One more thought before the election..

So we are now down to two days before the election.  there have been thousands of posts, thousand of comments, ideas, suggestions, etc.  So, while I still have time, there are a few thoughts I would to share.  I am not trying to chance anybody's mind, nor am I out to insult anyone.   We have all seen so many advertisements on TV, heard them on the radio, and have received more political  junk mail that we want.
     So, just a few comments and a few thoughts.  I watched most of the debates.  no, I did not watch them in the entirety because enough is enough.   Mitt Romney seems like a nice enough person and I really believe that he cares about this country and really wants to do what he feels is the right thing for this country.
     President Obama is a decent person and he too wants to do what is best for this country.   i will make just one mention of the mess that the president inherited.  Yes he did.  And while there are those that say while he inherited a financial mess, he has also had almost four years to fix it.  Sadly, when the economy of an entire nation, especially a nation as large as ours, is in trouble, and considering the reasons why its in trouble, people need to understand that there is no quick fix.  It takes some work, a little faith and time.  Unemployment is starting to go down.  Example, in September, Apple hired over 100 people to work as customer service reps and technical support.  Yes, some companies are still reducing their work force, but it really is getting better.  The president has a plan and a few good ideas to help the economy.  Yet many economists say that what he is proposing won't work.
     On the other side of the coin, Mr. Romney also says that he has ideas to fix the economy.  he also says that he will create 12 million jobs.  Twelve million jobs but thinks that the fact that teachers ask for small class sizes is just a ploy to hire more teachers.  Well, if you call every attempt to hire people a "ploy", you just aren't going to get that job done.  Besides, we need good teachers and they need to be hired.  further, it has been shown that smaller class sizes do get better results.  I am fortunate to live in a great school district where more than 95% of graduating students go on to college.  We are again listed in the top 1000 schools in the country.  We have a graduation rate of something around 98%.  Teachers challange their students to do their best and when you expect more, you get more.
     The president has said that more than 5 million jobs have been created.  Well, thats just not correct and we know it.  But then again, it depends on what figures that number is based.  Both sides have either stretched the truth or just plain lied.  Sad isn't it?  Mr. Romney wants to cut funding for public broadcasting.  No, I am not talking about big bird.  That was his gaffe.  But i believe that we need public broadcasting.  No, it isn't a great deal of money, and they probably could just start selling ads, but then it stops becoming public broadcasting.  He also wants to cut funding for planned parenthood.  Now, even though he has changed his position on abortion twice, it seems that he is now against it.  (Pandering to the right?)  So Planned Parenthood has performed abortions.  But they have also offered other services.  Cancer screening for one.  Counseling for another.  Birth control for another.  They provide good and needed services.
     Mr. Romney's tax plan is scary as well.  If he eliminates some tax deductions, your tax will go up. Why? Because he wants to eliminate the deduction for home loan interest.  Personally, that would be a huge tax increase for me.  and that list goes on.  Will it hurt the middle class? Of course it will.  As well as the lower class.  Which most republicans don't care about anyway.  His famous 47% comment was not only stupid and insulting, it was thoughtless and demeaning.  Being retired, I am part of that 47% because I am collecting the social security that i paid into for many years.  Oh, I am also collecting a 40% disability pension from the Veterans Administration.  Why? Because I earned it.  I am also collecting a pension that I paid into.  yes, I actually tried planning for my retirement so i wouldn't need the likes of Ryan and Romney.  But that 47% also includes students, disabled people, low income people, welfare recipients, etc.  These people are not necessarily freeloaders, but they are in a situation that they just can't get out of.  sure, it is probably temporary, but for right now, thats where they are.  Some of them were probably going to vote for romney until he made that comment.
   His plan for social security is ludicrous.  Yes, it needs some adjustment and some corrections, but privatizing is not what it needs.  Medicare needs attention, but its working okay otherwise.  It too needs some adjustments, but overall, its working.  Oh, you cannot prevent 100% of fraud.  If there is a way, someone will find out how to cheat the system.
     I could go on, but its late and I am tired.  I am tired of the ads, the lies, the accusation, the right wing fear mongering, and everything else that goes along with a campaign.   On a final note, I find it particularly despicable that romney uses the death of a child in his campaign... just to show what a great guy he is.  He just isn't all that great.  But, vote your conscience on tuesday.  Vote for the candidate that will be the best for the people of this country.  Remember voting for money will get you nothing.

I am puzzled

Okay, in trying to keep this as non-partisan as possible, I am wondering what the big fascination is with romney and ryan. Romney says he will create jobs.  He says he will fix the economy.  He says he will strengthen the military.   He says... blah, blah, blah.
   But its been proven that if his policies are indeed put in place, taxes will go up.  And for people like me, (and there are a lot of us) that could be painful.  For example, eliminating the home interest deduction.  This is just insane.  I can see an immediate increase of at least $3000 a year if this happens.  Does romney care?  Of course not.  However, to be fair, he also said he will lower the tax rate.  So, will it be enough to offset this $3000 increase?  Probably not.  Its simple trickle down.  He figures that if someone gets a few more dollars in their paycheck, they will spend it.  Is he nuts?  In this economy, people who get more money in their paycheck will hang on to it.  No one knows if they will have a job tomorrow or not.  Besides, with others costs climbing, there won't be much left to spend.
     Now that brings me to my disappoint over the past four years.  Obama made several promises, yet few have come to pass.  I know that his heart was in the right place.  The car industry bailout.  Yes it was a good thing because it saved jobs.  Restructuring was not necessarily an option.  Bankruptcy affects more people that just GM.  It affects all of their suppliers, employees, etc.  It would have had far reaching consequences.  Further, any money loaned to manufacturers has been paid back with interest.  so that whole program is over.  Thousands of jobs have been saved and manufacturing is back up. So this was a good thing.
     As far as China is concerned, the US has been doing business with China for many years.  Getting China is a necessity for companies who want to do business in Asia.
     There are so many things to touch on here, but you get the idea.  Democrats see the glass as half full while republicans think they own the glass.  It seems to all come down to money.  They don't care if people lose their jobs or go without food, money, healthcare, etc.  They just want their share of the pie.  Democrats try their best to help the middle class maintain some balance.  And somewhere in the middle of all the political crap, there is a balance where things will work.  It just has to be discovered.

Is lying okay if you are a republican?

Okay, so according to fact checking, romney lied 27 times in 38 minutes.
Wanna see?  read on.

1) “[G]et us energy independent, North American energy independent. That creates about 4 million jobs”. Romney’s plan for “energy independence” actually relies heavily on a study that assumes the U.S. continues with fuel efficiency standards set by the Obama administration. For instance, he uses Citigroup research based off the assumption that “‘the United States will continue with strict fuel economy standards that will lower its oil demand.” Since he promises to undo the Obama administration’s new fuel efficiency standards, he would cut oil consumption savings of 2 million barrels per day by 2025.

2) “I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut. I don’t have a tax cut of a scale that you’re talking about.” A Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s proposal for a 20 percent across-the-board tax cut in all federal income tax rates, eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, eliminating the estate tax and other tax reductions, would reduce federal revenue $480 billion in 2015. This amounts to $5 trillion over the decade.

3) “My view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class. But I’m not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people.” If Romney hopes to provide tax relief to the middle class, then his $5 trillion tax cut would add to the deficit. There are not enough deductions in the tax code that primarily benefit rich people to make his math work.

4) “My — my number-one principal is, there will be no tax cut that adds to the deficit. I want to underline that: no tax cut that adds to the deficit.” As the Tax Policy Center concluded, Romney’s plan can’t both exempt middle class families from tax cuts and remain revenue neutral. “He’s promised all these things and he can’t do them all. In order for him to cover the cost of his tax cut without adding to the deficit, he’d have to find a way to raise taxes on middle income people or people making less than $200,000 a year,” the Center found.

5) “I will not under any circumstances raise taxes on middle-income families. I will lower taxes on middle-income families. Now, you cite a study. There are six other studies that looked at the study you describe and say it’s completely wrong.” The studies Romney cites actually further prove that Romney would, in fact, have to raise taxes on the middle class if he were to keep his promise not to lose revenue with his tax rate reduction.

6) “I saw a study that came out today that said you’re going to raise taxes by $3,000 to $4,000 on middle-income families.” Romney is pointing to this study from the American Enterprise Institute. It actually found that rather than raise taxes to pay down the debt, the Obama administration’s policies — those contained directly in his budget — would reduce the share of taxes that go toward servicing the debt by $1,289.89 per taxpayer in the $100,000 to $200,000 range.

7) “And the reason is because small business pays that individual rate; 54 percent of America’s workers work in businesses that are taxed not at the corporate tax rate, but at the individual tax rate….97 percent of the businesses are not — not taxed at the 35 percent tax rate, they’re taxed at a lower rate. But those businesses that are in the last 3 percent of businesses happen to employ half — half of all the people who work in small business.” Far less than half of the people affected by the expiration of the upper income tax cuts get any of their income at all from a small businesses. And those people could very well be receiving speaking fees or book royalties, which qualify as “small business income” but don’t have a direct impact on job creation. It’s actually hard to find a small business who think that they will be hurt if the marginal tax rate on income earned above $250,000 per year is increased.

8) “Mr. President, all of the increase in natural gas and oil has happened on private land, not on government land. On government land, your administration has cut the number of permits and licenses in half.” Oil production from federal lands is higher, not lower: Production from federal lands is up slightly in 2011 when compared to 2007. And the oil and gas industry is sitting on 7,000 approved permits to drill, that it hasn’t begun exploring or developing.

9) “The president’s put it in place as much public debt — almost as much debt held by the public as all prior presidents combined.” This is not even close to being true. When Obama took office, the national debt stood at $10.626 trillion. Now the national debt is over $16 trillion. That $5.374 trillion increase is nowhere near as much debt as all the other presidents combined.

10) “That’s why the National Federation of Independent Businesses said your plan will kill 700,000 jobs. I don’t want to kill jobs in this environment.” That study, produced by a right-wing advocacy organization, doesn’t analyze what Obama has actually proposed.

11) “What we do have right now is a setting where I’d like to bring money from overseas back to this country.” Romney’s plan to shift the country to a territorial tax system would allow corporations to do business and make profits overseas without ever being taxed on it in the United States. This encourages American companies to invest abroad and could cost the country up to 800,000 jobs.

12) “I would like to take the Medicaid dollars that go to states and say to a state, you’re going to get what you got last year, plus inflation, plus 1 percent, and then you’re going to manage your care for your poor in the way you think best.” Sending federal Medicaid funding to the states in the form of a block grant woud significantly reduce federal spending for Medicaid because the grant would not keep up with projected health care costs. A CBO estimate of a very similar proposal from Paul Ryan found that federal spending would be “35 percent lower in 2022 and 49 percent lower in 2030 than current projected federal spending” and as a result “states would face significant challenges in achieving sufficient cost savings through efficiencies to mitigate the loss of federal funding.” “To maintain current service levels in the Medicaid program, states would probably need to consider additional changes, such as reducing their spending on other programs or raising additional revenues,” the CBO found.

13) “I want to take that $716 billion you’ve cut and put it back into Medicare…. But the idea of cutting $716 billion from Medicare to be able to balance the additional cost of Obamacare is, in my opinion, a mistake. There’s that number again. Romney is claiming that Obamacare siphons off $716 billion from Medicare, to the detriment of beneficiaries. In actuality, that money is saved primarily through reducing over-payments to insurance companies under Medicare Advantage, not payments to beneficiaries. Paul Ryan’s budget plan keeps those same cuts, but directs them toward tax cuts for the rich and deficit reduction.

14) “What I support is no change for current retirees and near-retirees to Medicare.” Here is how Romney’s Medicare plan will affect current seniors: 1) by repealing Obamacare, the 16 million seniors receiving preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and are saving $3.9 billion on prescription drugs will see a cost increase, 2) “premium support” will increase premiums for existing beneficiaries as private insurers lure healthier seniors out of the traditional Medicare program, 3) Romney/Ryan would also lower Medicaid spending significantly beginning next year, shifting federal spending to states and beneficiaries, and increasing costs for the 9 million Medicare recipients who are dependent on Medicaid.

15) “Number two is for people coming along that are young, what I do to make sure that we can keep Medicare in place for them is to allow them either to choose the current Medicare program or a private plan. Their choice. They get to choose — and they’ll have at least two plans that will be entirely at no cost to them.” The Medicare program changes for everyone, even people who choose to remain in the traditional fee-for-service. Rather than relying on a guaranteed benefit, all beneficiaries will receive a premium support credit of $7,500 on average in 2023 to purchase coverage in traditional Medicare or private insurance. But that amount will only grow at a rate of GDP plus 1.5 percentage points and will not keep up with health care costs. So while the federal government will spend less on the program, seniors will pay more in premiums.

16) “And, by the way the idea came not even from Paul Ryan or — or Senator Wyden, who’s the co-author of the bill with — with Paul Ryan in the Senate, but also it came from Bill — Bill Clinton’s chief of staff.” Romney has rejected the Ryan/Wyden approach — which does not cap the growth of the “premium support” subsidy. Bill Clinton and his commission also voted down these changes to the Medicare program.

17) “Well, I would repeal and replace it. We’re not going to get rid of all regulation. You have to have regulation. And there are some parts of Dodd-Frank that make all the sense in the world.” Romney has previously called for full repeal of Dodd-Frank, a law whose specific purpose is to regulate banks. MF Global’s use of customer funds to pay for its own trading losses is just one bit of proof that the financial industry isn’t responsible enough to protect consumers without regulation.

18) “But I wouldn’t designate five banks as too big to fail and give them a blank check. That’s one of the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank… We need to get rid of that provision because it’s killing regional and small banks. They’re getting hurt.” The law merely says that the biggest, systemically risky banks need to abide by more stringent regulations. If those banks fail, they will be unwound by a new process in the Dodd-Frank law that protects taxpayers from having to pony up for a bailout.

19) “And, unfortunately, when — when — when you look at Obamacare, the Congressional Budget Office has said it will cost $2,500 a year more than traditional insurance. So it’s adding to cost.” Obamacare will actually provide millions of families with tax credits to make health care more affordable.

20) “[I]t puts in place an unelected board that’s going to tell people ultimately what kind of treatments they can have. I don’t like that idea.” The Board, or IPAB is tasked with making binding recommendations to Congress for lowering health care spending, should Medicare costs exceed a target growth rate. Congress can accept the savings proposal or implement its own ideas through a super majority. The panel’s plan will modify payments to providers but it cannot “include any recommendation to ration health care, raise revenues or Medicare beneficiary premiums…increase Medicare beneficiary cost-sharing (including deductibles, coinsurance, and co- payments), or otherwise restrict benefits or modify eligibility criteria” (Section 3403 of the ACA). Relying on health care experts rather than politicians to control health care costs has previously attracted bipartisan support and even Ryan himself proposed two IPAB-like structures in a 2009 health plan.

21) “Right now, the CBO says up to 20 million people will lose their insurance as Obamacare goes into effect next year. And likewise, a study by McKinsey and Company of American businesses said 30 percent of them are anticipating dropping people from coverage.” The Affordable Care Act would actually expand health care coverage to 30 million Americans, despite Romney fear mongering. According to CBO director Douglas Elmendorf, 3 million or less people would leave employer-sponsored health insurance coverage as a result of the law.

22) “I like the way we did it [health care] in Massachusetts…What were some differences? We didn’t raise taxes.” Romney raised fees, but he can claim that he didn’t increase taxes because the federal government funded almost half of his reforms.

23) “It’s why Republicans said, do not do this, and the Republicans had — had the plan. They put a plan out. They put out a plan, a bipartisan plan. It was swept aside.” The Affordable Care Act incorporates many Republican ideas including the individual mandate, state-based health care exchanges, high-risk insurance pools, and modified provisions that allow insurers to sell policies in multiple states. Republicans never offered a united bipartisan alternative.

24) “Preexisting conditions are covered under my plan.” Only people who are continuously insured would not be discriminated against because they suffer from pre-existing conditions. This protection would not be extended to people who are currently uninsured.

25) “In one year, you provided $90 billion in breaks to the green energy world. Now, I like green energy as well, but that’s about 50 years’ worth of what oil and gas receives.” The $90 billion was given out over several years and included loans, loan guarantees and grants through the American Recovery Act. $23 billion of the $90 billion “went toward “clean coal,” energy-efficiency upgrades, updating the electricity grid and environmental clean-up, largely for old nuclear weapons sites.”

26) “I think about half of [the green firms Obama invested in], of the ones have been invested in have gone out of business. A number of them happened to be owned by people who were contributors to your campaigns.” As of late last year, only “three out of the 26 recipients of 1705 loan guarantees have filed for bankruptcy, with losses estimated at just over $600 million.”

27) “If the president’s reelected you’ll see dramatic cuts to our military.” Romney is referring to the sequester, which his running mate Paul Ryan supported. Obama opposes the military cuts and has asked Congress to formulate a balanced approach that would avoid the trigger. 

More coming from fact checkers who publish for both candidates.

he wants to be what?

So if I believe everything that I see, which sometimes I do, Paul Ryan did the worst possible thing that he could do.  He called Social Security an entitlement.  Really bad idea.  So, when a 71 year old veteran asked why he called it an entitlement when it was something that he had paid in to his entire life, he was removed from the room, thrown to the floor by the police and handcuffed.  Ryan simply said something about the old guy taking his blood pressure medication that morning... and then he laughed.  Completely and utterly inexcusable.  It goes to show the character of the person who wants to be vice president... and conceivably, president.  If this is how he feels about retirees, what does he think about the poor, the unemployed, the infirmed, people in nursing homes?  He seems to have shown yet again, that he just cares about getting more money in his pocket and protecting the rich.  He cares nothing about the middle class and only about those who can line his pockets.
     And this brings me to Mr. Sensitivity himself, mitt romney.  He says that he cannot be worried about the 47% of people who will vote for President Obama.  He says he can't be bothered  teaching people how to take responsibility for their lives.  Wow... another foot in his mouth.  First of a;;, romney can teach most people nothing because they are smarter than he is.  But consider that the 47% is made up of seniors, students, the poor, the unemployed, and the disabled who cannot work.  No, not those who are in their 20's and 30's on disability, I mean those who CAN'T work.   So lets see, what do we do with all those retired people who have paid into pension plans and social security all their lives?  Shall we just tell them that they need to go back to work?  Oh wait, they already are.  Damn.  Okay, students, shall we have them drop out of school because romney thinks they are lazy and are demanding to be supported by the government?  Many students continue to work while they complete their studies.  Then we have the poor or under-employed.  I guess that would include those who have worked full time in well paying jobs who have lost those jobs, but are now too old to be hired.  yes, its true... employers will not hire someone who is in their late 50's or 60's.  So I guess they would be collecting unemployment.  But thats only good for so long and then it stops.  And then these people are in real trouble.  That leaves us with the disabled.  Those pesky disabled people who are confined to a wheel chair, to a bed, to a walker, to crutches... how dare they ask for assistance.  well enough sacasm.
     Many disabled people are veterans.  Anywhere from 10% to 100%.  And yes, they get money from the government because its the government who put them in that position in the first place.  And now the government is doing what it can to help these veterans.  It may not be the best, but they are trying.  I am a disabled veteran and yes, the government sends me money every month.  They also give me free medications.  They also give me health care.  Oh, and Home Depot gives me a 10% discount on anything I buy there.  But the point is, that many people who are disabled have given something to the government before asking for something in return.
     Romney and Ryan are not good for this country.  They are lying about medicare and the $716 billion.  They lie about their budget plan.  Ryan said that it would take too long to explain it.  Give me a break!  They absolutely do not care about the middle class.
     So, my vote will not be going to them... either of them.  Ever.

They are doing it again

Way back when Bill Clinton was first running for president, he was beaten up pretty bad because of his draft deferrments to avoid Vietnam.   Bush Sr. made a particularly big deal about it because he was fighting for his political life.  However, looking back, dick cheney received a few deferrments himself.  He was one who really believed in the war, but he just didn't want to get his hands dirty to actually fight it.  So he got a few deferrments.  Now, yesterday, since the news from Wisconsin sucked all the news away from everything thing else, I see where it was reported that Mitt Romney also received his share of deferrments.  So over a period of 5 years, he received 4 deferrments.  One of those was for religious reasons, which was longer than it should have been. 
So Mr. Romney once said that he had no desire to go to Vietnam.  Well, no one really did, but others stepped up and did their job, or their duty.  Some of them came back and some did not.
Now, Romney is saying that "he longed to go to Vietnam".  So now we have to decide which is true.  This could be one of those flip flop things that the right is always accusing the left of doing.  So I guess I am wondering why is it okay for a republican to get a deferrment and its not a dirty word, but if a democrat gets one, its the end of the world.  Hmmm.  This is not the first time that Mr. Romney has had a problem with the truth.  And he wants to be president?  Seriously?

us against them?

So at least 100 democrats have co-sponsored a bill to try to prevent student loan interest from doubling soon.  Yet, not one republican has joined in.  Now I have always been politically moderate, and yes, you can call it middle of the fence if you want, but I can't support stupidity so I vote my conscience.  That being said, i am wondering why no republicans have joined in to prevent this increase in loan interest.   
     This year as other election years, the hatred started a little earlier than I anticipated.  Yet, it saddens me to see that politics has become an "us against them" game.  Do the politicians on either side really care about the people who will be voting for them?  Do they care about people starving in this country?  Do they care about how many people have lost their jobs, their homes, and much of their self respect?  Do they care about the increase in personal bankruptcies?  If a democratic president tries to do something to help people, he is automatically attacked by the republicans.   And to be fair, if a republican president tries the same thing, he is attacked by the democrats. 
   I received emails almost daily from several different people that degrades one party or the other.  I realize that statistics can be used to prove one point or another.  One person says this and another person says that.  And they are both right.   sometimes people are deeply offended at political jokes.  to the extent that I won't even post them any more because people have lost their sense of humor.
   The Ohio governor waited only a few days after taking office then announced that he would be eliminating collective bargaining for state employees. FoI r many of these employees, it would be an automatic payroll reduction of around $3000 to $5000 because of the removal of insurance benefits.  Fortunately, this was repealed in the next election.  Just a few weeks ago, yet another republican governor vetoed a bill that would have given equal pay for women. 
  When does this end?  Have we reverted back to 1950?  Even some people are referring it to the 15th century because of current treatment of women.
   I believe in rules and laws.  I believe in personal responsibility and owning up to one's own mistakes.  I also believe in the death penalty.  I also know that if someone breaks into my house and threatens my family, I will shoot them.. without question.  I believe that when we have an income, we live within that income.  i also believe that when people pay into a system, they deserve to get something out of it without it being labeled as an entitlement.   yes, people are entitled to get a return on their investment, but don't make it sound like welfare. 

VA does it again

I saw a story on the news this evening about naval personnel stationed at McMurdo Naval Station in Antarctica in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.  Apparently a large number of these men were exposed to radiation to the extent that many of them have since died of cancer.  Many of them are also now fighting cancer.   These men served their country proudly and when they turned to their government for help, their government turned its back on them.  The VA said that according to government reports, the radiation that they were exposed to was always as safe levels.  This of course is the direct opposite of witness statements about alarms in the facility because of high radiations levels.
I seems sad that when these men were told to do a specific job and they are injured for it, someone should be held accountable.   This is much like Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.  At first, the VA denied claims, then after pressure and facts, they slowly began looking into claims.  The VA now is taking a more active part is caring for disabled veterans.  The VA now recognizes many diseases that were caused by Agent Orange and veterans are being treated for them... well at least most of them.
However, the men stationed in Antarctica were denied care because the government didn't want to acknowledge unsafe conditions.
With the assistance of the reporter who gave this story, and Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the government, specifically the VA is now going to begin studies to determine who, what, when, where, why, etc. etc.  The study is expected to take around 9 month.  I believe that 9 months for a study like this is very reasonable.  I just hope its not too late for many of these men who are now sick.
I served with two individuals who were recently each given a 100% disability.  Sadly, this took over 45 years.  This is something that should have been done in a matter of months instead of years.
I know that there are those who will disagree with me and say that its just one of those things that we have to deal with.  However, if I am wounded in battle, I fully understand it and don't expect anything more than medical treatment.  Thats because I know the risk and I know the truth.  But when the government exposes people to radiation, exposes people to nuclear explosions, and exposeds people to poison chemicals without their knowledge, then the government has to be held accountable.   I applaud the actions that the VA is now taking.  I just hope its not too late.

Profile this.

So Rep. Bobby Rush, D-IL removed his suitcoat and pulled a hood over his head and put on sunglasses in tribute to Trayvon Martin.  He stated that racial profiling had to stop and then was escorted out of the chamber.   In Phoenix AZ, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has recently been accused of racial profiling by instructing his officers to stop, detain and verify legality of hispanics that are driving on the streets of Maricopa County Arizona. 
How many times has a police officer stopped someone for a traffic violation and had to listen to a ranting driver because he is screaming racial profiling?   Does racial profiling exist?  Of course it does.  But how many times has profiling done good?  Anyone who has traveled through the Cleveland airport has seen a display of weapons taken from passengers, some because of profiling.  If profiling will save 100 lives on a plane, then I am all for it.  Questions from Sanford FL remain unanswered.  Did George Zimmerman know Trayvon Martin?  Did Zimmerman see just another black person wearing a hoodie and assume he was up to no good?  Witnesses say that Martin attacked Zimmerman by punching him and knocking him to the ground then slamming his head on to the concrete.  Does this mean that Martin deserved to die?  Of course not.  But does it mean that Zimmerman had to take a beating from this kid?  Of course not.  Clearly, this incident is a tragedy and if it were my son, I would be just as angry.   Is it necessary for Zimmerman to be arrested and charged?  Nope, not at all.  But this shooting does need to be investigated completely and thoroughly.  Unfortunately, Zimmerman will be arrested but will not get a fair trial.  With the publicity so far, everyone in this country already believes one way or the other.  Assume that Martin was guilty of attacking Zimmerman and Zimmerman feared for his life.  The shooting would be justifiable.  Even though legally it would be permitted, there is no jury that will find him not guilty and rule that it was self defense, or give him  leeway on a stand your ground defense.  Politics in this country being what they are, I am afraid that Zimmerman will be arrested and will be convicted and will go to jail.  At this point, the facts don't matter.  The truth doesn't matter.  Right now, revenge is the only thing that people are seeing.

Murder in a war.

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, a decorated 38-year-old veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, also was charged with six counts each of assault and attempted murder for attacking two other adults and four children in the March 11 shooting spree, a U.S. armed forces statement said.
I have said for several years that many people cannot handle multiple tours of war.  While some can and handle it okay, others cannot.  Many people volunteered for 2 and 3 tours in Vietnam and while they still have issues, they did not commit multiple murders... at least none that we know of.
Sgt. Bales had too much combat.  Too much time in iraq and afghanistan.  He should have been sent home over a year ago and given time to heal before sending him back.  While some can volunteer, most are just sent back with a short break in between tours.  His actions come as no surprise and the US military should not be shocked.

Seriously??

So Santorum has now made a comment about Catholic priests in Boston.  Liberalism, etc.  Another stupid comment.  Does he not realize that not everyone in the world is conservative?  Why does he constantly try to push his beliefs on others?  He believes that giving kids the opportunity to go to college is a bad idea because colleges tend to actually teach.  They teach students to think for themselves, and teach them to see both sides of an argument.  They try to teach students to have intelligent thoughts and conversations.   Yet Santorum continues to berate and belittle so called liberal colleges.  Is this why Pennsylvania booted him?