Interesting comments by Ike kay and MICsCs... there is I believe three groups of imperialist global manipulators here, the middle east and in eastern Europe as I understand it, and if you look at the writing of John Perkins ("Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and another more recent title I believe) he names some of them.

So, we have a very complicated situation of great technological means to manipulate the masses and to install leaders who are 'friendly' to vested interlocking MIC (WTO, etc.) interests. But what I think we are seeing today is the continued evolution of the awakening of the masses and a significant group of intelligensia around the globe (that managed not to get 'expended' by the empire builders yet - as many have in recent decades). With the intelligent actions of these more enlightened I see hope, as they manage to engage the masses, as we are beginning to see with Obama. Kucinich I believe had the best platform and the integrity and proven record, but many did not discern this of course, being too superficial in their perceptions.

There may be a simple underlying principle we may soon see enacted if we are to make it through this crises period in earth's history. That is SHARING. With sharing, we build trust, which will help begin the scale-down of violence and tensions. I think it is the only way out. How this will be implemented will be quite extensive and comprehensive and will require everyone on the planet to get involved... the time is now!

Mr. Sanders, reformer or not, one thing is abundantly clear and for Obama as well, this American military adventure in the world must come to an end. The money that has been spent on this war alone, never mind the defense budget that drains millions for military supremacy that is an idea unbridled in this congress. The USA is the reason for any arms race or self-protection that nations resort to for protecttion from the USA preemptive war strategy.

Many people here in the USA think to give their vote in the upcoming election to someone who they think represents the absolute truth, maybe Nader? To do that would at the same time elect by default the very same regime that has brought America to this present. After all and under scrutiny this is not a democracy, and the "truth" as presented has more than a few deficiencies.

I have followed patiently the dreamers, the pseudo intellectuals, and the great scholars, on the pages of many blogs, periodicals, and media who think they have the sort of thinking able to help bring the USA back from the horrid mess it has become. There are those, like so many who write, who like me have seen through the sham and the shame of the present global dilemma. Many in these tomes offer their great thinking to help us to see more clearly, good Liberal egalitarian ideas, that might help our situation if adopted and I hope seen by others.

Few here have touched the central issues, this countries greed, the economy and your 401ks. You have been sold this scheme so you could be good Americans and invest in the scam of Wall Street. By so doing you all have become part of this bogus system of economics that continues a way of life that will undo the world civilization, built on the layers of blood of countless generations. This form of economics- which panders to the worst human values- It is equal to one investing in a gambling house, but you have been led to believe it is your way to survival rather than the world's doom. Greed is a very difficult motivation personified by the "killer capitalism" of the USA and fans the seeds of greed, an acquisitive human characteristic that holds nothing or no one sacred, as of course some of you know.

The essence of the fight for human retrieval of hope and security, and the reestablishment of ethics, morals and purpose - so many write about - and who are disgusted with the American system fast becoming the global system - who would like to see change regardless of how questionable or what the downside might be. It is the reason people spend their time on blogs reading petty responses to the huge problems we face. Responses grounded in the rubbish the leaders of this sorry mess of an empire have indoctrinated their people to believe. This empire fueled by an auto-centered culture supported by the advertising indoctrination machine that supports the bogus media.

Those who respond to the articles on blogs, written by people who are surely less than the quality of the true thinkers like, Nietzsche, Camus, Dostoevsky and so many others who have written about human fallibility, the human condition and the abuse of power in America and the West. One of the best amongst them in the modern era is Noam Chomsky, a great American scholar and a champion of truth, who articulated the USA and its power lust for empire in his book "Hegemony or Survival.

Those who write, are people generally frustrated, those who feel helpless in terms of where we see this entire human global adventure going and see clearly that the present American election possibly holds the seeds to genuine change in the USA if not the world should it really should occur? In view of rapid change and absolute necessity in the USA for global survival we have to look at the so-called democratic process. The comparison between the facile political landscape as presented in media and look at this abomination called reality. Power is a strange issue, it can be best represented by its two possibilities, Power to and power "over" as represented by the present US administration. The power to "create" as represented by Obama's rhetoric is the hope of half of the USA. Yes, there are many political power brokers that hold the keys to Obama's success and we must accept the compromise of the imperfect but it is the best there is at this critical time. At the very least he has invigorated Democracy and interest in this failed Democratic, extreme capitalist experiment.

However, many are not fooled by the array of candidates and their claims to complete truth and fairness, this is, as it should be. A healthy pessimism is necessary so long as it is not cynicism. Some of us understand that survival is surely not based in the petty politics practiced on the media, or on-line which is a mirror of the American people and clone of the US Congress. However, many truly care and see clearly why the USA has morphed into a right wing crazed oligarchy. Many people writing her genuinely care about this superpower gone amuck, called the USA. Most of the world's people polled think the USA should be feared as a rogue state. Moreover, there are people in government who are genuinely worried about the extreme of American plutocracy on the world stage.

Sadly, many of us know the slate of candidates running leaves a great deal to be desired. Yes, they have all dissembled, as politicians are wont to do, in the endless necessity for compromise, even to achieve small things for the people. One cannot come from the masses in the USA, be a politician who aspires to become president of this woebegone culture and not have to assume the sickening compromises that would attract support to continue on the quest to accomplish change. It is impossible to be pure but it is possible to hold new truths close to ones fundamental belief system until possible to employ those ideas and idealistic visions of a better world. When people rally behind the leader who becomes transparent in office it is possible for the people begin to believe the leadership of a visionary. America believed in the JFK speech that accomplished the moon landing!

I believe Obama's hope and vision is to restore the USA to its former respected place in the world in a new way. One can see how it is veiled in his rhetoric but it is there. We can only hope that he is not murdered using some obscure assassin. When I think of the charge against Obama that he supported that toad, Joe Lieberman or the many obfuscations, of Clinton and McCain to paint him "black" I have to laugh at the simplistic charges and the lack of understanding of what is necessary to be a politician in the USA.

But there are some who hold out the small hope that if Obama, the least of all the evils presented to the electorate, somehow becomes president he may become another great man in the office and in effect serve the people, the country and the globe. He is the only one, in my view, who holds that possibility, without question, if we join and accept some of the thinking written on the pages of common dreams and other liberal blogs, many agree with this idea. It is so because of his background, his actions in Chicago, despite his missteps, and the fact that this is the final chance at survival for the human family!

We must take this chance and hope that the creeping filth of corporate power in collusion with government and media that has brought humanity to this pass will not assassinate him; if he truly tries to affect the changes that must take place in America and the world, for make no mistake about it: survival is at stake.

Yes, many nations look to different nations and models other than the USA in this for leadership and assistance turning their back on the US and the rejection of the Bush regime. The USA can take on a new challenge, with a new leader, a new vision with a country and a congress that supports him! I believe Obama can assume a place in the world as one of the leaders of the world- rather than, the lone, dogmatic, power driven capitalistic - globalized monster eating everything in its path for it own advantage. I believe that Obama, in recognizing the state of this world, seen with the idealistic vision he espouses, is able to help the USA join with other nations in the world, not as the sole leaders but one as one of its important contributors. The USA is a technological giant it is time to use its strength to assist the world, as it once did, not only for its GDP but also the truth of its responsibility and concern for the problems humanity confronts.

Now, as never before, to the present degree, a great leader and vision is required to help draw the world back from the nightmare now taking place. The climate, energy, food, water, the oceans, forests, human health, world poverty and so many other issues will require a man that has the youth and the guts to try to bring about the change in the USA needed for the future generations who see his vision. Change is fundamental to his campaign alone, since he has captured the belief of so many whom once believed it to be impossible. However, in the end it all may be too late!

I have a problem with Bernie Sanders.

While I recognize that he may be the most "left-wing" member of Congress, Sanders claims to be a socilaist but, come on, let's get real.

Sanders has repeatedly stated that he would support either Hillary or Obama for president. Really? ... Some socialist!

Bernie Sanders is a socialist in the sense that ... let's put it this way, did you ever talk with someone who considers, say, unemployment insurance or "welfare" (personal not corporate) to be "socialism." Yeah, Bernie's THAT kind of socialist -- he's as "socialist" as FDR and LBJ were.

Bernie, stop trying to hustle the crowd, you're a reformer. Sadly, that's as "far left" as anyone in Congress has had the courage to declare themselves.

When we talk dollars so often it is hard to wrap our mind around numbers. I am an accountant and I heard a good example of how to make numbers real. Here Goes: If you had a time machine that would take you back in time in seconds a MILLION seconds you would only go back in time around 12 days. If you went back in time a BILLION seconds you would be at the white house during the Nixon administration. However if you went back in time a TRILLION seconds you would go back in time to 30,000 years B.C.!!!! An even better way to think of that is if you were to count out a trillion dollars and could drop a dollar every second 24 hours a day 7 days a week without missing a beat it would take you 30,000 years to count out a trillion dollars!! This is how much our government is spending!

Sanders is one of the great hypocrits running in the halls of Congress. His entire career has shown his voting record on behalf of US funding the terrorist state of Isreal and building their military might. He voted for a Bill which affrimed the Isreali invassion of Lebanon. That invassion target infrastucture, and living areas of non combatants. Sander's has blood on his hands and so to any one who votes for him. Sander's speaks with a forked tounge.

formernadervoter,

I support Obama as the lesser evil though I cannot speak for any others here. Personally, if they each had an equal shot to win, I would support Senator Sanders over Nader, Nader over Kucinich, Kucinich over Edwards, and Edwards over Obama. But it doesn't make sense to vote for a lottery candidate in an election. It makes sense to support (including monetary or other support) a small progressive party as part of a long-term strategy to bring about political progress, but that does not necessarily include throwing one's vote away in elections in which that party's candidates have no chance. Often the lesser evil candidate offers the possibility of creating an environment more friendly to the growth of that small party (it can hardly grow if the greater evil candidate shuts down the Internet, starts monitoring all communications, or implements strategies for vote tampering or other election fraud). One can, and should, have a long-term strategy and a short-term strategy.

And I certainly was aware of the 700+ bases and many other outrageous facts related to the MIC, as well as Obama's related proposed policies. But I recognized long ago that the US political system usually only offers a Hobson's choice.

Hey all you Obamamaniacs: why is Obama increasing military troop levels by over 90,000? and increasing the military budget?

Neither are needed and both will make our problems worse.

Why isn't Obama calling for the roll back of our 720 military installations around the world? I thought he was for change.

Do you Obamamaniacs even know we have that many bases?

Every time I see someone mention our debt as 9.3 trillion, it sets me off a bit. Our public debt is 5.5 trillion, this is money not owed by the government to itself, like the 2+ trillion social security funds they spent on other stuff. In fact, less than 3 trillion is owed to foreigners, the rest of the debt is meaningless, its money we owe ourselves.

Knowing how much someone owes is meaningless information without knowing how much they own. In other words, if the country owes 9 trillion, well tell me how much the country is worth before telling me this is a lot.

First of all, who is the country? The government represents the individual citizen as well as the the corporate citizen. The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are citizens entitled to the same rights and protections as citizens, and presumably obligations. So we have individual assets, corporate assets, we also have government assets, such as a huge military machine, ownership of over 30% of the countries land, not to mention our abundant natural resources. If someone looked at this countries net worth, I would not be surprised to see a figure of 5-10 times GDP, which is 65-130 trillion, lets call it 100 trillion. So if you are worth 100K, but have 5,500 in debt and still working, is that so bad? The debt is a hoax to explain why government can not spend money to improve the country, since their goal is to loot the country of it's wealth and distribute it globally. That is called globalization.

One of the great tragedies of the past 100 years is the brainwashing of people so they believe that money for government spending must come from taxes or money borrowed from the privately owned Federal Reserve Banks (who creates the money to buy the bonds), or from investors whose money comes from money created by the commercial banks within the Federal Reserve System, or other countries privately owned Central Banks who have accumulated dollars as a result of our trade deficits. These countries Central Banks get the USD by creating their own money to buy USD from those with USD deposits in local banks that exchange them for the local currency (their employees get paid in local currency, not USD, even though the product they made and exported, which we bought, gets paid for in USD).

We never had a Federal Income Tax until 1913 when the Fed was established, and that was to insure the Federal Government would have a source of income
in which to pay the interest on their loans. In 1913, you would have had to make todays equivelant of 125,000 before owing a tax of 500 dollars. Not bad. Thats how they were able to get it approved (technically it was never ratified but thats another story). Things went downhill from there.

The tragedy is that we borrow money by selling bonds promising interest to those who create the money in which to buy the bonds, when in fact, we could issue the money debt free, by printing the money instead of the bonds.

Lincoln did that with the Greenbacks in wartime, rather than pay 30% interest on the loans the international bankers in NY were offering. Was there inflation? Sure, it was war time, all "real" wars bring inflation, and also, the greenback was not legal tender for all transactions and competed with other bank issued currencies, so after the war was over, nobody wanted the greenback. Lincoln was assasinated by the international bankers for this reason, since they recognized the dangers if such an idea caught on.

We could easily go back to the Greenback for spending on infrastructure, social needs like Health Care, and even our so called Wars (occupations).

But the brainwashers tell you this would be inflationary. Good grief. Do you realize that this country had zero inflation for the previous 136 years before the Fed. Since the Fed took over the money, 1 dollar issued in 1913 is equal to 4 cents today. Thats 2,500% inflation over 95 years. Even in the first years of the Fed, following WW I until the New Deal, inflation was only 1% per year.

The tragedy of the New Deal was that FDR funded it with money borrowed from the FED and the gold he confiscated from the American people. He could simply have issued his own money w/o borrowing the money he needed. Instead, money was created by the Fed in which to loan the government, but which could be increased up to 10 times by the system due to the wonders of fractional reserve banking. The fact we were off the Gold Standard as a result of the Depression meant there were no limits on the amounts we could borrow.

Heres where it gets interesting for the conspiracy buffs. The Fed and its bankers in the system kept credit tight in the US, prolonging the depression, despite the New Deal. FDR recognized Stalins Russia in 1933, who was in the middle of starving 7 million Ukranian Christians (FDR called Stalin Uncle Joe). He then set up the Import Export bank which was used to guarantee loans made to Russia, loans being denied to Americans. Hitler, coming to power at the same time as FDR as a result of Germanies post WW I economic woes, immediately turned around the economy and began building up his war machine. Where did Hitler get the money and investments to fund the technology and production capacity with which to produce weapons and fuel, from 1933-1939?. In the midst of a Depression at home, our corporate industrial leaders that make up todays MIC, and their bankers, who owned the Fed, were funding both sides (fascism and communism) for the coming War in Europe, while being stingy on credit at home. This is similar to what we are doing today, building up China, Russia and Middle East Oil producers, preparing for the next big war, while our economy flounders and is in decline.

If we issued our own money for the New Deal and cut-off investment to Hitler and Stalin, WW II may not have happened. But our elite needed WW II for it's globalization agenda, and it needed to kill a bunch of Rabbinical Jews to get support for the state of Israel and a homeland for the secular Jews committed to Zionism (this was a political movement started by non-jews to get a state friendly to it's interests in the oil rich Middle east, not a religous movement, although religion was used as a tool),. This was promised in the Balfour Declaration written by Balfour to Rothschild in 1917, long before the holocaust or Hitler.

In this period, as the author of Mein Kampf was implementing his Jewish policies, did we increase immigration for Jews who wanted to escape Europe? We did not. In fact, immigration of Jews was at it's lowest level in years. When refugees started fleeing by boat, some of which came to the US, they were denied entry by FDR and forced to head back to Europe. Even the British limited immigration of Jews to Palestine, which they controlled, during WW II. Why? The religous Jews in Europe were to be a human sacrifice, and it had to be big enough to fulfill the post-WW II agenda of Globalization.

Today, following Cold Wars, Vietnam, Iraq and many smaller engagements, our economic growth lies in valuations of SIV's, CDO's, CDS's, OTC derivatives and hedge funds, cartel pricing practices in the banking, insurance, agribusiness and pharmaceutical industries, and usury and fraudulent lending practices in the financial services industry. Excessive taxation of the individuals (over 40% all taxes included) has led to declining wealth for the bottom 80-90%, and lower living standards, while our multi-national corporations hide their profits in the tax havens or pay no tax on profits earned in other countries, due to they chose not to send the profits back to the US (nice loophole for the corporate citizen).

Legal and illegal immigration has increased our population from 200 million in 1970 to 310 million today (fertility rates have been at or below replacement value for 35 years so the population growth is entirely immigration and births to new immigrants). Why did we need a 50% population increase as jobs were being moved offshore? Simple. To reduce wage inflation in the US and prevent innovation in industries facing a shortage of labour in labour intensive industries. Innovation would eliminate the need to move abroad in search of cheaper labour. While wage inflation was contained, insurance costs for employees who provide it were staggering (GM has moved production to Canada which has higher taxes for this reason, lower HC costs), so even with wage inflation contained, they had to move, and tax incentives were provided for them to do so. These same companies say they support our private health insurance system, despite it being against the interests of their shareholders who pay the costs of relocation forced by the current system.

If this world is ever to see peace and democracy again, Globalization and the current Financial System needs to be crushed (remember, Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple) and replaced by one where money is created for the general welfare of the people, and for corporations that produce goods and services for the local productive economy. Free Trade would be replaced by Fair trade, that is mutually beneficial to both sides trading, and not the vulture capitalism under WTO rules.

But Obama or Hillary will not bring this change. Last President we had who tried to change things for the better was JFK. He went up against Big Oil, MIC, International Bankers, Israel, CIA, Mafia, and even Globalization (he wanted to tax capital going abroad to invest in factories in other countries). People like to pick and choose which one did it, but they do not understand that their interests are connected, they are all parts of elites power structure. They are one and the same. JFK took on the elites and was punished, and RFK was going to make another attempt, and he was punished. No one since has dared to do the same. It is said JFK Jr was planning to run in 2000, and he went down in 1999, a plane accident (makes you wonder).

A vote for John McCain is a vote for more extravagant, unnecessary military spending, continued massive budget deficits, more of our young people coming home maimed or in coffins, more alienation of our allies and recruitment of our enemies, more recessions, more environmental degradation and accelerating climate change, more lobbyist influence and fewer constitutional rights. The Clinton supporters who now so loathe Obama that they're willing to vote for McCain in November should bear this in mind. That's an awfully high price to pay for spite.

"Bush's military budget is $515 billion....... as military spending explodes, the middle class in America is shrinking, poverty is increasing and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider....."

Gee, I wonder where the tax receipts are going to come from to pay for this stupidity? I guess if the middle class suckers are disappearing and there's only the poor and very rich left, it would seem that the pimps (they know who they are) on Capitol Hill had better find some new prostitutes to turn some tricks for their military and pork-barrel spending.

The idiocracy will soon discover that selling-out America was not such a brilliant idea. There are always repercussions to treachery.

And they say Obama is the "most liberal" senator. Spare me.

Thanks for trying senator.

deleted

@ Bernie Sanders
We all know about the waste and fraud perpetrated by tbe MIC, so please tell me this? What are we supposed to do about it? Granted, you've called attention to the problem, but you haven't provided one idea to help remedy the problem. I suggest we all stop paying federal taxes to starve out the sons-of-bitches that currently run our government. Have you got a better idea?

Thanks Bernie. Wish you mine (as in Senator).

Current approaches to criminal justice are not adequate to deal with the likes of Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. There must be research into keeping a brain alive indefinitely after it has been extracted from a body, not in a healthy state but just so there is something there that can still feel pain. Then we need to take the brains of convicted war criminal miscreants like Cheney and Bush and keep them alive as long as possible, all the while electrically stimulating the pain centers of their brains. No currently existing punishment, and no punishment ever used in human history, would suffice.

I have something constructive to add. Just the other week the Canadian Gov't announced a massive increase in military funding to replace supply ship and beef up the military in general; 3 billion. For all three services, air ground and sea. The army said that their share wasn't large enough to do any good, the air force said it couldn't buy what they needed with the money offered, and the navy said that their portion wouldn't pay for any new ships...

Turned into quite the funny joke...

I think some other posters mentioned that for all the billions the yanks have spent on the military it still didn't protect against a couple dozen loons armed with boxcutters. What the heck happened to the peace dividend that should have followed the fall of the USSR???

Shrug. Either of you have anything constructive to add?

Kent, Mr. D - I went to look up the word "bloviate," but it's not in my Webster's II Dictionary. Curses! ...once again, I wish I had my Webster's Collegiate Tenth Edition on me.

I did find a definition online and think that it's a beautiful word. I can see why those who project would overuse it. Three syllables to feel smart, and a touch of denigration in that sound combo.

Well, the Repugnicans always wanted to do away with Social Security, Medicare, and other social programs. The Repugs have found their way to destroy social programs: manufacture a war that is so prohibitively expensive, the Congress will have no choice but to cut social programs.

Kent Shaw ---- Got you! Methinks thou dost protest too much.

mr. d. May 20th, 2008 2:56 pm

Oh, please. You think you know who I am by the choice of a word? You're good. Real good. Fool! Shall I make my own idiotic assumption about you? Is your radio button STILL frozen on Rush Limbaugh?

Kent Shaw

NO NO NO NO NO. Military budget needs to quadrupled. And we don't even need to make the stuff. We turn the contracts directly into gold bullion and take it to the homes of the Richfilth animals who are the final recipients anyway, and drop it on them from a Huey at say 500 feet. Might take about 7 business days to 'getter done proper' given we have a nasty infestation of the parasite at this time in history. Clean up after the 'delivery' to be handled by the local populace.

Richfilth WANT the gold, all the gold. Give it to them. If any survive our 'delivery' we know they'll be very thirsty, so we can give them their very favorite hot beverage, molten gold mixed with human blood, in this case the blood of their surviving spawn. Afterwards, of course, being good environmentalists, we'll recycle the gold.

Pieces of 9.

Fraud and waste need should be renamed V-22 Osprey, the type example of a foolhardy, bloated, failed system which continues to suck up tax money without end. An unneccessary military project based on faulty design and embodying deficient engineering, it continues to survive even as its obscenely expensive failures proliferate. The Marines should have purchased a fleet of Russian Mil Mi 6 heavy helicopters and they'd have had a functioning high-speed troop delivery system without any problems. The F 22 fighter is another project that's been dragging on forever, with no valid return on our investment in sight. The system just funnels money into the MIC and the pockets of their rich shareholders. It is nanny-state welfare of the worst kind, but you won't see a single mainstream candidate address it, much less condemn it. Don't want to look soft on national security. Of course, that's a joke too - bin Laden has already won, bleeding our treasury, killing our military, and destroying our "freedom" through his puppet, George W Bush.

Kent Shaw 1.57 pm God, how I hate the word bloviate. Talk about a dead give away as to who you really listen to.

It's a great budget for fighting off the Soviet Union. But that went out of business a while back. How about a budget that at least will look after the vets when they get home. That ought to be worth canceling a few subs and a fighter program.

More people die every year in this country falling off ladders than (from the acts of)terrorists. pathetic.

The US Senate could sure use another 99 Bernard Sanders clones for a change. And if you're sick and tired of the current 3 stooges running for prez, here's a better alternative:

RALPH NADER FOR PRESIDENT !!!!

VOTENADER.ORG !!!!

And here's a true progressive Independent challenging Nancy PEE-LOW-SICK:

CINDY SHEEHAN FOR CONGRESS !!!!

http://cindyforcongress.com/

Bernie Bernie Bernie...

Name names...who...is the 22 year old business man...Who... are the companies making the money that is stolen from (U S Treasury)AND our children and grandchildren ...after this election ALL the companies that stole $$$ from the U.S. taxpayer MUST be made to PAY IT ALL BACK... ALL ALL ALL...if not, there will be no april 15th pay day EVER AGAIN...

READ THE STORY OF THE PIED PIPER AND HEED THE MESSAGE WITHIN!!!

500 Billion ...and middle class folks are moving out of their homes and into cars: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/19/homeless.mom/index.html

...Not only that, it's now mainstream/common enough to be on CNN.

The "generous increase in military funding" Bush recently provided are first and foremost MORE CORPORATE WELFARE that
will primarily benefit the miltary industrial media complex, not the "troops". Benefits for the "troops", and veterans are being reduced.

Seeing the success of the military industrial media complex, other industries are also increasing their demands at the corporate welfare trough. Next week the Senate will vote on the Lieberman-Warner Bill (S. 2191) that provides additional boatloads of corporate welfare to the nuclear power industry. Phone or email your senators now and tell them to vote against S 2191.

OK, Bernie, so are you going to replace your words with actions? You're on the budget committee. Is this just more hot air or are you going to actually do something besides bloviate?

Kent Shaw

ncycat - you raise this point, that "they" are American citizens, on this thread, and on others... While it seems to start off as a good point, what, really, are you saying? Was Al Capone an American citizen? If so, so what? Is your point that they have a right to do the things that they do? Is your point that other Americans live in the same glass house, and shouldn't be the first to throw stones? Is your point that there should be a difference, if they were Brazilian citizens, or out-of-state citizens? Is your point that all Americans should be tarred with the same brush, or protected equally by the system itself? Is your point that this is how the nation was built, and that those who oppose it should just put up or shut up? Again, I think that it appears that you are on course to some good point, and I hope that you'll elaborate...

just think, 500 BILLION DOLLARS, that buys a whole lot of college education, roads, healthcare, and services for our societies most needy. But blowing up that money is soooo much more awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Death from above, as the saying goes

Good for you Senator!

But lets not forget that Eisenhower also had the largest peace time army between 1945 and 2008. Soldiers not systems. I believe it was around 3 million.

These are American citizens, folks. Our neighbors, our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters. Corruption, greed and short sighted selfishness are the character deficiencies that are speeding us towards economic and cultural collapse.

These MI people are raping the American people and raping their grandchildren, great-grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, etc...ad infinitum, ad nauseum.