Straw poll

[cycloneworld]

Taxing everything wouldn't bother me so much if we dropped the Federal Income Tax and went with the 22% National Sales Tax. Do this and everyone ends up paying proportional to their income (something the current system would never be able to do). However, with Obama, I don't see him dropping income tax. In fact, I see him increasing it even higher than what Bush cut if from.

You are preaching to the choir my friend. However there is about a .0001% chance that ANYONE will drop the Federal Income Tax and go to the Fair Tax.

 

[ornryactor]

One area that Ron Paul tops all other presidential candidates is in campaign contributions from employees of the armed services, at 26.2 percent.Among Republican contenders Paul has at least 49.5 percent of polled military support or nearly as much as all others combined.

Link: Ron Paul - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm not saying you're wrong, because I have seen this statistic from reputable news outlets, but:

Please don't tell me you just cited Wikipedia as a reference on a presidential candidate! There are lots and lots and lots of topics (eg. most of them) where you can trust the information on Wikipedia, but current politics is NOT one of those topics! People are a lot more divided on presidential candidates than they are on fruit bats, for example. There are plenty of die-hard supporters of one candidate or another that think it is somehow helpful to subtly (or not-so-subtly) erase information or add lies to a rival candidate's page. This happens even outside of election campaigns; after all, George W. Bush and Condoleeza Rice's pages are protected from editing except by editors, and Ted Kennedy's page is completely locked down.

Wikipedia is a fabulous resource, but please don't use it for information on current and/or controversial politicians (meaning basically anyone born after 1900). There are so many other places out there with great information on whomever you'd like to know more about.

[/rant]

 

[thakeepa14]

You are kidding I hope. Madeline Albright was sorriest excuse we've had for a secretary of state since Alexander Haig. Look at what happened (and did not happen) in the Mideast under her watch. she was under the delusion that we could negotiate with the thug dictators running that part of the world and they took advantage of this whenever they could.

No, I'm not even close to kidding. Those are some thick partisan views clouding your eyes. Back then we actually were operating with some sort of respect abroad, especially in Europe. Those days are long gone, sec. Rice and her don't even belong in the same breath. I do love this quote though:
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argues that the democratic transformation of the Middle East is the only way to guarantee that men do not fly airplanes into buildings. Such rhetoric is overblown. Just because the denial of political freedom is bad, that doesn't mean that the exercise of freedom will always be to our liking. Democracy is a form of government; it is not a ticket to some heavenly kingdom where all evil is vanquished and everyone agrees with us." She goes on to argue for the very same democracy in very reasonable terms.

As you said, "what did or didn't happen in the Mideast".....well, we didn't under Albright's leadership enter a war costing the US alone close to 30,000 troops as of now. We operated and made decisions based on known intelligence rather than "hunches" that Saddam and al-Qaeda had strong ties. Not to mention the WMD's. We concentrated efforts hunting al-Qaeda and were rarely sidetracked. Iran posed less of a nuclear threat because the Iraqi tribes had only trivial reasons to have conflicts, now they've got plenty more targets outside of the middle east. The Israelis and Palestinians were negotiating MORE then than ever before in the thousands of years of conflicts. She stopped the genocide in Kosovo, potentially 2 million saved. By comparison, Bush has yet to make any ground in Darfur and won't be the time he's done, mainly because we've spread ourselves too thin. Oh, and she has never changed her position on Bush's mishaps, opposed the idiotic plans from day 1. We'd be in a hell of a lot better situation now with her vs. Rice.

 

[Incyte]

As you said, "what did or didn't happen in the Mideast".....well, we didn't under Albright's leadership enter a war costing the US alone close to 30,000 troops as of now.

30,000 troops as of now? You might want to rethink that figure. Everylife is too many but that's pretty misinformed.

IMHO, the inaction of the Clinton era is partly to blame for the quandry we are in now.

 

[jdoggivjc]

30,000 troops as of now? You might want to rethink that figure. Everylife is too many but that's pretty misinformed.

IMHO, the inaction of the Clinton era is partly to blame for the quandry we are in now.

You'll never get "Big Willie" to ever admit that, however...

 

[clone52]

30,000 troops as of now? You might want to rethink that figure. Everylife is too many but that's pretty misinformed.

IMHO, the inaction of the Clinton era is partly to blame for the quandry we are in now.

30,000 inclueds deaths and wounded. Probably some of those can go back to the military, so the number of soldiers lost is fewer, but I would imagine that many of them are out of the military.

 

[clone52]

You'll never get "Big Willie" to ever admit that, however...

You'll never get Bush to admit to a mistake either.

 

[cycloneworld]

You'll never get Bush to admit to a mistake either.

Seems to be a theme among the politicians.

 

[cycloneworld]

Taxing everything wouldn't bother me so much if we dropped the Federal Income Tax and went with the 22% National Sales Tax. Do this and everyone ends up paying proportional to their income (something the current system would never be able to do). However, with Obama, I don't see him dropping income tax. In fact, I see him increasing it even higher than what Bush cut if from.

I actually saw this in the DMR about Fred Thompson:

Fred Thompson on key issues

IRAQ: Thompson voted in 2002 for the resolution authorizing President Bush to use military force in Iraq and has been a supporter of the president's strategy to send more troops to stabilize Baghdad and other areas this year.

Thompson has said he will reserve judgment about the long-term U.S. strategy until after Gen. David Petraeus reports next month on the effectiveness of the so-called surge.

ABORTION: Thompson consistently voted in favor of abortion restrictions during his time in the Senate. A former law colleague of Thompson's said Thompson worked in the 1990s on behalf of a group working to relax restrictions on abortion. Aides have said Thompson may have been consulted by another lawyer in his firm who represented the group.

HEALTH CARE: Thompson opposes a national health care system, but he also voted against medical savings accounts, a policy supported by President Bush. Thompson also opposed allowing patients to sue health management organizations and to collect punitive damages.

ECONOMY, TAXES: Thompson has said he supports making the income tax cuts passed during the Bush administration permanent.

He has said he supports eliminating the tax code in favor of a 23 percent national sales tax, although aides have recently stepped back from that position.

IMMIGRATION: Thompson opposes blanket amnesty for people in the United States illegally, but he also says it is unreasonable to expect officials to round up and deport an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.

Thompson has said he supports a compromise that would allow illegal immigrants to work toward citizenship without putting them ahead of immigrants who abide by the law.

I had no idea that Thompson supports the fair tax. Hopefully he doesn't back all the way off it.

 

[isugcs]

Anyone going to the straw poll tomorrow?

 

[clones_jer]

Anyone going to the straw poll tomorrow?

my parents are going ... Mom's a Romney fan - Dad is torn between 3 candidates, Romney, Tancredo, and Huckabee, so he plans to make his decision depending on how's serving the best food :biggrin:

 

[Incyte]

When I went in 1999 I saw karl Malone and Reggie White there. I think I also saw Hayden Fry which made me sick to my stomach.