What....You got no avatar? Get with the program for God's sake!

 

He's using a tried and true method of pointing out absurdity by being absurd. Some people don't understand that. But, with all that said, I still don't see anyone refuting the things he's brought up. Hoising people on their own petard is nothing more than pointing out what people believe by using their own words. All I've heard in response is a lot of name calling.

Fixed news??? Wow, that's pretty clever. I suppose Fox is more fixed than CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC, and MSNBC; those paragons of journalistic virtue. I can just picture the powers that be saying, "Circle the wagons boys, we've got a dissenter." No, they'd never protect a President that THEY wanted to get elected. To the millions who watch Fox it is a balance against the lack of integrity they see in the so-called "mainstream media".

And, to a degree, I agree about the Republicans being at least partly at fault for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their fault in my mind is not standing up to the "give the farm away" mentality of Barney Frank and friends who want this failed program to fail.

And for the people who believe government can run things responsibly, the Social Security system is now officially out of money. Funny how it ran out of money about 6 years before they said it would. I wonder what other surprises await us as we create government program upon government program. Health care will be funded!!! Sure. Baa-baa. Maybe we should all be more sheeplike and just go along with all the unpleasentries they have in store for us. Don't dare stir up the pot and oppose what's going on.

I will not go quietly into the night. I'm glad to see people standing up to a government takeover of the private sector that is unprecidented by anything I've seen in my 47 years. My biggest gripe is not that Republicans are "obstructing" what's going on. It's that they aren't doing it enough. (Not that Democrats would ever obstruct anything.... Read rolled eyes into forehead)

 

A large part of the spending was national defense spending at a rate that the Russians couldn't keep up with. Brought them to their knees and we have a Russia that is not nearly the threat it used to be. The world is a better place for it. I feel the same way about Hussein in Iraq. Someone was going to have to deal with him again at some point. He did have items that could have caused some serious carnage in our pleasent little lives at some point. If he was willing to drop them on his own countrymen I still don't think he would have hesitated to send them off with one of those lovely radicalized Muslims to come and visit us. We don't have to worry about the "what ifs" that we'd have if he was still breathing.

 

I know...I've heard the Russia stories about justification. Like I said, it's OK when Republican Presidents spend us into a 10 year hole. It's quite another if a Dem does it. I'll disqualify Clinton, since he was negative. -Likely someone will pipe-up that it wasn't really Clinton, it was the Republicans that did it.

And how do you feel about the Billions we're spending on "nation buidling" at this very moment? We're now told by top generals we won't be able to really leave Iraq until 2020! That'll be twenty years of building that country. I'm glad you like it, but I don't. And didn't the Republicans and George Bush run on the fact that the silly Dems were just a bunch of "nation builders". I believe so.... More Billions of China borrow money building Iraq electrical grids. Great. He should have done what his father did....kicked his *** and kept him in a box until he either died, got assassinated, or overthrown. -Clearly that's hindsight.

We do have to worry about the "what ifs". More so than ever. Cuz now he's gone and pissed off an entire generation of radicalized Islam peoples. Now they're hell bent on screwing us from Iran to friggin Africa. It is no safer by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe Saddam and his lame Scud missles are gone, but now we've got to contend with the Richard Reed types (shoe bomber guys). It's not good and they will try to strike again.

 

That's the beauty of this country....You don't have to go quietly into the night; there will be another election in three years. There's a Congress and a Supreme Court. There will likely be a Rep. Congress in a few weeks. It's not that bad.

 

The difference being that until G W Bush and now Obama there was a chance we could pay it off. That is quickly slipping away. Reagen's main expenditures were for national defense and putting our military back together into a force that could do what needs to be done. The spending that really got going in G W's time and is accelerating now is on social issues that most Americans don't want in the first place. They promise the moon and spend exponentially more than what is available in the private sector. If you were to tax the top 10% of wage earners now it won't fix the problem. That leaves you and I collectively to pay the piper.

Not sure that nation building is a good thing but it does beat a dictatorship like Iran and area Arab nations.

As far as the Islamics are concerned they've hated us for decades. When we tried to bring peace in the Middle East with the UN they bombed the Marine barracks. They also blew a hole in one of our ships, the USS Cole. They've attacked the WTC twice and succeeded the second time, and they will keep trying. I'll try to make nice with a person in a one on one and see if I can't help them. But, collectively, to the radical Islamics we are the Great Satan and they are bent on destroying us. I say happy hunting to our servicemen and servicewoman who are fighting overseas.

 

But the big money right is looking for more tax breaks for the rich! That certainly does leave you and I. That's why I can't vote for them. 99% of Americans have zero in common (financially) with the people in Congress. They're all multi-millionaires and some billionaires (Nancy P.) They're looking out for themselves and their family legacy, not you or I.

There's a whole lot more of the psychos on the loose now and they're headed this way.

 

If the politicians had to rely on the same insurance and modes of transportation that I do, and had to fund them themselves, a whole lot of things would be different right now.

And that goes for politicians across the board.

 

You know I'm tired of the "tax breaks for the rich" garbage. The tax breaks that Bush gave us and are set to expire benifitted me and my wife. We are by no means rich. I really wish that the left would stop the lying. I agree that they are looking out for themselves for the most part on Capitol Hill. If the people whining about the Bush tax cuts would look at them they'd learn that it benefitted a large spectrum of the population. Capitol gains was part of it. Anyone who owns stock or has made a profit knows about that tax. The simple fact of the matter is that Americans whether rich or poor are not undertaxed. The federal government (and most states) tax your income. Then if you invest it or put it in a bank they tax you on your increase or profit. They tax your gasoline and the car that is using it. They tax your property (which in my mind at least keeps the money local). Sales taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes (taxing the money your family leaves you even though it's been taxed all the times mentioned so far). And there are hundreds more. When is it going to stop? Not as long as they keep on spending.

 

Maine State income taxes are insane. I almost crapped my pants when I got transferred here. I actually called HR Dept. and claimed they made a mistake when I got my first check!

I'll have to look into the benefit of the Bush breaks some more. Didn't think the capital gains were part of it until X level. What they give in breaks to corporations and the top 2% is going to come out of your hide, one way or another. What did Warren Buffet say about his tax rate last year....was something like 5%.....and I paid 30+ %.

The average person defending the current rate of taxation for the ultra rich is not in your best interest. That's why it baffles me that so many regular people defend and aid these massive breaks to the top earners. Why? Trickle-down does not work. Well maybe it's a drip now and again. The Republican party has done an awesome job of convincing regular people that this is the party for them. The people at the top that run the party are laughing all the way to the bank. It's a great deal for them and their family.