whiskey @ Feb 25, 2010 – 11:00 pm:

You could replace any of them with a man picked randomly off the street and do better.

For a short while, yes. And then Mr. Mo. T. Street would be corrupted by the system. The concentration of power is the fundamental problem. Change 100% of the people out, and within weeks we’d be right back to where we are now. Power corrupts. The ring of power wants to be found.

Economic recovery rests on these five points:

1. Lower regulations. Agreed.
2. Lower taxes. Agreed.
3. Cheaper oil, around $35 a barrel in 2006 dollars. The key is natural gas, not oil. Aggressively drill in the Marcellus shale. Create thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania and New York and the midwest, good jobs, and built lots of new gas power plants. We have 100+ years of supply domestically, near the population centers. Don’t let the radical environmental movement screw up this opportunity just because of their pathological hatred of “Big Oil.”
4. Lower deficts not crowding out private borrowing. Agreed.
5. Massive military spending to soak up labor and require US sourcing for all materials.The Federal Government has a responsibility to protect and defend its citizens. We should spend enough to achieve that mission, but no more. Spending money on defense just to “soak up labor” is a dangerous idea.

Hey, 60% agreement. We could break our own filibuster!

Cheers,
L3