World-News: USA

USA

Several policy issues that have until now been swept under the rug are being brought into the open

Four problems

The Weekly Standard
by Irwin M. Stelzer

04/18/06

Suddenly, several policy issues that have until now been swept under the rug are being brought into the open: * With 11 million illegal immigrants scattered around the country, it has been difficult for politicians to close their eyes to the need for a more sensible policy, but close their eyes they have managed to do. * America's trade deficit is running at close to 7 percent of GDP, but policy makers have contented themselves with a few warnings to the Chinese about currency manipulation and theft of intellectual property, a lot of sound and fury, signifying policy paralysis. * Some 46 million Americans are without health insurance, but no politician has been willing to come to grips with what many see as an important problem, or with the rising cost of healthcare. * Gasoline prices are on the rise, with no energy policy in sight that can relieve the plight of America's motorists as they head into the driving season. And as if to ruin congressmen's Easter recess, all four divisive issues popped into the news just as the people's representatives headed home for an early start on their November election campaigns...

http://tinyurl.com/m3rqk

Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

rudkla - 18. Apr, 15:33

Should retired generals speak out about Rumsfeld?

AntiWar.Com
by Ivan Eland

04/18/06

If active generals oppose the policy of any administration so much that they are beside themselves, they should resist going public until after they resign. As private citizens, they are no longer in the chain of military command and should be able to say anything they want. But what if, as many believe, the retired generals are acting as a mouthpiece for the widespread dissatisfaction among active officers under Rumsfeld, because of his domineering management style and his incompetent handling of Iraq? This outcome is optimal for the republic because it alerts the public that many active military experts are critical of the administration's performance, but does not undermine civilian control over the armed forces by having active military officers publicly criticizing their civilian leadership...

http://www.antiwar.com/eland/?articleid=8867

Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

rudkla - 18. Apr, 15:31

Our elections are a sham in favor of two parties that are so similar as to be two sides of the same coin

Tweedledum or Tweedledee

No Force, No Fraud
by Bob Smith

04/18/06

There is no disputing the headlock that the old parties have on political offices, at least at the state and national levels. The D's and R's have voted themselves many advantages and given other opponents many hurdles to overcome. By using tax money and by soliciting contributions in return for political votes, they've also raised the cost of running a successful campaign almost out of reach. In so doing, the Democratic and Republican parties have virtually destroyed the idea of representative government. While we disparage other nations that don't have competitive elections, and even militarily intervene in the name of open elections, our own elections are a sham in favor of two parties that are so similar as to be two sides of the same coin...

http://libertyed.org/noforce/2006/04/tweedledum-or-tweedledee.html

Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

rudkla - 18. Apr, 15:29

How to fight terrorism peacefully

Rebirth of Reason
by Tibor R. Machan

04/18/06

It isn't often that I will relinquish my chance of sounding off on a vital topic to someone else but this time I find it just the thing to do. My friend Alex Alexiev, who is now vice president at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D. C., has been promoting an idea related to the effort to repel terrorism that simply hasn't received the attention that it deserves. In a paper, titled 'America's Iran Crucible: Beyond Yapping Dogs and Superpowers Made of Straw,' Dr. Alexiev outlines a strategy for undermining terrorism by means that should appeal to all those who find direct military action premature and perhaps even unjustified...

http://tinyurl.com/q2mnp

Know Your Enemy

Center for a Stateless Society
by Kevin Carson

07/29/10

NATO deliberately targeted power and water infrastructure in Serbia, in order to demoralize the civilian population. As NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said, ‘If President Milosevic really wants all of his population to have water and electricity all he has to do is accept NATO’s five conditions and we will stop this campaign.’ And in Iraq, the death toll from two decades of strategic bombing, sanctions and infrastructure damage is into the millions. The United States unleashed the equivalent of two Haiti earthquakes on two defenseless countries. The penalty for disobedience to the new hegemon is death from the skies. The neoconservatives of the Project for a New American Century agitated for both wars with everything they had. The organization’s name says it all: Their goal is to lock the United States permanently into place as the world’s sole military superpower, and destroy any nation that challenges that supremacy...

http://c4ss.org/content/3321

Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=superpower
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=terrorism
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=sanctions
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=neocons
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=New+American+Century
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Tibor+R.+Machan
http://sharenews.twoday.net/search?q=Kevin+Carson

rudkla - 18. Apr, 15:26