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Is it just me or does the patriot act oddly resemble the enabling act?
“Restrictions on personal liberty, on the right of free expression of opinion, including freedom of the press; on the rights of assembly and association; and violations of the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications; and warrants for house searchers, orders for confiscations as well as restrictions on property, are also permissible beyond the legal limits otherwise prescribed.” -from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Book Two, "Triumph and Consolidation" by William Shirer
P.s. please don't think me un-american, this question was asked to me and I don't know anything about it. Just thought it would be a great question..
Well, Rooster and Bedell, I hope aren't the folks out there complaining, "Why don't the gov't do something about those mean oil companies!", every time you drive by a gas station. Of course, you realize that in this war of terror, airplanes are potential missiles, right? Security measures at airports are not an indication of corruption, in any event. You and I may be inconvenienced by those security measures, but I will bet that 90% of Americans would vote to continue them if it were on a ballot.
George I can see you and I will never agree. That's ok because that's what make us great. But.... I for one refuse to be inconvienced for the illusion of safety. And to answer your question, I know why the government doesn't do anything about the oil prices. It wouldn't be good for them. Doing something would mean losing a weapon of control. We have spent so much money waging a war against a faceless enemy. We could have used it to provide alternatives for our nation. We need to stop trying to fix the world and focus on the US needs. We can become a super power again that the world respects and looks to. I'm sorry but I don't believe that 90% would vote to continue. Have you ventured out of your home lately and asked people how they feel about their freedoms and where they believe this country is headed? Look around, it's all out there if you stop believing everything the media tells you. Bush is a wolf in sheeps clothing. He loves big government and he loves to spend our money. I understand an airplane could potentially be used as a missile. So can semi trucks and trains and buses and anything that moves. Should we outlaw shampoo on all of these for the sake of security? How many Semi trucks come across our borders every day? How many shipment containers come into this country every day. What exactly have we prevented by these rules? I would say if we are really serious about our nations security lets make an honest effort to secure our borders. Lets stop pretending to wage war on terror by occupying Iraq and allow these people to take care of themselves. Lets take our country back from China. Lets produce more and sell more. Punish those companies for moving jobs out of country. What a disgrace. Talk about unamerican. I love this country and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I would venture to say you feel the same way George. We just have different ideas.
Besides the shampoo issue how has the enhanced security affected your life? The government has done a fairly good job in the last 7 years if you ask me .Your way of life has been minimally inconvenienced and there has not been a major attack on the country by what you call the faceless enemy ;but I call Jihadistan (because the "faceless enemy " has in many fatwahs has made it clear the goal is the submission of free nations to the will of the global caliphate) .Think back to the days after 9-11 ;the anthrax attacks ,the snipers picking off motorists in the Washington DC area .... Oh how we have forgotten !Instead of belly aching about imagined lost freedoms you should be congratulating all our brave heroes who have been the point of the spear.
Rooster writes: "...I for one refuse to be inconvenienced for the illusion of safety." And that is fine and it is your choice. But think about it: 'safety' is why governments are formed in the first place. Speed limits, zoning ordinances, and building codes are created to enhance 'safety'. I suppose you live out in a rural area with no city police or fire department, which is fine; but you sound like one of those who describe the glass as 'half empty', and that is fine, too. As you say, we just disagree.
As far as 9-11, you george and you tom should look up and/or watch the film 'zeitgeist'...
You both might learn something about your 'protecting' government, that you obviously wouldn't believe if we S-P-E-L-L-E-D I-T O-U-T F-O-R Y-O-U....
haha.... that's pretty funny... tin foil hat. hey, are you a comedian?
alright look, are you a Bush fan? huh? the 'ex' coke head who's daddy had to bail him out of trouble more than one time, who EVERYONE pins the tail on because he's a REAL JACKASS? You trying to say our government ISN'T corrupt?
For Gods sake, man, I don't know why I bother, you people aren't going to listen to anything you don't agree with... anything that might endanger your perfect little view of how 'grand' our country is. Have you ever got a knock on your door from a young black guy who'd been beaten in his head, very noticeably by your local
'protecting and serving' law enforcement? What about the video on my myspace page about the cop who confiscated pot, then took it home and had his wife bake brownies out of it, then called 911 because he thought they had overdosed (which they say would take 1000 joints, but no one has made it that far) because time was going by really...really...really..slooowwwllyy. No charges were pressed against the officer. make sense to you? He was allowed, and I say allowed because if I made pot brownies i'd serve time in prison, he was allowed to resign. make any sense whatsoever?
This is small scale corruption. So, tell me this. Who are you to come on here and act as if you KNOW our government is 'on the level'. They rip you off the same as everyone else, your just too blind or naive to realize it. I don't wear tin foil. I also have no interest in your political cartoons, which are very popular amongst you republicans to make those of us who care more about others than we have ever cared about ourselves out to be 'crazies'.
Maybe I speak for myself, but if either one of you, george or tom, were ever out in the freezing cold and had no shirt on your back, i'd give you the one off of mine.
So don't you INSULT ME. I dare you to take YOUR arguments out into public and see if you don't catch a beating from the lower class.
We are the people who do your taxes, who fix your roads, who drive your children to school, who take your trash from the end of your driveways to the dump, who cook your food when you eat out, we are waiters and waitresses and coaches and cashiers and stock boys and buss boys and baggers and factory workers and truck drivers and journalists and reporters and bartenders and computer technicians and mechanics and babysitters. We are the people who (are supposed to) make this country what it is, not the government. Think before you insult people next time, because i don't wear tin foil, sir. You have walked passed me on the sidewalk and I've nodded my head in common courtesy and you didn't return the gesture. I have watched your children while you were at banquets or out of town or banging your secretaries. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK. We are, have been, and always will be...... right here.
And if an insulting picture accompanied with an insulting catchphrase is the best answer you can give me, this isn't a 'debate'. It is a pointless argument as to wether the government is corrupt or not. and if you think it's not, nothing I can say will change your opinion.
I invite you to speak out against the government, then you'll see how they use WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY to keep you quiet. but sure, as long as you go along with their elevating gas prices and 'war on terror' and every other ignorant, wasteful expenditure, you have nothing to be concerned about. Don't try to stop them taking advantage of their own citizens everyday. George Carlin said "America was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free..." This country is built on and designed to operate using a double standard, say one thing and do another, the exact opposite way I was raised to be. It's amazing how our country has all but turned into the same kind of place our founding fathers came here to get away from. Believe whatever you want... ignorance is bliss and I envy you for your ignorance... a farly good job in the last seven years? Look at the economy in the last seven years.!?
Click this link >>> National Debt Clock <<< and tell me how much of the 13 trillion you've spent, and how much of the estimated per-citizen amount you are due to pay. That's how well the government has been balancing our check book for the past seven years.
Bush proposes $3.1-trillion budget
February 05, 2008
WASHINGTON – President Bush unveiled a $3.1-trillion budget today that would boost military spending and trim health benefits for retirees. The proposal was immediately tagged by Democrats as “irresponsible.”
The first spending plan in history to top $3 trillion would freeze or eliminate many domestic spending programs yet still rack up a $407-billion deficit for fiscal 2009, which begins Oct. 1. The Pentagon is the only department for which Bush proposes a significant increase; its budget would grow 7.5% to $515 billion.
“It’s a good budget,” Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet. “It’s a budget that achieves some important objectives. One, it understands our top priority is to defend our country, so we fund our military as well as fund the homeland security.”
Because Bush is leaving office in a year, his budget proposal is largely an academic exercise. The Democratic-controlled Congress has responsibility for proposing and passing budget bills, and it’s unlikely to adopt his priorities.
The plan’s significance is mostly political. Bush’s proposal seeks to codify the policies he considers his legacies as president, namely the tax cuts he won in 2001 and 2003; significant increases in military spending; and a few education programs, including his No Child Left Behind legislation.
For Democrats, the Bush budget provides a summary of the policies of his administration they find most egregious: the war in Iraq, tax cuts that worsened the federal deficit, and the squeezing of social programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
“This budget is fiscally irresponsible and highly deceptive, hiding the costs of the war in Iraq while increasing our skyrocketing debt,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “President Bush’s fiscal policies are the worst in our nation’s history – he has turned record surpluses into record deficits – and this budget is more of the same.”
Bush said the proposal would balance the federal budget by 2012. But Democrats said it would do so by relying on accounting tricks, including ignoring most funding for the Iraq war and pretending that the government would essentially permit a huge tax increase on the middle class by not rescinding the alternative minimum tax after Bush leaves office.
“The president proposes more of the same failed policies he has embraced throughout his time in office – more deficit-financed war spending, more deficit-financed tax cuts tilted to benefit the wealthiest and more borrowing from foreign nations like China and Japan,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
The deficit projections are also worsened by the $146-billion economic stimulus package negotiated between the administration and Congress in an effort to soften or forestall a feared recession. The budget assumes a 3% increase in gross domestic product this year, a rate that is unlikely if the economy continues to slow down as it has in recent months.
“When President Bush took office, the national debt stood at $5.7 trillion,” said Rep. John M. Spratt Jr. (D-S.C.). chairman of the House Budget Committee. “Today it is $9.2 trillion and rising, projected to increase to $9.7 trillion by the time President Bush leaves office – up by $4 trillion in eight years. This is the legacy our children and grandchildren will inherit from the fiscal policy of this administration.”
But the administration hailed the budget as balanced and innovative.
In a cost-saving gesture, the government for the first time did not provide free copies of the four-volume proposal to Congress, instead releasing it online and charging $200 per printed copy ordered through the Government Printing Office.
“It’s not only an innovative budget, in that it’s coming to Congress over the Internet, it’s a budget that’s balanced – gets to balance in 2012 and saves taxpayers money,” Bush said.
A hefty chunk of the proposed savings would come from the government’s two giant healthcare programs, Medicare and Medicaid, but leading Democratic lawmakers have already called the cuts unacceptable.
Medicare, which serves about 44 million seniors and disabled people, would be squeezed by $178 billion over five years, reducing its growth from an average of 7.2% a year to 5% a year. At least $115 billion of the savings would come from reduced payments to hospitals, according to initial calculations by a senior Democratic congressional aide. Hospitals and other providers in traditional Medicare would face the sharpest cuts, and private health insurance plans that now constitute one of the fastest-growing parts of the program would get only a light trim, critics said.
Over 10 years, Bush’s proposed Medicare savings would grow to $556 billion.
The president also called for reductions totaling $17 billion over five years in Medicaid, a federal-state partnership that serves some 55 million people, including the poor and many elderly nursing home residents.
Although the scale of Bush’s Medicare reductions appear to be far beyond what Congress would accept, some of his specific proposals may make into law. Congress must act by the summer to roll back a scheduled cut in Medicare fees to doctors, and it will have to consider cutting other parts of the program to offset the added costs of protecting physicians.
Addressing other health priorities, Bush proposed a modest increase in the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety budget, but some critics said it would do little more than offset inflation. And public health advocates protested a proposed 7% cut for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
We are the people who do your taxes, who fix your roads, who drive your children to school, who take your trash from the end of your driveways to the dump, who cook your food when you eat out, we are waiters and waitresses and coaches and cashiers and stock boys and buss boys and baggers and factory workers and truck drivers and journalists and reporters and bartenders and computer technicians and mechanics and babysitters.
and all of you think you can find the answers in rediculous conspiracy theory movies like Zeitgeist ? (which I have viewed btw ) The country is in sadder shape than I though.
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We are the people who make this country what it is, not the government.
thanks you just made mine and George's point. We don't want the government picking our pockets to provide like a nanny services we did not ask for . The government's primary role is provide for the common defense.
The rest of your class envy rhetoric accurately describes how the country got into some of the problems you are complaining about. You are the people who elect panderers who don't mind picking other people's pockets to cater to your ever increasing appetite from the public trough . On the one hand you expect the country to provide cradle to grave care for you but then you belly ache about the loss of freedoms inherent on that dependency.
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I invite you to speak out against the government, then you'll see how they use WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY to keep you quiet. but sure, as long as you go along with their elevating gas prices and 'war on terror' and every other ignorant, wasteful expenditure, you have nothing to be concerned about.
Just peruse my postings and you will see I hardly qualify as a government apologist . I just provide balance and give the government proper credit where it is due....and I don't subscibe to nonsense theories about the government flying planes into the WTC to start wars and curb our freedoms ;or international cabals of financers running the country behind the curtain . That is rubbish ,a premise not worthy of continuing a rational debate.
If you don't like America, why don't you go to another country to live? America is run by crooked politicians, crooked judges, crooked everyone you can think of, so why would you want to keep living here if it's as bad as you keep saying it is. You seem to think this is a blog site - it is not a blog site. It is primarily a site used to ask questions and get answers.
Holland has some great pro-marijuana laws that would appeal to you. Seriously, check it out. There are no posession arrests there. Holland does not have as many corrupt officials as we do. Holland has people who probably act more like you do and think more like you do. Your distate for America is quite evident. Maybe you'd like Holland much better.
P.S. I am not being rude or judgmental - just trying to be helpful.
I would Twinkiedooter, If I could, but I can't. And I look forward to the day I and my fiance do leave this place. Here is the thing: like a lot of people, when I was younger
(yes, younger than I am) I made a mistake.
My mother barely scraped up enough money to feed me and my little brother, and pay rent, and her car insurance, and put clothes on our backs, and buy my brother and I school supplies. So late one night, I was walking down an alley, and saw the back door of a local 'Gun and Pawn' shop open. I went inside, on sheer idiocracy,
or more like childish desperation, and knew if I could take enough, the drug dealers
in my neighborhood would give me alot of cash for the merchandise.
I wasn't a very good judge of character then, and a "friend" of mine whom you could look up on incarcerated inmate search, South Carolina, if I disclosed his name, was busted for attempted burglary, and I had told him the story of how I payed my mom's bills for three months. The police came and picked me up, I was sixteen. Three weeks from being 17,
so they charged me as an adult, and I am now a convicted felon, until the day that I die.
So to answer Toms response, most of us waiters and waitresses and bartenders and etc....etc... (you would be surprised) have had similar things happen that will ultimately mean we have never and will never vote for anything in this country. Not because we don't want to, or because we shouldn't having since grown up and (some of us) learned from our past, but because we made really bad choices as kids... I've never and will never vote. I can't leave this country, and it was because I wanted to help my mom, whom I loved and still love very, very much.
Your all wrong. I do love this country. This is my home. But since we we're born, we've been sworn to play by rules we never agreed to play by, keep promises we never made, and I grew up hearing stories about a time in this country that if you wanted to eat, you grew your food, If you wanted a home, you built one. Now, It's either put gas in your car, or buy groceries for my family... It's not a 'free' country by any means. Maybe you can afford to move out of the country, my family barely eats... and my mother works hard.. damn hard. I didn't ask to be born, this is the life I was given, and I've tried to make it through the very best I could. So no one here has a right to judge me, no not for one moment, if you don't know me and the things I've seen or been through. This is only the 'tip of the iceberg'...
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