Buckwheat said in part: "If I had adopted the Democrat dogma, I would have lost my job, gone on disability, continued my alcoholism, been dependent on government programs, remained on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, and blamed someone else on my condition.
I believe the Republicans on the lower levels of the economy remain republicans because they still believe they can move up, or at least independent and not become attached to and dependent on the government teat."

You are disregarding your personal natural internal strength and attributing them to the Republican Party [classic not Trump style I hope!] Also you imply that you if helped for food or health care would have continued to drink, sat on your butt and grown fat living off the government doll. Nonsense, that is not your core which is one of personal strength and energy. If your father had been a take advantage of Democrat help programs you would still have had the drive to succeed in the long run.

Should we do away with programs that feed the people who do not have the where-with-all to be successful people. I taught 9th-grade special ed integrated into norm classroom after retiring from industrial management; during that 3 years I learned that some just do not have the brain power. Perhaps with better nutrition in-utero and beyond, their brains would have developed to be higher IQ. Those nutrition, school lunch, and early head-start programs would not have been Republican Programs would they?

My grandfather [dirt poor alcholic] was a republican because he enjoyed the Democratic WPA and Social Security as well as other New-deal Programs. He would talk about the big dollar republicans like they were drinking buddies. Associating himself with those very successful men by name linkage; in this way he avoided admitting his failures and weaknesses. To speak of the good FDR had done and helped him would be associating himself with the hand that helped him when he was down on his and the countries Herbert-Hover, "let them eat cake," ** neglective-luck.

**
"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche",[1] spoken in the 17th or 18th century by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake

When I turned 21 I registered as a Republican. I did so because I grew up in a Republican household and my father had a sole-proprietor business. He wanted the independence and freedom to succeed or fail on his own. After the Air Force and Viet Nam and then college, I remained a Republican. Even though I went to work in the corporate world I tried several different ways to start a business and become independent. Sometimes my attempts succeeded and other times not, but my growing alcoholism forced me to "keep my day job". After getting sober, I started my own business, owned several income properties and did quite well, without government help. Not exactly rags to riches, but from paycheck dependent to successful.
If I had adopted the Democrat dogma, I would have lost my job, gone on disability, continued my alcoholism, been dependent on government programs, remained on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, and blamed someone else on my condition.
I believe the Republicans on the lower levels of the economy remain republicans because they still believe they can move up, or at least independent and not become attached to and dependent on the government teat. I have over-simplified this and know that there are many stories from the left wing and the right wing.
But the right wing and the left wing both belong on the same bird!

RixPix, there is nothing wrong with a VA loan or in fact any other Veteran Benefit for the nation owes a debt of gratitude that truly could not be paid.

Like any loan however, it does require that it be paid back in full including whatever interest was negotiated in the loan agreement.

What is ABSOLUTELY WRONG is to have a sense of entitlement that a Student Loan should be forgiven or discounted in any way.

How about forgiving all or portions of my home loan? My car loan? My Credit Card debt? Even my unpaid medical bills? Now...take that times the billions of people in America who of course would deserve the same treatments?

Here's what I say, "Don't take the DIME if you can't PAY IT BACK on time!"

Congratulations, first off. Well done.

I was brought up in a democrat family. JFK was the last democratic president I supported, though too young to vote and would be until 1969. So, the election of 1970 was my first shot at voting. After voting for or against winners over the next several elections, I changed to being an independent. More recently, I've observed the democrats seemed to look at me as a source of income for the government and found "better" ways to spend it than I could.

Recently, we received a reduction in taxes and I could actually purchase a few things I'd like to have and put money into savings. That worked out well. I dread to think about what it might cost me to see a change in the current government. I'd probably seriously think about retiring, as then I wouldn't have the tax burden with which to concern myself. So, I'll continue to be independent but most likely vote for the republicans.
--Bob

Triple G, I doubt even the most winning players in Vegas could pick a winning play on this one. Money has turned funny quite some time ago when we got off the gold standard and the game of credit expanded...and over expanded.

We must not ignore that the money that is lent actually belongs to someone. Investors, customers, etc. When a lending institution fails it takes down scores of people with it. People that had nothing to do with the loss, just that had placed their trust in them.

When a lending institution grants a loan it takes something as collateral such as holding the title to a house or car. This "holding" creates a cash value on their books. On the other side of the ledger is the money loaned. All works well when the loan payments are made and both sides benefit in the end. The problem comes when the lender defaults and the lending institution takes over the pledged asset which it may or may not be able to cover the remaining amount.

We operated our business on a very large line of credit and our lender required us to provide independent accounting and we had to pledge much more than the line of credit granted. When you have everything on the line year after year and then things start to have a downturn it is best to start shopping for new underwear!

In short, no lending institution should be expected to take a loss to someone else's benefit.