i mean isnt the money on war better spend helping the poor in America? What does America benefit from this war anyway?
201581
a couple of points...\n\nA. anyone who says 9-11 is a retard... osama is in Pakistan... not Iraq... I know it's hard for you to wrap your mind around... but there is more than one country in the middle east... cite the link of 9-11 to Iraq... oh that's, right there aren't any \n\nB. See, defense contractors make a lot of money when we go to war... then if they make trillions, they give trillions to those that support the wars, like Republicans... also if we go to war in the middle east, the instablity it causes dirves up oil prices, so they make money and donnate more too... and our president may have some ties to oil as well?\n\n\nrfjanssen... simple question... why doesn't Bush do something about Osama... he's in Pakistan... he's "picked" on us? is he just a pansy?
75142
Class warfare should happen, this country is headed that way. Same people that whine because somebody needs a lift up are the ones that blindly vote such an scum ball in the first place. They think nothing of spending 10 billion a month in Iraq but bitch about people that have no insuance getting a hand in paying for their meds. As rich is this golden county it to not take own is the shame of America but those that oppose welfare fell no compasion while their face should be red.
509485
AMERICA SHOULD NOT LOSE THE WAR.  WE SHOULD BACK OFF AND LET THEM GO TO IT.  WE ALWAYS KNEW THE PEOPLE IN THAT AREA WERE PRONE TO HOLD A GRUDGE FOREVER.  THEY ARE OF A MIND THAT WE CAUSED ANYTHING BAD THAT HAPPENS TO THEM.  "WE ARE THE BAD GUYS"  IF WE BANDAGE THEIR WOUNDS THE ZEALOTS SAY WE ARE DOING IT WITH INFECTED BANDAGES IN ORDER TO MURDER THEM, ECT.  THE POOR CHILDREN, WOMEN AND MEN WHO HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED ARE DOOMED TO A WASTED LIFE OF HATRED.
505187
Yes.  And there are too many reasons to list.  But a few of them are.....free medical care, free education, and no taxes for illegal aliens; welfare for deadbeats; and years and years of handouts to other countries who never paid us back.  Too many people use the war in Iraq as a reason, but that comes out of the defense funds which were already there.
556342
My question is, 'why is it america's job to wipe the world's ass'?\nSeriously. How many more trillions are we supposed to spend fixing other countries' problems? What are YOU trying to sign the american taxpayer up for, exactly? LOL Screw that. Africa needs to discover 'birth control'. Sorry if that sounds cold-blooded, but \nquite frankly, at some point in time, other nations have got to get their acts together, and work to defend their own societies from these kinds of things. If they can't/won't, what exactly do you expect america to do about it? Maybe the bitter, correct answer is LESS foreign aid so there's less people able to live in countries that won't normally support their populations. Stop giving out money, and get people in the mind-set of not having more kids than they can support. Can't feed em? Don't breed em. Pretty straightforward, there...
655004
Classic republican answer the first guy gave.  When we give to other countries we call it "aid".  To ourselves, a "hand out".  We spend billions of dollars on the space program so astronauts can joyride while children starve in the streets.  Government waste is at atrocious levels yet let someone suggest we help those less fortunate and everyone is up in arms.  All the christians seem to forget that we are supposed to help each other, to look at everyone as if they are Jesus and act toward them as we would him.  So many people seem to think that poverty is a result of laziness, when that is not always the case.  Sure, you can get a job working at a fast food place to support your kids, but will that one job pay the rent, or house payment, the utilities and buy food, clothing and other incidentals?  How about child care?  Then lets consider the dead beat dads out there, that seem to think its a badge of honor to have kids but when it comes time to pay, shirk their duties.  They leave sole support on the mother's shoulders while the courts slap them on the wrist.  Yes, there are people that abuse the system, there are people that abuse any situation from employees that steal from their workplace, people who cheat on their taxes, etc.  I would much rather my tax dollars go to taking care of those children and less fortunate than spending it in other countries, on an unjust war, on another space mission, on a $400 hammer, or a study of the mating habits of fruit flies.  This country is supposed to be one of the richest on earth, we hand out money like we have an endless supply, yet our own people go hungry and cold.  It is a disgrace.
264451
Tough one. War sucks, but other countries helped us in the old days, we've made alliances, we should do our part to help.
204373
NO, because, the Hatred is growing and growing towards one another and eventually, Bush will have us all killed.  If he's so confident, why doesn't he go fight in the war instead of sending young men with promising futures???  He's selfish and doesn't care that's why.  He's taking all our money and what do we get for it.  Our healthcare system and education system is crap.  We are the only 1st world country without a proper HEALTH or EDUCATION system!  War should end and we should concentrate on getting along as a nation!
600097
That's not just Conservatives, it's the US political machine in general.  War makes money and money makes great pocket stuffers during campaign time from businesses who profit from the war.  Just follow the money....
223140
Each individual act of greed on someone's part adds together into the whole big pile of misery for the people at the bottom.\n\nEradicating poverty requires an enormous investment in bringing up every individual's productivity. This means education, this means health care, this means nutrition, this means job skills, this means ability to live peacefully with other people. This was the whole point of President Johnson's Great Society, with the War on Poverty. However, while great strides were made towards a better society here in the USA, there were also great leaps backwards across the globe. Dictators were supported because they were good for the moment, and they stole massive amounts of wealth that were intended for entire populations. Now, because of 50 years of good intentions being sabotaged from within and from without, no one wants to hear about aid to anyone anymore.
254751
I wish more people would ask questions like this....\n\nLet me answer it by making an analogy with how some people are here in the USA or anywhere for that matter...\n\nAnalogy 1:\nWhy worry about how much money you will spend when you know that you will ALWAYS be bailed out by someone with lots of cash...\n\nAnalogy 2:\nWhy does anyone really care to Work when there will always be someone there to give you money?\n\nThe whole idea is that we give money to a lot of countries because we want to avoid allowing a power vacuum to be created in most of these countries.   What generally happens is when devastation happens, Mafia types come in and give money and aid and then expect a return.  The return they want is total power and control.  If they don't get it, they can and usually do throw a country into civil war.\n\nSo, generally, we do it to avoid wars and avoid chaos in the world.   If we would have corrected the problems in Afghanistan back when Russia was fighting there, we would not have the problems we have now.  The Taliban would not have taken control of a power vacuumed nation and made it what it was.   So, that should have been a major wake up call...\n\nGood Luck on your answers...  Hope this kind-of helps...
67987
That is a good story.\n\nBut, one reason for Government is to provide goods and services that can be a "collective action problem" or "free rider problem".  In a society, there will always be examples of the entire public good being improved by small contributions from every resident, while the entire populace would be greatly disserved by ignoring those contributions.\n\nA good example is the interstate system, (Thanks Eisenhower!) or the National Defense. A small contribution (i.e taxes) from each individual can add up to insure that goods and services can travel around the country, and that we don't get invaded.  \n\nIn current terms, we have two choices. A) give relief in the form of monetary aid to Hurricane Katrina victims on the gulf coast, with each citizen making a relatively small sacrifice in the form of taxes or B) choose not to give that aid, and watch tens of thousands of people suffer, through death , illness, bankruptcy, etc.\n\nI think most people believe we have an obligation to provide relief to some, but we all seem to draw a different line in the sand about what constitutes a "small contribution". \nFor example, it's expected that an additional $120 billion will be allocated to the Mideast war(s). That's about 350-400 dollars per American citizen. Is this a small contribution?\n\nEvery person draws their line differently.
6134
I agree with bd, we help other countries more than we help our own and these people need our help. I understand your point but look at the monies our government wastes on less important issues. This one my friend is the best way I have seen in a long time to spend money, and if we don't rebuild New Orleans, what state is next? in a 100 years who knows what the earth will look like but I am all for preserving what we have and rebuilding when tragedy strikes.
240194
All welfare is a communist scam.  We could immediately and dramatically improve the quality of life in the US by ending almost all welfare (keep welfare for "helpless" people....seniors, the handicapped etc.).  No welfare for unwed mothers (have to add this last because some jackass always includes them in with the helpless).\n\nWe could also vastly improve world events, albeit it would take more than a generation, by ending most foriegn aid (including foriegn aid disguised as free trade).  Specifically, aid should only flow to enlightened countries that are democracies with the rule of law.  They should mirror our system and our values if they want aid.  For example, Israel should get lots of aid and other help from us.  The nazis in palestine should get none and be allowed to starve to death, fixing the problem in the middle east.\n\nOne insidious form of foriegn aid that is threatening the world with a nuclear holocaust is our dependence on foriegn oil.  Few people know this, but the US has, by far, the largest amount of oil of any country, within our borders.  Shale oil alone, could supply 100% of our needs for at least 500 years.  The reason we BUY oil from other countries is as a means of supplementing them with our business.  Many of these people are evil and need to suck and die.  Which they would rapidly do without the american petro-dollar.
397557
America may be the land of the free but first and foremost its the land of the almighty !!!?dollar  the pursuit of wealth is the driving force in America and the fact that people go hungry in a wealthy society seems to be of little or no concern to most Americans least of all its President who is prepared to spend billions on a war that he cant win and who i believe recently made a cut to  the benefits that the Vietnamese war veterans are receiving,perhaps those soldiers fighting now in a lost cause should take note.
420952
I'm really having trouble following your logic. You think it's a better situation to have our teenage boys in Iraq getting killed than having a negotiated peace? You think it's a better situation to be wasting billions of dollars on a war rather than move America toward energy independence? You think it's better that the rich save a few bucks on their taxes and all our jobs get shipped overseas?\nI'm not a liberal my friend, but I sure know when I'm being bamboozled.
332645
Blah. I wonder this myself constantly.\n\nI personally believe no good will come out of this. I was discussing this with my American History professor, and she and I agree: this war is just another Vietnam. It started as a civil war Americans had no right involving themselves with, and now it has become extremely long and an absolute waste of our time.\n\nI absolutely hate people who say "It's for their own good; I know THEY don't think so, but it is." Who are we to decide what's best for others? Just because it works well for us (SUPPOSEDLY) it is the SUPREME form of government?! We are not those people's parents, their mother, their father, to determine what is best for them. We are a Super Power, yes, but we are not in control of other human's lives. There is nothing about Americans that makes us superior to Iranians, to Russians, to Australians, to anyone. \n\nIf our economy is rising, it is because we're producing machines for war. That's the concept plus Keynesian "priming the pump" that got us out of the Great Depression. And then, of course, the economy went into a slump afterward, so there you go. \n\nPeople believe this is a moral war. All it's doing is making forgein peoples hate us more for the common American attitude of superiority and "city on a hill"ishness from the Puritanical days. It's creating tension that doesn't need to be there that will hurt us and many people in the near future. We aren't "defending democracy." We aren't trying to "free" the Iranians. It's all a load of self-interest and a fake sense of superiority. \n\nI doubt Americans have any intention of paying for this war or any of their other debts. Most large powers don't. We learned before WWII not to demand repayment such as war reparations, because those played a large part of getting us into that particular war. \n\nAlso, I heard on NPR that Bush was thinking of changing the name from the "War on Terror" to the "Long War." \n\n"Blind patriotism." My thoughts exactly. Anyone who will follow something so blindly as to refuse to see the reality that the people Bush is making into our "enemy" are humans just like us is an idiot and should be ashamed of themselves. \n\nYes, at one point in time there WERE "weapons of mass destruction." Bush Senior gave them to them because they were afraid of being invaded by their neighbors. The U.S. had and has oil interests there and needed to preserve them, and so President Bush Senior gave them those weapons. U.S.-crafted. That is factual.\n\nBut whether or not they existed when our present President went in to look for them is VERY dubious. I and many intellectuals I know, some of them conservative while I am liberal, agree with me that it was a matter of oil interests. America hasn't been an independent oil-supply for a very long time now, and we are a highly mobile society. Hence there is a problem. \n\nFrance used to respect the U.S., during JFK’s presidency in the Cuban Missile Crisis, because it was its belief that we would never invade a country without solid proof. Do you see what has happened to America? In just forty short years, considering we are already such a young country, our foreign policy has turned from a very loved president’s, JFK’s, to George W. Bush’s aggressive, half-cocked launching of human beings blinded by patriotism for oil interests.