One of the worst business decisions was to leave the Dennys franchise.


Hopefully America's government goes out of business as well.

I'm surprised. The few times I was there, it was always packed. Personally, didn't miss it being a Denny's but the only meals I tend to like at those type of places are the breakfasts and I rarely go out to eat those because I make a fantastic omelet.

I hope one day that you acquire enough money to travel to other countries, lots of them. Spend some real time in each, not just on the beaches.

Then please tell us which of those governments you would replace ours with.

I agree. But, I think the building and location are too good to stay closed for long.



One of your more bizarre posts.

Thank you! Many continued blessings to you and yours. And may your life of expatriation be restful, relaxing and fulltime




Why would I have to go anywhere to provide an example of a better form of government? That is a really odd thing to say. You grew up in Washington, correct?

It's been going down hill. The one in Oly got shutdown a few months ago. I love going out to eat. Love it! However, we've had to go to Monte these last few months to find anything worth it.

Me three! It wouldn't take that much to do it right if someone would focus on it's success. All the beach traffic, local loyalists. We dined in Denny's 1-2 times a month, it'd be nice to stop having to go to Monte to find a great restaurant.

Only because my form of Government doesn't fit your agenda. My side lost, remember. You're side is creating a Police/Big Brother state of paranoid citizens too scared to acknowledge their Nation is bankrupt. C'est la vie.

Thanks. We are again ex-patriots for another half year.



There is a lot to hate and distrust about our government. Often we hear the world hates us which is partly true. We are the bully and we expect everyone to back down to us. In the past we were horrible. I am not sure that today we are any better. Every horrible weapon out there has our stamp on it except the suicide bomb.

I have been lucky enough to have visited lots of other places. You can find things you like about all of them and things that you just couldn't live with. We are not perfect but if you put us on one side of a balance scale and any other country on the other, we come out best every time.



Yes. What can we do about moving it a little further south?

Was the nation "bankrupt" when Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System? Was it bankrupt when we helped take seniors off the poverty rolls and bread lines with Medicare and Social Security? Was it bankrupt just a few short years ago when the Clinton Administration left Bush the Younger a balanced budget and a path to a surplus?

I think it was the "end regulations", "stop taxing the job creators" that put us on a path to bankruptcy. Simply raise the tax rate back up to 39.5% for the top 1%. Social Security and Medicare only need minor tweaks and their ok, too.

But, you are correct. If my side (you know the ones who think a central federal government has a roll in determining the minimum standards for what it means to be an American and a nation) continues to provide the basic services to ensure a safety net in America while your side continues to slash taxes to protect millionaires and billionaires, then we will end up bankrupt.

If they don't raise the taxes soon, your side will win by default. And, I guess, if we just put everything back to the states where they can decide to use the water hose on those protesters and we don't need no stinkin' schools and why are they regulatin' mah drinkin' water!... Damn regulations!..., then your side will have won, also.

Dude, I totally get all giddy hearing that. Can you imagine the top 1% trying to corral 50 rabid badgers?! Wow.

Was watching an animated documentary "explaining" your sides new mantra "We are the 99%". Wow, that is disgusting wealth distribution socialism propaganda.


Can you imagine that! 400 Billionares! 3.1 Million Millionares! Fucking nuts. Why would anyone want to be poor? Sheesh.

Animated Socialism Propoganda Here

During the Eisenhower years a 5 day stay in the hospital, doctors and all, would run about $250. My grandparents got Social Security back then and it paid for their $50 a month apartment on Cherry Street and the kids had to help feed them. The national debt....$257,357,352,351.04. debt

You cannot compare a quarter of a trillion dollars to 15 trillion dollars. History is great but temper it with a little economic reality.

Back to the subject: The restaurant business sucks. While it costs a bunch to own a franchise restaurant the odds go up on success. The owner lost his gamble on creating his own brand. I never ate there and cannot comment on the food. It was a big unknown to me. I know all about the Denny's Grand Slam breakfasts though.

I love breakfasts for any meal. What a great location for a IHOP.

http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm

$257,357,352,351.04 times 9.29 =

2.3908498 trillion U.S. dollars, debt 1950 in today's dollars.

15 trillion dollars today's debt.



Actually you can. 2.39 / 15 = 15.93% 1950 vs 2011


Also, Truman was president in 1950.

self delete

http://www.businessinsider.com/federal-government-budget-overview-2011-1?op=1

Yours is right. Mine was wrong.

Lesson: don't always trust the first link.

Just calculate the interest on the two sums. Which realistically can you ever pay back. They are not comparable. One could be paid.

Then hear a silly statement like we can spend our way out of this. Add in your interest payments to the new debt and find a way to pay that alone. While we are at it, let's grow government jobs that produce nothing that will make our balance of trade look any better.

We could not balance our books when we had excess Social Security money.

We have a mess that neither side has a solution for.

over $454 billion for fiscal 2011 in interest. vs

72 billion in interest at 1950 debt in present year rate.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_expense.htm

Incorrect. Both sides have "solutions" both won't agree on, and neither sides solution is the correct one.

You can fall into the thumper, lumberjack idiocy about arguing numbers all day and get nothing solved.

Let's pretend the US Government was a typical 2 parent 3 child house hold. They find themselves one income dependent and up to their eyeballs in debit. Nah, over there heads in debt. What would their solution be?

Tell me when it's time to push the reset button.

You grew up in 1 of 50 of the greatest Governments the world has ever seen and some countries have model themselves after and you never knew it. That's odd.

Stash's US view = Federal Government. Moving towards UN Control/NWO. (He's a good guy though and can be deprogrammed, I have faith.)

5th in Line's US view = Aberdeen City Council, GHC County Government, Washington State, and then if I care to look further DC.

The Federal Government is NOTHING without the States. The States are EVERYTHING without DC interference.

Stash believes in a strong federal government. I don't think simply saying Stash=Federal Government is fair. I also think State Government has a role as do City and County governments.



Again with the sillyness. NWO sound like the Neo-conservatives. Let them have it.

5th in Line's US view = "That's just the way things are done down here, Son. You're in Alabama now." (Is that a Banjo I hear in the background?)



True that.



Actually, with the Federal Government, I submit Florida could be a Cuban State. New Mexico and Arizona would be part of Mexico. Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia might be individual, sovereign, slave country/states. Washington may be Canadian.... as would Maine, etc.

No, the States aren't much without the Federal Government, either.

Dueling

And it disturbs me that you hear them regularly.

Who's arguing numbers? I'm just being like the CBO, giving you the facts. BB said something about you can't compare 1950 to 2011, and I showed him you could.

We are in world of sh*t and will be for a while, and also, our economy is running on only one cylinder.

The question is what to do? Cut government or raise taxes.

I do think getting the economy going it the best way to fix our problem, which will increase tax revenues.

This could be fun but before we start chopping down power poles to strip copper we could:

Refinance and quit excessive spending. I have helped a couple relatives do this and they got on top of their bills.

Find a part time job to supplement our regular job. A person can get by with 6 hours sleep. Basically work more.

File bankruptcy, start over again.



Not yet. Maybe when the Republicans win the next election.

Smaller government is the answer.

Communism would be great, if it worked.

As your graph showed, we've been here before. Did we starve government to solve it? No. We built highways, dams and went to the moon. We spent our way out.

The only thing better than a good banjo player is a good bagpiper. And, I don't hear banjos regularly, but only when I'm reading your posts.

Efficient government is the answer.

Yes, an efficient government which works for the people and not the current owners.

Both!

What does "small government" mean?


The above is a map of the world's richest countries color coded by social spending.

The ONLY part of our government which is too big is the military.

What about debt?

From Indexmundi





The debt crisis is manufactured to give an excuse to eliminate what little social spending we do.

But since we're on the topic of the macroeconomy, the below map is color coded by official unemployment rate.



Low-wage, low tax economies don't have any apparent advantage when it comes to employment. In fact, the map shows that governments who have less regard for the welfare of the citizenry have greater unemployment.

...Which should be unsurprising, but obviously it's not.

What the Republicans want is to kill the government and turn our country into a feudal system with Lords and serfs. If they have their way the “job creators” (the top 0.1% money grabbers) will rule and we will all be slaves with no rights, no hope, and the only bright side is we will die young. The “Tea Party” has been duped into thinking this is good.

What he said.