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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!vortex!lauren
From: lauren@vortex.UUCP (Lauren Weinstein)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: choices
Message-ID: <406@vortex.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 5-Sep-84 16:03:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: vortex.406
Posted: Wed Sep  5 16:03:08 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 15-Sep-84 07:52:13 EDT
Organization: Vortex Technology, Los Angeles
Lines: 29

I personally don't think that the choice of President will have much
effect AT ALL on the economy, which is largely being driven by forces
beyond the President's control.  I think people are fooling
themselves if they really think Congress, given the voters,
is going to go on a big spending spree if Mondale wins, even if
Mondale wanted to do such a thing (which I don't believe he does). 

You have to keep the current time in mind: no president is going
to go around spending massive amounts now -- except for our present
one, who (talk about sprees) provided a practically blank check
to defense so that we could pay for $5000 wrenches and $100 nails.
And sooner or later, we indeed will be paying for this.

It would seem that a cutback might make some people think twice before
throwing money around for fancy new destructive toys while the 
conventional forces are allowed to rot.  This sort of pattern massively
increases the probability of nuclear weapons being used, since you
can't depend on your conventional forces (thanks to benign neglect?)
in a "minor" conflict.  You can't keep intelligent people in the
armed forces, the pay is so low.  Ever read "Superiority" by
Arther C. Clark?

However, even if you discount ALL of the above, I like to think that
most people would prefer to be a little poorer and live in a country
where the Supreme Court hasn't been altered into a repressive 
tool of the Fundamentalists.  I like to think this, though it
is probably unrealistic.

--Lauren--