You need to re-evaluate your looking at the Euro.  They do not have a better economy than ours, unless you think that having 9+% unemployment is a better economy.

The high Euro is also hurting economies in Europe.  The Italians in particular are positively screaming over this, because in the old days, they could devalue the lira if times got tough to make their goods cheaper.  Now they no longer have that option and they are increasingly getting priced out of the labor market, meaning more unemployment, meaning a worse economy.

Also, you need to go over the Growth and Stability Pact that regulates the euro.  It limits member nations to budget deficits that are less that 3% of the nation's GDP.  France and Germany routinely break this tenet because to reign in their debt, they need to reign in their Nanny States, and they don't want to do that, because their people are all spoiled, because they thingk government is there to coddle them and babysit them. 

The reason for the dollar's slide is because of continuing trade deficits, the refusal of Americans to save their money (if everyone saved 20% of their paychecks over the next twenty years, the dollar would be so strong it would truly be scary) and the softening of the housing market which has done so much to power the economy these past years.

Conservatives DO in fact see a role for both government and corporations; they just don't agree that government is THE ANSWER as you seem to.  I actually think that corporations can do many, many things better than government.  They can't do it all, but the list of things that government can and should do, by comparison, is very, veyr short.

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."  -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)

Did you read the link I posted?

Didn't think so.

It took an act of the Governor (Bush, FYI) to get rid of this incompetent government employee (Supervisor of Elections) who made Broward County, Florida a national laughingstock.

Try again, crshedd.  You're drowning here.

And I applaud that you reacted that way; it was the proper response.  Although I personally think that Mr. Raymond was in fact worth $400 million, for the simple reason that someone, or a group of shareholders, believed he was in fact worth that much and paid him accordingly.  Nor is it my business, or yours, or anyone elses, to determine how valuable someone is or how much they are worth. 

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."  -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)

I love The Economist but am routinely stunned that they cannot see the straitjacket the Euro is to economic growth, and the fact is that demographic decline and continued unemployment that creates a new class of people for governments to coddle and babysit (and thus adding new clients to their Nanny State).  Italy is getting a nasty surprise because the Euro is pricing their labor and goods out of the world market; it is hurting Airbus, among others, and creating other peculiar problems.  Sorry, it just is. 

The dollar's slide is simple to put an end to:

1) pay down the national debt, even a little (But you want an American Nanny State.  Fat chance of that, huh?)

2) Diversification of energy sources.  If we could tap into out oil shale, coal sources (to be processed into liquid fuel), and rely increasingly on nuclear energy (whoops!  You don't like that, either, never mind that the technology is getting safer all the time and France gets 75% of their juice from nukes!), we could be essentially be self-sufficient in energy.  That will mean less dollar outflows to other economies.

3) Increase the savings rate.  If the American consumer decided to save 20% of their paychecks on a consistent basis, that might make people more self-reliant, and a little better off.  And again, it would cut down on dollar outflows to other economies...

4) American business, if they wish to sell domestically made goods, should perhaps make their products COMPETITIVE and or high quality for less cost.  Toyota is clearly making a better car and Americans are voting with their wallets. 

Again, corporations, being creatures of humanity, are imperfect, but we ALL have oversight over them.   Unless they are monopolies, people can merely stop shopping and buying from them.  Government, whether you want to admit it or not, have bureaucracies whose only interest is in perpetuating and adding to their power.  Even representatives are loath to do anything to them because of the SCREAMING and crying that the bureaucrats and people like you (and people ill-informed by a biased media, as in the Social Security fight) participate in to force the Reps to cave, even if the reforms are needed and absolutely necessary.

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."  -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)

Upon further review, I must take you to task on your currency claim as an indicator as to the health of a nations economy.

In reality, they behave more like stocks than anything else.  There is a point where the currency's worth is determined by the value of the economy, beyond which it is all speculation, emotion, and a bit of gambling.  This is much the way stocks operate.  Would you have told me that in 1999 the dot-coms were much healthier companies than their brick-and-mortar counterparts?  I'm sure you would have, even though at that time I thought investing in companies that only showed potential, not profit, was folly. 

The currency markets work the same way.  I am still not sold on the Euro just on the basis of the fundamentals.  It is only a matter of time until those chickens come home to roost, and when they do, you'll be better off in the dollar, or even an Asian currency.

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy."  -Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman (1874-1965)