Politics & Government - 31 August 2007

Republicans say there is a media bias. A poll by msnbc proved this. Journalist 90% to 10% gave to dems in the 2004 election.
We know that scandels involving OUR party will be reported so much more than those on the left, correct?
IF we know this going in, why do we complain when it happens??
Republicans say it is not fair, and then point to liberal wrongdoings.
We all make mistakes, but we know republicans are held to a higher standard.
We claim to be the party of values, should we not prove it??

2007-08-31 05:44:13 · 10 answers · asked by Supercell 5 in Politics

What exactly are their super powers and, do we presume that the terrorist powers in Iraq are even 'superer' ?!

2007-08-31 05:44:08 · 7 answers · asked by Dr Watson (UK) 5 in Politics

I'm not criticizing Snow, and this has nothing to do with party, but he said he's leaving because he has to make more money... is his salary that low? Does anyone know how much he makes?

I'm actually a little shocked that someone with such an important job would leave because he has to make more money. I know he has cancer, and the federal medical package is actually pretty amazing, so I'm a little surprised he's giving it up for this reason.

2007-08-31 05:43:01 · 6 answers · asked by Bush Invented the Google 6 in Politics

Military contractors that set up utilities, prepare food or make bulletproof vests are getting a big boost from the conflict. Here's who's getting the most money.


In a few weeks, Gen. David Petraeus and the Bush administration will report to Congress on the progress of the U.S. military's troop surge in Iraq.

But some of the war's winners are already clear: military contractors who supply everything from bodyguards to bombs, clean socks to ready-to-eat meals. "For the companies involved, this has been a real gravy train," says William Hartung, who tracks defense spending for the New America Foundation.

The White House has proposed military spending of $647 billion in 2008. Adjusted for inflation, that would be the highest level since World War II -- topping even expenditures during Vietnam and the Reagan years, calculates Hartung. The current request for Iraq-related spending for 2008 is $116 billion, which would raise total Iraq war spending to $567 billion.

Who's getting all that money? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell. "There isn't good visibility on where the money goes," says Steven Kosiak of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. But you can get a snapshot of who's been getting a good chunk of the Iraq-related spending in two ways.

The first step is to scour a vast database of more than $400 billion in annual government contracts, more than 70% of which are from the Department of Defense. It's called the Federal Procurement Data System. I turned to a private contractor of my own, Eagle Eye, for some (free) expert assistance in navigating the database. Eagle Eye mined the database for all Iraq-related contracts from 2003 through 2006 (the most recent year for which numbers are available). That catches everything from spending on base maintenance and bulletproof vests to ammo and combat boots. We tallied the numbers to find the top 10 companies out of thousands of contractors.

The second step is to look at the Pentagon's own budget to see which companies are building the major weapons systems that support the war in Iraq.

The Top 10
It's no surprise that KBR Inc. (KBR, news, msgs), a division of Halliburton (HAL, news, msgs) during the years we examined, tops the first list, compiled by Eagle Eye, with $17.2 billion in Iraq-related war revenue for 2003-2006. KBR is one of the largest construction and energy field-service companies in the world. It has a long history of collaborating with the U.S. government on war-related construction.

Videos: Recent news on Halliburton
In Iraq, KBR has been working on base construction and maintenance, oil-field repairs, infrastructure projects and logistics support. KBR got about a fifth of its revenue from the Iraq war in 2006, according to our calculations.

"We are proud to serve the troops," says a KBR spokeswoman. "We are providing the troops with essential services and the comforts of home that allow them to stay focused on the dangerous and important missions they face daily."

But why does a private-equity shop called Veritas Capital Fund take the No. 2 slot? That's easy. It specializes in investing in defense and aerospace companies. So Veritas owns a portfolio of companies -- and has a stake in others -- that pull down big Iraq-related contracts.

DynCorp International (DCP, news, msgs), which Veritas bought in 2005 and spun out last year, offers security services and police training, as well as logistical services. Veritas' McNeil Technologies provides interpreter and translation services to the military and U.S. government agencies in Iraq. Another of its companies, Wornick, supplies military rations.

It's also no big surprise that U.S.-based companies like Washington Group International (WNG, news, msgs), Fluor (FLR, news, msgs), Perini (PCR, news, msgs) and Parsons are on our top 10 list. They've landed many of the contracts to restore, repair and maintain oil fields, power plants, schools, public water systems and military bases. But the award of contracts to build the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting left many analysts scratching their heads.

Environmental Chemical does munitions disposal, while International American Products sets up systems that deliver electricity to military camps. L3 Communications (LLL, news, msgs) offers security screening services, linguists, training and law-enforcement services, and some equipment replacement.
Two companies that have seen their revenue shoot up the most in the ongoing military buildup -- largely because of Iraq-related spending -- are Armor Holdings and Renco, according to Hartung's calculations. They don't make our list because their overall defense-related revenue is too small. But they have done phenomenally well.

Armor Holdings, which sells vehicle and personnel armor, saw defense-related revenue shoot up 2,747% between 2001 and 2006, to $634.9 million. Armor is now a division of BAE Systems (BAESY, news, msgs).

Renco, which makes the extra-wide all-terrain vehicle known as the Humvee, saw Defense Department revenue rise 1,260% over the same period, to $1.9 billion.

Misspent funds
Not all of the Iraq-war money is well spent. "Because of the urgency of the war, a lot of these contracts have been subject to less scrutiny," says Hartung. Another problem is that the war has been funded outside of the regular defense budget process. Instead, it gets funded through "emergency" spending bills called supplementals, which offer much less detail and get less scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

Hartung believes we've only seen the tip of the iceberg in allegations of fraud and corruption related to Iraq war spending. "Congress is starting to look into it, but it has not yet gotten down to specific questions," says Hartung.

While all of these companies have benefited from the Bush administration's defense spending ramp-up since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, not all are equally exposed to the Iraq war effort, says defense sector analyst Paul Nisbet of JSA Research.

In addition to ships and Gulfstream planes, General Dynamics (GD, news, msgs) makes ground vehicles and ammunition, so it generates a fair amount of revenue directly from Iraq war spending. But Lockheed Martin (LMT, news, msgs), which is working on next-generation military aircraft and also makes military electronics and satellites, has little direct exposure to the war, says Nisbet. Neither does Northrop Grumman (NOC, news, msgs), which makes ships designed to last three decades or more.

Videos: Recent news on Lockheed Martin
Of all the companies on my second list, KBR saw some of the biggest revenue gains from the Iraq war. It was No. 37 on the Defense Department's top-100 list of military contractors in 2002. By 2006, KBR had climbed to No. 6.

2007-08-31 05:42:52 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

2007-08-31 05:42:13 · 13 answers · asked by Fred 1 in Law & Ethics

He will pull ahead of hillary and Rudy in the coming weeks???

http://news.yahoo.com/s/rasmussen/20070831/pl_rasmussen/giuliani47clinton4420070831_1

2007-08-31 05:40:22 · 14 answers · asked by Antiliber 6 in Politics

2007-08-31 05:40:00 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

? says it all

2007-08-31 05:38:57 · 5 answers · asked by kyle b 1 in Law & Ethics

2007-08-31 05:35:47 · 5 answers · asked by satsuki 2 in Embassies & Consulates

2007-08-31 05:34:21 · 11 answers · asked by ron j 1 in Politics

I served 4 years in the military. There people who were not openly gay I served with.

I didn't care what they did when they went home as long as they did their job while they were working.

Military adaps, it did when blacks and whites intergrated..

2007-08-31 05:34:09 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

How about this -- Why don't we pull our troops out of the cities and populated areas and redeploy them to various staging areas throughout the country ? Then let the Iraqis patrol their cities . Their own cities , their own 'police' . I believe their citizens would begin to respect their 'police' / military as their own . Also , if too big of a problem arose , we could be ready to respond with air power and if necessary , ground troops. . . . but just long enough to quell whatever battle was taking place . Afterwards , our troops could return to their staging areas .
We could then give an ultimatum to Iran and Syria -- " No border incursions will be tolerated , and massive retaliation would come instantly for any infractions ".
Let Iraqis patrol the main roads that have so many IED's . Let them get sick and tired of gettin blown-up . Let them feel the pain . They'll get the message in a helluva hurry .

What Do You Think ? . . . . Anything To Add ?

2007-08-31 05:32:22 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

2007-08-31 05:31:00 · 22 answers · asked by ShadowCat 6 in Government

how could minorities not love president bush. under bush more minorities have jobs and own buisinesses than ever before. what gives

2007-08-31 05:30:55 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

I was was watching HBO TV channel, just to see the movie on genocide in Rwanda. Last part of the movie was the proceedings of the International War Crime Commission, the result was 88 was indicted out them only 22 were punished for differnt terms. The Director made the last statement that those who were involved in killing were taken to task but the countries who had reports in their hands much earlier than the genocide in Rwanda started were not held liable for their failure to stop the genocide, which killed 650,000 people in Rwanda. CIA had a report on that,the then administration of USA honoured the International Law even they did not jam the Radio station which was inciting the genocide only on the ground that the right to information can not be curtailed and allowed 650,000 people to be killed. In contrast the Bush Admisitration is not bothered about any of those thing and in contrary to Rwanda they entered in Afghanistan and Iraq and is killing without any counting,who cares.

2007-08-31 05:30:22 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Law & Ethics

i have a september 4th court date for a misdimeanor incident that occured on july 4th. after almost 2 months the states attourney hasnt pressed formal charges... what should i expect when going to the county courthouse on the 4th?
the court case has been checked. by a defense attourney, nothing has been mailed to me and i was never arraigned, no charges have been formally filed
all i was given was my bond agreement when bonded out of jail with my court date and time on it.

2007-08-31 05:24:03 · 4 answers · asked by J 2 in Law Enforcement & Police

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPoWphQhdm0

2007-08-31 05:22:29 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

Everyone knows I am not defending a neocon fascist with a voting record like Craig. Getting rid of the guy suits the objective of getting rid of warmongering nutcases but I think he should be booted on principle.
The war in Iraq: Its clear we arent winning and its even clearer the eventual outcome is civil war and genocide its just a question of time.

2007-08-31 05:21:43 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

Seems to me there are three ways you fight crime:

1. Law as a deterrent
2. Police as a physical deterrent
3. Armed citizens as a physical deterrent

Sadly, our legislatures seem focused only on #1 above, and each time one of them comes into office, it's with the promises of "getting tough on crime" by jacking up the laws and penalties.

Don't believe me? Just ask the guy in California who is serving a life sentence for stealing a slice of pizza (thanks to the draconian "Three Strikes Laws").

Bottom line, is we're not just getting tough on criminals, we're getting tough on ourselves, because it's only a matter of time before you, I, or a friend or loved one crosses the line and gets hammered with some ridiculous sentence.

Want to really get tough on crime? Then fund more police and get your CHL (Concealed Handgun License). But please stop piling on the laws.

Thoughts?

2007-08-31 05:21:30 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Law & Ethics

What would the current President do?

What would past Presidents do?

What would Presidential candidates running for 2008 do in 2009 if this happens on their watch?

----

In the scenario of invadeing India, their goal is to go through India to get to the Middle East . . ..

----

The motivation of these invasion(s) is oil.

What is the appropriate response to a world power other than the United States trying to take other oil rich countries by force?

2007-08-31 05:21:17 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

Does this mean that Bhutto will be the next prime minister with the blessings of the army? In other words Bhutto will replace Mush as a dictator.
Now she will have a Joint Swiss account with the Khakhis.

2007-08-31 05:20:25 · 2 answers · asked by lunistan 2 in Law & Ethics

I have no idea how wide the stalls in question were - there's no uniform size. I've "reached down" to pull my trouser cuffs up over my heels so that they didn't get smudged when I stood up, to pick up another roll of t.p., a newspaper, etc....

It's really not clear what "gesture" was made - the police officer in question just says he saw Craig's wedding ring - - a lot of people are jokingly asking if it's safe to to go the men's room or whether a GOP Senator will proposition them for sex - - - is it reasonable to ask whether it's safe to go to the restroom without someone confusing some random act like picking up change that fell out of your pocket to be a proposition for sex?

Also - even if it were, what's the crime - there's certainly no evidence that if whatever "gesture" it was was in fact a proposition, that it was a proposition to have sex RIGHT THERE - - - I mean, straight males pick up women in bars, we proposition them all the time, that's not a crime....

2007-08-31 05:19:46 · 18 answers · asked by truthisback 3 in Politics

Just wondering.

2007-08-31 05:14:47 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=b35c36a3-802a-23ad-46ec-6880767e7966

2007-08-31 05:13:56 · 26 answers · asked by Time to Shrug, Atlas 6 in Other - Politics & Government

The 9/11 Israeli spy ring as reported by FOX News:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6110095161238848541&q=israeli+spy+ring&total=43&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/04/315624.shtml

...far more telling is the admission made by a US Official (in part one) quoted in the Fox News report that "hard evidence exists linking 9/11 not to Arab Muslims, but to some of the 200+ Israeli spies arrested both before and after 9/11, however, this Israeli=911 evidence had been CLASSIFIED."

Also, remember what Benjamin Netanyahu said after 9/11

"It's very good.Well, it's not good, but it will generate immediate sympathy (for Israel)." Benjamin Netanyahu, responding to the attacks on September 11, 2001

2007-08-31 05:12:43 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Politics & Government

I mean if we knew that Purple men, were bent on smuggling a dirty nuke into our cities and make a mushroom cloud, killing millions of people, is it not then ok to pay particular attention to Purple men?

Isnt that a bit different than Purple men have a 25% higher crime rate in their neighborhood, so if you see a purple man driving around a non-purple neighborhood, you pull him over to make sure he has not stolen anything.

2007-08-31 05:12:40 · 11 answers · asked by ez f 1 in Politics

Would you still vote for her if she was to put her husband, Bill back in the white house as Vice Pres. or any position for that matter?

Personally I would not vote for her NO matter what but I am just curious to know if this will effect your voting decision. Thank you!

2007-08-31 05:10:54 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Elections

1. Government subsidies to daycare centers.

2. A large tax credit for families with a stay-at-home parent.

2007-08-31 05:10:52 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics

Since the election (appoinment) of 2000 no one could have possibly made something like all of this up for a story! If this isn't the most bizarre times for an administration in history of the U.S?

2007-08-31 05:07:16 · 11 answers · asked by edubya 5 in Politics

What does what a politician promises to get into office have to do with what they do after they get elected?
"I promise to build a fence so those Mexicans can't ruin your life".
"Well, I tried but the Supreme Court stopped the funding". Darn those old idiots.
No law enacted is going to go around the Mexican American peace agreement. Dream on.
Some people say I don't understand the law or the treaty. I say they don't understand the law or the preace agreement. TAKE A VERY CLOSE LOOK AT REALITY. How does the reality compare with your version of the Treaty of Hildago-Guadalupe?

2007-08-31 05:06:35 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Immigration