Our tax dollars at work (Florida style)

[Sandman]

linkage

So... after failing to keep Schiavo on life support, Jeb decides that they should investigate the cause of her collapse... fifteen years after the fact.


You sure you want this knucklehead to represent the GOP in 2008?

[spitfiremkv]

I respect Jeb far more than George. Florida is a nice place to live in and it's doing well, except for a lot of hurricanes.
Last fal I watched Jeb through a lot of press conferences and I found him to have a much more commanding presence than his brother.

[mietla]

Originally posted by Sandman
linkage

So... after failing to keep Schiavo on life support, Jeb decides that they should investigate the cause of her collapse... fifteen years after the fact.


You sure you want this knucklehead to represent the GOP in 2008?

I'd rather see taxes "wasted" on that than to be pissed away on lazy losers on welfare.

[Bodhi]

So, do you prefer this type of budget control?

Myth #1:  Create a budget that will control spending.  From the Democratic Platform:  "We will restore common sense budget rules that this administration has abandoned, like 'Pay-As-You-Go' rules that require the government to pay for new initiatives.  We will commit to living within tough budget caps -- real and enforceable limits on what the government can spend. ... And we will make our government more efficient by cutting waste of taxpayer dollars in the federal budget, from unneeded travel budgets to crony contracting."

 

Reality Check:  Congressional budget votes this year show that Democrats rejected every effort to control spending.  Every Democrat except Sen. Zell Miller (Ga.) voted against the fiscal 2005 Senate budget resolution that included a pay-as-you-go provision and a discretionary spending cap of $821 billion.  Democrats also tried to add scores of amendments to increase spending.  The budget resolution conference report, which included the Senate's pay-as-you-go provisions, was adopted in the House without a single Democratic vote.  Separately, the House considered a budget enforcement reform bill to establish discretionary spending limits and pay-as-you-go for entitlements.  Fiscal conservatives offered several amendments to strengthen this bill but they all failed, with the majority of Democrats voting "no."  The final bill itself was rejected by every Democrat.

[oboe]

So much for the liberal bias in media...

When you read that newsclip, Bodhi, do you sense fair and objective reporting?   Here the Democrats are accused of doing exactly the opposite of what they promised.   Why not a single interview with a Democrat to explain their position?   Not a single theory or explanation is offered.    You can bet the real truth is deeper than "Democratics break their promises because they are hooked on spending".   But for some reason the news source isn't interested in the full story.  Odds are, the way our government works, the Republicans stuck items in their proposals that no Democrat could vote for, knowing it would make them look bad.   Sadly, that's the way our government seems to work - it doesn't matter if anything gets done as long as you make the opposing party look bad.

I did a search on the text of that story, add found it on a website for KOLD news in Tucson, Az.   The story was provided by "PRNewsWire", a company owned by the British conglomerate United Business Media PLC.    And this disclaimer is at the bottom of the story:

Disclaimer: Information contained on this page is provided by companies featured through PR Newswire. PR Newswire, WorldNow and this Station cannot confirm the accuracy of this information and make no warranties or representations in connection therewith.

If a news source cannot confirm the accuracy of their stories, then what are they doing in the news business in the first place? Because its not news reporting.   It's propaganda, and both sides do it.   Its what Einstein was talking about when he wrote a piece in 1949, critical of unfettered free market capitalism in a democracy:

Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.

As citizens in a malfunctioning democracy, if we don't become better at separating fact from opinion, truth from fiction, and propaganda from objective reporting, we are little more than tools of those powerful interest groups who are really behind the politics and policies in Washington.

I know I have a long way to go, but I have developed a mistrust of many news sources now.   Here's hoping we all start recognizing this problem and at least start demanding that news stations stop carrying "news" from organizations that can't promise accuracy in their reports.

[Hawklore]

Jeb is cool..

Bush is stupid..

All of the republican mayors here in Jacksonville have done real well, and really arn't purist extremist republicans..

[Thrawn]

Originally posted by mietla
I'd rather see taxes "wasted" on that than to be pissed away on lazy losers on welfare.

False dilemma.  It doesn't have to be a choice between the two.

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by Hawklore

Bush is stupid..

So if he is so stupid and has made it to the highest office in the land, what does that say about you for calling him stupid?

[AWMac]

see rule #7

[Martlet]

Read Silent Witness  sometime.  Regardless your views on the Schiavo fiasco, it certainly gives you something to think about.

[AWMac]

Originally posted by AWMac
see rule #7

7- Members should remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated. This includes attempts to bypass the profanity filter.

Tell me where Rule #7 applied with my posting MP5?

Or is YOUR bias'd opinion that determines what rules?

Was it the 2 Tard Political Party?

Was it the Senators and Congressmen that overstay their worth?

Was it having someone in Office that cares about the Economy or the American Family Life?

Or was it the simple fact that many Americans are fed up with a broke system and want a Free America?

Where's Rule #7 fall into this?

Mac

Feel free to explain.

[Bodhi]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/08/governor.schiavo.ap/index.html

[oboe]

Looks like they're getting ready to have another go at it, with a slightly different tack:

Bush seeks to overturn Oregon's Death with Dignity law

Jack Newbold is a 59-year-old retired tugboat captain who is dying of bone cancer. It's one of the most painful cancers, and he doesn't want to put his wife and 17-year-old daughter through the trauma of caring for him as he loses control over his body.

So Mr. Newbold faces a wrenching choice in the coming weeks: should he fight the cancer until his last breath, or should he take a glass of a barbiturate solution prescribed by a doctor and put himself to sleep forever? He's leaning toward the latter.

"I've got less than six months to live," he said. "I don't want to linger and put my wife and family through this."

I don't know what I would do if I were Mr. Newbold, nor if I were his wife or daughter (they're both supporting him in any decision he makes). But I do believe that it should be their decision - not President Bush's.

Unfortunately, Mr. Bush is fighting to overturn the Oregon Death With Dignity law, which gives Mr. Newbold the option of hastening his death. Oregon voters twice passed referendums approving the law, which has been used since 1998, and it has wide support in the state.

The Bush administration issued an order that any doctor who issued a prescription under the state law would be prosecuted under federal law. Oregon won an injunction against the order, John Ashcroft lost an appeal, and now the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the fall.

"I'm just grateful I live in the state of Oregon, where we have this option," Mr. Newbold said. "I'm just sorry the John Ashcrofts of the world want to dictate not only how you live, but also how you die. There's nothing more personal, other than childbirth, than passing on."

Mr. Newbold, a Vietnam veteran and former merchant seaman, is funny and blunt, with a flair for nautical language unsuitable for a family newspaper. He started with head and neck cancer. Now cancer is spreading to his bones, disabling him and forcing him to take morphine for pain.

"By God, I want to go out on my own terms," Mr. Newbold said. "I don't want someone dictating to me that I've got to lie down in some hospital bed and die in pain."