Things that SHOULD make Republican voters go 'Hmmmmm' ...

[NanceGreggs]

Do you ever wonder why, when there is some question of wrong-doing on the part of the president, he always tries to thwart any investigation into his actions? If he were innocent of anything untoward, wouldn’t a transparent investigation serve to vindicate him and prove his detractors wrong?

Do you ever wonder why it’s the Republicans who insist on using Diebold machines, when they’ve been proven to be easily hackable and consistently show faulty results that favour the Republican candidates? Do you ever think that if your party was fair and honest, they would insist on using machines that ensured an accurate vote count?

Cheney, who is still on the Halliburton payroll, keeps saying that he has 'earmarked' those earnings for charity in the future. Do you ever think about why he doesn’t just donate the money now?

Do you ever wonder where your tax dollars have gone, when you hear that the national debt is now at $9 Trillion dollars, and all you see is the cutting of funding to health needs, education, transportation systems, etc., instead of the expansion of any of those things?

Do you ever wonder why Bill Frist is still being described as a ‘GOP presidential hopeful’, when he’s under investigation for stock fraud and charitable donation fraud? Do you ever think that if your party had ANYONE to run who is NOT likely to be indicted on one charge or another, they’d be touting him as the likely candidate?

Do you ever wonder why the Noble Cause we’re fighting for in Iraq keeps changing from week to week? Do you ever think that if that cause was something clear-cut and truthful, Bush could have told Cindy Sheehan what it was, and saved himself a lot of bad publicity?

Do you ever wonder why your president keeps telling you how engaged he is in the running of the country, while at the same time he keeps referring to things ‘he didn’t know anything about’, like the Dubai ports deal?

Do you ever wonder why your president has degrees from Harvard and Yale, but he can’t speak for more than two minutes without annihilating the English language? Do you ever think about why, if he’s so smart, he failed at every business venture he was ever involved in? Do you look at the national debt and wonder if there isn’t some ‘fuzzy math’ at play here?

Do you ever wonder why your president constantly talks about being pro-life, when he gleefully executed people as the Governor of Texas, and laughed about the fact on national television during the 2000 primaries?

Do you ever wonder why your president and his administration hold themselves out to be ‘good Christians’, while they embrace torture, rendition, and secret prisons?

Do you ever wonder why your self-proclaimed born-again Christian president took an oath, on the holy Bible, to uphold the Constitution, but then says he is not bound by the laws set out in that same document?

Do you ever wonder why your elected officials do their utmost to protect the unborn, but do nothing to improve the lives of the already-born?

Do you ever wonder why your elected officials say they are representing your best interests, when they support laws that put the interests of Big Oil, Big Pharma, and Big Business above your interests every time?

Do you ever wonder why your elected officials are stuffing their own pockets with Abramoff money, while at the same time they’re swearing they never even met the man?

Do you ever wonder why your elected officials are always scolding you about living within your means, while they vote themselves raises every time the cost of living goes up? Do you ever think about all of the extended trips they take to exotic places on your dime, to discuss how bad things are back home?

Do you ever wonder why your party members invariably respond to legitimate questions about their policies by attacking the person who had the temerity to pose the question? Do you ever think that maybe their policies are indefensible, and that’s why they consistently resort to that tactic?

Do you ever wonder why there are millions upon millions of easily accessible records of those who have served in the military, and the only records that have ever gone missing are the ones that would prove your president’s assertion that he actually fulfilled his military service requirements?

Do you ever wonder why you, a United States resident, have to pay every penny of your taxes or face dire consequences, while thousands of profitable corporations legally duck paying theirs simply by having a Bahamian post office box listed as their ‘headquarters’?

Do you ever wonder why Bush and Cheney admitted, albeit reluctantly, that Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks, but keep right on linking the two every chance they get?

Do you ever wonder why a guy named ‘Curveball’ was given total credibility in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion, while experienced intelligence analysts were dismissed as ‘nutballs’?

Do you ever wonder why your president and your elected officials constantly tell you that the outsourcing your job is GOOD for the country? Did you ever think to ask them to explain actually how that works?

Do you ever wonder why?

Do you ever?

Do you?

Just wonderin’ …

Edited by Admin at author's request.

[Benhurst]

1. Good job. Thanks. Recommended.

[Mythsaje]

2. It's getting to the point

that if I see your name on the post, I'll like it.

[NanceGreggs]

15. Thanks, mythsaje!

Status of message: Received.

Diagnosis of recipient: Appreciative.

Report on feelings expressed in message: Mutual!

[babylonsister]

3. Do you ever, indeed! Reading that was a little

slice of reality and heaven combined. If it's okay with you, I'd love to send this to a repug friend I spar with. Such facts stated so simply and eloquently cannot be dismissed so easily. Thanks, my friend!

[NanceGreggs]

5. Send away, Babylon sister!

I always appreciate your input - but you already know that, don't ya?

[pacalo]

14. I'm with Babylon sister.

I'd like to use it, too -- it's a perfect response to some of the Republican forwards I get.

Thanks, Nance!

[AndyA]

4. My fingers didn't type the words, but I saw my thoughts

expressed exactly on the page. Amazing post - thanks, Nance.

[procopia]

6. Great job

This would make a perfect LTTE.

[BadGimp]

7. re: the deficit is now at $9 Trillion dollars = wrong

..the deficit is NOT at $9 Trillion dollars. You are confusing the National Debt with the Deficit.

The National Debt is at $9 Trillion dollars.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock /

The deficit is the $$$ difference between what we take in and what we spend. The total deficit is effectively added to the National Debt each month/year. The deficit for the current budget year could rise to an all-time high of $423 billion. The $423 billion is what gets added to the national debt.

The annual budget to run the US is $2.7trillion as per Bush's most recent budget.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/07/ap/politics/m...

During much of Clintons last term we were taking in more than we were spending (a surplue), and Clinton began to pay DOWN the National Debt.



I like post - I just tire of seeing people even talk radio personalities make this tragic mistake that kills one's credibility.

[joeprogressive]

12. You are correct except...........

although Clinton ran surpluses at the end of his term, his payments on the national debt never actually paid it down but merely slowed it's growth because the interest was still accumulating faster than the payments. Therefore it never actually decreased. However, if Gore had won, there is little doubt that with the projected surpluses we would be about about a third of the way to paying off the national debt by now. Especially when you consider the 400 + billion per year in savings for not going to Iraq.

[NanceGreggs]

13. Thanks for pointing out that glaring error, badGimp ...

... unfortunately, the time for 'editing' my post had already expired by the time I saw your message.

You are certainly correct - my bad.

As for my credibility, in view of what passes for 'credible' these days (which was the point of my post), I don't concern myself unnecessarily with MY OWN!

But thanks for your well-researched correction!

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

25. DEBT/DEFICIT confusion is one of the things that allows them to scam us!

Here's a graph I made. Save and share!




A couple of points to note:

The purple line with square points is the debt as a % of GDP (with the percentage scale on the right side of the graph). You might consider as the amount of money you earn per year vs. how much debt you carry. (Frankly when I looked at this I thought its actually kinda reasonable. If someone made $40K/year, carrying $13,200 (33%) or even $27,200 (68%) in a car loan or a mortgage doesn't seem out of bounds. But I'm not a 'conimist so I can't say if this holds true of an entire nation!)

As we can see it's fluctuated between 50% down to 33% up to 68% down to 58% and then from there I can only presume its trending upward.

The two lines near the bottom, the blue shows the deficit as a % of the GDP, which has never broke 7% it seems but has been below 0% meaning no deficit. The orange line shows the deficit as a % of the debt which is quite fascinating when you look at the presidents and politics of the times when it was highest. Of course Clinton had a budget SURPLUS so this line dropped below 0% into the "negative deficit".

Please feel free to comment on the politics of the times we can see in this graph.

{B^> FMH

p.s. If you want to SEE where the budget money goes, there is an EXCELLENT visual layout here:

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/9410862 /

I suggest you start with the circle with the flag. It starts there by showing of the 2004 budget of $782 BILLION, Military spending was $399 BILLION while NON-Military spending was $383 BILLION! 51% to 48% (familiar numbers???) And that doesn't include the 26 BILLION for DHS (non-military lol!) ... that brings it up to a "mandate" of 54% ... I daresay our 'conomy is being solely supported by our spending our future (by running up the deficits and debts) on weapons against an enemy that killed 500 TIMES less people in 5 years than "Adverse Drug Reactions" from pharmaceuticals has (est. 305,000 PER YEAR! "Death by medicine" Word document of study)

[autorank]

27. Excellent. I want my money back. n/t Recommended.

[GOPFighter]

29. "Death and Taxes"

That's a great graphic! So THAT's where my money goes....!

[disndat]

54. Here's another,

Did you ever wonder why Congress keeps giving Bush blank checks every time he asks, "to fight terrorists," and Congress never asks for an accounting of where all the money went, or where the new bunch of money is going?

[Poiuyt]

8. Kick - good thoughts!

[AusGail]

9. NanceGreggs message

Nance, you have helped restore my faith in commonsense. It is so refreshing to see that there are free thinking Americans (Patriot Act or not). After seeing the movie "Goodnight and Good luck" your Patriot Act (very cunningly named) came to mind. Living in Australia, one tends to get a warped sense of just how many people actually support your corrupt administration. It is embarrassing enough with the one Australia has. Our Prime Minister comes across as a nerd but he is actually quite dangerous. By sucking up to Bush and Blair, he endangered Australian lives. His main motive was to be noticed on the world stage.

This is my first post, hence the reason for rambling post. I look forward to reading more of yours

Gail

[procopia]

10. Welcome to DU, Gail!

[NanceGreggs]

11. Welcome aboard the Good Ship DU, matey!

Common sense knows NO borders - that's why everyone here at DU is part a global community that seeks out the truth, regardless of how our so-called 'leaders' try to hide that truth, or keep us apart.

I am so happy your first post was on my thread - and I look forward to meeting you here many, many times in the future!

[darkmaestro019]

52. welcome to DU! you picked a real gem

for your first reply. excellent taste : )

[newyawker99]

63. Hi AusGail!!

Welcome to DU!!

[JeffR]

16. Do you ever wonder why

I believe you are the best human being I know?

The above only begins to answer that question.

[NanceGreggs]

17. So now I have to say ...

... the same thing I ALWAYS say as an excuse for my tears, when something touches my emotions, and makes me cry ...

"What a bunch of sentimental clap-trap!"

You'll ALWAYS be THE GUY, JeffR!

Always.

[Raiden]

18. Great stuff!

Keep up the good work!

[opihimoimoi]

19. Thread of the Month.....Loved it

K & R'd



:Roses:

[stickdog]

20. Nice. (nt)

[Neil Lisst]

21. Do I wonder, Nance? I wa-wa-wa-wa-wonder . Why?

Dale Shannon, RIP.

[Greeby]

22. Nah, of course not

To be a Republican voter is to not think

[AtomicKitten]

23. Oh, many Republicans get it.

The panel discussion on Meet the Press discussed this very thing. They are acutely aware of the fact that if the Dems take one house of Congress, investigations will begin in earnest. And they know precisely the topics: WMD, Katrina, CIA leak, NSA wiretapping, etc., etc. The list is long. It has not escaped their notice that investigations have been snuffed out from the get-go. Some think this will bring out the wingnuts in droves in November; I think a reckoning is an inevitability. The stench of the felonies piled up in the corner is inescapable.

[Brazenly Liberal]

24. Superb! We've added this link to our front page

K&R!

[NanceGreggs]

39. THANKS!

That is so cool! Thanks again!

[CrispyQ]

26. Once again, a most excellent post!

[HughBeaumont]

28. I'd sure like one of those asshats to explain that last one to me . . .

Do you ever wonder why your president and your elected officials constantly tell you that the outsourcing your job is GOOD for the country? Did you ever think to ask them to explain actually how that works?

It's funny as hell to try and get them to defend this point, one that dodges their fear, hatred and insecurity and kicks them directly in the pocketbook. They always come back with the "COMMUNIST" or "SOCIALIST" or "PROTECTIONIST" canards . . . you know, those are the three words defined as corporations not getting their way over the middle class 7 trillion-fold.

[GuvWurld]

30. Way to shatter the cognitive dissonance. Good job.

We need more of this ruthless honesty.

[Maraya1969]

31. Let's send this one around people! I just sent it to my list. Great Job

Nancy!!!!

These are the things that Joe Q. Ordinary Citizen needs to see.

[centristo]

32. excellent post -eom

[Pool Hall Ace]

33. Thank you for this post. I did not know about

Dick Cheney and his "earmarked" charity contributions.

I also did not realize that Bill Frist (he's a physician, you know) was still considered a presidential hopeful! That shows you how lean the Republican candidate pool is.

This needs to be seen by many, many people!!

[NanceGreggs]

38. Actually, I just realized that that comment is misleading.

What he has supposedly 'earmarked' for charity is his deferred salary from Halliburton, which he still receives. (That's why I used the word 'earnings').

Of course, I've never heard of him actually making that donation; it's always been referred to as 'earmarked' when the question is raised about Cheney's ties to Halliburton, as an attempt to deflect allegations that he is profiting personally via Halliburton's government contracts.

What never gets spoken about is his Halliburton stock options, which have increased in value to the tune of MILLIONS, thanks to the company's increased stock price - which is a direct result of the profits they continue to rake in thanks to no-bid contracts.

[Nostradammit]

34. What She Said!!!

Thank you, Nance Greggs.

[freefall]

44. Have you ever noticed how Arabic the Christ figure in that picture looks?

It's rather amusing, I think.


Peace,

freefall

[Nostradammit]

50. That's why I chose that one

to tell the truth.

(He wasn't white?!! *gasp*)

[freefall]

72. Excellent!!!!

Peace,

freefall

[Heywood J]

35. I would be curious to know

if that list can be broken up sufficiently to be made into TV commercials? Perhaps any number of PACs or interest groups might be interested in financing/airing one or two of them?

Given the low interest in actual news these days, that might be the best way to reach Joe and Jane Sixpack before November.

[NanceGreggs]

55. Welcome to DU, Heywoodj!

If there's anyone who can use this to promote the Democratic message, feel free!

[newyawker99]

64. Hi Heywoodj!!

Welcome to DU!!

[fooj]

36. You rock! Thanks for this...

Sending it to everyone I know.

Peace.

[Dinger]

37. K & R

Did you write this? Wow!!!

[NanceGreggs]

40. Guilty.

Just a FEW of the things that make me go "Hmmmm ..." when I realize there are still people out there who support this Administration.

But those plummeting poll numbers are a good sign - there are more people going "Hmmm ..." with every passing day.

[Mnemosyne]

41. Outstanding! n/t

[NanceGreggs]

42. IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL!

Firstly, thanks to EVRYONE for your comments and kind words.

Anyone who wishes to spread this around is free to do so, as always.

However, there are two errors which I think should be corrected, but of course my 'edit' time has expired.

The paragraph that reads:

"Do you ever wonder why Dick Cheney, who has made millions from his Halliburton stocks, keeps saying that he has ‘earmarked’ those earnings for charity in the future?"

My bad - poorly worded. Should read: "Cheney, who is still on the Halliburton payroll, keeps saying that he has 'earmarked' those earnings for charity in the future."

(Cheney holds stock options now worth millions, but it's his ongoing remueration that he is allegedly going to donate.)

Also, in the comment that reads:

"Do you ever wonder where your tax dollars have gone, when you hear that the deficit is now at $9 Trillion dollars, and all you see is ..."

The should read 'debt' not 'deficit'.

We DUers don't want to appear to be misleading - we leave that job to Republicans. So if you plan to forward this, you might want to make those corrections when you cut-and-paste the article.

Sorry, guys!

[NanceGreggs]

45. Thanks ADMIN!!!

After contacting our ever-vigilant EarlG, he kindly made the necessary corrections to the original post.

The post may now be disseminated as-is.

Thanks, EarlG!

[mousie]

43. EXCELLENT post - KICKED & RECOMMENDED

[Synnical]

46. Well Done. Thanks for this n/t

[Kurovski]

47. K&R!

[BlacknBlue in Red NC]

48. Excellent! I've already passed it along, and have gotten

positive comments, and maybe, more donations to DU!

Thanks.

[NanceGreggs]

49. Thanks, BlacknBlue!

If you've prompted some donations to DU as a result of my post, THAT IS JUST TOO DAMNED TERRIFIC!

The more donations that roll into DU, the more the truth GETS OUT THERE. And it's NEVER been more important than it is right now ...

[darkmaestro019]

51. I beg of you to send that to at least one newspaper.

It's brilliantly written, absolutely true, impossible to read without at least wondering a LITTLE (I hope I hope) and very clear with good flow. Did I mention how much ass you kick?

Please, spread this around, or let others do so if you're willing. It's short enough not to put people off and it lays it ALL out so very simply. Thank you for this.

[NanceGreggs]

56. Thanks, darkmaestro019!

Everyone is always free to spread my stuff around! If this makes even ONE Republican voter go "Hmmm ...," I'm happy.

[darkmaestro019]

53. I had to add that what makes this SO powerful is the question format.

It's the same reason they teach you to say "And your name?" instead of "Name, please," in the kind of awful job that I am no longer lucky enough to have, lol. It's less aggressive and abrasive and far more accessible to the reader. Again, my hat is off.

[Bozita]

57. The current 3rd paragraph just flat out doesn't fit

"Cheney, who is still on the Halliburton payroll, keeps saying that he has 'earmarked' those earnings for charity in the future. Do you ever think about why he doesn’t just donate the money now?"

Is it supposed to read:
Do you ever wonder why Cheney, who is still on the Halliburton payroll, keeps saying that he has 'earmarked' those earnings for charity in the future. Do you ever think about why he doesn’t just donate the money now?

If so, it still doesn't fit into the context or flow.

Maybe I'm missing something.

[DFW]

58. Atomic Kitten

She brought up a point that I had insisted upon long before the 2004 election.

There was no way in the world the Rove-Cheney machine would ever permit a
Democratic victory in the 2004 election.

Why?

Simple. What was the one thing they feared (and still fear) more than "terrrrists,"
more than an economic collapse, more than OPEC refusing to accept dollars, more
than a collapse in the price of Halliburton stock?

The one thing they feared more than anything else: the next Democratic Attorney General.

[Skittles]

60. YOU KNOW IT DFW

yes INDEED

[Raksha]

61. If there is any justice in the world

that next Democratic Attorney General would be John Kerry. I've waited long enough for Iran/Contra part II and BCCI part II.

[Prophet 451]

59. Do they wonder?

Sadly, no. The cult of personality is such that if a Bushie says it, they believe it and that settles it.

THIS is a fairly standard example of the Republican "thought" process, as far as I can tell.

[yurbud]

62. Cheney said he's going to donate it to charity in the FUTURE?

I hadn't heard that one before.

That's a new low.

[NanceGreggs]

65. I never heard Cheney say it himself ...

... but his 'spokespeople' said it several times, back when Halliburton got their first no-bid contract, and the press was asking if that wasn't a conflict of interest being that Cheney was still on the payroll (a 'deferred salary' from when he resigned to take up the VP post).

It was always spoken of as 'earmarked', never as 'already donated'.

Of course, they NEVER talk about Cheney's stock options, which have increased seven- or eight-fold, as a direct result of the profits they've made on their no-bids. A fellow DUer actually posted the news story a few months back, but I couldn't put my hands on it readily.

As soon as he exercises those options, which he'll probably do when he leaves office, he'll be stuffing his pockets with TAXPAYER MONEY that's been handed to Halliburton - and of course, we're reading the stories now about how MILLIONS of that money has yet to be accounted for in terms of where it was spent 'on behalf of' the American taxpayers.

What scum!

[yurbud]

66. "I cannot be bothered to even lie about charity myself..."

[NanceGreggs]

70. REALLY!

I doubt that the man would part with a penny for charity - he's probably never donated a dime that wasn't necessary for tax write-off purposes.

And you just KNOW that if he did donate that money, they would have made a big splash about it - just to make the guy look human.

[ProfessorGAC]

67. Very Well Done! One Nit To Pick!

The deficit is not $9 Trillion. That's the debt. The deficit is around $500 billion. (Oh, is that all?) If you're going to send this as a column or LTTE to a paper, you might want to fix that little detail first.

Other than that little nit, it was superb.
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

68. Very Well Done! One Nit To Pick!

The deficit is not $9 Trillion. That's the debt. The deficit is around $500 billion. (Oh, is that all?) If you're going to send this as a column or LTTE to a paper, you might want to fix that little detail first.

Other than that little nit, it was superb.
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

69. Very Well Done! One Nit To Pick!

The deficit is not $9 Trillion. That's the debt. The deficit is around $500 billion. (Oh, is that all?) If you're going to send this as a column or LTTE to a paper, you might want to fix that little detail first.

Other than that little nit, it was superb.
The Professor

[NanceGreggs]

71. You're right - and that was pointed out to me right away.

Alas, the time alloted to my 'edit' function was expired.

But as you can see (if you read the post above), it's been corrected. It appears in its uncorrected form on the front page only.

But thanks!

[NMMNG]

73. That should make anybody with half a brain go Hmmmm

Though I wonder if many Republicans have even that...


Excellent post!

[tofubo]

74. n/t, j/b