One action our government could do to help with health care in the short run is allow us to deduct 100% of what we pay out of pocket for health care wheather or not a person itemizes and should not be subject to 7.5% of AGI. Medical savings accounts and Health Saving accounts are not the answer. In addition, many states do not adopt these federal tax incentives. Presently, you can deduct a 100% of your donation to Red Cross if you can itemize. However, you can only deduct out of pocket health care cost that exceed 7.5% of your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income).

As far as health care goes I don’t have an answer, but governmentalizing it is not the answer. If this happened no one would have access to decent health care. In addition, requiring businesses to provide health insurance will bankrupt most small businesses and increase the cost of products to consumers.

I didn’t invite bashing, intelligent discussion maybe, but not attacks, bashing or name calling.

Food for thought “Give a man a fish he eats for a day, show him how to fish and he eats for the rest of his life”.

1. What I intend to do is lead an investigation to find out what went right and what went wrong (emphasis - right is always said first and wrong is always last - voice should be positive and upbeat on right - trail off on wrong)
really people do we need this? wouldn’t this tax money be better spent on helping the victims?

2. We want to make sure we can respond properly if there is a WMD (weapons of mass destruction) attack or another major storm.”
a WMD attack is gonna get ya - well before natural disaster

3. The BLAME GAME - be sure to use this catch phrase as many times as you can - hey it’s catchy and that’s what people watching TV will walk away remembering - those liberals are playing the BLAME GAME

One of the things people want us to do here is play the blame game,” he said. “We got to solve problems. There will be ample time to figure out what went right and what went wrong.” (again note the order of right and wrong)

You get it yet people??

“Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the
leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a
simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a
fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of
the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are
being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and
for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every
country.”
— Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall, at the Nuremberg
Trials after World War II.

And here we are in 2005 swallowing it again - hook, line, and sinker.

I, presently, am desperately waiting for news from friends in the area affected by this hurricane. I have family and friends who have been in the hurricanes in Florida and my own husband who was on the hurricane team at the hospital in Florida. So don’t attack me about compassion or feelings.

In addition, Dave, anger is one of the stage of grieving. I certainly would expect anyone in this situation to feel that way at some point towards someone or something. However, this does not give people who are not direclty affected by the hurricane the right to use this as an excuse to bash any administration/poltical party they don’t agree with.

Good Luck Dave. As far as compassion goes I have plenty for these people and have done what I can to help them. Have you?

Are you listening to the anger of residents from the affected area?

Nothing gives you the right to discount others’ feelings and compassion. Nothing.

Good luck and God bless to the hurricane victums. My heart goes out to all of you!

What’s your point? My initial post was that such statements as “nobody believed it could happen” are bs and dishonest. There were tons of reports out there.

In addition, people are free to believe what they want. But they should not try to escape their responsibilities by pleading ignorance. “duty”, “accountability”… does that ring a bell?

I do not argue that some people might have taken their decisions in good faith. But for christ’s sake, stop invoking ignorance - once and for all.

To Wat2be and “This is a tragedy of horrific proportions; we can not blame someone for this. We must realize that this is the price we pay for being human.”.

Yes, and let’s also stop retrofitting our buildings and structures for earthquakes. Let’s just be humans and ignore centuries of sciences…

Come on!

Natural disasters will always be with us and take their toll - this is a given.
That doesn’t mean we should just hide our heads in the sand and stop thinking about how to minimize their impact. The question is where do you want to see your “tax dollars at work”.

To Shirley and “I am ashamed of those individuals who live in our fine country that chooses to point fingers and criticize government during a time of (national) crisis”.

Some people pride themselves as responsible citizens and not just political bigots.

Citizens need to follow their elected leaders’ decisions; regardless of whether they voted or not for them - it’s called democracy (and civil obedience).

But they should also question their decisions; regardless of whether they voted or not for them - it’s called democracy (and freedom of speech).

What harm can that criticizing exercise do?
Prevent someone from sleeping tight tonight in the white house?

What good can this do?
What about raising the right questions and lessening the impact of the next crisis? And if that means even just one less casualty, don’t you think it’s worth it?

(And no, I do not just question decisions originating from the republicans’ side of the fence.)

I am a graduate student in social psychology, by the way, and much research has suggested strong coprevalences of Republicanism, authoritarian parenting, undereducation, low cognitive functioning, strict nationalism in the guise of patriotism, ehnic and gender biggotry, open anti-gay sentiment…the list goes on (see Gregory Herek’s work, among others). I would argue that these people are also the most easily brainwashed. Historians have found substantial evidence that the Republican party have spent many years studying the Nazi regime and mimicking many of their techniques. Coincidence? Yeah, right!

The majoriy of New Orleaneans are black and Democrats, and about 1/3 of their population live below the poverty level – folks who are not usually treated as valuable citizens by either of our two viable political parties. The Miss River Delta used to be fabulously beautiful, especially Grand Isle. Now it is a toxic sludge pond with government signs warning us not to eat the fish, because of the Corps of Engineers and the federal government’s many, many years of neglect of that region. Louisiana has been begging for help for many decades. It is an empoverished state in a union that cares little, and yes, Louisianians are pissed off about it. We have been for a very long time.

Cliff Says:
September 1st, 2005 at 9:58 pm
Bush: “Who would have thought a levee would break?”

Answer: Everyone from Houston to Pensacola. It was built, and rebuilt, to withstand up to a cat 3 hurricane.

To Confederate Yankee: Learn what a swamp is.

Xiola: Go, Baby, go. Texans have spent the last six years scared to say anything in public about how many of us learned to hate that bastard when he was crapping all over Texas.

In my opinion, Bush-bashing helps everyone.

Shirley Brown Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 2:27 am
“…It wouldn’t matter if it had been Bill Clinton or George Bush in the Presidency….the difficulty of the evacuation process would have been the same.”

Bullcrap. Have you seen the film footage of that idiot when he was told about the strike on the WTC? Name me one former, or legitimately elected U.S. president who would have acted like that. I have enough pride in my country to acknowledge that we haven’t had such a self-righteous, egomaniacal dumb-ass in the white house before.

I am also very proud of the American people and their responses to this disaster, but I haven’t been proud of our government since the day before I picked up my first book written by a real historian.

As for this being the best country on the planet, gosh darnit…where have I heard that before? The nice thing about a cliche is that no one has to bother thinking before speaking. The unfortunate thing about a cliche is that no one has to bother thinking before speaking…and it makes brain-washing so much easier.

joseph t. Says:
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:23 am
“If you are utterly appalled with political conversations at the one rare time mainstream America will actually see some of her socio-economic imbalances, then please ignore them. If you see a light in this perilous time to openly express progressive ideas which could improve this country we all share, then I beg of you to open your hearts and minds while ears are listening and eyes are open wide. And do it now, while America sits naked for the world to see.”

Sweet honey baby, Joseph. A man with brains AND kind-hearted diplomacy! Will you marry me?

Muchofnothing: You, too, with the marriage proposal. Know this, though, before we wed: the great majority of U.S. media sources are owned by Republicans, and our present administration has been preaching that it is “unAmerican” to question them, since before Georg’s first “election.” Most citizens of the U.S. who dislike what has been going on in our federal government have been afraid to speak out publicly, because their people have had the right-wingers so empassioned by rhetoric and lies. The good news is that, as this administration has shown its own true stripes more and more vividly, more of us have been speaking up and getting something done about the way those people do business, including many, many Republicans who can no longer deny what those turkeys are up to. Around Houston, it feels like the Democrats are coming out of the woodwork, and they are delighted to express opinions they’ve had to bottle up for years. A first hand view of the rape of our democratic process, brutalized as Democrats tried to vote and were turned away, had their registration cards conveniently lost in the mail, and just as in Florida the first time, had their delivered ballots conveniently overlooked or lost…that put the fear of God into a lot of Texans. At the very least, we have reason to believe that we will, in fact, keep the Republicans from changing the federal law that prohibits his “running” yet again.

Take note, Paulie, they have been trying to do that.

I would argue that news reported in the U.S. is the least reliable source of information about the U.S. I would argue the exact same thing with regard to any country on this planet. That’s what governments do. They keep us appeased and happy with pretty pictures that belie the realities of war and famine and life on Earth.

Oh yeah, people should stop referring to the situation in New Orleans as ‘Anarchy’ - it ISN’T!

anyway…
you should stop him the next chance you get…
otherwise your WHOLE country will fall

mail me:
big_almo@hotmail.com

The remaining citizens of New Orleans weren’t all gathered together in one place to be attended to and transported to a safe haven with medical assistance and warm food. These fine rescuers had to SEARCH the entire city for the living (and dying) to be rescued. Those who were on high ground could have been attended to immediately had it not been for those who had chosen to stay in their own homes for one reason or another. Many - maybe most - of these New Orleaners would surely have died without the difficult rescue efforts.

I am proud of the loving Americans who were Republicans and Democrats, black and white, who are giving from the bottom of their hearts to assist. And I haven’t heard these giving Americans say “things would have been different if President Bush had done things differently”!

I am ashamed of those individuals who live in our fine country that chooses to point fingers and criticize government during a time of (national) crisis. It is too bad they aren’t the ones who - in the end - are the last to leave the City.