And this is the myth of "History repeats itself."
It doesn't.
Trends do.
History doesn't.

And yes, we *all* believe if everyone just did it our way,
the world would be a wonderful place.
Hitler believed that.
The KKK believes that.
Every tyrant believes that.
It's egomania at its best.

Thank goodness that we have a government of checks and balances.
It may not be perfect,
but it's better than a dictator.

Oh, and as for the evidence on the public works programs prolonging the Great Depression? Over stated. Same with Nixon's "disaster." Over stated again. "The sky is falling! the sky is falling!"
No, it isn't.
Life will continue. It always does. Rome is still there.

However, put my social security into the stock market, and let those theives go at it, and there *will* be a disaster! Have you *seen* what has happened to the market? And you're willing to let those crooked rats have a go at your money when they only think of their own short term gain, and not the long term benefit for you, the customer who pays their fee? Yes, they get a fee each and every time they move your money around -- whether it's good for you or not. I've seen my friend loose hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result. Her broker lost nothing, though. Wanna talk a scam?
NO THANK YOU!

I've paid into Social Security for over 40 years with the PROMISE that it would be there when I'm old. I'm aware that it is not a full retirement. But, I *expect* it. I *paid* it.

And no one can tell me it doesn't work. I've watched it work for my parents, my grand-parents and my great-grand parents. It is one of the few government programs that actually works well!

We have made a few promises in this country. They are called "social contracts." One is public education. Another is social security. Why is it that a small, vocal group is determined to destroy the social contract? What do they hope to gain?

It is easy to trash something; easy to tear something down, saying how bad, stupid, rediculous, etc...something is. It's much harder to replace it with something that is BETTER!

That's why we have a system of checks and balances in our government. So some new idea can't grab the public's attention and become law overnight without forethought.

Imagine if we *had* turned social security over to the private system prior to this current economic debacle!
There wouldn't be an elderly person today who could survive!
There wouldn't be a baby boomer who could retire - ever! (Well, maybe the theives!)
All because greed was allowed to rule. (And I won't even get into the politics involved in that!)

In the end, the sky is *not* falling. Rome is still there, but, it is no longer an empire. The US was never an empire like Rome was. And Rome had many, many problems, some similar, many different than we face.
History does not repeat itself, friend.

And Keynesian economics is about priming the pump. It was about massive public works in the 1930s. Today is not the '30s. Again. History does not repeat itself.

Quite frankly, I think this discussion has reached it's end.
I suggest that this thread be closed.

Peace!