What I'm not going to do tonight

[P5-133XL]

I'm not going to watch Bush's State of the Union address tonight!

You already know what he's gonna say: How we need to kill more Iraq'ies in what appears to be a low grade undeclared civil war (The insurgants are not just bombing us, but rather each other) while we are busy training and equipping each side under the guise of training a security force to protect their citizens; How we need more freedoms curtailed to protect ourselves from the bad guys; How we need to spy more on our citizens; How we need a draft to maintain our forces in Afganistan and Iraq and further expand into other hot spots, as needed (2 1/2 full-scale wars was the previous goal); How necessary it is to torcher prisoners and how important it is to imprison their wives and families to give leverage in forcing them to talk; How our ecconomy is doing so incredibly well with all these multi-national companies out sourcing skilled labor to other countries and the industrial base on the verge of bancruptcy. How we are not morgaging our future when most employee-based pensions are being disolved and Social-Security vigorusly unhealthy; How with the aging population base being unable afford health-care and the government unable to maintain Medicare with a 20%+ per year inflation rate forthe cost of healthcare services, especially with the disolving of the extended family which traditionally dealt with the aged; How well the govt. has delt with onslot of recent disasters like Katrina and how excellently the progress is in rebuilding new Orleans (NOT); How the govt. is fully prepared for global warming and how it is not Man's influance causing it, so we don't need to even try to moderate our actions. How we need to spend billions getting someone to Mars while we can't even get our people up to the space station that we are internationally committed to finish building.

I really could go on and on about how I feel George is doing and I'm sure that he will put an optimists viewpoint on some of the issues of the day but I'm a all-empty kind of guy (definately not half empty) when I see the ongoing trends and listen to his justifications. I'm not going to watch and get sick to my stomach, once again.

 

[mubs]

Mark, you're right, don't do it. But watch this 30-second clip on the president's Iraqi update instead (what he really thinks about it).

I urge everybody, Repub or Dem, to watch it.

 

[CougTek]

I fully agree with everything Mark wrote.

 

[mubs]

I recently received an email about Social Security. I'm reproducing it below. If it's really true, it's quite shocking.

Lets keep this one going until the election....Re-mail it a 1000 times if necessary....

Why wait until 2008? There is an election in 2006. I herewith firmly state that i will not vote for any politician, regardless of the other issues, if he/she does not sponsor and support the following legislation. That includes everyone standing for election in 2006.

Let us show our leaders in Washington "people power" and the power of the Internet. Let me know if you are with me on this by forwarding to everyone in your address book. It doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democrat! Keep it going!!!!

2008 Election Issue!!

Get A Bill Started To Place All Politicians On Soc. Sec.

SOCIAL SECURITY:

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election years.

Our Senators and Congresswomen do not pay into Social Security and, of course, they do not collect from it.

You see, Social Security benefits were not suitable for persons of their rare elevation in society. They felt they should have a special plan for themselves. So, many years ago they voted in their own benefit plan.

In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the need to change it. After all, it is a great plan.

For all practical purposes their plan works like this:

When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until they die!

Except it may increase from time to time for cost of living adjustments..

For example, Senator Byrd and Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw $7,800,000 (that's Seven Million, Eight-Hundred Thousand Dollars), with their wives drawing $275,000 during the last years of their lives.

This is calculated on an average life span for each of those two dignitaries.

Younger dignitaries who retire at an early age, will receive much more during the rest of their lives.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $0.00. NADA....ZILCH....

This little perk they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine retirement plan come directly from the General Funds:

"OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK"!

From our own Social Security Plan, which you and I pay (or have paid) into, every payday until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer), we can expect to get an average of $1,000 per month after retirement.

Or, in other words, we would have to collect our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one (1) month to equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change were made.

That change would be to:

Jerk the Golden Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with the rest of us

then sit back.....

and see how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.

How many people CAN you send this to?

Better yet.....

How many people WILL you send this to?

 

[Mercutio]

I thought the congressional pay issue was widely known. Get elected to the US House for a couple years and you never have to work again, even if you're too lazy to be a lobbyist.

Anyway, the way I feel about George can't be summed up in an online forum without me getting a visit from the Secret Service I guess I can say that I hope, in some near future, I hope he's forcibly removed to the Hague for a war crimes tribunal. Are they still hanging the guilty?

As much as I hate (HATE - actual, ulcer-causing hatred) the right wing in this country, I am disgusted by what passes for our "left". Democrats have done NOTHING to capitalize on the stupidity of this administration, on its scandals. Partly, this is because democrats haven't been willing or interested in boiling their message down to lowest common denominator talking points, partly, it's because they're so cowed by even the possibility of appearing "unamerican". Regardless, the net effect is that the organizational hivemind on the right can march with a single message, chanted in unison - a simple phrase that can resonate with people who may actually be stupid enough to think that the answer to all the world's problems can be found in a two-sentence platitude, while the only pragmatic alternative can't even effectively communicate a response.

 

[Stereodude]

In contrast to the rest of you, I won't be watching the Democratic retort.

 

[Mercutio]

How does it feel to be part of the problem?

 

[Handruin]

This is funny.

 

[Stereodude]

How does it feel to be part of the problem?

If I was, I would let you know.

How does it feel to have leaders with no spine?

 

[sechs]

How does it feel to have leaders with no spine?

You should know. He's your president.

 

[P5-133XL]

I'm proud to have voted ABB - "Anyone but Bush" in the last two elections and especially the last one once he had a track record established of making very poor decisions. Now there were limits to that (A religous fanatic could possibly be worse) but fortunately the limits were never tested.

 

[LunarMist]

I watched Deliverance.

 

[Mercutio]

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.J.RES.24.IH:

 

[LiamC]

So the 24 amendment repeals the 22nd. What is the 22nd?

 

[Mercutio]

No president Shall serve more than two consecutive terms in office.


That's fucking bonechilling.

 

[mubs]

Cuts both ways. We could bring B(ill) J(efferson) Clinton back!

 

[Mercutio]

Well, technically, we could anyway, since the wording of the 22nd amendment specifies consecutive terms.

Clinton is rather more right-wing than I'd prefer, but I can respect him as a thoughtful human being, and I can't attribute either of those qualities to the blob of pure evil presently festering in the white house.

 

[Pradeep]

That's fucking bonechilling.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r109:1:./temp/~r1098BzgKV::

"Under the resolution I offer today, President Bush would not be eligible to run for a third term. However, the American people would have restored to themselves and future generations an essential democratic privilege to elect who they choose in the future."

Calm down Merc

 

[mubs]

Calm down Merc

I think not. What if Hillary wins again and again and again and again? Shudder-Shudder-Shudder.

 

[Pradeep]

Eeeek!

*Pradeep sucks thumb, shivering, waiting for Sun to come back up*

 

[ddrueding]

This is funny.

What's funny is that the link made my internet connection the fastest ever!

 

[LiamC]

Why was the 22nd amendment passed in the first place? I assume there must have been good reasons put forward to limit the number of terms of the presidency.

If there were, what has changed between now and then? In other words, why has the situation that caused A22 to be implemented now changed so they (nebulous reasons) won't occur?

Is it merely a ploy because someone thinks they have a chance of getting a president in for more than two terms?

 

[P5-133XL]

Why was the 22nd amendment passed in the first place? I assume there must have been good reasons put forward to limit the number of terms of the presidency.

If there were, what has changed between now and then? In other words, why has the situation that caused A22 to be implemented now changed so they (nebulous reasons) won't occur?

Is it merely a ploy because someone thinks they have a chance of getting a president in for more than two terms?

FDR and his 4 terms of office prompted the 22nd amendment.

What has changed since then and now - People have forgotten what it was like to have a political machine that can't be challenged.

Is it merely a ploy -- Of course it is a political ploy. It means nothing because there isn't a chance in %*!! that it could pass in any time-frame that could effect the current administration. It is merely a rather obscure way of showing support to the current administration.

 

[LiamC]

FDR and his 4 terms of office prompted the 22nd amendment.

Was FDR's govt(s) noted for corruption?

 

[jtr1962]

Was FDR's govt(s) noted for corruption?

Let's put this way-FDR's New Deal was the start of the big government welfare state which exists today. Passing Social Security was the biggest deception ever done to the American people. The initial tax rate was only 1% so as to make the program politically palatable. In reality, that shifted the burden of paying for it on the following generations. Also, the program was fundamentally flawed in that it relied on contributions of people working to pay for retired people instead of relying on invested contributions. Once the population growth slowed, the system was in trouble.

Anyway, I can't speak to whether or not FDR's terms were marred by corruption, but getting a lot of the socialist programs he wanted passed relied on the government lying to the American people, a practice which sadly continues to this day with the current administration. The federal Department of Education is another part of FDR's legacy for which we are paying the price for today, along with the general trend away from personal responsibility thanks to Food Stamps, AFDC, etc. Had the two-term limit been in place then, the US might well be a better place today. There is only so much damage any President, no matter how bad, can do in two terms.

 

[mubs]

At the outset, let me state that I have nothing against immigrants. In one sense, we all are, into this country.

What's really galling is older immigrants getting Social Security. I know many immigrants who were sponsored by relatives and arrived at SS eligible ages. They're getting paid without putting a dime into the SS fund. Meanwhile working Americans contribute to the SS fund but will likely see nothing when they retire. AFAIK, this also extends to healthcare. Logic dictates that if I were to sponsor somebody into this country, I should be held for responsible for the immigrant's support. Why put the burden on the general public?

 

[P5-133XL]

FDR and his 4 terms of office prompted the 22nd amendment.

Was FDR's govt(s) noted for corruption?

No

 

[Pradeep]

Logic dictates that if I were to sponsor somebody into this country, I should be held for responsible for the immigrant's support. Why put the burden on the general public?

Let me put my experience in:

When I got married, and my wife and I put in all the paperwork to the INS (now USCIS), she had to sign an Affidavit of Support, which means that if I apply and get certain kinds of Federal benefits, she will be liable to pay back the costs. She will only be released from this once I have worked for 40 quarters (10 years).

You have to think about the SS eligible people in terms of reciprocity. There is quite a waiting list to get an elderly parent into the USA. Several years. And if you were living in Australia for example, and brought your parent there, he/she would also be eligible for Medicare/pensions.

 

[Mercutio]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/1/235828/9378

 

[mubs]

Won't happen. Dems have become spineless, gutless, brain-dead worms.

 

[Mercutio]

That's better than the alternative.

George Bush absolutely, unquestionably deserves to be impeached. Anyone who thought lying under oath about a blow job should have no problem with impeachment for illegal wiretaps, costly wars due to "faulty intelligence", or leaking the names of security operatives for political gain. Funny how the same group of assholes - on both sides of the aisle - aren't particularly indignant about any of those things.

Hey, did you all see the video of Shrub being warned prior to Katrina's landfall of the possibility of massive devastation and failing levees?

 

[mubs]

Retired school teacher pays a large amount on his credit card and DHS gets notified.

What next? I pee in the loo and DHS comes calling?

 

[Stereodude]

Hey, did you all see the video of Shrub being warned prior to Katrina's landfall of the possibility of massive devastation and failing levees?

I supposed he and Chertoff were supposed to fly down to there and drive the school buses that Ray Nagin left parked to help evacute the people?

 

[Mercutio]

Mr. Bush could and should have mobilized the military beforehand. I'm not just talking about the Army Corps of Engineers or about Medics. The US military is full of people who know how to use heavy equipment and how to build hardened communications and logistical networks. I'm sure there were three or four enlisted men who weren't off pursuing unjust wars and empire-building in the Middle East.

And he sure as fuck should not have been sitting around Orrin Hatch's place or going to folk music festivals.

 

[Stereodude]

Mr. Bush could and should have mobilized the military beforehand. I'm not just talking about the Army Corps of Engineers or about Medics. The US military is full of people who know how to use heavy equipment and how to build hardened communications and logistical networks. I'm sure there were three or four enlisted men who weren't off pursuing unjust wars and empire-building in the Middle East.

And he sure as fuck should not have been sitting around Orrin Hatch's place or going to folk music festivals.

Of course, we'll just declare martial law before the hurricane and have the military take over.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060303/ap_on_go_pr_wh/katrina_video

 

[sechs]

Well, if you can declare someplace a disaster area before there's a disaster there, maybe you prepare for the results before they occur.

This *is* the guy that said that the government was prepared. Shoot, if Dick Cheney had been running the country that day....

 

[Stereodude]

Well, if you can declare someplace a disaster area before there's a disaster there, maybe you prepare for the results before they occur.

This *is* the guy that said that the government was prepared. Shoot, if Dick Cheney had been running the country that day....

Right, we'll just shred the constitution and send the military in to force people from their homes before the storm hits and hope the ends justify the means.

I'm not going to sit and argue that the federal/state/local gov't was prepared. Of course they weren't as well prepared as they could have been. The difference is I'm not outraged about it. I know the gov't fails people. It always has. The gov't doesn't do very much well. They fail people all the time with their social programs. Anytime you hand over individual responsibility to the gov't you're creating a recipe for disaster.

 

[Mercutio]

What does mobilizing the military to set up communication networks have to do with declaration of martial law? The two things are entirely different.

In the event that the disaster hadn't been serious, the military could've just declared the whole affair to be a joint-training exercise or something. It might've been expensive, but I bet it wouldn't cost as much as rebuilding New Orleans is.

 

[sechs]

As they say, piss-poor prior planning causes piss-poor performance.

This administration is king of it.

 

[Howell]

New Orleans sees Cat 1 and 2 storms almost annually.

The ONLY way to lessen the damage significantly was to improve the levee system. You can always throw money at a problem but that is not mangement in any sense of the word. Even so money was alloted to fix the levees in decades past.