The Patriot Act

[Buzzcut62]

I am a dyed-in-the-wool, true, blue American. And a Army veteran. This whole Patriot Act has seriously gotten out of hand. It is designed, supposedly, to protect our troops/servicepersons, and yet, the majority of things in it are being argued over for the rights and protection of the prisoners. Since when do prisoners have rights? I'm not talking about violations of HUMAN rights, either! The people fighting this fiasco in Iraq{where we should not be}, our people, AMERICAN people, should have more protection than what they actually do. This latest 'hearing' should never have taken place, as well as the preceding 10! After the 9-11 attacks, I feel, we as a UNITED country, should have shut down our borders completely. Get the National Guard to do EXACTLY what it's name implies - guard our nation! They are not the Army, Air Force, Marines, or Navy. These departments are our means of defense outside of our territorial waters. The Coast Guard is responsible for the water surrounding this country, the Guard, the nation itself. As a vet, I am disgraced to say that our political leaders need to remove their collective heads from their asses. If G.W. knew his geography better, then we would be in Afghanistan levelling mountains in search of the supposed mastermind of the attacks. Maybe the money was funneled through Iraq. We may never really know. Where are the WMDs that were so prevalent for us to invade Iraq? We accomplished the mission of throwing down Saddam Hussein's regime, but why was it our business to start a new government there as well? This government here in the U.S. can't even take care of our own people - homeless, unemployed, healthcare issues, Trade deficits, debts out the wazoo. Why are we shipping jobs overseas? Companies that shut down should be PENALIZED, not rewarded for that. We are supposed to be the greatest nation in the world, yet if more people would stop being buffaloed by the 'money men', then maybe then we will be a great nation! Money begets money, and the poor shall suffer. It says in the Bible that the 'meek shall inherit the earth'; good riddance to the politicians, because they are so far from meek, it stinks. Yet they claim to be believers. As far as the Patriot Act itself, read it. Read deep into it, and see what it really means for this country. My idea of 'Patriot' is this: If you were born here, fight for this country, and even die for this country, like so many of our ancestors and loved ones have, THEN and only then, are you a patriot. To hell, and be damned, any and all who don't feel this way. I have traced my ancestry back to 1704. I have ancestors who fought in the wars - ALL OF THEM - as well as some who worked hard to achieve greatness, only to lose it all, and have to start over again. These people are Patriots! This 'Patriot Act' should be taking all of this into consideration. Here's an idea: gather up ALL of the people here in the U.S. that have immigrated here since 9-11, give them a ticket to go back where they came from, and make them stay there! The ones who are not yet citizens and getting all kinds of tax breaks and other perks, make them start 'paying' their way. Don't allow money to be sent 'home' to their country of origin. And, no more big money for politicians, either. Eliminate PACs, and other contributary entities. If someone wants to run for office, foot the bill out of pocket. Wipe out the Electoral College; who the dickens are they anyway? Oru Presidents for about 30 years or so have yet to do, or be, what he is voted to be: the 'voice' of the people. He has followed his own agenda, committed our resources to further his own means, basically 'dictating' to every other country that they should be like US. God help those who have followed in our ways. We need to start taking care of US, not 'policing' the world. A few years ago, a man named Ross Perot ran for the presidency, using about 90% of HIS OWN money. His Ideas were valid and sincere. He spoke with a passion to turn this country back into the great nation it was after WWII. He is one of the few who literally worked his way to the top - the hard way. Yet, we sort of just laughed him off. The nation, or should I say, the well to do part of it, paid huge monies to make sure they weren't turned into 'equals' of the less fortunate. One of the ways to this 'equality', was a 'flat rate' income tax. There were still loads of tax shelters. What did the rich have to worry about? How about we get rid of ALL tax sheltering AND then impose a, lets say 15% income tax? Perot was willing to pay his share. Sorry Bill Gates; your $40B doesn't seem so big now, but neither does the national debt! Rates wouldn't have to be continually adjusted to compensate for the asinie political spending. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention, PATRIOTS fought, and fight, to give you these rights to protect your money. How about giving some back. Start taking care of your own. Considering this is a 'blog', I await any and all responses or comments. Be forewarned though, I have reams of research at my disposal for just about any arguments sake dealing with the Patriot aspect of our country. We are supposed to be the 'UNITED States'. If so, then why can't we all get along and do what is right?

 

[LibertyorDeath]

Maybe if you want to do something about poverty you would look a little closer to home. Maybe google up "Poverty Draft" and learn how the military is actually part of the problem in keeping the poor people poor. Also robbing the rich to give to the poor is not the answer. Getting rid of socialist programs would be a nice place to start. An average family could make it with just a high school education and live comfortably on $30k but not once the government gets done taking 25% in taxes to fund their robin hood programs.

The Patriot Act is a violation of the constitution. It allows government search and seizure without due process. My library record is none of the FBI's business. As far as the military. I commend you on your service. But a standing army isn't going to help protect us from terrorists. Infact IMO the armed forces are siphoning resources away from where its needed most, namely fire, police and hospitals. The defense department got a D grade for fiscal responsiblity this year. They waste money... then in the 2006 budget our Commander in Chief calls for throwing more money at the problem, while holding homeland security steady. Thats really smart.

 

[Buzzcut62]

I'm not just looking at the poverty issue. I know the military wastes money & resources. I was in at the time they were spending $700 on coffee-makers! As far as your library usage goes, I agree with you there as well. What I, or anyone else does, is NOT the government's business. I would like to know your definition of 'socialist programs', also. In response to the statement of 'robbing the rich to give to the poor', I never infer doing such a thing. I proposed that the tax system, which you also brought up, be made more fair. People who make $30K should be able to live on that income. My wife & I do just that. We still manage to put away a little each week. Yes, we struggle, because of the 25% bracket we fall into, but we still survive, and have the capability to do things. If we did have a flat rate tax of 15% for people making less than $50K, after tax sheltering, but imposed, lets say, 15% on those that make MORE than $50K, and BEFORE tax sheltering, then the tax burden would be more equitably distibuted. If that isn't feasible, then how about limiting the contributions of those who make more than the $50K to, oh maybe $12,500 a year, then everything else gets taxed. But then again, just think if our founding fathers had actually repealed the taxes they imposed to pay for the Revolutionary War, which I might add, was supposed to be done after that war was over! Just think of all the things we would not have accomplished over the past 200+ years. The bottom line is this: George W. Bush has f**ked up so much in the past 5.5 years, it will probably take 2-3 presidents after him to fix things. I'm not saying that Clinton, G.H.W.Bush, or even Reagan were all perfect presidents, but they certainly had more common sense, honor, and integrity, than who we have now.

 

[LibertyorDeath]

No agrument here about Bush, can't stand him. We already have a progressive income tax. People who make more pay more. The only way to make things any more equal is to get rid of the fat. Cut out the pork spending, force the military to be more responsiblity with its money, eliminate all forms of corporate welfare, reduce and eventually eliminate government charity - forcing me to fund charity like social security, medicare, medicaid, etc... is no better than slavery. If I want to give my money to the poor I'd like to be able to do it myself and give the money to the organizations I think will put it to the best use.

 

[ncmmafighter]

Government programs to help the less fortunate are essential to the survival of this country. How do you expect seniors to live without social security. You have thousands of workers every year that lose jobs because greedy corporate leaders steal pensions. How do you expect factory workers to live when their jobs are sent overseas. Do you think they will starve their families. No you will see an increase in crime the country won't be able to deal with. The country will go into chaos.