I Love My Country - I Hate My President

“I'm voting for Reformed Lurker next time.”

“Nice writing, Nigal. Did you do that all by yourself or did someone help you?”

“Good self-portrait. You're doing great today!”

“Interesting how some Western counties are as big as some of the states in the NE.

Check out the blue in northern MT. Think folks around Glacier NP care about the environment?”

“So, now you're on the rag, too?

Having a rough day?”

““Interesting how some Western counties are as big as some of the states in the NE."

I say we let the liberals have all the cities and the conservatives will take the rest. Seems to be the trend anyhow. LOL!”

“Sounds good, Nigal. One thing, though. Are you gonna shoot first and ask questions later if I drive through yer county, paaadner?”

“No. We'll gates and a fence. LOL!”

“Well, its only four more years, so everyone buck up. I actually voted for Bush by holding my nose and not thinking about the next four years. Yeah, I hate his big spending, homophobic, sabre-rattling anti-environmentalism, but Kerry totally lost me when he said he'd never privatize Social Security. I'm 29, I know I'll never see a dime of my "contribution". The problem is Social Security was never set up right in the first place. It should have been set up as an annuity and the old people of the 30s should have had to pay in for a while before they could be vested. Instead FDR started paying them the day the law went into effect. I think now that the government has admitted there won't be any money for us Xers and beyond, we ought to be able to prosecute the SSA for mail fraud for every one of those quarterly summaries they send out which tells us how much we have set away for retirement.”

“So all the short term damage Bush is doing can be undone, but once we finally scrap Social Security and everyone has more money to personally invest in their retirement, we'll all be better off.
last edited: 2/08/05 10:11:56 AM”

“Ha!!! And I take it you will be on the right side of the fence???? lol”

“I always am. And I assume you\'ll be on the wrong side of the fence? Dulp!”

“reffmonkey, those first people really racked up on SS. One of the first checks was less than 10.00

BTW I said the same thing when I was you age that it wouldn't be there for me. Guess what it still is there.”

“ooooooo, nice try!!!

Now. I have to show you how a city boy scales a fence!!!

Just like in 'West Side Story'. Except I don't dance when I land!
last edited: 2/08/05 10:13:24 AM”

“Tweeeet! Excessive celebration! Nigal- 15 yards assessed on the kickoff!”

“It was the Great Depression, Ewker, a period of massive deflation. $10.00 could buy quite a lot then. But those geezers weren't even vested in that $10.00. Hell, I have to work for my present company at least 5 years before I get any of the money they contribute to my 401K. So you miss my point - for a program like SS to have been sustainable in the first place it would have had to been set up as an annuity at the beginning. And the difference between when you thought the money would be gone for you and me thinking the money will be gone for me is that now even government economists are predicting the bankruptcy of SS. That, and color photography has been invented.

If you think Social Security didn't pay much back then, well it certainly doesn't pay much now. My fraudulent quarterly statement projects that I will get a whopping $1,000 a month pre tax in 2041 dollars when I am old enough to retire in 36 years. Can you conceive how little that would be in 2005 dollars? A few hundred. A thousand a month isn't even a living wage now. Even if by some miracle SS is saved by the time I retire, I will still be amost entirely dependent on what I save myself. So what's the point of saving social security anyway? Make everyone responsible for their own savings. I know, you'll say "what if people save unwisely or choose not to save at all" Well that is their CHOICE. I don't remember reading in the Bill of Rights that every citizen has the right to have his a$$ wiped for him by the government.
last edited: 2/08/05 10:28:35 AM”

“"Now. I have to show you how a city boy scales a fence!!!"

So dats why yous city folk always wear dem fancy pointed shoes...chain link fence climbin'! LOL!”

““Tweeeet! Excessive celebration! Nigal- 15 yards assessed on the kickoff!”

Guilty as charged. :P”

“...and a $1,000 fine for mooning!”

“Taking love of country too too far ;op
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/16449119?version=1 this now has it's own thread.”

“"Tax cuts and deficit spending. They are the govt's two best ways to boost the economy other than monetary policy which is controlled by the Fed" - Bison.

I, personally, find it galling how much the Republicans have veered away from the "Contract with America."

I was one of those voters who cheered on the Gingrich Revolution back in 1994. We needed to bring our deficits under control. And it happened.

And guess what? The economy was just damn fine.

Now we have Republicans arguing that the best thing to do is to run up the biggest, most obnoxious deficits in history. One quarter of the national debt - not deficit - has been incurred under Bush.

But we can't really blame the Republicans. That's just what unified government does. No one is in the position to "No." So we just keep saying "Yes" to every damned spending proposal.

One day the piper will demand payment.”

“source

[...]
Public confidence in President Bush's job performance and the nation's direction slipped in the opening weeks of his second term, particularly among people 50 and older, the poll found.

Adults were evenly divided on Bush's job performance in January, but now 54 percent disapprove and 45 percent approve. The number who think the country is headed down the wrong track increased from 51 percent to 58 percent in the past month.

The poll, conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs, was taken after the president's State of the Union address and the elections in Iraq and at the start of a heated debate over creating personal Social Security accounts.
[...]
last edited: 2/11/05 3:15:38 PM”

“It's the Brian Mulroney syndrome.

A leader with just enough support gets reelected. Then the country turns on him. The result is four years in the meat grinder for the leader.

Democrats will look back on this past election as a real blessing. Most of the damage in terms of the budget and troop levels has been done. Bush can't start a new war or start any new spending programs.

All he can do is chase windmills like social security and watch his support and that of the Republicans grind ever downward.

It destroyed the Progressive Conservatives in Canada. It could destroy the Republicans here.

BTW, I'm hoping the Republicans nominate Rudy Giuliani. I'd love to see the US Catholic bishops try to twist enough to support a pro-choice candidate.”

“I hope everyone read the news today.

Let me set this up a little bit. Only one-third of the federal budget is what we call "discretionary spending." That's what all the yearly budget battles are about.

The rest of the budget is tied up in relatively stable, impossible-to-cut programs like defense and social security that can't be changed in the normal budgeting process.

So anyone who really wants to bring the budget under control will have to look at defense and federal entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.

Well, many Republicans in Congress are hoping to trim Medicare. This is good, because we are slated to spend a whole lot of money on a prescription drug benefit that is impossible to afford.

Unfortunately, the Republicans in Congress have run into a problem. President Bush has threatened to veto any cuts to this new entitlement.

All Hail President Bush! Protector of Entitlements and Big Government!

Oh, but I forgot the new Republican rule. Massive government spending is good for the economy.”

“What kind of person needs to include the word 'HATE' in the subject line?”

“I agree. That was a bad choice of words. Maybe we can call the FCC to ban it.”

“I don't want the government to restrict free speech. I want to see American citizens reject the whining of the left.

Just kidding.

I just want to see it again in four years.



Mooooo Haaaaa Haaaaa
last edited: 2/11/05 9:53:15 PM”

“Poor little baby Bush has to stay in the White House for the weekend. Its too cold at Camp David. Why do such wimps get elected, it amazes me. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050213/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_at_home”

“Mitt Romney is building a campaign chest in preparation for a possible run for the Republication nomination.”

“That's all we need. Another Massachusetts liberal running for President.”

““That's all we need. Another Massachusetts liberal running for President.”

Looks like another four years for the right wing. Hell, lets save money don't even hold an election. Dumb azz DNC.”

“I’m just glad Bush is doing such a great job that where he spends his weekends is the biggest beef people have with him.”

“Wasn't that Clinton's problem? How and where he spent his weekends?”

“You're right, lurker...too many people who don't have a life were too busy getting involved in Clinton's private life, and his weekends!! Maybe they all needed to go backpacking on some rough terrain for a week with a 60 pound pack, and his life wouldn't have seemed so interesting to them!! :~>”

“Nigal...

"Bush is doing such a great job that where he spends his weekends is the biggest beef people have with him"

Your not paying attention.
last edited: 2/13/05 7:19:28 PM”

““You're right, lurker...too many people who don't have a life were too busy getting involved in Clinton's private life"

That was never my problem. My problem is when he lied under oath about it.”

“Nigal, your just jealous that some twenty something female wanted him and not you ;)”

“Clinton also had the problem of a hostile Congress with subpoena power and a hostile federal court system.

Bush has no such check on his power. I believe that the Bush administration made a conscious choice to torture prisoners and hold them without trial on the basis that no one in Congress or the courts would challenge him on it - at least until he was out of office.

I don't argue that most people in Guantanamo are guilty as sin. However, they should be in federal courts and federal prisons. Or, they should be held under terms of the Geneva Convention.

We will see that after torture and indefinite imprisonment, we will NOT be able to give these people a fair trial and they'll have to be released. In fact, we've seen that already with many detainees.

I believe that more terrorists will ultimately walk the streets because of these decisions.

I also believe that the lack of trials has given Osama and his murderers mythic status. Hold a trial and show how utterly human and detestible these people are.

Oh, and divide the government in 2006 and let's see some Congressional subpoenas.”