Giga, I can\'t even begin to respect a thing you are saying. The fact that you have stated perfectly outright that you don\'t care about things that don\'t affect you sickens me. It is people like you that make up the core of what is wrong with the American system. It\'s people like you who don\'t care about anyone or anything but themselves and what directly affects them that cause so many of the problems we have.
And how is what I said about Bush any different at all from what you said about the 50s? You say that you can learn about the 50s in school or in books. Well can I not learn about the actions of former presidents in the same way? I don\'t see how my comparison is any less valid than yours.
Did I say that the government can do no right? No. Way to continue making assumptions about me though. I think that our government does a lot of good. I don\'t, however, blindly accept whatever they do as good. That\'s the difference. Terrorist actions in this nation are far lower than most other parts of the world as it is. And do you really think that laws like these ones recently imposed are going to prevent something as well thought out as the events of 9/11? If so, you\'re naive to think so.
As for military service, I would serve my country in a heartbeat in a war where my services are needed, and we are fighting for a just cause. World War 1? I\'d enlist. World War 2? Ditto. A war in Iraq? No. I\'m not going to fight in a war that I think is wrong to begin with. That goes back to my not wanting to blindly follow my government.
As for the differences with WW2, and what we did with Japan...I think that the dropping of the bombs was one of the single worst events in human history. The fact that we picked civilian areas like the ones targetted is sickening. We didn\'t take out military, or even industrial targets. We bomb Hiroshima first, a largely residential city that had no major industry, and no military presense. And there was no need to drop a second bomb...don\'t even try to tell me otherwise. Of course Japan\'s attack on Pearl Harbor was wrong, but that doesn\'t make the dropping of the two atomic bombs right.
As for the tax cuts...they were blatantly in favor of the rich. The 28, 31, and 36 percent rates fall by 3 percentage points, while the 39.6 percent rate falls by 4.6 (
source). In otherwords, the largest tax cuts went to the rich...the ones that needed it the least. Actually, if you wanna look at the bottom of this report, you find something interesting.
Our findings, based on recent economic research, are stark. We find that EGTRRA was fiscally unsustainable even before the economic downturn and the September 11 terrorist attacks slowed the economy. We estimate that the tax cut will not raise long-term growth, but it will raise burdens on future generations. EGTRRA will also raise interest rates.
Wow, sounds like this one\'s gonna be a real winner.
As for the budget...with these tax cuts, money has to come out of something, right? Where is it coming out of? Environmental programs, energy conservation, and agricultural preservation.(
source) Hell, the tax cuts Bush is giving to the top 1% of Americans total $555 Billion, while he isn\'t even proposing that half that same amount be used in the continuing increase in educational or medical programs. Infact, when all is said and done, it is estimated that the money saved by the top 1% of the nation will be greater than the new resources proposed for all other national priorities combined. (
source). In other words, instead of putting money back into the American educational and medical systems, and environmental programs, the money is being given back to the richest people in the country...those who need it least. As if it wasn\'t bad enough that the top 1% of this nation already have more wealth than the bottom 95%.
Ace: I was not trying to compare the dropping of two bombs on Japan during wartime to a terrorist setting a bomb off in an American city. Those things souldn\'t be compared, and if that\'s what you thought I said, you are right to argue that. I was talking about a bomb being potentially used against the United States during a large scale war.
Giga (again): Why you treated James\' post as you did I don\'t know, but once again, it sickens me. He had said he would post more today. He was just reacting to your blatantly hypocritically view of my post.
Mike: Sources. Happy?
