The Republican control of our gov't since the 1970's has NOT resulted in Socialism: it has resulted in Facism.
Sounds like pointless hot topic issues. Look at this http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633 Regardless of republican or democratic presidency, tax payer money will always be wasted. It's basically the story of America. Don't you think military spending in America is overdone? America spends more than the top 10 countries combined. And for anyone that's travelled or lived elsewhere they would know that health benefits and high taxes are not mutually exclusive. For the wealth of America, the citizens are getting shafted.
Pointless issues to some, very important to others. Depends on what's important to you. Hot topics? Absolutely. Elections could hinge on some of these issues. Think someone who promises to take your guns away would stand a chance in a presidential election? Perhaps some day down the road, but not today. I totally agree with your tax statement. It is an unfortunate truth that it will always be wasted, and they will always want more. As long as our enemies who have vowed to destroy us are breathing, we cannot overspend in the military. However, the way that money is used can certainly be up for debate. The same can be said about all tax dollars. Allow me to ask you this: Knowing how you feel about tax money being wasted, would you vote for those who would take more, thereby waste more, or the opposite?
15 testicles? Why not an even number? It must be one poor fellow is missing one of his n*ts. Could it be Jesse has anything to do with this?
America needs a lot of money to fix and improve it's infrastructure, it's currently one of the things being overlooked. We are running out of water and the pipes are leaking, the bridges are old, roads need repair, and we need better public transportation. If tax money went to something useful instead of say increasing welfare eligibility I wouldn't mind an increase in taxes. A lot of it is in the details. China is harmless, they've never attacked another country they've only defended their allies or themselves. Middle-East is relatively low-tech and our current military could destroy them in modern warfare. Terrorism is something you can't defeat with expensive jets. So it's not about spending enormous amounts of money. A little bit of diplomacy could go a long way. In fact a lot of extremism is born out of unrest - things like not having jobs make people angry.
I agree on the infrastructure. Entire neighborhoods in many cities are war zones because of failed government policies, as well. No money for the shit that needs it, and more for the policies that have already failed, and continue to fail. I would love to see a severe shakeup in congress. A total complete, and honest audit of our money (not theirs). It's not about anything but getting re elected. That's all I think they really care about. They are all millionaires. Wish we had term limits for all, judges too. As I said in a previous post, without a fair and unbiased media it won't change. What if all the major media outlets spent one month exposing nothing but fraud and waste in congress? Man, that would be sweet! We might acually see some accountability. We wouldn't need to increase the taxes for the items you mentioned. It's already there. It won't ever happen, though. I don't see China, but terrorism as the biggest threat. And not all converts were from poverty. Remember the doctors in Europe? How bout Adam Gadahn? Non muslims, and some muslims are the infidel, and to others, that means convert or die. Some of these terrorist may have backing of certain governments, if for no other reason than to create a type of nationalism to keep their own holds on power. There is not much we can do about that practice and the govs that intentionally keep their populaces in poverty while they pocket the riches, accept maybe stop doing business with such gov's. I'm all for that. Oil money goes to terrorism in some countries. If a gov knowingly finances or aids in planning terrorism against us, it should be considered an act of war. That could be a hard one to prove, though. Look how much money and wealth was destroyed by the destruction of just two buildings, not to mention death. Think about a whole city or two at the hands of just a few organized true believers. Is it not worth the money spent to prevent and intercept such actions? Think about the lives lost if that happens. The threat is real.
Well, you did say 'a lot of extremism' and not 'all', but I would still like to emphasize that poverty has not been much of a predictor with regard to islamic terrorists. Indoctrination is a better thing to look at. A good clip to check out is http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_dennett_on_dangerous_memes.html It's 15min long, but it's pretty good. And in case anyone hasn't checked it out before, the TED.com site is a great resource.