J Houston, TX …so Republicans lost their majority because…?

Just trying to figure out your math. I mean with all these happy, hard-working American dreamers.

God, I can't stand this guy. What a joker! Dude, go back to the Hamptons with your wife Judith and stay there. Don't you have dogs to walk or are the NYC police still being forced to do that for you??!

When is the media going to focus on how often his buddy Police Commissioner Kerik used NYC funds to protect his mistresses?

Wake up media!

Of course, those in the top 10% of wage earners are living very well. We are told that we all have an equal shot at the top slots and that provides a lot of us with motivation. 19% of us believe that we are in the top 1% of wage or salary earners. 20% of us believe that we will be in the top 1% of wage earners. So, 39% of us believe that we will win the gold ring and 38% of them are delusional.

The arithmetic of the current American economy leaves most of us with a declining quality of life. This is not the most desirable economy for most of us, but it is very very very rewarding for a few of us.

Sounds exactly like somebody whom has never been outside the country…

Look at that, 39% of Americans believe they have a shot at the big leagues. 39% are working hard, hoping, dreaming, not angry if they don't make it, but proud that they strived to be the best. Delusional you say? Hopeful I say. Only a lunatic wants to crush the hopes of the masses. Would you rather we all admit that if we split the income evenly and make 40k a year we should just be satisfied?

Have you been to a socialist nation? A place where waiters earn 30 bucks an hour to be horrible at their jobs. A place where owning a car isn't commonplace…it's just too expensive. No big screen for Christmas, no plasma. No cable, no Garmin nav systems. Everybody is happy because they have nothing better to compare to and realize how unfulfilled they are. Places like Denmark have some of the highest suicide rates in the world, but they then get put on the "most happy" nation list. Explain how that works again?

Only an idiot would stop wanting people to strive to be great. That is, the American dream. Most of us don't get there, but in the end, it is the journey of trying together, of working hard together, that's what makes this nation great. Instead, you'd rather take that all away?

Be more competitive. Be more efficient. Work harder sure, but work smarter! Innovation and persperation! I work well more than 50 hrs a week, and I still manage to put God first, family second.

The arithmetic says that only 50% of the country works harder than average. Only 50% will see an above average lifestyle. Only 50% are willing to go beyond what is average. And only 39% believe that they will get to the top because of it. So only 10% of the country is working harder than average and doesn't feel like they will be rewarded for it.

Better look over those statistics again. Take a class in stats and learn a few things. That's what this country is all about.

Each day more and more baby boomers die, and each day the US becomes more and more reliant upon their children for our itellectual ideas. Is it really all that surprising that each day America becomes less and less competitive??

"Buy American"

These two simple words solve the problem. So either help us help ourselves or shut up..

When he refers to staying competitive, he is not talking about low income (anyone who makes below approx 150,000 a year) families, he is talking about BIG business. China and India are coming out of poverty because they are becoming industrial nations. A smart business person will do business where their costs are lower than their revenue. Going overseas is not always the case. Americans are far more productive than other countries in some areas, therefore those jobs stay here. This is just a comment to combat some of the ignorance I read in comments. Hopefully some people read this and THINK about what they are reading instead of whining and complaining. Yes, it is your right to whine and complain. You also have the right to get out there and make a positive change in the world. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. Your president isnt going to fix all of your problems. If you want your problems fixed, it's best that you look into fixing them and not depending on your government. IF you don't like your tax rate or your job get a new job. Its in your hands to fix your own life, not anyone elses. Thats all I have to say.

I will translate this from republican to English.

Do away with minimum wage.
Do away with overtime pay.
Do away with health/safety standards.
Do away with benefits.
Do away with retirement.
Do away with child labor laws.

In other words, follow the Grover Norquist plan of turning America into a feudal society.

What absolute rubbish?
How can workers compete against their bosses? Where do displaced workers find the adequate resources to start a small business–when the multinational's are operating in every niche industry w/ greater resources. Just how many janitorial and lawn businesses does Mr. Guliani think the nation can supply? If he's so smart–how come he's spent his whole life on a government contract or payroll?

Computer software designer, Ghost Town USA :

Ha, ha. That's a good one.

I think a large component of what Giuliani is saying is that we have to accept that in order to have a larger pie, some of us will have to accept getting a smaller slice so that as a whole we can all have a pigger piece.

That means less union clout: fewer people earning $45/hr plus early retirement with full benefits as a senior union tradesman but more people working $20/hr without early retirement.

No, we can't sell t-shirts to China and India. But we can build better cars, large machinery, high tech components and medical products that can command premium in the global marketplace.

We just have to be educated soundly in the primary years (that means getting rid of teachers' unions, too) and accept that we can all live modestly well, if some of us won't live ridiculously well.

Rudy…when you mention "less regulation" as an incentive for businesses, do you mean the kind that China had in using lead paint in children's toys? That kind of "less regulation??? How asinine are you, Rudy???

I know what we could sell China and India when their purchasing power goes up, Our homes.

It's both disturbing and somewhat depressing to see so much religious intolerance expressed as is on display in this thread. Besides that personal reaction, I do have a couple of questions if anyone's willing to share their feelings about them:

1) What might Mitt Romney do or what aspects of governance might he affect by virtue of his Mormonism?

2) Is there any evidence of his decisions or actions being affected by Mormon doctrine during his tenure as governor or as head of a company?

3) To those who object to the idea of a Mormon in the White House: are there other "non christian" denominations or religions that would also be unacceptable to you in a President? I wonder about Judaism, Unitarianism, Buddhism, the Ba'hai faith, Hinduism, Islam, etc. OK, or not OK? How about Roman Catholicism; are we over that yet, or is that still off limits?

Looser, Sleezer, go back to the Hamptons and leave this campaign to those with less poop on their plates.

Maybe we could sell them the Brooklyn Bridge!

Has he lost his mind? only an idiot like George Bush would fantasize about something as ridiculous as competing with and selling our goods to people who earn penneys per hour. He must be out of his mind. Maybe he should compete in the global economy by moving to Vietnam and build furniture by hand.

Compete in the global economy! have you lost your mind how can you compete with slave labor? Any candidate who still believes in this corporate propaganda should automatically be disqualified from running for president. We dont need free trade and outsourcing or guest workers. many Americans are hurting and its not because they lack education, Its because our leaders have sold themselves to corporate interests and slave labor.

The really sad thing is that for some reason those that lose their jobs due to outsourcing will vote for this guy!

Our education system is a failure. Only 17% of those that do get a college degree get one in Math or Science, a small fraction of those that started high school. What do we expect to happen when our role models are Madonna and Britty Spears?

Is there a reason no one is calling him on this?
see video: CNN/YouTube Republican Debate: Giuliani 9/11 Question

http://representativepress.googlepages.com/CNNYouTube.html

I have never heard of anything to so dumb. Stay competative? Have entrepreneur spirit? With what those paying 50 cents an hour? This man is a joke.

This is the GOP mentality. They have ruined this country.

It's tough to stay competetive when your goons in the GOP keep taking our jobs away and sending them overseas.

Hopefully Ru911dy will be among the unemployed 11/04/08.

Be competitive! What a joke! and sell our goods to 20 to 30 million people from India and China! China and Indias leaders are not as dumb as leaders in the U.S.China and india will not allow the U.S. to ever sell any substantial amount of U.S produced goods into their countries. They are protectionist who will subsidize their own manufacturers and enable them to steal technology and counterfit brand names. America is being played for a fool when it come to trade. Free Trade? Its a grand idea as long as you can access a wealthy country to import your goods to tarrif free and not buy anything from that country. CHINA…..HELLO is their any brain activity left in washington. Can we help you build up your military?

Giuliani is not the kind of person we need as president. America does not need another corporate puppit.

I hate Giuliani as a person, but he is right on this point.

If he weren't so personally repugnant, were less abusive of power and a little more socially liberal as he had been in the past, he would actually make a good candidate.

How in the hell do you saty competitive when you are competing with people that will work for $2.00 a day….Nice try Rudy, you really don't understand…..Your whole life has been paid for by tax payers..Why don't you get competitive??? Get a job….

If we become a country of consumers, we can afford nothing but Chinese goods at their current price and quality.

First, you lose your job; then you can only afford to buy Chinese goods at Wal-Mart. We have to change this by moving our jobs and products to a higher level. If we can't provide better education, we won't make it.

Better Education = Global Competitiveness

Better Teachers = Better Education

Hire only teachers trained in the field they teach = Better Teachers

Better communications won't help one teach better if you don't know the subject. When we water our education down to superficial nonsense that is miles wide and an inch deep, kids wonder why they have to learn this boring nonsense.

Let the teacher teach his or her own field in more depth so kids can be stimulated and enjoy the fun of learning. We don't need to cover all pieces of knowledge. We need to teach students how to think critically and systematically.

Giuliani is on the right target.
Math, basic science and engineering is dying out in the U.S. and England. We are now training mostly foreign students in these fields. If we don't resuscitate these fields as soon as possible, we are on our way out of the global picture as the Britons are. Our taxpayers are paying tuition, health insurance and stipends to these foreign students. We cannot entice our own students into these technical fields, partially because our K-12 education has failed our kids. Colleges have to lower their standards to meet these new students every year. We need a crash course to fix this serious problem.

…by the way for all you that are going to teach me Economics 101, you're dealing with theory. What happens when you factor in human greed?

You freakin' idiot!!! China and India are coming out of poverty because they have our jobs!

American corporations are having their products produced over there with no consequences whatsoever except increased profits …but they sure aren't putting any of that back into our ecomony. They're investing outside the U.S. Why do you think they don't need the American middle-class consumer anymore? They can now sell their products over there since they can now afford to buy them.

And now you want to give them even more tax breaks? Who's going to pay down the debt you Republicans racked up? Oh I forgot, you don't care because your corporations are making money and paying you off!

Just shut your fat trap Rudy! I think Santa's missing an elf, go get a job with him because you sure aren't getting a president's job.

"When we trade with countries on a sensible basis, we become friends."

Since when has the perpetually 9/11-obsessed dictator-in-training subscribed to Ron Paul's position on trading with other countries to become their friends? Between this clown and Huckabee's pirated IRS position, we can see Paul's influence on the other candidates!

Oh, and keep an eye out starting December 10th for the Ron Paul Blimp!

"stay competitive!" …yeah, that's gonna help the situation of millions of jobs leaving this country. Come on Rudy, what we need do is get rid of this nonsensical and dentribmental NAFTA agreement. It makes no sense at all. We need to have trade agreements that help, not hurt us.

Rudy, I am willing to compete, but can someone from the police force come and clean my cat's litter box?

I like our new president…a social liberal and fiscal conservative…a moderate…what we need…bad….

And before the haters jump in….and spew their rhetoric….prove it…have some proof…(not a DNC website parroting the rhetoric…)

Gulliani has got it right on encouraging the American workers to stay competitive. "On-job training" is vital in helping workers to stay competitive. I hope he will provide a more detailed plan on on-job training and continued education for American workers.

We desperately need to upgrade our level of competitiveness with better education and training, IF we want to stay in global business. Otherwise, we will be just a country of consumers.

Ole Fast Rudy,
Did he ever think of playing on the Sopranos? Even Tony had more than one broad on the side. This guys life reminds me of everything I hated about New York. As with the rest of the late mob bosses, he will get a Requiem Mass too when he dies.

The ugly beast of Movement Conservatism, as brilliantly described by Paul Krugman in his "Conscience of a Liberal", rears its ugly head. What is Giuliani telling us and what is he not telling us?
Be more competitive he says? And how is that going to happen? Can we work more hours than we are already working? The forty hour work week is an old memory, fading like an old Norman Rockwell print. We are working on our vacations, we are working on weekends, we are afraid to leave our cell phones for a moment, we can't go a day without checking email. We neglect our children for work, we neglect our marriages for work, we neglect our churches for work, we neglect our communities for work, we neglect our bodies for work, and we have come to believe that this is normal. Worse, we have come to believe that the laws of economics are like the laws of physics: inflexible and unchanging. The state of our economy, some say, is by definition the only possible one. Markets cannot be improved by human oversight; they can only be rendered less efficient. I am not an economist, but my BS alarm goes off every time a Conservative starts talking the "free market" speech. The middle class - built by FDR's New Deal and Harry Truman's postwar policies - is shrinking because those programs have been systematically undone by Reagan, Bush (the good one), Bush (the other one), and the Republican Congress brought in by Newt Gingrich.

Here is the only way for us to compete and here is the part that Rudy isn't telling us: Earn less. Be happy with an annual raise that is slightly less than the rate of inflation - in effect a small pay cut. Work on your vacation to catch up. Deprive your family of all but the most necessary medical care. Skimp on medication for chronic conditions; the condition isn't going to go away so take less or stop taking it altogether. Have smaller Christmases. Travel less.

The less our employers pay us (we who make the goods and provide the service are considered an accounting "cost"), the more competitive they can be.

Of course, those in the top 10% of wage earners are living very well. We are told that we all have an equal shot at the top slots and that provides a lot of us with motivation. 19% of us believe that we are in the top 1% of wage or salary earners. 20% of us believe that we will be in the top 1% of wage earners. So, 39% of us believe that we will win the gold ring and 38% of them are delusional.

The arithmetic of the current American economy leaves most of us with a declining quality of life. This is not the most desirable economy for most of us, but it is very very very rewarding for a few of us.

But, don't think about that. Just think how much safer you'll be from Osama bin Laden if Rudy is in the White House.

What he's really saying to the American worker is to "accept it", that "you are going to lose whether you like it or not". He's just signaling that he wouldn't lift a finger to reverse these negative trends.