Honestly - a pretty good speech by Bush last night - he generally does well with some time to prepare. The real stinker was the Dem rebuttal -- completely unwatchable.
it annoyed me that bush kept snickering in the first half of his speech. maybe he realized the irony in his words. the entire first half of the speech was just dripping with irony. he proposed a couple of new programs yet he wants to keep the tax cuts permanent??? how does he expect to pay for his proposals? our debt is 9 trillion! however, i do have to agree with him as far as iraq goes. over all the speech wasnt that bad. he didnt put his foot in his mouth. but its painfully obvious that the democrats and republicans arent going to budge an inch in bush's last year.
Property Taxes are set by the State, not the US Government the only homeowners that are losing their homes at high levels were the ones dumb enough to get ARM mortgages when rates were at there all time lowest...did they honestly expect rates at an all time low to NOT go up? Yet Test scores are up, especially for minorities highways and bridges are handles & funded by the state & county governments..NOT the Feds. You're right about the borders needing more security...I'll give you that. Clinton did more to invade privacy than this administration. In 1995 Clinton authorized physical wiretappings (ie..breaking into homes to physically tap a line) in the name of US Security. - We remain mired in Iraq – a war built on lies and manipulated intelligence.[/QUOTE] Lets not forget, that the UN and most other countries had similiar intelligence and had the same conclusions that our intelligence community came up with, but noone is calling them liars. Also, in the White House's original 10 reasons for going to war with Iraq, Nowhere does it say that there is any PHYSICAL link to Al Qeida or 911.
Let's not forget that there was contradicting intel that cast doubt on a lot of those findings. Most importantly let's remember that there were inspectors already in Iraq that were able to verify the falsity of the intel, but rather than let them continue and finish their job, Bush decided to start the war. That is why we have other steps in place, besides just some rumor that intel picks up and then we start a war. Checking on the veracity of suspected intel and making the war last step rather than one of the first steps is part of being a civilized nation.
He did do that. But he didn't do more to invade privacy. Clinton's measures still had checks and balances. Bush has done his utmost to remove those checks and balances from the system.
This is funny. Any idea why test scores are up? It wouldn't have anything to do with No Child Left Smart that basically makes teachers teach to a freaking test. You wouldn't believe how much homework comes home for my kids that is TAKS prep. I would say a good 75% if not more.
Some. Eisenhower created the Interstate system and many roads and bridges are dependent on Federal funds. though the money usually ends up in state hands. That's why every year there's a big fight over the Highway Bill.
I'd like another reading from the book of Jeffster. I have never been more enlightened in all of my years. I'm talking epiphany. I now fully understand the error of my ways and am ready to stand with my brothers-in-arms Basso, Trader Jorge, BigTexx, and Jeffster to keep this country from falling into the commie loving hands of the libpigs. Alright boys, who are we going to vote for who can replace our beloved W? Is Herbert Hoover available? Alfred E. Neuman? Lloyd Christmas?
what a suprise, those that have consitently been against him are bashing and those who been for are for. but jeffster brings up a great point about respect...any many here have very little.
I have no repsect for the highest office in our country because the individuals holding that office have not given me any reason to respect them for a long time.
I'm not going to argue the rest because I simply don't have the energy. However, this remark is just plain dumb. Test scores are up, yet students are going to college more underprepared than at any time in history. All they know how to do any more is take a damn test. NCLB is a joke and any teacher in this country will tell you the same.
I've been enjoying reading the posts in response to Jeffster's response to, well, me, I suppose. Having bookmarked this thread for future historical reference, I can now relax and respond to something that is so true... MB's post. I've got 2 very bright kids going to public schools. They're going to magnet schools in Austin and are both G&T. My wife and I assume it's because intelligence skips a generation. We must have been skipped! At any rate, MB is right on target. My kids can practically sleep through the TAKS test, or whatever they are calling it now, and just nail it. Sadly, they are forced to sit through endless hours of class time which could be used for, oh, teaching history or geography or science. You know, all those subjects we lag behind the other First World countries in teaching our children. Why do our kids have to do this? What happened to local control of public schools? Our teachers are called on the carpet if their TAKS scores aren't up to snuff, even if they have children with special needs. All too often, those children are lumped in with the rest and the class scores go down. "Teaching for the test" is driving away many excellent teachers. I know several and a couple have simply retired. What is happening is the "dumbing down" of our public school system and it is a travesty. Mr. Bush shouldn't be proud of this, if he is even aware of what is going on (probably not. he's a most incurious man. one of the most incurious fellows we've ever had as President). Thanks, MB. Carry on, folks. Impeach Bush. Save basso!!!
Deckard you advocation for more local control of public schools piqued my interest - are you a proponent of parental choice / school vouchers?
No, not at all. I mean local control as in local school districts. State guidelines might be useful, but I've always thought the Federal government should stay out of it. I don't have a problem with parents who want to home school or send their kids to private schools, but the public school system is short enough on cash as it is without giving vouchers (or whatever they should be called) to folks. I can understand why some might be for it. Just price a good private school and one could see the appeal. I'm not for them, however. We could have sent our kids to private schools, but we think that the experience in public schools is a worthy one, warts and all. True, they go to magnet schools. If magnet schools didn't exist, as inconvenient as they sometimes are (being across town, in our case), we might have reconsidered and sent them to private schools. Depends on the school. Some of the "regular" public schools are excellent. Impeach Bush.
I don't think I've ever agreed with Deckard more. You may be starting late, but this is a good start, Deck. Do you want me to send you a copy of the Constitution?
