Talk grows of gas tax increase

Worrywart wrote:

<quoted text>
Hahahaha! I'm covered, my "bike" gets 170 mpg.
But if you need it:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...
And there's even a couple blogs of people who have "done it themselves" including a cute chick.
Google it. Or another good invention funding is stalled on, a vehicles running off nuclear plant radioactive waste.
But these solutions are "killing two birds with one stone", much too effective, too cost efficient for U.S. consideration.

Well if a cute chick did it, then it must be worthwhile.

Delphinus 13 wrote:

<quoted text>
Where can I sign that petition!?!?
I bet if we got 20 million signatures, Washington would at the least, wake the #$%^ up. Maybe better, a groundswell of grassroots support would sweep all the rascals of both parties out, put a new generation of peoples' representatives in and lead to no kidding hard term limits and meaningful change inside the Beltway.

I think that you are right on. Most people would sign but like most working American. We do have the time or the resources to start the petition. It is a shame because Washington knows this. If it is not too late, one of the things I am going to do when I do not have to work two jobs is to be a royal thorn in the neck (close to the jugular) to all our elected officials. Elected officials you have only one chance to make a different. That is it.

Mike-Indianapolis wrote:

<quoted text>
Reagan and Dubya's route to Record Deficit Land was cut tax revenue irresponsibly and spend like a drunken sailor on the military...war or not.
Clinton both raised the minimum wage and raised tax revenue over GOP opposition and shrunk the deficit.

It was a CLAIMED that there was a surplus. The reality is that total debt increased another $130 billion. call it camouflage, smoke and mirrors, etc… and total debt increased to a new all-time record high.

Also, the $130 billion of added new debt during 1999 was even higher than the $113 billion new debt increase reported by Treasury for the prior fiscal year (FY98), when they also bragged about a surplus.

This in not news, it's simple math:
More Democrats = More Taxes

Richard wrote:

This in not news, it's simple math:
More Democrats = More Taxes

Does that mean it's all republicans getting foreclosed upon?

Simple math, no matter which party is elected, no matter who is in control, new sources of income must be found to pay this:

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin...

I suggest we quit "leasing" the mineral rights on public lands to oil companies, who then make "record profits" off of it; and we, the people, invest the $4 million per new well on public lands in a public oil company. Legally tie up any "profit" for public debt obligation only.

Or we could raise taxes to pay off these credit accounts. Or, can a country go bankrupt? We could try that. No matter how the country's debt gets paid, it is We, the people, whom are responsible for the bills of this republican spending.

And speaking of Clinton vs Bush. Check out who travelled more (and gave away more "aid$$$$$" each trip). Congress did their job reprimanding Clinton: http://rpc.senate.gov/_files/92199ExcessiveFo...
but GWB et al can afford an Olympic trip (so necessary for national security, right?) during these economic times?

That's not to mention GWB is a leader not only in foreign travel, but also has also exceeded vacation time taken by any president (beating out Reagan). "I guess you could look at it this way -- the more he's on vacation, the less damage he can do to the country," Pam Spaulding wrote August 12, 2007

"I place economy among the first and most important of republic virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." -Thomas Jefferson to William Plumer, 1816 (See 2 powerful Debt Reports > of the Federal Government and of The Total Nation

"No generation has a right to contract debts greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence." - George Washington to James Madison 1789.

Pugsley wrote:

<quoted text>
It was a CLAIMED that there was a surplus. The reality is that total debt increased another $130 billion. call it camouflage, smoke and mirrors, etc… and total debt increased to a new all-time record high.
Also, the $130 billion of added new debt during 1999 was even higher than the $113 billion new debt increase reported by Treasury for the prior fiscal year (FY98), when they also bragged about a surplus.

Shoot, what's $113 billion compared to ONE trillion?:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/s...

Is that's what's wrong with Republican's math, they don't comprehend/count the number of zero's that are part of a number?

Worrywart wrote:

<quoted text>
Shoot, what's $113 billion compared to ONE trillion?:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/s...
Is that's what's wrong with Republican's math, they don't comprehend/count the number of zero's that are part of a number?

You ASSume too much. Who are you to ASSume what party affiliation I belong to? I have been a harsh critic of Prez Bush. You have not read many of my posts or you would know that I rip republicans a new one as often as I rip democrats. You are evidently a partisan groupie. There are way too many of your ilk, and that is why our country is doomed. I have nothing to lose, no matter which tyrant manages to pull the proverbial wool over collective eyes. I merely love this country and am heart broken over what future generations will be subjected to because irrational, neo- marxists are too dishonest, lazy and selfish to take care of themselves and require a Sugar Daddy Government to anticipate and provide for their every desire. It is you and the people you care about who will reap what is sown. Knowledgeable students of history have been paying attention for many years. They know what is coming and are prepared and will not suffer as you will due to your own willful ignorance.

Pugsley wrote:

<quoted text>
You ASSume too much. Who are you to ASSume what party affiliation I belong to? I have been a harsh critic of Prez Bush. You have not read many of my posts or you would know that I rip republicans a new one as often as I rip democrats. You are evidently a partisan groupie. There are way too many of your ilk, and that is why our country is doomed. I have nothing to lose, no matter which tyrant manages to pull the proverbial wool over collective eyes. I merely love this country and am heart broken over what future generations will be subjected to because irrational, neo- marxists are too dishonest, lazy and selfish to take care of themselves and require a Sugar Daddy Government to anticipate and provide for their every desire. It is you and the people you care about who will reap what is sown. Knowledgeable students of history have been paying attention for many years. They know what is coming and are prepared and will not suffer as you will due to your own willful ignorance.

It sounds like you and I are of similar mindsets.

The general population has grown way too dependent on the government and expectant of them to answer to every whim. Congress is comprised of hundreds of failed businessmen who don't know the first thing about how to balance their own ledgers let alone that of the federal government, and we're supposed to trust this government with our money?

I know what my best interests are far better than our government does, and I'd rather keep my money and apply it to those interests than let the government take the money and continue to run this country into the ground while padding their own bank accounts and laughing all the way to the bank.

Pugsley wrote:

<quoted text>
You ASSume too much.

1. Yes, I am a "partisan groupie". I have volunteered and worked with Ralph Nader since 1978.
2. You mentioned math. You attacked Clinton for a deficit that is just a fraction of the current administration's. That must mean, 1. You are a republican (which I ASSumed) or 2. You can not do math or read a budget yourself. I was being generous and ASSuming you were not a moron who can not do simple addition or subtraction. Silly me, huh?
3. "There are way too many of your ilk, and that is why our country is doomed. I have nothing to lose, no matter which tyrant manages to pull the proverbial wool over collective eyes. I merely love this country and am heart broken over what future generations will be subjected to because irrational, neo- marxists are too dishonest, lazy and selfish to take care of themselves and require a Sugar Daddy Government to anticipate and provide for their every desire."
WRONG! Some really poor ASSuming.
A. Partisan? Than Ralph Nader would have won decades ago, and this country would not be in the terrible financial situation it is in today. Our constitution would not be touted by any successive president as "just a *** piece of paper".
B. I am not dishonest, I have a clear conscious. We have always taken care of myself, our families (yes, I am part of a very long term relationship, I do not GIVE UP easily to divorce or easy ways out). Several years ago, we even passed over offered "Victims Assistance" and took money out of our 401k instead for medical needs after a mugging (they could not save the eye, and our insurance wouldn't cover a glass one-or the bone restructuring to install it properly). Even paid the 50% tax for early withdrawal, although the rest went directly to medical bills. The only "government money" any in my family have received is income tax rebate or return checks.
You must have downed too many beers (we are and have always been an alcohol free home) tonight, for ASSuming I could ever view our government as a "Sugar Daddy" for any citizen!
You must be a citizen of Iraq, or Israel et al, for the U.S. government to be your "Sugar Daddy". Or a citizen of any country, in the U.S. illegally, with a child, may also view our government as a "Sugar Daddy". Which are you?
Not this 6th generation United States citizen.
Do I know my history? I also wrote a thesis on the Federalists papers, check them out:
http://www.foundingfathers.info/
"It is the first responsibility of every American to question authority" - Ben Franklin
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent — Thomas Jefferson
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds” Albert Einstein
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.- George Bernard Shaw
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.“~ Frederick Douglass
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”- Albert Einstein
“If Tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy” James Madison–

Perplexio wrote:

<quoted text>
It sounds like you and I are of similar mindsets.
The general population has grown way too dependent on the government and expectant of them to answer to every whim. Congress is comprised of hundreds of failed businessmen who don't know the first thing about how to balance their own ledgers let alone that of the federal government, and we're supposed to trust this government with our money?
I know what my best interests are far better than our government does, and I'd rather keep my money and apply it to those interests than let the government take the money and continue to run this country into the ground while padding their own bank accounts and laughing all the way to the bank.

Hey the old man was born and raised in Aurora. You can see his family's grocury store, nursery, pizza parlor (altho now a Pizza Hut) still in business there.

Here is a clue on how to avoid paying taxes:

CAYMAN ISLANDS - Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/200...

But, actually, your best bet is to follow the Bushs' history of examples in tax shelters. Very legal that way.

Worrywart wrote:

<quoted text>
1. Yes, I am a "partisan groupie". I have volunteered and worked with Ralph Nader since 1978.
2. You mentioned math. You attacked Clinton for a deficit that is just a fraction of the current administration's. That must mean, 1. You are a republican (which I ASSumed) or 2. You can not do math or read a budget yourself. I was being generous and ASSuming you were not a moron who can not do simple addition or subtraction. Silly me, huh?
3. "There are way too many of your ilk, and that is why our country is doomed. I have nothing to lose, no matter which tyrant manages to pull the proverbial wool over collective eyes. I merely love this country and am heart broken over what future generations will be subjected to because irrational, neo- marxists are too dishonest, lazy and selfish to take care of themselves and require a Sugar Daddy Government to anticipate and provide for their every desire."
WRONG! Some really poor ASSuming.
A. Partisan? Than Ralph Nader would have won decades ago, and this country would not be in the terrible financial situation it is in today. Our constitution would not be touted by any successive president as "just a *** piece of paper".
B. I am not dishonest, I have a clear conscious. We have always taken care of myself, our families (yes, I am part of a very long term relationship, I do not GIVE UP easily to divorce or easy ways out). Several years ago, we even passed over offered "Victims Assistance" and took money out of our 401k instead for medical needs after a mugging (they could not save the eye, and our insurance wouldn't cover a glass one-or the bone restructuring to install it properly). Even paid the 50% tax for early withdrawal, although the rest went directly to medical bills. The only "government money" any in my family have received is income tax rebate or return checks.
You must have downed too many beers (we are and have always been an alcohol free home) tonight, for ASSuming I could ever view our government as a "Sugar Daddy" for any citizen!
You must be a citizen of Iraq, or Israel et al, for the U.S. government to be your "Sugar Daddy". Or a citizen of any country, in the U.S. illegally, with a child, may also view our government as a "Sugar Daddy". Which are you?
Not this 6th generation United States citizen.
Do I know my history? I also wrote a thesis on the Federalists papers, check them out:
http://www.foundingfathers.info/
"It is the first responsibility of every American to question authority" - Ben Franklin
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent — Thomas Jefferson
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds” Albert Einstein
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.- George Bernard Shaw
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.“~ Frederick Douglass
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”- Albert Einstein
“If Tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy” James Madison–

." Yes, I am a "partisan groupie". I have volunteered and worked with Ralph Nader since 1978."

Well, that says it all, doesn't it?

Worrywart wrote:

<quoted text>
Hey the old man was born and raised in Aurora. You can see his family's grocury store, nursery, pizza parlor (altho now a Pizza Hut) still in business there.
Here is a clue on how to avoid paying taxes:
CAYMAN ISLANDS - Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/200...
But, actually, your best bet is to follow the Bushs' history of examples in tax shelters. Very legal that way.

You miss the point. This isn't about paying taxes or not. This is about how the tax money gets spent. Congress controls the purse-strings and how the tax money gets spent, a Congress that is at best merely inept and at worst an utterly corrupt "hive of scum and villainy" that would rival even the fictitious Mos Eisley Cantina of Star Wars lore.

A Congress so wrapped up in their own self-importance and finger-pointing, a Congress so handcuffed by a fear of failure that they're unable to accomplish anything of any substantial benefit to the American people... We're supposed to trust them with our money?

Perplexio wrote:

<quoted text>
You miss the point. This isn't about paying taxes or not. This is about how the tax money gets spent. Congress controls the purse-strings and how the tax money gets spent, a Congress that is at best merely inept and at worst an utterly corrupt "hive of scum and villainy" that would rival even the fictitious Mos Eisley Cantina of Star Wars lore.
A Congress so wrapped up in their own self-importance and finger-pointing, a Congress so handcuffed by a fear of failure that they're unable to accomplish anything of any substantial benefit to the American people... We're supposed to trust them with our money?

It is not that they are “so handcuffed by a fear of failure.” It is, as you say,“A Congress so wrapped up in their own self-importance and finger-pointing.” Their megalomania is oh-so-obvious and unsettling to those who are paying attention. Their deception and treason has earned them no less than the same punishment Ethel and Julius Rosenberg received for their treason.

Something (more so than usual) really stinks in congress and government in general. Try to order Alpine Air freeze dried #10 cans of food. No can do. Try to order Red Wing canned butter. No can do. I have been stocking my hunting/fishing cabin for 18 years with these supplies, and for the first time, am unable to get them. Army-Navy surplus stores have been informed that government will no longer be selling surplus supplies. Surplus business will have to get their supplies elsewhere. Tell me I am wrong, and that tyrannical politicians don’t know what the future holds. Why else would government be buying up storable food and emergency supplies? Assure me that those who haven’t been reading between the lines for the last several years are in for misery and horror beyond their wildest nightmares courtesy of their benevolent, faithful government. I want to be wrong.

When the proverbial crap hit’s the fan, who will hold politicians and bureaucrats responsible for creating the third-world hell this country will become. Never forget, they who created the soon to come hell will be warm, fed, medically provided for, have gasoline for their cars, have their money invested in foreign currency, etc….

Worrywart wrote:

<quoted text>
1. Yes, I am a "partisan groupie". I have volunteered and worked with Ralph Nader since 1978.
2. You mentioned math. You attacked Clinton for a deficit that is just a fraction of the current administration's. That must mean, 1. You are a republican (which I ASSumed) or 2. You can not do math or read a budget yourself. I was being generous and ASSuming you were not a moron who can not do simple addition or subtraction. Silly me, huh?
3. "There are way too many of your ilk, and that is why our country is doomed. I have nothing to lose, no matter which tyrant manages to pull the proverbial wool over collective eyes. I merely love this country and am heart broken over what future generations will be subjected to because irrational, neo- marxists are too dishonest, lazy and selfish to take care of themselves and require a Sugar Daddy Government to anticipate and provide for their every desire."
WRONG! Some really poor ASSuming.
A. Partisan? Than Ralph Nader would have won decades ago, and this country would not be in the terrible financial situation it is in today. Our constitution would not be touted by any successive president as "just a *** piece of paper".
B. I am not dishonest, I have a clear conscious. We have always taken care of myself, our families (yes, I am part of a very long term relationship, I do not GIVE UP easily to divorce or easy ways out). Several years ago, we even passed over offered "Victims Assistance" and took money out of our 401k instead for medical needs after a mugging (they could not save the eye, and our insurance wouldn't cover a glass one-or the bone restructuring to install it properly). Even paid the 50% tax for early withdrawal, although the rest went directly to medical bills. The only "government money" any in my family have received is income tax rebate or return checks.
You must have downed too many beers (we are and have always been an alcohol free home) tonight, for ASSuming I could ever view our government as a "Sugar Daddy" for any citizen!
You must be a citizen of Iraq, or Israel et al, for the U.S. government to be your "Sugar Daddy". Or a citizen of any country, in the U.S. illegally, with a child, may also view our government as a "Sugar Daddy". Which are you?
Not this 6th generation United States citizen.
Do I know my history? I also wrote a thesis on the Federalists papers, check them out:
http://www.foundingfathers.info/
"It is the first responsibility of every American to question authority" - Ben Franklin
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent — Thomas Jefferson
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds” Albert Einstein
Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.- George Bernard Shaw
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.“~ Frederick Douglass
“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”- Albert Einstein
“If Tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy” James Madison–

How do you find the time to write so much??? I can't find the time to read it all!!!

Pugsley wrote:

<quoted text>
It is not that they are “so handcuffed by a fear of failure.” It is, as you say,“A Congress so wrapped up in their own self-importance and finger-pointing.” Their megalomania is oh-so-obvious and unsettling to those who are paying attention. Their deception and treason has earned them no less than the same punishment Ethel and Julius Rosenberg received for their treason.
Something (more so than usual) really stinks in congress and government in general. Try to order Alpine Air freeze dried #10 cans of food. No can do. Try to order Red Wing canned butter. No can do. I have been stocking my hunting/fishing cabin for 18 years with these supplies, and for the first time, am unable to get them. Army-Navy surplus stores have been informed that government will no longer be selling surplus supplies. Surplus business will have to get their supplies elsewhere. Tell me I am wrong, and that tyrannical politicians don’t know what the future holds. Why else would government be buying up storable food and emergency supplies? Assure me that those who haven’t been reading between the lines for the last several years are in for misery and horror beyond their wildest nightmares courtesy of their benevolent, faithful government. I want to be wrong.
When the proverbial crap hit’s the fan, who will hold politicians and bureaucrats responsible for creating the third-world hell this country will become. Never forget, they who created the soon to come hell will be warm, fed, medically provided for, have gasoline for their cars, have their money invested in foreign currency, etc….

You obviously "get it" Pugsley. It's encouraging to see others who can see our government for the thieves they really are.

It's sad, ideologically I'm a Republican, as in I still believe in the principles the party was founded on. I still believe in the small government, strong individual ideals of the party. A party that believed in getting to know people for who they are as individuals as opposed to what ethnic group, religion, sexual orientation, etc. they belong to/associate with. It's sad because the "Republicans" in Congress don't exemplify those principles any longer any more than the "Democrats" in Congress exemplify the noble principles their party was founded on.

It's a pipe dream, but if both parties got back to their roots we might find a lot more common ground and far less disunity between the two parties than exists today.

Perplexio wrote:

<quoted text>
You miss the point.... We're supposed to trust them with our money?

Congress IS involved and making money off this war. They are afraid of the domino theory, if one gets prosecuted for partaking in the illegal spending of taxpayer funds, pretty much, they ALL GO DOWN. To gain Congressional approval for war spending, the Executive Office included "trusted corporations" such as those owned, or with ties to Congressional members (nonpartisianal) in the new "closed bid" procedures:
'Iraq for Sale'
In his "Iraq for Sale," Robert Greenwald slams U.S. companies for endangering lives while making millions.
By Kenneth Turan, Times Staff Writer
..."Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" ....And this time he's focused on one of those issues that might unite viewers across all political spectra: unconscionable war profiteering coupled with catastrophic decisions by major American companies.
Using as its key advertising image a picture of a tank as covered by as many corporate logos as a NASCAR racer, "Iraq for Sale" starts by detailing just how much income the Iraq war has produced for corporations. Halliburton heads the list with $18.5 billion, two other companies top $5 billion and the security firm Blackwater earned $21 million just guarding former U.S. ambassador L. Paul Bremer III.
...Many of the people interviewed in "Iraq for Sale" are not troubled by the concept of businesses earning a profit. The problem they have is the marked lack of accountability for the actions of corporate folks in Iraq, a lack that results in money wasted and civilians placed in harm's way to beef profits.
... "The almighty dollar is all they cared about."
...
Just as troubling are the implications of Halliburton's cost-plus contracts, which means the more the company spends, the more it gets back. Stories of $100 laundry loads and expensive equipment destroyed rather than repaired are enough to make you agree with the sentiment that the situation in Iraq has become "a legal way of stealing from American citizens."
Because the firms involved are well-connected in Congress, no one ever has to answer hard questions of accountability, which even the president waffled on when questioned on camera by a student. Also choosing not to comment are the various firms this film indicts, who refused to come on camera to answer the charges. Whatever you might think about the centrality of the profit motive to our society, what's going on in Iraq is going to give you pause.
kenneth.turan@latimes.com
'Iraq for Sale'
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-iraq...
By Abid Aslam
FINANCE: U.S. Lawmakers Invested in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
WASHINGTON, Apr 7 (IPS)- U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed.
Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups.
David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, is to brief the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latest findings are unlikely to have a significant impact on this week's proceedings but could stoke anti-incumbent sentiment in this year of presidential and legislative elections.
Lawmakers charged with overseeing Pentagon contractors hold stock in those very firms, as do vocal critics of the war in Iraq, says the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp...
For more specifics (search site for your reps):
http://www.publicintegrity.org/projects/entry...

The new "closed bid procedures" assured Congressional participation and therefore backing.
http://www.publicintegrity.org/projects/entry...
'Iraq for Sale'
In his "Iraq for Sale," Robert Greenwald slams U.S. companies for endangering lives while making millions.
By Kenneth Turan, Times Staff Writer
... "Iraq for Sale" starts by detailing just how much income the Iraq war has produced for corporations. Halliburton heads the list with $18.5 billion, two other companies top $5 billion and the security firm Blackwater earned $21 million just guarding former U.S. ambassador L. Paul Bremer III.
Because of a philosophical predisposition that favors the private sector over the government as well as a belief (which this film pretty much destroys) that the private sector is more efficient and does things more economically, the current administration has contracted out a long line of military-related activities to for-profit entities.
Many of the people interviewed in "Iraq for Sale" are not troubled by the concept of businesses earning a profit. The problem they have is the marked lack of accountability for the actions of corporate folks in Iraq, a lack that results in money wasted and civilians placed in harm's way to beef profits.
As clips from network newscasts and CNN indicate, much of the information here has been in the media before. What "Iraq for Sale" does is connect all the dots, laying out in a fairly straightforward way what we've been vaguely aware has been going on, including stories behind incidents that made major headlines when they happened...
It's Halliburton and its KBR subsidiary that figure in some of the most troubling incidents. "Iraq for Sale" interviews truck drivers from the American heartland, survivors of a convoy attacked in what has come to be known as the Good Friday Massacre, men who were sent down a road that should have been closed to civilians, all in the name of fulfilling a contract.
Just as troubling are the implications of Halliburton's cost-plus contracts, which means the more the company spends, the more it gets back. Stories of $100 laundry loads and expensive equipment destroyed rather than repaired are enough to make you agree with the sentiment that the situation in Iraq has become "a legal way of stealing from American citizens."
Because the firms involved are well-connected in Congress, no one ever has to answer hard questions of accountability, which even the president waffled on when questioned on camera by a student. Also choosing not to comment are the various firms this film indicts, who refused to come on camera to answer the charges. Whatever you might think about the centrality of the profit motive to our society, what's going on in Iraq is going to give you pause.
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-et-iraq...
FINANCE: U.S. Lawmakers Invested in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars
WASHINGTON, Apr 7 (IPS)- U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed.
Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups....
Lawmakers charged with overseeing Pentagon contractors hold stock in those very firms, as do vocal critics of the war in Iraq, says the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP).
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp...
Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government as complete, federal investigators say.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/...

Actually, a gas tax increase could be useful in the long run (although clearly not in the short term), but I can't imagine any politician willing to go there.

tottaly agree
http://www.lasubzero.com
http://www.fixmysubzero.com
sub Zero refrigeration experts

but i dont
http://www.appliancemidwest.com
http://www.fixmyviking.com