Whats the big idea?

The next "big thing" should be nothing. We don't have money for huge boondoggles any longer. We should be cutting back on government, not growing it.

With due respect to your point it is entirely possible to do big things. The govt just needs to realize that their position is and should be that of a supporting role. If properly planned and executed there is money to be made on many of the big ideas.

Yes, the government position is and should be that of a SUPPORTING ROLE.
Because that's how we won WW2, built the interstate system, went to the moon and developed the internet. Oh wait. It wasn't. It was BIG GOVERNMENT SPENDING that drove all those things!!!

I don't know how anyone can have a conversation with people who get such basic history fundamentally wrong. The private sector didn't send us to the moon or do ANY of those things I mentioned. GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND DIRECTION DID!

You got a point but please, set it aside. Big ideas, not petty "told ya sos"
 
The next "big thing" should be nothing. We don't have money for huge boondoggles any longer. We should be cutting back on government, not growing it.

With due respect to your point it is entirely possible to do big things. The govt just needs to realize that their position is and should be that of a supporting role. If properly planned and executed there is money to be made on many of the big ideas.

Yes, the government position is and should be that of a SUPPORTING ROLE.
Because that's how we won WW2, built the interstate system, went to the moon and developed the internet. Oh wait. It wasn't. It was BIG GOVERNMENT SPENDING that drove all those things!!!

I don't know how anyone can have a conversation with people who get such basic history fundamentally wrong. The private sector didn't send us to the moon or do ANY of those things I mentioned. GOVERNMENT SPENDING AND DIRECTION DID!

I didn't mention anything about history or past events. Why lie and misrepresent?

You know damn well back then we didn't have the kind of individual wealth to pull off big ideas without the govt leading. Now the roles are reversed.

Just look up Virgin Atlantics space program if you think I'm wrong. They are currently building space ships and a launching facility with PRIVATE MONEY.

I woulda thought some of you would have learned a bit out of participating in the Newt moon thread. Alas you still got your head firmly planted in the sand.
 
How about building that wall at the border of Mexico?

:dunno:

I think there needs to be more than just a wall. The wall is a starter. Nice, high. I think it needs to be two of them with a gap between them with sensors that alert command centers so by the time they start scaling the 2nd wall, we know where they are. But lets not stop there.

Then behind the wall, a channel that runs along the wall...a canal if you will. Hell, make it an intercoastal waterway and have some real trade going on. Make it deep and bring water in from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific ocean/Lake Superior on the north side. It would bring water out to the rural areas along the wall and the country's interior. The canal would also get rid of the tunnels. Pumping stations could take the water into the heartland to irrigate crops as well. Supposedly the global ocean levels are rising due to warming? This is a way to get them to drop back down. LOL...

So first you have the wall, then the channel. Then you have some network of roads beyond that. I'm envisioning rail to have a presence. The roads to be patrolled by INS agents to keep people out.

In the "good old days" immigration was a nuisance but it was damn convenient at times. Farmers got their crops picked for cheap and we got plentiful fruits and vegetables. Perhaps persons hired people to be nannies, house keepers, gardeners, bring in small amounts of drugs or stuff you can't buy here etc... Say what you want about it but you can't argue, that a lot of Americans benefited from it.

Now though with terrorism being what it is and the proliferation of both the deadly devices as well as the information on how to construct them; we have to worry about who is crossing our borders.

It makes no sense except to secure them. Across the Canadian frontier as well.
 
Those big imaginative projects are a thing of the past and we will not see their like again. We need so many energy, water and transportation upgrades but there is zero political will to promote them. We are doomed to watch while our infrastructure crumbles and people sit out of work because according to some of our leaders Americans no longer deserve to live in a modern country.

Okay, humor us with a list of priorities. What would you prefer, a new CCC?
 
I think clearing out all of the deadwood and no-goods out of Washington, DC would be a great place to start. Replace them all with some honest, forward-thinking people who are interested in doing what is best for the American people instead of their own political party or personal agendas.


While I'd freakin' love to see the above, I'll go another direction. I'd like to see races in the areas of science: Energy generation and medical technology.

Energy generation because the recent "green" fiasco has proven that we're just not there yet in terms of energy technology. The Obama administration has tried to force the issue by picking the winners and losers, and it's been a disaster. We need a race to create real, efficient, energy independence. Now.

Medical technology because Medicare is headed for a brick wall. We need to develop medical technology (using nanotechnology, for example) to both bring the cost of care down and improve effectiveness. Ten, fifteen, twenty years down the road, if we don't improve drastically in this area, we are screwed.

.

Elaborate on the medical technology. Are you talking about artificially constructed organs?
 
With deference to Grumps talking about no worthy debates...I'll try to start one to get the intellecutal juices flowing here...

Rise above politics for a moment:

What should be the next "big thing" we do as a nation? Define it any way you want but I'll give an example.

Hoover Dam for example. If you were to suggest building it today I think you'd get laughed out of the room. The Golden Gate Bridge? Any takers on that?

I think the next "big thing" should be transcontinental high speed rail myself. We could start tomorrow. Chicago to Denver in 90 minutes would be the first step

"IF" we could afford it I think a plan for a maned mission to mars would inspire not only national pride but also a new generation of children interested in science.

Politically I wish we could make all elections publicly financed. Balance the budget.

Yes and yes.
 
Mars missions and beyond.
With the private sector leading the charge...but the roadblock that is the swamp has to be drained in the District of Criminals first...

The Private Sector has to have a big role however The heavy lifting capabilities of the government launch vehicles are superior to anything that the private sector can field financially.
 
I think the next "big thing" should be transcontinental high speed rail myself. We could start tomorrow. Chicago to Denver in 90 minutes would be the first step

The next big thing should be fixing our education system. We need to be training our children for the jobs of tomorrow, not the jobs of yesterday. We also need to teach critical thinking.

Nothing illustrates this need than a post which says a train that would have to travel nearly the speed of sound between Chicago and Denver is the first step. It takes more than two hours to FLY between Denver and Chicago.
 
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With deference to Grumps talking about no worthy debates...I'll try to start one to get the intellecutal juices flowing here...

Rise above politics for a moment:

What should be the next "big thing" we do as a nation? Define it any way you want but I'll give an example.

Hoover Dam for example. If you were to suggest building it today I think you'd get laughed out of the room. The Golden Gate Bridge? Any takers on that?

I think the next "big thing" should be transcontinental high speed rail myself. We could start tomorrow. Chicago to Denver in 90 minutes would be the first step

A better then balanced budget that also begins to pay down the debt.

IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN THOUGH.
 
Those big imaginative projects are a thing of the past and we will not see their like again. We need so many energy, water and transportation upgrades but there is zero political will to promote them. We are doomed to watch while our infrastructure crumbles and people sit out of work because according to some of our leaders Americans no longer deserve to live in a modern country.

Okay, humor us with a list of priorities. What would you prefer, a new CCC?

Modernized power grid
Universal broadband telecommunications coverage.
Modernized water and sewer for cities with patched together 100+ year-old systems.
Get a jump on the massive public transportation system we will badly need in 20 years.
Get a jump on the massive amounts of non fossil fuel energy we will need even sooner than we think.
Construction of a national water grid to capture spring thaws and increase arable land.
Development of cost effective synthetic meat.

The list is long but there are thousands of things the future will force us to do no matter how much we deny it, we really need to get on some of these things because they are not going to be any cheaper in the future. The price tag of any of these necessary projects is just going to climb.
 
Those big imaginative projects are a thing of the past and we will not see their like again. We need so many energy, water and transportation upgrades but there is zero political will to promote them. We are doomed to watch while our infrastructure crumbles and people sit out of work because according to some of our leaders Americans no longer deserve to live in a modern country.

Okay, humor us with a list of priorities. What would you prefer, a new CCC?

Modernized power grid
Universal broadband telecommunications coverage.
Modernized water and sewer for cities with patched together 100+ year-old systems.
Get a jump on the massive public transportation system we will badly need in 20 years.
Get a jump on the massive amounts of non fossil fuel energy we will need even sooner than we think.
Construction of a national water grid to capture spring thaws and increase arable land.
Development of cost effective synthetic meat.

The list is long but there are thousands of things the future will force us to do no matter how much we deny it, we really need to get on some of these things because they are not going to be any cheaper in the future. The price tag of any of these necessary projects is just going to climb.


Your idea about the spring thaw is interesting. Snow pack usually enters underground aquifers, streams, and rivers. How would you propose doing that differently or more efficiently? I'm definitely curious.
 
Okay, humor us with a list of priorities. What would you prefer, a new CCC?

Modernized power grid
Universal broadband telecommunications coverage.
Modernized water and sewer for cities with patched together 100+ year-old systems.
Get a jump on the massive public transportation system we will badly need in 20 years.
Get a jump on the massive amounts of non fossil fuel energy we will need even sooner than we think.
Construction of a national water grid to capture spring thaws and increase arable land.
Development of cost effective synthetic meat.

The list is long but there are thousands of things the future will force us to do no matter how much we deny it, we really need to get on some of these things because they are not going to be any cheaper in the future. The price tag of any of these necessary projects is just going to climb.


Your idea about the spring thaw is interesting. Snow pack usually enters underground aquifers, streams, and rivers. How would you propose doing that differently or more efficiently? I'm definitely curious.

I am not a hydrologist but every year we have floods and droughts, rather than allowing it all to flow to the oceans there should be ways of diverting some of it to arid regions where agriculture is difficult. We already have oil pipelines everywhere, why not water? It will be the thing wars are fought over rather than oil before too long. If we do not get a real handle on our liquid resources we will not be able to grow the food we need. The same dynamic underlies my call for synthetic meat, current livestock production is incredibly wasteful in feed and water, much too wasteful for a hungry, thirsty future.
 
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I think the next "big thing" should be transcontinental high speed rail myself. We could start tomorrow. Chicago to Denver in 90 minutes would be the first step

The next big thing should be fixing our education system. We need to be training our children for the jobs of tomorrow, not the jobs of yesterday. We also need to teach critical thinking.

Nothing illustrates this need than a post which says a train that would have to travel nearly the speed of sound between Chicago and Denver is the first step. It takes more than two hours to FLY between Denver and Chicago.

Well, a couple of hundred years ago a train going 50 mph was unheard of. Japan has something like a 300mph train.

This is what I mean...the next "big" thing. Far fetched...okay. Impossible, we'll see.
 
Those big imaginative projects are a thing of the past and we will not see their like again. We need so many energy, water and transportation upgrades but there is zero political will to promote them. We are doomed to watch while our infrastructure crumbles and people sit out of work because according to some of our leaders Americans no longer deserve to live in a modern country.

Okay, humor us with a list of priorities. What would you prefer, a new CCC?

Modernized power grid
Universal broadband telecommunications coverage.
Modernized water and sewer for cities with patched together 100+ year-old systems.
Get a jump on the massive public transportation system we will badly need in 20 years.
Get a jump on the massive amounts of non fossil fuel energy we will need even sooner than we think.
Construction of a national water grid to capture spring thaws and increase arable land.
Development of cost effective synthetic meat.

The list is long but there are thousands of things the future will force us to do no matter how much we deny it, we really need to get on some of these things because they are not going to be any cheaper in the future. The price tag of any of these necessary projects is just going to climb.

Synthetic meat?
 

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