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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (269441)	1/21/2006 10:03:38 AM
From: Taro	Respond to of 1573610

Is that how you've learned to sleep at night? I am sure Marcos adopted a similar tactic. ...if she did consume a larger percentage of her countries economy than the Pharaohs did. Why should either of us care that Imelda bought a lot of shoes?... Apparently her husband stole most of his wealth. ...while the Marcos' acted illegally but didn't (at least for a long time) have any repercussions because no investigation would go forward without their approval. Rumors claim that Marcos found the fabled "Yamashita's Gold Horde" hidden by end of WWII on the Philipines. If that were the case Imeld could easily have collected a few more shoes without over charging her credit. Taro usnews.com preferrednetwork.com bowstring.net

To: TimF who wrote (269441)	1/21/2006 4:17:39 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1573610

Republicans Worried About Party Faithful By RON FOURNIER AP Political Writer January 20, 2006, 11:38 AM EST WASHINGTON -- A growing number of Republican voters are frustrated by congressional spending and scandal, according to GOP leaders from across the country who worry that an "enthusiasm deficit" could cost the party control of Congress in November. Some rank-and-file Republicans wonder what happened to the party that promised to reform Washington after taking control of Congress in 1994 for the first time in 40 years. "We've seen the enemy, and he is us," said Tom Rath, a Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire describing the sentiments of some GOP voters. "We have to get back to the basics. Let's talk about small government and reduced spending, and don't let the Democrats take those issues." "I hear a lot of concern about increased spending and the need to reduce it -- talk about getting back to the basics," said Kate Obenshain Griffin, chairwoman of the Virginia Republican Party. Griffin, Rath and several other Republican activists attending a two-day RNC meeting said GOP voters in their states still strongly support President Bush. They also insisted in interviews that Republicans were more likely than not to retain control of the House and the Senate in November. But the possibility of losing Congress doesn't seem as remote as it once did. Many tried-and-true Republican voters are disenchanted with party leaders in Congress, and the sulky mood could suppress turnout in November, RNC members said. Separately, private polling for Republicans suggest that government spending and political fallout from the Iraq war are causing anxiety among GOP voters. Senior party officials inside and outside the White House fear that Washington scandal may hurt GOP turnout if average Republican voters believe that Congress' spending habits are partly the result of corruption. That may be one reason why national party chairman Ken Mehlman told RNC members that corrupt politicians in either party should be rooted out and punished. "The public trust is more important than party," he said in a speech Friday. The investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff threatens to ensnare at least a half dozen members of Congress of both parties and Bush administration officials. Abramoff, who has admitted to conspiring to defraud his Indian tribe clients, has pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges and is cooperating with prosecutors. His ties to GOP congressional leaders and the White House pose a particular problem for Republicans. Ten months before the midterm elections, Bush gets a chance to shape the political landscape with his State of the Union address Jan. 31. But there are a few clouds on the horizon that concern Republicans: * A debate over immigration reform in Congress that threatens to divide the pro-business wing of the party from the anti-immigration conservatives. * A May 15 deadline to sign up for a Bush-backed Medicare prescription drug program that has angered senior citizens, a formidable voting bloc in November. * Revised budget deficit estimates are expected soon from the Congressional Budget Office and the White House. Bush will urge Congress to increase the $1.8 trillion debt limit in the next few weeks. These are all reminders that Republican-led Washington is awash in red ink. Republican voters want their leaders to use control of Congress and the White House to implement a conservative agenda, and not get sidetracked by politics or scandal in Washington, RNC members said. "There is frustration when people see internal struggles here in Washington and they don't see us get anything done on immigration and don't see us get anything done on the deficit," said DeMarus Carlson, an RNC member from Nebraska. Party leaders fear that while conservative voters may become disengaged, liberal voters will be galvanized by their opposition to the Iraq war and their frustration with minority-party status. "I talk about an enthusiasm deficit, and I think we have a little bit of that," Rath said of Republican voters. "They say we need to get our act together. They still love this president. But they want to see movement on the things that brought us to power. We took the government over and promised to fix things." Outside the RNC, party strategists expressed the same concerns about voter turnout in November. "They do love the president, but they have seen a Congress that doesn't seem to function well and they wonder what the heck is going on," said consultant Joe Gaylord, who helped Republicans seize control of the House in 1994 as an adviser to then-Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. "Whether it's an inability to communicate accurately or an unwillingness to solve the problems they were put in power to fix, people are confused," Gaylord said, "and that confusion could lead people to stay home in November." newsday.com

To: TimF who wrote (269441)	1/21/2006 4:58:31 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573610

Yes they are capitalists. They aren't capitalism. Capitalists are major actors in a capitalist system. They are not the system, they certainly aren't the ideas and philosophy behind the system. WTF Tim. Capitalists are the human embodiment of capitalism just as Americans are the human embodiment of America. Capitalism is about free market transactions of goods and services. Capitalists act in a relatively free market but their interest is in making money not in the capitalist system in an abstract sense. They frequently argue for and often get special benefits from the government, or restrictions that hurt their competitors. They aren't "capitalism". The idea is not the same as the people. And the concrete reality of a real world capitalist market requires a lot more than big capitalists. You have workers, consumers, ect. Sorry. Without people, an -ism has little reason to exist. I am not blaming capitalism necessarily or entirely, but this transition from limited to many choices is literally killing people in Russia. Since the USSR fell apart, the lifespan of the average Russian has decreased dramatically. The lifespan of the average Russian was apparently declining for some time. The statistics from Russia were not and probably still aren't very reliable. The decline began shortly after the USSR fell. Also Russia is not a strongly capitalist society. At least not in the sense that I am using the term capitalist. Apparently you are defining the word a system where capitalists operate. I am using it to mean something more like "a free market economy". It isn't now....it was for a while......Putin has begun to restrict the market and Russian freedoms. It was an affront to every person starving or subsisting in the Phillippines. She knew that but still capitalism allowed/justified her need to feed her fetish. So your problem is that capitalism allows people to spend to excess? That's not much of a problem in my opinion. I know that's not your problem. Libertarians/Republicans have conveniently come up with ways to ignore the poverty in the world. Other systems allow the ruling class to spend to excess as well as I pointed out. So? Capitalism extends this ability beyond the ruling class because it gives wealth and freedom to more people. Giving wealth and freedom to more people is a good thing not a bad one. No, it isn't good thing if people are starving. You are so blinded by your ideology, you don't clearly see its implications and the end product. Consuming isn't the same as alcoholism, at least not for the vast majority of people. Yes, it is. There are 12 step programs to help people who are addicted to shopping just as there are 12 step programs for alcoholism. I said for the vast majority of people. Yes there are some "spendaholics" but they are a tiny fraction of consumers. For most. "Consuming" isn't like "alcoholism". "Out of control compulsive consuming is perhaps somewhat like alcoholism", but you were not criticizing ""Out of control compulsive consumption" but rather "consumption." There are varying degrees of shoppers just like there are varying degrees of drinkers. The fact that people can get addicted to shopping/consumption suggests an underlying flaw to the capitalism system. And shopping addiction is just one of the symptoms. There are people who steal in order to maintain their consumption; others who prostitute themselves. Still others who sacrifice the welfare of their families so they can consume what they want. That is not a good thing. You keep ignoring a major premise of capitalism........the need for consumption.....that's how capitalism thrives. The need for consumption isn't a premise of capitalism. Its a basic reality of our existence and even the existence of bacteria. You have to consume to live. Capitalism is a free market system where you have more wealth so you can consume more. Once again that is a good thing not a bad thing. Capitalism thrives on growing consumption. In a world where resources are finite, that is not a good thing. That is why at some point capitalism will be forced to evolve into something else or humanity will experience another crash. ted