aside, why is it exactly that so many people in our area are afraid of Obama being elected? In the last eight years we have seen a terrorist attack on our own soil, our military troops are stretched to their limit and spread across the world while we rack up a record deficit, record stock market losses, and a rise in unemployment. Home foreclosures are at an all-time high as the value of homes drops steadily and the disparity between the extremely wealthy and the poor continues to grow into an impossibly large chasm.
Personally, I want a change, a massive change and I want it soon. I don't think we have the time to see if McCain is really all that different from the current administration. I am not so naive as to see Barack Obama as a saviour sent to right all of these wrongs, but I do think he is smart, thoughtful, and full of new, creative ideas. I believe we could use that now more than ever.
Jessica Adams
Signal Mountain
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Mr. Caldwell – If you would like for your observations to be taken seriously, then you should note the next time you talk socialism to include the recent bailout bill supported by the President and the Republican party (as well as the Democrats) as the biggest move toward socialism in U.S. history. That is a specific concrete example of a policy that promotes socialism as opposed to your conjecture that Obama will promote it. And, yes, Obama supported the bill, but so did McCain.
One last thing – when you pay for that cheap milk, remember it’s cheap because of government price subsidies (another form of socialism). If the price of milk was left to the free market, it would be much higher.
Robert Pregulman
Seattle, Wash.
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Apparently Mr. Pregulman doesn't understand how farm subsidies work. The government pays farmers, like dairy farmers, not to produce so that prices can be kept artificially high. Capitalism is the best economic system in that it generates new ideas and competition to excel and succeed. When the government controls and dictates, businesses stagnate. This is why the Soviet Union failed and China changed. China is still totatilarian, just not really communistic. Its economy is booming because of capitalistic principles.
Obama wants to lead this country down the same path as the Soviet bloc countries. High taxes and government control. Make no mistake, socialism is about government control of the economy, money, and the people through welfare programs. In order to show the power of his ideas, Stalin plucked a chicken and had it coming back to him in order to take food from his hand. As long as the government provides for peoples needs - the will become sheeple following a dictator. Beware of anyone who promises everything to everyone. Obama has no real plans - just empty promises.
Ted Jameson
Chattanooga
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Mr. Caldwell is bragging about Walmart. That company is the start of the ruination of the USA. They run all the small stores out of business and work people for substandard wages. It takes a man and his wife to make a living working at Walmart, and they are just getting by then.
Try finding an American product in any of their stores. There aren't any. Everything comes from China or whatever backward country they can find to make our goods. I didn't know they were making baby formula in China until a few weeks ago so maybe the milk that Mr. Caldwell was buying came from China, too. Everything we buy nowadays comes from China and the only thing that comes from the USA is the price.
The Republicans always want to blame the Democrats for everything. Who do they want to blame for what has happened in the last eight years? And they want more of the same for the next four years. Can't people see what is going on? Are Republicans hoping to get it right and keep voting for another Republican President? Do Republicans want change? They don't seem to. They do the same old, same old and it doesn't work.
Republicans have controlled Chattanooga since the Civil War and look at Chattanooga's growth. Atlanta was burned to the ground during the Civil War and Chattanooga wasn't touched. Now look at Atlanta and Chattanooga. Chattanooga is still the same size as then, but you don't know where Atlanta starts and ends today.
Why didn't Chattanooga grow by leaps and bounds like Atlanta? I believe it must have been because of Chattanooga's leadership all these years. Who else can you blame?
Chattanooga had a head start after the Civil War and didn't go anywhere. The only change I have seen since I was a kid is that the Hoover carts are gone now, but they may come back.
Wake up, Chattanooga. Do the right thing for once in your life and vote for change. Vote for Obama. Give the Democrats a chance to run the country for a change. Maybe the USA will get out of debt like Bill Clinton left it eight years ago.
Gary Dixon
South Pittsburg
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Quick question: If the middle class (Americans making $250,00 per year or less) are given tax breaks, where will Obama's government get the almost $1 trillion of government spending that Obama is purposing? Answer: The businesses that employ those middle class Americans.
And what happens when businesses are taxed more? They will cut even more jobs and move them around the world for cheaper labor. Don't be fooled and think these companies will just take the tax increases with a smile and cut into their profits.
Mr. Robertson, I would have to agree that Mr. Parham's racism statement seemed directed at Mr. Caldwell, considering he was addressing Mr. Caldwell throughout his response.
Mrs. Adams, the terrorist attack on our soil was a major threat during the Clinton administration but because Osama bin Laden was connected to royalty from the UAE, Bill thought it best to not ruffle any Arab feathers. Had he acted with an iron fist much like President Bush, 9/11 quite possibly may never have happened. Please, understand I am not trying to say that the Clinton administration was responsible for 9/11. Unlike the Democrats, many Republicans understand that neither political party was responsible because that lies solely on the attackers! Home foreclosures are at an all-time high but why is that? Much of it is attributed to Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae approved individuals for home loans that were obviously not qualified to receive such loans. Why is this significant? Because Barack has been strongly supported by Fannie Mae. He has received four times more money from Fannie Mae in contributions per year than any other politician.
In 2005, at the Congressional Black Caucus swear-in ceremony, a man by the name of Daniel Mudd (at the time he was the interim CEO of Fannie Mae, replacing Franklin Raines who was forced to resign his position because of "accounting irregularities") gave a speech, in which he stated that he would like advice from Obama and he went as far as to call Mr. Obama family. Republicans have been trying to push for more regulation of companies like Fannie Mae because of their reckless nature. In 2005, John McCain co-sponsored the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005. In this he stated that we should have tougher regulations on these companies because of the reports of an accounting scandal to the tune of $10.6 billion that was occurring at Fannie Mae at the time. He also states that if regulation is not increased and enforced "American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole". The CEO at the time was the aforementioned Mr. Raines, who, according to a Washington Post report in August of 2008, was a close political adviser to Sen. Obama. I guess Obama will be able to handle the economy better since he was a part of the problem in the first place.
Mr. Dixon, Would you like Chattanooga to be as big as Atlanta? I sure wouldn't. I don't want to deal with all the big city issues that come with it. If you haven't noticed there has been a lot of change around Chattanooga. Look at the Northshore area and the waterfront near downtown.
You don't like Republicans in office in Chattanooga, well believe me it could be much worse. For instance, what do the top 10 cities with the highest poverty rate in the U.S. have in common? Democratic leadership. Here's how the cities break down:
1) Detroit (first on the poverty rate list) hasn't elected a Republican mayor since 1961;
2) Buffalo, N.Y. (2nd) hasn't elected one since 1954;
3) Cincinnati (third) since 1984;
4) Cleveland (fourth) since 1989;
5) Miami (fifth) has never had a Republican mayor;
6) St. Louis (sixth) since 1949;
7) El Paso, Tex. (seventh) has never had a Republican mayor;
8) Milwaukee (eighth) since 1908;
9) Philadelphia (ninth) since 1952;
10) Newark, N.J. (10th)since 1907.
Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. The disadvantaged are the ones who habitually elect Democrats yet continue to stay disadvantaged! Aren't the Democrats supposed to be sensitive to the common man's issues? Doesn't seem like it.
In closing, I'd like to say 50 years ago Cuba voted for "change" and got it. Be careful what you wish for.
Ryan Phelps
Red Bank