The most extreme of the GOP purity test candidates lost in 2010, putting the brakes on extremism as the test for adequacy. What's left as criteria today seems poorly defined, and the GOP base needs everything defined as simplistically as possible. Yes, the GOP is hurting. But the movers and shakers within the GOP are still hurting the rest of us, as stupid as their sound bites are.

The difference between so many progressive assertions- eg Wilson and Pickett’s monumental study of public health records from all over the world, showing that greater inequality clearly breeds poorer public health and more crime and hostility and suspicion and the breakdown of community and society, a thorough and verifiable study that is as different as can be from such rightist assertions as: “we” are all better off if we can live as “individuals” in a “free” society. Nowhere in so many of these rightist assertions are there even definitions of the significant terms used in the assertions, nowhere are there data to even attempt to support the vague assertions, nowhere is there much of anything verifiable or justifiable.

It’s pure dogma, and dogma HAS to be slippery and undefined and imprecise and demanding of faith and bias over proof. And so, of course, faith has to be asserted to be superior to mere proof, doesn’t it? That way, any assertion is as valid as any other, and the right can present its arguments as though they were valid.

And so the procedural triviality of raising the debt ceiling to reflect the growing costs of a growing country with a diminished tax revenue becomes an existential crisis that results in the downgrading of the one thing that made our debt easier to pay off than so many other countries’ debt,-the superior rating of our T bonds. Way to go, Republicans. Job creation bills are voted down by every Republican, as though every Republican district is a clone of all others and will brook no deviation from dogma in its representatives and senators. Government figures show that Democratic administrations have provided two-thirds of the net new jobs over the past eighty years, yet Republicans double down on their unproductive tenets with the ferocity of zealots.

And so “reducing the deficit” is code for ending the New Deal and Great Society for all of us just to ease business’ taxes for no pertinent reason. “Giving the job creators a break” means ending social programs so that all that public money becomes available for the rich to take possession of, through no legitimate or moral rationale. And privatizing education, privatizing anything that was created and built up over generations by public effort, is unadulterated pillaging cacklingly presented as clever problem-solving.

So, too, Reaganesque narratives of “welfare queens” are purely hateful class warfare against the non-rich, with no saving merit, least of all truthfulness. It demonizes the already suffering for the sole purpose of reducing corporate taxes. The function of most rightist narrative is to reduce taxes on the wealthy, as the right’s gods and high priests are the wealthy.

When the poor get food stamps, the economic activity generated pays back $1.73 for every dollar spent. When the rich get yet more than they could ever need, this excess money just sits somewhere doing nothing but earning interest. No other economic activity occurs. It’s non-working money. It’s not job-creating, it’s not stimulative, it’s wasted money. It is the result of an economic system that’s gone perverted.

It’s not as though we have only minimal resources, and that for some to live, others must be sacrificed. It’s not at all like that. But for the political right to try to rationalize their push to redistribute to the rich the last few dollars they don’t already have, they have to push the narrative of government debt, as though the numbers on an artificial, abstract balance sheet IS famine and so the poor must be sacrificed to keep the worthy alive.

The wealthy who keep getting more and more money, often purely from interest on their holdings, will of course feel virtuous and justified, because our current system says that if you are rewarded with money- even if you haven’t a clue any more where it’s coming from- then you are being rewarded for being right, good, virtuous, hard-working,, and that anyone who is not being rewarded obviously must be inferior and therefore deserves to suffer. It’s the tale told by those who have the money and power to dictate the rules and the absurd rationale behind the rules.

But none of this matters, where dogma dictates every sound bite, and sound bites are all we hear.

“But Mike, the very best defense is always having the very best offense. That is exactly how your existence has been maintained for your entire life.”-Bill F

The US has cultivated the “umbrella” idea for a long, long time,-that it’s only because of America’s large military to keep order that Spain hasn’t needed to spend 60% of its budget on defense, or Portugal, or Austria, or the Netherlands, or, or, or…. But this neglects why Paraguay doesn’t have to spend 60% of its budget on defense, or Namibia, or New Zealand, or, or, or…. The world is NOT dependent on our military for their existence. If we have more valuable resources than Peru or Tunisia, this could justify a stronger military than these countries have, which we could have for a lot less than 60% of our gargantuan budget.

Remember, too, that our biggest military does not protect us from having our centers of commerce and defense attacked using our own resources to destroy us,-by a handful of guys with box-cutters. Our military doesn’t protect us from a handful of guys infected with modified avian flu mingling with shoppers at malls across the country. And our military certainly doesn’t protect us from a handful of guys in Brooks Brothers’ suits sabotaging our economy, as we’ve learned once or twice too often now.

An offensively oversized military is futile against these non-governmental actors we’re seeing today. A strong offense can therefore look like impotent desperation. How many countries would, in the face of this, put up with their citizens being killed in their homes by our drones in an attempt at retaliation after the fact against some lone agent, or a potential agent, or some third cousin of a potential agent-before we’re declared an intolerable threat that must be neutralized?

A few BILLION people, not under the umbrella,-well, their “existence has been maintained” for entire lifetimes without their unimportant-to-America governments spending a trillion or so every year to keep world-class militaries on hand, just in case. And in some quite fine democracies, too. (Most countries today are democracies.) It’s been stated so often on this site, without specific illustrations, that government is wasteful as a result of being irresponsible and seeking to aggrandize itself. Yet, when it comes to military spending, unaccounted extravagance in the largest department in our government is not only unquestioned, it is heresy to even suggest any constraint.

I’m not sticking daisies in soldiers’ gun barrels. But the idea that any defense expense or action is untouchable and cannot even be examined, is the very thing that conservatives endlessly declare is unacceptable in any other part of government. Instead of our spending more on our military than the bulk of the world’s countries combined, how about just spending more than country number two, and we can muddle along somehow just being number one?

Right after WWII we WERE Europe’s defense. (And not China’s, or Africa’s, or Australia’s, or, or, or….) But that’s not been the case for years now. We argue that we need to keep Europe dependent on us, to keep away other kinds of alliances that might not suit our preferences. It’s only geopolitical preferences that are given carte blanche, and everything else can be sacrificed for them, and we have no say. It’s fine, we’re supposed to hold as an unshakable article of faith, that it’s necessary and good to spend a trillion or so every year to protect these no longer pertinent alliances, but that it’s shockingly wasteful to spend much less than this on our own country’s infrastructure and institutions and people. “There were no sacrifices during the Iraq war”, we’re told over and over to justify yet more sacrifices,-because there WERE sacrifices, and lots of them. None at the top, of course, but that’s not good enough,-we have to whip up a masochistic urge to further bleed ourselves for the sake of anyone else but American workers and those who want nothing more than to work and provide for their families and contribute to the building of a fine civilization.

The western world took centuries to recover from the Roman Empire. Not because it was no longer “protected” by the then biggest military, but because- like the former satellites of the Soviet Empire- societies wither under empire. I hope the US doesn’t do the same to any country where we maintain several vast military bases “just because.”

If the GOP were on trial it's lawyer might say, "hey don't take the stand, you might say the wrong thing, it might expose something we don't want the jury to know." The GOP is not on trial, they do not have the burden to prove they are innocent. No matter what they say or do, the only question for "we the jury" is whether the GOP candidate that runs against Obama is better then Obama. So far, from what I have seen, I would be happy with almost anyone of the GOP candidates over the current administration

"The difference between so many progressive assertions- eg Wilson and Pickett’s monumental study of public health records from all over the world, showing that greater inequality clearly breeds poorer public health and more crime and hostility and suspicion and the breakdown of community and society, a thorough and verifiable study that is as different as can be from such rightist assertions as: “we” are all better off if we can live as “individuals” in a “free” society." MQ

It's a 2012, Happy New Year but your points are so 2011. You must have been busting at the seams. I am glad we are back though.

Mike, it is not whether we are "better off" or not better off as "individuals" It is simply a matter of how and what one believes in. Libertarians, many conservatives and some independents understand it is ONLY individuals that matter and government is just one tool for a better life. Where as, many progressive's believe government is what matters and the ONLY way to a better life. I believe those progressives are wrong.

The rich progressive that say's "Tax ME more" is either lying and really mean tax others more OR is saying I have no trust or faith in myself to do what I believe is right as an individual, so I want government to make that decision for me. If one is honest and believes in a cause he does not need government to affect change. He can, as an individual apart from government assert that change in himself. So the rich progressive lacks personal fortitude so he reaches out to government to act as his conscience but that is not the role of government.

In a similar way, I heard a progressive analyst on RNN make the most ridicules statement; at least it was to an individual minded person like me. He was calling for government to ban all cell phone use in the car, even hands free. He admitted he finds himself texting emails while driving and almost hit the car in front of him. So he calls for government to police him? He can't control himself but if government makes it a law then he will stop? Why not turn himself in instead? This is big government progressive nonsense to me.

So there are those that believe in the free and individual spirit and those that profess only government can provide a better life. I contend that the need for big government is a self fulfilling prophesy put forth by those that put government first and people second.

“…it is ONLY individuals that matter and government is just one tool for a better life.”-MG

If you had said it is only PEOPLE who matter, then I would agree. The thing about individualism is that it impugns the desirability of communal effort. It has the sound (to my ears) of coldness, isolationism, dare I say it: selfishness. I know individualism has a different feel to you.

“Many progressives believe government is what matters and the ONLY way to a better life.”

Progressives believe that a society of people agree to turn over many communitarian functions to elected or otherwise chosen agents, called government. This means that progressives equate people with government, and want to keep these agents honestly and conscientiously doing the people’s business. Progressives are not fearful of turning over considerable authority to government, because they do not view government as an externally imposed annoyance, but as the people picking some of their own to do these jobs. We’re probably more offended and hurt than others when government agents become corrupt, because this betrayal is a betrayal of the human race, of society, of community, of the core of our world.

"FRACT"-ured Fairy Tales. With other potenmtial "non" news worthy MSM tabloid deceptions debunked and analyzed

So who really thinks that Mitt Romney the robot "Max Headroom" aka can win anything without that little help from his $$$$$$$, and the 1% who will stop at nothing to retain the SCOTUS Citizen's United decision. The man is a reptile wearing the latest Goldman Sachs clothing collection of likelike human derma that doesn't wear well. Stiff, cold, babbling and stuttering just like the Max Headroom of the decades old comedy. Constantly tripping over past positions. Hedging. Never speaking the truth.
Amazing! ROMNEY "6 VOTE VICTORY" OVER "PENNILESS" SANTORUM WAS ACHIEVED WITH ROMNEY GETTING 9 FEWER VOTES THAN HE GOT IN 2008. Hmmmmmm! Wow! So much for experience and power of persuasion of this lunk head.
Romney is the dead from the neck up foil caught in the headlights in Obama's wet dream for reelection.

Ron Paul's legends will continue to grow expedentially once you get past South Carolina. Massive explosions expected from the young, and the underemployed.
Defections from the financially astute and under represented Dems, Reps and Independents will rally to his side undeterred by mass medias detractions- As Europe's unrest and foreign policy leaders continue to get displaced in the Middle East and all around the planet.
GLOBALISM IS DEAD! On life support. Only being kept alive by the one percent and their foreign holdings and is supported of course, "ONLY" by the 99%'s FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS.
Republicans now have their backs to the wall on upcoming budget approval unless, spineless and equally complicit Dumb-ocrats "cave-in" on "we the people" once again.

Rick Santorum got a giant boost from Evangelicals and the family values contigent but, once the dust settles, it is- JOBS, JOBS, JOBS and the economy that will be his undoing in the end. He will get shredded in the high population states. His support of the Ryan plan- without a serious job creations plan is a non starter. Nice guy with another "warplan" is a no can do unless he gets outside help from the status quo. THOSE USUAL SUSPECTS & THEIR ROUND TABLES MIGHT IF CHALLENGED GO IMMEDIATELY FORWARD WITH THEIR LAST GASP PLAN FOR "NATION DOWNSIZING" AND COMMIT US, AND UNITED NATIONS FORCES OF THE "WILLING" TO YET ANOTHER PRE-EMPTIVE CRISIS. WAR, WHICH IS OF COURSE GOOD FOR "THEIR" BUSINESS, LOWERS UNEMPLOYMENT, AND FORCES COMPLIANCE TO THEIR IRON FISTED OPERATIONS AND OPERATIVES.

The Republican pipedream of "fraking" and that Canadian pipeline to the gulf has to be the the greatest hoax on the American taxpayer since, open borders, and NAFTA. One pipeline is not going to employ millions. The full time job totals needed for the entire extravaganza have been tabulated and are limited to 6,500 and will affect a narrow strip of towns along the way but, the viporous fools gold notion and propaganda that "fracking" is an economic godsend, BEWARE! FRACKING CAN CAUSE THE DEATH AND ILLNESS IN MILLIONS. CAN POLLUTE OUR NATIONS GROUNDWATER, AND DESTROY THE ENTIRE FOOD CHAIN.
Let this weeks earthquake in Ohio, be mother natures warning to us all-.
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20120102/NEWS01/201020329/Ohio-earthquakes-stir-fracking-fears

More:
MUST READ!!!
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0102/How-fracking-might-have-led-to-an-Ohio-earthquake

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/01/02-2

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CLEVELAND — A northeast Ohio well used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling almost certainly caused a series of 11 minor quakes in the Youngstown area since last spring, a seismologist investigating the quakes said Monday.

Research is continuing on the now-shuttered injection well at Youngstown and seismic activity, but it might take a year for the wastewater-related rumblings in the earth to dissipate, said John Armbruster of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y.

Brine wastewater dumped in wells comes from drilling operations, including the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale that has been a source of concern among environmental groups and some property owners. Injection wells have also been suspected in quakes in Ashtabula in far northeast Ohio, and in Arkansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma, Armbruster said.

Thousands of gallons of brine were injected daily into the Youngstown well that opened in 2010 until its owner, Northstar Disposal Services LLC, agreed Friday to stop injecting the waste into the earth as a precaution while authorities assessed any potential links to the quakes.

After the latest and largest quake Saturday at 4.0 magnitude, state officials announced their beliefs that injecting wastewater near a fault line had created enough pressure to cause seismic activity. They said four inactive wells within a five-mile radius of the Youngstown well would remain closed. But they also stressed that injection wells are different from drilling wells that employ fracking.

Armbruster said Monday he expects more quakes will occur despite the shutdown of the Youngstown well.

"The earthquakes will trickle on as a kind of a cascading process once you've caused them to occur," he said. "This one year of pumping is a pulse that has been pushed into the ground, and it's going to be spreading out for at least a year."

The quakes began last March with the most recent on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve each occurring within 100 meters of the injection well. The Saturday quake in McDonald, outside of Youngstown, caused no serious injuries or property damage.

Youngstown Democrat Rep. Robert Hagan on Monday renewed his call for a moratorium on fracking and well injection disposal to allow a review of safety issues.




"If it's safe, I want to do it," he said in a telephone interview. "If it's not, I don't want to be part and parcel to destruction of the environment and the fake promise of jobs."

He said a moratorium "really is what we should be doing, mostly toward the injection wells, but we should be asking questions on drilling itself."
CHECK THIS OUT!
A spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, (an outspoken supporter of the growing oil and natural gas industry in Ohio), said the shale industry shouldn't be punished for a fracking byproduct. NAH! THE PUBLIC SHOULD JUST GRIN AND BEAR IT, RIGHT? WHY WORRY ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH, THE EFFECT OF TOXIC WASTE BEING INFUSED INTO OUR DRINKING WATER?
AFTER ALL THE FINDINGS HAVE YET TO BE PROVEN AND STUDIES TAKE TIME, AND IT'S "ALWAYS" ALL ABOUT THE IMMEDIACY OF PROFIT WITH A DEVIL MAY CARE ATTITUDE WAIT AND A CAVALIER "I DON'T LIVE THERE, THOSE PEOPLE SHOULD JUST MOVE JUSTIFICATION-, RIGHT, MIKE G?

JUST ANOTHER CASE OF CORPORATE INSIDERS, INFECTING OUR INSTITUTIONS AND DECIDING WHAT IS GOOD FOR THEM, HAS TO BE ENDURED AND SWALLOWED BY EVERYONE ELSE. Everything profitable that is, not the damages or THE "CLEAN-UP".

Proof once again that Corporate polluters and their governmental mouthpieces should be held (without exception) responsible for the effects of their harmful decisions and byproducts.

CLEVELAND — A northeast Ohio well used to dispose of wastewater from oil and gas drilling almost certainly caused a series of 11 minor quakes in the Youngstown area since last spring, a seismologist investigating the quakes said Monday.
Research is continuing on the now-shuttered injection well at Youngstown and seismic activity, but it might take a year for the wastewater-related rumblings in the earth to dissipate, said John Armbruster of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y.
Brine wastewater dumped in wells comes from drilling operations, including the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale that has been a source of concern among environmental groups and some property owners. Injection wells have also been suspected in quakes in Ashtabula in far northeast Ohio, and in Arkansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma, Armbruster said.
Thousands of gallons of brine were injected daily into the Youngstown well that opened in 2010 until its owner, Northstar Disposal Services LLC, agreed Friday to "stop injecting the waste into the earth" as a precaution while authorities assessed any potential links to the quakes.
After the latest and largest quake Saturday at 4.0 magnitude, state officials announced their beliefs that injecting wastewater near a fault line had created enough pressure to cause seismic activity. They said four inactive wells within a five-mile radius of the Youngstown well would remain closed. But they also stressed that injection wells are different from drilling wells that employ fracking.
Armbruster said Monday he expects more quakes will occur despite the shutdown of the Youngstown well.
"The earthquakes will trickle on as a kind of a cascading process once you've caused them to occur," he said. "This one year of pumping is a pulse that has been pushed into the ground, and it's going to be spreading out for at least a year."
The quakes began last March with the most recent on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve each occurring within 100 meters of the injection well. The Saturday quake in McDonald, outside of Youngstown, caused no serious injuries or property damage.

Youngstown Democrat Rep. Robert Hagan on Monday renewed his call for a moratorium on fracking and well injection disposal to allow a review of safety issues.
"If it's safe, I want to do it," he said in a telephone interview. "If it's not, I don't want to be part and parcel to destruction of the environment and the fake promise of jobs."
He said a moratorium "really is what we should be doing, mostly toward the injection wells, but we should be asking questions on drilling itself."
CHECK THIS OUT!
A spokesman for Gov. John Kasich, (an outspoken supporter of the growing oil and natural gas industry in Ohio), said the shale industry shouldn't be punished for a fracking byproduct. NAH! THE PUBLIC SHOULD JUST GRIN AND BEAR IT, RIGHT? WHY WORRY ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH, THE EFFECT OF TOXIC WASTE BEING INFUSED INTO OUR DRINKING WATER?
AFTER ALL THE FINDINGS HAVE YET TO BE PROVEN AND STUDIES TAKE TIME, AND IT'S "ALWAYS" ALL ABOUT THE IMMEDIACY OF PROFIT WITH A DEVIL MAY CARE ATTITUDE WAIT AND A CAVALIER "I DON'T LIVE THERE, THOSE PEOPLE SHOULD JUST MOVE JUSTIFICATION-, RIGHT, MIKE G?

JUST ANOTHER CASE OF CORPORATE INSIDERS, INFECTING OUR INSTITUTIONS AND DECIDING WHAT IS GOOD FOR THEM, HAS TO BE ENDURED AND SWALLOWED BY EVERYONE ELSE. Everything profitable that is, not the damages or THE "CLEAN-UP".

Proof once again that Corporate polluters and their governmental mouthpieces should be held (without exception) responsible for the effects of their harmful decisions and byproducts.

RNN Moderator: Kindly remove Permalink 01/04/12 @ 07:23.
We appreciate and acknowledge the space that RNN provides here for us. Happy New Year and Good Luck!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Mitt "Wall Street" Romney won Iowa which must have been a big surprise to all the corporate talking air heads in Lame Stream Media, NOT.

There is little difference between corporate Obama and corporate Romney.

Caspian: Just think about how ridiculous it was and what a waste of invaluable manpower that MSM paidit's reporters to study and evaluate a nothing event.
30,000 voters doesn't even fill half a football stadium. Yet the entire nation is supposed to take its cue from tv evangelists, religious cultists, rural farmers and people without enough high speed internet access to bring them up to speed with this centuries dilemmas.

At least they got a good dose of laughter out of the deal from the Comedy Central meanderings from the Texas "One" Step Governor and the Godfather of "BOLD".

Hey, where can I buy one of those used- beckkky stands?
I heard the Godfather of Bold tosses them away, right after he abuses them.

John, I am broken hearted over the loss of Michele Bachmann.

How could a leader of the tea party lose too flip flopper Romney?

I am flummoxed.

All kidding aside, I wish someone will challenge Obama from the left.

Nothing is going to change for the better with or without Obama/Biden or Romney/Rubio.

Third party is the only way out of this mess.

The Democrats of today are the Republicans of yesterday.

Obama gave us Republican policies with a Democratic House and Senate.

Caspian: The answer is Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul. With a large heaping doses of Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich, or even a roaring Ey-haaa from Dr Howard Dean is definitely in order and on the horizon.
America needs a good healthy insurance policy. These good doctors are more than willing to take upon themselves the risks to provide it.
Even the talking head political experts on FOX are freaking out and are cautiously mentioning the imminent possibility of a looming Ron Paul defection despite constantly being henpecked and prodded by their moderators not to raise that flag.
Remember, that the net moves and drives consensus faster than the tired repeats of lamestream media these days. what used to be corraled as "verboten" within the 5th estate, now spreads like wildfire all across the world.

I see that Max Headroom has just picked up the Reeve of Vulcanvania's endorsement.
That in itself is the kiss of death endorsement that sinks ships and buried this nation.
Remember it was McCain who tauted the expertise of Phil Gramm as his economic advisor and Sarah Baracuda as his wardrobe procuring, no substance, book signing profiteer as his own personal 2nd in command.

Caspian: I see that Max Headroom has just picked up the Reeve of Vulcanvania's endorsement.
That in itself is the kiss of death endorsement that has sunk more American ships, businesses and families than any other in almost leader in this nations history.
Remember, it was McCain who tauted the expertise of Phil Gramm as his economic advisor and Sarah Baracuda as his wardrobe procuring, no substance, book signing profiteer as his own personal 2nd in command.

This screams of a sequel to the original movie with these real life reality tv personalities taking the lead, LIVE in HD, quaffed full all out Rocky Horror Show regalia. We can just roll all of the gaffs, flip flops and McCain-isms side by side with Mitts collection of see-saw favorites.

Caspian: I see that Max Headroom has just picked up the Reeve of Vulcanvania's endorsement.
That in itself is the kiss of death endorsement that has sunk more American ships, businesses and families than any other "almost" leader in this nations history.
Remember, it was McCain who tauted the expertise of Phil Gramm as his economic advisor and Sarah Baracuda as his wardrobe procuring, no substance, book signing profiteer as his own personal 2nd in command.

This screams of a sequel to the original movie with these real life reality tv personalities taking the lead, LIVE in HD, quaffed full all out Rocky Horror Show regalia. We can just roll all of the gaffs, flip flops and McCain-isms side by side with Mitts collection of see-saw favorites.

"The thing about individualism is that it impugns the desirability of communal effort." MQ

"Progressives believe that a society of people agree to turn over many communitarian functions to elected or otherwise chosen agents, called government...Progressives are not fearful of turning over considerable authority to government, because they do not view government as an externally imposed annoyance, but as the people picking some of their own to do these jobs." MQ

EXCELLENT explanation Mike Q! Your best of 2012..lol...actually perhaps your best in a while!!

In response, consider this Bible passage:

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."
Acts 4:32-37

Mike Q, it sounds a lot like the Apostles believed in Community-ism or Socialism-justice but do you see the big difference as to how progressives believe today? It comes down to the answer these two questions:

1) Is it our free choice or is it being imposed on us?
2) Do we have faith and believe in the authority that is managing the system?

It is acceptable and evident to me, as per the Apostles example, that individuals or people can believe and participate in community apart from big government. Also acceptable, are progressives that believe in extensive government run communitarian efforts and the authority that goes with that. It is only unacceptable when that belief, like any religion, is thrust upon those who don't quite agree in the same way or to the same extent.

John, I just googled Max Headroom and that fits Romney. lol

I am saddened that Ron Paul will not run for the Independent candidate because that would ruin his Son's Senate career.

I agree with you that "Liberal Moderate McCain" wink wink, might give Obama a narrow win, like Bush did to Kerry Lurch the flip flopper.

But the odds favor a Big Obama loss because I do not see him winning again in 10 Bush Republican Red States like in 2008.

Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Virgina, New Hampshire, and Florida.

In 2008 Obama had a mandate and governed like he just won a very close election.

Always compromising with Republicans and YET NOT ONE Republican voted with him.

"But the odds favor a Big Obama loss because I do not see him winning again in 10 Bush Republican Red States like in 2008." Casp

My brother-in-law who supports Ron Paul and is pretty far left, thinks Obama will win by a landslide. He thinks Obama has accomplished so many good things?? It is strange how different we all think.

If Ron Paul runs as an independent and does not win, it will split the Republican vote and assure Obama 4 more years. Perhaps Paul is choosing the lessor of the two evils?

Saudis, Gulf states on war alert for early US-Iran clash:

January 5, 2012,

The armies of Saudi Arabia and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council states stood ready Thursday Jan. 5, for Washington to stand up to Iranian threats and send an aircraft carrier or several warships through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf. Riyadh has been leaning hard on the Obama administration not to let Tehran get away with its warning to react with "full force" if the USS Stennis aircraft carrier tried to reenter the Gulf or Iran's pretensions to control the traffic transiting the world's most important oil route.

Wednesday night, the Iranian parliament began drafting a bill prohibiting foreign warships from entering the Gulf without Tehran's permission.
debkafile's Washington sources report that Saudi Arabia has warned the Obama administration that Iranian leaders mean what they say; their leaders are bent on provoking a military clash with the United States at a time and place of their choosing, rather than leaving the initiative to Washington. To this end, Iranian officials are ratcheting up their belligerence day after day.
Notwithstanding their military inferiority, the Iranians believe they can snatch a measure of success from a military confrontation, just as the Lebanese Hizballah did in the 2006 war against Israel. In any case, they expect any clash to be limited – at least at first. The two sides will begin by feeling for the opposite side's weaknesses while endeavoring to hold the line against a full-blown war.

America's failure to rise to Iran's challenge will confirm its rulers in the conviction that the US is a paper tiger and encourage them to press their advantage for new gains.
The assessment of British military experts Thursday, Jan. 5, was that the question now is: Who will blink first? Will the US follow through on the Pentagon's assertion that the deployment of US military assets in the Persian Gulf will continue as it has for decades? Or will Iran act on its warnings and block those waters to the entry of American warships?
President Barack Obama can't afford to cave in to Iran, especially while campaigning for reelection in Nov. 2012; Tehran, for its part, has made too many threats to easily back down.
The entire region is now on tenterhooks for the next move, with US, Iranian and Gulf armies on the highest war alert. American and Iranian war planners both accept that their advantage lies in surprising the enemy – without, however, catapulting the Persian Gulf into a full-dress war.
US Navy publications as of Wednesday, Jan. 4 showed a sign of the times: One ran a series of photos of F-18 Super Hornet fighter-bombers standing on the runways of the USS Stennis aircraft carrier ready for takeoff at any moment. Another depicted for the first time ever row upon row of huge bombs in the carrier's hold to show the Iranians what they are taking on.

In the view of debkafile’s military sources, the fact that the US has deployed only one large aircraft carrier in the region does not signify any reluctance on Washington's part to preserve the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf. There is no longer a need to rush more carriers to a flashpoint in these strategic waters. The US maintains five huge air bases in the Gulf region – two, the Ali Al Salem and Ahmed Al Jaber bases, in Kuwait; the Al Dhafra base in the UAE; and the largest air bases outside the US – Al Adid in Qatar and the Thumrait in Oman.

The concentration of aircraft carriers at any given location is no longer treated as the marker of an imminent US military operation.

Bill F: The whole fubar Bush PNAC Arab extravaganza is disintegrating faster then it took for Cheney to leave his SHOTGUN crime scene.

You can't say that you weren't warned. So now learn to live with the havoc and destructions that the Bush legacy has reaped here, there and everywhere else.

There's no sense in your squawking that "the sky is falling on your tin foil hat empire", chicken little. It's over, plain and simple. Your worthless blood suckers left us totally bereft with no where else to turn. No money, no trust, no secondary option.
No tax revenue, no loyalty, no protections. It was all about "their" empire and ruling us like peasant slaves from "their" KBR/Halliburton safe haven that they were creating for themselves and other elitists in Dubai.

Whose sorry now?

Decisions, decisions, decisions, one "deliberate" A-hole f-up after another. You can Add them all up for yourself. Start with Tora Bora which would have ended the whole terrorist problem right there. But no, Bushie wanted to implant his KGB Soviet stlyed surveillance operation here to cement his power and as you've said so many imes in the past to cement and guarantee the Gingrich PNAC vision of permanent one party rule.
Iraq- war over in 3 months. But no, bushie opted for OCCUPATION. Forty five hundred dead American troops later, BINGO! Victory again transformed into benign stalemate, whicvh in no other words translates in business terms to ignominious defeat by the non-compus mentus PNAC idjits in charge.

Simply put, the investment of American taxpayer dollars and American treasure in amounts of "$1.6trillion" dollars, "130,000 hero casualties" w/ "4,500 dead" gave us the following ILL-FATED rewards.
1. Gone forever were all the Bush promises of VICTORY, CHEAP OIL, AND "TRUSTWORTHY" ALLIANCES.
Instead we got dumped on, ponzi schemed and given the bridesmaids kiss off.
2. Lil' Bush- and his administration gave away our ports to Dubai.
3. Daddy Bush and CARLYLE- gave away Unocal and our aerospace technology leadership to China and DubaiAeroSpace.
4. Lil Bush- gave us Khadafy and Mushareff and mangoes for NUKES and permanent humiliation.
5. FOR THE SAKE OF KEEP THIS SHORT LET ME REMIND YOU THAT IT WAS GWB THAT WONDERFUL HARVARD ECONOMIST AND KNUCKLEHEADS PHIL GRAMM, PAULSON, MCCAIN ON DOWN THE LINE WHO BURIED US WITH THE FOLLOWING PONZI SCHEMES
1. THE ENRON SCANDALS
2. OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS
3. CHENEYS ENERGY PRICE GOUGING
4. "THE OWNERSHIP SOCIETY"- YOU REMEMBER IT'S THE OLE SNAKE CHARMER COME-ON LIL BUSHIE USED TO URGE AMERICANS AGAINST THEIR BETTER JUDGMENT TO SPEND, AND TAKE 2ND MORTGAGES TO FLOAT HIS FLATLINING ECONOMY.
5. DEREGULATION- Splat!!! does anything more need to be said?

Only now that Bush/Cheney and the rest of the PNAC demolitions experts have left the scene do you now want everyone to be worried.

It's about time that you faced the truth as recorded with timestamped detail right here. YOU WERE WRONG ALONG WITH EVERY STEP THAT BUSH TOOK ALONG THE GARDEN PATH.

Caspian and yours truly were 100% correct in every single one of our alternative postions.
1. Tora Bora(2003) 2. NOT ATTACK IRAQ(2003) 3. NOT TO OCCUPY-Assessing and citing Iraqs historic tribal divisions 4.WARNING THAT ALL FUTURE ARAB UPRISINGS WOULD NOT BE OF A MILITARY NATURE BUT, WOULD INSTEAD BE BY UNDEFINABLE SHADOW FINANCED PATRIOTIC INSURGIENT GROUPS(2003) 5. WARNING THAT THE ENTIRE NOTION THAT "THE BUSH ROBUST ECONOMY" WAS A TOTAL SCAM AND WOULD GO BUST.(2004-2005) 6. DEREGULATION WOULD BURY US(2004-05-06) 7. Predicted the and accurately analyzed the full depth of the 2007 collapse of the Bush economy. 8. Warned that Israel had better take the high road while it had the strength and liberty along with our protections to be magnanimous with the Palastinians.(2003-present)

Now that all has been aired what's left for you to propose Death Merchant? Is it more of the same tin foil hat goofiness? If so let me offer you some well grounded and practical advise. Just like we told you from the very beginning Osama & Al Qaeda would only be had by a special ops operation.

IRAN WILL NEVER GO NUCLEAR AGAINST ISRAEL!!! But Israel might risk going nuclear against Iran.
Iran is surrounded by like minded people. Israel on the other hand...

Iran won't nuke Israel because nuclear contamination and US reprisals would leave it flattened smoother than a glass parking lot.
Iran won't attack our ships because neither Russia nor China would stand for it and do not want to be brought into such close proximity with American Air superiority, sporting all kinds of wicked mayhem, manuevering w/ smart bomb capabilities at warp speeds so close to their borders.

Iran therefore, is just as boxed in as Israel. And they know it.

Then there's the "fallout" factor, which would render all Arab/Caspian region oils, gases and vital and valuable resource materials radioactively untouchable for centuries.
NOT GOOD FOR MILITARISTS, NOT GOOD FOR CAPITALISTS LOOKING TO PROFIT FROM THE ADVENTURE, NOT GOOD FOR THE COMMUNISTS OF THE REGION, NOT GOOD FOR MANKIND, CIVILIZATION.

NOT EVEN GOOD FOR THE 1%. WHY?
Dubai that wonderful oasis and tribute the 1% built for themeselves to reign in all of their pompous glories is in that region, too.

"Also acceptable, are progressives that believe in extensive government run communitarian efforts and the authority that goes with that. It is only unacceptable when that belief, like any religion, is thrust upon those who don't quite agree in the same way or to the same extent."-MG

I love the diversity of cultures in this country, and don't like too much when some say that people who come to this country should conform to some general American model. Belief in anything, such as a philosophy of governance, of course can't be imposed, as belief in God to an atheist, for instance. So long as the government is not like the total control model of the former Soviet Union's central planner, but just does the people's work, then it seems counterproductive to dig one's heels in about some detail of procedure or philosophy one doesn't entirely agree with. It should be clear that I greatly disapprove of the current state of our legislature, but I have to believe it can be fixed without rejecting the bulk of government, or leaving the validity of any kind of governance in question.

Sorry this is rushed.

If Ron Paul runs as an independent and does not win, it will split the Republican vote and assure Obama 4 more years. MG.

----------

"If" is only a two letter word and yet it is the largest word in the dictionary.

Ron Paul will never run as an independent because it would ruin his son's Senate career.


Rand Paul has to be loyal to the minority leader Mitch ( Corporation )McConnell first and foremost, and his constituents last.

P.S. John, great post above to our friend BF!

Will Obama Go to War?

January 5, 2012

As we enter 2012, the question of whether our president is planning to go to war might seem far-fetched. After all, all reports indicate that Obama doesn't feel comfortable with the military. Going to war would fly in the face of his claim that he was going to finally use "smart" diplomacy instead of the saber-rattling of George W. Bush.

Obama declared during the primary debates for the Democratic nomination that he would be glad to meet with any head of government without preconditions. We can see that his policies and inclinations toward bilateral or multilateral negotiations to avoid conflict go back to at least 2007, well before he was elected.

The only time he initiated military action was against Moammar Gaddafi in Libya, and then only after France and Britain led the way. He chose to "lead from behind" in that dust-up.

Yet suddenly, the Obama administration is talking tough about Iran. Leon Panetta has spoken aloud the words "A nuclear weapon in Iran is unacceptable." Interviewed by CBS news anchor Scott Pelley, Panetta entered into this exchange:

Pelley: So are you saying that Iran can have a nuclear weapon in 2012?

Panetta: It would probably be about a year before they can do it. Perhaps a little less. But one proviso, Scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel.

Pelley: So that they can develop a weapon even more quickly...

Panetta: On a faster track....

Pelley: Than we believe....

Panetta: That's correct.

Pelley: If the Israelis decide to launch a military strike to prevent that weapon from being built, what sort of complications does that raise for you?

Panetta: Well, we share the same common concern. The United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us and that's a red line, obviously, for the Israelis. If we have to do it we will deal with it.

Pelley: You just said if we have to do it we will come and do it. What is it?

Panetta: If they proceed and we get intelligence that they are proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon then we will take whatever steps necessary to stop it.

Pelley: Including military steps?

Panetta: There are no options off the table

Pelley: A nuclear weapon in Iran is...

Panetta: Unacceptable.

On December 29, 2011, MSNBC reported that the United States Navy, in response to Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off between 20% and 25% of the world's oil supply, released a statement by the area naval commander, which read in part:

5th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Rebecca Rebarich said, "Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated."

The U.S. Navy is "always ready to counter malevolent actions to ensure freedom of navigation," she said.

Rebarich declined to say whether the U.S. force had adjusted its presence or readiness in the Gulf in response to Iran's comments, but said the Navy "maintains a robust presence in the region to deter or counter destabilizing activities, while safeguarding the region's vital links to the international community."

Meanwhile, according to NBC News, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little agreed that Iranian interference with passage of vessels through the strategic waterway "will not be tolerated." Mr. Little also said that blocking naval traffic through the Strait represents "an important issue for security and stability in the region" and called the Strait "an economic lifeline."

Three separate news reports.

Three separate news reports from media outlets that are the first to cheer Obama and genuflect before his ideas. Three media outlets that are supported by a viewership made up largely of Liberal-Progressive-Democrats. Three media outlets with staffs and on-air talent that also overwhelmingly support the president and the L-P-D agenda. All three statements from official Obama administration spokespersons reported by the so-called mainstream media without comment.

One needs only a minimal amount of imagination to visualize the reactions of these same media outlets if a spokesperson representing the Bush administration had spoken exactly the same words in exactly the same context.

For someone dedicated to the idea that nations can just sit down and talk about their problems with each other over a beer, these official comments seem significantly out of keeping with the historical attitudes of Obama with regard to international exchanges.

Perhaps Obama has finally realized that his initial assumptions about the uses of diplomacy were wrong. Perhaps he has been seasoned as president for the past three years and now views the posturing of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as not just posturing after all. Obama may have come to the same realization that most of the rest of the planet has come to: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might appear to be a clown, but he is deadly serious about acquiring nuclear weapons, and he is not the slightest bit interested in following the now-decades-old policy of "mutually assured destruction" that has kept the nuclear powers from turning the whole planet into a cinder.

All these suppositions might, in fact, actually be the real impetus behind Obama pushing back against the Iranian regime's litany of threats.

But there is one other motivational force that might lie behind the Obama administration's change in outlook -- namely, the fact that Obama does not exactly have a lock on re-election. His poll numbers are down, and without a nearly miraculous turnaround in the economy and an enormous drop in unemployment, those poll numbers will almost certainly sink farther. He has lost the unquestioning support of his own party -- an inference, to be sure, but when reports of potential primary challenges (and very vocal calls for challenges) to a sitting president start to percolate through the protective cordon of the mainstream media, one can safely assume that all is not well in paradise.

How do dropping poll numbers and saber-rattling relate to each other? How often has this country ever defeated a president running for re-election during a war?

Obama and his advisers do not seem to be particularly concerned with the deaths of anyone so long as their ideological goals are reached. Witness the hundreds upon hundreds who have been killed as a result of this administration's innovative crime-prevention program referred to as "Fast and Furious," which was in reality an attempt achieve the ideological goal of gun control by creating a climate which would allow the imposition of onerous new regulations that would circumvent the 2nd Amendment and recent Supreme Court rulings.

Although the president's poll numbers have varied in the past few weeks, if they start to trend downward in a significant way, and if there is a simultaneous increase in the rather blunt (for this administration, at least) threats of retaliation for any attempt by Iran to close the Straits of Hormuz, or the threat of military action to preclude Iran's achieving its goal of a nuclear weapon, one can draw only one conclusion. Obama and his minions plan to get themselves another four years by telling an already jittery nation that they should not consider changing leadership in the lead-up to, or the inception and execution of, a war.

For Obama, it appears that his signature political mantra has not changed since he first entered the Illinois legislature: "Hey, whatever works! Someone else will pay the price."

Obama: The Mask is Off:

January 6, 2012

The mask is fully off. Barack Obama is the most corrupt, power-mad president in this nation's illustrious history. By his actions in bypassing Congress and making appointments that should be subject to Senate approval while the Senate is still in session and innumerable extra-constitutional actions since he became president, he is following in the footsteps of the despots who dominated the 20th century.

In late September of 2008, it became clear to me that Barack Obama would be elected president. Based on his background, education, motivation, and indoctrination, I saw a man who could single-handedly destroy the country and someone with no respect for the history, the Constitution, or the people of the United States. The specter of a megalomaniac who was a stranger to the truth and would or say or do anything to achieve or retain power overcame me. In Barack Obama and his fellow travelers, I saw what I feared the most since I came to this country: a person and a political mindset that would, if allowed, spell the end of the noblest experiment in the history of mankind.

It was at that point that I wrote my first article for American Thinker in an attempt to warn the people of America that the result of the 2008 election would be critical to the nation's survival. This was the first column I had written since my college days over 40+ years before, and I am eternally grateful to AT for publishing it and giving me a forum to speak to the American people.

I had to survive a war that was precipitated by those who were initially elected by the people in a democratic fashion. Yet once in power, they began to systematically usurp and overthrow the rule of law. Their lust for power led them to shred any written constitution or traditions as they systematically imposed new regulations, laws, and executive orders geared primarily to centralize authority in the government as individual rights and liberties were extinguished. In due course, they and their cronies became the government, as the people were powerless to stop them.

The people of Germany, the most advanced society in continental Europe, or Italy in the first four years of the 1930s, would have found it incredible to imagine what became of those countries by 1945. They would not think it even remotely possible.

The history of the United States and its traditions of liberty and individual freedom should be a bulwark against the successful emergence of people like Obama and his cronies. Yet why are the media, or the opposition party, or the members of Congress or the judiciary not shouting from the highest hilltop and taking action to stop these power-grabs? Has this country enjoyed peace and prosperity so long that everyone is jaded and preoccupied with him- or herself, or in a self-induced stupor either ignoring what's happening or saying that these unconstitutional steps are minor? Is it because Obama happens to have black skin and everyone is too intimidated by political correctness to speak? Or is it as it was in Germany, Italy, and Russia among many -- a belief that the worst could never happen here?

I have seen and experienced the worst that man can offer, I am not intimidated, and I will say without reservation that Barack Obama and his cronies have the same mindset in their tactical approach, philosophy, and lust for power that was extant in Benito Mussolini and the Fascists in the early days of their regime. If the apologists for those in power in Washington want to vilify me for that comparison, so be it.

To the American people, it is far beyond time to wake up to who this man in the White House is and what his ambitions are. As for the Republicans in the Congress or running for office, the task is upon your shoulders to stop Barack Obama in his tracks before he goes any farther. It is time to do your sworn duty to preserve and protect the country. And for the Democrats who are so blinded by party loyalty that they would sell their country for the proverbial thirty pieces of silver, the long-term difficulties and potential downfall of the greatest nation on earth will be your legacy.

"Belief in anything, such as a philosophy of governance, of course can't be imposed, as belief in God to an atheist, for instance." MQ

Mike, imposing governance philosophy was not really my point. I am actually trying to make two points. The first is that when we believe in a philosophy, we participate willfully. The second is that community is not the same as government and belief and concern for community, is not exclusive to progressives.

The examples of the Apostles showed people willing to give up all their possessions willfully and used to help others in community because they trusted and believed. Yet when the Roman government came imposing taxes, these SAME generous people rejected them. Why? Because they did not trust or believe in that government or those in charge.

Fast forward today. When the government comes imposing MORE taxes, the conservatives say, "don't thread on me" or "get out of my way." The rich progressives speak the words, "tax me more" rather then simply paying more taxes. The progressives with less money say, "tax the rich more." So nobody willfully does anything. Why? It is not because we don't care about community, it is because ultimately we don't trust the government or those in charge. "We" which includes, conservative, independents and liberals, should not be confused with some that don't care about community. Those that have so much wealth and independence they have no desire or need to believe in anything.

MG: The Romans were invaders, occupiers. The apostles believed in Jesus, not in an invading empire. The apostles were also a minority, not at all representative of the general population of the region. No country has a Jesus-equivalent to inspire devoted loyalty, and not even He could inspire such loyalty in everybody. As long as some sort of majority accept the validity a government, that's as good as you can get. The minority that doesn't believe in the validity of this government can not and should not expect to negate the validity of this government. It's a false pretense of morality to assert that if you don't believe in this government you can and should ignore it. If you can convince the majority to go along with your view of government, that's fine. It's also a false pretense of morality that says that Buffett et al are hypocritical or wrong-headed to want others to go along with tax hikes on the wealthy. The left tends to think in terms of "we", not "I", and that therefore a single person volunteering more to the IRS seems quite stupid, pointless, eccentric. Yes, it's up to Buffett to convince others to go along with his view. It's not lack of faith in government. It's belief in common effort.

"MG: The Romans were invaders, occupiers." - MQ

I agree with you that it probably isn't a fair to compare devout religious loyalty to government loyalty but I don't agree with this idea that the Christians and the Jews hated the tax collectors purely on the basis that the Romans were invaders and occupiers. The Romans had laws, courts, a system of government and culture. Probably considered very civilized for that time period.

"It's also a false pretense of morality that says that Buffett et al are hypocritical or wrong-headed to want others to go along with tax hikes on the wealthy. The left tends to think in terms of "we", not "I", and that therefore a single person volunteering more to the IRS seems quite stupid, pointless, eccentric." MQ

It's not about doing it alone, it is about practicing what you preach, and leading by example, starting a movement you believe in. "Hey you know, it's a real shame about the homeless in New York, I wish the state would tax me more, so I could help them out." That's phony baloney nonsense! Just do what you believe and who knows maybe others who believe the same will join you. Otherwise, come right out and say, "the rich are not taxed enough". "Tax "me" more" is not sincere, its a con.

"'Tax "me" more' is not sincere, its a con.-MG

We're down to our slants now. You're skeptical of such comments from the left, and I scoff at the right's favorite terms,-"freedom", and the like.

We'll have to move on to something else.

"We'll have to move on to something else." MQ

Or I can have Romney and Paul explain it. Excerpts from last nights debate:

ROMNEY: Well, there are certain things that government can do to encourage an economy. And rebuilding an infrastructure that’s aging is -- is -- is one of those..We’ve got to improve our bridges, improve our roads, improve our rail beds, improve our air transportation system in order to be competitive. But fundamentally, what happens in America that creates jobs is not government. It has its role. But by and large, it gets in the way of creating jobs. It’s taxed too much. It’s regulates too much. It has energy policies that keep us from using our own energy. It has trade policies which too often favor people who are taking jobs away from us. And so we’re going to have to have government change its orientation to be encouraging the private sector. We have a nation which is based upon opportunity and merit. We draw people here who seek freedom, and these people have built enterprises that employ and that make America stronger.

We have a president who has an entirely different view. He wants us to turn into a European-style welfare state and have government take from some to give to others. That will kill the ability of America to provide for a prosperous future, to secure our freedom, and to give us the -- the rights which have been in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. I believe in an America that’s based upon opportunity and freedom, not President Obama’s social welfare state

ROMNEY: Why not go to zero? I -- there’s no question it would be great not to have any taxes, but unfortunately we have to have taxes to pay for our military, to pay for the programs that care for those that can’t care for themselves, but our taxes are too high. Government at all levels during the days of John F. Kennedy consumed 27 percent of our economy, about a quarter. Today it consumes 37 percent of our economy.

We’re only inches away from no longer being a free economy. And our Democrat friends want us to just keep raising taxes just a little more. Just give us a little more. Government is already too big. We have to reign in the scale of the federal government. And so we do need to have our employer tax rates brought down to be competitive with other nations. That’s about 25 percent. We also have to make sure that we give relief to people who need it most. The people that have been hurt in the Obama economy are the people in the middle-class..

PAUL: Well, it’s to restore America to our freedoms, restore America to our principles, and that is individual liberty and our Constitution and sound money. But in doing that, you have to understand economics. You can’t solve any of this economic crisis unless you know where the business cycle comes from and why you have bubbles and why -- why -- why they break. You have to understand that we’ve had a financial bubble that’s been going on for 40 years. It’s collapsing. Nobody quite recognizes it, but we’re in the midst of a real big correction.

And the only way you can get back to growth is you have to liquidate the debt. But instead of liquidating debt, what we’ve done is the people who built up the debt on Wall Street and the banks, we’ve had the American taxpayer bail them out. We -- we bought it through the Federal Reserve and through the Treasury, dumped it on the American people. The middle class is now shrinking. And we don’t have jobs. But if you’re an individual or a businessman, if you’re consuming everything you’re earning just to finance your debt, you can’t have growth. So we have to liquidate debt. This is the reason I call for cutting spending, the only one that’s calling for real cuts. You have to have real cuts. That’s what the Republican Party used to stand for, but you can’t liquidate debt. You can’t -- you can’t keep bailing out the debt. That’s what Japan has done for 20 years. And they’re still in their doldrums. We did it in the depression. We’re into this now for five years, and it has to end. It’s only going to end until after we understand the business cycle.

MikeG & MikeQ:
Romney's answer is totally ambiguous. the only bridges and infrastructure that Republicans want to go forward with are bridges and pipelines that connect Canada and further blurs the concept of borders at our expense.
See: Michigan's Bridge fight w/ new Rep. governor Snyder. NO bridge necessary. Canadian private enterpriser wants to build the bridge himself no expense to us. But nooooo, Zipperheaded governor wants to waste what little invaluable tax revenues the state has at it's disposal to dry up and shrink the already tenuous and grievous situations caused by undermanned police forces, fire departments, and first responders.
To wit under this no jobs creating Republican tutelege that was rung in by the 2010 election more Schools are being closed, benefits reduced, and soon many Michiganders, Indianans, Ohioians and others across the nation will be cast into the streets. Many more will no longer be part of the voting process. Where's the jobs?

In short, Quit bitching about which party is going to the right thing. The answer is neither. Nor is anybody involved in "domestic" private industry going to do anything until they have a tax code that is fair, and enjoy the same equal footing of tax deferral or subsidization as your double dealing "globalists" who are ruling the roost.
Thus far since 2010 all we have seen is more inflation on the goods we purchase, lesser paying job substitutions, Mexican truckers given free reign on our roadways, and these Canadian free passes that as oft times stated before paves the road to that dreaded North American Union.

Ron Paul and Buddy Roemer has it right. Under Bush and Obama the IMC and defense lobbies with their Wars to Nowhere have increased defense spending tenfold to it's current $670billion numbe.,
Then there's that complete waste of shit Homeland Security dept that covers another $130billion. For what? Citizen surveillance and monitoring every spoken and writtemn word that is either uttered, printed or spoken. Yeah, that speaks of where we are headed on that path to "freedumb" doesn't it guys.

STARVE THE BEAST! ABOLISH THE FED! GET RID OF THE CFR, DEPT OF COMMERCE, FREE TRADE COMMISSIONS, MAKE OUR ALLIES AND "THEIR" PRIVATE CORPORATIONS PAY FOR THE PROTECTIONS AFFORDED BY OUR CHILDREN FOR THE PROTECTION OF THEIR BUSINESS FORTUNES AND THEIR OWN DEFENSES.

THAT'S WHAT SHRINKS THE DEFICIT AND INCREASES THE MONEY THAT CAN BE PUT TOO GOOD USE RIGHT HERE AT HOME WITH JOBS AND BUSINESSES THAT KEEP US FREE, SAFE, AND INDEPENDENT...
... and not paying through the noses like indentured idiots for our own downfall and demise.
all of of this is happening right in front of your faces in plain sight
WHILE THE GLOBALISTS AND THEIR MIDDLE-MEN SURROGATES, THAT MAN OUR GOVERNMENTS WHO ARE POISED WILLING ASND ABLE TO FLOOD THAT MSM PROPAGANDA MACHINE WITH MORE LUNATIC FRINGE BULL TURD TO BAMBOOZLE AND CONFUSE ALL THE REAL ISSUES PAY NOTHING FOR YOUR HELP, IN TRANSFORMING WHAT IS STILL LEFT OF OUR NATION AND IT'S CONSTITUTION INTO CREATING- THEIR OWN "PRIVATE" I-OWN-YOU-... *MO'S.
*MO's- short for short changed, caged in, business bereft, morons.
====================
***************************
WATCH THIS!!! WATCH THIS!!! WATCH THIS!!!

DON'T IGNORE THIS!!!
If you want to take heed from another "truth sayer" then check out libertarian Presidential candidate Buddy Rohmer in his New Hampshire plea to Americans to WAKE-UP! Can't find it but watch this. IT'S ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS.
http://www.c-span.org/Events/Road-to-the-White-House-Fmr-Governor-Buddy-Roemer-R-LA/10737420940-1/

MikeG, Q, Caspian, robert, fred, Gail,- GET BACK TO ME AFTER YOU'VE WATCHED IT. Trust me. This mans words, banking skills, and inside knowledge of government, business, and his vision have to be considered very seriously. I absolutely guarantee that you won't be disappointed. MSM MEDIA WILL NOT ALLOW THIS MAN TO COMPETE.

Send this to your friends, relatives, and blogs.

GET THE $$$ OUT!!! ...and the "truth" in.

John, I've seen Buddy Roemer about a month or two ago.

This guy has all the right answers to the mess the corporate Republicans and corporate Democrats put us in.

THE SCARY THING IS, he is running for president with almost ZERO media exposure.

Do Americans really live in a free society with a free press?

It reminds me of an authentic liberal Jonathan Tasini running for New York Senate against Hillary "Corporate" Clinton and received ZERO media attention in the Democratic primaries of 2006.

Caspian, MikeG, MikeQ, robert, Gail, fred, RF & RNN:

Here it is!
BUDDY ROEMER SPEAKS TO NEW HAMPSHIRE AND GETS THE BEST RECEPTION OF ALL THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES.

MSM CONTINUES TO RAISE THE STAKES IN ORDER TO IGNORE HIS "TRUTHS" and committment to our nation and it's constitutional values.

Watch!!! ---> From the 18:38mark-44:30.

Then, go back to the last post for more in depth info on this dark horse true American.

See Roemer's solutions-
-ending the reficit in 5yrs
-an 18.5% business tax
-energy independence
-Campaign finance reform
-ending dependence on Middle East oil which we might not be able to access if situations worsen.
- get rid of gov't waste by eliminateing overlapping depts.
SAYS YOUR REPRESENTATION IS LOST BECAUSE 1/2 OF CONGRESSES TIME IS USED FUND RAISING THATPRIMARILY HAS BEEN CURRYING TO GLOBALIST CORPORATION LOBBYISTS AND FOREIGN NATIONS CAUCUSES.

http://www.c-span.org/Events/Road-to-the-White-House-Fmr-Governor-Buddy-Roemer-R-LA/10737420940-1/


Go GIANTS!!! I'm outta here.

Iran crosses another nuclear red line. Fordo soon on stream:

January 8, 2012

Tehran media trumpeted the news Sunday, Jan. 8 that Iran's deep underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo near Qom goes stream soon, thereby crossing another line in its faceoff with the West on its weapons program. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi Davani told the Kayhan daily: ... 20 percent, 3.5 percent and four percent enriched uranium can be produced at this site." debkafile's military sources report that 60 percent is equally feasible, just one step before weapons grade.
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned in a number of interviews to US media that once the Fordo plant becomes operational, Iran's nuclear bomb program will become immune to military attack and be able to operate out of the sight of Israeli and Western surveillance.
Tehran has clearly not been deterred in its drive for a nuclear weapon by the stiff sanctions the US and European Union began imposing in the past week against Iran's oil exports and its central bank.

The announcement Sunday confirmed the report from diplomats in the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran had begun feeding uranium gas into the underground centrifuges in late December ready for upgraded enrichment. "I would assume they could start if they wanted to," said one official.

debkafile reported Friday, Jan. 6 on US-Israeli-British deployments in readiness for a strike against Iran.

Thousands of US troops began descending on Israel this week. Senior US military sources told debkafile Friday, Jan. 6 that many would be staying up to the end of the year as part of the US-IDF deployment in readiness for a military engagement with Iran and its possible escalation into a regional conflict. They will be joined by a US aircraft carrier. The warplanes on its decks will fly missions with Israeli Air Force jets. The 9,000 US servicemen gathering in Israel in the coming weeks are mostly airmen, missile interceptor teams, marines, seamen, technicians and intelligence officers.

The incoming American soldiers are officially categorized as participants in Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint US-Israeli war game ever held.

The maneuver was originally designated Juniper Stallion 2012. However, the altered name plus the comment heard from the exercise's commander, US Third Air Force Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, during his visit two weeks ago, that the coming event is more a "deployment" than an "exercise," confirmed that Washington has expanded its mission. The joint force will now be in place ready for a decision to attack Iran's nuclear installations or any war emergency.

Our sources disclose that it was decided at the last minute in Washington and Jerusalem to announce the forthcoming Austere Challenge 12 on Thursday night, Jan. 5, ahead of the bulletin released by Tehran about another Iranian naval exercise at the Strait of Hormuz to take place in February, although its 10-day drill in the same arena only ended Monday, Jan. 2.

The early release was decided in consultations among US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the two army chiefs, US Gen. Martin Dempsey and Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz.
British Defense Minister Phillip Hammond, on a visit to Washington, was brought into the discussion.
The handout circulated to US correspondents from Hammond's talks in the US capital affirmed that Britain stands ready to strike Iran if the Strait of Hormuz is closed.
However, that phrase was omitted from the British minister's remarks at a news conference, following a last-minute request from Panetta, signifying the Obama administration's interest of keeping a low profile on plans for attacking Iran.

Tehran too is walking a taut tightrope. It is staging military's maneuvers every few days to assuring the Iranian people that its leaders are fully prepared to defend the country against an American or Israeli strike on its national nuclear program. By this stratagem, Iran's ground, sea and air forces are maintained constantly at top war readiness to thwart any surprise attack.

The joint US-Israeli drill will test multiple Israeli and US air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets, according to the official communiqué.

debkafile's military sources add that they will also practice intercepting missiles and rockets coming in from Syria, Hizballah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

It will not be the first time a US aircraft carrier docks in Israel for joint operations with the Israeli Air Force. On June 9, 2010, the USS Truman dropped anchor opposite Israel to test a joint deployment against Iran and its allies. The carrier and its air and naval strike force then staged joint firing practices with the Israeli Air Force over the Negev in the South.
Washington and Jerusalem are doing their utmost to present a perfectly synchronized military front against Iran: American officers are stationed at IDF command centers and Israeli officers posted at the US European Command-EUCOM. At the same time, debkafile's military sources disclose that full consensus has not been reached on every last particular of shared operation against Iran, should one go forward.

Last nights late night Funny or Die Republican Debate hosted by Larry King.

hahahahahahaha

"Ron Paul and Buddy Roemer has it right...MikeG, Q, Caspian, robert, fred, Gail,- GET BACK TO ME AFTER YOU'VE WATCHED IT.MSM MEDIA WILL NOT ALLOW THIS MAN TO COMPETE.' John

Totally agree with you on this one! From what I heard of the video Buddy is right on target. I agree what You state about the MSM and what he says about the lobbyists and the corrupt system that we seem to all be stuck in.

Frankly John, the only thing I don't understand is You and Caspian. Both Ron Paul and Buddy are confessed Tea party Republicans. Buddy has the integrity to not just go along with MSM but visit OWS rallies to understand first hand what is going on. He states that the protestors are right about smelling corruption but wrong about the solution. "The solution is not bigger government but better government", he says.

"In short, Quit bitching about which party is going to the right thing. The answer is neither." - John

John, you should be aware by now that the debates between Mike Q and myself have never been about what party we back but everything about principle and philosophy. My political decisions are decided by the small but real choices we are presented with, which are not the best of all possible choices for sure. Do I expect things to change? Not really but at the very least I vote in favor of principle.

"Go GIANTS!!! I'm outta here." -John

Giants win baby!! Go all the way like 2007!

So after the game they interview Tuck. He stated it is not about individual stats. That concern for individual stats is selfish. That it is the team that matters. So Mike Q, I got to thinking, to win the game they must play as a team and have the same goals and be totally selfless but it is their motivation as individuals with individual efforts and talents united together, that allows them to win. Not relying on the efforts of others but relying on themselves which benefits everyone else. Too deep?

"Not relying on the efforts of others but relying on themselves which benefits everyone else."-MG

Or: "Sink or swim together."

Or: "Mutual aid toward a common goal."

Or...

Your phrasing was good. Probably you fear the individual will be lost in the collective, and I fear the common good will be lost in some hyper-individualistic frenzy. We could both chill a bit.

As you said to John, neither of the two major parties have been a shining beacon for a while now, and we have to re-establish principle through our discussions, find ways to make it possible for politicians to have principles again (the hated public financing of elections would let our representatives and senators to decide things on principle and public approval rather than the demands by billion-dollar sugar daddies.)