ThinkFast: March 31, 2006
ThinkFast: March 31, 2006
The Army has banned privately purchased body armor in Iraq, a decision that veterans groups “immediately denounced.” GI’s who have “waited months to be outfitted counter that substandard armor is better than none at all.”
In a letter, President Bush urged Iraqi Shiite Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to get more involved in negotations over Iraq’s new government. Sistani “laid the letter aside” unread because of increasing “unhappiness” over heavy-handed U.S. meddling in Iraqi negotiations.
Another novel right-wing immigration solution from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA): “The millions of young men who are prisoners in our country can pick the fruit and vegetables.â€
Slow learner: Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen admits that the first time he realized that President Bush had lied was last week.
In response to “embarrassing allegations†that NASA’s public affairs manipulated scientific information to suit the needs of the Bush administration, a new NASA policy now says their “scientists are free to talk to members of the media about their scientific findings and even express personal interpretations of those findings.â€
Peter Smith, the freelance photographer who caught Antonin Scalia making an obscene hand gesture in church, has been fired. “I did the right thing,†Smith said of releasing the photo. “I did the ethical thing.â€
$10 billion. New cost of rebuilding New Orleans’s levees, triple the original estimate. The Bush administration announced yesterday “that there may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region.”
The Justice Department’s subpoenas reach far beyond Google, AOL, and MSN. The government has demanded information from least 34 Internet service providers, search companies, and security software firms.
U.N. nonproliferation chief Mohamed ElBaradei (who had a far better track record on Iraq than the Bush administration) said of the Iran nuclear impasse: the “only durable solution is a negotiated solution,” and the time has come to “lower the pitch” of debate.
As one in three people in sub-Saharan Africa go undernourished, a new report shows that 80 percent of Africa’s farmland is rapidly becoming barren from overfarming.
And finally: Cut the Small Town Boy some slack. After learning he got the White House address wrong by a few blocks in the title of his newest song “1900 Pennsylvania Ave.,” John Cougar Mellencamp responded: “Well, I guess I’ll have to change that.â€
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
“A letter from President Bush to Iraq’s supreme Shiite spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, was hand-delivered earlier this week but sits unread and untranslated in the top religious figure’s office . . . .”
- Giving Bush the respect he deserves. Or, as one might say, “pwned!”
March 31st, 2006 at 9:14 amAnother novel right-wing immigration solution from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA): “The millions of young men who are prisoners in our country can pick the fruit and vegetables.â€
Okay, so let’s see Duke Cunningham, Jack Abranoff and Scooter leading the way!
March 31st, 2006 at 9:25 amRep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA): “The millions of young men who are prisoners in our country can pick the fruit and vegetables.â€
This really appeals to the bigots in the country. Just thinks millions of people we can direspectfully treat like slaves. Just because someone has broken the law and deserves to be incarcerated, doesn’t mean that we have the right to use them as we will. This is what it is like in that beacon of Demcracy called North Korea. This immigration debate is killing the Repubs and it is beautiful to listen to when they fly their true colors. The Republican party is no friend of the average citizen.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:26 amGeeees. I have sent hundreds of emails to Bush and never once got an answer. On the other hand I sent a few to the Clintons during their administration and got an answer every time. Granted they were probably done by an aid but at least they were acknoledged by some one. On subject, don’t think I would read one of Bushes letters either, oh well.! Guess we would be even…..If I were in this guy’s shoes and Bush was bombing the crap out of my country, building bases, and taking all the resourses I think I would pay attention. Wait a minute, he is and I do……Blessings
March 31st, 2006 at 9:28 amPeter Smith, the freelance photographer who caught Antonin Scalia making an obscene hand gesture in church, has been fired. “I did the right thing,†Smith said of releasing the photo. “I did the ethical thing.â€
This is why people lie. No honest person goes unpunished anymore…
$10 billion. New cost of rebuilding New Orleans’s levees, triple the original estimate. The Bush administration announced yesterday “that there may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region.â€
But there’s still plenty to fund the Iraq debacle for the next 3 years…
After learning he got the White House address wrong by a few blocks in the title of his newest song “1900 Pennsylvania Ave.,†John Cougar Mellencamp responded: “Well, I guess I’ll have to change that.â€
Now, how hard was that to fact check beforehand? I’m afraid to hear the rest of the lyrics…
March 31st, 2006 at 9:28 amI have sent hundreds of emails to Bush and never once got an answer.
Comment by Sharon Cox — March 31, 2006 @ 9:28 am
I got a standard form letter once from some WH asistant, which had nothing to do with the content of my letter. You’re right. You’re not missing anything. Was a very poorly written letter.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:32 amtheir “scientists are free to talk to members of the media about their scientific findings and even express personal interpretations of those findings.â€
At least until the pink slip arrives at their office cubicle. I can’t wait to see the Mach 3 firing of the first guy to “scientifically find” that global warming is a sure thing and caused by humans….
March 31st, 2006 at 9:32 amHi Folks,
Today is $5 Friday!
It’s the last day of the fund raising quarter and our favorite candidates need or help to make a good showing.
Please recommend this diary, add your favorite candidate with link, and let’s see if we can generate some love for our favorite candidates (and mine – great pic of Kirsten Gillibrand and her son Teddy).
‘Course… if you want to give more than $5 that’s ok too!
March 31st, 2006 at 9:33 amJust thinks millions of people we can direspectfully treat like slaves. Just because someone has broken the law and deserves to be incarcerated, doesn’t mean that we have the right to use them as we will.
Comment by Pagan American — March 31, 2006 @ 9:26 am
Use, no – but the rest of us get up and go to work everyday to pay for those in jail to sit around? Sorry, but I think it would do them some good to have something productive to do that contributes to their care. And working in the garden is hardly chain-gang labor. They get to go outside. I bet they’d volunteer for that.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:36 amYou can write letters to the White House. You can write letters to your Congressman. It is doubtful that they will respond.
However, if you don’t pay your taxes, somebody from the IRS will be sending you a letter.
Make tax day and election day the same day.
I don’t want prisoners picking vegetables that are to be used for the grocery shelves. How many times a day will those prisoners pee on those vegetables. Very bad idea. People don’t want to work for free. When forced to work, berry bad things happen.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:38 amGood Morning Unbelievable, How are ya.? New day more crap from the reich winged news media. They are all acting like they are sorry Carroll made it out and discredeting her statements as stockholm syndrom. Bush is spending $6,500.00 an hour to fly to the 3 man(boy) summits in good weather and some lady some where is expecting 4 babies…. Good thing all this is always in the background while I read the real stuff from my puter…Hope you all have a great week end. Raining here in the Puget sound region, as usual…….Blessings… P.S. Any one know where Susan has been of late.?
March 31st, 2006 at 9:41 am#9
I think the problem you run into, is not that the prisoners should or should not be working, but that the system is abused eventually.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:41 amTP,
Wanted to give you the heads up re: HR4437’s implications for imprisoning illegal immigrants as felons. Halliburton was granted a contract in January, 2006 for “establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to augment existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs.”
Scrutiny Hoolgans post on the subject.
Halliburton’s webpage describing the contract.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:43 ambut I think it would do them some good to have something productive to do that contributes to their care. And working in the garden is hardly chain-gang labor. They get to go outside. I bet they’d volunteer for that.
They’d volunteer to tar roofs, too, for a few bottles of suds, just to feel like a man….
Sincerely,
March 31st, 2006 at 9:43 amAndy Dufresne
I don’t want prisoners picking vegetables that are to be used for the grocery shelves. How many times a day will those prisoners pee on those vegetables. Very bad idea. People don’t want to work for free. When forced to work, berry bad things happen.
Comment by Ron — March 31, 2006 @ 9:38 am
Guess you never worked in a restaurant. It’s why I don’t like to eat out. Regular people do worse things to your food that can’t be washed off.
People in prison have jobs now. Where doyou think your liscence plates come from? And they are usually the ones who make parole. It’s those sitting around with nothing to do who create trouble.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:44 amI have been amazed that the veterans’ associations have been so supportive of George Bush and his illegal war in Iraq, when their fellow soldiers have been treated so poorly, both while serving and when they come home. I am glad to see that they have denounced this latest slap. Perhaps they should reconsider being the back-drop for Bushie’s staged performances.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:45 amYeah, GWB supports the troops. He has 138,000 warm bodies fighting a war without end, for an ever-changing reason, with underperforming equipment, so he and his friends can have a toe-hold in the oil rich middle East.
#9 Use, no – but the rest of us get up and go to work everyday to pay for those in jail to sit around?
Well then perhaps we should look at the problems that send these people to jail. We have more than 500,000 prisoners in for drug related crime. Addressing this issue would make a big dent in the prison population (21% of state prisoners and 55% of all federal prisoners).
Also we have these ridiculous three-strikes laws. I write to Pagan prisoners all over the country and one man I write to in Florida is serving life with no chance of parole for a series of 8 muggings he did with a knife at the age of 18. He got about $200 and no one was physically injured. Did he need to be removed from society? Absolutely. Does life without a chance of parole make any sense at all? No. He has served over twenty years and is a totally different person at the age of forty.
“And working in the garden is hardly chain-gang labor.”
Bringing prisoners out to the fields to pick avacados would be just that, a chain gang. After a few people try to escape, it would be a chain gang. By-the-way we still have chain-gangs in some states.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:49 amI think the problem you run into, is not that the prisoners should or should not be working, but that the system is abused eventually.
Comment by Krazny — March 31, 2006 @ 9:41 am
Let me qualify my knowledge. I was an architect for a firm that did prison projects. I got to work on two big ones. I spent time in a couple of large facilities atthe beginning o fthe project to get a feel for what we would be designing. We had a lot of face time with sheriffs and the guys running the worker programs.
You can’t not do something because of the risks. You just have to learn to work out your problems. If we never took chances because of what might happen ten miles down the road, we’d never leave our living rooms. Oh wait, that’s most of the country now…
Seriously, unitl you’ve been in a control room watching peope stare blankly into space wasting away, you might not understand why Thomas Jefferson believed that everyone should have at least two professions and twenty hobbies… :)
March 31st, 2006 at 9:52 amThis off of buzzflash-
http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1033
March 31st, 2006 at 9:54 am“I think the problem you run into, is not that the prisoners should or should not be working, but that the system is abused eventually.”
At one prison where I write to a prisoner, you can work assemblying computers for $0.25 an hour. That’s right, 25 cents. This gives them enough money for toiletries which are not provided (soap, toothpaste, shaving cream, a razor). I think it is essential that people in prison not sit around and do nothing. That is disasterous. But I don’t like the conflict of interest where corporations make profit off from the prison population. They then take the profits and shovel in into political lobbying which helps to ensure a ready supply of almost free labor. All profit should benefit the State so that it can pay for the prisons more easily. I also don’t support the privatization of the prison system. For profit prisons are simply a bad idea. Again, for the same reason as stated above.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:57 amHaving prisoners do public works is one thing, but having them work for private corporations is another. We will still be payign for the security and for housing and feeding hem. It now becomes a matter of increased security to watch over them outside the walls and at this point in my life I would wonder if people would be sent to jail simply to stock the workforce of DelMonte or some other vegitable grower. Nope, simple answers to complex questions do not work. We’ve had 5 1/4 years of simple answers and all that has done is make the next problem that much more complex.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:00 amWell then perhaps we should look at the problems that send these people to jail.
I had this conversation yesterday in teh first Jill Carroll thread with some conservatives. We agree on this aspect.
Bringing prisoners out to the fields to pick avacados would be just that, a chain gang. After a few people try to escape, it would be a chain gang. By-the-way we still have chain-gangs in some states.
Comment by Pagan American — March 31, 2006 @ 9:49 am
The system would have to be designed to work. Not over night, but I think it’s possible. Besides, those guys have many attornies watching over the process.
We had one facility where an inmate (with nothing to do with his time) managed to work loose a bolt from a drain cover (the General Contractor had not secured it properly), threw it through a large glass window, which was supposed to crumble into pieces due to the tempering specifications. But it didn’t. It gave the inmate a nice big shard with which to intentionally gouge his veins while smiling at the guard tower and babbling “I’m going to sue”. Stuff happens. Can’t let that stop us from making an effort. Otherwise someone could turn that into wanting to kill every prisoner because it’s easier. And, in fact, some do.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:00 am#20
Isn’t that the very same thing “we” were angry at China for?
March 31st, 2006 at 10:00 amBushiva is in Cancun on vacation…
…’til his terrible poll numbers attempt a comeback…
…meanwhile his “Freedom’s on the march” talking point…
…becomes just another “Mission Accomplished”…
…and the MSM is following this b*tch around Cancun everyday…
…to report: “Nothing major is expected out of this conference between”… Bushiva, Fox and the new Canadian al Cracker…
…what a world…
Guess Neal Bush’s new “Body Armor” clothing line (being pushed by Bushiva and the Pentagon)…
…must be running into some unwanted competition from other outside-the-corruption-loop manufacturers…
…as for the Grand Ayatollah…
…he only reads correspondence from the Mullahs…
March 31st, 2006 at 10:00 am#9 “And working in the garden is hardly chain-gang labor. They get to go outside. I bet they’d volunteer for that.” Careful now, after cooking dinner last night, and then this, your getting real close to having your card revoked.
“U.N. nonproliferation chief Mohamed ElBaradei (who had a far better track record on Iraq than the Bush administration) said of the Iran nuclear impasse: the “only durable solution is a negotiated solution,—
March 31st, 2006 at 10:02 amIsn;t that what the Europeans have been trying, and failing, to get?
All profit should benefit the State so that it can pay for the prisons more easily. I also don’t support the privatization of the prison system. For profit prisons are simply a bad idea. Again, for the same reason as stated above.
Comment by Pagan American — March 31, 2006 @ 9:57 am
I agree. I think they should work and that it should go to support their care. Not for profit.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:02 amCareful now, after cooking dinner last night, and then this, your getting real close to having your card revoked.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 10:02 am
What card? I don’t ‘belong’ to any group. I’m an Independent.
But thanks for the concern. It’s touching, really ;)
March 31st, 2006 at 10:06 amOff topic…..Alert!…….C-span censure hearings on now……..
March 31st, 2006 at 10:08 amWhat is the prison population in the entire country? Approaching 2 million? Think the percentage of prisoners that can handle this kind of physical work is about… what…. 80%? And maybe some are just too old to do this work, some will be women, some will be unwilling. Maybe we could conscript say a million prisoners? Spread out over the entire country, right? Think we can just ship ‘em all down South when the harvest is ready? Think a million resentful and inexperienced prisoners can do the work of the 5 million hardworking and willing Mexican agricultural workers in the country? Has anyone thought about the cost of guarding those fellas in the fields? What a JOKE!
March 31st, 2006 at 10:09 amMore BS from the fine bigots ensconced in Congress by the GOP.
Isn’t that the very same thing “we†were angry at China for?
Comment by WiscoDuk — March 31, 2006 @ 10:00 am
Only because they keep the profits in China… where the government can’t tax them…
March 31st, 2006 at 10:10 amOne thing not being reported on is the weather. Way back when Katrina hit (and the Tsunami too) some of the rightwings religeous mouth pieces were saying that these events were gods punishment for the wickedness of leberal New Orleans etc… I wonder why god is so angry with Texas that he burned chunks fo the state last month?> Why does he always get so angry at Oklahoma and Kansas that he continually batteres them with Tornados? Maybe Pat Robertson or some other mega millions mega preacher needs to get out to one of these small ultra conservative communities and find out just why god is so angry with them.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:11 am#15, I was at one time a waiter at the Hawk and Dove Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue. The walls were filled with Nixon Adminstration crooks with the word ‘apprehended’ pasted over their pictures. Nixon’s picture was there too.
I never did have their featured Sunday brunch entre, eggs benedict.
Makes you wonder what the well-heeled multi-millionaires have been ingesting when they dine at The Monocle, doesn’t it?
March 31st, 2006 at 10:13 am#31 Why does he always get so angry at Oklahoma and Kansas that he continually batteres them with Tornados?
I believe that answer would be trailer parks.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:14 amNot to mention, of course, the incredible motivation we would be giving to the rich moguls that run our government to criminalize more of us and put us into this so-called cheap labor force. Our growing inmate population would soon fill to encompass the bulk of the poor and middleclass, my friends. This has been done before. Moses led them out of Egypt, but it took a couple hundred years for them to get free.
I, for one, am not interested in turning our prisons into forced labor camps.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:15 amHas anyone thought about the cost of guarding those fellas in the fields? What a JOKE!
More BS from the fine bigots ensconced in Congress by the GOP.
Comment by Solitaire — March 31, 2006 @ 10:09 am
The current system wouldn’twork at all. When they do road detail, they usually have two guards for every 8 to 10 guys.
It would have to be designed. The current system isn’t set up effciently, because prisons are designed to be close to judicial buildings and not farms.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:15 amMakes you wonder what the well-heeled multi-millionaires have been ingesting when they dine at The Monocle, doesn’t it?
Comment by Ron — March 31, 2006 @ 10:13 am
Sneeze burgers and spit-ghetti? At least that was what they guys I knew called them… :)
March 31st, 2006 at 10:19 amI, for one, am not interested in turning our prisons into forced labor camps.
Comment by Solitaire — March 31, 2006 @ 10:15 am
Neither am I. But until we admit that we have a problem that puts so many people in prison, we have 2 million people who are wasting away in concrete cells. Teach them a real world skill and let them contribute to society by providing their own care and we trun a problem into a system.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:22 am[...] ThinkFast: March 31, 2006Think Progress, DC - 1 hour agoIn a letter, President Bush urged Iraqi Shiite Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to get more involved in negotations over Iraq s new government. … [...]
March 31st, 2006 at 10:33 amYup AZ has chain gangs, and lots of other crappy ass Republican conservative folks running things.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:39 amWhy is God so angry with Florida? as he always sends hurricanes there. It seems all the states that get the hurricanes, tornados are red states. Why?
March 31st, 2006 at 10:43 amThers’a church in Anniston, Alabama that gets tornadoed every couple of years. And they just rebuild it back in the same place each time.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:48 amRep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA): “The millions of young men who are prisoners in our country can pick the fruit and vegetables.â€
Prisoners owe a debt to society, NOT to corporations who don’t want to pay workers fairly. We already subsidize corporations heavily through tax breaks and handouts. Why on earth would the government now provide them with free labor that the taxpayers are already paying to feed, clothe and house?
March 31st, 2006 at 11:05 amIn case anyone missed the #19 post- Here’s the gist
This, in my opinion, is HUGE. (No offense- but I think it’s a bit bigger issue than weather patterns hating red states.)
March 31st, 2006 at 11:06 amThis, in my opinion, is HUGE. (No offense- but I think it’s a bit bigger issue than weather patterns hating red states.)
Comment by WiscoDuk — March 31, 2006 @ 11:06 am
Sure, but not as funny…
As far as the deficit…. I can’t believe it’s taken this long for anyone in Congress to do anything about it, well, other than keep raising the linit. I thought teh conservatives were supposed to be conservative with money…
March 31st, 2006 at 11:11 amThe point is that he signed a different version than passed by the house. Impeachable?
March 31st, 2006 at 11:14 am#21 – How about this solution:
Private corporations can only “hire” inmates that have the opportunity to eventually get released. In prison, they have to offer at least $1 an hour.
Once the inmate is released, the job they had while in prison MUST be offered to that inmate at competitive wages.
They’ve already been doing the job, so no training required. The inmate has a reason to stay “clean” from whatever they were incarcerated for, and the company gets a worker who has incentive to stay out of prison and have a job when they get out.
Not a perfect model, but it’s better than what we currently have in place.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:15 amNeither am I. But until we admit that we have a problem that puts so many people in prison, we have 2 million people who are wasting away in concrete cells. Teach them a real world skill and let them contribute to society by providing their own care and we trun a problem into a system.
Comment by unbelievable — March 31, 2006 @
Picking vegetables is a “real world skill”? And after they’ve paid their debt to society they can take jobs as what? The prisoners are picking the crops, so what jobs will they look forward to?
March 31st, 2006 at 11:16 amThe point is that he signed a different version than passed by the house. Impeachable?
Comment by WiscoDuk — March 31, 2006 @ 11:14 am
Guess that explains why he doesn’t need to veto anything.
He’ll getaway with it. Nothing will happen until the greedy bsatrads in congress get affected by his actions. Or We the People grow a spine and vote them all out of office.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:18 amToo true.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:20 amNot a perfect model, but it’s better than what we currently have in place.
Comment by Democrat Soldier — March 31, 2006 @ 11:15 am
Much better. I like the idea. It makes sense that you select the right people for the job, and then give them an opportunity.
I think the core problem with any solution is that it is still a band-aid to the real problm of why we have so many people in prioon to begin with. But, while they are there, this could be a reasonale way to get them employed and productive. A real second chance they wouldn’t get otherwise.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:22 amPicking vegetables is a “real world skill� And after they’ve paid their debt to society they can take jobs as what? The prisoners are picking the crops, so what jobs will they look forward to?
Comment by dano347 — March 31, 2006 @ 11:16 am
Yes it is. People pay other people to pick teh food that you and many other people in other countries eat. They would work doing the exact same job. See Democrat Soldier’s post above yours for the idea.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:24 amWOW!!!!
http://nytimes.com/2006/03/31/nyregion/31cnd-tapes.html?hp&ex=1143867600&en=7974754cad2d453e&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Apparently due to a failure in the chain of command, many people in the WTC were told to stay put, and NOT to evacuate.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:31 am#44 I thought teh conservatives were supposed to be conservative with money…
Not anymore, now we some how feel we can beat the liberals on entitlement issues, while still cutting taxes, with out realising the liberals will just up their demands for more entitlements.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:34 amSo two parties, ones tax and spend, the other is tax cut and spend.
Apparently due to a failure in the chain of command, many people in the WTC were told to stay put, and NOT to evacuate.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 11:31 am
I read somewhere once that if you are in a plane disaster, your likelihood of survival increases if yu don’t stay put. That studies had indicated that people who ignore authorities’ requests to remain calm and seated had a much higher rate of survival of theincident than those who just did what they were told. Sounds like it applies to this case as well.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:37 amCould you clarify that? Which entitlements are you talking about?
March 31st, 2006 at 11:40 am#54 I ‘read’ a ’study’(watched a cartoon show) about lemings that said they follow blindly over cliffs once, seems the same sort of the same thing.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:40 amSo two parties, ones tax and spend, the other is tax cut and spend.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 11:34 am
Sounds like the job for some independents… wth a ’stop spending’ mentality.
I remember reading a history articleon teh collapse of the 500 year old Venetian Republic (my father’s father’s father was from Venice). It was pretty interesting how it parallels our own current decline. And, since the history is being sucked out of hstory classes, we will surely repeat it.
March 31st, 2006 at 11:41 am#54 I ‘read’ a ’study’(watched a cartoon show) about lemings that said they follow blindly over cliffs once, seems the same sort of the same thing.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 11:40 am
Sure funny boy, whatever works for ya :)
March 31st, 2006 at 11:43 am#55 Wisco, don’t know if i have the time today for anything more then the occasional joke/broad generalization, so if it takes me a while to respond again, thats why.
Could you clarify that? Which entitlements are you talking about?
Department of Education
Medicare/Medicaid
Social Security
To list a few
March 31st, 2006 at 11:50 amOK squeegee, I’m out of time too- Not sure that statement holds much water though.
DOE- No child left behind isn’t exactly an entitlement
M/M- It has been slashed more than anything by the cons- The percription drug benefit is as much a benefit for drug and insurance companies.
SS- come on- they tried to eliminate it
March 31st, 2006 at 12:03 pm#52 – Many of the people who were told to stay put could not have gotten out because of the damage on lower floors.
March 31st, 2006 at 12:03 pm#60 Wisco
DOE Shouldn’t even exist, that it does, and gives out some money to states for schools is an entitlement to me.
M/M Bush’s plan increases the gov’t costs of that system by the billions if I remeber correctly.
SS – We didn’t try and eliminate it, instead we tried to move a portion of it over and create some personal responisbility.
#61 Many of the people who were told to stay put could not have gotten out because of the damage on lower floors.
True, but how many people on the lower floors who didn’t make it out, would have, if they had been told to evac. instead of stay put until the firemen/policemen reach you?
My guess? eleventy seven, at least.
March 31st, 2006 at 12:33 pmWe didn’t try and eliminate it, instead we tried to move a portion of it over and create some personal responisbility.
Change that sentence to:We didn’t try and eliminate it, instead we tried to move a portion of it over to the individual, and create some personal responisbility.
March 31st, 2006 at 12:34 pmSo squegeeboo if we reduce the government down to nothing and the rich people keep all the money and become an aristocracy again.. it is ok with you when we lench them all at take what we want? You know people only can stand watching the ultra rich flaunt their stuff so long when your kids are going hungry and when they are stupid because of no education and so have no future… just like in the past 2000 years… we can have robin hoods/highway bandits everywhere.. mobsters all over the place, and the people with pitch forks and torches burning down mansions and taking whatever is left…. that ok with you?
March 31st, 2006 at 12:57 pmGerald:
If a state wants to offer a service, good for them, let them, the Fed shouldnt be supporting it though. Thats my view on it. It’s easier to move to a state thats more in line with your thinking than to emigrate to a different country.
“the people with pitch forks and torches burning down mansions and taking whatever is left…. that ok with you?”
That would depend on which side of the pitch fork I’m on.
March 31st, 2006 at 1:29 pmBushiva is in Cancun on vacation…
March 31st, 2006 at 1:38 pmBig papa you remind me — what the hell was he thinking when he made his remark about not wearing a speedo. Eeeww!
He is one stupid, sick f**k.
We have plenty of trailer parks in California and they never get hit by tornadoes.
March 31st, 2006 at 2:12 pmSo two parties, ones tax and spend, the other is tax cut and spend.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 11:34 am
No, one is tax and spend and the other is tax cut, spend, and borrow like there’s no tomorrow.
Hey Squeege, how about lifting the cap on SSI income? Why should someone who makes $200,000 get a tax break (because in the final analysis, that’s what it is) over someone making $87,000? Are they somehow more deserving? The system would be solvent if the “rich” actually paid their own way, don’t you think?
This is one of those “shared sacrifice for the common good” lessons from civics class that everyone who wasn’t home-schooled should remember, right?
March 31st, 2006 at 2:16 pmYes it is. People pay other people to pick teh food that you and many other people in other countries eat. They would work doing the exact same job. See Democrat Soldier’s post above yours for the idea.
Comment by unbelievable — March 31, 2006 @
And the gangs would just go along with this? Having spent a little time in jail, I don’t see this as a viable option. Remember the movie Brubaker? It was a true story.
March 31st, 2006 at 2:23 pmIn 1850 ther were about 2 million slaves in the Confederate States. Today, there are over 2 million incarcerated in US prisons, many of which are private for-profit corporations. Over 80% of the prison population is black. You do the math. The fact that many in the system are forced to work for nothing is already de facto slavery.
Rep. Rohrabacher, did’nt you learn anything from the last time you had slaves picking your crops? Aren’t you proud enough already that the US incarcerates 10-times the per capita number of blacks than S Africa at the height of Apartheid?
This one should face upward.
March 31st, 2006 at 2:30 pm#68The system would be solvent if the “rich†actually paid their own way, don’t you think?
Last I checked the top 20% pay over 50% of national taxes. I’d say thats them paying their own way.
“This is one of those “shared sacrifice for the common good†lessons from civics class that everyone who wasn’t home-schooled should remember, right?”
March 31st, 2006 at 2:42 pmThe common good isn’t what makes capatilism work, greed does. And capitalism has done more for the poor then any other system ever has.
And the gangs would just go along with this? Having spent a little time in jail, I don’t see this as a viable option. Remember the movie Brubaker? It was a true story.
Comment by dano347 — March 31, 2006 @ 2:23 pm
I suppose it doesn’t matter any way since no one is listening to us and we’re simply talking in hypotheticals because it keeps the brain sharp. Just figured others would be interested in changing teh status quo. I guess not so much.
March 31st, 2006 at 2:43 pmThe common good isn’t what makes capatilism work, greed does. And capitalism has done more for the poor then any other system ever has.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 2:42 pm
Depends on how you define ‘poor’. By my definition, we’re one of the poorest countries in the world. Money cannot buy the things that are most important.
March 31st, 2006 at 2:46 pm#73 “Depends on how you define ‘poor’.”
Speaking materialisticly of course
March 31st, 2006 at 2:52 pmSpeaking materialisticly of course
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 2:52 pm
Of course. I forgot that the words ‘1500 h.p. engine with a leather interior’ are more effective at winning a conservative’s heart than the words ‘I love you’. Silly me…
March 31st, 2006 at 3:26 pm#75 more effective at winning a conservative’s heart than the words ‘I love you’. Silly me…
Since when did we have this ‘heart’ of which you speak?
March 31st, 2006 at 3:37 pmSince when did we have this ‘heart’ of which you speak?
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 3:37 pm
You must have one… it’s where we have to drive the stake in order to stop you from sucking the blood of young children and old people.
March 31st, 2006 at 4:17 pmOf course. I forgot that the words ‘1500 h.p. engine with a leather interior’ are more effective at winning a conservative’s heart than the words ‘I love you’. Silly me…
Now that was Harsh Unbelievable,
Sure, I could still be a loved father if I lived in a one room one bedroom apartment, no internet, no set of encyclopedias, ramen noodles for dinner nightly for the kids, A vehicle that is not quite as safe, keep the kids out of the extra cirricular activities that keep them off the streets because of gas costs and equipment on a fraction of what I spend.
. Personally I still do my 40 hour week, pay for good healthy food (Which may be considered frivilous by some), Ensure that all of the reference materials etc (Which are not free or even cheap) needed to excel in school are available.
March 31st, 2006 at 4:29 pm#77 Aw snap, I got nothing to come back to on that one.
March 31st, 2006 at 4:37 pm#77 Aw snap, I got nothing to come back to on that one.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 4:37 pm
How about “You’re just jealous that I don’t drink pig | dog | monkey | take your pick of farm animal blood.”?
March 31st, 2006 at 5:06 pmNow that was Harsh Unbelievable,
But I’m just a tiny little woman… (well, nottiny – medium sized, but I’m still just a defenseless woman :) Besides, the squeegie set it up. How could I resist? ;)
Sure, I could still be a loved father if I lived in a one room one bedroom apartment, no internet, no set of encyclopedias, ramen noodles for dinner nightly for the kids, A vehicle that is not quite as safe, keep the kids out of the extra cirricular activities that keep them off the streets because of gas costs and equipment on a fraction of what I spend.
Spare me. I grew up lower middle class. We were creative, not bored. There’s a lot you can do for free or next to it. And I think I’m a better person for itthan some of the ‘enteratin me now’ generation of kids running around with dolls that talk.
. Personally I still do my 40 hour week, pay for good healthy food (Which may be considered frivilous by some), Ensure that all of the reference materials etc (Which are not free or even cheap) needed to excel in school are available.
Comment by Tundra — March 31, 2006 @ 4:29 pm
Frivolous? You won’t get that from me. I’m a vegan. And I don’t have kids. But I still work a 40+ week too.
March 31st, 2006 at 5:11 pm“How about “You’re just jealous that I don’t drink pig | dog | monkey | take your pick of farm animal blood.â€?”
Sounds like your just jealous that I do, yah dirty hippy vegan :)
March 31st, 2006 at 5:56 pmSounds like your just jealous that I do, yah dirty hippy vegan :)
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 5:56 pm
Well, you are what you eat. I’d rather be a carrot than a pig | chicken | cow | oppossum roadkill :)
Speaking of carrots… I think it’s about dinner time.
March 31st, 2006 at 6:02 pm“Well, you are what you eat. I’d rather be a carrot than a pig | chicken | cow | oppossum roadkill :)
Speaking of carrots… I think it’s about dinner time. ”
Careful now, last I checked your side pulls the plug on vegtables, espically if your ‘living’ in florida.
March 31st, 2006 at 8:42 pmCareful now, last I checked your side pulls the plug on vegtables, espically if your ‘living’ in florida.
Comment by squegeeboo — March 31, 2006 @ 8:42 pm
Why you worried you’ll be dinner?
If I’m ever like Terri Schiavo, I hope someone will pull the plug about 15 years sooner than they did for her. Would not want to be a vegetable. Rather take a dirt nap.
So is there where you lecture me, futilely of course, on the rights of fetuses and brain dead people, while eating your chicken pot pie dinner and cheering on the execution of some atheist anti-war activists with Bill O’Reilly? I mean, that is the right-wing thing to do at this juncture… Isn’t it? :)
March 31st, 2006 at 9:25 pmOh well, I live in Florida and am on the second cycle of radishes, the first cycle of broccoli and am about one week from the first cycle of Iceberg lettuce. Cherry and grape tomatoes are about three weeks away and the big ones are about five. The really good news is that there will be no more Bush in this state after 2006.
March 31st, 2006 at 9:28 pm[...] ThinkFast: March 31, 2006Think Progress, DC - 17 hours agoIn a letter, President Bush urged Iraqi Shiite Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to get more involved in negotations over Iraq s new government. … [...]
April 1st, 2006 at 2:33 amNot that it matters, but avocados grow on trees, not “in the field”.
Another thought, If inmates are “farmed out” to collect produce, then we could do away with “corporate welfare” for Agribusiness, minimal labor costs would increase profitability, so no more need to screw over American taxpayers to make a profit. Worth looking into.
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:04 amOne other thing, the money we save from no longer having to bribe agribusiness to make lots of money we could afford to properly repair the Levee’s in Louisianna. Cause it would be too mean to ask the top 1% to give up some of their goodies, for the sake of America, cause that is just stupid. The wealthy people are far more important!
April 2nd, 2006 at 3:20 am[...] Think Progress [...]
April 2nd, 2006 at 10:47 am