John Stossel: The myth that Republicans want to shrink govt.

[TIMOTHYSAARINEN]

Stossel is an enema bag nozzle.

[technolovers2012]

STOSSEL 2012!!!!

[MckyMseNTarotCrds]

Anyone who still thinks the GOP is the party of less govt. needs to wake up. They and the Dems are two sides of the same coin. All you can say of the Republicans is they replaced "the state" with "big business." And neither of those things benefits you or I very much. At least in the Democrat bureaucracy, the working man might get a bone thrown at him once in a while. The 2-party system needs to end. I vote libertarian. I hope Ron Paul runs 2012. Btw, Stossel's voice is annoying. I didn't watch.

[xtremejohnny69]

And this is why I like John Stossel, he's not an idealogue. Most conservatives support everything republicans do and critisize democrats while liberals support everything democrats do and critisize everything republicans do. He looks at the facts and that's why i trust him over any other person in the media

[kosstmoran]

Stossel needs to decide on which side of the fence he wants to reside. He exposes some truth but he's too busy being a Corporate America, republican kiss ass!

[evmazu]

@kosstmoran He's not a conservative or a Republican and doesn't take their side, he's a libertarian (and in fact he states this later in this book). He supports business but not when they are in bed w/ government, a problem ignored by Republicans. See my other Stossel video: The myth that big business believes in the free market. I also have a similar one NOT by Stossel: Big businesses & corporations do NOT want free markets. Just search the titles if you're interested

[coturnix19]

sad to say it, but stolles is somewhat wrong. In last 10 years us dollar devalued by 20%. So those 30-40% increase in spending are really much smaller.

[707hoser]

Finally something I can agree with John Stossel on.

[CubsFan2006]

Well spoken Stossel.

[IamCanadian3333]

Haha loved the video description, so true :D.

[selfrealizedexile]

The myth of "limited" gov't.

[papageorgio419]

We have to limit government.

[mdjk89]

Well, like mommy and daddy, the gov can make mistakes. We at least want them to acknowledge that rather than them take it out on us in order to feel right

[aagraber45]

@mdjk89 : Who is "taking it out on us?"

[rationalCrash]

I went through a similar transition as Stossel. I went from thinking that big government was ok and eventually realized that big government occasionally may do something good, but the cost is WAY too high. A free market does more good for less.

[LeGioNoFZioN]

amen to that

[aagraber45]

@rationalCrash : Except when the free market collapses on itself, like just recently. And yes.... it was the markets fault. Not government.

[rationalCrash]

@aagraber45: the free market didn't collapse. we don't really have a free market. the FED and government controls interest rates and money supply, that affects pretty much everything. the government (by borrowing and money creation) incentivized the false boom (false because your house was never worth $1Million). watch peter schiff for economics education

[aagraber45]

@rationalCrash : I reject this "there is no free market" school of thought. The banks failed, because the banks were practicing bad habits. Period.  They were over leveraged. They were pushing bad loans like candy and selling them as hedge funds, not caring if they loans defaulted. The false boom was not created by the government.

Additionally, it is not the government that is shipping our work overseas, so the average American can't afford to live.

The free market needs to own up.

[rationalCrash]

@aagraber45: you may reject the governments culpability, but it's true (look at the facts). The government/FED set interest rates too low (not the market). the gov pushed for people who couldn't afford cable tv to buy houses. the gov set rules to remove any responsibility for banks making bad decisions. when there are no consequences to bad actions, people act worse. the government/FED is almost entirely to blame. watch peter schiff and ron paul for detailed explanations of economics.

[aagraber45]

@rationalCrash : The "community reinvestment act" blame game is bologna. The banks were giving loans out willie nillie, and it had NOTHING to do with it. Anyone who went to get a loan, was offered WAY more then they could afford. I bought a house in 2001 and I was approved for WAY more then I could afford. And guess what... as soon as I bought a house, the bank sold my loan, not caring if I defaulted.

Low interest rates stimulated the market, but it was the banks that pushed bad loans.

[rationalCrash]

@aagraber45 : If you take a loan out it is YOUR responsibility to pay that loan back (and read the contract). It is the banks job to decide whether you are a good risk or not. The government through freddie, fannie, the FED, etc. pushed to give unqualified people loans. they did this by guaranteeing to buy loans. because of government, banks had little to no risk.

[aagraber45]

@rationalCrash : Yes I do agree the government dropped the ball by allowing the banks to over leverage their captial 40:1. That is why the banks went tits up, went people started defaulting.... they didn't have enough capital to cover the losses on the bad loans they pushed. And then AIG was next in line.

Your right.... the government should have watched the financial industry closer.

Oh.. and thank big corp for sending all our jobs to China. Another reason we can't afford houses.

[rationalCrash]

@aagraber45 : people defaulted (mostly, not all) because they are too stupid to manage their money, not held accountable for their actions, and mindlessly blame China for "stealing" their unskilled jobs. unions are to blame for a lot of lost jobs. if they didn't have government supplied monopolistic powers they couldn't blackmail companies to overpay the wankers working for them. To stay in business, they have to move manufacturing and other low-skill jobs to places where people work harder.

[shamgar001]

@aagraber45 The banks were encouraged to make bad loans by the government, which promised to protect them against any losses.

Jobs are going overseas because labor laws make it so unattractive to have the jobs here.

[aagraber45]

@shamgar001 :  The "Community Reinvestment Act" had very little effect on the housing bubble. That is a complete myth propagated by the likes of Hannity. No serious economist states that. Did you try to get a loan in the past ten years prior to the collapse? Banks were giving out home loans like candy, 3 times more then anyone could truly afford (many adjustable rate loans), and packaging them in hedge funds.

AND the laws were changed so banks could then leverage 40 to 1.

[shamgar001]

@aagraber45 Why would bank hand out loans like candy? Banks are hurt when you default on them. They wouldn't have made the bad loans, except they knew that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would buy the bad loans, and they knew they would get bailed out if things went bad. If the government had allowed failed banks to fail in the past, they would be inclined to be more careful.

[aagraber45]

@shamgar001 : You fundamentally do not have a grasp on what happened during the housing bubble. I am assuming you received all your opinion's from political pundits like Hannity. Banks didn't care because they were bundling the loans as hedge funds and selling them to other banks. So they would give the loan and sell it right away. Larger banks were buying the bundled loans... over leveraging then and insuring them with AIG, etc. AIG ring a bell? So when the banks fell they took out AIG.

[ptricky15]

@aagraber45 : Okay, first, you can't bundle anything as a hedge fund. It's called a derivative. Banks are already the most regulated industry in the world. Bank regulations and government underwriting caused many banks to make awful loans. The derivatives were given good ratings and sold to companies, governments, banks etc as low risk securities. Sure, bankers want to make money. Government regulation does nothing but create an illusion of security.

[ptricky15]

@aagraber45 : I am assuming that you are an economist. If you weren't than your assertion that "serious economists" deny the impact of the Community Reinvestment Act would be nothing but uninformed repetition of some other pundits opinion, right? Please, I would like to know, why is it that people are so reckless with other peoples' money? And, who can do a better job of holding people accountable for what they do with that money?

[ptricky15]

@aagraber45 : ...people whose life's labor is represented by that money or the federal government, whose subsidization of the National Endowment for the Arts helped pay $75,000 for a cup full of urine? This is all my opinion. I don't have cable so I can't watch Hannity.

[aagraber45]

@shamgar001 : "Jobs are going overseas because labor laws make it so unattractive to have the jobs here." Oh really... like what labor laws? Like the 40 hour work week? Like you have to have safety equipment and can't have asbestos in the factories? The fact you can't work children for 12 hours a day in a factory?

I suppose you are against regulation too. See what's going on in the gulf? That is what happens when you let companies "do what they want."

[shamgar001]

@aagraber45 things that mess up jobs here:

Forced unionization, minimum wage being to high, being required to provide healthcare, etc.

Oh, you love every one of these things because they benefit you, but from a manager's perspective:

If I hire you, and you make $50,000 for the company each year, but it costs the company $51,000 per year, something needs to change. Lover wages? Can't do that. No health benefits? Can't do that. Longer hours? Can't do that. So I guess I can't hire you. To India!

[aagraber45]

@shamgar001 : We cannot compete with countries that have workers that work for 2 bucks a day. PERIOD. Would you be willing to work for $2 a day?!?!

Maybe, just maybe it doesn't make sense to also give tax breaks to companies for sending jobs overseas. Ok... so if it was up to you most Americans would earn $3 an hour and pay $1,200 a month for health insurance. Do the math there. If it was up to people like you.... we would still be working 12 year olds 60 hours a week.

[rationalCrash]

@aagraber45 no, it wasn't the free market's fault. it was government meddling that caused almost all of it. don't just repeat your brain washing. watch peter schiff, learn austrian (real) economics. think. don't just keep repeating your mantra.

[bbburton]

And now, Max Baucus of Montana wants to spend a trillion dollars on health care. Imagine the boon doggle this will end up being. Just like medicare and medicaid, rationing will be the final result. Nothing good ever comes from gov't meddling. And the tragedy is we allow gov't to do this crap in our name. Don't blame me, I voted for Ron Paul.

[girzwald3]

I do blame you. Like it or not, politics is a dirty, rotten, stinking business. Your choice is usually between a giant douche and a turd sandwich. A lesser of two evils most of the time. The ONLY time a 3rd party was even a contender in the election was with ross perott. Had all you ron paul kooks voted for McCain, he might be in office instead of obama.

By the way, Ron Paul is an anti Semite.

[bbburton]

As far as I'm concerned, McCain is definitely a douche bag and a shit sandwich, and supporting McCain makes you just as dirty as he is. Ron Paul as antisemitic?! Give me a break. When you don't have anything else to trash him with, you pull this shit. It's disgusting.

[girzwald3]

Ya he is.

"By far the most powerful lobby in

Washington of the bad sort is the Israeli government"

Anti semite.

[bbburton]

Stating the truth doesn't make him antisemitic. Apparently you've nothing to back the lie up with. That makes your statement not credible. What else do you have? Nothing.

[hamace]

I appreciate your comments, but voting for McCain does not make me comlicit, just with out any choices.

Speaking of Ron Paul, how do you like the fact that Sue Lowden will likely be the one who runs against Reid? You can thank her for Pauls demise.

[Scoforever]

How is he an anti Semite?