CarmanK's Comments (155)

“The federal government will do the job to keep the "commercial interests" in check, if it is equipped to do so. The repugs spent years demonizing government, starving agencies and weakening enforcement powers by privatizing crucial government services. My husband was a federal govt career employee and an inspector of buildings. He was proud of his job and no one got away with cheapening work productivity with inferior product. His customers "the taxpayer" got their money's worth every day he went to work. Privatizing has cost taxpayers dealy and resulted in shoddy work and loss of institutional memory. We need our government back. Blackwater is a good example of corporatists that we should not be depending on for our security. They are mercenaries and work for the buck. What happens to these contract fighters , if we had peace?? I look at James Bond movies and I see Specter, Goldfinger every time I hear about Blackwater activities. Privatizing was meant to complement, not replace government services. The repugs promised more for less and failed at both.”

“Bank of America rips off their bank customers and their credit card customers in particular. If you have an account with Bank of America, I suggest you move your money. I have most of my money in my credit union now, but unfortunately, I got sucked in on the credit card for Bank of America. I regret the day, I took the leap and it will take some time. But, I will pay them off and vow never to deal with them again. I just wrote to AARP about the outrageous credit card rates Chase is now charging their members. It is time organizations like AARP also take steps to stop the consumer rip offs and show some loyalty to their members and this nation.”

“The Bushies took us into the ill advised war in Iraq and most of the American people were behind the invasion of Afghanistan. Bush/Cheney bungled the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their buddies got richer while our troops were ill equipped and undermanned. There was no public outcry in the early years and no outrage, or unpatriotic vitriole thrown at the Bushies at the beginning. We had over a year to decide about Iraq, and the Bushies and the repug congress got us here. Obama wisely voted against the war in Iraq. He said all along, he thought Afghanistan was neglected. He is doing what he said he wanted to do during the campaign; keep his eyes on the Taliban and Alqaeda. I know that he had deliberated carefully on this issue and I am willing to give him the support to continue the job. My real prayer is that with the new focus, we will get Osama bin Laden and give the people of 9/11 justice. I believe Obama understands and will act responsibly toward our citizens and our troops. I pray for the success of our president, our nation and our troops. I just wish the democratic congress had the guts to act as responsibly and deliberately in their approach to the financial crisis, health care reform and global warming.”

“Conservative economists have steered this nation into a financial crisis. It is a repug theory to cut govenment spending that has failed this nation miserably. Paul Krugman a prize winning economist and someone to be believed, says that this nation needs to spend more to create jobs and that the stimulus was too small. To give these guys credibility is to spread the fear of the deficit on the short term and give the repugs ammunition for their folly. The best way to pay for the war is to sell "bonds" and encourage patriotism. I will buy bonds, if it slows the money flow to China. Repeal the Bush tax cuts and raise taxes on the rich wherever needed. The government needs to spend, the people need to invest in their country, international corps need to be penalized when they ship jobs overseas and I am glad when the WTO said China was using unfair business practices against american businesses on tires imports, that Obama had the guts to raise import duties. I really wish we could come up with some really patriotic economists, who were interested in coming up solutions, than rehashing old ideas, that don't work even in the best of times. In this nation, we need our government to be as Warren Buffet said: the bulwark against plutocracy. I have little faith in american economists, especially the conservative ones, who supported de regulation and free markets to the destruction of the middle class and american business.”

“McCain needs to retire. His zest for good governance has been lost.”

“I am sorry but natural gas has to be proven safer to use before, I would bring it to my home and into my car. My mother's house blew up when her natural gas furnace misfired. My neighbors in Baltimore have been poisoned by carbon monoxideg due to natural gas leaks. My neighbors home burned due to natural gas. I use oil for my furnace, and have never worried about my house blowing up, my stove blowing up or my kids dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. Convince me that natural gas is safe for me and my family. I am all for finding alternative fuel resources, but natural gas does not have a good reputation.”

“I disagree. I think we need people Buffet speaking about the economy and his expectations for the future of the country. Buffett assures the American public that taxation of the richest in the nation will not send them packing to another country or dissuade them from going to the office to make more money each day. Fair Taxation, progressive taxation is good for the country. In addition, I think he pointed out his expectations for government. We must have an effective government. He said and I hope the President and Congress is listening- "government is the bullwark against plutocracy". I think Buffet, who is a patriot, a businessman with a social conscience needs to speak out and talk about the future.”

“I am going to leave this to the his historians. I certainly am not going to spend my hard earned money of a book empty of thought and truthfulness. It is a waste of paper.”

“Volunteers served in Washington's Army. They fought the revolutionary war. They like the many soldiers to follow deserve our gratitude and appreciation for the service, sacrifice and dedication to duty. The idea of a "volunteer army" was to make it a stronger, better fighting force. What has happened is that their dedication and loyalty to country has not been equally respected by the political system and the military industrial complex in this country. This nation sent these men and women to fight "terrorism" abroad so that we would not have to fight al quaeda on american soil. It was a lie. However, the soldiers did not tell the LIE. We need to take care of our own. We need to take responsibility as a society for the decisions made by our elected representatives. These men and women have a right to dignity when they return home from battle and Sen. Tom Coburn is the lone senator stopping that effort by the "people" to fully recognize our responsibility to our wounded and to take responsibility for those decisions, no matter how wrongheaded . SENATOR TOM COBURN is the lone republican who is using a senatorial procedure to halt action on a spending bill that will provide for the wounded and their families. Sen Tom Coburn is the only villain in this scenario. A repug, member of the Party of NO.”

“The gays have only recently come into their own, seeking equal rights in our society. For years, the gays were registered republicans and voted to keep repugs in power even though they did nothing to advance their cause. Now the dems aren't working fast enough to overcome centuries of prejudices and biases. Women have been working longer and look what happened to health care reform in the House. The gays have to get their act together, choose their battles and support those who will advance their agenda. I am tired of the whiners among the dems. Our country is in trouble and we have to do something to get it back on track or there won't be any democracy to protect. Right now, we have to assist Obama get his agenda done.”

“Butcher McCain wants to carve up the internet awarding the prime cuts to telecoms and giving sausage to the masses. Arianna is right. We have to get on this and defeat this new Senate bill in its tracks. This is a bill that should die in committee, since dems are in control...This nation is in trouble and we have too much to do. An unnecessary battle to save the internet should not interfere with Obama's agenda.”

“Yes, I believe that Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich are very reliable champions of the people and we can believe what they say and how they say it. I also, .believe Chuck Schumer and Jay Rockefeller are in there fighting for the public option. I am following this very closely. I have Medicare and a private plan supplemental, so we are covered, but I have three adult children laid off work and they are really having difficulty with health care insurance. My oldest son was hit with $1400 a month COBRA for himself and his two girls. So, unemployment won't pay the rent and his 401K was desimated in the spring. Our nation is in trouble and the republicans are fiddlingIt is time for the dems to break the recording of NO, NO, NO by the republicans and get on with "Yes we can".”

“Well it is about time that some of the Blue Dogs woke up and started supporting the President's agenda. Obama has said all along he wants a bill that doesn't add to the deficit. If the Blue Dogs had just listened like the majority of the people of they country they would have known that this has been an objective all along. The Blue Dogs are phoney fiscal conservatives, they just want to do nothing really to impact major health care insurance reform. Shame on them for allowing the repugs so much destructive power over the summer. Their hesitations and public doubts have given the repugs power and enabled them to scatter fear far and wide.”

“Women aren't safe in Oklahoma!! Their privacy is not sacroscanct, their bodies are not their own. According to OK, women belong to the community at large, have no right to privacy. Their salvation is one of community and not individuality. If women have no souls, they have no right to make decisions that impact their immortality like men do. Don't go to OK, women are not safe in a state which brands them with a SCARLET LETTER A, murderer who chose abortion, no matter the reason!!!”

“Good for them!! Some men just don't get it...”

“How can such a clause in a contract be legal and/or enforceable??? But Halliburtan is the leader in self preservation and individual perversion. It is a company corrupt from bottom-up, top to bottom.
I don't understand how the so called MEN who are supposed to respect women, were so compelled to vote against this amendment. It really is a wake up call for all women, who think that repugs value women and families far beyond those of the dems. Sorry, but s**t floats and no republicans voted for the bill to protect women against sexual assault/harrassment in the work place. Gee, working for Halliburtan must be a real privilege. NOT..Halliburtan is in DuBai now, perhaps they are no longer an american company and should not be receiving american government contracts anyway. This comapny has committed fraud against the US in war time. At what point does their miscreant behavior rise to the level of treason??? Hillary get rid of Halliburtan and Blackwater or whatever they call themselves these days.”

“Privatization fails again to produce more for less and the taxpayers are ripped off again. I really am getting very tired of this broken record: no taxes, more for less, private sector can do it better, efficiently and effectively. It is all a myth perpetrated by the reaganites who see only $$$$ at taxpayer expense. I am tired of corporate welfare while the "poor" in our midst go hungry. I am tired of the Halliburtons, blackwaters ripping us off day in and day out. I read earlier, that the bill that "defunds" ACORN will also finally address the abuses and fraud of other companies that do business with the government. Also, is no one curious as to what Blackwater will be doing with its training compound and hired guns when the fed stops sending them overseas. Are we as a nation supporting a mercenary force that could endanger our democracy. The head of blackwater is a fanatic, what is to stop him from being another GoldFinger??? We need real oversight of these burgeoning independent guns and regulations on their activities.”

“I really disagree with Gary Wills on President Obama. I think he is correct about W. but it is way to soon to accuse Obama of such grab for powers. He is still undoing the gross abuses of power imposed by Bush/Cheney and he has to have time to select which items that need to be reversed etc..”

“What irritates me is not so much the investigation of ACORN because organizations that have served and fought for the poor and disenfranchised are always the target of the well to do or those who feel their power threatened by the newly empowered. The US congress and Obama have been given an unpredented opportunity to do something to make this nation better and they have failed to act. This WH and majority dem congress have the power. It's own inability to act is what is stopping real change and allowing the LOSERS-birthers, deathers, beckers and status quo GOPers to succeed at their harassmet of organizations like ACORN. The conservadems are not democrats, they are conveniently blue, not steeped in political philosophy that separates the parties, but the political opportunism. Every time "the losers" hurt a progressive, they win and are emboldened to get more outrageous in their conduct and meanspirited rhetoric. OBAMA and congress have successes, the GOPers LOse big time.”

“I have no problem with Europe and other nations taking the lead and doing the grunge work to getting results on some world wide issues. With Obama, we have seen the resurrection of strong diplomatic opportunities to influence without controlling and I think that is a good thing. Our country is in a serious financial crisis and our "correct" resolutions to those problems will make the country and the world stonger and safer. Health care reform is absolutely a priority. 45, 000 people dying each year for lack of health care access is a disgrace. And Afghanistan needs the right paths to resolution. It is okay, to let others lead, if they are honorable and intelligent in their approaches to problem solutions.”

“The abuse of American people has to reach an obscene level of disregard before the congress or most law makers do anything to correct problems. The problems has to be screaming in their faces and louder and more damaging than the possibility of losing campaign contributions before congress will act. It is a crime against the american people and even though the founders valued individual rights over the crowd, the supreme court gave personhood to corporations. And of course american corporations have no accountability or responsibility for their dehumanizing actions like poisoning, polluting or destroying our persons and our environment. The repugs served the oppressive corporations while the democrats resist, they are still subject to the many temptations to serve the aristocratic corporatists, than take the high road to humanizing their actions. The public option in health care needs to be explained and expanded upon. The public option is needed to set the corporations free in the "free market" to compete. It's a matter of the guys on the top of the heap, don't want the real individualists and entrepreneurs to achieve success. After all, the big guys get their power through monopolies not through real competition.”

“This is so disappointig. I liked Dobbs for the longest time. But, for some reason, he has gone over the cliff and dived into a pile of muck. He can do so much good, if he would use the talent and access to research material to get the facts out.”

“The new "oppressors" in America are the large corporations that have been allowed "personhood" in order to operate in our capitalistic society. The corporations are now exploiting that "personification" and actually are demanding ,MORE RIGHTS, that individual "natural" persons. We need to do something to halt the rise of power and special idemification of corporations with "more" than an individual is worth.”

“Why do people like Nancy Pelosi use her in such a manner. It is not coincidental, as indicated. It is shameful and even if Pelosi is "not for sale" this type of activity gives impression that she is just like all the others. Not nearly as bad as Baucus and friends, but bad none the less. Perception can be reality, so I guess now we have to second guess Pelosi on health care reform on all the lines of the bill.”

“It's a set up, for a commercial paid for by the coal and oil industries. We'll all be seeing it in a few months when the energy battle heats up after health care insurance reform. So hold all the information, I am sure it will come in handy later this year.”