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Free Market: What Can You Do For Your Country?
Remember the famous words of John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961,
While the President was speaking to the world with this speech; I believe those same words could also be used by anyone seeking to gain the ears of today's voters.
Polls show that Americans want government to get involved during the current crisis with the economy and our health care and war.
So, for you Republicans out there trying to get heard, since you believe the market (free enterprise) can solve all our problems; why not ask your friends in that same market to -- ASK WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY?
To that corporation that is making billions of dollars over the past decade, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? Could you hire more workers? Can you lower your cost of goods at least temporarily, while the worst of recessions since the great depression, dissipates? Could you give all your customers a zero dollar payment month?
To that insurance company, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY in this crisis? Can you lower the cost of insurance for a year or two to help those in need? Could you give them a zero dollar month off their yearly premium?
To you doctors and hospitals, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY during this crisis? How about writing off some of that bill the customer owes or how about offering a free week of CBC's, blood sugar and blood pressure testing for those uninsured in your town?
To your restaurant owners, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? Could you maybe have a free dinners for kids under 16 that are with their parents? Could you provide coupons for a free sandwich for a week? Imagine if each restaurant did this in just one city? Each would do it on a different week. Parents could feed their kids a meal for free for a month or two.
To you local businesses, like Walmart, Kmart, Sears, JC Penneys, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? How about offering free jeans, shoes or shirts to kids under 10 one day a year. You could send out notices to 100 random civilians in your town or city. Have a drawing or something like that. How about hiring one person part time, even if all they do is sweep floors or wash windows. You don't have to offer benefits. Give them a job.
While I agree that the market must play a huge roll when it comes to getting people back to work; at this time, even companies are hurting because of banks and loan companies going belly up. We (the people who voted for those in charge) screwed up royally. We allowed monopolies to be created, such as GM, AIG and Enron, and now thousands will lose their jobs because the companies either are or have gone bankrupt.
Even with the help of the government (the people of this nation - it's not a company like Republicans would have you believe), thousands will walk away without their jobs and pensions.
It's time for those companies that have profited from some of this mess we're in, like KBR (Halliburton), Boeing, BP and Exxon Mobile to fess up some of those profits to help their nation in need.
I think the first Republican that has the guts to ask their friends in the market the following question, "WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY?", just might have an edge in the 2012 election.
President Obama and the Democratic Party are already doing that and Republicans are acting like a bunch of kids being asked to give away their candy to others.
"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."
While the President was speaking to the world with this speech; I believe those same words could also be used by anyone seeking to gain the ears of today's voters.
Polls show that Americans want government to get involved during the current crisis with the economy and our health care and war.
So, for you Republicans out there trying to get heard, since you believe the market (free enterprise) can solve all our problems; why not ask your friends in that same market to -- ASK WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY?
To that corporation that is making billions of dollars over the past decade, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? Could you hire more workers? Can you lower your cost of goods at least temporarily, while the worst of recessions since the great depression, dissipates? Could you give all your customers a zero dollar payment month?
To that insurance company, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY in this crisis? Can you lower the cost of insurance for a year or two to help those in need? Could you give them a zero dollar month off their yearly premium?
To you doctors and hospitals, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY during this crisis? How about writing off some of that bill the customer owes or how about offering a free week of CBC's, blood sugar and blood pressure testing for those uninsured in your town?
To your restaurant owners, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? Could you maybe have a free dinners for kids under 16 that are with their parents? Could you provide coupons for a free sandwich for a week? Imagine if each restaurant did this in just one city? Each would do it on a different week. Parents could feed their kids a meal for free for a month or two.
To you local businesses, like Walmart, Kmart, Sears, JC Penneys, WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY? How about offering free jeans, shoes or shirts to kids under 10 one day a year. You could send out notices to 100 random civilians in your town or city. Have a drawing or something like that. How about hiring one person part time, even if all they do is sweep floors or wash windows. You don't have to offer benefits. Give them a job.
While I agree that the market must play a huge roll when it comes to getting people back to work; at this time, even companies are hurting because of banks and loan companies going belly up. We (the people who voted for those in charge) screwed up royally. We allowed monopolies to be created, such as GM, AIG and Enron, and now thousands will lose their jobs because the companies either are or have gone bankrupt.
Even with the help of the government (the people of this nation - it's not a company like Republicans would have you believe), thousands will walk away without their jobs and pensions.
It's time for those companies that have profited from some of this mess we're in, like KBR (Halliburton), Boeing, BP and Exxon Mobile to fess up some of those profits to help their nation in need.
I think the first Republican that has the guts to ask their friends in the market the following question, "WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY?", just might have an edge in the 2012 election.
President Obama and the Democratic Party are already doing that and Republicans are acting like a bunch of kids being asked to give away their candy to others.
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Hey bud, greed isn't wanting to keep more of what one earns, it's coveting what somebody else earns. Like you and Obama.
Those companies you want to give away things, already provide jobs and pay taxes. What exactly are you doing to make the country a better place? Whining about what someone else should do, doesn't count.
PS. Enron, AIG, and GM are not monopolies.
June 9, 2009 3:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Neither does playing concern troll.
June 9, 2009 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey coonsey,
Free enterprise is not about what these big entities do; it's about what maverick small-business persons do when they decide to make a break from the system and do something on their own--something they've noticed needs to be done, in which they might just make a buck or two, and maybe put another person or two to work in the process.
Government needs to get out of the way so small business can make a comeback during these perilous times. It's the only way we'll turn this thing around.
Carey Rowland, author of Glass half-Full
June 9, 2009 5:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, small businesses do brilliantly in providing insurance and building vehicles. NOT.
June 9, 2009 9:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was giving the GOP a way of grabbing more voters. Afterall, they are down to 29% in the polls, they need something to attract voters to THEIR side.
Their problem is, they never want to DEMAND anything from business -- they expect the business to just VOLUNTEER and if they don't tough.
They don't like regulations (which is one big reason we're in this mess now) and they don't want taxes put on them to help pay for needed things in the country.
Some of us want to see a Republican ASK for something from these businesses, especially big corporations (monopolies in my view -- too big to fail).
Maybe if they are seen asking that business do their part (other than just make profits) -- voters might think, "Hey, maybe this guy knows what he's talking about".
Sure they hire workers; but more and more they will hire a foreigner over an American. How AMERICAN is that?
June 9, 2009 9:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Most Americans were foreigners at some point, or their great-grandparents were. Hiring new arrivals is as American as apple pie.
And it keeps the cost of living down. The presence of Mexicans and other low-earning groups in our economy is the only component of our economy that enables us to keep costs down so that we can afford our own products, and maybe even compete with the developing world to produce a few goods.
You might as well forget about the Republican party; it will be a long time before they figure this thing out. And I am one.
And the reason I am one is this: someone needs to protect the rights and privileges of every American to start and operate businesses without being taxed out of the game.
In the days ahead, many people who have fallen on hard times will respond to the adversity by going into business to provide necessary or local goods and services. They need to have freedom to do so without bureaucratic obstruction.
This is what American free enterprise is all about--not GM, Chrysler, or AIG. We've already got far more vehicles and insurance than we need. Our American industrial complex is bloated and monopolistic. The only real innovations will originate at grassroots level and work upward.
Carey Rowland, author of Glass half-Full
June 10, 2009 6:52 AM | Reply | Permalink