Whatever you are smoking, I’d like some. 
For the private sector, the ROI would probably be pretty small. But without having any figures at my fingertips, I’d guess that the ROI for the public sector has been massive: consider the amount of taxable commerce enabled by interstate system.
These guys are politicians and lawyers. Could you name one of them that don’t do the above? I’m serious. You’re holding Obama to a standard and I’d like to see some evidence that you know of other politicians who have held to it.
I’d guess that the ROI for the public has been a lot less than you think, especially when you consider it took decades to really reach it’s current levels of usefulness…and it basically cost the world. In adjusted dollars I wouldn’t be surprised if we weren’t talking hundreds of billions of dollars…maybe trillions if we count all the costs over time (expansion, maintenance, enforcement and public safety costs, etc etc).
Granted, it’s utility is pretty much unquestioned…now. And it’s allowed for a much more flexible system than the rail system, which we’d probably still be using (with some massive refinements) had we not built an interstate road network.
So you agree with me then. Thanks for the clarification!
The US government is the primary party responsible for the creation of the internet and laying the groundwork for everyone else to take advantage of it. I really don’t see much difference in your explanation and Chimera saying that the government built the internet
The point of this discussion, presumably, is to credit where government has done a good job. The internet could not have possibly been created without government help, and not only that, of all the different parties responsible for it, I’d say the government deserves the most credit. Now if people want to break it down to specifics to try and minimize the credit the government deserves, like saying so-and-so made this particularly specific part of the internet and they deserve credit, then they are just nitpicking
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The US government is the primary party responsible for the creation of the internet and laying the groundwork for everyone else to take advantage of it. I really don’t see much difference in your explanation and Chimera saying that the government built the internet
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So, you give Ford the credit for building the world wide automobile manufacturing industry today then? Edison the credit for building the power grid? Or do you give the US government the credit for both of those things as well? After all, they were involved in both to one degree or another. It’s basically the same assertion that the (US) government built the internet.
I agree - saying the government built the internet is taking it way too far. But the government more or less invented it and started it up.
What about if you can afford it but you don’t need it, ever…
How many people from birth to the grave never at any point in their lives need any medical care of any kind? Anyone? The Highlander? Wolverine?
Because you might need some kind of medical care does not equate to needing medical INSURANCE. You only need that if the benefits of having it outweigh the costs of buying it. For some folks, obviously, the benefits outweigh the costs. And for others (equally obviously, otherwise the whole system would collapse) their costs outweigh the benefits.
I was about to post this, but then I realized he said health care insurance. If you’re a billionaire, you’ll need health care, but not insurance to pay for it. Not sure if that was his point.
It depends. If by “agree with you” you mean that you have a reading comprehension problem and accused me of saying things I did not, then absolutely, I agree with you.
You know, usually when that is done inadvertently, the poster—you—would feel an urge to apologize. It must be nice not being burdened by such a compunction.
You make a good point, but I think that The President elevates himself to a special status. So, yes, I expect more from him. Especially one who ran on a promise of Change the way he did. And just because they all lie and obfuscate doesn’t mean that those behavior shouldn’t be vilified when they come to the fore.
I seriously doubt anyone but the government will get us fusion either.
What exactly was this lie? It needs to be documented, and then we need to decide whether it was a factual matter or a matter or opinion or interpretation, before anyone makes an accusation that someone lied.
They invented the primitive version, the private sector tapped its true potential.
But if you really want to be technical, individual inventors like Edison get credit for everything.
:roll eyes: Please read the exchanges. When you do you will see that your question is unnecessary.
It’s inherent to the process. You have to accomplish things in the context of political reality. This has been the climate from the beginning.
IMO, you expect more from Obama because you set a higher bar for him. Name a successful President that didn’t lie.
Name a President who ran as a different kind of political leader, and who accused his opponent of practicing the old politics.
Obama took advantage of people’s hopes that this time it was different, that he would not be like all those other politicians.
Probably about half of them.