Do you hate Americans?

And as I mentioned last time, you're not going back far enough. The period from '73 is not ordinary due to the oil crises, collapse of the gold standard, end of the Cold War, etc. Why not go back to 1945?

The deficit for 2004 is $410 billion if you include the $150 billion Social Security Surplus ($560 billion if you don't).

Your data shows a 2004 deficit as 4.9%, the data I just found says 4.3%.

Anyway, my point is....that the lefties, in terms of the deficit, bring up dollar amounts, "highest in history". Well no shlt Dick Tracy, so is our population, so is our GDP, so is our revenues, so is our work force.

HMOs are government-created and taxpayer-subsidized entities that pay physicians and hospitals predetermined, per-capita fees, regardless of what medical services are actually provided.

..as opposed to being online on the forum all day long? :P

Another criticism of George Bush is the way he has handled the recent allegations from Amnesty International. ?

Kondar, AI is an international joke. Even the looney Leftie Bill Moyers derides that organization.

Why don't you defend the ACLU who is sueing the defense department to release more pictures of Abu Ghraib.....the abhorrent torture chamber where unspeakable atrocities have been commited. The public needs to see more pictures of woman leading muslim prisoners around with a rope, or they may have a picture of a guard tearing up a Koran. Think of how many people will be killed in riots.

Let me explain something to you Dougie boy (Im still waiting for those tuition checks) we live in a society with rules and liberties that help ensure freedom for all. Crimes were commited at Aby Ghraib and the pictures are a matter of public record, the press sould have access to them. Bush is breaking the law by not allowing them, this is in a way a form of cencorship. This is unAmerican and unConstitituonal and as an American and especially as a Republican, you should be outraged by this. These laws exist to protect our liberties and our freedoms and should never be scrapped away even in darker times.

In all fairness, "our" people aren't exactly the ones being locked up in Abu Ghraib.

That is irrelevant, the point is these laws exist in good times and in bad. The real test of a democracy and liberties is not in happy times as anything can survive that, but in bad times. The US and the American people are being tested now, and in my opinion, are not fairing very well.

The rights granted in the Constitution are given to US citizens, not all comers.

It depends on how you calculate the deficit. I doubt the Congressional Budget Office would provide an artificially high figure...

I am a US citizen. The media are US citizens. Ever heard of the freedom of information act? What the Bush administration is doing is unconstitutional. Is this something, you as an american, can tolerate?

And where in the constitution, or the amendments to the constitution is this "freedom of information" act located ??

Anyway, you call it "freedom of info" and I'll call it "national security.

How's that?

Whoever was on about online games - it's not surprising most of the ppl you played against were redneck scum. We are talking about ppl who play games on the internet all day! What kind of a narrow minded life is that!? I hate all the kids here (in HK and China) who play online games, it's so sad...

They work social security into the deficit. Not sure how that works. Anyway, looks like the total 2004 deficit is around 3.9%

If Bush break and ignore all these laws then what does that really say about how strong our government truly is?

THIS IS THE TEST! and we as a country are failing, thanks in large part to people like yourself. If it is really this easy to destroy democracy then the United States is truly a weak country.

I am a US citizen. The media are US citizens. Ever heard of the freedom of information act? What the Bush administration is doing is unconstitutional. Is this something, you as an american, can tolerate?

THIS IS THE TEST! and we as a country are failing, thanks in large part to people like yourself. If it is really this easy to destroy democracy then the United States is truly a weak country.

"A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."
-James Madison

Of course that ignores the fact that the amount of rights Americans lost during Vietnam, WWII, WWI, the Civil War, War of 1812, and the Revolution was significantly more than what he lost now. That doesn't justify Bush's actions, but it certainly doesn't make him any worse (when it comes to human rights) than Johnson, Roosevelt, Wilson, Lincoln, Madison, or Washington.