Real Time w/ Bill Maher, March 27 - Part 2/7 : Bill Bradley interview

[jdfodio]

I wish I voted for Bill Bradley instead of Al Gore.

[sticknNbookn]

Better leaders for what? To preach to us shit we choose to ignore about shit we don't wanna do? I guess it would sound better coming from Brad & Angelina, but let's be honest- neither they nor a political figurehead is going to inspire this public to do much more than be accountable while we ride out the (hopefully) gradual stipulations of all the borrowed monies. The President isn't the leader. He's the spokesman for the group that's making our fallout as comfortable as possible.

[rspawn]

Applying economic "information asymmetry" (google it) to this situation: the big banks and insurers who lobbied to get the deregulation they got so that they could sell mortgages to people who could not afford to pay it back - those institutions know a lot more about the market than the people who took those mortgages.

Oddly enough people trusted these financial experts - and now people are blamed for not knowing better than these mortgage authorities?

[montanakid106]

What we need in the United States is for the American public to wake up and realize that neither the Democratic or the Repbulican party is to blame. Politicians have been in bed with the corporations worldwide. Why is it that 2% of the worlds population have 98% of the money? Whatever happened to government regulations on monopoly? How did these corporations like Walmart and AIG? How did that Madoff guy get by for so long without being noticed? Wake up America!

[fivestarmichael]

Corporations provide the creature comforts we enjoy. I like Walmart. Their food is 30-50 percent cheaper then the Kroger by my house. Leaving more money to spend on Itunes, books and other entertainment.

If people would use their brains and stop voting for these politicians who are bought by the corporations our system would change for the better.  It is up to us to choose better leaders.

[tonguecutsparrow]

Fivestarmichael, maybe you should read up on Marx, a little. Add a couple numbers to your IQ. Then come back and comment.

Without government, there would be socialism. I don't think you really understand that.

[fivestarmichael]

Your comment is simply not true. In Marxist theory "Socialism is the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism" Not the lack of government.

I never advocated the destruction of our government. Where do you get that?

The power of the federal government should be limited to those granted in the constitution.

The fed. gov. should not have the power to ban stem cell research, start wars with non-belligerent countries and ban the use of recreational drugs.

[Schweatyballs89]

yes,yes,yes to the "part __>>>" tabs in these videos.....too much of my time spent looking for the next video of the RT episode im watching

[mongobobo]

I see no difference between Bush jr. and Obama.

[mongobobo]

cosmetics. Important cosmetics, I'll grant you but nothing more nevertheless.

The nuts and bolts are identical. Your comment is like saying 2001 Honda Civic is incredibly different than a 2002 because some slight change in the slope of the rear fenders.

[craigdavid00]

different ideologies, both morons.

[fivestarmichael]

Looking at their policies you realize there is no difference. Obama recently announced we will be in Iraq for at least a decade. He is sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan. He spends money hand over fist like W. There is little difference between the two parties.

[ProjectProsperity]

Couldn't agree more.

[mongobobo]

precisely why I have little hope for a future in this country

[wolftone69]

they dont metion the fed?

[bobjman]

Sell the "good" assets back at 8 to 10 times what we paid??? What the hell is he smoking? Did Ol' Bradley even look at those balance sheets? Let me tell you, if we fully nationalize any bank we won't be getting 8x to 10x returns when we try to sell it back to the private sector.

[fivestarmichael]

I agree. Look at our Postal system or public education. Talk to an older American about the byzantine Medicare system. How well is the gov. doing with the war on drugs? The war on poverty?

If the gov. takes over banks... we are doomed.

[paul21403]

Bill said it a few weeks ago . . . and I've been quoting him: The Post Office works fine, efficient & inexpensive.

What is not to like?

[nodavidnow]

Yes, the reason they were efficiently is because competition was legalized. Prior to that overnight mail didn't exist.

[NapaSales150]

The Post Office only became "fine, efficient & inexpensive" when the government allowed private companies to COMPETE with the Post Office. It is a TEXTBOOK example of the FREE MARKET at work. The bailouts WILL NOT WORK,

[freedomanddemocracy]

Exactly FAIR cmpetition in which everybody follows THE RULES and THE REGULAYIONS in place. UNFAIR competition is when there are NO REGULATIONS and the giuy with more lobbies and money fucks all the others .... No I understand why both the Republicans and Ron paul want deregulation.

[NapaSales150]

Sorry, you are wrong. Its easy to understand why you would believe that all the problems are due to under-regulation, but the truth is, that what you fear is NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION. You hit the nail on the head, lobbyists. Now if the gov does its job, no lobbying group is able to BUY their support, but when the gov breaks the rules, they take the money, and pass laws which setup conditions to benefit one group, and hurt another.

[fivestarmichael]

Nodavidnow pretty much said it for me,

However, the GAO does not agree with you and Bill Maher.

The Postal Service's budget for 2002 was about $67 billion, which is almost 0.75 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).

A liberal like yourself might not consider that a lot of money... but I do.

[se36959]

Funny.. They just announced this week that the Post Office could run out of money by the end of the year.

[phirephate]

The "doom 'n gloom" people have been saying that for years.

Along with every other government run organization.

[se36959]

This time it was the Postmaster General.. Hahaha. He must have joined that "doom 'n gloom" crowd too.

From the Denver Business Journal: With predictions that mail volume will plunge this year, U.S. Postmaster General John Potter is asking Congress for help in finding ways to survive.

We simply cannot afford the current method of funding these benefits, Potter told lawmakers. Without a change, we will exhaust our cash resources.

Google Postmaster General and do a News search for more.

[fivestarmichael]

You really think the federal government is competent? Do you really think central planning and government control is better then free enterprise? You may be someone who has never had to go out into the world and work. You may be still sucking off your mom's tit or the gov. tit. But if you are self-reliant you realize gov. is just an impediment to progress.

Quoting Margaret Thatcher, "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples' money."

[Moustafro]

Quoting Thatcher? That woman was a cretin who colluded in the destruction of people for profit.

Quote: 'There's no such thing as society'

Free enterprise is part of the problem. Large corporations influence and manipulate Government policy to their advantage and to the detriment of the ordinary citizen.

These people are not accountable to anyone. Recent events show that they destroyed our economy and extorted money from all of us.

Hang the Bankers and destroy the Corporations!!

[fivestarmichael]

You want to blame corporations and remove any sense of personal responsibility. I agree corporations have a huge influence on public policy.

However, Americans keep voting for politicians who gain office through corporate campaign contributions. Blame the people for voting these greedy parasites into office.

Someday we have to take responsibility for electing these politicians who let corporations dictate public policy.

[tonguecutsparrow]

I see your point(s), and I apologize for misconstruing them. I do think we need to take personal responsibility for our own actions. I think this free market economy that we as Americans seem to love so much is completely bonkers, and enforces this "it's not my fault" attitude, denying us any solutions to these social and economical problems. I think we as a country need to learn that self-serving interests (in the public and private sectors) are not what democracy is & will be our death knell.

[fivestarmichael]

Americans are apathetic and lazy. We have allowed the gov. and corporations to make decisions for us. We keep voting for parasitic politicians who bend to special interests groups. It is our fault.

There is only one reason we have all of these toxic mortgages in the first place.

No one is blaming the people who took out mortgages on homes they knew they couldn't afford? Or the people who were trying to flip houses?

[tlen0117]

The house and senate should be blamed for letting the corruption continue unchecked for so long.

[imnoromeo]

The problems you are sighting are not caused by Socialism, America has avoided socialism like the plague since the Red Scare. However, America has become incredibly Nationalistic over the last 50 years and it is this social change that has caused most of the problems you sight. Socialism, particularly Democratic Socialism, is a valid system that has succeded in many European nations and is far stronger and more stable than the Nationalist Hegemonic Plutocratic Oligarchy America currently uses.

[tlen0117]

America hasn't "avoided socialism" as you claim.

what exactly do you think social security, welfare and the public school system are?

as for socialism succeeding in Europe, you obviously haven't a clue. most of the Europeans I know, including my ex, came to America to escape socialism. my ex is from Italy--his sick father pays out his own pocket to see a doctor otherwise he wouldn't get an appointment for months.

[Jacko38]

Do you know the reason why there are long waiting times for universal health care? Its because everyone is in line whereas in America there is 40 million people who don't have health insurance, what happens when they have an accident.

[tlen0117]

it's called LIFE, baby. take responsibility for yourself and get a job. and the usa has a population of around 350million. if ONLY 40 million are without health insurance that speaks volumes-

[Jacko38]

'take responsibility for yourself and get a job' What happens when someone is unemployed or has ajob but still can't afford it.'if only 40 million are without healthcare that speaks volumes' You are forgetting all the people who were refused health care by their insurance companies. If you have private companies dealing with health insurance then you will find that all they care about is making a profit.

[imnoromeo]

The #1 cause of bankruptcy in the USA is medical expences, in Canada nobody has ever gone bankrupt in order to receive there fundemental human right to live. By the way Italy was nationalist socialist in the 40's, since then thet've been a Parlimentary republic. FYI a society that has social programs such as welfare and public education are not automatically socialist states, try learning something about political science before you speak such nonsense.

[hardluckhippie]

Why do we need the banks? Why can't we stimulate jobs by actually having jobs where we build the stuff we use in this country by the people in this country?

[fivestarmichael]

Where are you going to get money to start a business? Due to high gov. regulations it costs thousands of dollars just to get the permits and licenses you need to get started.

[tlcasselman]

I think the government should control the banks, or at least put stricter regulation on them. The Canadian banks aren't failing because we have stronger and stricter regulations.

[tourniquetgwen]

Thanx nodavidnow! You rock, almost as much as Bill ;)

[alloowishus]

thank you for the upload, and thank you for linking the different parts, everybody who uploads multi part vids should do this! :)

[rollsthepaul]

We need to bailout the banks and pay their criminal managers bonuses. I guess this is because they own us. Would you take the pain to get rid of these SOB's? Our job, so they tell us, is to suck it up. This, we know how to do. All we want is our toaster and our steel belted radials and to be left alone in our living rooms. We'll all be better off when we need permission to take a shit; at least then, we won't have to think at all.

[chaseef]

And I would consider myself a Liberal, but i HATE the idea of a gun registry. I hope we ditch ours (in Canada).

[chaseef]

This Bill Bradley sounds like he would make a better sports coach than a statesman. His economic 'analysis' was pretty weak sauce.

[jblanch3]

I'm not particularly great at reading between the lines, but from what I heard, Bradley was saying that in order to show the Chinese, Saudis, etc. that we're serious about reducing our debt, that we'll have to look at our "entitements" like Social Security and Medicare. I'm assuming that he means to gut and abandon them?

[Konform2zoidberg]

Sadly probably yes.

[StarvingForTruth]

Unfortunately, he does mean to cut them back. But the hard truth is, it is mathematically impossible for us to be able to pay them all out.

Check out "Chris Martenson" on the web (and youtube). Great free videos on the subject. Google "Crash Course" for 3 and a half free hours of a very simple, very plain, very calm, presentation of the mathematical functions involved by a PhD Scientist, MBA, and former Fortune 300 V.P. If I can follow him, anyone can.

peace.

[uky24]

I agree with bill that the second plan for the banks is better why pump hundreds of billions into a company we could buy for 15 billion. Its like investing 200 grand in an 83 Ford Pinto. Obama doesn't have the balls to temporarily nationalize the banks because he's worried republicans would call him a socialist. Guess what they already are so he might as well do it.

[gwengoadalso]

buy sell buy sell 12 monkeys Save, Save Save and proiduce, produc produce!

[rustyshackelford1980]

We're all monkeys! : )

[FireGuyX]

You're not suppose to spend that type of money on wasted banks Bill Bradley, and you're not suppose to raise taxes during a recession you neo-liberal. He's right about about the three issues though, but wasn't specific about it. Another big spending democrat.

[FireGuyX]

great another celebrity/musician dumb ass who doesn't know anything about politics, government, or economics.

[jmaycock]

Did you not listen to the introduction? Or the fact that 8 years ago he ran against Al Gore in 2000? So he is a politician, right?

[FireGuyX]

I was referring to Mos Def.

[jmaycock]

Well then, why don´t you put your comment in the clip it belongs in? Or be clearer next time.

[JRCKFSH]

Mos Dumbshit is back?  lol

[mackdaddy1976]

Dear Banks: Be responsible. Love, Barack Obama

(Best Plan Ever!)

America is saved. Praise Jesus ( I mean Barack)

[siti1ca]

or how about getting the government to spend within its means?

[js3389]

That as well.

[js3389]

Consume, spend, consume, spend. It'd be nice if these politicians would mention production. It's production that will really bail us out, not the fraudulent crap the banks gave us.