If you wanted to destroy a country, what would you do?
Dispense with all nuclear treaties?
Seduce that country into a useless war, raising its deficit to ten trillion dollars?
Refuse the right of the press to photograph soldiers' coffins?
Improperly equip the military?
Support no-bid contracts for defense contractors?
Refuse veterans' benefits?
Eliminate banking regulations?
Destroy the rule of law?
Put your faith in the "self-correcting" nature of the markets?
Lower taxes on the wealthy and raise them on the middle class?
Borrow excessively from your main competitor nation?
Censor scientists who warned of climate problems?
Appoint your cronies to handle environmental emergencies?
Nominate a man with melanoma?
Nominate a woman with no experience?
Fix voting machines so the plunder could continue?
Pass laws that made every citizen a spied upon criminal?
Raise the deficit another trillion?
Jail and expel the people who harvest fruit, clean hotel rooms and work in restaurant kitchens?
Who did these things to the country we love?
You know, I know, the whole world knows.
When will we get serious
and throw the bums out?
The "deficit" is not 10 Trillion dollars, but the National Debt IS more than 10 Trillion. The "deficit " is the annual excess of expenditure over revenue. The National Debt is the accumulated debt since our Nation was founded.
When George W. Bush assumed office, the National Debt was 5.8 Trillion dollars. Before he leaves office, he will double the debt to 11 trillion dollars if the ill-conceived 700 billion bailout is passed.
Every American's share of the National Debt is now (Oct 2), $32,900.
Here's a way to visualize the magnitude of $10.56 Trillion dollars: 10.56 trillion one-dollar bills, taped end-to-end, would stretch 1000 million miles into outer space, enough to make 14 round trips to Mars. Do the math--One dollar bill is 6 inches long. Two dollars bills measure one foot.. 10.56 trillion dollar bills measure 5.28 trillion feet . 5.28 trillion feet divided by 5,280 feet/mile equals 1000 million miles. Divide the shortest distance from Earth to Mars, 36 million miles, into 1000 million miles, and the answer is 28 which is 14 round trips to Mars. Imagine that.
Interest on the debt is now $500 billion a year. The National Debt is now increasing by 2.76 BILLION dollars a DAY. That is why the Natioinal Debt is my greatest fear.
A majority or sizeable number of members of both parties voted for the Iraq war, helped pass so-called Patriot Laws and Military Commissions Act impinging the rule of law. The democrats failed to initiate impeachment proceedings on a dubious war. Now the bogus bailout both parties are pushing. Great choices for the American people. How many more years of ineptitude, incompetence and malfeasance can the country stand with these parties?
http://uniskywriter.blogspot.com/
Who are we going to replace the bums with when everyone and no one in congress is now to blame and are not willing to really substantially make the necessary laws and changes to stop this? Who?
Thank you for the thoughtful post.
I wish that you hadn't had to have written it.
The next thing you will hear is that the North American Union is our only hope. That is the union of Canada, Mexico and the United States. Since the ultimate goal is one world government, they need another entity such as the EU to eventually meld all of North and South America into one Union. The globalists believe nationalism and nation states are passe. They have been working since Bush, Fox, and Harper got together in 2005 to formulate the SPPs. The SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership) was initiated by Bush in 2005 without Congressional approval. The reason Bush did nothing to stem illegal immigration was because that was one way to consolidate Mexico and the U.S. That was the reason for the "Guest Workers Program".
1. Refuse the right of the press to photograph soldiers' coffins?
I do agree that American citizens should have the right to see as vividly as possible the wages of a war, any war. However, this practice was put into place during the Clinton administration not the Bush.
2. Jail and expel the people who harvest fruit, clean hotel rooms and work in restaurant kitchens?
If Ms. Jong is talking about legal citizens who do these jobs, then I agree that it is wrong to jail or expel. I don't think it would even be defensible. However, if we are talking about people who have come to this country illegally, then they have broken the law and need to be held accountable for their actions. Just like any other person.
Gobal outsourcing and underemployment is the predominant factor in most of the financial problems Americans are facing. This housing crisis can be easily traced back directly to the loss of income and middle-class purchasing power. It's the "Neon Elephant" in the room though the topic is still beinng danced around by both the Left AND Right.
No good paying jobs =
More violent and non-violent crime
Less government programs
More dissent
More substance abuse
More foreclosures
Recruitment to Communism
People need more than to get by/survive. They need *Dignity*. They need to feel they are worth something and that they contribute and can take care of their families. Washington and the media are still hopelessly clue-less about this.
I am an IT professional and I have been outsourced no fewer than three times since 2001. I have been working as a consultant for the past three years but have been unable to find work since March of this year. I am definitely not happy with the status quo in this country.
While we do need the government to take care of its people better, what we really need is a government that cares *for* its people.
There is all this talk of being a Christian nation, yet there is no evidence of it. Saying something is so does not make it so. Republicans, are you listening?
Too bad Huffpo commenters can't network. There are alot of people posting to this site I'd like to converse with.
Lucky for them the French Revolution solution is a bit rusty.
There's still time to impeach. Just on principle. Pelosi, I mean.
I got a can of WD-40 y'all can borrow if you think it would help!
though. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Armey, Gonzeles should be held for war crimes-
All I would add to this is how the corporate world feeds off the military,(creating wars)the influence of the oil companies on the military along with the expanding of privatization with no bid contracts and very little accountability.
Now what about all of those pesky things that Halliburton does for our troops such as providing Room and Board? We have solders dying in showers because they are getting electrocuted and they are providing unsafe drinking water. But we are paying these people massive amounts of money for this kind of service.
While I can imagine the government red tape is a pain it must be manageable and there must be room for a profit. We have had at least 7 years of little oversight and even less punishment when abuses are found, so why not fudge your numbers, hell everyone else is?