Quote Originally Posted by Todd Patten
Do you pay property taxes? If you did, you would understand this effect.

The unfunded mandate of No Child Left Behind forced requirements on schools, but di not provide any funding to acheive those goals. So, in order for these schools to meet federal standards (which are bogus to begin with -- what happened to state run schools) states and local municipalities must increase taxes.

Is this that hard to grasp. The numbers are in black and white at your local town meeting.



What is inconsistent? Isolationism does not indicate that one will not attack no matter what. It means that a country goes after those who attack it. No more, no less. We were attacked. The location of the enemy that attacked us was identified. We went after that enemy half-heartedly when we should have sent 250,000 troops to crush the enemy.

Iraq was being and could have easily been isolated, and the lack of WMD's and associated programs are evidence that the isolation was working quite well as a matter of fact.



At this point, given what we have learned and his decision not to shut down the borders and not to crush the Taliban and Al-Queda, yes he would bear responsibility. If I thought that every effort was made in Afghanistan it'd be a different story. However, he put all his energy towards a regime that had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no ties to Al-Queda. That's a failure to go after those who took it to us.



I respect your opinion that they would have done nothing. We can agree to dissagree. However, if you think that Bush's actions against Iraq will make some think twice you are fooling yourself. Israel uses force against terrorism as effectively as any country out there. Has it made their enemies think twice?!? Has it subdued the attacks against Israel? Not at all. You don't scare away an enemy that does not fear death using death as a weapon.
Well, yeah, I pay property taxes. As a matter of fact, I pay A LOT in property taxes, but no more than I did pre-Bush. But I get your point and feel your pain, to quote another president. But don't you think the onus is on your state and local governments to get their fiscal house in order, instead of a big government bail-out? I'm guessing that we would agree that the money is out there being spent on any number of pork barrel projects.

Here's the thing on terrorists. Pschycopaths don't play by the same rules as we do. When you can't defend yourself, as clearly we can't in all instances in all places, the only deterrent is severe retaliation. If you think on the local level, it's like your police force. By and large, police can't be there to stop a crime, they only come in to play afterwards. Criminals aren't afraid of being caught in the act and shot, they are afraid of getting caught later and going to prison.

Don't you think that the next Osama wannabe, will think twice about the serious consequences potential of his acts. I'm not talking about the zealots who blow themselves up, they clearly don't fear consequences. But don't you think that the rich, powerful, men like Osama who had a zillion wives and much to lose, wouldn't think twice? We've seen it happen with Libya.

Again, Bush is flawed. You mentioned McCain. He might be the better choice. But Kerry? Kerry with a purple heart from a rice wound? Do you think there is any doubt that kerry will raise your taxes significantly?

C'mon.