Date: 8/25/2004 4:27:00 PM
From Authorid: 3835
To Imagine, a Functional Government.  |
Date: 8/25/2004 4:39:00 PM
From Authorid: 17081
Terrorists  |
Date: 8/25/2004 4:44:00 PM
From Authorid: 30229
OMG, I SOOOOOOOOOOOOO agree with you! I have thought about some of the same things you are saying... too bad the press dont slam both of them for missing the "point"... it is sad.  |
Date: 8/25/2004 4:51:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 62506
I echo your sentiments Sur5R...Politicians are busier maintaning their constituancy than taking care of business.Ditto Mfrompa, if the 3rd world countries hate the US and our way of life as ardently as they indicate...we have a huge task ahead of us in this country.Traveling abroad for the common US citizen is sounding more like a death wish as of late.  |
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Date: 8/25/2004 4:57:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 62506
For a certaintenty Gail,instead of the press encouraging the candidates to voice their agenda for these issues,they are pouring fuel on the whole swiftboat fiasco.It's becomming a bonfire of the egos in this election. |
Date: 8/25/2004 5:22:00 PM
From Authorid: 47296
Border security is a problem we will have to live with since most people are not ready for what it would take to effetively control our borders. My biggest concern is the economy. While the White House says the economy is on the rebound, I have found it to be anything but. If you are a major Pentagon contractor, then yes, the economy is good, spelled "war economy". If you are Joe Businessman, the average every day marketer, then the economy is lousy.  |
Date: 8/25/2004 6:54:00 PM
From Authorid: 62367
The only way to make our borders truly secure would be to make a "fortress American" type fortified border along the 2000 mile Mexican border and the 3000 mile Canadian border. That does not include somehow securing our ports on the coasts. It would take a paramilitary border patrol with a million plus members. The monitary cost would be in the hundreds of billions. That is just the material cost. The diplomatic costs with our 2 nearest neighbors would be astronomical. Somehow we are going to have to keep open borders, deter illegal aliens and sift out the terrorists. You are right about the mud slinging between the 2 candidates. I want to hear them talk about current issues not issues of 30 years ago. If I want to read about Viet Nam, I will find a history of the war. As far as important personal issues, domestic issues, economy and the conduct of the Iraqi war concern me. In other words everything. Everyone that's a US citizen and 18, don't forget to vote.  |
Date: 8/25/2004 6:54:00 PM
From Authorid: 15228
Every election year its the same. Everyone says the mudslinging has never been so bad..yet, it always seems the same to me. They say it was very, very ugly back during the Lincoln election and will probably always be that way because people who don't pay attention to politics until right before the election (probably 60% of the population) respond to mudslinging. If it didn't work, it wouldn't be done.  |
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Date: 8/25/2004 6:57:00 PM
From Authorid: 15228
Also, I would agree with you on the border security issue, they need to be tightened...Last week they caught two people with terrorist ties crossing into California, they think there mission was to blow up recruiting centers...yet we don't hear about that kind of stuff do we? Probably because the media is obsessed with Lacy Peterson. The third person is still at large. |
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Date: 8/25/2004 7:00:00 PM ( From Author )
From Authorid: 62506
You're right TS,the economy is in a horrendous state,regardless of White House spin to the contrary.I am a business owner and 2004 so far is the worst year on record for me.The government encourages multinational corperations to outsourse American jobs to cheap overseas labor markets by offerring huge tax incentives for these greedy industries,but the job loss to the middle class is reducing tax revenue that is needed to reduce the deficit,due to a shrinking job market caused by this erronious tactic.This won't turn around until a president is elected who will inact policies that protect domestic jobs from the greedy profiteers that are ruining our economy.Bush is for outsourcing and I am afraid Kerry isn't willing to do enough to stop it. |
Date: 8/25/2004 9:19:00 PM
From Authorid: 48812
you do have a good point, but there will always be leaks, no matter what anyone decides to do. Even if we choose to close off both borders, like make a big wall or something, what about the ocean? They could get a boat, and land on a beach or something. Sure, there's the coast guard, but how can they cover every bit of the water? Besides, there's more than one way to get into the US by water. There's the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico.....As well as the semi-simple way--forge an identity, and just come on a plane. Even if we do our best, nothing is ever foolproof.  |
Date: 8/25/2004 9:41:00 PM
From Authorid: 12341
Kelly simply stated it all for me.  |
Date: 8/26/2004 7:43:00 AM
From Authorid: 11240
I believe the technology exists to put some sort of detecting mechanism along the border which would indicate when it is crossed in a non-checkpoint area. Sure border security costs money. That is why I believe every transaction in the U.S. should have a transaction fee charged that would go into the national coffers. Then illegal aliens, who do spend some of the money they earn in this country, would be contributing to the costs of running this country. As it stands now, I see them as the terrorists. They are redefining the way I personally live my life. Have you every gotten in a wreck with an illegal alien? Like he has insurance, right? Oh, and a valid driver's license? And the wrecks are mainly due to driving habits that are substandard to what those that grow up here in the U.S. are taught. I cannot, in all good conscience, allow my 16 year old daughter out on the roads here due to this. Insurance costs (uninsured motorist coverage is a lifesaver, but then goes on your record as having utilized), medical costs (hey, somebody gets hurt in a car accident, do the EMT's ask for green cards, or do they just get them to the emergency room?), court costs to determine liability (I witnessed a wreck and ended up having to go to court where a woman who ran a red light was of the impression that if there was a car still in the intersection going in the direction parallel -- though sitting waiting to make a left hand turn -- it was all right for her to keep going), interpreter fees (you don't think she could speak English, do you?), etc., are ALL weighing down middle-class U.S. citizens pockets. And the money being made in this country by illegal aliens is NOT being taxed to pay for these costs for the most part. Go to one of the businesses that wire money out of the country and count how much cash is flowing out of our economy. And this cash is not always earned in any legitimate job. We recently had two illegal young men arrested for providing heroin to three high schools in this county (Maricopa in AZ). And practically on a weekly basis we hear of human smuggling rings holding their "cargo" ransom, twenty, thirty, or so people in one house (hey they paid the "coyotes" to get them into the country, now the coyotes expect them to pay again to be let go here). It is far too easy for ANYONE to get into this country, and IMHO those that are getting in ARE terrorizing this country, albeit on an economic front and not so much in a "deadly" way. But then I haven't even started talking about drive-by shootings and how dangerous it can be to just be outside in your own front yard in some areas . . . God Bless.  |
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Date: 8/26/2004 1:17:00 PM ( Admin-DNL )
I am not sure what my favorite political issue is, but to comment on the whole mudslinging thing, I agree with Kelly. Although this year does seem to be a little bit worse then others, but I have paid more attention to this election because this is the first year I can vote. I never really paid much attention to the other elections because I didn't think it was very important. I can't remember if it was this ugly during the last one. |
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Date: 8/26/2004 4:30:00 PM
From Authorid: 47296
The biggest problem with securing our borders is two words, "posse comitatus". To effectively secure our borders, it would take military personnel and equipment, and posse comitatus would limit how they could be used to the point of being ineffective. It would take a Congressional act to be able to use the military, and I am afriad there would be a lot of flack from across the country from people along all lines. Securing our borders over water is easy. The military is already used to some degree in anti-drug operations along our coasts, and it would take little to expand that effirt. Certain measures would need to be put in place though, that once again, would cause a lot of people to complain. |
