Labels: Karl Rove, White House

Labels: 2008, election

War in Iraq - 29%
Economy/Jobs - 8%
Health Care - 8%
Immigration - 5%
Education - 5%

I suggest that we agree on the need for an economic strategy that keeps our economy growing and creating good jobs in the face of new competition. And that we strengthen the middle class, which is, after all, the engine of our growth and the backbone of our democracy.... Now, the shape of the American economy depends a lot on where you're sitting and where you're looking. The stock market is at historic highs. But so are the budget deficits and the national debt.... Productivity is growing. But spending on research is decreasing and wages have fallen over the last four years on average.... We need, therefore, a real national discussion about how to do again in this new century what America has always done best: promote innovation, create the new jobs of the future -- including manufacturing jobs, get back to our "can do" spirit that really is the fuel for the free enterprise economy and make strategic investments in both the public and the private sector that will help us not only grow the economy but secure the values that define who we are as Americans.... Tax cuts alone can't secure the middle class. They are not the cure all for everything that ails the American economy. It takes the right tax system and the right investments, including infrastructure. And right now we don't have either. We need investments, decisions and policies that only all of us acting together through our government can make to set the stage for future prosperity.... Now I would start, for example, by updating both our virtual and our physical infrastructure. I think that it's imperative that we look at how we've been living off the investments of decades ago, people who build the interstate highway system, the bridges, the tunnels, the rail systems and so much else.... The way to reduce our oil addiction is through technology, and we need a much more aggressive strategy.... I think we need a major energy research program similar to what President Eisenhower did after Sputnik went up because we are suffering through what might be called -- and some have -- silent Sputnik. And the energy issue is one of those.... Now, government can't do this alone. We need this public and private sector partnership. And businesses can do much more. I think our oil companies have to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And I propose that we ask that they invest more in alternative energy or contribute a percentage of these extraordinary profits, which are due in part to the subsidies they still get when the price of oil keeps going up.... Over the long-term and maybe the median term, red ink fiscal policies will undermine America's competitiveness. We have to ask ourselves whether our taxing and spending policies are in line with our economic goals. Do we have the right priorities and values in the federal budget?... Nineteen years ago, a Republican gave a speech about deficits which I think rings true today. He said close the deficit and lock economic expansion in place for the years ahead or return to the days of inflation and stagnation.... We must answer the call to action now if we are to preserve and protect our economic expansion. The answer is clear; get on and stay on the road of declining deficits. The speaker? President Ronald Reagan.

Labels: 2008, election

I went over to the sargent, said, "Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench 'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug."

I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts.... I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way.... As an individual, I would not want (acceptance of gay behavior) to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior.

estimates are that somewhere between 22% and 60% of men and 14% and 40% of women have been unfaithful. Apply those figures to the 1.4 million people who are in active military service -- about 60% of whom are married -- and you have to wonder why only 60 or so service members have been prosecuted for adultery in the last two years.... Clearly, the military doesn't make much of an attempt to enforce the rule, probably because to do so would lead inevitably to its repeal.... In the 1950s, the military established health inspections of prostitutes in Okinawa to protect American servicemen from venereal disease. Brothels that were given an "A" designation, as in "approved," offered clean women.... U.S. military in South Korea was providing patrols at brothels to ensure the safety of the GIs inside. The women of these establishments were often Russians and Filipinos who had been promised good jobs in South Korea, then forced into prostitution. But rather than assist the women, our military chose to protect the R & R of its guys.

Labels: 2008, election

Labels: 2008, election