September 2006 Archives

Just weeks before the elections, some Republicans are coming forward and saying: On budget management, Iraq, the War on Terror, - It's A Mess!

Fiscal Management: The cost of the War on Terror since 9/11 through fiscal year 2006 is 437 Billion. (PDF). Of that 437 Billion the Iraq War has cost 330.4 billion. The federal cost for Katrina 130 billion, of 200 billion estimated by 2009. Total federal allocation for 9/11 recovery, 20 billion.

Surfing the net, I came across a heart wrenching video presentation entitled: The Real Cost of Katrina.

CAUTION !!! This video contains graphic images not seen on TV, of the aftermath caused by our government's failure to protect its people. You will weep! Be forewarned.

Did he really say that?
The NY Times quote of the day has this:

"I just follow my own common sense. And the hell with the law." -- THOMAS R. BUCKLEY, a longtime justice in Dannemora, N.Y.

Voters want Choice?
Many voters say there isn't much choice. But, the fact is, there are 33 U.S. Senate seats up for election this November with 259 candidates in the race for those seats. There's plenty of choice. But, with incumbents and a few wealthy challengers saturating the media, it is up to the voters to seek out the less well funded candidates - that is, if a choice is what they seek. For many, homework is an excuse sought to just not vote at all. High School habits?

MSNBC has an article about the anti-incumbent sentiment which includes a number of quotes from voters. MSNBC's article, Anti-incumbent Sentiment Widespread, projects a stage set for another rout at the polls on Nov. 7, as anti-incumbent poll numbers at this time are greater than in 1994, which swept Republican challengers into the majority of Congress.

The following voter's quote from the MSNBC article pretty much says it all, and repeats what Vote Out Incumbents Democracy has known since its inception in Oct. of 2005:

Across the park, Curtis Kelley, 62 and "mostly a Democrat," was down on the president and his opinion of lawmakers on Capitol Hill was almost as negative.

"I don't have any confidence in them either," Kelley said, as he worked at the dock on the park's 188-acre lake. But, he said, voters share some of the blame. "We don't hold them accountable."

The polls indicate, more voters than ever will be holding them accountable on Nov. 7.

The following article presents information offered to the House Government Reform Committee on National Security just a few days ago, as aired on C-Span and recalled by this writer. The Panel of witnesses were expert in the study of Iraq and its people with decades of experience focusing on Iraq. (See end of article for participants.)

Rep. Christopher Shays (R) who chaired these hearings asked Thomas Friedman's question on Washington Journal, "Are we baby-sitting a civil war in Iraq?" (Link note: click on title: Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), National Security Subcmte. Chair). It is a most pertinent question in light of the hearing discussed below.

Our leaders feel guilty for allowing 9/11 to happen. Our leaders feel unworthy of the roles they hold in our government. Our leaders, confused by these feelings of guilt and unworthiness, are grasping to make it better.

But, they are doing so without reference or consultation with our forefathers, who knew the world is a dangerous place. And it takes a brave and courageous people to choose to live free in it. Freedom carries risk. Freedom or security. You know what the safest place in the United States is? Solitary confinement in a maximum security prison. Not even terrorists have designs on such a place.

Some appalling things are happening this week in Congress every voter should be aware of.

The first item is the Wilson FISA reform measure. This is a bill fashioned by the White House, which Democrats and a few Republicans fear would virtually eliminate FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court), by removing the power of the president regarding electronic surveillance from oversight and restraint by Congress and the Judiciary. Last minute language changes in the so called reform, would create a perpetual state of emergency, and allow the president to wiretap anyone, anywhere, without a warrant, court review, or observance of Congressional restraint while operating in that state of emergency. Emergencies are defined so broadly that an attack by terrorists on our troops in Iraq or Afghanistan would open a 45-day state of emergency.

Everytime I give my 15 year old daughter permission to participate in the band at games in the Alamodome, I worry about her safety, think about it, weight it, analyze it, and then give her my permission to live free and play her heart out. It's my way of saying to the terrorists, "Screw You".

I haven't flown a plane since 9/11, and won't again until all of the hassles and checks and confiscations of personal property are withdrawn. It is not the terrorists that prevent me from flying. Not flying is my way of saying to my government that insists on restricting the freedoms I enjoyed before 9/11, "Screw You" and your cowardly ways. I would rather be dead from a terrorist attack than to live my life in fear of my travelling companions and fellow Americans carrying nail clippers and shampoo bottles.

Protect your mind, they are out to twist it, deceive it, undermine its integrity, and manipulate it. They are politicians, and they will say anything, do nearly anything, to get you to vote for them. They will bribe you with federal tax dollars while increasing the national debt. They will lie to you, telling you how wonderful things are becoming under their leadership. They will threaten you with mayhem, terrorist attacks, and loss of jobs if you vote for the 'other guy'. What is a voter to do?