Three Biggest Scams in US History

[Scott P]

I think I have them figured out.

Three biggest scams in US history:

1. Dodge Trucks

2. Iraq War

3. Bernie Madoff

[denaliguide]

how about:

1. global warming
2. y2k bug
3. we're from the goverment and we are here to help you.

[oldno7]

I think Les' list is more accurate.

[RedMan]

[quote=Scott P]

3. Bernie Madoff

[Scott P]

There is one underway in Congress right now that makes this look like chicken feed.

Which one or just as a whole? If you are speaking of the Obama administration, that one wasn't a scam because everyone knew he would spend a lot of money.

I agree that the whole auto bailout was a huge scam too. I guess that can be #4.

Both parties are big spenders:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090305/pl_mcclatchy/3182084

Dodge Trucks are still the biggest scam.

$113,873,730,000 scammed out of consumers in the last 10 years, not including repair cost.

For those who haven't guessed this was just a knock on the Dodge I drive as having to go to the shop again.

[asdf]

[quote=RedMan][quote=Scott P]

3. Bernie Madoff

[cachehiker]

How about:

1. Bottled Water

2. Microsoft Windows

3. The Iraq War

Bottled water is little more than a victory for marketing and a demonstration of just how gullible the American consumer can be.

Microsoft maintained monopoly status for decades and should've been required to play fair far sooner than they were. Manufacturers unable to sell computers without an OS installed or with Linux or ??? WTF?

We went to war in Iraq to benefit Haliburton for Cheney's sake and to make the regular armed forced and Rumsfeld look a little less anachronistic in a war against terrorism.

[denaliguide]

How about:

1. Bottled Water

2. Microsoft Windows

3. The Iraq War

Bottled water is little more than a victory for marketing and a demonstration of just how gullible the American consumer can be.

Microsoft maintained monopoly status for decades and should've been required to play fair far sooner than they were. Manufacturers unable to sell computers without an OS installed or with Linux or ??? WTF?

We went to war in Iraq to benefit Haliburton for Cheney's sake and to make the regular armed forced and Rumsfeld look a little less anachronistic in a war against terrorism.

i'm with you on the bottled water. how about pet rocks to show that the public will buy anything.

[James_B_Wads2000]

1. Religon
2. Reganomics
3. Free market capitalism

[shlingdawg]

1. Religon


:stupid:

:nod: :nod:

:pope: :pope: :pope: :pope: :pope:

[Tumbleweed]

How about:

3. The Iraq War

We went to war in Iraq to benefit Haliburton for Cheney's sake and to make the regular armed forced and Rumsfeld look a little less anachronistic in a war against terrorism.

When is war NOT a scam of some sort...from one side or the other? Leader X convinces Country/People Y they deserve something and Country/People Z have it. Pretty much everytime!

While Cheney & Rumsfeld certainly created one big cluster***k in Iraq, I think it really boiled down to something way more simple than what you might think - ego and over-confidence. That goes for the American public too! The US Armed Forces made "winning" wars at low cost almost expected since the early '90s. Where is the check & balance when everyone thinks we can roll over whoever we want? So, I think we scammed ourselves as a nation. Whether you're on board or not, we're all in this together.

Fortunately...the leadership running the war for the past couple of years understands reality and we may actually benefit from this in the long run. Or not, but we can't go back in time and press the RESET button. We can only move forward and make the most of it...

And that's all I've got to say about that...
Beau

[JP]

I think I have them figured out.

Three biggest scams in US history:

1. Dodge Trucks

:roflol:

You should have switched that with the 44th President :mrgreen:

Still lovin' the Dooge :2thumbs:

[DiscGo]

When is war NOT a scam of some sort...from one side or the other? Leader X convinces Country/People Y they deserve something and Country/People Z have it. Pretty much everytime!

While Cheney & Rumsfeld certainly created one big cluster***k in Iraq, I think it really boiled down to something way more simple than what you might think - ego and over-confidence. That goes for the American public too! The US Armed Forces made "winning" wars at low cost almost expected since the early '90s. Where is the check & balance when everyone thinks we can roll over whoever we want? So, I think we scammed ourselves as a nation. Whether you're on board or not, we're all in this together.

Fortunately...the leadership running the war for the past couple of years understands reality and we may actually benefit from this in the long run. Or not, but we can't go back in time and press the RESET button. We can only move forward and make the most of it...

And that's all I've got to say about that...
Beau

I enjoyed your post.

[cachehiker]

Fortunately...the leadership running the war for the past couple of years understands reality and we may actually benefit from this in the long run. Or not, but we can't go back in time and press the RESET button. We can only move forward and make the most of it...

And that's all I've got to say about that...
Beau

The leadership currently running the war does understand reality and I sincerely appreciate that.

However, the Bush administration never had me convinced they were going to get anything done for less than $1,000,000,000,000. I remain unconvinced that I'm ever going to see $1,000,000,000,000/300,000,000 = $3,333 worth of benefit from their little misadventure. As far as security in the region goes, we've removed one of the two walls (Iraq and Israel) that previously separated Iran from dominating it. If and when we leave Iraq, we will be left with the choice of continuing to delude ourselves or accepting Iran as the most powerful country in the middle east.

Yep. Iraq was a scam and we all got taken.

[JP]

The leadership currently running the war does understand reality and I sincerely appreciate that.
And what about their spending habits :ne_nau:

Nice read, Tumbleweed.

[Deathcricket]

However, the Bush administration never had me convinced they were going to get anything done for less than $1,000,000,000,000. I remain unconvinced that I'm ever going to see $1,000,000,000,000/300,000,000 = $3,333 worth of benefit from their little misadventure.

Can you elaborate on this math? I'm not following ya. I don't disagree with anything you said though.

[GOCK]

Yes, the Iraq war was much worse than all the other wars the U.S. has been involved in! :roll: Wasnt the "left" the side who kept saying it was about oil? :ne_nau:
The biggest mistake with Iraq - Not building a huge pipe from Iraq to America to suck all the oil out of that place to feed my SUV's.

Scams:
1. Government "Help Programs" (Social Security, Medicare, Welfare, Indian welfare, etc. etc. etc.)
2. IRA's (401ks, 403 b's, any savings vehicle that delayed tax's)
3. Hell I'm so pissed now I cant even think of a third!

[CrazyFinn]

Dodge Trucks are still the biggest scam.

$113,873,730,000 scammed out of consumers in the last 10 years, not including repair cost.

For those who haven't guessed this was just a knock on the Dodge I drive as having to go to the shop again.

Scott - This is funny. Sorry it turned out that way. Stuff happens.

I guess I shouldn't say I'm happy with my Dodge so far. Or I better keep my fingers crossed. :haha:

[Tumbleweed]

This lady is convinced she knows exactly what is THE BIGGEST SCAM IN HISTORY!!! Trust me...you don't want to miss out on this one. It nearly brings a tear to my eye. :2thumbs:

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/BIGGESTSCAMINHISTORY.HTML


edit - It is a woman who wrote it, not a guy like I originally posted.

[JP]

I guess I shouldn't say I'm happy with my Dodge so far. Or I better keep my fingers crossed. :haha:
Yea, Scott's Dodge almost killed him :haha: I guess that's the reason for the hatred :lol8: I love my Dodge, cannot complain one iota :mrgreen: Just under 70,000 miles and still running strong :2thumbs:

[DiscGo]

This guy is convinced he knows exactly what is THE BIGGEST SCAM IN HISTORY!!! Trust me...you don't want to miss out on this one. It nearly brings a tear to my eye. :2thumbs:

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Mary/BIGGESTSCAMINHISTORY.HTML


I agree with this being one of the 3 biggest. It wasn't until Summit had me watch Zeitgeist that I found out the Federal Reserve wasn't a "Federal" department.

[JP]

The funny part with what Tumbleweed posted, it's been out there and what is surprising is that so many don't know about it.

[Tumbleweed]

Honestly....I don't know a thing about the Fed or how it works. Besides Madoff, this was the second most common result when I searched for "biggest scams in us history". Apparently, this Mary lady is quite adamant about her opinion and is willing to share it with everyone!

[Jaxx]

However, the Bush administration never had me convinced they were going to get anything done for less than $1,000,000,000,000. I remain unconvinced that I'm ever going to see $1,000,000,000,000/300,000,000 = $3,333 worth of benefit from their little misadventure.

Can you elaborate on this math? I'm not following ya. I don't disagree with anything you said though.

1 trillion dollars spent divided by 300 million Americans(current population) equals $3,333 per person.

the amount of money we would each get as Americans if the gubment just gave us the money instead of huge corporations from the tarp.

[RedMan]

However, the Bush administration never had me convinced they were going to get anything done for less than $1,000,000,000,000. I remain unconvinced that I'm ever going to see $1,000,000,000,000/300,000,000 = $3,333 worth of benefit from their little misadventure.

Can you elaborate on this math? I'm not following ya. I don't disagree with anything you said though.

1 trillion dollars spent divided by 300 million Americans(current population) equals $3,333 per person.

the amount of money we would each get as Americans if the gubment just gave us the money instead of huge corporations from the tarp.

When in reality all they had to do was reduce my ACTUAL taxes by that much and I would have out it back into the economy. Now we get to pay interest on it an still watch GM go under.

[asdf]

The funny part with what Tumbleweed posted, it's been out there and what is surprising is that so many don't know about it.


Of course your not going to see the media cover it... We are doing just what "they" wants us to do by bitching and moaning over Bush/Obamba/Economy while we get screwed on the base level of the country.

Wheres Andrew Jackson when you need him?

[JP]

Of course your not going to see the media cover it...
Only if it adversely affects them.

[Deathcricket]

However, the Bush administration never had me convinced they were going to get anything done for less than $1,000,000,000,000. I remain unconvinced that I'm ever going to see $1,000,000,000,000/300,000,000 = $3,333 worth of benefit from their little misadventure.

Can you elaborate on this math? I'm not following ya. I don't disagree with anything you said though.

1 trillion dollars spent divided by 300 million Americans(current population) equals $3,333 per person.

the amount of money we would each get as Americans if the gubment just gave us the money instead of huge corporations from the tarp.

Ahh that's where I was confused. I was thinking the number was approaching 3 tril, not one. Will have to check my numbers. :)

[Jaxx]

Ahh that's where I was confused. I was thinking the number was approaching 3 tril, not one. Will have to check my numbers. :)

I think it is now. Atleast over 2 billion for sure.

[Iceaxe]

How soon they forget.... the Vietnam War was a bigger cluster**** then Iraq, particularly if you want to included the cost of American soldiers. We lost the Vietnam War, at least the outcome of Iraq has yet to be determined.

The United States spent $111 billion on the Vietnam war ($686 billion in 2008 dollars). The war also cost us 58,159 U.S. soldiers.

The US has spent $845 billion on the Iraq war, The Iraq war has cost us 4,136 soldiers (AP count August 9, 2008).

But for biggest scams?!?!?.... I'm going with bottled water.... who ever dreamed up the idea of selling water for $2 a pop and actually pulling it off is a genius.

:bootyshake:

[R]

Bottled water doesn't count as a true scam because it doesn't actually involve deception. Clean water in a plastic bottle? That's not deceptive. It's there, and if you want it, you can pay for it. You know what you are getting. To make it a scam, you would have to claim that it cured cancer, gave you a bigger Johnson, or would make you rich.

In my opinion, the biggest scam in U.S. history is television.

[Iceaxe]

I'm still sticking with bottled water....

Bottled Water - the $100 Billion Fraud Industry
news.yahoo.com

Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief--often mistaken, as it happens--that this is better for us than what flows from our taps. At up to $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline in the United States.