| After knowing all this do you still support Bush? |
| Yes |
|
61% |
[ 8 ] |
| No |
|
38% |
[ 5 ] |
| What the heck was I thinking, supporting Bush without knowing all the facts. |
|
0% |
[ 0 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 13 |
|
| Author |
Message |
Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
|
 Tue May 04, 2004 1:35 am Bush's lies and deceit - Long post of facts |
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Heres a list of Bush's Lies, Deceit and failures as President.
| The John Kerry Official Website wrote: | Chemical Plant Vulnerabilities Not Being Addressed by Bush Administration
FICTION: �But people need to know, we're working -- we, the government, at all levels -- we're working long hours to protect America. We're doing the best we can.� -- President Bush, 4/29/04
FACT: Justice Department Called Terrorist Threat at Chemical Plant �Real and Credible.� The Department of Justice characterizes the threat of terrorism at one of the nation�s chemical facilities as �both real and credible,� and emphasizes that a chemical plant attack could be more dangerous than one at a nuclear power plant. [Democratic Members of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, America at Risk, 1/04]
Bush �Backed Down� on EPA Program to Regulate Chemical Plant Security. After stalling an EPA and Homeland Security plan to regulate chemical plant security for months, Bush allowed the proposal to die in October 2002. The Richmond Times Dispatch said the administration �backed down after the industry balked.� [Washington Post, 10/3/02; Richmond Times Dispatch, 3/23/03]
LA Times: Corporations Said Homeland Security �Must Not Interfere With�Bottom Line.� The Los Angeles Times reported, �While careful to wrap its resistance in patriotism, corporate America insists that the front line must not interfere with its bottom line� surprising resistance from some in the business community threatens to interfere with the administration's message of an America more secure and more efficient than a year ago.� [Los Angeles Times, 9/4/02]
15 Major Bush Fundraisers Tied to Chemical Industry; Given Bush At Least $1.5 Million. Nine Bush Pioneers and Rangers from the 2000 and 2004 campaigns are tied to the chemical industry. Their combined campaign pledge totals at least $1,500,000. [White House for Sale, whitehouseforsale.org]
Bush Misleads America on Iraq War Plans
* We learn that $700 million, directed to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan, was diverted to fund the secret war plans for Iraq in July 2002, just months after the attacks of 9/11.
* Then we learn that Secretary Powell got briefed on the President's war plans after the President told Saudi government officials.
* Finally, we learn that Bush went to war in Iraq when he doubted the proof Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and kept the CIA director who had apparently given him misleading information.
THE FACTS:
Bush Took $700 Million from Afghanistan Budget Without Telling Congress. �In the summer of 2002, Bush approved $700 million worth of �preparatory tasks� in the Persian Gulf region such as upgrading airfields, bases, fuel pipelines and munitions storage depots to accommodate a massive U.S. troop deployment. The Bush administration funded the projects from a supplemental appropriations bill for the war in Afghanistan and old appropriations, keeping Congress unaware of the reprogramming of money and the eventual cost.� [Washington Post, 4/18/04]
War Plan Shared With Saudi Ambassador Before Powell. �One of the key players that had to be notified and brought along was Saudi Arabia. U.S. forces would have to be sent through and from Saudi territory into Iraq. Rescue, communications and refueling support were not going to be enough. Of the five other countries on Iraq's border, only Kuwait and Jordan supported a military operation. The 500 miles of Saudi-Iraqi border were critical. So on Saturday, Jan. 11, Cheney invited Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the Saudi ambassador, to his West Wing office. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were also there.� Cheney, General Myers, and Rumsfeld described the plan of attack in Iraq with the Ambassador, and allowed him to take notes about a map they presented. The may was labeled: TOP SECRET NOFORN, which means it was classified material not to be seen by any foreign nation. Prince Bandar said he would have to tell Crown Prince Abdullah that he had gotten the message from Bush himself. So they arranged a meeting with Bush, Rice, and Prince Bandar in which Bush said he supported everything Cheney had told Bandar. After that meeting, Rice said Bush should inform Powell about his plan to invade Iraq, since Powell was friends with Bandar and could find out through him. After the warning from Rice, Bush met with Powell and informed him of his decision and asked for Powell�s support.� [Washington Post excerpts of �Plan of Attack,� 4/18/04]
Tenet Told Bush Iraq�s Possession of Weapons Was a �Slam Dunk. � �Beginning in late December, 2001, President Bush met repeatedly with Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks and his war cabinet to plan the U.S. attack on Iraq even as he and administration spokesmen insisted they were pursuing a diplomatic solution, according to a new book on the origins of the war. The intensive war planning throughout 2002 created its own momentum, according to "Plan of Attack" by Bob Woodward, fueled in part by the CIA's conclusion Saddam Hussein could not be removed from power except through a war and CIA Director George J. Tenet's assurance to the president that it was a "slam dunk" case that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.� [Washington Post, 4/16/04]
White House Misleads America About Its Support for Homeland Security Department
White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett on NBC's Today Show: �Well, I think the actions after 9-11 demonstrate we made structural reform. That's why we created the Department of Homeland Security,� �We brought all of those things under one roof. What Dr. Rice talked about yesterday as well is if this commission can come forward with more robust changes to help protect America, we want to see those recommendations. The president's number one priority is protecting America. He believes if we need to reorganize government to do that, he will do it.� [NBC�s Today Show, 4/9/04, emphasis added]
FACT: In October 2001, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Bush opposed creating Office of Homeland Security position for Ridge. �[T]he president has suggested to members of Congress that they do not need to make this a statutory post, that he [Ridge] does not need Cabinet rank, for example, there does not need to be a Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security is because there is such overlap among the various agencies, because every agency of the government has security concerns,� Fleischer said. [White House Press Briefing, 10/24/01]
FACT: Ridge Said He Would Recommend Bush Veto Homeland Security Legislation.
During testimony on Capitol Hill Homeland Security Adviser Tom Ridge was asked to comment on passing legislation making his Homeland Security position permanent. �I don�t think you are accountable directly and specifically to the president if you are a creature of statute, because your accountability goes as much or more to the Hill as it does to the president. So I�d probably recommend that he veto it,� Ridge said [National Journal, 6/5/02]
Bush's Broken Promises to Our Troops
BUSH FICTION: Bush keeps his promises when it comes to supporting our troops.
FACT: Bush�s go it alone strategy is placing greater strain on our forces�with little assistance from other countries, our troops are facing back to back deployments and are spread thin
* In addition to buying body armor for members of the military, families also had to purchase plane tickets for some of them to return home.
* We are using more National Guard and Reserves in this conflict than ever before in history�they make up nearly half the troops In Iraq
* Bush opposed an amendment to provide health care to all uninsured Reservists
* Bush proposed cutting combat pay for troops overseas
* Yesterday Vice President Cheney admitted they sent troops to Iraq unprepared.
Bush�s Broken Promises Leave Troops and Families Forced to Buy Own Gear
The Lloyd family in Carroll County, Ohio is one of many families that is considering digging into their personal finances to ensure their family servicemember is equipped with the [Kevlar] vest.
Bush Ex-Vets Co-Chair: �He's killing the active-duty military....Look at the reserves call-ups for Iraq, the hardships. The National Guard--the state militia--is being used improperly. I took the president at his word on Iraq, and now you can't find a single report to back up or substantiate weapons of mass destruction.�� [Knight Ridder, 3/14/04]
CHENEY ADMITS THE ADMINISTRATION SENT TROOPS TO IRAQ UNPREPARED
�HUME: And [John Kerry] made the accusation, in particular, that body armor was lacking; that proper body armor--the most advanced body armor--was not available to our forces. And he laid the blame at the door of the Bush Administration for that. Your reaction, sir.
CHENEY: �Well the facts are that at the outset of the campaign there was only one factory producing the latest, newest state-of-the-art body armor. There are now 6--they are up and running. I believe the chief of staff of the army, and the vice chief, vice chairman, joint chiefs have testified recently that all of our troops in Iraq are now properly equipped with the newest body armor. So the main problem had been just the sheer capacity to produce these items early on.� [FOX, 3/17/2004 emphasis added]
Major General Don Shepperd Asks Why We Sent Troops Unprepared. �[Reporter Wolf] BLITZER: When you were there, General Shepperd, and you met with men and women on the ground in the military, what were they saying to you?
GEN. SHEPPERD: Well, they were saying that we are short on the up- armored Humvees, we're short of the proper body armor. Everybody had flack jackets and some body armor, but not the new body armor. They showed us the schedule, and said it was going to be done. They was short at that time, I believe, around 1,400 up-armored Humvees that were coming into the country, and the body armor was on schedule. So these shortage will drastically come down, but it does leave you wondering why couldn't we have done this before the war, and we simply didn't.� [CNN, 3/14/04, emphasis added]
Bush�s Failure Leaves Military Families Buying Body Armor for Troops. House appropriators wrote in October 2003 that some active-duty soldiers and reservists are spending as much as $650 out of pocket to buy Interceptor Body Armor vests and Small Arms Protective Insert plates to replace the Vietnam-era flak vests issued when they arrive in Iraq." The Lloyd family in Carroll County, Ohio is one of many families that is considering digging into their personal finances to ensure their family servicemember is equipped with the vest. Ohio Democratic state Senators Marc Dann and Robert Hagan have introduced legislation to provide the Ohio National Guard with $500,000 to buy body armor for troops in Iraq; they expect the federal government will reimburse the state for that money. [Columbus Dispatch, 1/11/04; The News & Observer, 1/4/04; Defense Week, 10/14/03l.]
Army Secretary Said They Were �Not Prepared� for Prolonged Involvement in Iraq. �When the Saddam Hussein government collapsed, U.S. troops in Iraq figured the war was over, except for some mopping up. But as the acting secretary of the Army, Les Brownlee, acknowledged to Congress last week, �we simply were not prepared� for the insurgency that developed in early summer, prolonging the war and taking the lives of hundreds of American soldiers. One 3rd Infantry soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Eric Wright, put it this way in Iraq last June: �What was told to us was that we would fight and win and go home.� It's not that simple.� [Associated Press, 3/13/04]
Troops Forced to Pay Their Way Home. �To date, troops have lacked some key resources. The Pentagon has struggled with delays in the production and distribution of the latest body armor to troops in Iraq, among other supply problems. Troops reuniting with their families have had to pay for their own airfare home and other travel costs once they are flown free to a small selection of cities while on leave.� [AP, 1/20/04; Albuquerque Journal, 12/13/03]
Bush Administration Wanted To Cut Soldiers� Pay. The Defense Department initially said it would not renew a 50 percent increase in imminent danger pay and a 150 percent increase in the family separation allowance. After a nationwide wave of protest, the Pentagon agreed to a temporary extension of the benefits. [The Leaf-Chronicle, 10/2/03; Boston Herald, 8/15/03; Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/6/03]
Bush Did Not Want To Provide Full Health Care to Reservists. The Bush Administration initially opposed an amendment to allow reservists who could not afford expensive civilian plans to buy into the cheaper TRICARE program year-round, even when they are not on active duty. TRICARE offers medical, dental and pharmacy plans. The provision also extended health coverage to reservists and their families for six months after they return from active duty. According to a 2002 study by the General Accounting Office, about 20 percent of the nation's 1.2 million National Guard and Reserve members do not have adequate health insurance. The number becomes more severe in the lower ranks, where about 40 percent were without coverage, most of those under the age of 35. [Seattle Times, 11/23/03]
Former Cheney Employee, Halliburton, Reaps Profits While Forcing Troops To Eat In Filthy Conditions. Halliburton�s subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root [KBR] serves 110,000 soldiers in Iraq their meals. For that service, American taxpayers pay Halliburton �$28 per soldier per day.� But, according to NBC News, �Pentagon inspections of mess halls run by KBR are finding a mess in some of them�In the main Baghdad dining facility where President Bush surprised the troops on Thanksgiving, inspectors found filthy kitchen conditions in each of the three previous months. Complaints filed in August, September and again in October report problems. Blood all over the floor of refrigerators, dirty pans, dirty grills, dirty salad bars, rotting meats and vegetables. In October, the inspector writes that Halliburton's previous promises to fix the problems have not been followed through and warns the company serious repercussions may result, due to improper handling and serving of food.� [NBC News, 12/12/03, emphasis added]
Halliburton A Hazard To Troops. Halliburton doesn�t just hand the troops dirty meals in filthy kitchens. They�re unsafe too. NBC News� reported that troops suffer �Unclean kitchens and cooking equipment, unsafe food and inadequate food supplies� in Halliburton�s hands. Also, �Just before Bush's visit,� to Baghdad, �there were problems with the safety of drinking water where the president ate his Thanksgiving dinner.� [NBC News, 12/12/03, emphasis added]
Halliburton Also Overcharged Taxpayers on Food for Troops. �The Pentagon said Wednesday that it would withhold about $300 million from payments to a Halliburton subsidiary on a contract to feed soldiers in Iraq until auditors were certain that the government had not been overcharged. The money represents about 15 percent of an open-ended contract with the subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root. A Pentagon spokeswoman said the decision to withhold the money came from the Defense Department's auditing agency, which found �the possibility of substantial overcharges.� �Both Halliburton and the military have come under recent criticism over other Iraq contracts in which Halliburton was found to have overcharged the government. Department auditors have previously reported deficiencies in Halliburton's cost estimates for work in Iraq. In some cases, the company has reimbursed the government; other cases are under review.� [New York Times, 3/19/04]
BUSH LOSING SUPPORT OF MILITARY FAMILIES
2000 Vets Co-Chair Turned Down Job, Disappointed With Bush Administration�s Treatment of Troops in Iraq. �When the Bush campaign asked James McKinnon to co-chair its veterans steering committee in New Hampshire -- a job he held in 2000 -- the 56-year-old Vietnam veteran respectfully, but firmly, said no. �I basically told them I was disappointed in his support of veterans,� said McKinnon, who served two tours in Vietnam with the Coast Guard. �He's killing the active-duty military. . . . Look at the reserves call-ups for Iraq, the hardships. The National Guard -- the state militia -- is being used improperly. I took the president at his word on Iraq, and now you can't find a single report to back up or substantiate weapons of mass destruction.�� [Knight Ridder, 3/14/04]
Bush Losing Support of Military Families. �A bipartisan ``Battleground'' poll of likely voters conducted in September found that Bush's approval rating among relatives of military personnel was only 36 percent. Military Families Speak Out, an anti-war group of relatives of deployed troops, plans to observe the Iraq war's first anniversary this week with processions outside Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. �I voted for Bush in 2000, and I'm not going to vote for him again,� said Jean Prewitt, a group member from Birmingham, Ala. Her 24-year-old son, Kelley, was in the Army's 3rd Infantry Division when he was killed April 6 south of Baghdad. �I just feel deceived. He just kept screaming, screaming, weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction, we've got to get in there. We got in there and now there aren't any.�� [Knight Ridder, 3/14/04]
Troops Frustrated By Lack Of Timely, Accurate Information About Deployments. �The biggest problem is not having a definite answer,� said Maj. Stephen Iacovelli, 37, from Schaumburg, Ill., a member of the Army Reserve's 362nd Psychological Operations Company, of Fayetteville, Ark. [The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 9/10/2003]
Staff Sgt. Jerry Sanchez and the other members of his Florida National Guard unit thought they might head home before Thanksgiving. Now, they are not sure if they will leave Iraq until February after Tuesday's announcement that Army National Guard and Reserve units in Iraq and surrounding countries must serve in the region for a full year. �This is totally demoralizing. It's hard enough to be here this long.� [Chicago Tribune, 9/10/03]
BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS NO EXIT STRATEGY
Bush Alienation of Allies Leave �No Good Solutions� In Iraq. �The range of ways to endow Iraqis with power offers "no really good solutions," says a senior intelligence official. Washington would prefer to keep the Governing Council, which it handpicked, or expand it to "replenish" the group with broader representation than the current lineup commands. But neither of those arrangements, if managed unilaterally by the U.S., would look more legitimate to Iraqis than the current council, which is broadly dismissed as nothing but a U.S. proxy. � The dilemma has produced an almost comical turn of events: the go-it-alone Bush Administration is desperately trying to lure the U.N. back into Iraq. "Time was, the U.N. wanted Iraq, and we wouldn't give it away," says a State Department official. "Now we can't give it away fast enough." Ask White House officials how things are progressing toward the June 30 deadline, and they sheepishly say they are waiting for the U.N. to take the lead. �They're going to take over the process, and we're going to follow their recommendations,� says a Bush aide.� [Time, 3/15/04]
Army Chief of Staff Said Several Hundred Thousand Troops Needed. Testifying before Congress, Army Chief of Staff General Eric Shinseki admitted, �I would say that what's been mobilized to this point, something on the order of several hundred thousands soldiers are probably a figure that would be required. We're talking about post- hostilities, control over a piece of geography that is fairly significant with the kinds of ethnic tensions that could lead to other problems, and so it takes a significant ground force presence.� Shinseki was later fired by Rumsfeld. [PBS, 3/1/ 04, Boston Globe, 4/6/03]
Number of U.S. Troops Still In Iraq. �There are about 120,000 U.S. forces in Iraq, plus roughly 20,000 in neighboring Kuwait, plus about 30,000 to 40,000 international troops on the ground in Iraq. In other words, there are more ground troops in Iraq now than were used during the initial invasion.� [Associated Press, 3/13/04]
Military Currently Facing Back to Back Deployments. �The Army is spread so thin around the globe that when it needs fresh combat troops for Iraq this fall it will have little choice but to call on the same soldiers who led the charge into Baghdad last spring. The 3rd Infantry Division already has been given an official "warning order" to prepare to return to Iraq as soon as Thanksgiving. When those soldiers flew home from Iraq last summer to their bases in Georgia, few of them could have known they were, in effect, on a roundtrip ticket. They are not alone in facing back-to-back deployments to Iraq. Some of the same Marines who teamed up with the 3rd Infantry to topple Baghdad are already assembling again in Kuwait, only a matter of months after returning home, and more Marines will go next year.� [Associated Press, 3/13/04]
Number of U.S. Troops Killed Since Bush Declared �Mission Accomplished�: �During the two months of major hostilities, March and April of 2003, the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq averaged 69 a month. Now: Since the end of major combat operations May 1, the number of U.S. deaths has averaged 41 a month.� [Associated Press, 3/13/04]
Just What Are Secretary Evans' Credentials As A Critic?
BUSH FICTION: U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans has the credibility to critique John Kerry�s budget plan to restore fiscal discipline and create new jobs.
FACT: Evans' credentials as a critic of John Kerry are questionable. As Commerce Secretary Don Evans has helped preside over:
Largest Budget Deficit in U.S. History
Bush Presided Over �Biggest Gusher of Red Ink In History.� �President George W. Bush has now presided over the biggest gusher of red ink in the nation's history, from a surplus of $127 billion when he entered office for fiscal 2001 to a 2004 deficit projection of $521 billion. �� One think tank predicted that under the Bush economy, the national debt will increase by $5.3 trillion in ten years. [Business Week Online, 2/3/04]
Largest Trade Deficit in U.S. History
$490 Billion Trade Deficit. Last year, the United States ran a trade deficit of $490 billion. American exported $1 trillion worth of goods and services while we imported over $1.5 trillion. This year, America is already on a path to break next year's record with January's deficit $500 million more than the previous year's. (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
Largest Number of Jobs Lost Since the Great Depression
Under President Bush America has lost millions of jobs:
o 2.6 million private-sector jobs
o 2.8 million manufacturing jobs (no job gain in any month)
o 1.8 million total jobs
Unemployment remains high � with 8.4 million people looking for work. This month an additional 182,000 people became unemployed, bringing the total number of unemployed to 8.4 million.
Bush to American Families: Don't Worry, Be Happy
BUSH FICTION: The rise in home-ownership proves that George Bush's policies have improved the lives of ordinary Americans.
FACT: As George W. Bush tries to put a happy face on the nation�s struggling economy, his Administration's misguided housing policies have pushed the American Dream out of grasp for many working families across the country.
�George Bush is so out of touch that he doesn�t even realize that the American dream has become a nightmare for millions of working families. Home ownership may be up, but so are foreclosures and bankruptcies. That�s not progress, it�s a mirage.� � Andrew Cuomo, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
While George Bush desperately clings to the one good economic statistic to come out of his administration � the rise in home-ownership � he fails to tell the rest of the story about the hardships facing most American families:
Perhaps most importantly, nearly 3 million Americans have lost their jobs since George Bush took office, and his only solution is more tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. George Bush�s budget provides an additional $1 trillion in tax cuts for those who don�t need them but does nothing to create good jobs here at home.
Even as middle class Americans are struggling to achieve financial security, the Bush budget ignores the very real challenges they are facing. It fails to create jobs, and instead creates record deficits. It shortchanges education, health care, veterans' benefits, and small business. Instead of helping working families, it provides additional tax breaks for those who need them least and billions of dollars in new giveaways to HMOs and other wealthy corporate interests.
BUSH�S BUDGET SLASHES LOW INCOME HOUSING ASSISTANCE
George Bush�s FY2005 budget cuts funding for �Section 8� housing vouchers to more than $1.6 billion below the 2004 level and calls for further reductions in subsequent years. The housing voucher program currently provides assistance to more than two million low-income households, half of which are families with children. More than 250,000 low-income families with children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities will be without the Section 8 services because of Bush�s budget cuts. By 2009, the number will be 600,000. [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, �Administration Seeks Deep Cuts in Housing Vouchers and Conversion of Program to a Block Grant,� Available: http://www.cbpp.org/2-12-04hous.htm, Accessed: 3/14/2004].
BUSH PLAN UNDERMINES PROMISE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Bush wants to �block grant� the Section 8 program, giving fixed, lump-sum payments to each state and giving local housing authorities the responsibility of administering Section 8 vouchers. These shrinking subsidies would force state officials to raise tenants� rents by 30 percent, impose time limits, and cut hundreds of thousands of families from the program.[Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, �Administration Seeks Deep Cuts in Housing Vouchers and Conversion of Program to a Block Grant,� Available: http://www.cbpp.org/2-12-04hous.htm, Accessed: 3/14/2004].
MORE AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS FACE FORECLOSURE AND BANKRUPTCY UNDER BUSH
Foreclosure and mortgage delinquency rates are higher now than when President Bush took office. The percentage of American mortgage loans in foreclosure increased in the fourth quarter of 2003 by 4 percent. At 1.29 percent, the percentage of loans in foreclosure is more than four times the rate when President Bush took office. Household bankruptcies set a record in 2003 at 1.6 million and experts believe the number will be even higher in 2004. [Mortgage Bankers Association of America; NOW With Bill Moyers, 2/6/04; Washington Post, 2/1/04; Orlando Sentinel Tribune, 2/15/04; NBC Nightly News, 2/23/04]
UNDER PRESIDENT BUSH, AMERICANS LOSE �HOPE�In 2003, President Bush attempted to end funding for �HOPE VI,� a federal program that pays for the rehabilitation or replacement of derelict public housing projects. Congress instead allocated $50 million to the program, only a fraction of the $574 million the program received each of the previous two years. Notwithstanding the project�s recognition by the Innovation in American Government Award, Bush�s FY2005 budget proposes to eliminate the program altogether. [Department of Housing and Urban Development, http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/ph/hope6/index.cfm; The Los Angeles Times, 2/4/03; National Low Income Housing Coalition, 7/24/03; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/13/03; Congressional Quarterly Weekly, 2/7/04]
Bush's Secret Budget: $4.5 Trillion in Secret Spending
BUSH FICTION: Bush is fiscally responsible.
FACT: In just four years as President, George Bush has overseen the largest spending increase since World War II. Adjusted for inflation, total spending has increased by $354 billion annually � that�s the largest four-year spending increase since World War II. Of this total, $98 billion annually is in non-defense discretionary programs � the largest four-year spending increase on record.
BUSH'S BROKEN PROMISES ON SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE
In 2000, America had a historic opportunity to use surpluses to save Social Security and Medicare. Instead, George W. Bush squandered the surplus on a large tax cut for the wealthy. Today�s Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report shows that under President Bush the outlook for Social Security and Medicare has not improved and in fact gotten worse under President Bush. Also, George W. Bush has a secret budget plan for the future that will spend more than $4.5 trillion.
TAX CUTS COST MORE THAN THREE TIMES AS MUCH AS SAVING SOCIAL SECURITY: Instead of taking advantage of his historic opportunity, George Bush passed tax cuts for the wealthy that cost three times as much as the 75 year deficit in Social Security. The cost of making the tax cuts permanent is more than the cost of saving Social Security and Medicare combined for the next 75 years. [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, �Understanding the Social Security and Medicare Projections,� 3/22/04]
THE TRUE COST OF THE MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BILL MAKES THINGS WORSE: As has been widely reported, the Bush Administration hid from Congress and the American people the true cost of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. That extra $136 billion only exacerbates the fiscal challenges facing Medicare. [Wall Street Journal, 3/18/04]
GEORGE BUSH HAS WORSENED MEDICARE, BILL CLINTON IMPROVED IT: When Bill Clinton took office, Medicare was scheduled to go broke in 1999 and because of the fiscal responsibility and prudent choices of the Democrats, the program was strengthened nearly 30 years to 2029. Today�s Trustees report revealed that Medicare will be insolvent by 2019 � ten years earlier than its solvency date under President Clinton and seven years earlier than last year�s estimate. [Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports, 2001 & 2004].
GEORGE BUSH HASN�T IMPROVED SOCIAL SECURITY: Both Social Security and Medicare are projected to be unable to pay the full benefits they have promised to members of the baby boom generation. The new Trustees Report projects that Social Security will be insolvent by 2042 George Bush has done nothing to extend the solvency of Social Security or Medicare.
BUSH�S SECRET BUDGET: $4.5 TRILLION IN SECRET SPENDING
George Bush is only going to put entitlements more at risk with his secret budget plan.
� $411 BILLION � THE MISSING YEARS IN THE BUSH BUDGET. George W. Bush only tells Americans about 5 years of his spending plans � although his campaign�s false attacks estimates Kerry�s plans over 10 years. Including the missing five years adds $411 billion to the Bush budget.
� $280 BILLION � IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN AND WAR ON TERROR. Despite the fact that the Administration�s acknowledgement that we are not leaving Iraq or Afghanistan any time soon, the President�s budget does not have any money to pay for the war on Iraq. This could cost $280 billion over ten years, based on analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.
� $936 BILLION � EXTENDING THE TAX CUT FOR THE WEALTHY. Bush buries the cost of extending his tax cut for the wealthy. But you can find the number buried in his budget � and it�s nearly $1 trillion. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office thinks extending the tax cut will cost even more.
� $555 BILLION � 455 EXPLCIT ADDITIONAL SPENDING INCREASES IN THE BUDGET. Look through the fine print of the Bush budget, and you�ll find 455 explicit spending increases for programs, not even including defense or homeland security. The price tag for these programs adds up to $555 billion. Like the Bush �analysis� of the Kerry budget this does not count any budget cuts or savings that Bush proposes.
� $2,005 BILLION � SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM. President Bush has repeatedly called for Social Security reform, but his budget does not have any money for it. His Commission developed a plan � all but endorsed in his Economic Report of the President � that the independent Social Security actuary estimated would add over $2 trillion to the deficit from 2005 to 2014.
� $250 BILLION � MARS MISSION. The President does not include the full ten year cost of the Mars mission in his budget, including it could add $250 billion.
� $24 BILLION � ENERGY BILL. The President promised to sign the Congressional energy bill, costing $31 billion. But he only included $7 billion for energy in his budget. Thus another $24 billion is missing.
GEORGE W. BUSH�S UNPAID BILLS TOTAL OVER $6 TRILLION
WHO IS GOING TO PAY FOR THE BUSH $6 TRILLION SPENDING SPREE
George W. Bush rejected ten strong years of fiscal discipline, in which new spending was accounted for and tax cuts were offset by decreases in spending. Instead he has run up a spending bill that will increase the deficit by more than $6 trillion over the next ten years alone. His tax cuts, expansion of entitlement programs and spending has grown into a $6 trillion bill over the next ten years. It is not a bill he plans on paying for. He�s leaving it for the taxpayers and their children.
BREAKING PROMISES AGAIN AND AGAIN: BUSH SAYS HE�S FOR LIMITING SPENDING
Bush Proposes Paying for Spending. To assure that Congress observes spending discipline, now and in the future, I propose making spending limits the law. This simple step would mean that every additional dollar the Congress wants to spend in excess of spending limits must be matched by a dollar in spending cuts elsewhere. Budget limits must mean something, and not just serve as vague guidelines to be routinely violated.� [Bush Radio Address, 1/31/04] But George Bush hasn�t paid for a penny of his over $6 trillion bill.
Bush Pledged to Cut Spending � But Instead He has a $6 Trillion Bill. During a radio address, George Bush pledged to cut spending. Bush said, �If Congress will not show spending restraint, I will enforce spending restraint. For the good of our economy, for the good of the people who pay taxes, my administration will spend what is truly needed, and not a dollar more.� [Bush Radio Address, 8/17/02]
Bush Pledged to Save Money to Pay Down the Debt � Now That Money Is Part of His $6 Trillion Bill. During a debate with Senator John McCain, then Governor George W. Bush said he would pay down the debt. Bush said, �I believe we�ve got $4 trillion over 10 years; $2 trillion of which will go to save Social Security and pay down the debt; $1 trillion available for debt repayment and other programs; and $1 trillion over a 10-year period, for a meaningful, substantial real tax cut to the people.� [Associated Press, 1/26/00]
TOTALING UP THE SPENDING � $6 TRILLION. Bush�s unpaid initiatives total to $4.9 trillion in the next decade alone, with debt service costs they will increase the deficit by $6.5 trillion over ten years. It is a bill that the Bush Administration has decided to ignore and tack onto their skyrocketing deficit. Someone has got to pay Bush�s $6.5 trillion spending spree �the American taxpayers and their children
$2,227 Billion in Enacted Tax Cuts. The Bush Tax Cuts that have already been enacted when extended over the next ten years will total to $2,227 billion in the next ten years [Joint Committee on Taxation]
$243 Billion in Other Tax Cuts. Bush has proposed other tax cuts, such as his flawed health care plan that will help the wealthiest and healthiest Americans. These additional tax cuts cost an additional $243 billion over the next ten years.
$1,427 Billion Social Security Privatization. George Bush has proposed privatizing Social Security and creating individual retirement accounts. This plan will not only put the fiscal future of America�s seniors in doubt, it will also cost the American taxpayers an additional $1,427 billion. [Council of Economic Advisors, Economic Report of the President, 2004]
$887 Billion in Other Mandatory Spending. Bush has proposed other spending such as the Medicare prescription drug benefit that his own actuaries said was more expensive than he budgeted for. Other plans such as Mars and Missile Defense will also cost money.
$1,642 Billion in Interest on the Debt. As anyone who has ever had a credit card knows, racking up huge debt costs even more, because you have to pay interest. The additional costs of the Bush plans for interest on the debt costs $1642 billion over the ten year period.
$6 Trillion is a Conservative Number. It doesn�t include the real cost of his Mars initiatives or the energy bill he has promised to sign. It doesn�t include some of his other tax plans he wanted to pass or what his tax cut for the wealthy has already cost in the early years. It doesn�t include defense or Iraq. Basically, American taxpayers cannot afford another four years of George W. Bush.
The Hidden BUSH TAX
BUSH FICTION: Bush has reduced the tax burden on American families, while John Kerry will raise taxes.
FACT: Bush is taxing the American family with a hidden Bush Tax.
George W. Bush likes to talk about tax cuts. But the truth is, Americans are paying higher college tuition, higher health care costs, and higher prices for gasoline � and they are receiving lower incomes. They are also paying more in state, local, and property taxes. Today, under George W. Bush, Americans are suffering a hidden BUSH TAX.
THE BUSH TAX
� Income Decrease: $1,462. Under President Clinton, family income increased $7,202 from 1992 to 2000. Under President Bush family income has declined $1,462 from 2000 to 2002. [Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
�Tuition Increase: $1,032. Nationally, four-year public college tuition and fees increased by an average of $1,032 since Bush took office, a 28 percent increase, the highest three-year increase on record. [Source: The College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2003-04 compared to 2000-01]
� Health Care Increase: $793. Health care costs have increased by an average of $793 since Bush took office, a stunning 49 percent increase. [Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Employer Health Benefits Survey 2000 and 2003, www.kff.org]
� Gas Increase: $245. The average U.S. household has seen an increase of $245 annually in gasoline prices and an average household with children has seen an increase of $289 in gasoline prices since Bush came into office. [Source: Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration]
� State and Local Tax Increases. Since the beginning of the Bush administration 32 states have been forced to raise taxes and fees by a total of $16.2 billion. At the local level, county and city governments have been raising taxes as well. In 2002, property tax collections were rising more than 10 percent. [Source: Blueprint Magazine, �Bush�s Tax Shakedown,� June 30, 2003]
More info on Bush's Tax lies.
http://blog.johnkerry.com/dbunker/archives/cat_economytaxes.html,
More on Bushs Lies:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/articlesbush.html
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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Leo Wyatt
Sweetest Angel
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 19045
Location: Investigating A Crime Scene. What did Quark do this time?
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| Tue May 04, 2004 5:27 am |
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I don't believe one word. Believe what u want you want. I am a different person.
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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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| Tue May 04, 2004 7:42 am |
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I belieive what you say besides I already knew I wasn't going to vote for Bush I didn't need a reason why.
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Tue May 04, 2004 10:49 am |
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| kmma wrote: | | I don't believe one word. Believe what u want you want. I am a different person. |
Then basically your saying you dont trust the government.
Look at some of the sources yourself, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the U.S. Census Bureau, The Department of Energy, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, theres even stuff out of White House breifings.
There are even some acclaimed media sources. Knight Ridder, CNN, FOX News, TIME and NBC.
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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Tue May 04, 2004 10:52 am |
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| Jeff Miller wrote: | | I belieive what you say besides I already knew I wasn't going to vote for Bush I didn't need a reason why. |
Tsss, now that's what I call an informed voter. You, and this nation, would be better off if you spent that Tuesday at home.
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Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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| Tue May 04, 2004 11:10 am |
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Nope I'm going to make sure to vote this time around I want my voice to be heard. 
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Tue May 04, 2004 11:25 am |
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You are apparently lacking... It's people such as you, (the uninformed), who are screwing this country.
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And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Jeff Miller
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 22 Nov 2001
Posts: 23947
Location: Mental Ward for the Mentaly Unstable 6th floor, Saint John's 1615 Delaware Longview Washington 98632
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| Tue May 04, 2004 11:40 am |
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So because I'm for Kerry I'm screwing up the country?
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Tue May 04, 2004 11:57 am |
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Ok, I'm going to give you a break here and assume you really are that stupid. This is your chance to go back and read what was said. If you still don't understand, (and by that last comment, you showed you clearly do not), then ask again.
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And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Leo Wyatt
Sweetest Angel
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 19045
Location: Investigating A Crime Scene. What did Quark do this time?
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| Tue May 04, 2004 12:03 pm |
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Link the hero,
you really don't know me that aint what I said. You are the one that must think that. I support Bush, u must got your facts from the media cause media is the one wants to make Bush look bad and make it seems like he is lying.
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Jeremy
J's Guy
Joined: 03 Oct 2002
Posts: 7823
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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| Tue May 04, 2004 3:57 pm |
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Sure, maybe they did say these things, but also they will have said other things that are differing views that are pro-Bush. No offense meant (and I'm not being racist) but quite a lot of Americans on this site seem to be either strong left or right. Anyone know why?
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Paul Marshall
Rear Admiral
Joined: 30 Aug 2002
Posts: 2976
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
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| Tue May 04, 2004 4:05 pm |
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| Jeremy wrote: | | No offense meant (and I'm not being racist) but quite a lot of Americans on this site seem to be either strong left or right. |
I didn't know American was a race,  .
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Tue May 04, 2004 4:14 pm |
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The learned ones, Jeremy. You usually stick to the middle if you don't know much about what is going on. There are the exceptions, of course. The VERY unlearned ones who spout crap.
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And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Sam Kenobi
Not a Duke
Joined: 13 Jun 2003
Posts: 10373
Location: The 'Verse
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| Tue May 04, 2004 11:25 pm |
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as the saying goes, that's bull s-h-i-t, that is. everyone needs an excuse to blame someone for the attacks. Well, what the heck could you do if you knew? tractor beam the planes, slap the terrorists on the hands and send them back home without any dessert? anyway... I'll support Bush. the counrty is still "recovering" from it's last Democrat.
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Wed May 05, 2004 2:14 am |
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and what you said proves that you didn't read anything.
Nothing there, except for maybe a few things in the "what really happened" links, says anything about the 9-11 attacks. anyway That is a dead issue. Everyone knows he couldn't do a thing about it.
Take the time to read all the information there. It's not a pack of lies. everything there holds truth to it.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)
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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Wed May 05, 2004 7:40 am |
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^maybe if you and RM could go through and trim down yalls post, or maybe just pull the actual facts out instead of having all the extra propagnada BS.
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Wed May 05, 2004 3:11 pm |
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Then there would still be about a page of stuff.
Sorry to tell you, but not everything is propaganda.
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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed May 05, 2004 4:53 pm |
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| Link, the Hero of Time wrote: | Then there would still be about a page of stuff.
Sorry to tell you, but not everything is propaganda. |
Wow, I'm afraid that I actually agree with this...  I mean, the Conservative stuff is not really propaganda.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Kyre
Commodore
Joined: 15 Mar 2002
Posts: 1263
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| Wed May 05, 2004 5:15 pm |
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| Theresa wrote: | | Ok, I'm going to give you a break here and assume you really are that stupid. This is your chance to go back and read what was said. If you still don't understand, (and by that last comment, you showed you clearly do not), then ask again. |
Using your methods, the majority of voters in every country are stupid. People have made up their minds long before the polling stations open, and certainly long before candidates start spewing their trash into the public domain.
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Theresa
Lux Mihi Deus
Joined: 17 Jun 2001
Posts: 27256
Location: United States of America
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| Wed May 05, 2004 5:25 pm |
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Ok, IMO, an uninformed voter is a stupid voter.
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Some of us fall by the wayside
And some of us soar to the stars
And some of us sail through our troubles
And some have to live with our scars
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Sam Kenobi
Not a Duke
Joined: 13 Jun 2003
Posts: 10373
Location: The 'Verse
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| Wed May 05, 2004 5:33 pm |
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alright, sorry. seriously. I'll stay out of your crazy political debates since I don't have much of a head for it. I'd rather study literature and philosophy... and I would have read the thing but seriously, it was way too long.
Last edited by Sam Kenobi on Wed May 05, 2004 5:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Wed May 05, 2004 5:40 pm |
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yeah I doubt alot of people who posted in here have read the whole thing...even the person who created this.....wouldnt be suprised if they read some of it and went "hmm this looks like it proves what i think".....
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Link, the Hero of Time
Vice Admiral
Joined: 15 Sep 2001
Posts: 5581
Location: Kokori Forest, Hyrule
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| Wed May 05, 2004 6:00 pm |
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As previously stated, I read everything in entirety before I post it.
I'm not one post things without first knowing what they say.
Unfortunetly that "What Really happened" thing was way to long to read everything.
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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." President Thomas Jefferson
"A man's respect for law and order exists in precise relationship to the size of his paycheck." Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Wed May 05, 2004 6:03 pm |
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k, well whatever you say......I aint readin this thing though
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Wed May 05, 2004 6:06 pm |
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I don't believe most of this stuff...Kerry DOES lie all the time...
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