Anyone else surprised that the Republicans gained in both the House and the Senate?

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by chippers21

I think this is the first time in quite a while that we will have both Legislative branches and the Presidency under one party umbrella. I hope that means they will do good things for the nation and get things done.

Chippers just a FYI-The house & senate were both republican controlled during the first term of President Bush.

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by prism68

I sure hope so!
I'd like to see the judges be appointed, and all the other things that have been held up by Democratic filibusters.
Unfortunately the Republicans still don't have enough to over-ride the filibuster, but they are closer than they have been.

Well maybe both sides will work together in compromise.

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by bobbcat

I would imagine that the Dems will continue their obstructionist tactics, and the Pubs will continue their typical spineless approach to this. In other words, gov't will continue to grow and become more intrusive, more expensive, and more difficult to scale back.

Actually if we continue the path of free spending you will not have to worry about scale back-because it will reach the point in which cuts so drastic will be needed that people will revolt or taxes will be raised by 100+% or the more likely outcome of sky high interest rates. I fear that we will sell the idea of growing faster then spending theory.

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by mayor

2) It will be a moot point soon. The filibuster rules will be rewritten at the beginning of the next term.

Mayor

I came across this...Have not explored this issue as it seems you have.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

[tschmitt]

Originally Posted by pandybat

The economic issues affect families just as much, if not more, than the moral issues. Take the religion out of the issues and see what there is left to deal with. The economic far outweigh the moral.

wrong wrong WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! I can't believe how wrong you are...but it's typical thinking these days.

The path to economic prosperity begins with a strong belief in God - and acting on that belief is what we call morals. And lots of prayer.

Time after time, history has proven that people who TRULY follow God are blessed - countries that follow God even more so.

Something for you to do: go look up a video called Transformations - it's about a town in south america somewhere that had problems - lots of them. Multiple jails, multiple bars (small town) and poverty. Well, these people decided that enough was enough - they were tired of trying to do it themselves. So they turned to GOD, acknowledged that every good thing comes from Him, and began to live moral, pleasing lives.

And what happened? Well, I'd love to NOT tell you and make you watch the video, but to pique your interest:
All the jails are now closed
Most of the bars are closed
The land, which yielded little before, is yielding produce that is 4 to 5 times (and sometimes 10 times) what the normal size is.
Farmers buy BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ TRUCKS WITH CASH because they're making so much stinking money.

SO DON'T TELL ME THAT ECONOMIC PROBLEMS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN MORALS - YOU ARE WRONG WRONG WRONG!

Another good example is Israel. Yep, Israel. These people have thousands who worship everyday at the Weeping Wall, asking God to forgive their country their sins.
This is the country that is rivaling the U.S. in technological prowess...and need I remind anyone of the 1967 War?

WHEN A COUNTRY TURNS TO GOD, GOD BLESSES THAT COUNTRY.

...and you can take that statement to the bank!

[twonky]

Originally Posted by tschmitt

Farmers buy BRAND NEW MERCEDES BENZ TRUCKS WITH CASH because they're making so much stinking money.

I would question someones morals that tells them it's OK to buy the most expensives trucks available instead of giving that money to the homeless or helping starving children.

But hey, maybe my morals are TOO high.

[mayfly]

how do you know they are not helping?

[luvmetender]

I don't know where you live, tschmitt, but where I live (very heavily farmed county) I see farmers struggling every day to make a living, riding in beat up trucks.

[JenniferC]

[quote=tschmitt]wrong wrong WRONG WRONG WRONG!!! I can't believe how wrong you are...but it's typical thinking these days.

The path to economic prosperity begins with a strong belief in God - and acting on that belief is what we call morals. And lots of prayer.

Time after time, history has proven that people who TRULY follow God are blessed - countries that follow God even more so.

WELL THIS IS TRUE BUT having a majority of Republicans in office really means NOTHING when they have one hand to the sky praying while the other is in your pocket stealing every cent you have. The USA has more ways to tax the dollar than any other dang nation. This country needs a revolt. People need to demand where each and every tax dollar is going. Every dollar should be accountable.What our founding fathers fought for is now a joke. If they could see this country today they'd be ashamed. The first thing I've read about Bush is him talking about building Iraq. Charity starts at home. We are spending more money building Iraq when children here are starving and in overcrowded schools with teachers that may not even have a college education.

[chippers21]

[
WELL THIS IS TRUE BUT having a majority of Republicans in office really means NOTHING when they have one hand to the sky praying while the other is in your pocket stealing every cent you have. The USA has more ways to tax the dollar than any other dang nation. This country needs a revolt. People need to demand where each and every tax dollar is going. Every dollar should be accountable.What our founding fathers fought for is now a joke. If they could see this country today they'd be ashamed. The first thing I've read about Bush is him talking about building Iraq. Charity starts at home. We are spending more money building Iraq when children here are starving and in overcrowded schools with teachers that may not even have a college education.[/quote]


First off the Democrats have added just as many or more taxes on our nation as have the Republicans. And second, there are many countries in this world that have much higher taxes than we do. Especially the Socialist countries in Europe. And gasoline is taxed much more heavily all over the world, making the price of gas twice as high, if not higher than our prices.
And poverty in the United States is not nearly as horrid as third would countries. Our "poverty" level is just a lot higher.
I think our nation can afford to try to help out the rest of the world. In doing so, we help ourselves.

I do agree we pay way too many taxes, but I do not see any solution coming from either party, so maybe we need a rebellion as you say.

[luvmetender]

And poverty in the United States is not nearly as horrid as third would countries. Our "poverty" level is just a lot higher.
I think our nation can afford to try to help out the rest of the world. In doing so, we help ourselves.

WHA???

So until our poverty level gets as low as third world countries, we should continue to spend our tax dollars there? What planet are you from??

[mayor]

Originally Posted by luvmetender

WHA???

So until our poverty level gets as low as third world countries, we should continue to spend our tax dollars there? What planet are you from??

I think what is being said is that our "poverty" level would be considered wealthy by those living in true poverty around the world. America is, and has always been, the most charitable nation on earth. But Government is NOT the source of charity. PEOPLE are the source of charity.

Allow me to bring it down to a simple argument to make my point.

Let's say you have $100. You can either give it to the government to do something good with, or you can just do good with it. The government has to pay someone to administer the $100. The government has to manage a bureaucracy of paperwork to see that the money gets where it is going. The more hands the money goes through, the more likely that someone is skimming off the top and lining their own pockets. Corruption sets in. Just how much money do you think the person in poverty actually receives? I guarantee it is a SMALL fraction of the original $100.

On the other hand, you can take that $100, buy some homeless people lunch, clothe a runaway girl on the street and have cash left over to buy yourself a Big Mac.

Tell me. Which makes more sense?

Now then. Whenever the government raises my taxes to pay for another social program, they are stripping me of the opportunity to do some REAL good with my money.

I don't know about you, but I know BETTER than government how to be charitable! This whole class warfare thing is socialism, and it reeks of depravity and corruption.

Mayor

[luvmetender]

Mayor, you missed my point. Giving always should begin at home. I'm tired of watching our country give money to the rest of the world.

[crazytimes]

Mayor you are correct.

I believe Catholic Charities has one of the highest percentage of each donation that goes DIRECTLY to people in need. That's why I can't understand why people were even opposed to Bush's faith based initiative at all! Religious charities are VITAL to our countries well-being and welfare society.

I know my church spent quite a bit of money (and also received some state grants) to open up a daycare center for teenager mothers form the local high school. This gives them a chance to at least finish high school and I think we can all agree that people who finish high school and go to college become much more productive members of society.

I'd love to see the government even TRY and start let alone run a program like this; even a small one.

I think the tax code should be changed so that there is a DOLLAR PER DOLLAR tax write off for charitable giving. I think that you should be able to claim it EVEN IF YOU DON'T ITEMIZE, regardless of what age you are or your dependency status, and I think there should be a limit to how much you can write off. I mean if everyone just wrote a check at the end of the year to essentially "cancel out" their tax burden...well then we wouldn't have any tax money! But I think this would probably encourage more people to give. Although I personally enjoy giving whether or not I get a tax break, but I realize not everyone is like this.

[mayfly]

Originally Posted by luvmetender

Mayor, you missed my point. Giving always should begin at home. I'm tired of watching our country give money to the rest of the world.

I agree with you. Every week we should look for a way to give to someone else. Bring a neighbor a meal, make someone a lunch, buy a sack of groceries, or leave some money in a card to an old person anonomously. If we all did this I don't think anyone of us would be in need. I think its just so much easier to rely on a government to take care of the hurting people, because there is no real investment from us.