Ahh, playing the victim. I suppose I could do the same thing if I compared myself to a doctor, lawyer, or member of congress. 

You have full heath benefits for life, a pension for life starting at the age of 38 (if you enlisted at 18), internet connection, a computer, obviously enough income to play video games or you would not be at this site, do something for a living you enjoy, and live in an incredibly beautiful state (provided you don't live in east Colorado :p)

I would say you are in the top 3-4% of the people in the world. being that that's true, why do you feel others need to pay to improve your quality of life?

P.S. I was a consultant to the military for 12 years (Kirkland AFB working for AFRL and AFOTEC)... depending on what you do, they pay very well ;)

Victim? Oh, I don't get a 911 porsche like you. Woe is me!

No matter how I feel others do pay to improve the quality of my life.

For my entire career the taxpayers payed and will continue to pay to improve the quality of my life.

So anyways, you think most of the people in this country are lazy and complacent. And you agree with the Harvard economist about why this financial crisis occurred. So what are the lessons to be learned? You stated awhile ago that "the Great Depression was caused by the government not following the constitution, and this economic crisis is created for the same reasons" and I asked you what you meant. What did you mean when you said:

"the Great Depression was caused by the government not following the constitution, and this economic crisis is created for the same reasons"

What are those reasons and how are they unconstitutional?

You misunderstand me. You said "I can see how you would blame me for my position in life, choosing a career in the Army that automatically limited my income; and a second career that I enjoy but is not an extremely high paying job." This is the line that's playing the victim. I never blamed you for anything. Your position in life (one I feel is a very good one), you worked to achieve. There is nothing about that to blame.

I don't blame you. You are not lazy, nor do you fit in the category of the lazy. And the government is not giving you anything. You offered up 20 years of service, to the point of death if that was what was needed from you, and you are being compensated for your efforts. That's a huge difference.

As for the constitution, it starts with this line:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

This means a lot of things, and the body of the constitution goes into it deeper. But in a nutshell, the government is to collect taxes for the sole purpose of providing benefit in return. Redistribution of wealth is in violation of my general Welfare, and my Liberties. When you take money away from me, and give it to those that did not earn it, you are indenturing me. That is in violation of my rights.

This is what was done in the 30's, in the 90's with sub prime lending. Bill Clinton himself said he knew it was a risk, but we had a surplus at the time, so we could absorb it. That means co-signing on loans for those who do not pay taxes, with the money from those that do. Now when that didn't work, again, we are dipping into yours and my pockets to pay for those that the government feels needs it more. It goes against everything the Constitution is about.

I don't mind paying for services that are for me. Welfare I have never taken a dime of, but I know I could if I needed to. It's a service I pay for, and have the ability to take advantage of. I am fine with that.

What got us in this mess is not that, and what we are trying to do to get us out of this mess, is evan farther away then were we need to be.

Look, you said:

"I find it hard to blame anything other then the individual for there position in life."

Maybe you misunderstand yourself or you meant something different than what you wrote. When I said I would understand how you would blame me for my position in life I was paraphrasing you. Did you mean that an individual is to blame for their position in life or did you mean something else?

I meant an individual is responsible for their position in life. The “blame” was directed towards people who need government assistance to live. You are not one of those people.

Yes, I feel your personal position in life is solely due to the choices you made. You made good choices, and you are self sufficient.

I am not one who feels money determines the quality of one’s life. All I require of anyone is to work enough to not be a burden on others. If you do that as a human being, there is nothing to blame you for.

The Constitution was a frame, not a picture.  The writers of the Constitution wrote it in a way that gave future generations a great deal of power in determining what it meant, although the writers did place many limits on the federal government because the states did not want to surrender too much of their power.

Like it or not, the federal government has intervened in the private sector because the public ASKED them to and elected officials who would do it.  That and because the states have a much longer history of oppressing people than the federal government does.

now the bailout is $800 billion.
Interesting video here - I'm starting really like Sherman.

except two-thirds of it is now pork.

(of course i don't know how much exactly is pork, but it appears to be ridiculous from what i've heard so far)

Is that why the vast majority of the population was anti-bailout?

The public asked them to stay out of it.  Whether or not you agree with the public that's what they told their senators to do and they didn't do it.

So really it just depends on whether you believe that Senators are supposed to uphold the will of the people, or are they supposed to make decisions they believe is best of the people.