McCain: Cutting taxes more important than balanced budget

Republican John McCain said Sunday that cutting taxes and stimulating the economy are more important than balancing the budget, and accused both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama of supporting tax hikes that would worsen the impact of a recession.

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Senator McCain thinks he’s going to reverse our $3 trillion deficit by cutting wasteful spending. That’s great, Mr. McCain, but after that $18 billion, what then? We’re 0.6% better-off. The “wasteful spending” he should target is the $500 billion/year war festering a cauldron of anti-American sentiment and making orphans out of Iraqi children. We can’t afford McBush, John McCain is a far better human being and more worthy than Bush to lead the free world, but that was in 2000.

Today he is too out of touch to be effective, associates far too often with Bush administration cronies and knows absolutely nothing about the biggest issue this election cycle: the economy. Sure, he can get advisers who understand the economy, but without some independent understanding he won’t even know who to pick as advisers. That’s a dangerous situation given what has happened to this country as a result of the neo-conservative hijacking of the Republican Party in the last 7 years.

I also noticed on CNN and MSNBC today he’s reportedly aiming for energy independence within 5 years. This is an admirable goal. I just keep thinking “who’s the one spouting empty rhetoric again?” It seems to me that because Senator McCain has been in Washington for a quarter century, he gets a free pass. Anything he proposes is assume to be a good enough idea and above careful scrutiny. A major goal for energy independence should be in 5 years, but to say a candidate can eliminate reliance on foreign oil in that short time almost reeks of corporate greed over the last 8 years.

If this is/were possible, we basically fought a war on a lie, helped our enemy gain footing in a new part of the world. Our true enemy had never been allowed or accepted within Iraq (and isn’t in Iran, for that matter). We’ve stayed 5 years, as long as McCain thinks it would take to gain energy independence. Over that time, only oil companies and corporate executives have benefited from any Bush administration policy.

As this administration destroyed the economy, it sends us $600 checks to make us feel like we’re not being ignored and our rights trampled. As this administration has needlessly put our servicemen in harm’s way, we’ve only heard fear mongering from the White House and most of the news media. As schools have become re-segregated, this administration has standardized tests, so that those with the fewest opportunities and resources are graded on the same scale as those in $100 million high schools.

This article also brings up William Ayers, 1960s-era (as in, when Obama was under age 10) radical who admitted to setting bombs. They were the most extreme part of the anti-war movement, and truly detracted from many of the ideas they tried to uphold. The interesting thing about this, however, is that this man is an English professor. He’s not in jail. I know some Americans read this and think, well WHY NOT? That is a perfectly natural reaction, but the simple fact is that he has not been convicted of a crime in a court of law. Why should Obama be guilty by association? He points out, when asked about Ayers, that he was 8 years old at the time. I believe he was living in Indonesia or Hawaii, far away from Ayers and the Weather Underground.

I’m no TV Guide, but any show with Sean Hannity will discuss this for the next 6 months. I’m also no psychic, but he’ll probably never mention McCain’s wife stealing drugs from her non-profit organizations, his absolute ignorance of economic issues and his utter confusion concerning our enemy. He thinks the way to fix our tax code is to build another, optional system and have it run alongside the current system. That will sure save money for our economy, bloat the government and tax code even more. Vote for a better economy and a safer America, pass on John McCain.

A collection of links and video on waterboarding

This will be sporadically updated and possibly organized better in the future. I want to have a good place to go for all of the information I constantly find myself sharing with people in chunks.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7185648.stm

US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell says it would definitely be torture if HE were subjected to it.

• http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Highlevel_members_of_Administration_pressured_underlings_0402.html

There are some accusations of top level administration orders and pressure on underlings to follow-through with the torture. This is starting to have ‘war crimes’ written all over it.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/03/our-torturous-vice-president/

Our Vice President and his chief of staff, David Addington were where the buck stopped for torture. At least until a memo surfaced with the president’s signature.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/mccain-waterboarding-fail/

McCain was against waterboarding before he was for it!

• http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/004931.php

Torture gave them nothing but ‘crap’. If the information is useless, and you are still ‘ok’ with the torture, you’re just a sadist.

• http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4631535

ABC News reporting that Dick Cheney had to OK the harsh interrogations.

• http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/07/opinion/meyer/main1981479.shtml

President Bush says we don’t torture. We’ve said we don’t, so we don’t.

• http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Waterboarding_drowning_water_torture_expert_testimony_1110.html

“This is not a simulation.”

• http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Romney_Ticking_time_bomb_justifies_torture_0113.html

Mitt Romney believes we must leave waterboarding open for the ticking time bomb. I wonder how effective drowning someone is in getting them to give up actionable intelligence? Making them go brain dead, temporary or no, will hinder any suspect’s ability to give credible information in the “ticking time bomb” scenario.

• http://www.newsweek.com/id/131298

Torture, specifically an internationally unacceptable method like waterboarding makes it harder for us to get criminals and terror suspects extradited. This is from an ally like the UK. There are just some times when you have to act as a responsible and moral nation and times you go in both guns blazing. After 9/11 we had the all clear to go into Afghanistan locked and loaded. We don’t have that anymore, and we never really had it with Iraq. Now it’s hurting our international relations and our ability to pursue our own justice against those who plot against us.

• http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2007/03/05/psychological-torture-as-damaging-as-physical-torture

Psychological torture is reported to be as damaging as physical torture.

• http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/07/sensory_deprivation/#

Sensory deprivation – the military’s number one form of ‘torture’.

• http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22548731-5001028,00.html

Not like we shape national security policy by what others think, but the Australians read that our House Majority Leader calls this torture. This is how our war on terror makes us less safe.

• http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-intel6feb06,1,1477654.story

The US government finally comes out and admits to waterboarding on February 6th, 2008. The memo referred to surfaced 2 months later.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/03/waterboarding-abc-news-levin/

Dan Levin, a former Department of Justice offical was forced out of his job after conducting his own tests on waterboarding and determining it was not legal. He actually underwent the procedure himself, a rare insight in this debate.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/05/AR2008040502099.html

Could the president have a prisoner’s eyes poked out? John Yoo says maybe.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/08/AR2007120801664.html?hpid=topnews

Some issues with the Democrats’ handling of this issue. It’s not like they’ve done anything since 2006 when they took over both houses of Congress. I still think a snake rots from the head, and that this president bred a climate in Washington that made it impossible to get anything done without kick-downs to his buddies at KBR and Halliburton.

• http://www.pensitoreview.com/2007/10/29/mukasey-wont-say-waterboarding-is-torture/

In 1947 the US condemned waterboarding as torture and yet our new Attorney General won’t admit it? That sounds barbaric.

• http://waterboarding.org/water-based_torture_history_with_pictures

A nice time line of the history of waterboarding, from the Spanish Inquisition to Cambodia POW camps circa 1975. I wonder how many other Inquisition torture techniques would work to maim our enemy and bring us more sadistic revenge for 9/11?

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201170_pf.html

Waterboarding used to be a crime. In 1983 federal prosecutors charged a Texas sheriff and three deputies for violating civil rights by forcing confessions through waterboarding.

• http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/28/romney-torture-black/

Former presidential hopeful and no-doubt future candidate Mitt Romney talks about deferring to a “counterterrorism expert” on the issue. His expert is connected to Blackwater, the independent contractor (see militia) group working in Iraq which is linked to at least 30 deaths of Iraqi civilians. Yeah, I’d say he’s considerate of human rights and the implications of condoning torture at a national level.

• http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/08/bush.torture.ap/index.html

As recently as March 8th, 2008 President Bush vetoed a bill banning waterboarding.

• http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Pres._Carter_US_tortures_prisoners_I_1010.html

President Carter argues he knows for a fact that the US tortures prisoners. Why not believe a former president, who has held that office and knows its inner-workings?

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5368360.stm

Then there are the reports that Iraqis feel the torture is worse in their country after Saddam Hussein’s regime has been removed. Who knows how widespread these feelings are, but it’s not a small matter when the administration already patronized us with phrases like “we’ll be greeted as liberators”.

• http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/13/mccain-standing-up-or-standing-down-on-torture/

McCain has talked a big game, but failed to deliver on a torture bill. His claim was that President Bush would inevitably veto the bill. Way to stand up to make sure no one in the military you wish to lead must endure what you went through for five and a half long years.

• http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/77151/

Congress’s priorities are reflected by the will of the public. A recent CNN poll showed tha 68 percent of Americans said waterboarding was torture.

So what does the White House claim? That the Congress is just being influenced by far-left bloggers. Thats hilarious, if 68 percent of Americans were doing what I am right now we’d be a far less productive nation.

• http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKN0852061620080208?rpc=401

The United Nations also believes that waterboarding should be prosecuted as torture. I know a lot of Americans are told to hate international governmental organizations, but we actually control the UN more than we have to go along with it. It takes a lot more for them to sanction us than for us to put harsh economic crunches on inter-war Iraq, for example.

Brave New Films on the unsuspecting civilians asked to carry out horrific acts, authorized at the highest level. Very powerful! It’s always interesting to hear the private thoughts of people carrying out these orders.

A Scranton native explains how it was partly John McCain’s father who helped communicate the warning of the military industrial complex to President Eisenhower. He also warns against military-funded think tanks.

Would waterboarding be torture if Iranians did it to our soldiers and civilians?

I doubt anything would actually come of this, but the idea of people being called on their transgressions and possibly even taking responsibilty for them gives me a warm feeling. Ahh…fantasy-land.

Matt Lauer confronts President Bush on waterboarding and torture. The president basically says “don’t look behind the curtain…” I wonder if he knows we’re smarter than this, or if he thinks he’s got us duped? Oliver Stone needs to use the song Big Balls by AC/DC in his docu-drama, maybe as W entrance music during the coke-daze in college.

Below are the declassified documents alleged to be memos authorizing torture, which are signed by President Bush. You be the judge, and we’ll see as people with resources investigate. Originally posted at DKos.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, saying that torture isn’t a violation of the 8th Amendment, not because it isn’t cruel or unusual, but because it isn’t punishment.

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