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Post by Frater G on Feb 15, 2008 0:36:31 GMT -5
Are any of you following the campaigning? I like Barack Obama...it seems like he's the politically correct candidate though. I like his positions on health care. My favorite is Ron Paul. It's been a long time since America had a true constitutionalist running the White House.
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Post by vajramukti on Feb 15, 2008 9:16:24 GMT -5
I do like Ron Paul. Unfortunately, he comes across as a little wacky on the national scene. I am not sure why. I would like to see a strict constitutionalist in there, though.
My candidate of choice is not running any longer. Obama sounds good, and although I am a republican, I like him. But I do not like his position on the war. While I agree that we must get our troops home, we need to do so by winning the war and allowing the Iraqi people to govern in freedom. I am afraid that Obama will push to bring the troops home regardless.
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Post by George the 3rd on Feb 15, 2008 10:22:34 GMT -5
I too prefer Barack Obama. (G, we need your vote on March 5th! ) If he should be elected President I am sure that he will not bring the troupes out fast enough for some and too fast for others. I do believe that he and his administration would do nothing without full consultation with the military nor would he jeopardize the safety of all the troupes. I hope that he would concentrate our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and finish the job started there. Victory was so close it is a shame there was the misdirection that muddled the situation.
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Post by vajramukti on Feb 16, 2008 1:13:00 GMT -5
I do believe that he and his administration would do nothing without full consultation with the military nor would he jeopardize the safety of all the troupes. Let us hope so. I think he will be our next President.
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Post by Frater G on Feb 16, 2008 11:12:18 GMT -5
I do like Ron Paul. Unfortunately, he comes across as a little wacky on the national scene. I am not sure why. I would like to see a strict constitutionalist in there, though. My candidate of choice is not running any longer. Obama sounds good, and although I am a republican, I like him. But I do not like his position on the war. While I agree that we must get our troops home, we need to do so by winning the war and allowing the Iraqi people to govern in freedom. I am afraid that Obama will push to bring the troops home regardless. Ron Paul is painted as a fringe candidate because he wants radical change which this country needs. I'm not really satisfied with anyone to be honest. Someone needs to clean house...but that's like taking down the mob. The Corptocracy has to end before Americans can have real representation. The first thing that needs to be done is to bring our troops home. The oil companies are wealthy enough.
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Post by vajramukti on Feb 16, 2008 19:22:48 GMT -5
The first thing that needs to be done is to bring our troops home. The oil companies are wealthy enough. I disagree. The first thing that needs to be done is to win the war. Pulling our troops out early in Desert Storm because the UN wanted us to was a mistake that has led to where we are now. Certainly, mistakes are currently being made. It seems a bit like Vietnam. We're over here arguing, and they are over there sitting around waiting for us to make a decision. We need to let them win the war and then come home. Oil prices are currently being driven by the futures market, which insane. Oil is not $95 a barrel. It is projected to be so on the futures market. The actual cost is quite a bit less. However, a big part of what we pay at the pump is taxes and fees. Do you recall the prices dropping drastically a year of two ago? When there was a debate and vote pending in Congress over drilling in Anwar? I have wondered why Congess doesn't bring that up again. Obviously, the threat of us moving towards energy independence is enough to drive the market down.
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Post by Frater G on Feb 16, 2008 23:08:01 GMT -5
The first thing that needs to be done is to bring our troops home. The oil companies are wealthy enough. I disagree. The first thing that needs to be done is to win the war. Pulling our troops out early in Desert Storm because the UN wanted us to was a mistake that has led to where we are now. How will we know when the war is won? When enough people die and someone says uncle?...like when America nuked Japan? There's no way the people over there will ever give up. Imagine a foreign country sending troops into America trying to change our political system. It's just human nature to fight for sovereignty. This war was based on disinformation in my opinion which was probably engineered by companies who profit by the rebuilding of the infrastructure. There is no honor in this war. He who fires the first shot loses the moral high ground. The way it should work is America should become once again a country with a strong manufacturing base...strong on exports. Then the country can begin to become a surplus economy which other countries can emulate. Instead we've become a people enslaved in a debt based consumer oriented country. The only thing offered is service. Oil companies profits are at an all time high now in spite of the war. I've heard republicans quote. "Profit isn't a four letter word you know" I say yes it can be if it's achieved unethically. There's no reason that oil must be the chief energy source anyways. It is inevitable that oil will become secondary to some other type of energy. That realization is what I believe prompted the creation of this war. Oil tycoons are trying to lock up all the wells to hold on to their reign. It's a simple business decision. Veils everywhere.
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Post by Frater G on Feb 17, 2008 3:13:18 GMT -5
I too prefer Barack Obama. (G, we need your vote on March 5th! ) If he should be elected President I am sure that he will not bring the troupes out fast enough for some and too fast for others. I do believe that he and his administration would do nothing without full consultation with the military nor would he jeopardize the safety of all the troupes. I hope that he would concentrate our efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and finish the job started there. Victory was so close it is a shame there was the misdirection that muddled the situation. I will definitely vote for Barack unless Ron Paul somehow makes the Republican ticket. Again I must ask what is victory? Most would say the capture of Bin Laden. But does it end there? I would say the safest thing for the troops is to get them out of there. You know if our country had a good moral resume I believe the rest of the world would respect us. How do you feel about that? There's something that puzzles me. And that is; How does a nation know when it is NOT at war? Was there ever peace? What is war anyways? A disagreement? A declaration?
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Post by vajramukti on Feb 17, 2008 14:18:49 GMT -5
Exxon Mobil Corp made 75,000$ a minute in 2006. For a record breaking 39.5$ billion profit year. They had a 10% increase of profit in 2007. I'll let you do the math. I have heard it said "there is no shame in making a living" They never post how lives it took to make that profit. Why isn't anybody outraged. List of outrages for Exxon Mobil-#6 on the toxic 100 club -Human rights violations in every country they do business in -Support corrupt regimes -Major contributer to organizations which campaign against the science that fossil fuel burning causes global warming -total debt for 2007 that includes taxes $6.645billion -total profit for 2007 $40+ billion -they are responsible for murder, rape and torture. The true debt for their profits is paid in blood -Exxon still fighting a $2.5 billion punitive ruling on the Exxon-Valdez disaster -the list goes on, and on, and on Plenty of people are outraged. I, for one, have not bought gas from an Exxon station since the Valdez disaster. I also do not purchase gas from any of the Hugo Chavez owned Citgo stations. There is a bit of a monopoly on gas production here, though, becasue no one is allowed to build refineries or drill in places already owned by the existing companies. Want change? Open the door to competition. What our government doesn't get is that the more it tries to strangle oil production and our own oil companies, the more dependent we become on foreign oil, AND, the richer the few companies that we have get.
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Post by vajramukti on Feb 17, 2008 14:37:59 GMT -5
How will we know when the war is won? When the Iraqi people can stand on their own and governt themselves in freedom. The first shot was fired by radical islamist terrorists on 9/11/01. Yes, it should work that way. It does work with nations who have a similar government to ours. However, for most of the world, it is easier to come here than to emulate us at home. Yes, profits are up. Profit margin has stayed the same. The problem, as I see it, is that we are paying prices based on a futures market rather than on actual cost. This is what is outrageous to me. That and the fact that about 1/3 of what I pay at the pump is tax. It is a finite resource. It is inevitable. I doubt it. I am pretty sure that the events of 9-11 prompted this war. If the war were about oil, then we would not be trying to create freedom in the Middle East, we would be annexing it. We would never have backed out of Desert Storm. Doing so was a sign of weakness. And we would be drilling in Anwar and more in the Gulf. If the oil tycoons are really powerful enough to start a war, then they certainly ought to be able to get their hands on oil closer to home. "Bush's war for oil" is a tired, worn out battle cry to rally the sheeple. I am not a big fan of the oil companies because of the monopoly. The reality, though, is that alternative energy doesn't exist yet in a realistic fashion. The increase in ethanol production has just about crippled the corn market, and engines that run on it don't last. Hybrids are so expensive that the cost vs. fuel savings benefit is non-existant. I am in the market for a new truck, and I have looked at several hybrids. It is difficult to find one that serves my work requirements for less than $50,000, and I can get a conventional (same model) for around $28,000.
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