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The Neo-Cons promised smaller government but gave us the biggest we've ever had. They promised to protect our privacy but tap our phones and tell us how to live our lives. They promised to simplify the tax code but increased it from 5,000 to over 17,000 pages. They promise to protect our borders but they legalized border crossing in the '80s to break the unions with cheap labor. In '94 they promised to "Bring America Back" but outsource our jobs and sell off our ports and highways. Our economy was fine under Clinton and he didn't have to balance the budget or leave a surplus. He could have easily spent all of that but he didn't.
Neo-Con Republicans are just basically dishonest and their foreign policy is making enemies faster than our troops can kill them. This is never going to change until the traditional conservatives boot them out of office and take back the Republican Party. It's time for a change and the purpose of our government, according to the preamble of our US Constitution is to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
Let's try to restore those essential goals by establishing justice with fair and equitable treatment for All of the people not just a wealthy and privileged few. Ensure domestic tranquility with a fair and level playing field and protection from abusive and negligent private industry. Common defense that protects us from attack but does not wage wars of aggression. Promote the general welfare with healthcare and education for everyone and the elimination of severe poverty. Secure the blessings of liberty for our posterity by balancing the budget, eliminating our debt and protecting our environment.
These are the goals our country was founded on and we have always moved forward when we pursue them. Right now we are sliding down a deep hole and it is time to stop the digging and begin to repair the damage and the best start we have in front of us is to vote Republicans out of office this November.
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Here's something that seems like a solid candidate:
Imagine a 6 year period that resembles the following . . .
Terrorists hijack four US airliners crash two into the World Trade Center Towers, which brings them down killing thousands; they crash another into the Pentagon killing several hundred; another crashes into a field in PA.
In response to the attacks we launch two invasions. One is directed at the perpetrators of the attacks.
The larger of the two invasions is directed at someone with no involvement in the terrorist attacks, who happens to live in a pretty rough neighborhood.
Several years later in both countries we continue fighting with no forseeable end in sight. In fact, in at least one of the countries, our actions seem to be undermining the larger objective of making the world safer for the U.S. and its citizens. Thousands of U.S. troops are wounded and injured. Hundreds of billions are spents. U.S. prestige plummets.
In the meantime, our government engages in kidnappings and torture of foreign nationals. In some cases, the people are likely guilty of being involved in terrorism, in other cases they are demonstratable innocent. Whoops.
Civil liberties protections are undermined at home.
In the meantime, middle class wages stagnate; the national debt skyrockets, criminals openly solicit favors from our legislators during a period when a congressional ethics committee fails to meet for an entire one year period.
And that's only part of the story . . .
The GOP has no credibility when it comes to talking about what COULD happen.
And McCain *promised* to commit suicide... So not all stories are "horror stories"; some are lovely fairy tales to fall asleep on
The repealed tax cuts will simply restore the balance and make sure that the obscene-rich one percent of the population pays their dues; no one else will suffer the least bit.
Otherwsie.. we all should start learning Mandarin and I, for one, am a bit long-in-the-tooth for that caper.
It's one thing to raise issues about a president's management of domestic and foreign affairs--it's another to toss him out with two years remaining. Hopefully, the Democrats will bring issues to light and let voters voice their discontent in 2008.
I suspect impeachment would end up engendering sympathy for Bush that he doesn't deserve.
As far as Rumsfeld goes, my belief is that, at this point, the primary blame rests with G.W. Don't get me wrong, I agree that Rumsfeld has been a disaster, but Bush is the commander-in-chief--he's the one who bears ultimate responsibility for policy failures. G.W. should have been asking tough questions of his subordinates rather than delegating responsibility wholesale to his V.P. and the SecDefense. The problem as I see it is with G.W. Bush.
To start out with impeachment would maybe get Bush sympathy because many people are clueless and have a Fox News view of things. But, if legitimate investigations begin and evidence and information starts to come out, it may be the the public itself that calls for impeachment.
Apparently, Congress for the last six years has put in less work hours then ever before. (Most of them can phone in their rubberstamp votes!) With a Dem majority they can start working for their very generous pay checks. They can work on all the problems we face today AND investigations of the war.