OT - Crimewave question

[TOM KAN PA]

What is the latest crime wave to hit New York and Washington, D.C.?

[Lindsey Buckingham]

That's an easy one. The Clintons!

[animaux]

George W. Bush, shaking the hand of H.H. The Dalai Lama.

[jammer]

[Cereoid-UR12-]

Your momma moving in with the Jeffersons!!!

[Dr. Rev. Chuck, M.D. P.A.]

[TOM KAN PA]

I guess it's time to give you the answer. All of your answers were good, but unfortunately not the correct one. Here it is:

Drive-by Accordion Solos

[dkat]

Poverty and joblessness.... If there is no legitimate job and no social safety net (unemployment benefits have run out for thousands and thousands of people), crime is the consequence. Crime went down when employment went up.

(I just love that the "Clintons" are being used as scapegoats once again. ..... I do wonder what some would do without these scapegoats - maybe be mature, thinking adults?) DKat

[Jan Flora]

The current (p)resident and congress.

Next question.

Jan

[dr-solo]

It is called the "periodic plundering principle". Last time it was the Savings and Loans that walked away with billions. This time it will be Haliburton, et al that are going to walk away with the billions of "reconstruction".

This while the infrastructure of the US is going down the tube.

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[David Hill]

[D Kat]

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.... DK

[D Kat]

I was listening to NPR after another one of our black outs (maybe after the last hurricane?) and the reporter said essentially "and the Americans have that quaint custom of stringing their wires on poles in the air like laundry" (meaning - of course you stupid colonist are going to lose your electric power if you don't modernize and put your lines underground where they belong).

We continue to measure down there at 3rd world levels on so many dimensions. Our children test at the bottom of the scale when compared to other westernized countries, our infrastructure as you pointed out is for #$%, health care... what health care?, not to mention our banana republic elections such as that of Florida and the planned Ohio election where the maker of the voting machines has "Promised to deliver the election to the Republicans".... In the mean time we are spending more on our military than ALL the rest of the world combined and this expenditure can't even handle putting two countries back together that we helped to destroy.

I love this country with a passion and what I see as special about it is its Civil Liberties and it's great wisdom in its separation of church and state (I wonder what the Christian Right is going to feel in the future after they have set precedent and it is the Islamic religious laws hanging in our school rooms and courts?...). Those are the things that this administration is attempting to destroy and I think that is treasonous.

Sorry about the rant. I promised myself I was not going to go there again but there are days when it feels as if all I love about our country is in the process of being destroyed and nothing will save it because no one will speak out.

DK

[Heidi]

I agree with you! My local and our central governments have looked into updating all power lines to underground. It is not being done b/c, the cost to update our archaic technology would be astronomical. Of course, this from a government who thinks it is not unreasonable to ask for 80 billion more to spend on a war which they have yet to truly validate.

Wouldn't it be nice if our govnt was asking for adequate money to be allocated toward the REAL needs of our country. And by that, I don't mean a continued supply of foreign oil, but education, fair healthcare, etc...

No one will speak out??? I think people speak out

[D Kat]

America likes to promote the facade that we are a govnt. of the people. But we aren't really a govnt of ALL people

[Salty Thumb]

Heidi wrote in news:euEeb.15901$ [e-mail]:

Yes. It's funny how when doing something is advantageous to a politician, they try to pass it off as unquestionably American. But when it's time to clean up the mess, they're all suddenly American't.

What would really be nice is if tax payers had direct input on where their tax money is spent. Hello Politicians Welcome to the Information Age. Right now you're paying what around 30% of your income in federal taxes to be represented by 1 President, 2 Senators, and a Representative. There are 100 senators and less than 500 Representatives. There are over

250 million people in the US. So 250,000,000 / 500 = 500000 ... one Rep. for every 500000 people. Number of minutes in a year: 365 * 24 * 60 = 525600. So if a Rep. worked non-stop without sleeping for a year (which they don't), each person could get a little over one minute of his/her time. Ratios for President and Senators are left as an exercise for the reader.

Of course you get some of the money back in the form of services you'd like to have, but why should I entrust my money to a group of people who think of America as one giant credit card. One of the vaunted assertions about capitalist economies, is that the cream supposedly rises to the top. But what we're seeing is a bunch of gross incompetence under a veneer of patriotic flag waving.

You wan't more missles? Run your own damn bake sale.

[D Kat]

I think people deciding where their tax money was spent is an absolute wonderful idea. Those who want to fund bombs could have a high % of their taxes be allocated for such things and those who don't could put it into other things. Most Americans do NOT have a clue how their money is being spent. When asked most Americans think that 10% of their taxes is going for foreign aid (it was less than 1%). In actuality almost 50% of our taxes goes to fund the military (you have to include retirement benefits, interest on the debt - that part raised for increased military spending, and all the hidden cost and even without that it is a huge percentage). A large percentage is used just to run the government itself. When it comes down to it very, very little is used to fund those things you most often hear people complain about... for example, the military marching bands get far more funding than our federally funded arts/music programs.

Yes, I really like that idea. It would drive the congress and executive office mad to be forced to spend the money as people want it spent rather than on their pork and what gets them money for re-election. (it would be utter chaos though). DK