Our Tax Dollars Hard At Work...

[beth]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
Have you noticed how much time she spends around here?

Two reasons:
Some of the topics in here are rather controversial that requires moderator scrutiny to prevent things from getting out of hand.
The topics are interesting for a change, so I chime in!

You see, I get to kill 2 birds with one stone.
Notice how smoothly things have been running since I've been posting in here? LOL

 

[reefraff]

Our tax dollars still at work
I used to have a list of government jobs that seemed to absurd to be true. Sad thing was they all actually existed. Supposedly the guy who announces the pres at the state of the union address every year has only one official duty, announcing the President at the state of the union address.
How many cooks does the Whitehouse really need? I mean George and Laura weren't elected royalty, are they really too good to plop a steak in the grill or make a sandwich.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by reefraff
Our tax dollars still at work
How many cooks does the Whitehouse really need? I mean George and Laura weren't elected royalty, are they really too good to plop a steak in the grill or make a sandwich.
See.. this kind of comment is so one sided.. Do you think Bill and Hillary cooked their own meals? Hardly, in fact the chefs probably had to prepare different meals since I can't possibly imagine "quality family time" around the dinner table in the clinton household.
Why do people always try to make things partisan? Waste is waste...

 

[jones]

Originally Posted by Mimzy
OK Beth, but the difference there is - Israel is a RELIGIOUS democratic state.
America is supposed to be non-denomenational. It was founded by PEOPLE who were looking for religious freedom. The fact that some of those people happened to be Christians should be irrelevant. There is a distinct seperation between church and state in America - or at least, there SHOULD be.
I take no issue with people wishing each other Merry Christmas, because again, we should all enjoy our religious freedom. But because of the fact that our constitution stipulates a strict seperation between church and state, I AM confused by the fact that there is a NATIONAL Christmas tree.
Whoa Mimzy,
You must not have know that you were swimming in right wing shark waters here. Don't let them discourage you. You're right on a very basic and fundamental point here. I'm sure I don't personally care whether there is a Christmas tree or a giant gilded elephant standing at the white house. But, ofcourse we live in a majority rule country. However that majority is always to be kept in check to keep the minority rights from being stepped on. Individuals DO have rights in our country. This would be a horrible place to live if it were a totally majority rules state and the unpopular could never have their say. Sure the non-christians could look the other way. But wouldn't it be nice if our government didn't throw it in their face? "Ha Ha we win, we say Christmas, long live Jesus Christ, because there are more of us than you!" And as far as our forefathers having set the example to follow. It's a bit conveient that we pick certain of their principles to be held as sacred, to be followed in the name of our forefathers, but not others. They were not perfect people, or gods. They drafted an ingenious document that has thus far withstood the test of time, the most important part of it being it's ability to adapt. Lets not forget that in the begining this country dutifully favored white, male, christian, wealthy landowners. It took an ammendment to give women the right to vote. That wasn't part of the our forefathers ideology. The original draft of the constitution also made several refferances in support of slavery. Far from being perfect and inclusive. But, we evolve as a country, thanks to our forefathers knowing that they didn't have it perfect and having the foresight to make the constitution malleable, much to the chagrin of many of the majority. Even during the civil rights movements, the majority of the country were unsympathetic to the woes of the minority. I'm sure we all have a couple of beliefs that don't match the majority way of thinking hidden deep in our closet of ideologies. Just thought I'd chime in and give the sharks a little food to pick at.

 

[beth]

Jones, I agree that we evolve, and the day will come that the Christmas Holiday may not even exist as we know it, but it is tiresome to hear the minority [and I do mean the minority-very few] try to drag down a traditional holiday that is a vital part of this country...both spiritual and economically.
If this BB represents the "right" it is because the sentiments are more commonly accepted than any extremist view
. There has been no attempt to make this a political BB whatsoever. So, with that, you could make the assumption that many views held here are mainstream America. Just so you know, I am not a republican. There might be 1% of democrats who want to abolish Christmas, I'm guessing. So why should we kowtow to such a minority? There is nothing wrong with Christmas Holiday, just like there is nothing wrong with Israelis celebrating Passover in Israel. And Mimz, there are many Israelis in Israel who are very secular. Should Israel, therefore, abandon their national Jewish heritage to appeal to the the secularists? Or maybe they should do so for the benefit of all the Muslims living in Israel...or even the Christians living there!??

 

[darth tang]

Santa puts presents under a Chritmas tree. If you have a "holiday" tree, I guess you are screwed. Maybe Bill Mahr will hook you up, but Santa won't be.

 

[mimzy]

how can we merge this thread with the holiday tree one? it's getting too confusing to be running back and forth between both of them already!

 

[reefraff]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
See.. this kind of comment is so one sided.. Do you think Bill and Hillary cooked their own meals? Hardly, in fact the chefs probably had to prepare different meals since I can't possibly imagine "quality family time" around the dinner table in the clinton household.
Why do people always try to make things partisan? Waste is waste...
Boy did you misread me. I got a Christmas card from George and Laura, you don't end up on that list by just voting for them

They were just the example. Both parties have sold us down the river. The founders never invisioned people making politics a career. They figured it would be the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker going to serve in congress for a couple years and then returning to their lives and let some new blood take over. Unfortunatly it didn't turn out that way.
The Senate was seen as the branch for the professional politicians. Turns out they are pros but they have more in common with certain other "pros" than the statesmen that started this country.
Look at John Corzine. He spent millions of his own money to get elected to the senate, a 150,000 dollar a year job for 6 years. Huffington tried it in Cal (he lost) Mark Dayton did it in Minnesota. I ain't buying that these people are buying their seats just to serve their country.

 

[ruaround]

Originally Posted by reefraff
Both parties have sold us down the river. The founders never invisioned people making politics a career. They figured it would be the butcher, the baker and the candle stick maker going to serve in congress for a couple years and then returning to their lives and let some new blood take over. Unfortunatly it didn't turn out that way.
The Senate was seen as the branch for the professional politicians. Turns out they are pros but they have more in common with certain other "pros" than the statesmen that started this country.
Man...I couldn't have said this ANY BETTER myself

...

 

[beth]

Don't think that politics has ever been designed for candlemakers. It was always a rich man's game. Back in the day, only landowners could serve and vote! In other words, rich white men.

 

[darth tang]

I remember that Beth. Thanks for the reminder. Kinda puts a different angle on the average person was designed to hold office instead of the rich guy.

 

[reefraff]

Originally Posted by Beth
Don't think that politics has ever been designed for candlemakers. It was always a rich man's game. Back in the day, only landowners could serve and vote! In other words, rich white men.
The country has kinda gone down the drain sense women were given the vote

I'll show my wife this post when she gets home from work, rest assured that I will be properly smacked.
Candle makers would have still been in pretty high demand in 1789, I imagine a pretty lucrative business. I just did a quick browse of the members of the first congress, not too many continued in politics very long. That is what I am talking about. They didn't make a career out of politics, they served a while and returned to their lives. Too bad we can't create term limits. Just when the politicians figured out how to work the money machine they would get sent back home.