Sorry, but that article is loaded with opinion. I'm not buying the

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the one about the food should be passed. We have no idea what we are eating anymore. Food comes from different countries that don't have our strict guidelines on food safety and apparently, are not enforced enough.

I cringe every time I go to the store and see peppers and tomatoes from Chile, Mexico, Peru, or from wherever. Heck, my produce store rarely labels where the foods come from so I don't buy then. How do we know what pesticides they use? I try to buy American fresh veggies and fruits but sometimes it's not possible.

I remember a time when you couldn't get strawberries or other fruits and vegetables in winter because the growing season was over. Problem is, times have changed. Food comes from all over the globe and "in season" veggies and fruits are a thing of the past. Although it IS convenient, it still bothers me.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Federal auditors said on Friday that the Bush administration violated the law by buying favorable news coverage of President Bush's education policies, by making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party.

In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated covert propaganda in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.

The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.

Lawyers from the accountability office, an independent nonpartisan arm of Congress, found that the administration systematically analyzed news articles to see if they carried the message, The Bush administration/the G.O.P. is committed to education.

The auditors declared: We see no use for such information except for partisan political purposes. Engaging in a purely political activity such as this is not a proper use of appropriated funds.

The report also sharply criticized the Education Department for telling Ketchum Inc., a public relations company, to pay Mr. Williams for newspaper columns and television appearances praising Mr. Bush's education initiative, the No Child Left Behind Act.

When that arrangement became public, it set off widespread criticism. At a news conference in January, Mr. Bush said: We will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet.

But the Education Department has since defended its payments to Mr. Williams, saying his commentaries were no more than the legitimate dissemination of information to the public.

The G.A.O. said the Education Department had no money or authority to procure favorable commentary in violation of the publicity or propaganda prohibition in federal law.

The ruling comes with no penalty, but under federal law the department is supposed to report the violations to the White House and Congress.

In the course of its work, the accountability office discovered a previously undisclosed instance in which the Education Department had commissioned a newspaper article. The article, on the declining science literacy of students, was distributed by the North American Precis Syndicate and appeared in numerous small newspapers around the country. Readers were not informed of the government's role in the writing of the article, which praised the department's role in promoting science education.

The auditors denounced a prepackaged television story disseminated by the Education Department. The segment, a video news release narrated by a woman named Karen Ryan, said that President Bush's program for providing remedial instruction and tutoring to children gets an A-plus.

Ms. Ryan also narrated two videos praising the new Medicare drug benefit last year. In those segments, as in the education video, the narrator ended by saying, In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting.

The television news segments on education and on Medicare did not state that they had been prepared and distributed by the government. The G.A.O. did not say how many stations carried the reports.

The public relations efforts came to light weeks before Margaret Spellings became education secretary in January. Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for the secretary, said on Friday that Ms. Spellings regarded the efforts as stupid, wrong and ill-advised. She said Ms. Spellings had taken steps to ensure these types of missteps don't happen again.

The investigation by the accountability office was requested by Senators Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, both Democrats. Mr. Lautenberg expressed concern about a section of the report in which investigators said they could not find records to confirm that Mr. Williams had performed all the activities for which he billed the government.

The Education Department said it had paid Ketchum $186,000 for services performed by Mr. Williams's company. But it could not provide transcripts of speeches, articles or records of other services invoiced by Mr. Williams, the report said.

They don't want to buy any more of our debt, as our $ is almost worthless. They've been buying up homes in southern CA big-time. They already know that this most liberal "plan" will make the US self-destruct.

Those who voted for this man and refused to listen to many of us who said h'ed do this, don't cry to me. This is merely the beginning.

I do believe, based on all information available, that Plame was truly outed. There is no "opinion" involved here. It is either true or false, and in this case, it is true she was outed. Throw as much distraction and verbiage at it as you want, but the fact remains.

This is all pretty much a matter of opinion, why does one have to be stupid to vote for who they FEEL is the best candidate. None of them truly are qualified. We can gave education and we can gain experience, but when given the task at hand, how many actually succeed. I feel that the Bush administration has been the worst ever since I have become involved in politics over the years, but that is my personal opinion. Not only was he given one term and failed, but a second term and things got worse.

I am not pushing any buttons or trying to step on anyones toes. To me it does not matter what race, religion, or gender, have always been a democrat and nothing and no one can ever make me vote republican, but the replican administration that had the task of leading our country for the last 8 years has definitely turned some die hard republicans to say they will vote republican.

This is my thing, I'm poor in a sense that I do not have millions of dollars in the bank, the rising gas prices and food prices affect me tremendously, and I live below my means. The economy has changed, it is not good. I want to survive. I want to know that my job is safe, if I need financial assistance to save my home or feed my kids that it is available. There are more issues that hit home for me, just a few named above. I do not care that the gentleman who started AIG lost 3 billion dollars, so what how many millions do he have left. If I lose $100 that's a sore spot for me. They are saving financial insitutions with buyouts, spending billions on a war, and nothing to help the working Americans who lost their job and lost their homes and they were working hard just to survive.

I'm torn in a sense, but I do feel sorry for our country. How much more will we working Americans have to suffer.

Just my thought, part of the money that is been sent to fund this war, can we have it here in America to give to our people who are suffering from natural disasters (hurricanes, raging fires, jobs moved overseas, and all the other major crises surrounding us). What are we really striving for?

From reading her thesis....she just made it sound like ivy league colleges are directed towards the "Whites" and wondered if it was really beneficial for "Blacks" to attend these colleges in a predominant white setting. Stating that "Blacks" who attended Princeton found themselves grouped together but at the end of their education came to finding their way in the "White" world and forsaking the "Black Community." How some "Blacks" felt guilt because they felt they should help the low-income black community and hadn't and others felt no guilt and strived for a position in the white world like Princeton was to blame for these "Blacks" building a life for themself and their family instead of putting everything back into the black community.

It sounds to me like Michelle Obama is a bitter and arrogant black woman and her involvement and membership at Rev. Wright's church for 20 years is just more proof of that. As many times as Rev. Wright showed up in interviews and spatted hate and the empowerment of blacks against their white oppressors....you cannot tell me honestly that Barrack and Michelle NEVER heard any message like that when it seems like that is all that comes out of Rev. Wright's mouth.

I voted for the first time in 1960. The issue then was "Catholic." People were "scared" of a Catholic president.........much like Obama being "Muslim." Not much new since then except for the extensive media and internet. Of course the "Catholic" won. Some still say that election was bought by the Senior Kennedy. I happen to believe that now and I voted for him. At that time I was a young voter, JFK was young, good-looking and talked a good talk.

You say the media picked their "darling." I've watched TV consistently since the beginning of all this mess, starting with the primaries and I have seen no bias on CNN where I usually get my news and watch debates, etc. I did notice that Tom Tancredo (whom I supported) and Ron Paul were NOT given equal time in the debates. Anything I hear that does not come directly from the horse's mouth, I research and make up my own mind, thus I consider myself about as well-informed as anyone can be who doesn't personally know any of the candidates. I continue to be dismayed by posters on this board such as the above poster who says "Obama caught in the act." If this is the kind of ill-informed voters who actually vote and elect our leader, God save us all.

The ACORN thing. If I understand it correctly, the actual voter registration office that "discovered" the fradulent registrations is run by Republicans. So there you have it again...Dem vs. Pubs. They say they "don't have time to sort out the legitimate registrations"...Isn't that their job? Do you REALLY think ACORN is the only one guilty of voter fraud? I most certainly do not. Why do you think both parties steer far away from illegal immigration? Not a word have I heard from either candidate about illegal immigration. Why? Both are in favor of giving the free-loading, criminal invaders of our country "a path to citizenship," because both parties want the Latino vote, legal or otherwise.

To answer your question....I think our next leader will be decided by rabid voters who support the ticket, whichever group has the most rabid voters that actually turn out, and it looks to me like it may be the Republican ticket so it will not surprise me if John McCain is the next president. I personally know many people who say they are not going to vote because they, like myself, cannot support either candidate. I think there will probably be a huge voter turn-out and much of the turn-out will be newly registered voters and those who have bought into the Obama is a scary fellow campaign. Fear is the scary thing, it brings out the fight or flight instinct just as it is designed to do in this election. Seems many people can't see the forrest for the trees.