You two should just put on the gloves and have it out! I'll be the referee and I promise a completely fair and unbiased decision ala WWE.

 

President Bush has his records sealed from when he was Governor? I did not know that, kind of funny none of the liberals have every whined about it and made a big deal out of it. Hell not even Dean has mentioned that when others question him about sealing his records.

So for the record President Bush's records should be unsealed as well...

The ”sealing records because of personal correspondence” is not going to float here. If it is a personal letter to the Governor then fine seal it up or shred it or what ever. That does not mean you seal “public” records that are ‘not” personal correspondence from private individuals.

Clinton did indeed cut welfare, after being forced to do so with republicans in charge of both houses. Clinton did indeed reduce some spending, after being forced to do so with republicans in charge of both houses.

Problem now is many of those same republicans in charge of both houses have got their heads up their ***. I am really beginning to believe about the only way to keep spending in check is to have either a republican President and democratic controlled houses, or a democrat President and republican controlled houses.

Since democrats in general are not up to the task of actually protecting America adequately maybe the answer is to keep the Presidents republican and the house democrats.

I don’t need an economics class to tell me what has been proven time and time again which is tax CUTS are excellent for the economy and individuals and reduced federal spending is excellent for the economy as well as for reducing deficits.

The problem that always seems to happen is regardless if taxes are cut or raised these morons in Washington can not seem to CLOSE the damn checkbook…

I seriously believe we need some kind of Constitutional amendment that would prohibit the federal government as to how they can tax and how much they can actually spend.

Something along the lines of Congress must raise or lower taxes in line with the actually cost of living or per each persons actually paycheck. In other words if I received a 3% pay raise that’s all they could raise my taxes. For example if I was taken home $1000 gross a week and my taxes were $200 and got a raise of 3% which raised my take home to $1030 and my taxes to $206 they could raise the $206 by 3% ($6.18) which would make it $212.18. That would be it period and they couldn’t raise it for some stupid other program they think would win them votes.


With that there would be something stated about how Congress can NOT spend anymore money then is actually taken in. If they have programs they can not fund then they figure out a way to work it out with the money they “actually” have.

That is just like you and I do everyday with our income and our bills. If Congress doesn’t have enough money for all the programs they want then tough, they simple get rid of some.

If Congress was actually forced to raise or lower taxes that way, with some kind of flat tax on wages and salaries it would be more universal and fair across the board. These corporate people that get paid millions for sometimes screwing their companies would pay there fair share as well so when they get 5 – 6 million more one year they are going to pay for it…

I don’t know it’s just a “off the top of my head” thought about taxing and spending…

Let me know what you think about it, or how you would change it.

 

Dean did not seal all of his records, only the ones that he deemed were of a personal nature. He also said he had no problem letting a judge decide what should be kept private and what could safely be released to the public. I personally think this was the right choice.

I am all for this! When two different parties are in charge nothing gets done. Frankly that's what this country works best

Go for it! Lobby your Congressman. You may find you have far more support than you ever could have imagined.

You've got my vote.

Any of these guys caught screwing their employees out of pension plans and stock values should be shot. They should face life in prison as far as I am concerned.

-Don

 

I believe we are making progress…

 

Kerry for President! He looks like Abe Lincoln without the beard.

 

New Hampshire pays their fair share of taxes as well. What do you think you are paying for in New Hamphire? Or was that just an attempt at humor? There are nine states more "empty" than us. We also do not have the budget problems of some of the more populated states like Mass.

 

Norm,

That was me being completely cynical. I happen to love New Hampshire and if it wasn't even colder than NY, I would happily live there.

-Don

 

My biggest problem with Kerry, among a list of many others, is that he is in the pocket of companies like Walt Disney. He favors laws like the DMCA which are nothing more than a blatant attempt to destroy the Fair Use provisions in Copyright law.

I have over 300 DVD's. The physical size of my collection is becoming a problem. My goal is to take all of my DVD's and copy them to a computer in the basement. Then I could set up small appliances connected to my TV's that would allow me to browse the collection, select a movie and play it without having to search for the DVD.

This has the added advantage of people not being able to borrow the DVD's because they aren't laying around

Under the DMCA this sort of thing is illegal and frankly, that's preposterous.

-Don

 

So you won't support the guy because he voted against the illiegal activities you were conducting in your basement?

 

My activities are not illegal and are protected by Copyright law. I have a right to make backups of any media that I own as protection against damage to the original media. As long as I do not sell, rent or loan (while watching the original myself) those copies then I am fully within my rights. It is Kerry and the media industry that is trying to make this illegal.

I bought their DVD's. I have a right to watch them however I see fit and I am sick of politicians and corporations trying to tell me otherwise. Out of principal I no longer buy Disney movies. (Though I do occasionally buy movies distributed by them such as movies from Pixar and Studio Gibli).

I also do not purchase CD's any longer and in fact I haven't done so for years. CD's are extraordinarily overpriced (especially when compared to a DVD) and the artists get screwed left and right. The music industry is busy bringing lawsuits against anyone and everyone in order to stop digital music even though they were too stupid to embrace the technology from the beginning. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has even tried to have second hand music stores put out of business by lobbying congress to make second hand sales illegal.

Even the pathetic attempts at digital music offerings just aren't acceptable. Why would I pay Apple $1 for a song when I can buy the whole CD at a local used music store for $5? The Apple version has DRM (Digital Rights Management) built in and prevents me from listening to the music anywhere but on my iPod or my computer. The offerings from other companies are just as bad.

Despite all their half hearted attempts, people continue to download music online (I do not. Although I do not agree with the RIAA, I do not believe stealing music will suddenly make everything right). The question is why? First, the RIAA will not give people what they want. They want quality MP3's with no copy protection at a reasonable price. The RIAA is offering neither. It is especially silly when you consider how easy it is to crack all copy protection.

The situation is analogous to what happend to the Movie industry in the early 80's. Hollywood wanted $75-$100 per movie. People were copying the movies left and right. When they lowered the price to $20 per tape, it suddenly didn't make economic sense to copy the tape when you could buy it for a few bucks more and get a perfect copy with the case and everything. The movie industry made millions of dollars and today, home movie sales account for the majority of their revenue.

RIAA is in the same situation today, only they are making the wrong choices. The problem is easily solved economically, but RIAA (with the help of people like Kerry) is trying to solve the problem through legislation. The fact is, kids can't afford to pay $18 for a bloody CD so they just download it. If RIAA would lower prices (Like Universal tried doing) they might find their sales pick up and profits increase. Unfortunately they seem too stupid to give it a try. On top of which their lawsuits have earned them the wrath of an entire generation who may never purchase their wares again.

Finally, copyrights have already been extended numerous times (at the behest of the Disney company and with the help of people like Sonny Bono and John Kerry) to the point where Copyrights are now ludicrously long. Disney made a fortune off of Public Domain works and yet has fought tooth and nail to prevent any of their stuff from becoming public. It certainly explains why Disney hasn't created anything truly innovative in years. (All the good stuff coming out of Disney comes from companies like Pixar and Studio Gibli).

-Don

 

Don, I ask one little question and you turn into 01 XLT Sport junior.

(At the 750 word mark I said 'Uncle')

 

Hey, that was uncalled for... my rant had facts

I am pretty passionate about a lot of issues. This particular one just plain bugs me.

I was going to write a tiny little response with a brief explanation and, well, got carried away. Sorry about that.

-Don

 

DAMN!!!! Now I have to go and “completely” agree with one of sirket’s post…

Excellent post my friend…

Oh, the mini-noval one...

 

excellent post Sirket

 

Wow, isn't this coincidental:

http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/29/news.../pixar_disney/

Pixar is dropping Disney

-Don