"kind-hearted, well-meaning people" - that was said in jest. Most, if not all, of the Democrats are just as greedy for power as the Republicans, and they do not care about anybody but themselves.

My cynicism increases with each passing day. There is no hope for this country. The corrupt politicians will lead the sheep to slaughter, and the sheep will not even know what hit them.

Heather H.

Cyndara,

I love your style girl!

Hugs
Betty

It's time to trash George W. Bush again. Here is the latest political rant from my website.

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Once upon a time, there were two political parties. The members of one were kind-hearted, well-meaning people who really cared about the human condition. They pushed for big government programs which they hoped would genuinely improve people's lives. This, of course, would require relatively high taxes and high levels of government spending, but it was all worth it because it was good for society. People failed financially often through no fault of their own, and they needed a safety net to support them until they could get back on their feet.

The other political party rejected those ideas as fiscally irresponsible. Being experienced business people, they understood that people could only pay so much in taxes, so therefore government spending should be limited. People should be free to pursue business opportunities and reach for success. If they failed, that was their bad luck or ill-preparedness; they could step back, learn from the experience, and try again. People should be self-reliant. The government simply must not be in the business of propping everyone up. High taxes, high public debt, and massive government programs were anathema to this party.

I am, of course, referring to the Democrats in the first case and the Republicans in the second. At least, these are the images they have tried to create for themselves over the years. Of course, they do not really behave that way. In the past, I sometimes leaned towards supporting the Republicans because I liked their message of fiscal responsibility. But actions speak louder than words. They are fiscally irresponsible. So are the Democrats. No one seems to care that budget deficits are gigantic and rising rapidly, thereby mortgaging our future as a nation. During hard times or war, it may be appropriate to borrow money and run a deficit for a few years, but that needs to be made up during good times. In the late 1990's there was hope. Finally, after as many years as I could remember, the federal government was running a small surplus.

Then, George W. Bush came into office. He quickly set about trying to destroy the surplus. Massive tax cuts, without significant reductions in spending, sent the country into deficits again. Then came terrorist attacks and war. Spending went up and deficits went up accordingly. Certainly, a case can be made for that spending, but combined with tax cuts, it has the potential to create a disaster. So instead of holding off on more tax cuts or raising some taxes to cover the new expenses, Bush pressured Congress into passing even more tax cuts. Budget deficits will continue to skyrocket and more and more of the federal budget will go into interest payments. No politician wants to be associated with taxes, so these cuts will remain in place while the United States heads towards bankruptcy.

To make things even worse, the tax cuts are not even targeted properly. For everyone, there is a small pittance in the form of a slight reduction in income tax rates. But people who already have a lot of money will gain far more through the dividend tax reduction and the elimination of the estate tax. Arguments can be made regarding the fairness of these taxes, but given the present fiscal condition of the country, I can see no good reason to give such a windfall to people who don't really need it. If these taxes are reduced or eliminated according to the fairness argument, then perhaps the tax rate for the highest tax bracket should be increased accordingly to make up for the lost revenue. With a war to fight and a severe, ongoing security threat to our nation, we cannot afford to be reducing government revenues at this point.

The Republicans were supposed to be the party of fiscal responsibility. Instead, it appears that they are the party of greed and a short-term outlook. They care about doing whatever they must do to survive the next election, and at the same time about providing money to their greedy cronies. Whatever was left of my illusion about the Republicans has just been irrevocably shattered. They are a party of fiscal irresponsibility. At this point, they may even be worse than the Democrats in this regard. I am under no illusion that the Democrats have become fiscally responsible. If they controlled all branches of government, their runaway tax-and-spend policies would be in full force, and the country would be in just as much trouble.

Is there anyone in government who cares about the future? I believe not. There are no leaders anymore who care more about the country than about themselves and their cronies. I fear for the future of the United States.

----------------

Heather H.

Heather:

I'd like to spin a little story of my own.

In the midst of the politcal swarm, there arose a goodly number of the local citenzry that decried the taxation that they were unjustly being penalized with, wanted the government to show them that they truly had some sort of real representation and that the controlling governement actually had their interests at heart. It was bad to have to pay the outrageous taxes; it was worse to these people they were not going to the welfare of the people, but to cronies. Eventually, they tired of this, and moved to overthrow the government in its currently existing condition.

The result was the Revolutionary War.

Today, we have very much the same situation: we want the feds to give us everything, and then not charge for it. All this says to me is that we, the people, are as dumb as cows.

Let me explain this: there has never been an actual budget surplus! If there is a national debt, then one does not have a surplus; one still has debt. The so-called trade imbalance is a joke; it serves to whip up American jingoism. If we wanted to, and had the political climate to do so, we could very easily force our goods in other markets.

The concept of a balanced government, however, is one that appeals to me. Where are the politicos who have a brain between their ears? Whatever happened to common sense?

Get some common sense people in power, and i think we can do much for the environment, the corporate culture, AND still have enough to cut taxes.

But we need people who think...not react.

Luv 'n hugs,

Jayne Sakura
"Almost-Angel, T-Girl Genius, and Ultra-Flirt"

What you want, Jayne, would depend on having a voting public that has more brains than a moss-covered stone. The Republicans have manipulated the rabble into getting mad any time taxes are increased for someone, even if it does not affect most of them, and the Democrats have manipulated the sheep into getting angry any time a social program is cut or restructured. The stupid public want it both ways. They want the government to have numerous programs to prop them up, but they don't want to pay for it. We can't have it both ways.

If the public had any common sense, they would demand common sense at the top.

Heather H.

Ladies:

The defense rests its case. You have summed up my argument very nicely for me!

Jayne Sakura

If they told the truth, they would never get elected in the first place.

Hi everyone:

I was just reading some of the posts here and first of all YES I think we should have some common sense people in our government. As I see it, these would be people who want to govern and not just pad their pockets and those of their friends with our money. These people would effectively deal with the ecconomy, defense, civil rights, justice, foreign relations and infrastructure management in a fair and impartial manner.

Stevie, I was reading your 3rd paragraph on your first post here and have some real questions about some of your conclusions. First is about the Democrats wanting to drive us to totalitarian Socialism? Sorry but I can't even begin to relate to this but you can take solice in the fact that the present regime is driving us towards totalitarianism in a big way but don't worry, the major corporations will be calling the shots and not the government so at least we won't be socialists.

Second, the Democrats want to take away our religious expression? Where on God's Earth did you get this from? I hope your not referring to the right wing hate groups who call themselves Christian but have absolutley nothing to do with real Christianity. Their religious expression, (if you want to call it that), often leaves people dead or injured and in many circumstances it's people like us. Kinda like "Hating for God" isn't it?

Third, the Democrats want to tell us which Doctor to go to. I assume you're referring to Nationalized Healthcare. Well I'm sure the millions and millions of people who can't afford to see a Doctor at all in our overpriced health system, (if you want to call it a system), are real worried about that one. Frankly, I'd like to get something more for my tax dollars than the garbage product I've been getting lately. Let's face it, if we had a choice of buying the present government or not buying it, how many of us would actually put george and his fellow henchmen in our shopping baskets?

And what's wrong with being politically correct? Especially since it would benefit us and our other sisters?

Just the way I see it.

Hugs
Betty

'scuse me juuust a sec here.

Political Correctness is a joke. A really bad one at that.

I am NOT "euro-american"--I am white.

I am NOT "seizure prone"--I am epileptic.

I am NOT "financially challenged"--I am broke.

I am NOT "sexually undetermined"--I am Bisexual.

I am NOT "gender dysfunctional"--I am a Gender Dysphoric Woman, hear me roar!

Politically Correct THIS! That is the biggest joke foisted on the American people since Henny Youngman first said "Take my wife--please."

Common sense to me is calling a spade a spade, and if it really turns out to be a shovel, you apologize and learn the difference.

**Mutters under her breath..."politcally correct my a...**

Jayne Sakura
"Almost-Angel, T-Girl Genius, and Ultra-Flirt"
(and working at becoming a professional curmudgeon)

Cyndi, honey--

I'll let you correct any part of my anatomy you want, darling...just name the time and place.

Everyone else: My thoughts remain. Political Correctness is a plague, and even if it helps us T-Girls--do we really want to go down that line? FEH! I don't think so...would it not be better to simply work for the changing of attitudes, rather than looking for some ridiculous term to describe ourselves? Aside from which...everyone laughs at the concept, anyway. It's been fodder for comedians for years on end. Since we take enough grief...why add that to it?

Jayne Sakura
"Angel, T-Girl Genius, and Ultra-Flirt"

PS--I haveto be a working woman. Have to pay the bills like everyone else, and it isn't cheap to look good these days. Do you have any idea what a month's worth of Shiseido-the makeup costs me?

Cyndi, lover--

Anytime you want to dislodge whatever you think you have found, I'll let you. Be advised...I give as good as I get...so make it really good, honey!

Luv 'n hugs,
Jayne

Sorry Heather, I should've known you were kidding.

I wouldn't necessarily call the people sheep. Some are, but I think most know exactly what they are doing, and they're no less corrupt than the policians. As long as the politicians make good on the favors they owe, the people will continue to play along with them.

Heather, I agree with you, in part.

Where I disagree with you is in your description of the Democrat Party. By no means is the Democrat Party kind-hearted or well-meaning. It is the home of communism in the USA, and caring about the human condition has nothing to do with it. That party wants all of us worshipping the government, and individual achievement is already severely punished by that party's policies.

Now, here's where I agree with you. Up through Reagan, I supported the Republican Party, mainly because it wasn't the Democrat Party. Later, I switched to supporting the Libertarian Party, because the Republicans talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk, so-to-speak. Simply being the opposition to the Democrats is not sufficient. The Republican Party must actually stand for capitalism, or it is no better than the Democrat Party.

Unfortunately, we have a situation in which both of our two major parties want to stay in power more than anything else. At least the Democrats are still committed to driving us toward totalitarian socialism. They want to take away our weapons, force us to use politically correct speech, take away our freedom of religious expression, tell us which doctors and hospitals we must use and keep medical records on each of us, and they intend to tax us into the ground to achieve these goals, as well as making each citizen an expendable asset of the governmnet. The Republicans are supposed to be for preserving our rights, limiting the scope and size of government to the bare essentials required by the Constitution, and collecting only a tiny fraction of what we earn to provide for the nation's infrastructure. All the Republicans seem to care about now is keeping up with the Democrats, and they are driving away former supporters, like Heather and myself.

Our government should have a balanced budget requirement. Deficit spending should not be allowed, and we should never have a national debt. Our tax rates are far too high because government (at all levels) spends far too much, trying to please everyone with every handout, special interest, and pet project (pork) imaginable. There's no reason any American taxpayer should be taxed more than 5%, be it income tax or sales tax, from all levels of government combined.

The fact that 5% seems too low to most citizens (and certainly the politicians) is a sad commentary. As a nation, we've become so used to begging from the government, that we couldn't imagine providing for ourselves. Yes, the Democrats got us started down this path, but the Republicans have done nothing (except a little song and dance on occasion) to correct the situation, so they are also guilty. The Republicans have control of the Congress, yet no one has proposed a serious bill to get rid of horrible tax-sucking programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc. They haven't proposed getting rid of all of our blatantly unconstitutional gun laws, either, yet they claim to support our Second Amendment rights.

It's not a bad thing to want to help others who can't help themselves or to promote art in our culture. What's bad is expecting government to be the means by which we do those things. Private citizens can take care of themselves and each other just fine without inefficient and uncaring government involvement. I won't go into another full-blown anti-socialism rant here, but as long as we have a government that takes our money away from us in such large quantities to do "good things for us," without the accountability of a balanced budget requirement, we will always have fiscal problems. We have what we have because the people have spoken. They have voted for corrupt politicians because they are corrupt themselves. They want minimum wage laws and unions that artificially drive up wages, yet they bitch and moan when companies move jobs overseas to cut costs, and they get bent out-of-shape when someone calls them communists or socialists.

We can't have it both ways. Jane is right when she says we need some common sense in government. Unfortunately, Heather is right when she blames the citizens for not already having put true statesmen (and stateswomen) in power. I think there are good candidates out there, and I'm not afraid to vote for small party candidates and independent candidates. Unfortunately, most citizens who would like change don't want to risk voting for candidates who they think will lose, and they allow themselves to be confined to the two major parties, who are growing more irresponsible with our money and our rights each year. Our government is always a reflection of our society, so unless we can get the people to take action and demand real change through the voting booths, we won't see any change.