I agree with Jaime. The question about weather and geological natural disasters doesn’t make sense.

My money has been at the credit union for probably 15 years now. It’s not fancy, but they have what I need.

There are no transaction fees when you carry cash. I get what I can afford for the week, and if I run low, then I know I am done. Funny, you just don’t need that extra widget when you are looking at actual currency in your hands at the check out. Yes, I have credit cards, since it is hard to book flights or rental cars without one. But as a percentage of my purchases, I think I HAVE voted out the bankers. Politically, whether you are on the right or the left, freezing out the big banks from your daily life might be the biggest personal statement we send to Washington.

None of these questions are worth asking.

The following text is a fatwa, or declaration of war, by Osama bin Laden first published in Al Quds Al Arabi, a London-based newspaper, in August, 1996. The fatwa is entitled “Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places.”

Praise be to Allah, we seek His help and ask for his pardon. we take refuge in Allah from our wrongs and bad deeds. Who ever been guided by Allah will not be misled, and who ever has been misled, he will never be guided. I bear witness that there is no God except Allah-no associates with Him- and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.
{O you who believe! be careful of -your duty to- Allah with the proper care which is due to Him, and do not die unless you are Muslim} (Imraan; 3:102), {O people be careful of -your duty to- your Lord, Who created you from a single being and created its mate of the same -kind- and spread from these two, many men and women; and be careful of -your duty to- Allah , by whom you demand one of another -your rights-, and (be careful) to the ties of kinship; surely Allah ever watches over you} (An-Nisa; 4:1), {O you who believe! be careful- of your duty- to Allah and speak the right word; He will put your deeds into a right state for you, and forgive you your faults; and who ever obeys Allah and his Apostle, he indeed achieve a mighty success} (Al-Ahzab; 33:70-71).

Praise be to Allah, reporting the saying of the prophet Shu’aib: {I desire nothing but reform so far as I am able, and with non but Allah is the direction of my affair to the right and successful path; on him do I rely and to him do I turn} (Hud; 11:88).

Praise be to Allah, saying: {You are the best of the nations raised up for -the benefit of- men; you enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and believe in Allah} (Aal-Imraan; 3:110). Allah’s blessing and salutations on His slave and messenger who said: (The people are close to an all encompassing punishment from Allah if they see the oppressor and fail to restrain him.)

It should not be hidden from you that the people of Islam had suffered from aggression, iniquity and injustice imposed on them by the Zionist-Crusaders alliance and their collaborators; to the extent that the Muslims blood became the cheapest and their wealth as loot in the hands of the enemies. Their blood was spilled in Palestine and Iraq. The horrifying pictures of the massacre of Qana, in Lebanon are still fresh in our memory. Massacres in Tajakestan, Burma, Cashmere, Assam, Philippine, Fatani, Ogadin, Somalia, Erithria, Chechnia and in Bosnia-Herzegovina took place, massacres that send shivers in the body and shake the conscience. All of this and the world watch and hear, and not only didn’t respond to these atrocities, but also with a clear conspiracy between the USA and its’ allies and under the cover of the iniquitous United Nations, the dispossessed people were even prevented from obtaining arms to defend themselves.

The people of Islam awakened and realised that they are the main target for the aggression of the Zionist-Crusaders alliance. All false claims and propaganda about “Human Rights” were hammered down and exposed by the massacres that took place against the Muslims in every part of the world.

The latest and the greatest of these aggressions, incurred by the Muslims since the death of the Prophet (ALLAH’S BLESSING AND SALUTATIONS ON HIM) is the occupation of the land of the two Holy Places -the foundation of the house of Islam, the place of the revelation, the source of the message and the place of the noble Ka’ba, the Qiblah of all Muslims- by the armies of the American Crusaders and their allies. (We bemoan this and can only say: “No power and power acquiring except through Allah”).

Under the present circumstances, and under the banner of the blessed awakening which is sweeping the world in general and the Islamic world in particular, I meet with you today. And after a long absence, imposed on the scholars (Ulama) and callers (Da’ees) of Islam by the iniquitous crusaders movement under the leadership of the USA; who fears that they, the scholars and callers of Islam, will instigate the Ummah of Islam against its’ enemies as their ancestor scholars-may Allah be pleased with them- like Ibn Taymiyyah and Al’iz Ibn Abdes-Salaam did. And therefore the Zionist-Crusader alliance resorted to killing and arresting the truthful Ulama and the working Da’ees (We are not praising or sanctifying them; Allah sanctify whom He pleased). They killed the Mujahid Sheikh Abdullah Azzaam, and they arrested the Mujahid Sheikh Ahmad Yaseen and the Mujahid Sheikh Omar Abdur Rahman (in America).

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/international/fatwa_1996.html

Ron paul is correct.

And here is the pie chart to illustrate the problem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fy2009spendingbycategory2.png

We are fighting over the smaller pieces of the pie without touching on the 800 pound gorillas. Since the over 65 demographic votes, I doubt if we will fix those problems any time soon.

Agreed. Dead On Arrival.

@Jaime John’s democratic/Obama leanings are showing again. What about that high ticket item no one wants to talk about… health care? Pretty much in parity with defense. Perhaps it should be cut. I’m not advocating either position; I’m just saying…

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_spending

“Is it more important to control the national debt by reducing spending, or should we increase federal spending to stimulate the economy? Are people willing to cut the big expenditure items, such as entitlements and defense? Can income tax cuts stimulate the economy without increasing the debt?”

I think these are legitimate questions. I think people’s opinions regarding those choices are polarizing, as Zogby says. I believe he is asking these questions, based on where we are – right now – rather than a theoretical future point after Obama’s health care might be passed. He is asking us – Americans – okay how would we fix it if we were in Congress, and the results do not lead us out of this mess, because the results show no clear winner. One of the issues I have mentioned in the recent past that we will never see fixed because the lobby is too strong is entitlements to the behemoths of corporate agriculture. However, if you look at the pie chart it is Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid & unemployment which eat up HALF the chart! Agriculture is hardly a blip. And what is the common denominator of the top three, as well as the monkey on the back of number 4? Health care.

I don’t know how we can fix health care, and I am not sure the Democratic plan is the greatest, but I do know that my daughter and her husband will never come home to America to live because they have universal health care in their current country of residence, and they think we are jerks for railing against it. And I know that my co-pays last year for my fabulous health care plan took a huge percentage of my net pay – and I wasn’t even that sick! It made me realize that if my Toyota crashes into a bridge abutment at 100 miles per hour, it will bankrupt us. My daughter’s in-laws never have to worry about that. I cannot argue when their country is rated one of the best places in the world to live. My big ticket item in the last three years has been dental. IF I had been able to afford the co-pays on my dental care all along, I would not have needed all the root canals and crowns, etc. now. However abscessed teeth begin to effect your health, and this merry-go-round will end up costing me roughly $10,000 out of pocket, WITH dental insurance. I would have preferred to put $10,000 in an IRA. I have -0- in an IRA, because I had to pay these co-pays. SO will somebody show me how keeping the current system makes me more financially secure? Under the present system, I am more vulnerable to becoming a ward of the U.S. government in old age, compounding the debt, as illustrated on the pie chart.

I might add that the dental/IRA example is very real, since I thought I would fix my teeth as a “gift” to myself before retiring. I had no idea that the expenses would drain away all the money I had otherwise hoped to put away, and now I will have to continue to work for some time to come. All you 20 somethings lined up for my job, too bad.

@Jaime
Opine
1. Pres Obama is finally coming out. OUT in the sense of telling his public, exactly what his goals, vision and idealogue concepts are for the rest of his term. He has indeed, doubled down,AKA: HC, EPA regs, FCC regs, DEA obstructionism, all his Czars are in line, standing tall.
Now. Question is, do we agree, applaud, cheer him on, OR are we willing to understand the ramifications, get educated in his intendend consequences and un- intended consequences. Are we going to while away our limited freedoms, or will we stand up for what liberty we have?
The question is entirely ours to decide, till we no longer have such.
Semper FI
end

“Are people willing to cut the big expenditure items, such as entitlements and defense?” I think the answer is yes, but it’s the congress that can’t say no.

Kevin – you honestly think people are going to agree to cut back on Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and national defense????????? At almost 2/3’s of the budget, those are the top 4 big ticket items. Somehow I don’t think you would get much public support for that. Even the Republicans pulled the cord on Bunning when he held up the extension on unemployment because they understood the backlash that would result. And the elderly block won’t let anyone touch Social Security and Medicare, so we only have ourselves, the voters to thank for the biggest part of this.

The water in my nearest river is not even fit to allow skin contact. I am not in favor of turning the extraction industries who caused it to become that way, nor the financial institutions who turned us into beggars lose to do as they please. Sorry Slim, but you are only thinking about you, and what impact these regulations might have on you maybe not dumping oil over the hill when you change the oil in your car. We have to think about how laws create a country where people of different viewpoints can live, so those laws should prevent harm to others. Most of the towns in my state have no zoning laws, and it is the awfullest mess you’d want to see. They also don’t even want to incorporate their communities, then whine when they don’t have services. What you are advocating, I believe, is the same thing, only on a larger scale.

@Jaime Well, I’m probably being naive, but I honestly think people are starting to get the idea that something(s) has to go.

I’m a G.I., and I can see all kinds of ways to cut defense. We could cut $11B in a hearbeat and virtually no one would even notice. I don’t think cutting unemployment is the right thing to do right now, but we could save about $26B on foreign aid that isn’t buying the influence we thought it would.

Here’s my question about congress. Many of them are trying their damndest to pass some sort of health care bill even though the majority of American don’t want to see things change, because “they” know what’s good for “us.” So what’s stopping them from doing the same in other areas like defense and other entitlements? Are they listening to the voters? Really? The point is that we the public don’t have to agree with what congress does. They’re not our proxies and they’ll continue to do as they please.

A couple of weekends ago, I attended a Lincoln Day dinner, complete with Republican congressperson. In the opening remarks about what was happening in Washington, one of the main reasons given for voting against the health care measure was because of “massive cuts to Medicare”, which got the biggest applause. That’s what Republicans in that part of the state wanted to hear – no cuts to Medicare. I was stunned. This representative passes himself off as not being inflammatory and yet was obviously using scare tactics AND Republicans were giving a rousing cheer for keeping the bloat intact.

Kevin — tell me how many people under 40 vote Republican in that District.

No, sadly, everyone says something has to go, but no one wants their issue to be the thing cut. Kevin, Congress will occasionally vote for things based on it’s “wisdom”, but most of the votes are indeed made based on what increases their chances at being re-elected. People actually DO want all these programs –but just like credit card debt, they don’t want to hear about the cost.

Then there are issues with gray areas. Everyone sees the Boeing contract as a “win” for the U.S., but it means the loss of several hundred Northrup Grumman jobs in our state, as well as several other states. Now Kevin, you keep up with this military stuff more than I do, so you can speak to the issue of whether we even need these items. However, I can tell you that wrapping one company up in the American flag, as if the other did no manufacturing in the U.S.is baloney. If I had the time, I would love to see which contract would actually have given us the most value – over time – for the money spent.

Maybe it is because I can see the state Capital from my porch and work “inside the beltway”, so I see stuff on the state level, but our elected officials will not jeopardize their re-elections. Their voting records are carefully crafted to include the populous with entitlements so that they can “spend” the rest of their votes on their big corporate donors’ wishes.

I might also comment that this month’s survey regarding this issue contained the highest percentage of “wife beater” questions I have seen in awhile, which I resented. It caused me to have to answer don’t know, other, etc. many times, which may play into the hands of those entities contracting Zogby to do this survey, who hope to capitalize on the state of indecision it appears to show.

Moving money away from the big banks is a great idea. However, nothing is being said about moving your credit cards away from the big banks, Bank of America, Chase, Citi, etc. Getting a credit card from smaller banks or credit unions would be an even bigger blow to the banks that received government bailouts. Even if you pay off your balance every month, they are getting fees from businesses every time you swipe your cards. Since I don’t know where to get a credit card besides the big banks, I’ve started carrying cash and using the card as little as possible.

@Jaime Regarding the Boeing tanker deal, we do need new refuelers. Most of the current inventory are 40-50 years old. The “win” for the U.S. is that they’ll be U.S. built aircraft. The NG proposal would have used EADS/Airbus aircraft. Essentially one of the bigger issues was the question, “do we want to depend on the “French” for aircraft and spare parts?” There are other issues like keeping U.S. industrial capacity up as much as possible. But the biggest issue is one of political sensitivity. How can we justify spending billions on aircraft that will provide more jobs to Europeans rather than Americans when our economic situation is in the state it’s in.

I don’t know which proposal would have delivered better value or lower life cycle cost.

@Kevin
Yes, and I can see all those points. But I can also appreciate the profound disappointment at losing those jobs in my state, since we do not have the diversified base many other states have. We are a small state and this is a big deal, since other secondary business start ups we had hoped would help pull us out of the one ring circus we are currently in will not happen.

What I am trying to illustrate is that rarely can you say that you can predict how a local voting block will move by only looking at the national “platform”. What may appear patriotic to some, and for the greater good, is not necessarily perceived as in the best interest of the local voters.

@Connie
Connie, in my other posts I have talked about the fact that I withdraw what I believe I will need for the week and pay for everything with cash. Sometimes I feel like a broken record and don’t mention things over again. There is also a guilty pleasure in the fact that the stores and big banks cannot keep tract of you like big brother and sell this information, if you pay cash. Last fall, we were cleaning out the freezer and trying to use up what was in it. I did use the credit card at the market that week, because I had not anticipated some expenses, but bought a big bag of potatoes, which were on sale, and pintos beans as well as other stables. It is very possible that it was just a coincidence, but my rate and credit limit wobbled the following month. So I carefully decided what upscale application might redeem me the following month, and did notice a return to the former rate and ceiling. I do fly, and need the card to book flights.

@S. A. Mick McClary
Studies have shown that the biggest influence, and most significant predictor of a child’s success in school is the parents’ own opinions regarding the value of education…………

Looks like they’ll get “reform” through with a simple majority rather than the required 60 votes. What an “up tick” in support of “reform”…

Obama without a doubt is the worse president we’ve ever had. For over a year, he couldn’t get a health care bill passed. He had to take everything out that socialists love including the public option. The Middle East is a mess. No one fears him and they even laugh behind his back. He’s stated from the start he believes the jews are wrong to occupy Jerusalem (evidence is he bows to any muslim, but for jews he sticks the finger to them). I can’t wait until November. At least the republicans and independents will be able to stop everything this communist loving thug supports.