By the way, B-Bob, do you have a T_J alert system that notifies you when I post? You have remarkably fast response times any time I send something off. I can just picture B-Bob sitting in his living room at home reading his latest Sierra Club magazine when SUDDENLY alarm bells start ringing! A voice comes over the loud speaker, "ALERT ALERT, T_J HAS POSTED -- ALERT, ALERT -- THIS IS A CALL TO ARMS'. B-Bob leaps out of his chair and lunges towards the computer. He clicks on his home page icon and is directed to the CC.Net BBS Hangout instantly. His palms are sweaty, adrenaline is running high. He furiously scans the new threads, searching desparately for a right wing opinion. Upon finding the post he's looking for, he begans typing the response in a mad rage in an effort to quickly neutralize his opponent. There is no time to preview the post -- this could allow other posters to agree with T_J before B-Bob can register his dispute. SUBMIT REPLY! Whew, fire extinguished, time to turn on NPR to listen in to the days news...
Here is the poll question: a) Do you support an unending war on terrorism that will go on and on and on like the Everlast Bunny? b) Do you support a war on terrorism that has specific goals so we know when to stop?
First off, it only took 11 percent of eligible Americans to "prove" your point, so using the term "American voters" should be done EXTREMELY loosely. Second, I agree that businesses should not be villified automatically. However, we absolutely demand responsible behavior of individual human beings in our society. Smoke a joint, go to jail. Take someone's money, go to jail. Responsible for someone's death, go to jail or be executed. If we demand these things of individuals, we have every right as citizens to demand the same of corporations. If they steal from someone, those who are in charge of the company should go to prison - not some happy little hotel for white collar criminals. If they pollute the environment and it leads to the deaths or illness of people, they should be put in jail. Period. If we are willing to demand that we each take responsibility for our actions, it is only ethically and morally just that we demand companies take responsibility for theirs. For too long, money has been more important than people. That has to end.
Did I just step into some Compassionate Conservatism? Maybe we should rename this "Kiss Me The Next Time You F*ck Me" Conservatism? TJ, I know that you are so blinded by partisan thinking not to notice what this is really saying. It is the Republicans saying to the poor "This is what you get for not voting for us!!! Not only are we going to stay out of your way, but we also going get into the rich's way by giving them huge tax cuts!!! It pays to be rich and vote Republican. Now go be poor and leave us rich people alone."
Jeff, I couldn't agree with you more. Fortunately, the Bush Administration has been leading the charge against corporate corruption. Every day I turn on the news and see another corporate wrong-doer being led off in handcuffs. These misdeeds are not going unpunished and the market is taking note. This October was the best month for the Dow and Nasdaq in 15 years. Confidence is slowly being restored after the Clinton-era crimes have been rooted out and punished.
Did the 80s Republican Jobs Program (S&L 500 billion debacle, that is billion with a b) teach you anything? Stealing money from a bank is only wrong if you do not own the bank. Charles Keating should be the poster child for this.
The last time I checked...no bunnies were wearing boxing trunks or gloves. They were however pounding a drum and hocking Energizer batteries.
you're so much smarter than this, No Worries...do you really think the republicans have the market cornered on white collar crime? keep trying to play the republicans off as wacko nazi extremists and keep moving further to the left...and good luck in 2004.
the Bush Administration has been leading the charge against corporate corruption. So the White House is advocating increased SEC spending to ferret out the corporate criminals? Money talks; BS walks.
So, I assume you are in favor of sending Cheney to prison if they determine Halliburton pulled an Enron? If we find out that El Paso and a couple others artificially inflated the prices in California leading to rolling blackouts, should Bush apologize for blaming Gray Davies instead of going after the crooks?
Really? When I turned on the news his former SEC chief was attempting to cover up the business dealings of his accounting oversight board chairman, who was nominated after the accounting industry rejected the previous candidate out of fear of him being too tough. I also saw that the Fed was lowering low interest rates again. Apparently their confidence wasn't restored.
Let me rephase this for TJ then: Did the Reagan-era Jobs Program (S&L 500 billion debacle, that is billion with a b) teach you anything? MM. I was only chiding Jeff for going easy on TJ.
Jeff, I worked for Enron for 3 years before I was layed off last year . My division dealt directly with the California deregulated market, and to tell you truthfully it is both California (Gray Davis) and Enron/El Paso/PG&E who set up the mess there in now. I will not lay total blame on Enron, because the California legislature and Gray Davis set up the type of 3 tiered market that created the debaucle.
Where do I even begin with this.... 1) Halliburton is in the toilet right now because of frivolous asbestos litigation pending against the company as a result of its Dresser acquisition. Enron is in the toilet right now because of conflicts of interest between their off-balance sheet financings and senior management and cross-collateralization of failing assets with stock. Big difference. 2) Had Gray Davies [sic] pressed forward with actual energy deregulation and not his half-baked ill-conceived plan, then the California power markets would not have been in disarray in the summer of 2001. Instead, Gray had the great idea of insulating the consumers with retail price caps -- a move which effectively ran the utilities into bankruptcy. Additionally, he subjected the utilities to having to buy power on the spot market, instead of allowing them to enter into long-term agreements which yield lower prices. Gray Davis should be apologizing.
TJ is right on this issue. I work in the utilities industry and California dug its own grave when they set up their "deregulated" market. How can you possibly fault energy companies when they are playing within the rules set up by the state of California? It is the employees JOB to make money for the company. If California doesn't have the foresight to set up their market more efficiently, they should shoulder the blame.
Plus, California baseloading with Natural Gas powerplants and not have efficient pipeline infrastructure to secure capacity to the existing powerplants. That is what happens when your state gets ride of all emmission based power generation types and then goes to a flawed deregulation model. A good example of a deregulation model that is working and people and companies are saving money look to Pennsylvania.
Here is my updated list of issues that the majority of Americans support but the Republians do not: Balanced Budget Amendment (links spending cuts with tax cuts) Term Limits Stricter Gun Laws (support the gun law changes that the police officer associations want) Legalize Medical MJ (reclassify MJ as a drug, let states determine their own medical MJ usage) Closure On The War Against Terrorism (set end goals for the war) Close The School Of The Americas No Drilling In The Arctic National Wildlife Range COLA Adjusted Minimum Wage etc. It is an open question which of these items the Dems would actually support in their version of a Contract With America.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_5.html Ed Koch: 'God help the Democratic Party' By Ed Koch SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM Tuesday, November 12, 2002 Following is an advance release of Ed Koch's Bloomberg Radio Commentary for Nov. 16. Democrats have obviously suffered an enormous defeat at the hands of President George W. Bush, but in addition to punching out the Democratic Party, the president also handed a tremendous loss to Senator Ted Kennedy and the so-called anti-globalization movement which opposes any war against Iraq. I’ve always believed that you must not let opponents falsely describe themselves with positive words while saddling you with negative words and images. So in discussing the probable war to come against Iraq, I’ve always maintained that the best way to keep peace is to remove despots and other supporters of terrorism from power. Those who oppose the death penalty for criminals who have been found guilty of egregious murder and a jury finds no mitigating circumstances that would cause them not to impose the death penalty, often call supporters of the death penalty reactionaries. I reply that I support the death penalty because I want to protect society and that they are the real reactionaries, turning their backs on society. From the beginning, I have defended President Bush against the unfair attacks made upon him by so many in the so-called peace effort led by Kennedy and supported by near half of the Senate Democrats who voted against Bush’s requested resolution for Senate authorization to wage war against Iraq if it did not destroy its weapons of mass destruction and allow unfettered access to U.N. inspectors. Over the last several months, Bush campaigned for his candidates by stating that he would do all he could to obtain U.N. support for action against Iraq. But if the U.N. — like the League of Nations before it which was unwilling to oppose Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia — refused to compel Iraq to abide by the agreement it signed at the conclusion of the Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. with its British ally and other like-minded countries would do the job themselves. Large numbers of Democrats, many of whom had opposed the Gulf War in 1991 with no Democratic Senator from a state above the Mason-Dixon line except Joe Lieberman from Connecticut voting for it, again voted no in 2002. In the historic week of November 3rd, President Bush saw the U.N. bend to his will and vote unanimously for a resolution which threatens war if Iraq does not destroy its weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. and British sponsored resolution allows the sponsors to take appropriate military action after a discussion at the U.N. without the need of another vote to enforce the U.N. resolution if flouted by Iraq. The same brilliant and successful campaigning occurred in our domestic election held that same week. The Democrats had no national strategy on domestic issues that set them apart from the Republicans. They needed to set forth Democratic values and goals in a Democratic version of the “Contract with America” that Newt Gingrich provided for Republicans in 1994. Democrats should have demanded a roll back of the Bush inequitable tax program, which over the next 10 years will give 37.6 percent of the $1.3 trillion in tax reductions to the top one percent of taxpayers. They should have called for a comprehensive national medical insurance program with prescription drug coverage that will cover the current 40 million of uninsured Americans, many of whom are working full-time. They should have developed a program for reducing the national debt and insuring the continuation of Social Security for baby boomers. But nowhere in the land was there heard a comprehensive Democratic program for the future. What was heard on national television were the screaming fanatics at the Wellstone memorial service who insulted everyone, except those they saw as “true believers.” Now the Democratic Party will choose a new parliamentary leader to replace Dick Gephardt. The frontrunner is Nancy Pelosi, who is in the left wing of the party. She is supported by radical Democrats such as Congressman John Conyers, who recently urged her candidacy over Congressman Harold E. Ford, Jr., a moderate. If she moves the party further to the radical left and undoes everything that President Clinton did to move the party to center left, the Democratic Party will truly be undone. Pelosi should be asked, among a dozen more questions separating moderates from radicals, “do you believe you were right in voting against the welfare reform bill?” and “do you believe you were right in voting against the joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq?” God bless America and God help the Democratic Party to recover its place of leadership in the U.S., providing it deserves that help. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ed Koch is the former mayor of New York City
I find it funny that we're talking about the death of the Democratic Party when the party lost like 2 senate seats and a handful of house seats, while gaining governerships in light of a massively popular President and absolutely inept Democratic leadership. I also find it odd how we make such a big deal that the Republican gains during midterm elections have happened only twice in the last gazillion years when the last time it happened was 1998 and the Democrats gained seats during a Democratic presidency. Democrats performed well below expectations. There's no evidence to suggest there's some massive tide of Republican support flowing across the country, though.
I would be suprised if the School of the Americas registered AT ALL on most voters minds. And I am talking about people who actually VOTE. I would be even more shocked if the majority of Americans even knew what the School of the Americas IS, and I am talking about those who vote or not. Besides, its a good thing.
