Website I'd like to share...
Posted By: ex animo on 2008-10-06
In Reply to:
Disclaimer: It will probably not appeal to the McCain supporters, so need for you make snarky remarks about it.
I don't even know how I ended up at this site, but it has so many topics on it, instead of recommending a link just to one or two, I'll give the whole page. Be sure to scroll down.
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/ (although I don't consider myself a 'wonk' LOL)
Try the home page too:
http://thinkprogress.org/
One of my favorite political websites, that I've been going to every day (and causing me to spend far less time on this board) is Talking Points Memo: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
Would anyone else like to share their favorite websites that are lib or nonpartisan? TIA
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If we can't share the wealth, we can at least share a laugh...nm
x
Please share, then
Please share who they really are, since you seem to know. I've been following this board for 4 years or so and I surely don't know who this poster is. Whoever they are, though, they speak the truth about your postings, Observer. You are not always the "lively" debater you claim to be when you utilize sarcasm, accusation and put-down so frequently.
I do notice that the posters from the Conservative board repeatedly accuse the posters on the Liberal board as all being the same person. Dream on.
probably not- they just share
the same talking points.
okay, let me share something with you
I found myself alone and with two children with NO child support for quite a while and YES, it does stink but you know I found a job and continued to better myself, eventually receiving a little over $200 a MONTH in child support for 2 children. Now, I don't blame anyone for my situation. I made some poor choices along the way and I PICKED MYSELF BACK UP, prayed,and did the best I could. I received AFCD for ONE MONTH... I received food stamps for ONE MONTH and after that the only other thing that helped me was a little bit of help to cover what my insurance through work didn't cover for my children; that lasted about a year. After that, not a thing... I was back on my feet, I was making better money and working two jobs, one from home. There is all sorts of help out there already and it is awful nice that it was there to help me and my children in our time of need but ya know what?? I was grateful for that. I never once thought I was owed that help and never once complained when that help stopped.
I also know a couple of people who took advantage of the financial aid for school, etc. and when they were done they were able to make the money they needed to survive.
I feel for your daughter, I really do..... but it will get better if she keeps going and strives for more than the $10/hour job.... raise her expectations a little bit and she will get there.... You know no one said this life was going to be easy and I've had my share of hardships too, mostly brought on by poor choices. I will pray for your daughter this evening and I hope things will get better for her.
There are good people out and there may be room for more help to the ones who are helping themselves if the ones who are not willing to change their circumstances and are satisfied with all the help they get continue to live off the taxpayers' money.
IMO if someone is receiving ANY kind of government assistance, they need to be drug tested and made to be accountable for every cent they receive. If they can't NO MORE HELP. PERIOD.
There are plenty of people out there on disability for back injuries for instance who are collecting a check and who knows what else YET they go out and paint houses or do construction work and get paid under the table. Do you know that in Indiana, if you receive disability, once you are approved, they do not check again, unless they have received a complaint and even then, no guarantee they would lose it. Funny how I personally know someone who applied for disability and received it within 2 months and I know another person who had to use continuous oxygen and had other real medical issues that kept him from working and he had to appeal a denial for two years, after having to retain an attorney, before they would approve his. There is something definitely wrong with that picture.
Also, there are so many people in the grocery line, using their WIC or food debit cards and then go outside to a nicer car than I have... maybe it's a relatives, who knows? But they are dressed in nice clothes and eating steak and high $$$ food that I can't always fit into our budget, and I see them with 5 kids.
Some people learn from their mistakes and some people don't think they have made mistakes and continue to manipulate the system and quite frankly it disgusts me.
Sorry this is so long, I haven't even said everything I would like, but I sincerely hope something works out for your daughter.
I would try if you had any to share.
x
What website did this come from?
I can take a guess. 
Is there a website?
Do you know of websites where you can find out what others thing.
I am not voting for these two candidates and no one is even talking about the Independent candidates or any others. This is a really biased election.
website
www.barackobama.com-pdf-ObamaBlueprintForChange. I haven't read all the way through it yet, so I can't say any of it is actually doable or realistic. I think it's actually a very well put together thesis, but as far as a plan goes, I'm not so sure yet. Anyway, food for thought.
I can go to his website...
the question was about the economic crisis, not what his economic policies were prior to the crisis. Since the crisis he has said he doesn't know if he can go forward with all his plans...and when asked to be more specific, he can't. Which means zip, zilch, nada.
his website
John McCain's Higher Education Policy
Prepare for the 21st Century in Higher Education
America is facing increased competition from overseas like never before. Higher education is as much a part of that competition as the job sector, and we must rise to the challenge and modernize our universities so that they retain their status as producers of the most skilled workforce in the world. The answer is not to impose more regulations on institutions, but to encourage the government to support innovative approaches to education, removing regulatory barriers that prevent us from moving forward with new ideas.
Improve Information for Parents
Institutions report on hundreds of factors to the U.S. government every year, but the government does nothing with the information. Making this information available to families in a clear and concise manner will help more students make more informed choices about higher education.
Simplify Higher Education Tax Benefits
The existing tax benefits are too complicated, and many eligible families don’t claim them. By simplifying the existing benefits, I can ensure that a greater number of families have a lower tax burden when they are helping to send their children to college.
Simplify Federal Financial Aid
Too many programs and a complicated application process deter many eligible students from seeking student aid. The number of programs also makes it more difficult for financial aid officers to help students navigate the process. Consolidating programs will help simplify the administration of these programs, and help more students have a better understanding of their eligibility for aid.
Improve Research by Eliminating Earmarks
Earmarking is destroying the integrity of federally funded research. Billions of dollars are spent on pork barrel projects every year; significant amounts come from research budgets. Eliminating earmarks would immediately and significantly improve the federal government’s support for university research.
Fix the Student Lending Programs
We have seen significant turmoil in student lending. John McCain has proposed an expansion of the lender-of-last resort capability of the federal student loan system and will demand the highest standard of integrity for participating private lenders. Effective reforms and leveraging the private sector will ensure the necessary funding of higher education aspirations, and create a simpler and more effective program in the process.
John McCain's Plan for Strengthening America's Schools
Today, John McCain Outlined His Vision For Strengthening Education To Ensure Opportunity For Every American. John McCain's education policy removes needless bureaucracy, empowers parents, teachers and principals and ensures that every child has the opportunity to gain from a quality education.
John McCain's Education Principles:
John McCain Will Enact Meaningful Reform In Education. Now is the time to demand real, new reform earned through discipline, grinding work, tough choices and leadership. John McCain has dedicated his career in public service to the hard and sometimes unpopular work of achieving meaningful reform.
The Education System Must Provide For Equality Of Choice. Too many of our children are trapped by geography and by economics in failing schools.
We Must Empower Parents. Involved and empowered parents and excellent teachers are the two greatest determining factors in a child's education. If we are to succeed, we must empower committed parents with critical knowledge about their child's performance, and empower them with real and meaningful choices to act upon that knowledge.
We Must Empower Teachers. If America is to truly reform public education and make good on the promise of individual freedom and independence through knowledge, we must ensure that every child has the opportunity to be inspired and motivated to achieve their potential by a strong classroom leader.
John McCain's Education Policy:
John McCain Will Build On The Lessons Of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). There should be an emphasis on standards and accountability. However, our goal cannot be group averages. Instead, our focus should be to inspire every child to strive to reach his or her potential. While NCLB has been invaluable in providing a clear picture of which schools and students are struggling, it is only the beginning of education reform.
John McCain Will Provide Effective Education Leadership. John McCain is committed to high standards and accountability, but he is also committed to providing the resources needed to succeed. He believes we should invest in people, parents and reward achievement.
John McCain Will Work To Ensure That Our Children Have Quality Teachers. The single biggest challenge in turning around a failing school is getting quality teachers into that school. To overcome this challenge, John McCain will:
Encourage Alternative Certification Methods That Open The Door For Highly Motivated Teachers To Enter The Field. John McCain will devote five percent of Title II funding to states to recruit teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or who participate in an alternative teacher recruitment program such as Teach for America, the New York City Teaching Fellowship Program, the New Teacher Project, or excellent university initiatives.
Provide Bonuses For Teachers Who Locate In Underperforming Schools And Demonstrate Strong Leadership As Measured By Student Improvement. John McCain will devote 60 percent of Title II funding for incentive bonuses for high performing teachers to locate in the most challenging educational settings, for teachers to teach subjects like math and science, and for teachers who demonstrate student improvement. Payments will be made directly to teachers. Funds should also be devoted to provide performance bonuses to teachers who raise student achievement and enhance the school-wide learning environment. Principals may also consider other issues in addition to test scores such as peer evaluations, student subgroup improvements, or being removed from the state's "in need of improvement" list.
Provide Funding For Needed Professional Teacher Development. Where federal funds are involved, teacher development money should be used to enhance the ability of teachers to perform in today's technology driven environment. We need to provide teachers with high quality professional development opportunities with a primary focus on instructional strategies that address the academic needs of their students. The first 35 percent of Title II funding would be directed to the school level so principals and teachers could focus these resources on the specific needs of their schools.
John McCain Believes We Must Empower School Principals With Greater Control Over Spending. Funding cannot be effectively apportioned in Washington, but it shouldn't be a state-level official or district bureaucrat either. The money must be controlled by the leader we hold accountable: the school principal with a single criterion to raise student achievement.
John McCain Will Make Real The Promise Of NCLB By Giving Parents Greater Choice. Choice is the best way to protect children against a failing bureaucracy. But parents must have more control over the money.
John McCain Will Expand The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. In our nation's capital, we have seen the dramatic benefits of giving parents control of money and choices. The Opportunity Scholarship program serves more than 1,900 students from families with an average income of $23,000 a year. More than 7,000 more families have applied for that program. The budget for the Opportunity Scholarships is currently $13 million. John McCain believes that this extremely successful program should expand to at least $20 million benefiting nearly a thousand more families.
John McCain Will Ensure Children Struggling To Meet State Standards Will Have Immediate Access To High Quality Tutoring Programs. Local school districts can certify education service providers but providers can also bypass the local bureaucracy and receive direct federal certification. Education service providers can then market directly to parents. Title I money will be directed straight to the provider.
John McCain Supports Expanding Virtual Learning By Reforming The "Enhancing Education Through Technology Program." John McCain will target $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools and support the development of online course offerings for students. These courses may be for regular coursework, for enhancement, or for dual enrollment into college.
John McCain Will Allocate $250 Million Through A Competitive Grant Program To Support States That Commit To Expanding Online Education Opportunities. States can use these funds to build virtual math and science academies to help expand the availability of AP Math, Science, and Computer Sciences courses, online tutoring support for students in traditional schools, and foreign language courses.
John McCain Will Offer $250 Million For Digital Passport Scholarships To Help Students Pay For Online Tutors Or Enroll In Virtual Schools. Low-income students will be eligible to receive up to $4,000 to enroll in an online course, SAT/ACT prep course, credit recovery or tutoring services offered by a virtual provider. Providers could range from other public schools, virtual charter schools, home school parents utilizing virtual schooling resources or district or state sponsored virtual schools. The Department of Education would competitively award the funds to a national scholarship administrator who would manage the student applications, monitoring, and evaluation of providers.
There's even a website!! LOL! (nm)
*
There's even a website!! LOL! (nm)
*
It has obviously been taken off his website since...(sm)
because of the backlash he got from it. However, others have a record.
http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2009/02/hannitys-america-what-kind-of.html
Thanks, that was great. May I share
You've probably already read it, but it's worth reading more than once.
We’re Not in Lake Wobegon Anymore
How did the Party of Lincoln and Liberty transmogrify into the party of Newt Gingrich’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk?
By Garrison Keillor August 26, 2004
Something has gone seriously haywire with the Republican Party. Once, it was the party of pragmatic Main Street businessmen in steel-rimmed spectacles who decried profligacy and waste, were devoted to their communities and supported the sort of prosperity that raises all ships. They were good-hearted people who vanquished the gnarlier elements of their party, the paranoid Roosevelt-haters, the flat Earthers and Prohibitionists, the antipapist antiforeigner element. The genial Eisenhower was their man, a genuine American hero of D-Day, who made it OK for reasonable people to vote Republican. He brought the Korean War to a stalemate, produced the Interstate Highway System, declined to rescue the French colonial army in Vietnam, and gave us a period of peace and prosperity, in which (oddly) American arts and letters flourished and higher education burgeoned—and there was a degree of plain decency in the country. Fifties Republicans were giants compared to today’s. Richard Nixon was the last Republican leader to feel a Christian obligation toward the poor.
In the years between Nixon and Newt Gingrich, the party migrated southward down the Twisting Trail of Rhetoric and sneered at the idea of public service and became the Scourge of Liberalism, the Great Crusade Against the Sixties, the Death Star of Government, a gang of pirates that diverted and fascinated the media by their sheer chutzpah, such as the misty-eyed flag-waving of Ronald Reagan who, while George McGovern flew bombers in World War II, took a pass and made training films in Long Beach. The Nixon moderate vanished like the passenger pigeon, purged by a legion of angry white men who rose to power on pure punk politics. “Bipartisanship is another term of date rape,” says Grover Norquist, the Sid Vicious of the GOP. “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” The boy has Oedipal problems and government is his daddy.
The party of Lincoln and Liberty was transmogrified into the party of hairy-backed swamp developers and corporate shills, faith-based economists, fundamentalist bullies with Bibles, Christians of convenience, freelance racists, misanthropic frat boys, shrieking midgets of AM radio, tax cheats, nihilists in golf pants, brownshirts in pinstripes, sweatshop tycoons, hacks, fakirs, aggressive dorks, Lamborghini libertarians, people who believe Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk was filmed in Roswell, New Mexico, little honkers out to diminish the rest of us, Newt’s evil spawn and their Etch-A-Sketch president, a dull and rigid man suspicious of the free flow of information and of secular institutions, whose philosophy is a jumble of badly sutured body parts trying to walk. Republicans: The No.1 reason the rest of the world thinks we’re deaf, dumb and dangerous.
Rich ironies abound! Lies pop up like toadstools in the forest! Wild swine crowd round the public trough! Outrageous gerrymandering! Pocket lining on a massive scale! Paid lobbyists sit in committee rooms and write legislation to alleviate the suffering of billionaires! Hypocrisies shine like cat turds in the moonlight! O Mark Twain, where art thou at this hour? Arise and behold the Gilded Age reincarnated gaudier than ever, upholding great wealth as the sure sign of Divine Grace.
Here in 2004, George W. Bush is running for reelection on a platform of tragedy—the single greatest failure of national defense in our history, the attacks of 9/11 in which 19 men with box cutters put this nation into a tailspin, a failure the details of which the White House fought to keep secret even as it ran the country into hock up to the hubcaps, thanks to generous tax cuts for the well-fixed, hoping to lead us into a box canyon of debt that will render government impotent, even as we engage in a war against a small country that was undertaken for the president’s personal satisfaction but sold to the American public on the basis of brazen misinformation, a war whose purpose is to distract us from an enormous transfer of wealth taking place in this country, flowing upward, and the deception is working beautifully.
The concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the few is the death knell of democracy. No republic in the history of humanity has survived this. The election of 2004 will say something about what happens to ours. The omens are not good.
Our beloved land has been fogged with fear—fear, the greatest political strategy ever. An ominous silence, distant sirens, a drumbeat of whispered warnings and alarms to keep the public uneasy and silence the opposition. And in a time of vague fear, you can appoint bullet-brained judges, strip the bark off the Constitution, eviscerate federal regulatory agencies, bring public education to a standstill, stupefy the press, lavish gorgeous tax breaks on the rich.
There is a stink drifting through this election year. It isn’t the Florida recount or the Supreme Court decision. No, it’s 9/11 that we keep coming back to. It wasn’t the “end of innocence,” or a turning point in our history, or a cosmic occurrence, it was an event, a lapse of security. And patriotism shouldn’t prevent people from asking hard questions of the man who was purportedly in charge of national security at the time.
Whenever I think of those New Yorkers hurrying along Park Place or getting off the No.1 Broadway local, hustling toward their office on the 90th floor, the morning paper under their arms, I think of that non-reader George W. Bush and how he hopes to exploit those people with a little economic uptick, maybe the capture of Osama, cruise to victory in November and proceed to get some serious nation-changing done in his second term.
This year, as in the past, Republicans will portray us Democrats as embittered academics, desiccated Unitarians, whacked-out hippies and communards, people who talk to telephone poles, the party of the Deadheads. They will wave enormous flags and wow over and over the footage of firemen in the wreckage of the World Trade Center and bodies being carried out and they will lie about their economic policies with astonishing enthusiasm.
The Union is what needs defending this year. Government of Enron and by Halliburton and for the Southern Baptists is not the same as what Lincoln spoke of. This gang of Pithecanthropus Republicanii has humbugged us to death on terrorism and tax cuts for the comfy and school prayer and flag burning and claimed the right to know what books we read and to dump their sewage upstream from the town and clear-cut the forests and gut the IRS and mark up the constitution on behalf of intolerance and promote the corporate takeover of the public airwaves and to hell with anybody who opposes them.
This is a great country, and it wasn’t made so by angry people. We have a sacred duty to bequeath it to our grandchildren in better shape than however we found it. We have a long way to go and we’re not getting any younger.
Dante said that the hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who in time of crisis remain neutral, so I have spoken my piece, and thank you, dear reader. It’s a beautiful world, rain or shine, and there is more to life than winning.
I don't think it's safe too share too much on here. SM
I did it once and I was crucified for it. Won't do it again. Truthfully, and this is not meant to be mean, I don't think I would have much in common with most on this board at all.
Please share with me how I'm 100% wrong here.
.
I do not share your minimization....
of a very accomplished woman. And I agree that the American people are intelligent enough to realize that fact.
Obama = socialism and redistribution of wealth, and all his "plans" will stick a knife in the heart of an already challenged economy.
NOBAMA. :)
I don't share her views but no need to ban her. nm
They share the SAME PHILOSOPHIES!!!
It has nothing to do with Ayers being an advisor, mentor etc. THEY SHARE THE SAME PHILOSOPHIES -- don't you guys get it????
maybe they can share technology....I would take one of these too!
http://www.teslamotors.com/
I wish I could share your confidence. (sm)
Bush made frequent use of "signing statements" in order to get what he wanted, and not all of them were publicized at the time. He would sign the bill and then add a little "P.S." that basically nullified it if Bush so chose.
If this vehicle is available to Obama, as well, then we may not know it for a while. 
Please be so kind as to share where
you get your information. I am interested in reading or watching what has you so concerned. My interpretation of current events is much different than yours appear to be.
Please share the stories of these
Poor mistreated, misguided kids. If this were happening, the nightly news would be flooded with stories, continuously, nonstop day in and day out. That's all you would hear. Please give us a break. You are breaking my heart...
Great website!
I think the folks interviewed regarding Krgzystan (spelling?) definitely drank WAY too much Koolaid.
Great website.
I especially enjoyed the other topics such as 'Disney Does Democrats' and 'Starbucks and Mermaid Teats.' Yes, I am sure whatever that site has to say is 300% true.
Yes, you must have permission of that website to cut...sm
and paste anything, or any other website, so posting a link is the way to go.
Website recommendation. sm
As far as I can tell the below website is truly bipart. You will find info., dirt, whatever you want to call it on both sides. The front page does have more Rep. stuff at the moment, but that is because the RNC just go over with. It was just the opposite after the DNC. If anyone knows if it is not bipart. let me know as I have referred a few friends to it. If the site has already been posted, I apologize; I've been off the computer up until today. Here it is:
www.factcheck.org
Interesting website....
http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/
Whenyou get there, click on the clip of the documentary. Very illuminating...and not all that surprising.
Take this website and stick it
you know where. We all know PUBS are the ones who cheat. Please, what is wrong with you, really???
Can I get a witness, i mean website
I'm looking for a site that details these "bailout plans". I want to know what Capitol Hill wants to do with my tax money. Can anyone direct me to a website that is strictly factual, not politically driven to bias me to 1 party of the other, that would lay out the exact plan?
An interesting website
I came across this. There are too many similarities. I'm not saying they are alike, but some other people have found these similarities. I for one found the most shocking part of it in the campaign poster from back then (same motto - I think Obama should have done some research first and picked a different motto).
http://yedies.blogspot.com/2008/07/obama-campaign-not-unlike-adolf-hitlers.html
Messiah website...
http://obamamessiah.blogspot.com/
No, I only just saw this website just now too...someone else posted it....sm
I only posted the article by Col. North because I like how he writes.
But it does look like there are people out there that think this way. I had no idea this website existed either, until just now. oh boy....good grief is definitely right.
I believe it is a website pointing out that there are...
people out there who do believe he is the "messiah." Not necessarily sent from God, but has become a deity to them. Did you read all the quotes on the site? Those are real quotes from real people...Obama DID use that "presidential seal" depicted there until people got outraged and he stopped using it. It is very, very concerning. And I think the answer is yes...there are a lot of people out there mesmerized by him. NO matter WHAT comes out of his mouth, they believe it. Did you see the star-gazed way they look at him? The kids "singing for their leader?" Wayyyy too freaky for me. Of course, I was not going to vote for him anyway because he is a flaming socialist, but this site would have given me serious pause if I had even thought about voting for him. Just my opinion.
And then you can tell her the real website
http://www.johnmccain.com/
This is from the LATimes website
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-video30-2008oct30,0,1408449.story
This is just an excerpt:
Editors at The Times and the reporter who wrote an article in April about Obama's connection to the Palestinian scholar, Rashid Khalidi, said they were ethically bound to abide by a promise to a confidential source not to share the video.
So they definitely do have the video, they are just "ethically bound" to not share it.
Since when does the news care about ethics? They are just loving the controversy and I'm sure their sales are up from everyone making a big hoopla about them.
might check his website,
mikehuckabee.com
They posted the website
It is just above the reply by email option. It is nice when people actually post links correctly. Thank you.
Did you ever think to check his website to see exactly
what this issue is about. The article sounds like it was written by Oral Roberts to tell you the truth. If something does not look nor sound right to me, I usually ignore. You ought to do the same and quit getting worked up over something that probably does not have a leg to stand on. In other words, ridiculous.
Amen...does he have a website?
Possibly peppering him with emails on suggestions we can present to our representatives and also employ ourselves would be beneficial.
A website was set up for her asking for donations....
mostly instead of donations she got death threats.
Uh, oh....What's that I see on MSNBC's website?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31048825/
of course I didn't share my feelings with my son, but thank you. nm
nm
I share your sentiments totally. sm
Some would see this as political from the get-go. They would read this and dismiss it saying, oh those stupid Republicans. It has not penetrated some of their conscious or subconscious thinking that there really is more to this than politics. The stakes are more than high. Historically, Muslims spread Islam barbarically and without mercy and were ony stopped from taking Europe by the Crusades. They are ready to spread again, only this time, it is the United States they have their eyes on. I found this article that I believe illustrates not only what will happen, but has a good understanding of what is happening now.
Preventing a Premature Exit From Iraq
By Ed Feulner
CNSNews.com Commentary
October 19, 2006
BAGHDAD (Jan. 21, 2009) -- Iraq's bloody civil war worsened today, when 10,000 heavily armed troops from the Shiite state of Shiastan pushed north from Najaf and Rumaythah. The attack threatened to trap three battalions of U.S.-backed Sunnis in the region.
The latest round of fighting has triggered a new wave of refugees into Kuwait and Jordan, the United Nations reported today. Millions of Iraqis have fled the country since American troops pulled out in 2006, a controversial withdrawal that al Qaeda celebrates as a watershed victory.
Word of today's offensive pushed crude oil prices to $210 per barrel, a new record, certain to cause problems for the newly inaugurated American president ...
All right, enough with the doom and gloom. The preceding paragraphs are fiction, but they reflect what's likely to happen if the United States pulls out of Iraq before the country is stabilized and able to function on its own. Unfortunately, some of our politicians want to do exactly that.
We believe that a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq should begin before the end of 2006, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wrote in a letter both signed in August. Even if our task there remains unfinished?
As President Bush put it on Oct. 11, when you pull out before the job is done, that's cut and run as far as I'm concerned. And that's cut and run as far as most Americans are concerned.
Heritage Foundation experts James Carafano and James Phillips explained in a recent paper what's likely to happen if we withdraw quickly. Such a shortsighted U.S. policy would be a severe blow to the Iraqi security situation, Iraqi oil exports, U.S. allies in the region, the global war against terrorism and the future of all Iraqis, they write.
If we leave now, we'd leave the Iraqi army (with all its heavy weapons) up for grabs. That's likely to spark a civil war, as soldiers align themselves into religious and regional militias.
Under that scenario, we can expect Iran -- already a regional power -- to support the Shiite Muslims in the south, a move that would give Tehran control of most of Iraq's oil. Not that this would necessarily keep the oil flowing; as the civil war escalated, guerrillas would cut pipelines and blow up oil wells.
Right now, Iraq produces 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, and the country's government aims to increase that to 2.7 MBD by year's end. If production is disrupted, though, worldwide prices would skyrocket.
If we cut and run, Iraqi civilians would be the biggest losers. Millions would flee the starvation, disease and destruction that civil war brings. Meanwhile, al Qaeda would tout its role in forcing the U.S. out, providing a huge recruiting boom for the terrorist group.
This doesn't mean we should stay indefinitely. As they say, there are only two exit strategies from any war: A country can win and go home, or it can lose and go home. Either way, all our troops eventually will exit Iraq. What really matters is what they leave behind.
We've made progress in Iraq, and we'll continue to do so. Many of al Qaeda's senior leaders have been killed or captured and the group's popularity among the Iraqis is low. We need to keep training Iraqi forces and preparing them to stand on their own.
In the long run, only Iraqis can assure the success of Iraq. But if, in the short run, we cut and run, we guarantee failure -- for them and for us. We can avoid the bleak future outlined above. But we must steel our resolve to get the job done right.
(Ed Feulner is the president of The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research institute.
I share your concerns and agree
with everything you have said, but after having been in this business since the early 70s, I've learned never to expect anyone to speak up on behalf of MTs except the MTs themselves. I have never paid membership fees to AAMT and have never had the need to pay for certification, but I would pay MT union due in a heartbeat.
I expected that so where do you all get your info...please share so ...sm
we can all be on the same page here. I love how people criticize but back it up with nothing. And again I repeat...this is just ONE of the places I go to the ONLY place I go to.
So where do you go to get your info? DO TELL...
BTDT. Just thought you might want to share
nm
Sounds like we share the same governor...
don't even get me started on property taxes. Where is that decrease he promised?? lol. Shoulda known.
I'll share. Put this in your pipe
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fannie9-2008sep09,0,4063126.story
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs To Get Golden Parachutes"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/08/AR2008090802605.html?hpid=topnews
"Ousted Fanny, Fredde CEOs Could Still See Big Paydays." Daniel Mudd (Fannie Mae) and Richard Syron (Freddie Mac), who are stepping down, have already made millions at the trouble mortgage giants and are expected to take away millions more.
http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSWAT01001720080909
"Obama Dismayed on Big Fannie Freddie Exit Packages."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/business/24gret.html?em
"What Will Mac 'n' Mae Cost You and me?"
http://www.thesunsfinancialdiary.com/investing/fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac-shares-are-worthless/
"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Shares are Worthless." Do you know what's in your 401K, IRA, mutual funds?
I thought this was not about anyone's fair share...
they had the ability to pass it and get on with it, and chose not to. And the only reason for that is, they did not want a Democrat majority tied to a "Bush" bill. They hated him last week, and now all I hear is "We are trying to pass the President's bill..." That is just too weird, old-timer, I'm sorry.
But they STOLE more than their fair share.
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