Witch Hunt

[Shogun]

oh yes.. bring back the lead paint!

 

[Paulie]

oh yes.. bring back the lead paint!

I bring it back probably once a month. Being a house painter, I scrape old paint off houses FULL of the shit.

But did we need the government to hold our hands for us and tell us how bad it is? We couldn't figure it out ourselves?

 

[mattskramer]

I bring it back probably once a month. Being a house painter, I scrape old paint off houses FULL of the shit.

But did we need the government to hold our hands for us and tell us how bad it is? We couldn't figure it out ourselves?

I know that you and I can’t go back and say what the death toll would have been without government oversight. Yet, I firmly believe that we need a clearing house of information that private industry would be slow and reluctant to provide.

Do you really want to do away with such agencies as the FDA and CDC?

How would a patient in dire need of a drug, find the time to go to the library and research periodicals to find out what drugs are safe and which are not – particularly with family, career, home, car, and other responsibilities? What if he does not have the chemistry background or education and intelligence to determine what drugs are safe? How is he going to figure it out for himself? I am glad that we have government agencies and central clearing houses “gate keepers”.

 

[Paulie]

I know that you and I can’t go back and say what the death toll would have been without government oversight. Yet, I firmly believe that we need a clearing house of information that private industry would be slow and reluctant to provide.

Do you really want to do away with such agencies as the FDA and CDC?

How would a patient in dire need of a drug, find the time to go to the library and research periodicals to find out what drugs are safe and which are not – particularly with family, career, home, car, and other responsibilities? What if he does not have the chemistry background or education and intelligence to determine what drugs are safe? How is he going to figure it out for himself? I am glad that we have government agencies and central clearing houses “gate keepers”.

I'm not sure about the FDA. I am able to realize that they serve some kind of benefit to consumers, but I also think they have too much control. There's no reason why my doctor shouldn't be able to officially prescribe me a natural remedy, for instance.

You figure out a way to get corporate America out of bed with the regulatory agencies, and I'll lend them some real credence. Until then, all I see is power consolidation, and cronyism, with the public's best interest being merely a by-product.

 

[Zoomie1980]

There's not a part in that post I don't completely agree with, and it's something I've been saying around here for a long time.

There's no excuse for signing your life away for 30 years, or what have you, and not knowing EXACTLY what you were signing. If you don't understand the specifics, you consult with someone who does. It's absolutely BEYOND me that anyone would sign a home mortgage and not be 100% informed.

It's also beyond me that someone would indebt themselves for 30 years without being as sure as possible that in, say, 10 years, they could probably still afford the mortgage. Barring any unforeseeable "acts of god" of course. I'd also say that it's foolish to mortgage a house without at least 20% down, and the ability to make more than the minimum payment for at least one quarter of each year. Why would you want to let the interest completely eat away at your savings and purchasing power later in life? I just don't get it.

This entire country needs an attitude adjustment in regards to finances. Call that liberal if you want, I don't care. We're economically fucked right now largely in part because of financial ignorance from the government, the private sector, and consumers.

Something has to change soon, or this experiment in liberty is going to be a footnote in history.

Mainly because I can use my own money to make a LOT more than what I pay in interest. I could pay cash for my house but i keep it near 100% mortgaged because I usually can do a lot better than the after tax 4.5% or so I'm paying on my mortgages. I'd rather my money make 12-15% to over 20% a year than the 2-3% a house appreciates over an average year over the long haul

Homes are a LOUSY investment. Simply horrible, long term. You'd make more money in a money market account at your local bank. Homes are a place to LIVE not to INVEST.

 

[Zoomie1980]

I like that after-the-fact thinking. It reminds me of the argument that people make against the FDA and other oversight agencies. We don’t need them. Let the buyer beware. If the buyer is sold a bad product, word will get around and the seller will lose would-be customers. The victim’s family may even sue. Yeah, but the consumer who made a bad choice is DEAD.

Yea, you can actually die from making a bad choice. It's a freedom we have in this country.....to make choices....