I cannot make this shit up.
Don’t believe me?
Oh and this was back in 2003. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this before.
Ain’t unlimited free speech grand.
The nation’s unnerving descent into debt began a decade ago with a choice, not a crisis.
…The biggest culprit, by far, has been an erosion of tax revenue triggered largely by two recessions and multiple rounds of tax cuts. Together, the economy and the tax bills enacted under former president George W. Bush, and to a lesser extent by President Obama, wiped out $6.3 trillion in anticipated revenue. That’s nearly half of the $12.7 trillion swing from projected surpluses to real debt. Federal tax collections now stand at their lowest level as a percentage of the economy in 60 years.
…All told, Obama-era choices account for about $1.7 trillion in new debt, according to a separate Washington Post analysis of CBO data over the past decade. Bush-era policies, meanwhile, account for more than $7 trillion and are a major contributor to the trillion-dollar annual budget deficits that are dominating the political debate.
…The annual surpluses that set the nation on this course emerged in the final years of the Clinton administration.
…What to do with the surplus became a central issue of the 2000 presidential campaign, with Vice President Al Gore arguing that much of it should be put in a “lockbox” to protect Social Security and Medicare. Bush pushed for a broad tax cut, arguing that taxpayers at all income levels were owed a refund.
…As soon as he took office, Bush pushed Congress to make good on his tax pledge
…Congress approved a $1.35 trillion tax cut in record time. A second package, worth $350 billion, followed in 2003.
…Bush’s first Treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill, resigned after the White House decided to pursue the 2003 measure. “I believed we needed the money to facilitate fundamental tax reform and begin working on unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare,” O’Neill said in an interview.
…“Nobody would have thought that all these things would have happened after you cut taxes,” Domenici said. “That you’d have two wars and not pay for them. That you’d have another recession. A huge extravaganza of expenditures” for the military and homeland security after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. “You would pause before you did it, if you knew.”
…In the end, Bush cut taxes and spent more money. Good times masked the impact, as surging tax revenues reduced the size of year-to-year deficits during the first three years of his second term. But after the economy collapsed during Bush’s final year in office, deficits — and therefore the debt — began to explode as Obama sought to revive economic activity with more tax cuts and federal spending.
… Policies and legislation from both parties have contributed to the deficit. It is clear that Bush/republican policies have contributed more. Republicans had no plan and no interest in paying for their massive spending programs. In light of the debate surrounding the deficit now, republican arguments should be considered irrelevant. They very hesitantly own up to their massive spending during the Bush years as they criticize Obama for his relatively lower contributions to the deficit. Much of it being tax cuts that they strongly support. That is the nature of politics. The important thing is to be cautious listening to politicians. It is far better to read up, research and think critically on your own about the issues present in today’s political debate. Educate yourself!
It is important for people and especially young people to read up on the history of the U.S. budget deficit and how things got to the point they are at today.
The Washington Post provides an extensive overview of all things related to the budget and fiscal policy debate. I encourage anyone interested in learning more about the related issues to check out their overview here. Included is a good article describing the policies enacted over the past 11 years that have contributed to the large budget deficit.
A summary of the article is below:
Texas executes more people than any other state in America, and there are currently more than 300 Texan prisoners on death row. Roll over the images on the interactive to find out more about them.
reagan-was-a-horrible-president:
18 Signs That Life In U.S. Public Schools Is Now Essentially Equivalent To Life In U.S. Prisons
#1 Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has announced that school officials can search the cell phones and laptops of public school students if there are “reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school.”
#2 It came out in court that one school district in Pennsylvania secretly recorded more than 66,000 images of students using webcams that were embedded in school-issued laptops that the students were using at home.
#3 If you can believe it, a “certified TSA official” was recently brought in to oversee student searches at the Santa Fe High School prom.
#4 A few years ago a class of 3rd grade students at one Kentucky elementary school were searched by a group of teachers after 5 dollars went missing. During the search the students were actually required to remove their shoes and their socks.
#5 At one public school in the Chicago area, children have been banned from bringing their lunches from home. Yes, you read that correctly. Students at that particular school are absolutely prohibited from bringing lunches from home. Instead, it is mandatory that they eat the food that the school cafeteria serves.
#6 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending huge amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating.
#7 A teenager in suburban Dallas was recently forced to take on a part-time job after being ticketed for using bad language in one high school classroom. The original ticket was for $340, but additional fees have raised the total bill to $637.
#8 It is not just high school kids that are being ticketed by police. In Texas the crackdown extends all the way down to elementary school students. In fact, it has been reported that Texas police gave “1,000 tickets” to elementary school kids over a recent six year period.
#9 A few months ago, a 17 year-old honor student in North Carolina named Ashley Smithwick accidentally took her father’s lunch with her to school. It contained a small paring knife which he would use to slice up apples. So what happened to this standout student when the school discovered this? The school suspended her for the rest of the year and the police charged her with a misdemeanor.
#10 A little over a year ago, a 6 year old girl in Florida was handcuffed and sent to a mental facility after throwing temper tantrums at her elementary school.
#11 In early 2010, a 12 year old girl in New York was arrested by police and marched out of her school in handcuffs just because she doodled on her desk. “I love my friends Abby and Faith” was what she reportedly wrote on her desk.
#12 There are actually some public schools in the United States that are so paranoid that they have actually installed cameras in student bathrooms.
#13 Down in Florida, students have actually been arrested by police for bringing a plastic butter knife to school, for throwing an eraser, and for drawing a picture of a gun.
#14 The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice has announced that it will begin using analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents and will place “potential offenders” in specific prevention and education programs.
#15 A group of high school students made national headlines a while back when they revealed that they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a visit to the Lincoln Memorial.
#16 In some U.S. schools, armed cops accompanied by police dogs actually conduct surprise raids with their guns drawn. In this video, you can actually see police officers aiming their guns at school children as the students are lined up facing the wall.
#17 Back in 2009, one 8 year old boy in Massachusetts was sent home from school and was forced to undergo a psychological evaluation because he drew a picture of Jesus on the cross.
#18 This year, 13 parents in Duncan, South Carolina were actually ticketed for cheering during a high school graduation.
(number 14 makes me want to destroy computers.)
(via mujerinterrumpida)
Enjoy your school year, kids.
Can I add a number 19? My high school’s surveillance and intercom system was designed by the same company who did the jail and prison camp that was down the street. We had Sheriff deputies patrolling the halls and they brought in drug sniffing dogs in to do sweeps every month. They also conducted surprise searches. During the searches you could only enter the school through the front doors. All of the other entrances were guarded either by teachers or officers. You had to go through metal detectors and if they went off they used the wand and searched your bags. High school. The best years of your life.
And another story added to make it an even 20….The Chicago Tribune reports that LaShanda Smith filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of her son, who she claims was one of several 6 and-7-year olds excessively punished by a security guard at Carver Primary School on the South Side.
The school allegedly authorized on-campus security to discipline disruptive first graders, Fox Chicago reports. The children who were considered disruptive were then allegedly handcuffed for an hour and sent to an office, where they were told “they were going to prison and would never see their parents again,” attorney Michael Carin told the Tribune.
Read more about the incident here.
18 Signs That Life In U.S. Public Schools Is Now Essentially Equivalent To Life In U.S. Prisons
#1 Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has announced that school officials can search the cell phones and laptops of public school students if there are “reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school.”
#2 It came out in court that one school district in Pennsylvania secretly recorded more than 66,000 images of students using webcams that were embedded in school-issued laptops that the students were using at home.
#3 If you can believe it, a “certified TSA official” was recently brought in to oversee student searches at the Santa Fe High School prom.
#4 A few years ago a class of 3rd grade students at one Kentucky elementary school were searched by a group of teachers after 5 dollars went missing. During the search the students were actually required to remove their shoes and their socks.
#5 At one public school in the Chicago area, children have been banned from bringing their lunches from home. Yes, you read that correctly. Students at that particular school are absolutely prohibited from bringing lunches from home. Instead, it is mandatory that they eat the food that the school cafeteria serves.
#6 The U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending huge amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating.
#7 A teenager in suburban Dallas was recently forced to take on a part-time job after being ticketed for using bad language in one high school classroom. The original ticket was for $340, but additional fees have raised the total bill to $637.
#8 It is not just high school kids that are being ticketed by police. In Texas the crackdown extends all the way down to elementary school students. In fact, it has been reported that Texas police gave “1,000 tickets” to elementary school kids over a recent six year period.
#9 A few months ago, a 17 year-old honor student in North Carolina named Ashley Smithwick accidentally took her father’s lunch with her to school. It contained a small paring knife which he would use to slice up apples. So what happened to this standout student when the school discovered this? The school suspended her for the rest of the year and the police charged her with a misdemeanor.
#10 A little over a year ago, a 6 year old girl in Florida was handcuffed and sent to a mental facility after throwing temper tantrums at her elementary school.
#11 In early 2010, a 12 year old girl in New York was arrested by police and marched out of her school in handcuffs just because she doodled on her desk. “I love my friends Abby and Faith” was what she reportedly wrote on her desk.
#12 There are actually some public schools in the United States that are so paranoid that they have actually installed cameras in student bathrooms.
#13 Down in Florida, students have actually been arrested by police for bringing a plastic butter knife to school, for throwing an eraser, and for drawing a picture of a gun.
#14 The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice has announced that it will begin using analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents and will place “potential offenders” in specific prevention and education programs.
#15 A group of high school students made national headlines a while back when they revealed that they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a visit to the Lincoln Memorial.
#16 In some U.S. schools, armed cops accompanied by police dogs actually conduct surprise raids with their guns drawn. In this video, you can actually see police officers aiming their guns at school children as the students are lined up facing the wall.
#17 Back in 2009, one 8 year old boy in Massachusetts was sent home from school and was forced to undergo a psychological evaluation because he drew a picture of Jesus on the cross.
#18 This year, 13 parents in Duncan, South Carolina were actually ticketed for cheering during a high school graduation.
(number 14 makes me want to destroy computers.)
(via mujerinterrumpida)
Enjoy your school year, kids.
Can I add a number 19? My high school’s surveillance and intercom system was designed by the same company who did the jail and prison camp that was down the street. We had Sheriff deputies patrolling the halls and they brought in drug sniffing dogs in to do sweeps every month. They also conducted surprise searches. During the searches you could only enter the school through the front doors. All of the other entrances were guarded either by teachers or officers. You had to go through metal detectors and if they went off they used the wand and searched your bags. High school. The best years of your life.
And another story added to make it an even 20….The Chicago Tribune reports that LaShanda Smith filed the lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of her son, who she claims was one of several 6 and-7-year olds excessively punished by a security guard at Carver Primary School on the South Side.
The school allegedly authorized on-campus security to discipline disruptive first graders, Fox Chicago reports. The children who were considered disruptive were then allegedly handcuffed for an hour and sent to an office, where they were told “they were going to prison and would never see their parents again,” attorney Michael Carin told the Tribune.
Read more about the incident here.
Babies in the United States have a higher risk of dying during their first month of life than do babies born in 40 other countries, according to a new report.
Some of the countries that outrank the United States in terms of newborn death risk are South Korea, Cuba, Malaysia, Lithuania, Poland and Israel, according to the study. […]
**But the Republicans keep telling us we have the best health care system in the world & that nothing needs to change. Oh, Republicans! You’re always so wrong about everything.**
