What if I didnt reply in the thread where these are from

[tikilal]

I started this thread to talk about these things in an appropriot place, that and so Slipdigit and anyone else knows what they are getting into with this “What if”.

Originally Posted by fjrosetti

Look all around you! The infrastructure of this country is falling aprart.

Originally Posted by fjrosetti

Bridges collapsing due to rot, cities drowning (New Orleans) and not nearly enough being done to prevent another round from happening again.

But check the health of high-tech wonder weapon companies such as Boeing, Hughes and Douglas.

Priorities are upside down!

When the state inspector found the bridge unsafe the firm that serviced the bridge was let go, then a search was made for a company that would say that it was safe. Only one in the state was found. That bridge was purely neglect. Now there is a list of some hundred thousand other bridges that are unsafe. Looks like the states have their work cut out for them. That is right the road ways are the state and city responsibility. Some Federal funding is sent to each but at the end of the day it the state that is responsible.

You blamed misallocated money as the cause of the bridge collapse. The Federal government is responsible for the armed forces and the defense of the nation. Now I am not saying that every weapon system ordered or researched is good, but it needs to be done. If we wanted to look at misallocated funds then there are a great many we could talk about... oil subsidies, welfare, pay for politicians and so on.

Originally Posted by Sloniksp

Thank the commander and chief for that

So you think that George W. Bush, made all of New Orleans flood, even after the National Guard went house to house and told people to leave? After the levies were classified as sub par. Lets not even get into the stupidity of building a city below sea level right next to the sea.

George Bush also told the bridge to fall? Did he also tell the rain to stop falling in Georgia and Florida and send it to the Mid-West? Did he also make all of the Earthquakes happen? What about forest fires and random murders of young people? Does he also make mothers kill their unborn children? I may have gone a little overboard but the idea is the same, there are things that President Bush is at fault for, but most of the things that he is blamed for are not in his power or responsibility to care for.

[Slipdigit]

that and so Slipdigit and anyone else knows

Was this necessary? If I have been rude to you in the past, please let me know when it was and I will offer apologies.

See comment 11 below for correction/retraction.

[Sloniksp]

Originally Posted by tikilal

[color=black]
So you think that George W. Bush, made all of New Orleans flood, even after the National Guard went house to house and told people to leave? After the levies were classified as sub par. Lets not even get into the stupidity of building a city below sea level right next to the sea.

George Bush also told the bridge to fall? Did he also tell the rain to stop falling in Georgia and Florida and send it to the Mid-West? Did he also make all of the Earthquakes happen? What about forest fires and random murders of young people? Does he also make mothers kill their unborn children? I may have gone a little overboard but the idea is the same, there are things that President Bush is at fault for, but most of the things that he is blamed for are not in his power or responsibility to care for.

George Bush is absolutely NOT responsible for the bridge collapse, I dont ever remember blaming him for that either. Nor is he responsible for lack of rain or any other natural disaster or state negligence. A country as large and with as much infrastructure as the US is bound to have an accident or two. There are just too many things to keep an eye on and inspect. I may be wrong on the matter, but accidents do happen. The president is in no way responsible for those accidents.

I was actually just referring to priorities being upside down.

Example:

~George Bush~

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

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New Orleans, is a different Story,( the hurricane could not have been prevented, but everything else could have ) it was no accident and concerns have been expressed years earlier. Are you aware that the engineers that had been put in charge of upgrading and reinforcing the levy's specifically warned the administration ( or the FEMA director )that the levy's were sinking and need immediate funding for repair in order to avoid a disaster? Instead of giving funding Bush, DECREASED funding by 20% as cuts had to be made in the federal budget. The 20% which was cut from the levy's went to support the cost of the Iraq war. ( this is just another example of upside down priorities )

This was a special on CNN, I will try to find an article online on the matter.

[Za Rodinu]

Hey, Otto, would you please relocate this thread in the Free Fire Zone? What is it doing in the WW2 General Discussion area?

[Herr Oberst]

Originally Posted by Sloniksp

George Bush is absolutely NOT responsible for the bridge collapse, I dont ever remember blaming him for that either. Nor is he responsible for lack of rain or any other natural disaster or state negligence. A country as large and with as much infrastructure as the US is bound to have an accident or two. There are just too many things to keep an eye on and inspect. I may be wrong on the matter, but accidents do happen. The president is in no way responsible for those accidents.

I was actually just referring to priorities being upside down.

Example:

~George Bush~

"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Orleans, is a different Story,( the hurricane could not have been prevented, but everything else could have ) it was no accident and concerns have been expressed years earlier. Are you aware that the engineers that had been put in charge of upgrading and reinforcing the levy's specifically warned the administration ( or the FEMA director )that the levy's were sinking and need immediate funding for repair in order to avoid a disaster? Instead of giving funding Bush, DECREASED funding by 20% as cuts had to be made in the federal budget. The 20% which was cut from the levy's went to support the cost of the Iraq war. ( this is just another example of upside down priorities )

This was a special on CNN, I will try to find an article online on the matter.

First off anyone who quotes the Clinton News Network needs a rudimentary education.

Second, the Katrina debacle was highlighted because New Orleans had one of the poorest sections, The Ninth Ward, a democratic voting block, placed under the world spotlight. The people there had little or nothing to begin with, most relied on weekly government(in reality a portion of my money called taxes)checks to cruise by on from week to week. So when any disaster strikes it was chaos, an earthquake could have had the same effect, it just happened to be a Hurricane.

Third: DON'T BUILD IN A FLOOD PLAIN, here it is actually worse because portions of the city lie beneath sea level.

It is not a particular interesting city to begin with....Jazz you say, Ehh, kind of like soccer comes under the who cares department.

As for blame first the Mayor, Mr chocolate himself, a typical democrat do nothing, ran and hid when disaster struck, huh... then these morons reelected him so you see what we're dealing with.

Next that shining example of leadership, the Governor, a democrat, went and hid when the chips were down, She had the National Guard at her disposal and fudged its deployment.

It was these two primary leaders responsibility to ask the President and FEMA for aid. Coordinate and tell the Feds what they needed. They stood there with their mouths wide open, catchin flies and had that deer in the headlights look all Liberals get when they actually have to do something. Duh is appropriate.

In addition, the Fed has given millions of dollars, more than enough for maintenance and upgrade within reasonable expectations, for the levee system, but being run by Democrats, they squandered all those funds on do nothing Bureaucracies and landed in the mess they brought upon themselves, but that's what happens when you gamble with specified funds.

As for Mr. Bush, he is by no means an ideal President.

He signed a huge education bill with that drunken fat ass Kennedy, that in itself questions the Presidents intelligence level.

What thanks did he get, more trouble than he could have imagined bordering on treason from the New York Times to the Democrat party dragging its feet every step of the way and giving Terrorists combatant status, which is absurd.

The President as soon as he got into office needed to remove all democrats from political offices under his Prerogative legal ability.

Deal with rampant Democrat voter fraud

Close the borders to all illegal aliens(criminal aliens)

Build an effective screen and defense against border Infiltration.

Create an effective border Patrol and not tie the hands or arrest the enforcers.

Deal with the terrorist threat from a military standpoint, not pussy footing around with LOAC and police actions.

Put through an energy bill that didn't let Exxon and Mobil merge, as well as allow new refineries to be built and new drilling.

As for cutting money to Louisiana well you remember Huey Long, enuff said, nothing has changed. Why throw good money after bad.

And how do you know the 20% went to Iraq, it could have just as easily made it into The No Child left behind, so source please, accounting ledger? Don't bother with CNN, they make up stories just like the New York Times does.

Next

[Sloniksp]

Herr,

As your post is a little, well.... lengthy, I hope you will forgive me not quoting you

I must say that overall I dont disagree, there are many people to blame for the disaster, even the people living there.

This is the article that I found on the lack of funding for the levee due to Iraq spending...

AlterNet: Why the Levee Broke

There are more articles I just got lazy and didnt feel like looking.

Don't bother with CNN, they make up stories just like the New York Times does.

Oh give me a break, there are only two sides which you get to choose from, Democrat or Republican. Sure there is bias in both networks which appeal to their party, but to say they fabricate??? That is a crime last time I checked is it not?

By the way I am more of a Fox viewer guy myself even though I am an independent.

"First off anyone who quotes the Clinton News Network needs a rudimentary education."

What does that mean and what am I quoting from the Clinton News Network here?

[Herr Oberst]

Originally Posted by Sloniksp

Herr,

As your post is a little, well.... lengthy, I hope you will forgive me not quoting you

I must say that overall I dont disagree, there are many people to blame for the disaster, even the people living there.

This is the article that I found on the lack of funding for the levee due to Iraq spending...

AlterNet: Why the Levee Broke

There are more articles I just got lazy and didnt feel like looking.



Oh give me a break, there are only two sides which you get to choose from, Democrat or Republican. Sure there is bias in both networks which appeal to their party, but to say they fabricate??? That is a crime last time I checked is it not?

By the way I am more of a Fox viewer guy myself even though I am an independent.




What does that mean and what am I quoting from the Clinton News Network here?

You quoted CNN(Clinton News Network) to open your commentary.

I am surprised you don't recall the recent firings at both news agencies as well as Dan Rather from CBS.

Who runs alternet?

[skunk works]

I was told a long time ago about flood planes. Look at the railroad tracks !
They are built 2 feet higher than the water has ever been, according to at least 100, perhaps and sometimes, 200 year flood records.
If you see tracks above where you are,............think about moving.

[Sloniksp]

Originally Posted by Herr Oberst

You quoted CNN(Clinton News Network) to open your commentary.

dont believe I have heard that before.

I am surprised you don't recall the recent firings at both news agencies as well as Dan Rather from CBS.

Now that you mentioned it I do actually, but I still believe that the firing of Dan Rather was a disgrace!!!!

Who runs alternet?

No clue... I stumbled upon it accidentally, this was not the article that I was looking for but after reading it the numbers still match..... ( from what I know )

[tikilal]

Slipdigit... I am sorry I was not trying to be rude. Sorry. You have never offended me.

[Slipdigit]

Originally Posted by tikilal

Slipdigit... I am sorry I was not trying to be rude. Sorry. You have never offended me.

Tikilal have talked via PM and I am an idiot. I understand now what he was saying and that he wasn't trying be rude to me.

[tikilal]

Okay, sorry I was at work earlier and had no time to reply.

Why is it the Federal Governments responsibility to fix levies in Louisiana? Why am I supposed to help pay to keep New Orleans safe? And how do we know that the money that was reduced from the levies was for Iraq?

New Orleans was bad, the death and suffering was uncalled for, but everyone was told to leave and chose to stay. The people that were relocated to San Antonio TX caused more problems than I can get into here, but in the mall where they were put up, murder, rape, assault, theft, and other crimes were rampant. People given checks from the Government were spent on hookers, purses, TVs and cosmetic surgeries. My father in law volunteered his restaurants to cater to these people and on various occasions he was assaulted while working there. My point is that when people do not listen, then cause problems that is their choice, but the federal government has no responsibility to help them. (My opinions)

Bin Laden is a President Bush issue and your quotes ask a legitimate question. What are we doing to get him?

I am in no way implicating any political party for the state of the country. The country is where it is because of its people. The people put politicians in office, the people make their own choices and so on. If anything is to change the people need to start it. Stop waiting on the world to change.

I personally do not like that fact that there is no accountability in most government functions. IE my mail gets lost, I paid for it and they messed it up, all you get (with out added insurance) is a sorry we messed up. My postman forwarded my mail on his own initiative, the post office could not tell me who did it, why, or where it went. I still have to pay taxes even though they mess up what I pay for.

News: I do not know that CNN or the NY Times "make up stories" they may mislead you, or falsify parts but the whole story... I find it hard to believe. Now one thing I know goes on even with the AP is picture fraud. A photographer will go to an event and place people and things to get the shot he wanted, I saw the examples of this from Gaza during the Hamas problems a while ago, the same people were in every picture and in one the guy is dead and the next he is angry at someone else and then next he is sad, and mid you that the time stamps are on these so unless someone is bring people back to life, someone else is lying.

[Slipdigit]

What tikilal said....on the money

[tikilal]

Originally Posted by Roddoss72

Could you imagine how the USA would be if the Government spent the two trillion it wastes on defense spending and propping up dodgy regimes in the middle east on say universal medical cover, medical research, education, disaster relief (Hurricane Katrina), Infrastructure, etc.....

Better yet imagine if the Government spent only what it needed to and didn’t take the rest from the American people.

Originally Posted by Slipdigit

You throw out all these good platitudes, but provide little to no information on how much is spent to begin with, in comparison to other nations etc. Your ideas show a great misunderstanding on the division of governmental powers within the United States. Please read the often overlooked 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution. 10th Amendment We have people here that think the President and Congress are supposed to feed, clothe, buy homes, cars and color TVs for them, apparently you do too.

Originally Posted by Slipdigit

Don't even get me started on universal medical care. It is not the government's (in reality, my neighbors) responsibility to take care me, it is my job.

You have no idea what has been done in New Orleans or what it even looked like before the flood. The people there had ample opportunity to leave and they chose not to. Homeowners who have decide to live on flood plains and coastal areas for years and years have enjoyed a free ride and expected us who live inland to help rebuild them when the inevitable floods come.

As far as New Orleans is concerned, the way the levees are governed is sheer lunacy. There are about 6-8 boards that control different sections of the levees and they rule them like their little fiefdoms. The Corps of engineers provide the expertise, but it is up to the politically controlled boards to maintain the levees and guess what party runs the show down there and makes appointments to the boards? Those levee failed because they were not maintain as the should have been and it was the responsibility of locally appointed people to see that it was done.

Before you get all bent out of shape, I have close relatives who live(d) down there, some losing their homes. They knew the risks, but took them anyway. The inner city New Orleans people that are making the biggest fuss are third and fourth generation government entitlement types (welfare recipients) who have made no effort to change the squallor they live in and when a large number of them left, they carried their crime with them, just ask Houston TX. Drive across Lake Pontchartrain and into Mississippi, where the damage was as bad or worse, those people are used to taking care of themselves and they have. They aren't griping about the government not coming to wipe their butts for them and they also weren't looting stores.

I would guess that if we want advice from you as to how to run our country, we'll come and ask you and since you don't seem to embrace the idea of one nation policing another, I don't see it happening.

As usual,

I love how people can in the same breath complain about how horrible the government handles things and then ask them to handle more. If you think that other people know what is best for you and want them to take care of you check yourself into an assisted living center. The Constitution was set up trying to balance the need for Central order and the need to protect the liberties and rights of the people. But here is the best part I get to vote for the people that make these decisions. When I don’t like what they are doing they hear about it from me. And I tell them in no uncertain terms what I think and want. I then in reply get a letter thanking me for my concern and then try to explain why they do what they do. Then I mention this little know and used item called “RECALL”. Man I love my government.

The basic question that every person in the world needs to ask themselves is this: Do I want to be responsible for myself? Well do you?

[Sloniksp]

I have to ask a question here,

Is it not the Federal Govt. priority to protect its citizens no matter what country you live in?

If ( in this case Louisiana ) did not have money in its budget to rebuild levee's shouldnt the Govt. step in and help out? In this case not only did it fail to help, but instead made things worse by reducing the funding which was already inadequate.

The funding was reduced to pay for the war which the current administration started. So in this aspect, who does the blame lye with, if the the already inadequate funding was reduced further by the federal govt., which being fully aware that the potential repercussions of such a decision, went ahead with this decision anyway?