Re: Question to American Citizens
nd did voting for the opposite party yield any positive results?
I think Obama's policies towards Muslim world are more empathetic than Bush's
Re: Question to American Citizens
TLK
Re: Question to American Citizens
Iraj, you have to observe the inner workings of US politics to grasp the full pics. Obama, because of his position of being first black and half Muslim president, is in a weak position. He is always under attack by republicans and then sometimes by his own colleagues, so he has to step back from his position.
He was in total favor of ground zero mosque, but then out of pressure, changed his stance. He was against the bullying of Israel towards Muslim world, but had to step back again. He promised that he will bring forces back from Iraq and Afghanistan and is actively working on that. If it was Bush, Libya as a country would be doomed, but Obama refrained from that. Same with Syria or Iran (he did not attack any of those countries, in spite of pressure).
Re: Question to American Citizens
yes, i mean in punjabi , aaho,
Re: Question to American Citizens
1)what have you done (and can you do) to press your government to change those policies? - rallys and protests, boycotts, voting.
2)are you satisfied with your efforts? - probably can do more.
**
3)have your efforts yielded anything?** - yes. recognizing and putting an issue in front of the media is a big challenge. I am not a big political person but I support and work with numerous charities that do relief work for those countries. To me, it makes more sense to help people from bottom up - rather than getting caught in all the red tape of working from higher up.
I know many dedicated Muslim leaders that doing that on a bigger level in Washington.
Re: Question to American Citizens
*Pakistanimard seems your concern has been eloquently elaborated by Mr Charlie Reese, see below
*
This is Charley Reese's final column for the Orlando Sentinel...He has been a
journalist for 49 years. He is retiring and this is HIS LAST COLUMN.
It's
a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!
545 vs.
300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people
in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.
Have you
ever wondered,** if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits,
WHY do we have deficits?
**
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians
are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high
taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President
does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on
appropriations.. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write
the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress
does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank
does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine
Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are
directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic
problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal
Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913,
Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a
federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the
special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal
authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a
President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a
politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or
reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's
responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend
much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They
cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a
politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal
human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the
President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He
cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the
supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of
Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is
the speaker of the House now? He is the leader of the majority party. He and
fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If
the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree
to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot
replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence
and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not
traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth
that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must
follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is
unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red,
it's because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in
Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan
...
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement
plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that
way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these
545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they
can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to
regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take
this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists
disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that
prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people,
and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the
power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who
are their bosses.
Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their
own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up
their mess!
Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando
Sentinel Newspaper.What you do with this article now that you have read it... is
up to you.This might be funny if it weren't so true. Be sure to read all the way
to the end:
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which
he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the
rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts
anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his
coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his
dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to
think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his
tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his
ass.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be
done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers;
Then tax
him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his
coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid...
Put
these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me
to my doom...'
When
he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance
tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license
Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise
Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing
License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently
44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License
Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties
(tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License
Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate
Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage
Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income
Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise
Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State
and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone
Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local
Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License
Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well
Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?Not
one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most
prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest
middle class in the world, and Mom, if agreed, stayed home to raise the
kids.
What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
I
hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!!
There you have it Charlie described all Democracies and the reasons why they are all Broke!
Re: Question to American Citizens
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I doubt the common man in America gets to have a say in the foreign policy decision-making. The public definitely has a lot of influential power when it comes to matters that do not have an impact on the national security e.g. legalising same sex marriages etc. But the foreign policies are justified in the name of national security which they wouldn't want to jeopardize just because you don't like the policies. I mean forget the common man, even the UN has repeatedly accused the US of violating international laws, has it made any difference?
Re: Question to American Citizens
^ the perfection that is democracy and all? They did manage to stop the vietnam war..didn't they?
Re: Question to American Citizens
^ the perfection that is democracy and all? They did manage to stop the vietnam war..didn't they?
A big difference between the Vietnam War and the so-called War on Terrorism, is that thousands of American citizens were getting killed. I remember growing up watching the evening news every night, and the tally of the US soldiers who died that day was given every night. There are very few American soldiers dying now in both the Iraqi and the Afghan & Pakistani "theatres". (I really hate that use of the word theatre -- as though it is just play-acting.) The military doesn't even allow the returning caskets to be shown on TV (out of respect to the families, or to minimize the impact of American casualties?) Anyway, young men were being conscripted by the thousands, and that made it impossible to ignore or gloss over.
And in fact, the hostile treatment of returning Vietnam War soldiers unfortunately has created a situation now where if you say you are against the current wars, you are against the soldiers. Which makes one always have to be on the defensive, with caveats about how you aren't against the "poor" soldier grunts, but only against the war itself. You are told that you are being ungrateful and disrespectful (even unto treasonous) to the young people who are "laying their lives on the line" for your "freedom".
Re: Question to American Citizens
So it seems americans really are ignorant about what their govt is upto nor do they care.case in point the lack of responses to this thread tsk tsk. I had hoped i would get some idea about how people view that.
Now that is sure going to make the thread more attractive to participate in.