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cutie101 |
04/14/08 02:58
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Okay, so I thought I would let out some of my thoughts about this God forsaken war. I support the troops 110%, dont get me wrong...but this war needs to end! We have had too many unneccessary deaths and I want it to stop! Why are these lives being taken? tell me! Why has the US decided to play world police? Bush is so lame, I swear. From weapons of mass destruction...to oil. Freakin lame, I tell ya. We need a president that will come in with a definite marker...a timeline...a plan to withdraw our troops and put an end to this madness! I hate it.
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Kotikkk |
04/14/08 15:17
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I'll wonder very much if the Iraqi oil isn't just free for JW and his team! Do they pay for it? And whom do they pay if they do?
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Is your Pussy tight and juicy??? |
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paulh50 |
04/14/08 19:31
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Contary to what people believe the largest user of oil produced in the Middle East is the Arabic Nations, followed by China, Russia, Japan and the U.S. is 6th.
If you want to read more about this war try my posting of My Opinon on the War.
Iraq's financial free ride may end By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
56 minutes ago
Iraq's financial free ride may be over. After five years, Republicans and Democrats seem to have found common ground on at least one aspect of the war. From the fiercest foes of the war to the most steadfast Bush supporters, they are looking at Iraq's surging oil income and saying Baghdad should start picking up more of the tab, particularly for rebuilding hospitals, roads, power lines and the rest of the shattered country.
"I think the American people are growing weary not only of the war, but they are looking at why Baghdad can't pay more of these costs. And the answer is they can," said Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Nelson, a Democrat, is drafting legislation with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana that would restrict future reconstruction dollars to loans instead of grants.
Their bill also would require that Baghdad pay for the fuel used by American troops and take over U.S. payments to predominantly Sunni fighters in the Awakening movement. Plans are to propose the legislation as part of a war bill to cover spending through September.
Likewise, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said he wants to add a provision to a defense policy bill that would force the Iraqi government to spend its own surplus in oil revenues to rebuild the country before U.S. dollars are spent.
These senators, well-known war skeptics, could find allies in lawmakers who support Bush's current Iraq policies. In hearings last week, Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates whether Baghdad should start paying some U.S. combat costs, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., raised the possibility that an anticipated Iraqi budget surplus this year could be used to help Afghanistan, whose $700 million in annual revenue represents a small fraction of Iraq's $46.8 billion budget.
Bush has suggested that Congress is preaching to the choir. Last week, he noted that Baghdad's latest budget would outspend the U.S. by more than 10 to one on Iraq reconstruction, with American funding for large-scale projects "approaching zero."
"Ultimately, we expect Iraq to shoulder the full burden of these costs," he said.
But lawmakers are dubious. Considering that past predictions on Iraq have fallen short, the legislation would ensure Iraq assumes more of the financial burden, they say.
On the surface, it looks as though the U.S. has about split the costs of rebuilding efforts with the Iraqis: Congress has appropriated about $47.5 billion since 2003 while the Iraqis have budgeted $50.6 billion. International contributions have totaled $15.8 billion.
And, as Bush pointed out, Iraq's latest budget is on track to outspend the U.S. when it comes to rebuilding. Baghdad has devoted $13.4 billion in 2008 for capital expenses, more than a quarter of its $48.6 billion budget.
However, there is a key difference: Whereas the U.S. has spent most of the money it has approved, Iraq hasn't, according to the watchdog agency that audits reconstruction efforts. In 2006 and 2007, for example, Iraq spent only $2.9 billion of its designated $16.3 billion capital budget, which is used to invest in reconstruction projects.
Bush administration and military officials say the lack of spending isn't sinister.
"Part of it's a lack of expertise. Part of it is a lack of trained people. And part of it, in the past, has probably been politics," Gates told Congress last week. "We think they're making headway on all of those."
Levin said he doesn't buy it, including Bush's declaration that the U.S. is no longer in the business of major reconstruction. Congress received notice on April 3 that the Pentagon planned to transfer $590 million in its war budget to cover construction and infrastructure improvements for Iraq security forces.
"I just think it's totally unacceptable that we say they don't know how to cut a check," Levin said.
A primary cause for the unhappiness in Congress is the high price of oil as the U.S. heads into election season. While Americans are complaining of gasoline prices, officials predict Iraq is headed toward a major windfall because of the soaring price of oil and record-setting production levels.
For years after the 2003 invasion, a lack of infrastructure kept Iraq's oil production and exports down. But with rebuilding efforts bearing fruit, including U.S.-aided actions to prevent the illegal tapping of pipelines, production had recovered to an average of about 2.4 million barrels per day by late last year compared with 2 million a day earlier in the year and 1.3 million in early 2003.
Adding to Baghdad's projected surplus is Iraq's conservative estimate of the oil's worth. The country's 2008 budget of $46.8 billion was calculated based on $57 per barrel of oil, roughly half of today's market rate, according to a report by the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
Stuart Bowen, who heads the IG office, predicted in a March hearing that Iraq's oil revenue could climb to as high as $60 billion this year, from early estimates of $35 billion.
The U.S. military isn't reaping those benefits. American troops in Iraq are buying fuel on the open market at $3.23 a gallon and spending some $153 million a month, according to a recent report by The Associated Press.
Collins says the Iraqis should cover those costs.
"It's really difficult for Americans who are struggling with the high cost of the energy to see us paying for fuel costs in a country that has the second-largest oil reserves" and a burgeoning budget surplus, she said.
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On the Net:
Special Inspector General report. http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Jan08/pdf/Section2_-_Janua
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daka1 |
04/17/08 07:00
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quote cutie101 : We need a president that will come in with a definite marker...a timeline...a plan to withdraw our troops and put an end to this madness!
I think this is what the vast majority of Americans want. People are tired of being sold endless war on the installment plan. This war is bankrupting the country and pouring billions into the coffers of Haliburton (Dick Cheney's old company) and other conglomerates.
The corrupt politicians who are the most ardent supporters of the war are those who have received the most money from the companies that profit from it. So, I believe that one of the causes of the war is the desire to enrich Haliburton and other companies that contributed to the election campaigns of Bush and his cronies.
Over 4,000 Americans have died in this terrible war, and over 30,000 have been wounded, some so seriously that they will need to be supported for the rest of their lives. And McCain opposes a new GI bill.
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How about a nice spanking b4 you cum? |
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paulh50 |
04/17/08 12:07
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And McCain opposes a new GI bill.
McCain is not the only politician who opposes a new GI bill. I have been writing letter to Sens Finstine and Boxer (who is the chair of the Veterans Affairs Committe) and numerous Congress members about the inadaquacies of the current GI bill. I am a 100% service connected disabled veteran.
After years of letter writting the vet have finally recieved an increase in our mileage allowance, up from $.11 a mile (which was the rate in 1956) to $.2404 a mile but the VA takes back $12.00 for administrative purposeses to process the claim.
McCain opposes these new bills because they are not bring veteran's benifits in line to be equal to inflation and the cost of living today.
Many politicos claim they support a new GI bill and have sent me numerous letters with the amount of money they have approved for the VA. The only problem is is that this money is for grants for research and not for an increase in the money that the Vet's recieve.
Our compensation rate is still based on the 1956 levels and the only increase we have recieved since 1976 is the Cost Of Living Adjustments which the politicos claim is a rate increase.
The politico recieve $.43 a mile for their useage of their private vehicles of official business and this includes all federal govt employees.
The last politician we had that cared about veterans was Senato Alan Cranston and they busted him in a sting to get rid of him and his efforts to increase Vet's benifits.
During the Vietnam War one of the major compaianes that benifited from the work in Vietnam was owned by Lady Bird Johnson. It doesn't matter whose in the Presidental office they are going to give the jobs to their families and their friends.
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paulh50 |
04/17/08 12:19
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Who will be the next president?
By winning back unhappy GOP voters, McCain makes it a race
By ALAN FRAM and TREVOR TOMPSON, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are no longer underdogs in the race for the White House. To pull that off, John McCain has attracted disgruntled GOP voters, independents and even some moderate Democrats who shunned his party last fall.
Partly thanks to an increasingly likable image, the Republican presidential candidate has pulled even with the two Democrats still brawling for their party's nomination, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo! News poll released Thursday. Just five months ago — before either party had winnowed its field — the survey showed people preferred sending an unnamed Democrat over a Republican to the White House by 13 percentage points.
Also helping the Arizona senator close the gap: Peoples' opinions of Hillary Rodham Clinton have soured slightly, while their views of Barack Obama have improved though less impressively than McCain's.
The survey suggests that those switching to McCain are largely attuned to his personal qualities and McCain may be benefiting as the two Democrats snipe at each other during their prolonged nomination fight.
David Mason of Richmond, Va., is typical of the voters McCain has gained since last November, when the 46-year-old personal trainer was undecided. Mason calls himself an independent and voted in 2004 for President Bush, whom he considers a strong leader but a disappointment due to the "no-win situation" in Iraq.
"It's not that I'm that much in favor of McCain, it's the other two are turning me off," Mason said of Clinton and Obama, the senators from New York and Illinois, in explaining his move toward McCain. As for the Republican's experiences as a Vietnam War prisoner and in the Senate, Mason said, "All he's been through is an asset."
By tracking the same group of roughly 2,000 people throughout the campaign, the AP-Yahoo poll can gauge how individual views are evolving. What's clear is that some Republican-leaning voters who backed Bush in 2004 but lost enthusiasm for him are returning to the GOP fold _ along with a smaller but significant number of Democrats who have come to dislike their party's two contenders.
The findings of the survey, conducted by Knowledge Networks, provide a preview of one of this fall's battlegrounds. Though some unhappy Republicans will doubtless stay with McCain, both groups are teeming with centrist swing voters who will be targeted by both parties.
The poll shows that McCain's appeal has grown since November by more than the Democrats' has dwindled. McCain gets about 10 percentage points more now than a generic Republican candidate got last fall; Obama and Clinton get about 5 points less than a nameless Democrat got then.
Underlining McCain's burgeoning popularity, in November about four in 10 considered McCain likeable, decisive, strong and honest while about half do now. Obama is seen as more likeable and stronger now but his numbers for honesty and decisiveness have remained flat, while Clinton's scores for likeability and honesty have dropped slightly.
"You can't trust Hillary and Obama's too young," said Pauline Holsinger, 60, a janitorial worker in Pensacola, Fla., now backing McCain who preferred an unnamed Democrat last fall. "I like him better, he's more knowledgeable about the war" in Iraq.
Voters at this stage in a campaign commonly focus more on candidates' personal qualities. That usually changes as the general election approaches and they pay more attention to issues and partisan loyalty — meaning that McCain's prospects could fade at a time when the public is deeply unhappy with the war, the staggering economy and Bush.
For now, more than one in 10 who weren't backing the unnamed Republican candidate in last November's survey are supporting McCain, a shift partly offset by a smaller number of former undecideds now embracing Obama or Clinton. Of those now backing McCain, about one-third did not support the generic GOP candidate last November.
Among people who have moved toward McCain, about two-thirds are discontented Bush voters, with many calling themselves independents but leaning Republican.
About half of this group say they are conservative, yet their views on issues are more moderate than many in the party, with some opposing the war in Iraq. They have favorable but not intensely enthusiastic views of McCain _ for example, two-thirds find him likeable while far fewer find him compassionate or refreshing.
"He's known, he's a veteran," said David Tucker, a retired Air Force technician from Alexandria, La., and Bush voter who was undecided last November but has ruled out Obama and Clinton. "I understand him better."
Around a third of the voters newly supporting McCain lean Democratic and mostly backed Democrat John Kerry in 2004. They are moderates who disapprove of Bush and the war in Iraq, but find McCain likeable, much more so than they did last November.
Many McCain-backing Democrats express one consistent concern about McCain — his age.
"Let's face it, we're not getting any younger," said retired accountant Sheldon Rothman of Queens, N.Y., who like McCain is 71. "There are too many imponderables when you get to that age, especially with the stress of the presidency."
Whether those now switching to McCain will stay that way once the Democrats choose a candidate is what the fall campaign will be about.
"McCain has a history of doing well with independent voters," said GOP pollster David Winston. He said voters' preference for an unnamed Democratic candidate but McCain's strong performance against Obama and Clinton means "Democrats have an advantage their candidates are not taking advantage of."
Democratic pollster Alan Secrest said the contrasting numbers mean that while the voters' overall mood favors Democrats, they are still taking the measure of Clinton and Obama.
"The Democrats will have to earn their way this fall," he said.
The AP-Yahoo survey of 1,844 adults was conducted from April 2-14 and had an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points. Included were interviews with 863 Democrats, for whom the margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.3 points, and 668 Republicans, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.8 points.
The poll was conducted over the Internet by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.
— AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.
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