COL Gene

Reply to Iraq becomes terrorism trainuing ground in Politics JoeUser Forums

That is not the issue. The issue is our security not removing all the despots in the world. There are worse dictators than Saddam like in North Korea. In addition, the terrorists were not operating in Iraq under Saddam. Please explain the assesments from the Sec Def and CIA Director? The Big deal is 1,450 dead, 25,000 injured and $300 billion dollars. If that is not a BIG DEAL what is? In addition, there was a news story this week that estima

Iraq becomes terrorism trainuing ground in Politics JoeUser Forums

Yesterday the new CIA director, Porter Goss told a select Senate committee on intelligence that Iraq has become a terrorist training ground. He further admitted that he could not guarantee that theIraqi insurgents have not have stolen enough nuclear material from Russia to create a weapon. Today Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld noted it is likely the United States wou

Reply to Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

Today a sucker is born every second

Reply to Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

Progressive USA One of the biggest lies is that the Republicans are fiscal conservatives. They may be conservative with respect to some of their religious convictions but in terms of the way they have been running the financial affairs of this country, they are screaming liberals.

Reply to Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

when Bush came to office we were running an annual surplus of $125 billion per year. He did exactly the same thing as Ronald Reagan he cut taxes and increased spending. The recession did contribute to a downturn as did the additional security after 9/11. The fact remains that the tax cuts have not stimulated the economy to the extent necessary to increase revenues and pay for the tax cuts. When George Bush took office the national debt stood at 5.7

Reply to Deeper Budget Cuts on the Horizon in Politics JoeUser Forums

Your article is most informative and emphasizes the point so I've been making that there is no way to balance the budget and begin paying down the debt without increasing revenues. There are only two ways to increase revenues one is to grow the economy more rapidly by more effective fiscal policy and to increase taxes. We've allowed the interest on the federal debt to skyrocket and it will continue as interest rates increase and as the d

Reply to MSNBC: Bush weighs Social Security tax hike on some in Politics JoeUser Forums

I for one am glad to see that the president may be interested in helping Social Security without simply borrowing more money. Whether we choose to increase the limit on Social Security wages to fund a transition or increase the trust fund to get us past the baby boomers bubble, his willingness to seek added funding is a good sign. In no event should Social Security be extended by borrowing more money that will add to the interest obligation and the

Reply to Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

Progresive USA Right On. When the Social Security needs to begin using the trust fund, the treasury will need to sell new bonds in order to repay the bonds held by Social Security. The same thing is true for the bonds being held by the Medicare trust fund. We had better hope someone will be willing to loan the federal government money when they need to begin repaying the bonds held by Social Security and Medicare. The entire way George W. Bush is approaching fiscal management

Reply to Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

I do not want the Fed to go into debt. The fact is that we are in debt and that the SS Trust Fund holds some of those bonds and is being paid 3% Interest. I would like the SS Trust Fund to invest in corporate bonds and equities the same as state pension plans use to invest their trust funds. there is no inconsistency in my position. We need to balance the federal budget, create a fiscal surplus each year and begin paying down debt. So for

Reply to Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

My point, no change should be made without the majority of Americans being in agreement. The rate paid on the bonds in the SS Trust Fund is 3%.That is more than my bank is paying. Where is the money comming from for those that choose the separate accounts? Where is the money to administer the individual accounts commig from? Bush never provides answers to those questuions.

Let's Fix Social Security in Politics JoeUser Forums

President Bush continues his discussions across the country about his change to Social Security. The Social Security question has two basic components. First, is the philosophy of what Social Security is and what it should be for workers in America? Second, is the mechanics of how to maintain the solvency of Social Security? Social Security has al

Reply to Support Our Troops- Approve $82 Billion for War in Politics JoeUser Forums

Returning to the tax rates prior to 2001 is not class warfare. They were just fine in the 1990's when the wealthy did better, after tax, then ever before. The fact is we are not producing enough revenue to pay our bills. Since 1980 we have spent $7 Trillion more then we taxed. No country, company or person can continually spend more than they have. If we had a balanced budget and paid down the debt a tax cut for the wealthy would be g

Reply to What is the 800 Pound Gorilla in the Federal Budget? in Politics JoeUser Forums

Stevendedalus GW took care of Greenspan's fear. We are not repaying the debt too fast!

Reply to Support Our Troops- Approve $82 Billion for War in Politics JoeUser Forums

Cutting social prograns would not pay the cost needed. Why should our people in need pay for the Iraq War? The top 5% did just fine during the 1990's under the higher tax rates. In fact the wealthy never did better than in the period from 1992 to 2000 and that was after they paid the tax rates in effect PRIOR to the Bush tax cuts. I would cut the pork but that is only about 25Billion. Bush is asking for another 82 billion. The only way to pay

Support Our Troops- Approve $82 Billion for War in Politics JoeUser Forums

Congress needs to act quickly to approve The President's $81.9 Billion request to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This money should not be added to the deficit. Two suggestions to pay for this added expenditure are to rescind the tax cuts for the top two income brackets or make the $82 billion a loan. In no event should Congress increase the deficit which i

Reply to Balanced Budget? Not on MY Watch in Politics JoeUser Forums

Bottom line, there was no WMD in IRAQ. There was no connection to 9/11. There was no threat to the Unioted States. Even if Saddam had WMD he would not have been any more of a threat than 20 other countries that do have WMD. Iraq would never have attacked the United States and Saddam did not allow the the terrorist groups that are responsible for 9/11 to operate in Iraq. Bush wanted to attack Iraq before he bacame president and it did not matter that they were no danger to us. Congress

Reply to The G.O.P. Lies in Republican JoeUser Forums

drmiler You must be on drugs. My point was that no matter what you think of my comments they do not cause the harm that the Bush policies are creating. You and all other Americans will be paying for Bush for decades and nothing you say can or will change that.

Reply to Balanced Budget? Not on MY Watch in Politics JoeUser Forums

drmiler No, that is why most other nations did not agree with Bush. Even the people in the countries who's leaders supported Bush did not agree with Bush or their leaders. We went in on this on alone (except for the British government) and are paying the price in troops killed, injured and in the financial cost. Today Bush asked for another $80 Billion which will bring the cost to 300 billion. I hope you think that is money and lives well spen

Reply to Balanced Budget? Not on MY Watch in Politics JoeUser Forums

Bush had choosen to attack Iraq before 9/11. There were many who warned Bush not to get us into a war in Iraq including his own father. He is the one that told us about the mushroom cloud when the intelligence clearly showed Saddam Hussein did not have an active nuclear weapons program. Bush, Cheney and Powell went before the world telling them that we were in danger from this evil dictator Saddam Hussein which simply was not borne out by the facts. It was Bush who ignored the warnings of Aug

Reply to What is the 800 Pound Gorilla in the Federal Budget? in Politics JoeUser Forums

The money we are spending on the interest does nothing for our needs. It pays for the past when we spent more than our income. Yes I believe some of the money being spent on interest should fund our needs. You will also notice I suggested some of it could fund another tax cut. The point is that our tax and fiscal policies will never even stop the growth in the total debt much less pay it down. If we could get it back to the amount it was i

What is the 800 Pound Gorilla in the Federal Budget? in Politics JoeUser Forums

President Bush ignores the real problem and potential solution to this country's fiscal morass which is the interest on the national debt. The rationale used to mitigate the increasing debt is that it is the same % of GDP. The real issue is not the percent of GDP the national debt represents but how much interest does that debt require us to pay. Since 1

Reply to Balanced Budget? Not on MY Watch in Politics JoeUser Forums

The fact that the Republicans control Congress and the White House place the blame on the Republicans. The pork, the tax cuts, trade policies are all because of what the Republicans want. The Iraq War was the result of both parties but the Republicans made the arguements and twisted the Intel.

Reply to BUSH LIES got him re-elected in Politics JoeUser Forums

drmiler Yes, police is the basic responsibility of state/local government. The issue is the total dollars available to meet all the needs. Growth is causing great pressure on both local and state budgets. I know that since my last position was the COO of the third largest school district in PA. The impact on local taxes from student growth created large tax increases at the local level. When we look at the needs of our country from the securi

Reply to BUSH LIES got him re-elected in Politics JoeUser Forums

Given the shift in responsibility from the Fed to the states, states are not able to fund rebuilding anything. Bush is now proposing to further cut help for police and Medicade which will place even more fiscal strain on the states. I agree the trade policy Clinton followed did not work. That is the same policy that Bush is following including placing China into the WTO which is responsible for 1/3 of our trade deficit. Then tell me why is B

Reply to BUSH LIES got him re-elected in Politics JoeUser Forums

drmiler I was talking about rebuilding the older schools not paying for the day to day operation which is a state/local responsibility. SS/Medicare, Trade, the Federal budget are Federal issues which has nothing to do with opinion.