Republicans & Conservatives: Archives

The way things are going, you’ll need a truck load of U.S. currency to buy a loaf of bread.

Am I to understand that this entire News Segment is nothing more than an invention of yours? Of all the crap going on in this country, you still found the time for this? I suppose racism and stereotyping is far easier for Republicans than face the real poverty and class warfare going on today.

Why don’t you write about all the Republican Donor Corporations getting no-bid contracts in NO rather than this piece of rightwing nonsense?

I have to agree with Aldous.
The right column, generally speaking, does seem to deal with less substantive issues.

While we’re talking about U.$ currency:
(1) Consider the instability of persistent inflation (3% or higher every year).
(2) Consider how long it would take to pay down the National Debt:
If the federal government started 01-Jan-2006 paying $1.0033333 billion per day, and also stopped borrowing $1 billion per day,
it would take over 127 years to pay off the debt.
National Debt = $8 trillion
PeriodsPerYear = 12 (months)
Interest Rate % = 4.5%
Payment = $1.003333 billion per day

_______________ Accumulative_________ Accumulative_________ Scheduled
_______________ Finance______________ Payment On_________ Remaining
_______________ Charge:______________ Principal:____________ Principal:
Pmt# Date
0001 01/01/2006 $30,000,000,000.000000 $100,000,000.0000000 $7,999,900,000,000.00
0002 02/01/2006 $59,999,625,000.000000 $200,375,000.0000000 $7,999,799,625,000.00
0003 03/01/2006 $89,998,873,593.750000 $301,126,406.2500000 $7,999,698,873,593.75
0004 04/01/2006 $119,997,744,369.73000 $402,255,630.2700000 $7,999,597,744,369.73
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
1517 05/01/2132 $37,891,131,133,766.30 $7,770,568,866,233.71 $229,431,133,766.2900
1518 06/01/2132 $37,891,991,500,517.90 $7,799,808,499,482.08 $200,191,500,517.9200
1519 07/01/2132 $37,892,742,218,644.90 $7,829,157,781,355.14 $170,842,218,644.8600
1520 08/01/2132 $37,893,382,876,964.80 $7,858,617,123,035.22 $141,382,876,964.7800
1521 09/01/2132 $37,893,913,062,753.40 $7,888,186,937,246.60 $111,813,062,753.4000
1522 10/01/2132 $37,894,332,361,738.80 $7,917,867,638,261.28 $82,132,361,738.72000
1523 11/01/2132 $37,894,640,358,095.30 $7,947,659,641,904.76 $52,340,358,095.24000
1524 12/01/2132 $37,894,836,634,438.10 $7,977,563,365,561.90 $22,436,634,438.10000
1525 01/01/2133 $37,894,920,771,817.30 $8,000,000,000,000.00 $0.00
TOTAL INTEREST= $37.894 Trillion
… Notice, that the total interest paid is almost $38 trillion !, which is almost 5 times the original $8 trillion debt.

(3) Consider where government gets money, and why we’re approaching an economic meltdown, that may start with inflation:
(a) taxes
(b) loans (currently, borrowing over $1 billion per day)
(c) print money (which causes inflation)

(4) Consider these pressing problems: home.comcast.net/~d.a.n/PressingProblemsFacingTheUS_NoBackLinks.htm

Think it’s all worthless dooms day rhetoric ?

Care to offer some predictions where this is all headed ?

Yes it was dreamt up by me having a bit of fun, but consider the idea for a moment.. that far-fetched in this day and age?

OK.

Printing money is very costly, and much more complex than many are aware of.
Special materials, ingredients, and hours go into the design of currency.

Chaning it just for cosmetic reasons only, is a huge waste of tax payers’ money.

Why can’t there be one African-American featured in our currency?” said a prominent African-American spokesman associated with the effort

With few exceptions, U.S. presidents or early authors of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution appear on U.S. money. Few, if any, new faces have been added to printed currency in a long time (e.g. $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000, etc.).

But, that question doesn’t surprise me at all.
It is racism disguised as a claim for equality.
Nothing new here. I’m sick of it.

Sure, if you can make it work, it is a pretty good idea. These presidents can be considered great Americans, but they are not the only great Americans. Still, it won’t happen.

Faces On Currency:
www.frbsf.org/currency/iconography/features.html
www.mistupid.com/currency/
Decline of U.$. Currency:
www.fpanet.org/journal/articles/2004_Issues/jfp0304-art6.cfm
Some History about U.$. Currency:
www.frbsf.org/federalreserve/money/funfacts.html

An anecdote: in the UK, Charles Darwin is on the 10-pound note. How about a pastiche on what Pat Robertson would say to that?

Satire and humor is something I appreciate, so Mike T., in the spirit in which you wrote this original piece?

Why they picked Susan B. Anthony rather than Betsy Ross or one of the other more “deserving” women in history?

:-)

To everyone whining about “no bid” contracts in New Orleans, my question is this: how long should the rebuilding process be delayed to allow for the normal, non-emergency government contracting process to go through the bid procedure, complete with appeals and everything else? There is always a tradeoff between fraud potential and speed. So I guess I’m just wondering how long you’re willing to wait and which companies you’d nominate to do the work that’s now being done.

There are many security reasons for altering our currency. When the time comes for security to dictate another change, it would not cost one additional cent to place MLK, Rosa Parks, or Cesar Chavez on one of our denominated bills.

Or Harriet Tubman, she had just as an important impact as Susan B. Anthony.

I’m still waiting for some one to start crying about the Masonic Symbols that are used on our currency. Given the Christian Right stance that we were founded under Judeo-Christianity IMO its only a matter of time.

So you don’t believe the Masons did believe in God? From what I understood you had to possess a belief in not only God but the afterlife to be a Mason.

Roach:

Considering that the Rebuilding would take YEARS, I would say that we have plenty of time. No-bid Contracts awarded to major Republican Donors that will NEVER be audited wherein the Companies involved are not even required to pay the minimum wage are just asking for another Iraq Scenario. I suppose it doesn’t bother you that BILLIONS of your dollars get stolen, eh?

Mike T.

I enjoyed your post…
I read nothing more into it, then what I thought you intended…

It wasn’t about hyperinflation.
It wasn’t about racism.
It wasn’t about stereotyping.
It wasn’t about no-bid contracts.
It wasn’t about National Debt.
It wasn’t about dooms day.
It wasn’t about a huge waste of taxpayers’ money.
It wasn’t about a history lesson.
It wasn’t about the real cost of printing currency.
It wasn’t about Masonic Symbols.
It wasn’t about Judeo-Christianity.
It wasn’t about whether the Masons believed in God.
It wasn’t about BILLIONS of your dollars getting stolen.

HOWEVER, it must have been about how people can twist things.

AND I thought it was JUST satire…
What was I thinking…

Lisa - I’m glad you realized satire and humor formed a great bulwark of my idea when I wrote it. :)

In Australia I do know that their currency has been altered a bit to reflect more peoples than just ‘rich white men’ who founded their nation.

There are many security reasons for altering our currency. When the time comes for security to dictate another change, it would not cost one additional cent to place MLK, Rosa Parks, or Cesar Chavez on one of our denominated bills.

Actually, it does cost a lot.
Adding security features are not entirely contained within the plates. Thus, some security features can be added or modified without changing the plates.
And, it takes many months and hours to make the plates.
Several plates have to be etched in reverse (i.e. mirror image) by hand, by an artist, that is an expert at etching, using magnification, and understands the many nuances to making plates for currency.
Then, the plates have to be approved. Then, the security features are not identitcal on all bills. All of that is why changes are not made more often, unless absolutely necessary. The newest security features were delayed for too long, because of the massive effort to change the currency, despite the massive counterfeiting by numerous operations overseas.
So, the cost of that entire process is costly, especially when the changes affect the design of the plates, and it is certainly not negligible in cost and time required to do it.

Coins are different.
They’re easier to make, because coins have a much smaller face value, and it’s not nearly as profitable to counterfeit coins.

I’m not opposed to anyone appearing on any U.$. currency. However, I don’t see why any existing bills need to be changed now, unnecessarily, just to be be more diverse. Should this really be a priority at the moment, when we should be more worried about the U.$. dollar soon becoming worthless ?

The way things are going, there will be many opportunities to put lots of new faces on U.$. currency, because we’ll soon need to print much, much, much larger denominations…because, it will soon take a $1,000 bill to buy a cup of coffee, and a $50,000 bill to buy a gallon of gas.

But, that’s classic, and reminiscent of Nero’s self-indulgence, extravagances, and playing the fiddle while Rome burned.

The complaints about the personages on our coins reflect the alienated, anti-western roots of so-called multiculturalism. America is a multiethnic nation with a single culture that defines its history, its values, its political system, and its essence. That culture is the Anglo-Protestant core of the founders. Attempts at inclusion are ultimately aimed at undermining those values, yet they’re called for in innoncuous sounding appeals for fairness, when in fact it’s a deliberate attempt to change the country and its values.

Petty marxists like Ceasar Chavez no more form part of that culture’s essence than the other au courant, minor figures proposed above. Booker T. Washington, perhaps, and certainly a number of different women, may make the cut, but as with most attempts at inclusion, it will involve a devolution of standards. We’ll end up like the Europeans whose currency features non-specific European-looking locations so as not to favor any of the petty, squabling constituents of the EU. In terms of raw importance and impact, few American figures exceed in importance Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, etc.

To dismiss these guys as “dead,” “rich,” or merely “white” obscures too much of their genius and moral excellence. And if you’ve not read any of their writings, please don’t pretend you know anything about the subject matter.

This post doesn’t strike me as odd. Fiction is a common unit of Republican political currency.

Mike T.

For some reason…No one heard you…

Lisa,
I have no problem with the Masonic Symbols nor in the words “In God We Trust.” However, given some citizens insistance on the Prinicples that Founded this Nation, I’m amazed that they haven’t acted to have them removed as belonging to “A Cult.”

However, I do wish The Free Masons of America would step forward and reveal the “Secrets” held within each symbol and why they appear the way that they do on our currency. Never having been a member, I feel that I would cross that “Magic Line” if I would attempt to explain them.

People stop crying about who’s face is on the bill’s. What you should be crying about is how people right hear in america sleep on the side walk every day. how older Americans can’t afforid to get sick. Once we solve all of theses problems then we can worry about trivel thing’s like whos on the one and who’s not

Mike, I enjoyed the article and the spirit within which it was written. My question is, how will those minority groups work together when it comes to deciding which minority is represented by the $50 and which one by the $1? Is one minority “greater” than another?

I agree, it doesn’t seem to me that the satirical article you wrote is very far from being a reality, with people actually making the claims you predict.

danny, thanks for the complement I’m glad someone was satisfied :)

I’ve got the same question as you. But, what I think could possibly happen in the future is past presidents like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson removed from their respective dollars because of being ‘slave owners’

Hey Mike, I can see the ACLU drawing up a law suit right now to get GW an TJ

Thanks

Good post. I found it amusing. I wish everyone would remember that we do not have to be serious all the time. Life is serious, but that does not mean it cannot be taken too seriously sometiems.

This article, despite claims of such, was not merely satirical in nature. The motivations, clearly based on the linked article to CNN, was anything but mere satire. It speaks to racism, which is still alive and well. And, it speaks to a lack of priorities, when we have much bigger pressing problems, that the red column seems to avoid. What’s the motivation for that?

This is what passes for humor in the red column? Good gravy.

Tune into the center column for some decent humor.

d.a.n. I’m not a liberal, so it’s not liberal bashing when I say that you might be taking life a bit too seriously. People cannot think at their best if they do not, every once in awhile, let down the walls of suspicion and worry. Yes, the article was related to more serious issues, but that does not mean we cannot enjoy it for what it is and leave the issues for another discussion.

Correction: I am a liberal. It’s late, I spent all day at a wedding =)

I just think its funny that Republicans have to make up stuff to bash liberals with. You guys are becoming a charicature of your angry white man stereotype.

Thanks Erika,
I get that a lot. Thanks for the advice.
Hey, I don’t want anyone to not enjoy the article. That’s their choice.

Mike,

Thanks to the Bush administration we will need to consider past Chinese leaders and heroes to place on our currency. It will be , after all, their money.

I think Bruce Lee would be nice for twenties, Jackie Chan for tens and Benny Hana for fives.

Lisa:
“Why they picked Susan B. Anthony rather than Betsy Ross or one of the other more �deserving� women in history?”

Without Elizabeth Cady Stanton there’d have been no Susan B. The two were kind of a sister act. Stanton stayed home with the enlightened Mr. Stanton and her many kids while writing a gazillion letters to Congress and treatises on women’s equality. Meanwhile, the unmarried Ms. Anthony endlessly toured the country by rail, wrangling with the local authorities, and whipping up suffragette rebellion in the minds and hearts of women everywhere.
I guess they figured Susan B. had taken more of a physical risk, and thus deserved to win currency status? Shame though, because the two should always appear together, IMO.

As far as Betsy Ross goes, I don’t think she ranks very high on the list of deserving women. Much more kick-ass in the Early American sense would be Mary Ludwig Hays McCauly (aka Molly Pitcher), who during the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 helped her husband and his fellow artillery gunners through the heat, smoke and fire of the day-long battle by going back and forth to fetch water from a well. When her husband was finally wounded and couldn’t continue to man his cannon, Molly took his place and kept the gun firing for the remainder of the battle.
That seems way more important to me than Betsy managing to piece a flag together from some fabric scraps she had in her sewing basket.

“Or Harriet Tubman, she had just as an important impact as Susan B. Anthony.”

Very true — though I suppose if we want to point to a black woman whose work combined both working to free slaves and speaking out for women’s suffrage, we can always look to Sojourner Truth, who did both.

Stephen:
“This post doesn�t strike me as odd. Fiction is a common unit of Republican political currency.”

Oh, that’s a good one!

AP:
“I just think its funny that Republicans have to make up stuff to bash liberals with. You guys are becoming a charicature of your angry white man stereotype.”

AP, did you know that Angry White Men can always get a woman to say “Yes”?

It’s true. All they have to do is ask “Am I bothering you?”
;^)

Mike T,

Maybe I’m just an old curmudgeon, but I don’t get it. You’re criticizing minorities over something you made up? And you think that’s funny?

This is not funny. IMO, it’s thinly-disguised racism.

It seems that all or nearly all the authors articles have taken some issue with multi-culturism. This article takes it a further step by even fantacizing about it.

Maybe it’s not the liberals that are the ones that need to lighten up.

Racism prompted me to write this ElliottBay? Actually it was me having a bit of fun over political correctness. :)

Come on, guys! Lighten up! it’s a JOKE!

When we lose the ability to laugh at ourselves we are in truly SERIOUS trouble. We re VERY close!

I am so sick and tired of hearing race that I could scream . Yes , there has been racial injustices in our country and I acknowledge that . The people today had no part in what our ancestors did years and years ago . That has nothing to do with us . I am not knocking anyone or what has happened . I just am tired of beimg told that we owe them something . Get out and work , earn a living like the rest of us . I pay taxes myself and yes there are people who need help and should be helped . I just think the able bodied Americans need to work . I do say again I am not knocking anyone regardless of their race or anything else .

You want to do some interesting research?
MLK was going to be put on a $3. The reason that did not happen was some do gooders in Congress remembered the $3 bill joke and the attempt to put him on any money was quashed.

Mike T.
In Australia I do know that their currency has been altered a bit to reflect more peoples than just ‘rich white men’ who founded their nation.

Accually, Australia was founed as a penal coloney by England.
Enjoyed the post. The reactions to it just show that people have forgotten how to laugh.

Henry Schlatman
I’m still waiting for some one to start crying about the Masonic Symbols that are used on our currency. Given the Christian Right stance that we were founded under Judeo-Christianity IMO its only a matter of time.

I stated in an earlier post that it didn’t matter to me if ‘In God We Trust’ was on money or not, that it wouldn’t change my trust in God.
Well guess what? It doesn’t matter if Masonic Symbols are on it or not either. It still won’t alter my faith in God.

Adrienne
AP, did you know that Angry White Men can always get a woman to say “Yes”?

It’s true. All they have to do is ask “Am I bothering you?”
;^)

Your right, just ask my wife’

Longstreet
Come on, guys! Lighten up! it’s a JOKE!

When we lose the ability to laugh at ourselves we are in truly SERIOUS trouble. We re VERY close!

No we’ve reached that point I’, afraid.

Riley54
I am so sick and tired of hearing race that I could scream . Yes , there has been racial injustices in our country and I acknowledge that . The people today had no part in what our ancestors did years and years ago . That has nothing to do with us . I am not knocking anyone or what has happened . I just am tired of beimg told that we owe them something . Get out and work , earn a living like the rest of us . I pay taxes myself and yes there are people who need help and should be helped . I just think the able bodied Americans need to work . I do say again I am not knocking anyone regardless of their race or anything else .

I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR

I would have to compare the Red block here complaining that “Hey! It was only a ‘joke’” to Barb Bush’s comment that the displaced poor of NO were “doing well for themselves.”
There truely is no understanding of why they’re being criticized.

Riley54, Like Ron, I hear you. Things are so #$#@$ up, it’s beyond belief.

I thought this thread was about political correct currency. But this thread has degenerated into name calling, insinuation, inuendo and other liberal “tools”. Why do liberals hang around here anyway? Because they are bereft of ideas, ignorant of reality and have nothing better to do.
Read Ann Coulter’s books and find out how to deal with liberals and more importantly, why.

anyone who is thinking about money being politically correct needs to get out of their basement, and get a life, why does it matter that much? why do people have to read that deep into money? their only slips of paper that you buy things with, people need to get their priorities straight, and talk about acutual issues not stupid crap, that will have absolutly no effect on any level of society. Do you think for a second that becasue an underpriviliegd minority child be he white, black, hispanic, asian is going to look at the dollar bill and be like, hm… im going to go farther in life because i am right now looking at a 1.5x1.5 image of another (insert race here) no, at least i know i havent… people need to get lives.. thats all