Letters to the Editor
Taliesan
Published Letters: 942 Editor's Choice: 19
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My approach would be as follows (Just to start.)
[Read the article: Who would the GOP rather face?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Full audits of every government department, with particular reference to...
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/most-awful/government-waste-1.php
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/most-awful/worst-government-waste.php
Those articles are more accurate than them being on a comedy website would lead one to think.
I would exit Iraq as quickly as possible, and socialise the military.
I would also cut the fake aid.
For example: Aid to Africa has historically been given in the form of loans nobody expects to get back, to dictators who use the funds in order to repress their people. Bush's AIDS aid was given without Bush even so much as setting up a system to ensure the money was accounted for. It isn't doing any good anyway, so stop giving it.
I would then raise corporate taxes in the short term in order to pay down the debt faster, reducing the burder posed by the interest on that debt. Income taxes would be raised only after corporate taxes, because while corporate taxes only really effect companies making a taxable profit, income taxes hit everyone.
I would cut all funding to religion based institutions and remove all exceptions made for those institutions within the tax code.
Corporate welfare would be phased out. If America's biggest companies can't run at a profit, then they need new CEOs.
A clean sweep of government departments would need to occur too. No more political lackies in the place of competent professionals. If the public is expected to pay for a service that service must be delivered.
Alphonso Jackson (Look the name up) and his ilk will be tarred, feathered and thrown in jail. Government contracts will be based on who has the best bid (Not always the lowest bid, but the bid which combines the best price for the best quality) not on who the bidders voted into the Whitehouse.
Once it is clear that the government is running at its top effeciency, enough money is coming in to cover what the government does, as well as pay off some of the debt, only then would I consider reducing and getting rid of taxes.
The education system will be revised. Children will be expected to understand, by the time they are out of school, basic maths, science, law, accounting and tax.
At the same time school administration will be revised, with an emphasis on reducing its top heavy structure. To ensure a reduction in wastage, organisations striving to bring creationism into America will be held liable for the legal fees involved every failed attempt on this.
The same standard will be applied to other people who repeatedly bring frivolous cases to court that have failed repeatedly for the last sixty years.
And yes, I know I am unelectable.
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Reality-based Liberal
[Read the article: Who would the GOP rather face?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Check out the articles I linked to. The military is where I would start.
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WorriedInAmerica4Americans
[Read the article: Who would the GOP rather face?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Worst slogan I ever saw, was in South Africa, for the then leader of the DA.
You have this picture of a guy trying to look stern, and largely failing. The slogan? "We can do better."
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Has anybody
[Read the article: Obama says Clinton ad "straight out of the Republican playbook"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]bothered to fact check both letters?
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Seriously
[Read the article: Obama says Clinton ad "straight out of the Republican playbook"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]We are presented with two contradictory memos from two candidates and has anyone checked to see who is telling the truth?
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What makes the new Atheist so dangerous
[Read the article: I don't believe in atheists]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]is very simple.
We don't treat religious opinions any differently to any other argument.
We demand evidence and if the evidence isn't there, well, we don't believe in fire breathing dragons either.
This threatens the religious, who are used to feeling virtous for demonstrating their gullibility on the state of the universe (Also known as having faith.)
Why do I say gullibility? Because in any other walk of life if you demonstrated precisely the same degree of "faith" that you are expected to demonstrate in religion, you would be termed gullible.
Further, we treat the religious with the precise degree of respect with which they treat us - except we do not fire people for their beliefs, we do not beat them up for believing and we do not key their cars for having Jesus fish bumper stickers on them.
Nor do we break up Christian prayer meetings in the army, nor do we demand that Christians recite oaths to the Flying Spagetti Monster. Nore do we lie about historic figures in order to try and paint Christians as monsters (Which is the direct opposite to what Christians do with a particular Austrian Catholic.)
We do not hold debates on religion on major TV networks without bothering to invite any religious people.
We make jokes and call religion stupid. That is about as bad as we atheists get. And because we do that, we are dangerous, because ultimately, religion is ridiculously stupid. It is believing that a bunch of bronze age savages, who lived an average of 30 years, knew more about the universe than we do right now.
It is believing that the words of people who either starved themselves or spent way too much time out in the desert without adequate provisions actually count for anything, while dismissing the evidence provided by scientific research.
Heck it isn't even that, it is believing the accounts of people with distinct political motives about the words of people who starved themselves and spent to much time in the desert without adequate provisions, which were then editted by yet more people with distinct political agendas.
It is believing that if you don't have the answers, don't bother looking any further because God did it. It is believing that honestly stating one's views is worse than dishonestly attending Church. It is teaching the lie along side with the truth, with no explanaition of the evidence.
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Oh, and as an example of religious people outright lying about history
[Read the article: I don't believe in atheists]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Perhaps the Nazis were the best example of that. Contrary to popular opinion, most 20th century atrocities were committed by atheist or secular powers, not religious powers.
Yeah, that is why they wore belt buckles saying "Got Mit Uns".
Idiot.