What do you think?

[au9596 0]

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Part 1:

In just one year. Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following:

A little over one year ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;

2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;

3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummet;

2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;

3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);

4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);

5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;

6 ) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it's Congress that makes law, taxes and spends, not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Quote of the Day........"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." -- Barack Obama

Part 2:

Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing. www.taxfoundation.org/publications/sho w/151.html <http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/sho w/151.html>

& nbsp; Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008

Single making 30K – tax $8,400 Single making 30K – tax $4,500

Single making 50K – tax $14,000 Single making 50K – tax $12,500

Single making 75K – tax $23,250 Single making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 60K – tax $16,800 Married making 60K - tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax & nbsp $21,000 Married making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates.

It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened.

PART 3:

You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?

Boy am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS.

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77 <http://tinyurl.com/zob77> &nbs p;

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.

&nb sp; Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html <http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html>

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html <http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html>

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!

Verif y at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html>

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.

Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

6. ; $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.

Verify at http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.htm l <http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html>

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the U S

Verify at: http://transcri pts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html>

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.

Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht <http://tinyurl.com/t9sht>

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass &nbs p;deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."

Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf <http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf>

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.

Verify at: http://www.r ense.com/general75/niht.htm <http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm>

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States."

Verif y at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml <http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml>

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

[autigeremt 7,141]

Easy, AU9596.....Facts are a democrats worst nightmare! Be preparred for the spin of the century.

Nice information! Good job!

[Justin5 20]

I'm sorry my copy and pasting skill's aren't as good as yours or I would bother to educate you.

Once we hold the Presidency and do nothing positive for 8 years, then you can talk about how we are destroying the country.

At least the rest on the Country isn't as blinded by party loyalty as you.

http://www.pollingreport.com/cong2008.htm

[LegalEagle 22]

I don't have the time to address all of your points at once, but I'll address one, maybe briefly, two.

The Democratically "controlled" congress does not exist. The Dems have a very slight majority - too short to accomplish anything with a Rep. Pres ready to veto and Rep numbers in congress ready to shut down any meaningful progressive legislation.

Oops, only time for one.

[RunInRed 18,154]

Is this post serious?

Surely even you know that while the Democrats "control" both houses of congress, they don't have the majority needed to pass any meaningful legislation which is basically why you have seen a stale mate for two years.

Trying to blame 8 years of Bush's failed policies on 1.5 years of a Democratic controlled congress (51 to 49 in the Senate) and (233 to 202 in the House) is worse than laughable, it's just plain ignorant. Do you understand how our legislative branch works?

So let's see if you can do some thing besides cutting and pasting and answer this question: What exact policies have the Democrats passed and Bush signed into law in the past two years that have resulted in the stats you posted?

If you want to be honest, why don't you talk about the weaking dollar, the deficit, the war in iraq, rising healthcare costs, etc., that are all on under Bush's 8 year watch and 6 years of Republican controlled congress?

This is spin if I have ever seen it. Next.

[aumd03 2]

I'm sorry my copy and pasting skill's aren't as good as yours or I would bother to educate you.

Once we hold the Presidency and do nothing positive for 8 years, then you can talk about how we are destroying the country.

At least the rest on the Country isn't as blinded by party loyalty as you.

http://www.pollingreport.com/cong2008.htm

Yeah, this is the social experiment that scares me. I'm guessing we'll only get 4 years to see how bad it can be.

[LegalEagle 22]

Part 2:

The Dem candidates say that they will keep the cuts for the lower & middle class and only reinstate it on the rich.

I noticed you failed to show the taxes the wealthy pay.

We are spending more money than we are bringing in. When that happens at your house, do you try to decrease your income and spend more to solve that problem?

[LegalEagle 22]

Part 3:

This is like shooting fish in a boat!

If you are in a boat, and have several fish flopping in the bottom of it, and you shoot two of them and notice two large leaks, do you justify shooting a third one because it is only half of the size of the two already there?

[Tiger Al 0]

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Part 1:

In just one year. Remember the election in 2006? Thought you might like to read the following:

A little over one year ago:

1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high;

2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon;

3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummet;

2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;

3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);

4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);

5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;

6 ) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it's Congress that makes law, taxes and spends, not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Quote of the Day........"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." -- Barack Obama

Part 2:

Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing. www.taxfoundation.org/publications/sho w/151.html <http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/sho w/151.html>

& nbsp; Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008

Single making 30K – tax $8,400 Single making 30K – tax $4,500

Single making 50K – tax $14,000 Single making 50K – tax $12,500

Single making 75K – tax $23,250 Single making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 60K – tax $16,800 Married making 60K - tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax & nbsp $21,000 Married making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates.

It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened.

PART 3:

You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?

Boy am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS.

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts.

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments. Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77 <http://tinyurl.com/zob77> &nbs p;

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.

&nb sp; Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html <http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html>

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html <http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html>

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!

Verif y at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html>

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.

Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

6. ; $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.

Verify at http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.htm l <http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html>

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html>

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the U S

Verify at: http://transcri pts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html <http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html>

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border.

Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht <http://tinyurl.com/t9sht>

12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass &nbs p;deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."

Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf <http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf>

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.

Verify at: http://www.r ense.com/general75/niht.htm <http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm>

14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States."

Verif y at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml <http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml>

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

Here's what I think:

You say (or whoever wrote this says) that under either Democrat, taxes will go up.

Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008

Single making 30K – tax $8,400 Single making 30K – tax $4,500

Single making 50K – tax $14,000 Single making 50K – tax $12,500

Single making 75K – tax $23,250 Single making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 60K – tax $16,800 Married making 60K - tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax & nbsp $21,000 Married making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

According to both candidates, taxes won't go up on ANY of the people on this list.

Since voting on a Democratic Congress in 2006, they have passed exactly one (1) budget. That was the budget we're currently operating under.

You (or whoever wrote this) are partially right that "it's Congress that makes law, taxes and spends, not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him." The budget begins with the president. He submits his budget to Congress and it works its way through various commitees and ends up back on his desk for his signature. Of course, if he doesn't like the changes that were made, he can also veto it. Has Bush ever vetoed a budget? No.

As for the rest of this 'post', I'd say it's proof positive that this country has had enough of George W. Bush's policies and we can't afford four more years of them with John McCain.

[au9596 0]

I do not claim allegiance to either party. I am sick and tired of all politicians Republican and Democrat, but those are the two strongest parties of which I must make a choice and exercise my right to vote. Yes, I copied and pasted this to get you guys all in a fuss. It worked.

Here is what I care about. It is very simple, only two things when it comes to who I decide to vote for as president.

#1 Fiscal Policy

Bush has dissappointed me in this area. Now think real hard, which party is telling you straight to your face they will raise taxes regardless of which income level it will impact. BINGO = DEMOCRATS

Republicans are telling you they will hold the current tax policy or even make more cuts. Again regardless of which income level is affected that is a good policy. Every time I am able to vote for or against a tax increase I vote against it. Why? That is the only way to get these a-holes to fund programs with they already have to work with and balance a budget!!!

#2 Foreign Policy

Regardless of what you think about how we infiltrated Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else we are actively "policing", because that is what it is, "policing", we should not support the policy of withdrawal. We should stand firm or do what the military was made to do, kill people and blow up things. I know this sounds harsh but it is true. The more we "police", the more lives are lost.

Beyond that, this is how I base my vote for which candidate should be in office for President. All the other issues, I will focus my vote on the congressional leaders from my district, regardless of party affiliation.

[AURaptor 1,137]

Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008

Single making 30K – tax $8,400 Single making 30K – tax $4,500

Single making 50K – tax $14,000 Single making 50K – tax $12,500

Single making 75K – tax $23,250 Single making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 60K – tax $16,800 Married making 60K - tax $9,000

Married making 75K - tax & nbsp $21,000 Married making 75K – tax $18,750

Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Wait, I thought the Bush tax cuts were only for the wealthiest in America, Bush's close personal buddies, while everyone else got stuck w/ the bill.

I can't believe you had the nerve to post these numbers. They debunk the myth that the Dems have been spreading about the Bush Tax Cuts for the past 7 years.

[BamaGrad03 0]

I think blaming gas prices on the democrat controlled Congress is about as short sighted as blaming oil prices on the president.

[Justin5 20]

Yeah, tax went down a little....aaaaaand this happened:

[Tigermike 3,661]

Yeah, tax went down a little....aaaaaand this happened:

What did spending do during that time?

[Justin5 20]

Yeah, tax went down a little....aaaaaand this happened:

What did spending do during that time?

Do you mean under the years of a Republican controlled Administration and Legislature?

[CCTAU 3,482]

Yeah, tax went down a little....aaaaaand this happened:

What did spending do during that time?

Do you mean under the years of a Republican controlled Administration and Legislature?

Yeah. One president collapsed the Soviet Union and the other one had to rebuild a dimocrat decimated military back up.

[OldNewby 27]

Is this post serious?

Surely even you know that while the Democrats "control" both houses of congress, they don't have the majority needed to pass any meaningful legislation which is basically why you have seen a stale mate for two years.

Trying to blame 8 years of Bush's failed policies on 1.5 years of a Democratic controlled congress (51 to 49 in the Senate) and (233 to 202 in the House) is worse than laughable, it's just plain ignorant. Do you understand how our legislative branch works?

So let's see if you can do some thing besides cutting and pasting and answer this question: What exact policies have the Democrats passed and Bush signed into law in the past two years that have resulted in the stats you posted?

If you want to be honest, why don't you talk about the weaking dollar, the deficit, the war in iraq, rising healthcare costs, etc., that are all on under Bush's 8 year watch and 6 years of Republican controlled congress?

This is spin if I have ever seen it. Next.

To be honest, Republicans have not exactly controlled congress from 2001 to 2006 either, using your standard. One thing is for sure… both Democrats and Republicans have spent like there's no tomorrow.

All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lord Acton. British historian

Power Corrupts

by Ben Moreell, August 1997

When a person gains power over other persons — the political power to force other persons to do his bidding when they do not believe it right to do so — it seems inevitable that a moral weakness develops in the person who exercises that power. It may take time for this weakness to become visible. In fact, its full extent is frequently left to the historians to record, but we eventually learn of it. It was Lord Acton, the British historian, who said: "All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Please do not misunderstand me. These persons who are corrupted by the process of ruling over their fellow men are not innately evil. They begin as honest men. Their motives for wanting to direct the actions of others may be purely patriotic and altruistic. Indeed, they may wish only "to do good for the people." But, apparently, the only way they can think of to do this "good" is to impose more restrictive laws.

Now, obviously, there is no point in passing a law which requires people to do something they would do anyhow; or which prevents them from doing what they are not going to do anyhow. Therefore, the possessor of the political power could very well decide to leave every person free to do as he pleases so long as he does not infringe upon the same right of every other person to do as he pleases. However, that concept appears to be utterly without reason to a person who wants to exercise political power over his fellow man, for he asks himself: "How can I 'do good' for the people if I just leave them alone?" Besides, he does not want to pass into history as a "do nothing" leader who ends up as a footnote somewhere. So he begins to pass laws that will force all other persons to conform to his ideas of what is good for them.

That is the danger point! The more restrictions and compulsions he imposes on other persons, the greater the strain on his own morality. As his appetite for using force against people increases, he tends increasingly to surround himself with advisers who also seem to derive a peculiar pleasure from forcing others to obey their decrees. He appoints friends and supporters to easy jobs of questionable necessity. If there are not enough jobs to go around, he creates new ones. In some instances, jobs are sold to the highest bidder. The hard-earned money of those over whom he rules is loaned for questionable private endeavors or spent on grandiose public projects at home and abroad. If there is opposition, an emergency is declared or created to justify these actions.

If the benevolent ruler stays in power long enough, he eventually concludes that power and wisdom are the same thing. And as he possesses power, he must possess wisdom. He becomes converted to the seductive thesis that election to public office endows the official with both power and wisdom. At this point, he begins to lose his ability to distinguish between what is morally right and what is politically expedient.

Mr. Moreell was the chairman of the board of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. This essay originally appeared in Volume 1 of Essays on Liberty , published in 1952 by The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.

link: http://www.fff.org/freedom/0897f.asp

When newly elected politicians first arrive in Washington, DC, many have lofty goals and good intentions. But, if they do not play ball with the established leaders of their respective parties, (at the least) they are relegated to the worst offices and committee assignments. The city and the system are corrupt beyond measure.