"My first question at the Treasury of an international
character was our American debt. At the end of the war, the
European Allies owed the United States about ten thousand
million dollars, of which four thousand million were owed by Britain. On the other hand, we were owed by the other
Allies, principally by Russia, seven thousand million dollars.
In 1920, Britain had proposed an all-round cancellation of
war debts. This involved, on paper at least, a sacrifice by us of about seven hundred and fifty million pounds sterling. As the value of money has halved since then, the figures could
in fact be doubled. No settlement was reached. On August
1, 1922, in Mr. Lloyd George?s day, the Balfour Note had
declared that Great Britain would collect no more from her
debtors, Ally or former enemy, than the United States
collected from her. This was a worthy statement. In
December of 1922, a British delegation, under Government,
visited Washington; and as the result Britain agreed to pay
the whole of her war debt to the United States at a rate of
interest reduced from five to three and one-half per cent,
irrespective of receipts from her debtors.

This agreement caused deep concern in many instructed
quarters, and to no one more than the Prime Minister
himself. It imposed upon Great Britain, much impoverished
by the war in which, as she was to do once again, she had
fought from the first day to the last, the payment of thirty-five millions sterling a year for sixty-two years. The basis of this agreement was considered, not only in this island, but
by many disinterested financial authorities in America, to be a severe and improvident condition for both borrower and
lender. ?They hired the money, didn?t they?? said President
Coolidge. This laconic statement was true, but not
exhaustive. Payments between countries which take the
form of the transfer of goods and services, or still more of their fruitful exchange, are not only just but beneficial.
Payments which are only the arbitrary, artificial transmission across the exchange of such very large sums as arise in
war finance cannot fail to derange the whole process of world economy. This is equally true whether the payments
are exacted from an ally who shared the victory and bore
much of the brunt or from a defeated enemy nation. The
enforcement of the Baldwin-Coolidge debt settlement is a
recognisable factor in the economic collapse which was
presently to overwhelm the world, to prevent its recovery
and inflame its hatreds.
The service of the American debt was particularly difficult to
render to a country which had newly raised its tariffs to even higher limits, and had already buried in its vaults
nearly all the gold yet dug up. Similar but lighter settlements were imposed upon the other European Allies. The first
result was that everyone put the screw on Germany. I was
in full accord with the policy of the Balfour Note of 1922,
and had argued for it at the time; and when I became
Chancellor of the Exchequer I reiterated it, and acted
accordingly. I thought that if Great Britain were thus made
not only the debtor, but the debt-collector of the United
States, the unwisdom of the debt collection would become
apparent at Washington. However, no such reaction
followed. Indeed the argument was resented. The United
States continued to insist upon its annual repayments from
Great Britain.
It, therefore, fell to me to make settlements with all our Allies which, added to the German payments which we had
already scaled down, would enable us to produce the thirty-
five millions annually for the American Treasury. Severest
pressure was put upon Germany, and a vexatious r?gime
of international control of German internal affairs was
imposed. The United States received from England three
payments in full, and these were extorted from Germany by
indemnities on the modified Dawes scale.

nyrgravey9 wrote:
Are you one of the 4 lemmings who watches that dude?

JCMan8 wrote:
Humor is only funny if there is underlying truth behind it.

AlexC wrote:
Hey btw - BorisP, I used to play chess with a guy named Boris in HP some years ago, he would bring this chess set on a cloth board with some pieces missing - would that be you?

borisp wrote:
[quote]AlexC wrote:
I like this one:
11. You think bin Laden was responsible for 9/11 because he ordered the attack but Obama gets no credit for bin Laden?s death because he only ordered the attack.

AlexC wrote:
I like this one:
11. You think bin Laden was responsible for 9/11 because he ordered the attack but Obama gets no credit for bin Laden?s death because he only ordered the attack.

Atsushi wrote:
You know, maybe Republicanism IS a religion....

Wishful_Thinking wrote:
I believe he will be explicit about taking off the gloves and making more recess appointments and executive orders, given the Republicans refuse to cooperate on anything

MDM wrote:
1. Isolationism examples: WW1. WW2. The US let the old empires wipe themselves out and profited from the corpses.

MDM wrote:
3. Dollar currency standard: it became the standard after the collapse of the gold standard because it was the safest haven, not the biggest economy - also see point 2.

dtjcview wrote:


Germany is arguably socialist and China communist, and both seem to be doing ok. And Adam Smith predates Karl Marx.

Vigilante wrote:
Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Rachel Maddow, now that's an amusing fella, but one without an audience.

Homophobia discredits you quickly.

nyrgravey9 wrote:
Are you one of the 4 lemmings who watches that dude?

Monroe wrote:
Rachel Maddow, now that's an amusing fella, but one without an audience.

Vigilante wrote:
Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Rachel Maddow, now that's an amusing fella, but one without an audience.

Homophobia discredits you quickly.

Monroe wrote:
Rachel Maddow, now that's an amusing fella, but one without an audience.

Wishful_Thinking wrote:
Quote:

borisp wrote:
Anyone has any predictions?

One thing specifically - I believe he will be explicit about taking off the gloves and making more recess appointments and executive orders, given the Republicans refuse to cooperate on anything.

The continuing demise of the middle class remains of huge concern to most Americans, while I'm not sure - absent any cooperation from the Republicans - what, if any, significant policies he can achieve, my money is on some low-impact policy.

borisp wrote:
Anyone has any predictions?

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), meanwhile, will deliver a Tea Party response. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) will deliver his own response. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) will deliver an official Republican response in Spanish. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) will apparently deliver some kind of pre-buttal before the speech and its rebuttals.

As Rachel joked on the show last week, ?If Republicanism was a religion, this would be the part called sectarian warfare.?

Vigilante wrote:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/01/ ... igns-watch-much-fox-news/

You might be watching too much Fox News if:

1. You are OUTRAGED at how Obama has shredded the Constitution but can?t name any rights you?ve lost since January 20, 2009.

2. You think record breaking cold weather in the middle of winter disproves ?Global Warming.?

3. You think record breaking cold weather in the middle of winter disproves ?Global Warming? but record breaking heat waves in the summer are just a fluke.

4. You hate Obama for the almost 1700 American lives lost in Afghanistan under his watch but have no idea how many died in Iraq before he took office (Hint: more than 4000).

5. You call Afghanistan ?Obama?s War? but ignore the entire first eight years of it.

6. You think there?s no way Chris Christie knew about the scandal unfolding in his own office but Obama clearly knew what a small IRS office in Cincinnati was up to.

7. You think 4 Americans dying in Benghazi is ?the worst tragedy since 9/11.?

8. You denounce Bill Clinton as an adulterer but give a pass to David Vitter and Mark Sanford because they apologized.

9. You are both convinced Obama is a secret Muslim and still go into a frenzy when someone mention Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

10. You really do think Obama is a secret Muslim terrorist that drinks beer, eats pork, attended church for years (ARRRGH! Rev. Jeremiah Wright!), had his daughters baptized, had bin Laden killed and has had more terrorist leaders assassinated than every president before him combined.

11. You think bin Laden was responsible for 9/11 because he ordered the attack but Obama gets no credit for bin Laden?s death because he only ordered the attack.

12. You swear that Obama is coming for your guns.

13. You?ve been swearing that Obama is coming for your guns since before he was elected.

14. You swear that Obama has actually reduced your right to own guns but you can?t explain how.

15. You have ever used the phrase: Obama?s Katrina to describe something that was not the bungled response to a major natural disaster.

16. You?re positive Obama isn?t a true Christian but then got mad he had too many Christmas trees (no, seriously, that was a thing).

17. You think Muslims are terrorists and religious fanatics but think protecting gay kids from bullies is an attack on your religious beliefs.

18. You constantly complain the liberal media takes things out of context but you?re deeply offended that Obama said ?You didn?t build that.?

19. You think that ACORN stole the 2008 election. Maybe the 2012 one as well.

20. You think ?voter fraud? is an actual problem but can?t explain how cutting early voting stops it.

21. In 2009, cutting the $1.4 trillion deficit in half was the most important thing in the world but in 2014, you could care less about how much the deficit was cut (Hint: in half).

22. You hate Obama for not having served a day in the military but voted for Mitt Romney.

23. You think Obama is the laziest president ever for taking so many vacation days but ?forget? that it?s less than a third of his predecessor.
23a. Never mind how many days he took, the president shouldn?t take vacations during a time of crisis!
23b. Never mind that Bush took vacations during two wars and a recession! Obama is spending tax payer money to loaf about!
23c. I said WHO CARES that Bush took more than three times as much vacation time? It only counts when the black guy takes a vacation!

24. You think Obama embarrassed America by bowing to other heads of state but forgot about this:

Bush_Prince_Abdullah_kiss_hold_hands

25. You think Obama is terrible for the economy while the stock market continues to hit all time highs.

26. You think the stock market hitting all times highs doesn?t mean the economy is improving but you still believe in Trickle Down Economics.

27. You claim you don?t believe in Trickle Down Economics but insist that increasing taxes on the rich will hurt the economy.

28. You?re outraged OUTRAGED at Obama for not unilaterally launching a full scale war on Iran but call him a warmonger for joining an international coalition to stop a massacre in Libya.

29. You think Obama is ?dumb.?

30. You really think a Harvard graduate is ?dumb.?

31. You really seriously think a Harvard graduate and a former president of the Harvard Law Review is ?dumb.?

32. You think Obama hates white people which would include his white mother and the white grandparents that raised him to be President of the United States.

33. You think Obama is a criminal mastermind that has broken dozens of laws involving thousands of government workers but no one can actually prove anything.

34. You think Obama is an absolute idiot who has broken dozens of laws involving thousands of government workers but no one can actually prove anything.

35. You think Climate Change is a vast liberal conspiracy to destroy Capitalism.

36. You claim evolution is a liberal hoax but still take your kids of their yearly flu shot.

37. You claim science is just a religion but do not think twice about boarding an airplane.

38. You think the private sector can completely replace government investments but you?re OUTRAGED Obama ended the Space Shuttle program.

39. You think using a teleprompter means you are stupid. But only if you happen to be the president. It?s OK for everyone else.

40. You think being asked to drink an extra glass of water a day is tyranny.

41. You think being asked to do more community service is tyranny.

42. You think being asked to help the poor get health insurance is tyranny.

43. You think being asked to let women choose to use birth control is tyranny.

44. You think being asked to respect other religions is tyranny.

45. You think being asked to leave homosexuals alone is tyranny.

46. You think being publicly shamed for your racism is tyranny.

47. You think not allowing criminals and the mentally ill to buy guns is tyranny.

48. You think allowing everyone to vote is tyranny.

49. You think Obama exercising his constitutional authorities is tyranny.

50. You grew up in America and think you actually understand what real tyranny is.

nyrgravey9 wrote:
So the answer (as currently proposed by Barry and the dems) is an even more archaic and never successful system like socialism/communism?

CdeCoincy wrote:
Quote:

nyrgravey9 wrote:
So the answer (as currently proposed by Barry and the dems) is an even more archaic and never successful system like socialism/communism?

Barry
Mayor Willhelm
Mayor Full Up (or something like that)

Do you really think that helps any arguement you try to make?

dtjcview wrote:
Granted, the US won the industrial revolution - though arguably not through pure capitalism. Resources, isolationism, world currency standard, and other tail-winds had their part to play.

dtjcview wrote:
But given the disruptive nature of the technology revolution,

dtjcview wrote:
I'm not convinced an entirely free market system will work, without some social checks and balances

dtjcview wrote:
To me other red flags include: debt to China, individuals and corporations with more wealth and influence than most nations, the impending death of the dollar

How do we keep the promise of equal opportunity, when the world is moving to a 2-class system: the have-bots and the have-nots?

nyrgravey9 wrote:
So the answer (as currently proposed by Barry and the dems) is an even more archaic and never successful system like socialism/communism?