Hi Jason:

___Being a young voter, you have a world of opportunities in front of you. With that comes a responsibility to research what you may or may not know about the political party’s history … as of this writing anyway.

___First, budget deficits. I highly suggest that you look back over the last 40 years to get a good feel as to what types of deficits are brought about and by what type of administration/congressional makeup. The Republican’s look poor in the past and appear absolutely horrific over the last 3 + years vs. the Democratic Clinton administration’s previous 8. You can thank a little known Independent Texan who goes by the name of Ross Perot for bringing this little problem to the forefront of the American taxpayer some 12 + years ago. It was solved … Until the second Bush administration took over with tax cuts to the extremely wealthy far in excess of anything offered to the lower and middle classes and spending on defense and Homeland security that appears to be almost Reaganistic in its extremes. I was a huge Reagan fan given the Cold War but once that was over, it was time to pull back the reigns a bit. Clinton did. Bush did not although he and the rest of us got smashed with 9/11.

___Next, consider your average CEO’s compensation packages. The CEO of the corporation I work for makes ~ $1E6 in salary and has made on average ~ $15E6 in stock and options over the past 4 or 5 years. Here is Joe Hybrid making a decent wage and getting hit with on average of ~ 21% tax rate (this is a real % after all the deductions and payouts are complete in our household) whereas Joe millionaire CEO is getting a tax break and all that stock is taxed at 15%. Why do you think these extremely wealthy guys get paid in stock and you and I get paid in $’s anyway?

___Who controls the Bush administration? Might I suggest that you look deeply into this question? Bush as a public speaker is about as convincing and as articulate as Dan Quayle, the VP in the previous Bush administration. Not quite as bad as that but not much better either. The guy truly pulling the strings of the Bush Whitehouse is closer then you might think. Kerry appears not to be much of a leader either and with an ultra rich background, he too is separated from those that will eventually elect him or send him back to the Senate … or not.

___Wars … Afghanistan. You bet. Go in and wipe up the floor with the Taliban. Iraq? I wanted Saddam dead as much as the next guy but to use 9/11 as the pretext when 15 of 19 of the 9/11 highjackers were Saudi nationals? This fact was known long before we ever hit Iraq yet that is all you hear about with > 1,000 US soldiers dead. We knew about the Saudi contingent within days of the 9/11 attack if not hours afterwards. There was no intelligence failure, there was a 9/11 fever and we struck out at who ever was convenient. It just so happens that Saddam’s attempt on Bush senior’s life in Kuwait some years past pissed off youngster Bush enough to have at least 1,000 American’s now lying in their graves for it. I am on the fence as to this wars purpose and outcome and I was a huge supporter of Bush’s Middle East doctrine when it was first announced. With that, I am not so sure and I might have made a mistake in thinking so. In other words, I thought we should have gone in and taken care of the SOB in Desert Storm I when we had a dead solid reason to do so but who am I to say?

___Republican’s tactics … There is no party on earth this side of the Communist regimes (past and present) that can spin or attack with such force and/or sound bites. Clinton was tried and convicted in the public eye for closer to one hundred million dollars then 10 million. The tactic to jump from Republican senator to congressman and back again worked like a charm except Clinton was an intelligent SOB irregardless of his sexual failings. What frosted me the most was when it was Republican Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois’ turn at the attack? This same SOB was far worse in his past sexual exploits yet here he was with powerful committee at his disposal turning Clinton’s BJ into a 50 + million $ debacle. Hypocrite is a kind term given the attacks. The Democrats would probably perform the same if they had the $’s backing them and the smart guys running the show. They don’t in both cases.

___What has me truly afraid for my children is that the US is very much like a Roman empire of old. Top dog in the military strength department without a question but not smart enough to consolidate, reign in its spending, and stay the hell out of everyone else’s business at just the right time. When I say stay out, I am not saying pull back from foreign policy in the least but simply keep the big stick in our hands and not using it as much. Some of this is strategic planning and the US has done a hell of a job at pulling the strings over the last 60 + years but who is to say if we have gone too far? Our foreign policy has taken out some of the more virulent aggressors in the world which was the exact right thing to do. Today however, I am not so sure? A look at where both our general government deficits and Social Security are heading should make you cringe. If the US was a public company, every Officer and Director (President, Vice President, Cabinet member, Congressman, and Senator) would be imprisoned without much of a trial given the way our finances are handled which is to say the least, far worse then any Enron scandal. A quick take on SS’s surpluses into the general fund with the IOU’s being given back is enough to make one scream when they see it up close and personal. The way to cure it? Make the retirement age so high so as to make sure most of us are long dead and buried before we receive a dime of the 15% our employers and ourselves have contributed over the past 20 + years and probably for at least another 20 + years yet to go. Did you know that said CEO’s don’t contribute to SS above 80 + thousand dollars? Sure its nice to hit that level in late fall but CEO’s hit that number in mid January! Medicare at 1 + %, yes but only on wages, not stock and stock option profits!

___Sorry for speaking in anger instead of with clear thoughts and ideas but this truly pisses me off!!!

___Lars-ss, you are right on, congress controls the purse strings. The problem however is that administration and congress of the same party are in bed together in more ways then we would ever have allowed in the past … Jefferson would probably be turning over in his grave if he knew how the politics of today work vs. the past. Or maybe not as he was in his own way a sexual predator as well

___Good Luck to us all and my flame suit is on now so go ahead and fire away …

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net