[Maybe_Tomorrow]

I dont know, from what some of my British friends have told me, it has more to do with some people no longer wanting to be friends with the US and this is just being used to add fuel to the growing fire. They were looking for mistakes so they could say, 'SEE! See, he doesn't like us, i told you. Now can we break friends?'

[sunnykerr]

I am hopeful that this president will go a long way in repairing the relationships that were destroyed by the previous's administration wanton disregard for the rest of the world. I don't know. Seems to me like it would be wrong to hold Obama responsible for the "we are the kings of the world" attitude of his predecessor.

[vc318]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) I am hopeful that this president will go a long way in repairing the relationships that were destroyed by the previous's administration wanton disregard for the rest of the world. I don't know. Seems to me like it would be wrong to hold Obama responsible for the "we are the kings of the world" attitude of his predecessor.

I'm looking forward to that too. We're not friends with too many countries right now.

[mh67511]

Originally Posted by callace (View Post) I really dont see what is so wrong with earmarking? If Government is gonna spend a lot of money, isnt it an advantage to have a clear idea of what it is they are going to spend it on??

Well for one thing, they aren't usually transparent. Often they are slipped in at the last minute or included in these massive bills...it's easy to overlook them. If it weren't for the watchdog groups, we probbaly wouldn't hear much about them.

Also, a lot of it is just wasteful spending. If Iowa wants to build a pig odor research plant, fine, but they should spend THEIR state taxes to pay for it. It's not fair or right to expect citizens in all the other 49 states to fund THEIR pet project.

Federal income taxes should be used for programs that benefit citizens, regardless of what state they live in.

[sunnykerr]

It's a catch-22, though, isn't it? If governmental aid, such as in the way of universal health care and/or welfare, are forms of socialism, then how can federal funding ever be spread fairly across the board?

Or am I being way Canadian here?

[ceilirose]

Earmarks have become a joke. The lawmakers who complained the loudest about them requested them for their districts. Think Senators Kyl (AZ) and Graham (SC).

So yes - I know McCain gets very mad but not mad enough that Kyl would abstain from requesting them.

Spare me the "outrage" - they're trying to score political points. Sure there is abuse but I believe that earmarks are dwarfed by our military spending. Does anyone think that there isn't waste and duplicity there? For political reasons no one is going to criticize those expenditures.

[sunnykerr]

Well, of course they're just trying to save face. You can't logically be a politician and seriously argue in favour of reducing the size and scope of government. It makes no sense.

Besides, you know none of these people would argue that they should have a pay cut. So, essentially, they're windbagging in favour of cutting back spending projects, even if said spending projects can be just a wee bit on the silly side, just as they're lining their own pockets.

Not to mention that these stupid earmarks are just a small portion of the overall budget. So they're bitching about the grains of sand when we're talking a whole beach. Bleh.

[sunnykerr]

Cheney Says Obama's Policies 'Raise the Risk' of U.S. Terror Attack WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday defended the Bush administration's economic record, the invasion of Iraq and the treatment of suspected terrorists, warning that reversing its anti-terrorism policies endangers Americans. In a wide-ranging interview with CNN's "State of the Union," Cheney said the harsh interrogations of suspects and the use of warrantless electronic surveillance were "absolutely essential" to get information to prevent more attacks like the 2001 suicide hijackings that targeted New York and Washington. "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack," he said. Critics said the Bush administration's "alternative" interrogation techniques amounted to the torture of prisoners in American custody, while the administration's warrantless surveillance program violated federal laws enacted after the Watergate scandal. Since taking office in January, Obama has announced plans to close the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to halt the military trials of suspected terrorists there, and to make CIA officers follow the Army field manual's rules on interrogations. Cheney said the administration appears to be returning to the pre-2001 model of treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue, rather than a military problem. "When you go back to the law enforcement mode, which I sense is what they're doing, closing Guantanamo and so forth ... they are very much giving up that center of attention and focus that's required, that concept of military threat that is essential if you're going to successfully defend the nation against further attacks," he said. But Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pennsylvania, said the Bush administration's policies undercut "what is actually the source of America's greatness -- our principles." "How can we say that keeping a man in a black hole forever -- perpetually in a black hole -- and saying, 'Let's torture when we decide to,' is what America stands for?" asked Sestak, a former admiral who led the Navy's anti-terrorism efforts. The Bush administration took office at the end of an economic boom and left in the middle of a deep recession, with a budget surplus in 2001 becoming a $1 trillion-plus deficit by 2009. But Cheney said he and Bush had to spend money to deal with the September 11, 2001 attacks, the resulting war in Afghanistan, the disaster of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and the costly and unpopular war in Iraq, now nearly six years old. "All of these things required us to spend money that we had not originally planned to spend, or weren't originally part of the budget," Cheney said. "Stuff happens. And the administration has to be able to respond to that, and we did." Obama has begun to wind down the war in Iraq, which has cost more than 4,200 American lives and nearly $700 billion in direct costs. But Cheney said the United States has "accomplished nearly everything we set out to do" in Iraq, including establishing a democratic government in the Middle East. Cheney was one of the administration's leading advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, pressing the Bush administration's argument that Iraq was concealing weapons of mass destruction and could provide those weapons to terrorists. None of those weapons were found after the invasion, but Cheney said, "We've eliminated that possibility." In 2005, Cheney said the raging insurgency against U.S. troops was in its "last throes." Nearly two years later, a commitment of more than 30,000 additional American troops and a widespread effort to pay former insurgents to turn against Islamic militants helped quell the worst of the violence. "I don't hear much talk about that, but the fact is, the violence level is down 90 percent," Cheney said. "The number of casualties [among] Iraqis and Americans is significantly diminished. There's been elections, a constitution. They're about to have another presidential election here in the near future. We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a democratically governed Iraq, and that is a big deal, and it is, in fact, what we set out to do." But Sestak said the administration was too slow to react to the problems it faced in Iraq and let the conflict overshadow the "whole fabric" of U.S. national security. "The cost of this war is something that I strongly believe has far, far hurt us," he said. "We're going to recover, because we're Americans. But Iraq was just one piece of our security, and this administration failed to realize that." Though considered one of the administration's most influential figures, Cheney said President Bush rebuffed his advice on at least two issues. He said Bush left former Cheney aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby "sort of hanging in the wind" by refusing to issue Libby a pardon before leaving office. Libby was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal agents investigating the leak of a former CIA officer's identity. "I believe firmly that Scooter was unjustly accused and prosecuted and deserved a pardon, and the president disagreed with that," Cheney said. He would disclose no details of his efforts to lobby the president on Libby's behalf, saying they would be "best left to history." And Cheney said he argued against the administration's policy on North Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon in 2006. The Bush administration reached a still-incomplete disarmament deal with the isolated Stalinist state in 2007 and removed it from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism as part of the deal. "I had my say," Cheney told CNN. "I got my chance to voice my views and my objections. I didn't think the North Koreans were going to keep their end of the bargain in terms of what they agreed to, and they didn't." The Obama administration has nominated Christopher Hill, the State Department official who was the top U.S. negotiator with North Korea, to be the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Cheney said Hill lacks the Middle East experience that his predecessors have, and "I did not support the work that Chris Hill did with respect to North Korea." "I think it's a choice that I wouldn't have made," he said.

Cheney says Obama's policies 'raise the risk' of U.S. terror attack - CNN.com

He had his say and, clearly, he still intends on having it. Bleh, I'll give any man out there the courtesy of being nothing more than a fallible man, but Cheney is really in the running for those people who seem to spend such energy in creating chaos, discord and some version of evil.

[ceilirose]

Cheney needs to go back to that undisclosed location where he spent the last eight years. I guess if you're a follower you want to hear him but who else cares? John King of CNN was asking such softball questions it was laughable.

[sunnykerr]

Cheney never misses an opportunity to open his mouth, does he? That man needs to learn to shut up.

[Callace]

well, that guy has already proved how little he knows about fighting terror. Did it ever, during his time in office, occur to him that terrorizing more people might not be the best approach?

[sunnykerr]

It's the typical bully answer of addressing issues. If you beat up the most people, or if you hurt your opponent the most, it means you have respect.

[4N6 DNA]

Banner and related threads for the OP.

Barack Obama Thread - He'll rename the tenth month of the year ''Barack-tober.''
Caroline Kennedy qualified for senate seat?
Birth of Octuplets in California Raises Ethical Questions
Republicans elect first black national party chairman
Riots erupt in Oakland after slain father laid to rest
Edwards Admits Affair
Sen. Edward Kennedy has malignant brain tumor

[Callace]

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post) It's the typical bully answer of addressing issues. If you beat up the most people, or if you hurt your opponent the most, it means you have respect.

So true everything gets so muh clearer when reduced to playground logics

Love the banner

[4N6 DNA]

See how I snuck a little JFK into there?