Texsox

Isn't it up to our elected leaders to decide how our tax dollars are spent? You are correct, cutting social programs and the left cries "your starving babies and old people. Cut the military and the right cries "we're defenseless". We cannot give any area of the government a blank check. Do you believe that every single expenditure the military asks for should be funded and at whatever level they ask?

Bob, Sanitizing the view may not be in the countries best interest either. These men and women are heroes in my book. I do not understand why we are hiding their sacrifice. Men and women die in war. Every citizen has a responsibility to the men and women who choose to serve to be diligent in allowing where our elected leaders to send them off to victory or defeat. Some causes I agree with and understand we need our military, some causes I have not agreed with and write my leaders and will tell anyone and everyone why I disagree. The best way I can support our Troops is to make certain they do not die for an unjust cause. I also do not want their sacrifice to go unnoticed. Of course Lincoln could not go to them all, but I suspect he went to some.

I changed it, thank you.

Should the military have a blank check to spend whatever they feel is necessary?

W's newest advisor on human rights

Kenny is talking to his shoes. This is it; until we see how everyone else shapes up before they make any moves. Pray we are buying and not selling.

Ask Frank. With the giant love-fest, Ozzie needs to consult Frank and see what he thinks. Then pull any name out of their ass.

When the Palestinians who want peace can join with the Israelis who want peace, good things will happen. Until then, it is great business to sell missles and explosives in the middle east.

cw, I thought for a moment you lost your mind

but never gay. Happy and jolly at the white house but never, ever gay, happy, and golly. What is the historical perspective on Presidents attending the funerals of US Servicemen and women?

What I felt was wrong in your story Rich guy leaves and stops paying taxes. 1 person is footing 59% of the bill. That would suggest that 10% of our population pays 59% of the taxes. Actually the middle class contributes the bulk of the revenues. You have the poor people mugging the defenseless rich guy, I pointed out he is far from defenseless. I do not have a problem with the rich guy getting his fair share of a tax cut. I also do not have a problem with a graduated tax rate. I would like to see the first $X tax free, whatever the poverty rate is for the number of dependents in the household and none after that. A millionaire has changed tremendously since I was a kid. No longer is it a threshold of luxery. Many of the assets are tied up in their homes and 401Ks. But to suggest that the poor buy more cars than rich just doesn't pass the common sense test. Hey, look at all the millionaires riding the Greyhound to Des Moines for vacation.

Fictitious? Your version: Rich people leave and stop paying taxes My version: Rich people stay, contribute to campaigns, lobby congress, and receive tax breaks. So, where are all these rich people moving to? Who is lobbying congress for tax cuts? The guy making $20,000 per year? Who gets access to his congressman? You are right it isn't the rich going out and buying cars with their tax breaks, they already own a car. It is the working por who can buy one. We both agree the wealthies receive the biggest benefit from a tax cut.

Which then leads to this: Those that believe Israel has the moral right to execute Palestinians, is it ok if they happen to be at O'Hare Airport? Maybe a couple Israeli agents could pump him full of .22s while he's waiting for his luggage. Any problem with an Apache coming down the Kennedy at rush hour to take out a Hamas leader? If it takes out a couple Americans would it would be ok if the Hamas leader was high enough in the command. If assassinating Yassin was worth killing a few, it shouldn't change if it was Americans being killed. Can Israel attack them in Egypt, France, Germany, Syria?

I moved the money into an off shore internet "gaming" business.

I received a loan of $1.25 from the World Bank, leveraged it for a matching grant from the Indian government because it was a high tech project, secured a training grant from the DOL to train the kid, picked up a $.25 tax credit because he was previously unemployed, and finally filed for bankruptcy before I gave him the $1 Don't you know anything about business?

I paid the kid $1.00 and he wrote a program for me. Now I don't have to type * and * I don't have to keep paying him

Nice story. Here's another version: After the restaurant owner gives them the $20 savings the rich guy explains, Give me the $20 savings and I will by my wife a new car. By me spending this money, instead of you spending that money, it will stimulate the economy and we will all be better off. Any by the way, I need that $80 receipt, this economic lesson makes it a business expense and I'm going to write off the meal. When the others complained, the rich guy got together with his rich friends and hired a lobbyist with their share of the $20. The lobbyist suggested which congressman would be helpfull in securing the votes to make certain the rich men got the $20. They made the donations, they called their congressman and were put right through because they were big doners, and legislation was passed! The restaurant owner was forced to give the $20 to the rich guy. Unfortunately tax payers don't seem to grasp this.

The fact we are having a discussion about what Bin Laden would do if Kerry or Bush is elected is amazing. Terrorsists have been a fact of life for far more than this election. It is a bigger campaign issue than any other campaign. To think the men and women that are actually working to find Bin Laden will work harder or easier based on who is elected is an insult to those dedicated agents. I'll bet Nuke will not slack off and be less of a soldier because Kerry gets elected. I believe he has too much pride as an American and in wearing the uniform. We could elect Elmer Fudd and the search will not change considerably. Both parties desperately want to be the party in the White House when Bin Laden is captured. To think otherwise shows a lack of experience in the two party system and how to win political points.

YASNY International Law draws a distinction on assassinations. What further clouded this is that there is not a declared war here. In effect, Israel and Palestine are trying to stop war-like actions with police tactics. This makes, for some people, a difficult moral decision. So we have a sliding scale to justify killing civilians. I can agree with that. If you are sitting next to Sgt. Schultz your civilian life is worth more in the equation than if Rommel was hiding in a building you happen to live in. Such is the ugly side of * war *. But I still contend they are part of the entire target. It is like saying we were just trying to blow up a couple buildings in Hiroshima. Those buildings were our real target. No. To stop the horrors of war we have to accept the target is everything that will be destroyed by the bullet, bomb, or missle. Call a spade a spade. If you know something will be destroyed or a person killed, they are a portion of the target. You are already factoring them in when you state when it is ok vs. when it is not. Rommel + 10 civilians = ok, bombs away Schultz + 10 civilians = not ok See, they are in the equation? Then should Israel just declare war? Should there be a difference of behavior if you have declared war vs. not? I think there should.

One of the interesting debates in a situation like to describe is this; should citizens of the "wet" county try in anyway to influence the elections in the "dry" county? You know if and when this comes up for a referendum, the county-line bars and liquor stores will make generous donations to the dry cause

IIRC, much of the world did not believe there were WMD there. Hence why we had so few allies willing to back us. He may just have destroyed the weapons we sold them. We decided that years of weapons inspectors were not enough, we needed to send in the US military to search. And they produced the same results. The right will continue to say he moved them. Perhaps, in that dengerous little corner of the globe he didn't want his enemies to know he was defenseless? But we all feel safer now, don't we?

cw, I cannot believe a veteran like W has not attended a single funeral. I guess he thinks his presence may be an unwelcome distraction to a family mourning the loss of a loved one. In fairness to George, it is probably a no win situation. It would be foder for the talk shows if a family started screaming at him that their father, son, daughter, mom died because he had a hunch their were WMD around.

What evidence to you have that Enron, K-Mart, or Danny's Tavern was or is any more efficient than the US Government? I cannot understand the reasoning that magically the public sector is any more efficient than the public. Look at this. As far as I know I4E is the only Government employee being "efficient" here each day. the rest of us are private sector. And for an excellent discussion on cutting taxes so the government can spend more money Here at Soxtalk Texsox's #1 Rule of Politics and the Economy All politicians like to spend money Texsox's #2 Rule Dems will tell you they have to raise taxes to fund the program Gop will tell you they can cut your taxes, and spend more money Texsox's #3 Rule All politicians compromise their ideas and values to live with-in a two party system.

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