Republican and Democrats

[Stan]

are reminding me more and more of the Hutus and Tutsis..

[Neil D]

I don't think we americans are that bad. And I don't know of any republicans who are out to kill the democrates...

Right, Shane...Shane????

[Dr. Shane]

I don't even know what or who the Hutus and Tutsis is.

[Woody]

Only hundreds of thousands of them killed each other a few years ago. But then that is Africa and Africa doesn't get much attention.

Later .... I hate to over state ... but I think it may have even been close to one million dead. But it was a lot. Does anyone know?

It's called ethnic cleansing. If your nose was a certain length ... you got whacked.

[phkrause]

I'm not sure it was in the millions but diffently in the hundreds of thousands. Hotel Ruwanda dealt with that, and their was another movie called Sometime in April I believe about the same thing. Also if you remember when yugoslavia had its problems. One day you had best friends a muslim and a christian having a great time and the next day they are killing each other. Its pretty sad what we do to each other.

pkrause

[Dr. Shane]

Very nice thing about living in America is that we resolve our differences in the voting booth.

[Planey]

Very nice thing about living in America is that we resolve our differences in the voting booth.

Not to mention the Civil War, the KKK, the street gangs, the Watts riots, Kent University, ...

[bevin]

Fortunately those are things that the vast majority of the society condemns and actively opposes.

Last night I watched a half a dozen police officers control a crowd of over hundred 15-25 yr olds. They could not do this without the explicit consent of most of the people in the crowd.

In Iraq, that active consent is missing.

In the USA, no matter whether the Democrats or the Republican's win, I know I don't need to actively organize an armed opposition to protect "my stuff"

/Bevin

[Dr. Shane]

The Civil War certainly is an exception to that rule. It is an example of the failure of democracy. The South did not want to accept the results of a national election and the North did not want to respect the right of the South to succeed from the Union.

However with that behind us, I stand by my statement that in the US we settle our differences in the voting booth.

[bevin]

and I gladly stand with Shane on this point

/Bevin

[CyberGuy]

are reminding me more and more of the Hutus and Tutsis..

LOL I do not think things are that bad. However the headlines this morning in the papers was "Congress in CAOS". Seems as if the republicans walked out as the democrats tried to pass a bunch of legislation the republicans would have nothing to do with and the democrats refused to negotiate.

This session of congress is almost 30 percent over with and they have done NOTHING meaniful only trying to pass legislation that they know will be vetoed. Congress has a lower approval rating that even President Bush has. That says something about how the american people views this bickering in congress.

[Neil D]

The republicans have sold thier votes to American business, and the American people believe that to keep amercia strong is to have a strong lean economy. Thus, the republicans represent institutions, not the american people....

What makes America strong is doing what is right for the american people. Democrates, who are composed of miriades of various groups, are trying to get that accross to the american public. As a whole group, the democrates are trying to represent the American public...

Although, I tend to think that they could do it better...

[Dr. Shane]

A strong economy is the greatest tool in fighting poverty. One need only look at nations with weak economies to see a large and suffering lower class.

In America, about 14% of our population live in poverty. Virtually all of them have indoor plumbing, electricity, telephone and furnaces. Many have cars, carpeted floors, major appliances, cable TV and new clothing (thanks to Walmart) - some even have air conditioning.

Contrast this to the poor living in India, Kenya or even closer to home in Mexico. One quickly concludes that making a strong economy a priority is looking out for American public, especially the poor.

[Neil D]

Quote:

In America, about 14% of our population live in poverty. Virtually all of them have indoor plumbing, electricity, telephone and furnaces. Many have cars, carpeted floors, major appliances, cable TV and new clothing (thanks to Walmart) - some even have air conditioning.

look here for New Yorks Stats

You might be suprized at what you call poor....the benefits that middle class workers enjoy are shrinking- for example-

their gas, phone, or electricity was turned off because they couldn’t pay the bills;

they used a food bank or pantry to avoid going hungry;

they couldn’t pay the rent;

or a prescription cost too much for them to fill it.

Ok, you have a home/apartment...but it's been neglected, poor insulation resulting in high heating costs, and now in the dead of winter, you can't pay the bill? Or perhaps you have a hospital threaten to take you to court because you can 't pay your bill? Or your doctor takes you off his services for the same reason...Perhaps you are wondering/deciding/choosing if you get food this month or your medication...

Oh sure, the working poor have no health insurance...but at least they got a beater of a car, whose break down is monthly and costly and they have to have that car to get across county cus here is where the cheapest rent is....and the last time they were able to have a vacation....?

As for those other countrys, I am not responsible for them. Sure they have pottable water cus the US provided plumbing for them....but I still hear of embezzelment of the goverment happening in those countrys on a regular basis that results in the poor still being poorer...and just because we take care of thier infrastructure doesnt mean that our poor are unaffected by our infrastructure..

and dont even get me started on health care between other western countries and 3rd world countries and the US. It's deplorable...Even CUBA has free health care for thier working poor...our working poor has to PAY something to the medicare/medicade so as to not be taking advantage of them...

and since your looking at stats, you might want to look at these-

2004 stats

[Dr. Shane]

I didn't see that the article contradicted any of my statistics. It does high-light the wealth of America when viewed in contrast to other nations. In America the poor can receive food stamps, heating assistance, medical assistance, or go to food banks.

I got a chuckle out of this line...

Quote:

Only one-third are offered a pension or 401(k) retirement plan

One third of the poor have a 401k plan? How many of the poor in Mexico have anything comparable to that? Quite the illustration of how wealthy our poor actually are when measured on a global scale. All these entitlement programs are only possible through government because the booming economy provides a large enough tax base for the government to fund such programs. A strong economy is a nation's best tool in fighting poverty.

[Gerr]

are reminding me more and more of the Hutus and Tutsis..

Except none of them are getting killed! Can't get rid of them!!!

Gerry