01-14-2004, 03:46 PM
VioletlightHeron Wrote:Kim Wrote:The democrats dont need to make the republicans look bad, they do a damn good job of that themselves. Anybody in their right mind can see how the position of the USA has deteriorated ever since Bush took over, nationally as well as globally. I don't understand how people can NOT get blue faced and pissed off over that...
You make it sound as though americans should just kick back and relax, and accept all kinds of political screw ups because thats the way politics works, and it would be too complicated to do anything about it. Thats nonsense.
I don't think this issue in particular has anything to do with Bush or the war in Iraq, but more to do with how federal government is wasteful, incompetent to an extent and slothful. I have no idea how the people of the Netherlands react to wasteful government spending, but here in the US, when the economy is strong and lots of revenue is pouring into government coffers, nobody gives a crap about how badly the taxpayers money is being mishandled. Here in Wisconsin we've had a huge debate over a 32 billion dollar deficit that was caused by both political parties agreeing on a budget that was wasteful and relying on the economy continuing to be strong. Well guess what, the economy went into the crapper and all of a sudden the politicians are blaming each others' party for too much government spending when they were both responsible in the first place. My point is, when good times are here, the average citizen is going to be more concerned with money being spent on their issues and politicians falling all over themselves to satisify "the will of the people". Personally, I think some of the Taxpayer Rights groups here are a bit nuts because they hate taxes anyway and dont want their money being spent on social spending like welfare, corporate tax breaks, etc. But they have a point where the level of total taxation on citizens is getting to the point where most of our hard earned money is going to pay local, state and federal taxes.
I agree with you that when times are tough people who normally would have kept their mouth shut, start talking. It's only logical because it affects them more directly; increased taxes, cuts on government spending/subsidies..all of that is bad news for the public.
But saying there's no link between issues such as Bush, the war in Iraq and wasteful spending is wrong. You have any idea how much money that war cost? Bush doesn't seem to care. He's been on a spending spree ever since he became president and he's not stopping yet. $5 billion extra for NASA so americans can go to the moon... ..like that's what the country needs right now. But hey, if thats what it takes to give him an extra 4 years in the White House, why not? Screw providing healthcare, and screw the $1 trillion budget deficit..cause those things aren't important.
cratch: Over here, we dislike wasteful spending just as much as the next person. Our economy isn't doing well either and politicians are blaming each other, same as in the US. But the difference is that the leading politicians here genuinely make me feel as though they're at least trying to act in the best interest of the country. Bush never has and never will make me feel that way.
