Low Production ASE, Congressman Wants To Know Why

@scott7721 -

This debate goes back 250 years - colonists debated for many years about whether we should have a strong, centralized government. Our first central government, organized around the Articles of Confederation, was far weaker than the one we have today. In fact, that weakness led to its demise a few years later. Then came our Constitution, which created a stronger cental government - with powers to tax etc - but it too was far from perfect. The States immediately drafted and ratified 10 Amendments with the power to add more over time. The Constitution is a great compromise, as are each of the Amendments. Few of us are happy with all of them. Most of us would happily revoke a few Amendments given the chance. To each our own.

To clarify my earlier statements, I don't oppose a strong Federal government, I oppose an abusive Federal government. That's a government that abuses the powers granted to it by the constituent States that created it. The Federal government was created by the States, its only powers are those granted to it by the States. However, 200+ years, 27 amendments, and thousands of laws later, I think the Feds have granted themselves more power than necessary to govern. They do so with case law and Supreme Court rulings that oftentimes don't consider States' powers. To me, that is a problem.

I'm glad to live in a country where we can have these discussions without fear of retribution, and I'm very glad to hear your opinion, even if we disagree.

And I'm very glad the Mods haven't shut down this thread for all the politicking in here.

jeffbuckes, I agree with what you wrote, but would offer one clarification. The federal government and the states don't have "rights". Only people have rights. Federal, state and local government have powers which are supposed to be granted to them by the people. I realize that when most people talk about states' rights they mean powers, but I think using the correct terms is important. There is a large portion of our population that doesn't understand the difference, so it can be confusing to them and actually work against the preservation of rights.

I went and just bought a M1 Garand with my money.They have increased in price with everything else.

back on topic, I dont know anything that hasnt really gone up a significant price. The rate the feds are printing money and giving it away is insane. The entire reason of the US Federal government is that it controls the states and the states have powers to govern themselves and put up their own laws. I hope they dont tax bullion and foreign currency. As stated before why should you be penalized for the dollar going down. This reminds me of the video where a father gets in front of a congresswoman and asks them when they forgive student loan debts, what will they do for the parents that put away money responsibly so their kids could graduate debt free.

Its so sad that Americans are taxed and taxed. We threw tea and started a revolution because of Taxes. Income tax (Federal, State, and Local), property tax, sales tax, capital gains tax. Its insane how much we get taxed.

Sure they can, they just won't. This is a political issue, not an economic issue. If they couldn't control spending then I would say run for the hills, the end is nigh. That's 1920s Germany and more recently, Zimbabwe, etc etc... no hope. But they can control spending, they just won't. It's a race to the bottom from all sides. So I'm worried but not terrified. I don't expect any noteworthy improvements any time soon, but I'm not gonna call this a crisis.

Any updates on the ASE production numbers?