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Terry,

We have Bush's assurance that his government has it all under control. And that we need not worry about a thing. We have also been assured this is no big deal, that it has been blown up way out of proportion because of the elections this year.

Apparently you are not feeling reassured. But what are you going to do? It's a done deal.

I don't know if the ruskies really did have the espression Reagan used during his Reign of Error, but "Bush's assurance that his government has it all under control" reminds me of "Trust, but Verified".

P.S.: I've softened on Reagan over the years, but there is a book titled "Reign of Error" that reviews his speeches and digs into his statements.

Let's just say Reagan rarely let facts and details cloud his vision.

My gripe with Reagan was not so much what he did, it's that his rhetoric rarely matched what he was doing - like the tax simplification plan and his constant talk of small government (look up the facts before commenting, oh non-believers).

I have a theory that Clinton learned from that and took it to new heights - with only a couple developed problems. Interestingly the "exposed" problems were silly compared with the real ones Clinton got away with.

My theory goes on that Bush learned from Clinton, but he's past the back of the envelope (for all the scientists out there),and that's why he and we are in trouble.

Here's a quote from my current read that left me slack-jawed. It is Ron Suskind (author and journalist based in Washington, D.C., writer of "The Price of Loyalty, George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill"), being briefed by a White House aid - page 40 and 41:

"You guys", the aid said, are "in what we call the reality-based community, [people who] believe solutions emerge from ... study of discernable reality."

"That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality ... we'll act again, creating new realities. We're history's actors ... and you will be left to just study what we do."

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Talk about Hubris !! Now combine that with the administrations ability and apparent preference to alter the news - as reported in this:

http://www.npr.org/documents/2005/dec/bamford.pdf

and you have a complete - and scary - circle.

You are correct, James. This is a spine chilling article. I had always contended Bush acted on trumpted-up reasons to go to war with Iraq but I had no idea what a conspiracy, what a detailed and calculated plan was set in motion. Rendon and Bush et al should be tried for treason. Incredible.

Just goes along with my earlier post about us being as free as the government wants us to be.

In this case the company wanting to buy the ports from a British company is owned by the Dubai Government, vs. private foriegn ownership.

Foriegn company port ownership exits in multiple places in the the US.

The issue is a Goverment owning the port.

Yep, not a good move. I just wish everyone would realize there is a greater threat due to an unsecured southern border. If this much outcry were directed at that problem, illegal immigration would get a whole lot more attention, which is sorely due.

In a discussion last night, it was said "I think the government is testing us...just seeing how much we will take" Made me think. With so much blatant abuse of power, it is scary.

Off subject: just reading about the video of Bush BEFORE Katrina hit. Makes Michale Brown look much better.

Hugh,

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I read that they have already transacted the deal. Dubai has already bought the contract to manage six of our ports from GB.

Also, not to jump ship here, but tell me what else we can do to bring the issue of illegal immigration to the front burner. There seems to be a concerted effort by politicians on both sides to keep the issue cloudy and out of the limelight. I know no one wants to deal with it because the big businesses that will be most affected by the halt of illegals has poured so much into the political coffers.

Kennedy and McCain have tagteamed a bill to give amnesty to all the illegals here and make it easier for illegals from Mexico to enter the work force in the states. This is similar to what Bush proposed when he was running for election in 2004. (And that is why he lost my repub son's vote.) Only then it was about 800,000 illegals as compared to a guesstimated > 1,000,000 now.

Just read where the cost of educating the children of illegals has increase substantially in NC. You can believe what you want about the supposed "advantages" of illegals spouted by advocates. I think it is all propaganda by special interest groups.

I have sent emails to our state and national congress people. I have suggested we form a coalition to fight this influx. So far all I have encountered are people who want to talk about it.

It's my impression that unless someone is directly impacted by illegal immigration they really don't give a care about it.

My girlfriend's stepson used to make $13/hr. as a carpenter around here 12 years ago. The going rate is $8.50-9.00 now. I really don't see blue collar workers who go at it 10 hrs. a day as having the desire to write their congressman and senators. Besides elected officials only listen to those who can give them money and deliver votes. (indirect quote from a GOP official in Guilford County)

IMO, it's going to take a national calamity along the scale of 9/11 that is directly tied to an illegal border crossing before the public and Congress wake up to the threat.

Regarding the ports deal, I believe you are correct, but business contracts have many hoops to be leapt before they are considered fully executed. I would think that some sort of Federal Agency approval would be one of those hoops.

Hugh,
What it is going to take is people(like you)who have blindly followed the leader, to start getting mad, at being duped, and joining the rest of the majority who abhor this administration.
Bush will turn on a dime, if the groundswell grows and grows---write the congressmen who are in danger of being defeated. Write the Senators who have shown the guts to break with Bush and write to the paper to tell your story of going from "Apologist in chief" to pissed off American!

Deac, I support Bush on most things but there's a few things he does I have a real problem with.
He's not perfect, but I'm not going to sink to the level of hatred that you exude either.

Hate turns to bitterness and that causes health problems. Best to master control of it in your youth before it's too late.

Hugh, I told Deac just yesterday that he needs to go out and breath some fresh air and let the protruding blood vessels in his head simmer down. I agree it isn't too healthy to walk around with that much rage each day.

I didn't care much for Clinton, but he never made me develop a constant state of rage.

Notice he just about always accuses you, me, Neocon, and anyone else that doesn't agree of "blindly following our leader". You refuted, as I do often, that there are some Bush policies you have a problem with. But that falls on deaf ears as Deacon will not be satisfied until we develop the same level of Bush hatred and rage that he possesses. LOL

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Yvonne, you already know we share beliefs when it comes to illegals. You probably don't watch O'Reilly, but he had a segment last night about Cardinal Mahoney (sp?) up north codoning Catholic churches to aid and abet illegals, even to the point of harboring them in the churches. The Cardinals reasoning is that Christ would have harbored the poor regardless of where they came from. That may be true, but we still have laws and he is helping people break them.

By the way, O'Reilly used an estimate of 10 million illegals in the US. Not sure where he got that, but I'm sure it's more than 1 million. Hell we probably have a half million in NC alone.

I agree with Hugh in that politicians from both sides will continue to ignore this problem until some major terror event occurs and it's traced back to the Mexican border.

I'm still mixed about the ports. Again the UAE is not buying our ports or managing security. The UAE has been helpful in our efforts to combat terrorism and is playing by the rules with the port deal. So do we tell them no just because they are Arabic? Isn't that a racist policy?

Dan, I did not like Clinton but I never had the raging hatred for him like I see people expressing for Bush, especially when he's as you said, lame duck.

These folks are deluded to think he's going to become a permanent fixtures, ala Papa Doc Duvalier.

Hughie and Dan,
You both probably sported bumper strips with "Don't Blame Me, I voted for Bush" during the entire eight years of Clinton. Other than two issues, you both parrott what you hear and support him like he IS a great President. Point to the great things he's done, Dan. You accuse folks of "Bush Hating" and yet you do not give any reasons for your perception of Bush being a good one!

What has Bush done that has not been done hastily or ineptly?

As Hugh would say, tell me about something lately---not about frying Carla Faye Tucker and claiming Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.

Have either of you read "IMPOSTER", a book by a Reagan administration official? Hugh, it is probably on tape, so you can hear the words pronounced properly.

DD, It would behoove you to learn the metaphor in the word 'assume', because you do a lot of it. Your speculations are immature and irrelevant.

Actually Clinton provided some good entertainment. I didn't agree with some of his policies, but I didn't hate the guy. Any level of hatred and rage for a politician as expressed daily by Deacon should be dealt with professionally. It can't be good for the mind and body.

Deacon, I do not owe you any explanations, but since I gave you two reasons I disagree with Bush, here are two reasons I do support him. Keep in mind this is MY perceptions, I'm sure yours are different. 1)I pay lower Federal taxes (although Mike Easley has decided I should pay more in state taxes). 2)The president realizes that terrorism will be around for a long time and is trying what he thinks is best to combat it. Oh one more: He prevented two liberal airbags from becoming president.

Amusing, Dan. I have to admit when you pledge your loyalty, you stick to it. There is something positive to be said for that.

Dan, Hugh, Yvonne, and Others:

I will say this once. I will not repeat it. You guys were doing much better about being courteous towards one another until DemonDeacon came along with his blistering attacks, inability to read and comprehend, constant needling and baiting, insults and stupidity.

DemonDeacon. This is the only time I will address you and I'll never do it again in the future.
GROW UP!!! I agree with most of what you say politically but you make an ass out of yourself every single time you make a political comment.

On other forums you come across as a nice guy.

It took a lot of soul-searching because I used to act just like you but I did GROW UP and though I'm not perfect, I don't go around starting fights all the time either..

Hope you do the same cause I don't think you're nearly as stupid as you come across.

Now, the rest of you. Don't let him bring this blog down like it was in the past. Ignore him and his attacks. It's the only way.

That's all I'm going to say and I ain't going to say no more about Demon Deacon.

Now, Bush was an idiot approving this deal. I think many are trying to take political advantage of this because they ignored worse in the past, but even so, I'm glad cause it exposed how stupid of an idea it is to contract port management out to other countries.

Peace.

yellowdog, I congratulate you on your maturation! You have come a long way, and I wasn't sure but what someone had ursuped your personna.

DD, you have a real "witnessing" here. Please take it to heart. You will be listened to and respected if you do. Your views are interesting and valid. It just loses something in the expression.

Yellowdog, thanks for your post, I try to keep it respectful, even with Deacon. But it does amaze me that some folks carry that much rage for a president and others who may agree with some of the presidents policies.

I have a 22 year old nephew who is quite liberal. When a family member or I get into a political conversation with him (his dad & my dad often do and they are both conservative too) he will start launching attacks, calling people stupid, etc.

One night I had a long talk with him about it. I told him he is a bright guy and welcome to have his ideas, but his method of delivery alienates people, especially when we have decades more life experience than him. I think he finally saw the light and now our conversations, political and otherwise, are much more enjoyable.

I wish the same for Deacon.

When people attack others it only invites attacks from others. Deacon has to learn this and maybe he will live long enough to do so. You other guys were all getting your licks in so stop feeling so self righteous now that Yellowdog stepped in as judge and jury.

That said, will get back to topic: It is sheer unadulterated insanity to put our ports into the hands of people who wish to kill us. We are being fed the myth now that the security is in the hands of our US Coast Guard and Customs Agents. A Customs Agent on CNN the other night refuted this. The Port Operator's in fact in control of security because we simply don’t have enough Customs Agents and Coast Guard to do the job. It is not at this time a done deal, but I expect the Dems to milk it for all it is worth to them and then some silly thing like Cheney getting drunk and peppering his friend with buck shot will happen and the news media will get on that allowing our boys in Washington to quietly slip the deal thru.

Dan:

... wish I knew why you support Bush because of lower Federal taxes.

You strike me as the kinda guy that pays off credit cards each month. Don't you think America is just making minimum monthly payments to enable short-term and lower Federal taxes? What am I missing?

Brenda Bee,

Thanks for pointing out most of us have room for improvement. I shall take it as constructive criticism and learn. Hope the rest will also.

JDR, I am in favor of lower taxes and don't believe that raising taxes is the answer to the deficit, cutting spending is. Here is a website a statistic oriented guy like you would enjoy:

http://www.federalbudget.com/

I make more money than I did 10 years ago, hence I spend more, most people in a similar situation do. Allowing the govt. to get more money follows the same pattern, they will spend more. That is why I don't favor tax increases.

If my salary dropped, I would find ways to cut spending accordingly. The govt. DOES NOT follow the same pattern here.

I do pay my credit card monthly in full. I have a mortgage and loan on one vehicle, that's it. I don't spend more than what I can pay for, I wish the president and Congress would do the same.

Dan:

I know that site - and you dodged the question - which was how can you use "I now Pay Lower Federal Taxes" as a reason to support Bush?

I agree the way to hold down the budget is to starve congress - but here's the deal:

We have a Republican Congress, Senate, and Adminitartion - and they are spending like there is tomorrow - maybe they know something about tomorrow that they're afraid to tell us, but I sense they are slimy opportunistic bastards.

The primary goal of this Power Trio is CLEARLY to swell their power and ranks.

To get the last few votes on a bill, votes are held open long enough for the Pork Juices to adequately flow. It's a game now -- hold out longer and you'll get more pork.

The Med' Part "D" Pharm' Bill is gonna bankrupt this country - have you read beyond the headlines? The adminstration Deliberately withheld data that would have pushsed the total beyond $400 Billion, which was some legal limit that would have stopped the bill. Of course, now the cost is commonly recognized to be over a Trillion.

The Admnistration has converted us to defacto Protectionist Trade - Steel, Agriculture, Sugar, etc.

My God the list goes on - and I really don't see how you - an intellegent and rational person - sit there and say with a straight face you support Bush because he has lowered your federal Tax bill?

I'll ask again: How can you use "I now Pay Lower Federal Taxes" as a reason to support Bush?

BTW: According to my recent readings, Tax cuts, when applied well, only result in about a 75% return, e.g., you cut taxes and the economy will respond with new opportunities, but the new effect of Federal Revenues is only 75% of what you cut.

In an ideal world, that's great - what we all want - fewer taxes and government forced smaller by reduced revenues.

Of course, when you have an 8.2 Trillion dollar debt, less revenue may not be the best solution. Pay off the debt first, dude (and dude'ets).

What Bush did though was POORLY apply the concepts, and revenue streams have been reduced by Trillons at the same time Entitlements have balloned.

I'll ask a third time - less nicely: How can you use "I now Pay Lower Federal Taxes" as a reason to support these asses? Dangerous asses.

I know that site - and you dodged the question - which was how can you use "I now Pay Lower Federal Taxes" as a reason to support Bush?

JDR, Bush lowered taxes and I support that. Seems simple to me.

What I don't support is the massive increased spending done by BOTH parties, they are equally to blame. Don't just make it a Republican issue as if Democrats have never had a taste for pork. Again I don't support the increased spending and really have a problem with Bush & congress in this regard.

You increase taxes and the spending will increase as well, just like my spending has increased over ten years as I make more money now. So what good is raising taxes gonna do?

I thought I made that clear in the last post.

A: You just stated above that you go along with making the government making minimum payments - although you don't do that personally; hmmm.

If Bush Lowering Today's Taxes is as far as your vision allows, you need a thicker set of glasses (semi-joke there).

B: Today's Pork IS the Republican issue for three reason:

1 - Pork spending is up Dramatically in the past few years, "... skyrocketed from under 2,000 six years ago to 10,656 in the 2004 budget".

One can rationalize "it's not much" and spin anything into "it's needed" for National security, but no-one being rational would agree, and any Internet search will bear this out.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm613.cfm

2 - The Republican's have "owned" the legislature for quite a while. They can-and-do force through what ever they want (although Republican's do seem to be more divided these days ... )

3 - Put the show on the other foot: Gore or Kerry in office, Teddy the Majority Leader - doing EXACTLY what is happening now> What would you be saying? I'm not saying they would have been better - but it's hard to imagine they could have done a worse job.

C: I'd not raise taxes, however do think the super wealthy do not currently pay their fair share (think about Hemsley's quip that taxes were only for little people). Hell yea - I'd raise them to a fair share (study the history of taxes before you re-repeat that "80% of the taxes are paid by 20% of the wealthy). The net of "my plan" would not raise federal revenues - you might call that redistribution, I'd probably agree with that term, but under my Redistribution plan, Dan's tax bill would go down a bit more. Vote me in, Brother!

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It may all be "simple: to you - but that seems like a "Stupid is as Stupid does" answer. Check your shoe size to see if it fits.

JDR, I stated nothing about the govt. making minimum payments. If I had a huge personal debt, I would curtail unnecessary spending and pay it off. I wish the govt. would do the same thing.

I totally agree that spending is out of control, I don't think anyone would disagree. But the old saying is it takes two to tango. In this case two parties. I don't see Dems out there whining about excessive spending with the exception of the military for some of them. I don't see them with proposals to cut spending, quite the contrary. They all suck at the moment IMO and are going to bankrupt our country to the Chinese if it continues.

Even Deacon will be happy to hear this, I think Bush has done a lousy job on Federal spending. That being said, congress is right in bed with him on it, both sides.

Whatcha gonna run for? I may consider voting for you. As much as I enjoy discoursing about politics, it's one occupation I have no desire to persue.

Bush's tax cuts and how they helped a couple of retired educators...in our January retirement checks, I paid $1.59 less Federal Tax, and my husband paid $3.89 less. We plan to take our tax cuts and buy 2 gallons of gas.

Agree with Dan that I don't trust any politicians, but the Dems don't have enough votes to pass or block anything at this time, so I guess the majority has to take the blame. Also wonder who in their right mind wants to be a politicial...or did I just answer my own question.

JDR, Dan, Carol, your last post are the perfect reason that we need term limits in this country. I know that many in congress will squeal like stuck pigs but we CAN FORCE THE ISSUE. All we have to do is start writing our representatives and telling them that they either get something going by election day or they won't get our vote PERIOD, no matter how many times they have been re-elected and for dang sure by 08 it better be passed or all of them will be gone. People have got to realize that constantly re-electing the same old do nothing bunch over and over again is not doing this country one iota of good. Set terms of two 3 year terms, staggered even better so there won't be a coattail effect during a presidential election. If they have done a good job after their 6 years, take a break and see how the other person does. If they fail, re-elect the first one, but again only for a 3 yr term.
It is certainly A TIME FOR A CHANGE and I mean from the ground up.
Also we can get a law passed outlawing lobbiest. Other countries have it and so can we. If you offer anything to an elected official it is considered bribery and it's off to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars, go to jail, go directly to jail. IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!
Start writing today and sending e-mails to those who represent you. Make sure your friends from coast to coast know about this and get the ball rolling in their part of the country as well. We need everybody.