Politics & Government - 15 August 2007

Is it all Clinton's fault?

2007-08-15 12:57:16 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

We all know Fidel Castro and his disciples smullgle illegal drugs and illegal balseros into our country the USA! What R we gonna do ? ! Enforce Immigration Laws and hire more Coast Guards! yeah! more budgets for more anti-Immigration programs with west Indians and Mexicans neighbors in Latin Amerika

2007-08-15 12:55:55 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Immigration

I only ask because I want to be the best at what I do for my Army career. Once you get settled into your first duty station or whatever....do they help you to excel in your job and educate you on how to get to make rank and all of that? Im just worried that I won't get all the information I need off bat and I'll be left to fetch on my own.

2007-08-15 12:52:14 · 20 answers · asked by Ambitious27 3 in Military

Do you think we will ever elect a president by popular vote not electoral votes and why. As we have seen in the past a nominee can loose the presidential bid and win the popular votes. When will we see an elected president by popular vote , not just what Iowa and Florida and the others electoral vote do . Is there any other election you know of that is done in this way ? Don't you think if one candidate gets more votes than another they should win ? I don't care if your rep. dem. or independent . It just seems like the one with the most votes should win !

2007-08-15 12:50:35 · 13 answers · asked by xrocketdoctor 2 in Elections

What is the most important issue of the 2008 election? Hands down in poll after poll it is border security and immigration. Nothing could have made that more apparent than the reactions we saw going into the Iowa Straw Poll over the murder of three Newark, N.J., college students and the shooting of a fourth by an illegal Peruvian national. Immigration officials were aware of this man’s illegal status, the fact that he had a fake social security number, that he had been charged with the rape of a girlfriend’s 5 year old daughter, and an unrelated assault charge and he was allowed to remain in the U.S. to commit these horrible crimes.

We have laws on the book right now that prevent this from happening, but no one wants to enforce them. Excuses from financial burden, to lack of resources, to discrimination are used to prevent illegals from being arrested, charged, or deported. In many cases when an illegal is arrested for a crime, law enforcement officials are ordered by Immigration agencies to immediately release them. Our own Homeland Security and Immigration Departments are failing us and have no remorse or accountability for their actions (or inaction in these cases).

The case mentioned is only one of hundreds of thousands similar to it. The Bush administration would like you to believe that illegals are just poor, good folk looking for a better life. Well that is not always the case. For those who it is the case we must make legal immigration status easier to obtain, but we must secure our borders and we must know who is crossing them. These crimes do not generally affect those people making the decisions for the rest of us. If they did we would have a lot more representation and protection from our government.
If illegal immigrant crime struck the family or friend of our government officials, our immigration laws would be more strictly enforced.

Instead we have President Bush and Congress on HOLIDAY, while our children and families are being raped and murdered. How many 5 year olds and young promising students must we loose to illegal alien crime before they are concerned enough to do something about it. Are you willing to do something about it? I pray it has not already affected you and yours, but whether it has or not you must contact your representatives and demand that our immigration laws be enforced and our borders be secured. We cannot afford to keep paying the price; money cannot pay for the blood already shed.

2007-08-15 12:50:32 · 9 answers · asked by Untied States Of Latina 2 in Immigration

war on terror? Almost six full years after nine-eleven and anyone can still walk across. Is this his way of keeping America safe?

2007-08-15 12:50:07 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

wont a higher collective IQ only lead to a better society.

2007-08-15 12:48:20 · 20 answers · asked by larry j 3 in Law & Ethics

canceling her check she sent the wig back, I told her the sale was final and when the post office sent the money order (because it was cash on delivery and she couldnt cancel) I told her I would send the item back if she would give me the address again but she refused and said she would file charges for mail fraud, can she do this? what are my options

2007-08-15 12:48:04 · 8 answers · asked by tracystacy 2 in Law & Ethics

Wazz japenin' vatos ? coras para la laundreria y pa' parkear la troka.

2007-08-15 12:47:56 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Civic Participation

Is their a law on how many hours that any company can make you work? The company that I work for expects us to work 12 hours a day plus 8 on sat. and sun. (mandatory). And how many days of notice do they have to notify us of this?

2007-08-15 12:47:36 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Law & Ethics

This blog excerpt is courtesy of George. From his blog--->


"I'm confused. I can't understand it. Maybe you can.
I'm trying to get all this political stuff straightened out in my head.
Lemme see; have I got this straight?

Clinton awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Yugoslavia - good...
Bush awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Iraq - bad...

Clinton spends 77 billion on war in Serbia - good...
Bush spends 87 billion in Iraq - bad...

Clinton imposes regime change in Serbia - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...

Clinton bombs Christian Serbs on behalf of Muslim Albanian terrorists -good...
Bush liberates 25 million from a genocidal dictator - bad...

Clinton bombs Chinese embassy - good...
Bush bombs terrorist camps - bad...

Clinton commits felonies while in office - good...
Bush lands on aircraft carrier in jumpsuit - bad...

Stock market crashes in 2000 under Clinton - good...
Economy on upswing under Bush - bad...

2007-08-15 12:45:11 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

i need to know how to

report damge or need for repairs to roads and bridges

report damage to electrical power,sewermains and the water supply

report a hazardous material spill

and report a suspected water contamination

2007-08-15 12:39:37 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Law & Ethics

i see a magazine saying he is and then people on Y!A saying he's not.. i need acurate answers.. so if he's muslims thats really cool hope he wins 2008

2007-08-15 12:39:00 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

It's not actually in the constitution. Follow this link and read for yourselves the first amendment if you don't believe me:

http://www.constitutionfacts.com/index.cfm?section=constitution&page=billOfRights.cfm


With that said, I again ask "What's with 'separation of church and state'?" All that stuff that the government decides about what religions should or shouldn't be allowed (and stuff like that) is just a load of unconstitutional crap!

2007-08-15 12:34:04 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

Our daughter enlisted in the Guard to help out with college expenses. Before she could graduate from basic, she broke her leg. She has been held back trying to get her leg better. She was just starting to run on it again and now we found out today that she has now gone AWOL with a group of 7 others. What happens to her now?

2007-08-15 12:33:29 · 12 answers · asked by Sue S 2 in Military

this seems to be Republican foriegn policy at work?

I asked "why is pakistan an ally?"... no. 1 reason... because they have the bomb... is that a good reason? espeically since most experts think Osama is there?

I've also noticed that we've talked with N. Korea and made deals with them under Bush when they got the bomb?

and hardly a peep about China and everything they do...

is this why Iran wants it so bad? it seems if you have the bomb... you can host Osama in your nation and the U.S. won't bother you?

here's the question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Al4srMY8w2qhr7GjtaFenP_sy6IX?qid=20070814231007AASqbSL

2007-08-15 12:29:48 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

They say they stand for freedom but they are the first to ban stuff they don't like (guns, cigarettes)

They say they stand for diversity but they don't like you if you don't agree with their beliefs

They say they stand for upholding the law but they don't enforce it.

2007-08-15 12:27:32 · 24 answers · asked by foleycat 3 in Other - Politics & Government

Do you have your PhD?
How many books have you written?

It's funny how liberals always insult someone that is highly more intelligent.

2007-08-15 12:27:25 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

Yesterday, I asked a question about why Americans don't like to hear other languages spoken in the US, whereas they expect to be spoken to in English when they go abroad. Some of you pointed out that there is a difference between immigration and tourism, which is a very valid point. However, I would like to point out that people in most countries are very willing to speak English to both tourists and residents, as English is taught as a second language in most countries. For example, I know from experience that most shops, banks, etc. in Germany will have at least one English-speaking staff member, who will willingly talk in English to both tourists and residents if requested. Americans can and do take advantage of this. So why should we be upset when shops here make sure they have Spanish-speaking staff?

2007-08-15 12:27:00 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Immigration

to fund a border fence to prevent illegal immigration?

I mean if he is as concerned about it as he claims, would he not have done so?

2007-08-15 12:25:37 · 7 answers · asked by avail_skillz 7 in Politics

Can you tell me your experiences? Do you really get to travel the world and all that stuff? What's it like? How high do your grades need to be? How long do you have to stay, are you trapped there, and how much freedom do you have??

2007-08-15 12:25:10 · 7 answers · asked by Annie 5 in Military

Ok so I worked for this company and made 12.50 an hour plus a discount on my apartment. This new company came in and told us no pay or rent discounts would change. Next thing I know, they'd cut my to $11.11 plus my apartment discount (because my apartment discount was factored into my pay, which is stupid. So $11.11 + my apt discount = $12.50.) I found this out on the 30th of July, but the notice came down to my boss on the 18th and I was never told. Now that I've moved out my pay should go back up to $12.50 right? No! They say they're going to leave it at $11.11 an hour. Do I have any rights in this matter??

2007-08-15 12:24:53 · 17 answers · asked by likestoplaywithsquirrels 3 in Law & Ethics

Congress Must Cut Off Bush Family War Profits


by Evelyn Pringle

Global Research, April 10, 2007
Countercurrents.org - 2007-04-11


Email this article to a friend
Print this article


On Monday, April 9, 2007, the Boston Herald reported that the US military had announced the Easter weekend deaths of 10 more American soldiers, including six killed on Sunday. The Associated Press reports that, since the war began in March 2003, over 3,000 members of the US military have been killed in Iraq, as of April 8, 2007.

The military reported the deaths of four more US soldiers on Tuesday.

Its nearly impossible to estimate the number of deaths of civilians in Iraq, but the Herald reports that at least 47 people were killed or found dead in violence on Easter Sunday, including 17 execution victims dumped in the capital.

News releases out of Iraq also report that a woman wearing a black veil and strapped with explosives blew herself up outside a police station in Iraq on Tuesday, killing 16 people.

According to the January 14, 2007 LA Times, Steven Kosiak, director of budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, says that, starting with the anti-terrorism appropriation a week after the 9/11 attacks, he estimates the US has spent $400 billion fighting terrorism through fiscal 2006, which ended on September 30, 2006.

In January 2007, Marine Corps spokeswoman, Lt Col Roseann Lynch, told Reuters that the war in Iraq is costing about $4.5 billion a month for military “operating costs,” which did not include new weapons or equipment.

Since this war on terror was declared following 9/11, the pay levels for the CEOs of the top 34 defense contractors have doubled. The average compensation rose from $3.6 million during the period of 1998-2001, to $7.2 million during the period of 2002-2005, according to an August 2006, report entitled, "Executive Excess 2006," by the Washington-based, Institute for Policy Studies, and the Boston-based, United for a Fair Economy.

This study found that since 9/11, the 34 defense CEOs have pocketed a combined total of $984 million, or enough, the report says, to cover the wages for more than a million Iraqis for a year. In 2005, the average total compensation for the CEOs of large US corporations was only 6% above 2001 figures, while defense CEOs pay was 108% higher.

But the last name of one family, which is literally amassing a fortune over the backs of our dead heroes, matches that of the man holding the purse strings in the White House. On December 11, 2003, the Financial Times reported that three people had told the Times that they had seen letters written by Neil Bush that recommended business ventures in the Middle East, promoted by New Bridges Strategies, a firm set up by President Bush’s former campaign manager, who quit his Bush appointed government job as the head of FEMA, three weeks before the war in Iraq began.

Neil Bush was paid an annual fee to "help companies secure contracts in Iraq," the Times said.

But Neil Bush is by no means the only Bush profiting from the war on terror. The first President Bush is so entangled with entities that have profited greatly that it's difficult to even know where to begin. Bush joined the Carlyle Group in 1993, and became a member of the firm's Asian Advisory Board.

The Carlyle Group was best known for buying defense companies and doubling or tripling their value and was already heavily supported by defense contracts. But in 2002, the firm received $677 million in government contracts, and by 2003, its contracts were worth $2.1 billion.

Prior to 9/11, some Carlyle companies were not doing so well. For instance, the future of Vought Aircraft looked dismal when the company laid off 20% of its employees. But business was booming shortly after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq began, and the company received over $1 billion in defense contracts.

The Bush family's connections to the Osama bin Laden's family seem almost surreal. On September 28, 2001, two weeks after 9/11, the Wall Street Journal reported that, "George H.W. Bush, the father of President Bush, works for the bin Laden family business in Saudi Arabia through the Carlyle Group, an international consulting firm."

As a representative of Carlyle, one of the investors that Bush brought to Carlyle was the Bin Laden Group, a construction company owned by Osama's family. The bin Ladens have been called the Rockefellers of the Middle East, and the father, Mohammed, has reportedly amassed a $5 billion empire. According the Journal, Bush convinced Shafiq bin Laden to invest $2 million with Carlyle.

The Journal found that Bush had met with the bin Ladens at least twice between 1998 and 2000. On September 27, 2001, the Journal reported that it had confirmed that a meeting took place between Bush Senior and the bin Laden family through Senior's Chief of Staff, Jean Becker, but only after the reporter showed her a thank you note that was written and sent by Bush to the bin Ladens after the meeting.

The current President’s little publicized affiliation with the bin Laden family goes back to his days with Arbusto oil when Salem bin Laden funneled money through James Bath to bail out that particular failed company.

Probably the most eerie report about this strange group of bedfellows is that on 9/11, the day that served as a kick-off for the highly profitable war on terror, Shafiq bin Laden attended a meeting in the office of the Carlyle Group, and stood watching TV with other members of the firm as the WTC collapsed.

The fact that so many Saudis, including many bin Ladens, were allowed to fly out of the country right after 9/11, while Americans were still grounded, has always seemed a bit strange to most people also, especially when nobody in the Bush administration was able to explain who gave permission for the flights.

About a month after 9/11, in October 2001, the Carlyle Group severed its ties with the Bin Laden Group, but the Bush family did not. In January 2002, Neil Bush took a trip to Saudi Arabia that was sponsored by the Bin Laden Construction Company and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the same Prince who offered New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani $10 million to help the 9/11 victims, a gesture that Rudy refused.

In the fall of 2003, Bush Senior finally resigned from the Carlyle Group as the accusations of family war profiteering grew louder. However, according to the Washington Post, he still retained stock in the firm and gave speeches on its behalf for a fee of $500,000.

Carlyle companies have also scored big in the Homeland Security bonanza. Federal Data Systems and US Investigations Services hold multi-billion- dollar contracts to provide background checks for airlines, the Pentagon, the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. US Investigations used to be a federal agency, until it was privatized in 1996 and taken over by Carlyle.

Marvin and Jeb Bush are also highly successful members of the family war profiteering team. Marvin is a co-founder and partner in Winston Partners, a private investment firm, and Jeb is an investor in the Winston Capital Fund, which is managed by Marvin.

Winston Partners is part of the Chatterjee Group, which owned 5.5 million shares in a company called Sybase in 2001, a firm that had contracts worth $2.9 million with the Navy, $1.8 million with the Army and $5.3 million with the Department of Defense. All totaled, the federal procurement database listed the firm's contracts that year as $14,754,000.

And, Sybase was not the only company delivering war profits to Marvin and Jeb. The portfolio of Winston Partners also included the Amsec Corp, which, in 2001, was awarded $37,722,000 in Navy contracts.

Marvin's business partner, Scott Andrews, sat on the board of directors at AMSEC, and the company's CEO was Michael Braham, who formerly worked for Paul Bremer, the leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority responsible for handing out contracts Iraq.

This is the same Paul Bremer who used Iraqi money from the Development Fund for Iraq to award 5 no-bid contracts to Dick Cheney’s cash cow, Halliburton, worth $222 million, $325 million, $180 million, and $194 million combined for the last two, according to a July 28, 2004, report by the CPA Inspector General Stuart Bowen, entitled, "Comptroller Cash Management Controls over the Development Fund for Iraq."

As it turns out, Halliburton received 60% of all contracts paid for with Iraqi money. In a January 2005 report, Inspector Bowen concluded that occupation authorities accounted poorly for $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds, and said, "The CPA did not implement adequate financial controls.”

The President's uncle, William (Bucky) Bush, is the most visible war profiteer on the team. He sat on the board of a major military contractor called Engineered Support Systems. Six months before the war in Iraq began, on September 16, 2002, CNN/Money Magazine called ESS one of "seven defense stocks that fund managers like," and one fund manager said ESS was one of two companies that "would gain the most from a war from Iraq."

As a director, Uncle William received a monthly fee and held stock options. In January 2003, before the Iraq war began, he owned 33,750 shares of stock, but a year later, in January 2004, he owned 56,251.

The fact that Uncle William had an inside line to the White House can hardly be disputed. On March 25, 2003, Bush asked Congress for funding, "to cover military operations, relief and reconstruction activities in Iraq, and ongoing operations in the global war on terrorism," and the very next day, ESS announced a large order from the Army for its Chemical Biological Protected Shelter systems.


Uncle William has become a very rich man since his nephew took office. In January 2005, SEC filings show that he made about $450,000 by selling ESS stock. But he did even better the next year.

According to the Excess Report, through a series of defense contracts, ESS earnings reached record levels and set the stage for the sale of the firm to another defense contractor, DRS Technologies, in January 2006, and among the beneficiaries of the deal was Uncle William, who cleared $2.7 million in cash and stock off the sale.

Its time for Congress to stop the direct deposits of tax dollars into the Bush bank accounts. Lawmakers need to notify the White House that all funding for Iraq is done, other than what is needed for the immediate removal of our troops from this disgusting war profiteering scheme.

2007-08-15 12:22:44 · 18 answers · asked by chicohigh14 1 in Military

Here are other questions to consider as well:

Should Christians support the idea of a Jewish state?

Does Jerusalem "belong" to the Jews, and Christians to a lesser extent? Do Muslims have a right to the land as well?

2007-08-15 12:19:56 · 16 answers · asked by Kaye00 1 in Politics

So, Biden could actually take it? I mean, he could really come from behind and blast both Obama and Clinton out?

2007-08-15 12:19:24 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Elections

I vividly recall how extremely important the very first cable news channel was. Years went by, and then others appeared. But unbelievably enough, instead of competing against each other in a professional way with the most amount of important news from every corner of the world, they just repeat endlessly only four or five news pieces throughout the day and night. Of course with the insertion of the dumb news about the dumb celebrity getting into more trouble.

And needlessly to say the irresponsible, unprofessional, and maybe even unethical, manner of pinpointing only the bad in the political party opposing their views, thus leaving out all which could benefit the viewers in terms of true journalism.

This saddens me so much!

2007-08-15 12:18:37 · 8 answers · asked by 1-2informationalways 1 in Law & Ethics

My question is if a person was a victim of domestic violence about 2 or 3 years ago can he/she buy a handgun? I know that you can't buy it if you were charged with it, but what about if you were a victim?

2007-08-15 12:14:12 · 15 answers · asked by parabellum 2 in Law Enforcement & Police

I was all for Joe Biden. Then I was all for Rudy Gulliani. Then back to Biden. Now, I'm all for Dennis Kucinich.

What's up with this?

Anybody else like me?

2007-08-15 12:13:14 · 19 answers · asked by Anonymous in Elections

2007-08-15 12:12:25 · 21 answers · asked by Mooch 4 in Elections

HE WAS 17YEARS OLD WHEN INCIDENT HAPPENED.BEEN LOCKED UP BEFORE TRAILED FOR 3 YEARS.WAS 20 YEARZ OLD WHEN WENT TO TRAIL,VERDICT CAME BACK "GUILTY",

2007-08-15 12:11:26 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Law Enforcement & Police