lawdog32

Whether you like Obama or not, I could care less. Personally, I don't think either Obama or Romney have what it takes to turn the country around. However, it is not very intelligent in my humble opinion to let fairly objective arguments be clouded by the fact that you dislike someone as the original posters obviously does not like Obama. If Obama is the one holding this up, don't you think he would have ordered the RV to take place before the election? Even if he hates the country as you assume (which I think is totally stupid even if you hate his policies and I am not arguing in favor of his policies), I am pretty sure there is absolutely nothing either Obama or Romney want more to get elected, and an RV before election would only help Obama. I have also seen the other argument that the Republicans (Bush and his buddies) still have an influence on the RV and they are delaying it so Obama isn't re-elected. I obviously don't believe this in the least, but at least this argument makes sense from a standpoint of reality.

Yota, Yes, and all the democrats in the Senate voted for it, so not sure what your point is? They needed 60 votes, and it is my understanding 4 of the Republicans that filibustered also at least partially co-wrote the bill. Not saying democrats don't have plenty of faults as I am an independent, but really tired of nothing getting done in Washington and this one seems like a no brainer.

I think the Scooter post is taken WAY out of context. It hardly seems like an RV prediction without having more of the thread to read. Either way, I haven't seen anything from him in the last year and a half that is anything more than analyzing data with a very consistent message of nobody on these boards will know the date/rate, and there are many different routes that could be taken so be prepared.

What has Scooter been wrong about? I have never seen him give a date. I have seen him give a timeline of events with all things pertaining to Iraq, but never a specific date. I have also heard him discuss rates, but only based on IMF doc's etc and he specifically has said many times NOBODY will know ahead of time of either date/rate. Putting Scooter in the same sentence as Okie is fairly disrespectful to Scooter. Scooter would be professor in my book and Okie would be the kid who failed kindergarten.

So the Pakistan dude who posted on twitter that night that there were helicopters there, and the downed helicopter with pictures of the Pakistan people carrying pieces of it, and the wives that were taken into questioning by Pakistan, and the several books written by former Seals who actually knew people on the mission were all made up, and all the military people involved who have been interviewed about the mission are all lying about it. Okay, sounds rational to me! I think a healthy dose of questioning what is fed to us in the media is definitely a good thing. However, I think some people have completely overdosed!

Whether you morally are opposed to *** marriage is MUCH different than basic civil liberties. I am pretty sure our Declaration of Independence calls for the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and our Constitution calls for the equal protection of the law. I also believe our Constitution calls for a separation of church and state. I have no problem with any religion saying they don't believe in *** marriage or not allowing it in their church, but to not give gays the same rights as anyone else under the law is a totally different issue. It has been framed as a moral and religious issue versus a civil liberties issue as it should be IMO. If we want to legislate morality, then shouldn't divorce, adultery, pre-marital sex, gambling, etc all be illegal too? I wonder how many making judgments in this thread have committed any of those acts? There is no doubt our country will eventually get there and change always scares people. It wasn't that long ago that interracial marriage was not legal and everyone was scared about the change. I could go on and on, segregation, women's suffrage, etc. that we now wonder what we were thinking. I know it is a hot topic and I know intelligent people on both sides of the issue, but I feel like often times we believe in freedom of religion in our country so long as you believe in the right religion, we believe in separation of church and state except when it interferes with some issues like *** marriage. In 50 years it will be legal and people then will wonder what we were thinking and I have a hard time believing it will be the downfall of our society. I went to a Republican debate in Iowa and got a kick out of the fact that there were all these questions about *** marriage, and probably very few people in the audience knew any married *** couples, yet everyone knows many divorced people and that question never came up. I tend to think that divorce is much more destructive to our society than *** marriage, but that doesn't mean I believe it should be illegal.

Well, one thing the article fails to mention is the President, whoever it may be, doesn't pass laws. As long as the House stays Republican, there will not be any tax increases so it will not matter. I haven't decided who I am voting for, but I do know we have had the lowest taxes in history for 8 years and it isn't like our economy is booming. Regan also used the line many times that millionaires should pay a higher tax rate than bus drivers. I guess I am just tired of politics, both parties are hypocritical in many respects, and we have another 7 months of it

Bump

My wife wants me to sell 1 million dinar. I haven't lost the faith, but she wants to sell a little for a trip she is taking. Would sell it for $950. It is from Dinar Trade, uncirculated. My email is travisjburk@yahoo.com. Thanks!

I understand the difference between the two and I do believe in Medicare I was making a point - do we want total free market and no government intervention? The reason we have medicare is b/c elderly people in many cases couldn't get medical insurance. As you get older, the free market would not provide insurance at a level most people could afford. I am not all for a mandate, but the argument that we should just let the market control the health care industry has proven it doesn't work. I don't know the solution, but reform will eventually come one way or another. My dad is totally against any healthcare reform and currently pays more for his insurance (he is 63) than he does for his mortgage. We are one of the last first world countries that has free market health care, and are not in the top 10 in infant mortality or life expectancy. I hear the argument that the government is not efficient as I have cases that involve Medicare and Medicaid and know how slowly they work. My only point is government intervention of some kind is inevitable as health care costs have increased at 3 times inflation for several years. As long as we don't let people die who need medical care (regardless of insurance), we pay for it one way or another. I am also of the opinion that there are many circumstances where people did everything right and exceeded the lifetime limit, became ill and lost their job, etc, and ended up without insurance. The only point I was making is if you believe in a totally free market, then it seems inconsistent to also believe in Medicare. However, I can't imagine what it would be like without Medicare and don't think it would be a good thing.

I am not a fan of the mandate either, but the problem with healthcare is there isn't much choice or competition. I am curious and an honest question, do you believe we should have Medicare or not?

Wow, you sound like a very loving, caring, and thoughtful person. I know plenty of "black folks" as you say that are very successful. Whether you did it or not (slavery - you obviously didn't), gaining equality is a process and we are still on it. Are there black leaders that do more harm than good for their cause, of course. Are there still white people who are a*holes to other races, yep. I have found if you have never been in a situation it is easy to make broad accusations and judge people. There are also plenty of white folk who don't have jobs and don't take care of their kids. I really wish we could all just see each other as fellow human beings, but threads like this one make me realize we are still a long ways off.

It continues to disgust me to see people so full of hatred and misinformation. Do people really still think Obama wasn't born here? If you don't like his policies fine with me. However, what exactly did Bush do that was so great for our country and do you really think any of the Rep candidates will have any major policy differences than Bush? Again, I am fine with not liking Obama, as long as it is based on some semblance of intelligence. I am fine if you don't like Obama Care. However, I am sure everyone realizes that the whole constitutional issue, the individual mandate, was a Republican idea that was supported by Gingrich and Romney, who both now claim disgust with it as an "over reach". I certainly understand the argument that it is, but what intelligent solutions are any of the Rep candidates offering? It is clear the system doesn't work. We have the most expensive healthcare in the world and are not even in the top ten in infant mortality or life expectancy. Healthcare costs are going up 3 x inflation every year. And the argument that people shouldn't be forced into commerce and to buy health insurance if they are young and healthy (I am relatively young and haven't been to a doctor in many years so I hear this) is understandable but if those same people get in an auto accident and have a 100k bill, we all end up paying for it one way or another, so should we tell those people too bad you don't have insurance and we should let you die? Again, I am fine for coming up with another solution on this issue, or any of the many others, but seems like we have gone from having differing opinions with intelligent debate to absolute hate for one side or the other. Has either side in the last 20 years really left our country in a better position than when they arrived? I am also all for reducing debt, but it seems almost irrefutable that due to where our economy was in 2008, whether Obama or McCain, our national deficit was going to increase dramatically unless of course McCain decided to cut off all of the TARP and other bailouts started by Bush. I think it is very easy to argue now we should have let everyone go bankrupt and not bail banks, auto, etc out b/c we will never know what would have happened if we had not. Finally, if you look at the cabinets of either party who is President, they are largely similar, lots of carry over, and lots of big business represented. I can find plenty of faults with Obama, but I don't hate him, I don't think his main objective is to form an alliance with the Muslin world to take us under, and at this point I am unsure whether the Rep alternatives are going to dramatically improve our country but try my best to continue to listen to their views without hating any of them.

I haven't seen any commentary from anyone close to the situation, or anyone else for that matter on the news, that want anything other than the guy to be arrested. This isn't exactly a lynch mob mentality. Are they mad as heck at the guy, at the system, at the loss of this boy, sure they are. Does this cause some people to act irrationally, yes it probably does. However, do you really believe for one second if the roles were reversed and a white boy was walking home and a black man with a gun pursued him, even after he was told not to, shot the boy, and then the investigators took lab results of the deceased boy, and not the shooter, that the "white" community and every news channel out there wouldn't be giving it just as much coverage? The fact of the matter is it would never come to that b/c it would not have gone down the same way, almost guaranteed. The other question is, how do you suggest "they" act? Should everyone just sit around, like the first two weeks when nothing was done, or should they have their voices heard (like what is happening now), and actually some progress made? I can reasonably assume any parent in this country would be doing anything in their power, including protests and using the media, to try and get to the bottom of what happened.