Reading some of these posts, show that there is a lot of knowledge in the acronyms and technical end of the economical/financial talk. There was even one post that stated a guy who felt he was raising two families, his own and the one he's never met somewhere else. Some time and now is as good as any, this perspective of separation of the population has to stop and the harsh reality that we all are so highly dependent upon the successes of one another have to be recognized. There has to be some level of parity among the masses for society where there is a good degree of success to have a high standard of living for all it's citizens. I'm sure that the other family and even myself at times, walk into one of these stores and realizes that with every purchase we make, we happen to be raising not only our own families, but the ones we have never met. I'm a democrat and contrary to the republican sentiment, I don't espouse "communism". What I am saying, is that for any of us to be successful, our neighbor has to be successful. Our world offers a wealth of technology and advancement that each and every one of us should experience equally in our life times.
The voters who switched because of the tax cut, shame on you. If anything, over the past 8 years we should have learned that each of us has to put all of ourseleves and pitch in together to make something work. Reagan and Bush admins eventually brought us to change to Clinton. I started my career in the Reagan Administration, this followed by brief unstable work periods where I kept moving from company to company that were sinking ships and eventually there were no more sinking ships to get onto. I went back to school, played a role politically by getting rid of Daddy Bush and now I've enjoyed a stable job with the same company thru the Clinton Administrations. I don't mind paying taxes, as long as I have the job to pay them. Under the Republicans, we'll go back into this tailspin of despair that will eventually paralyze us economically. That's what the Tax cut mentality does. It doesn't "grow" anything, it's a policy of "strangling off" funding and the money supply to our government. Honestly, when you have no money in the bank, do you go do things ?, the same holds true with our government and these surpluses. These surpluses have had positive effects on our government and economy. I agree that there will be abuses to certain publicly funded programs, but really, by and large, those receiving aren't getting the greatest life anyway. I wouldn't trade a welfare life for the working life I have for anything and I don't think anyone else here would either. There is no quick fix for getting rich if you work everyday. Sorry, it's the same grind, where sacrifices have to be made. Remember your economics courses. Those models don't change and neither do the principles/theories of competition, substitute goods, prices, supply and demand and so on.
So in short, enjoy the prosperity you have and stop worrying about whether someone else has a penny more than you. I have a K6 III+ 600 that I built and I certainly don't hold a grudge against those shoppers @ CompUSA walking out with Athlons. P3's and Durons this holiday season, when I was building this one, even though there are those that feel I am justified for jealousy. Share the planet, because the day you go out of this life, you'll leave with as much as anyone else anyway. Those that you feel obligated to set up to be more comfortable will have to deal with their problems sooner or later anyways.