What's happening to my mom???!!!

[undergroundpanther]

Ugh,
I dunno what to do,my mom sent me this claptrap.She appears to be drinking the proverbial kool aid.Shit damn..I wanna cry!! Originally I thought she was a liberal..But...she watches ALOT of TV as she falls asleep no less,and she sometimes has on christian TV,She can't tell propaganda from news it seems,and isn't into the'unpleasentness' of learning how it works..I have heard rush wafting out of the kitchen,and before didn't think anything of it,I thought she was aware of how manipulation works on people..I guess I am wrong she wasen't,now her mind is like a steel jaw trap..I think it's warping her brain. I am disgusted,saddened scared and shocked...and I feel like my mom is becoming someone else.


-------Original Message-------

From: casey
Date: Friday, December 24, 2004 9:07:43 PM
To: contacts
Subject: This says it all!!!!!


Story in Tampa Newspaper

Will we still be the Country of choice and still be America if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries that came to live in America because it is the Country of Choice??????
Think about it . .

All I have to say is, when will they do something about MY RIGHTS? I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings. It's not Christmas vacation, it's Winter Break. Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holiday? We've gone so far the other way, bent over backwards to not offend anyone, that I am now being offended. But it seems that no one has a problem with that.
This says it all!


This is an editorial written by an
American citizen, published in a
Tampa newspaper He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please!

IMMIGRANTS,
NOT AMERICANS,
MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we
are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11,
we have experienced a surge
in patriotism by the majority
of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had
barely settled when the "politically correct! " crowd began complaining about
the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. ! However, there
are a few things that those
who have recently come to
our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a
multicultural community
has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we
have our own culture, our
own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.


We speak ENGLISH , not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language.
Therefore, if you wish to become part
of our society, learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan.. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women,
on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.
It is certainly appropriate to display it
on the walls of our schools. If God
offends you, then I suggest you
consider another part of the world as
your new home, because God is part
of our culture.

If Stars and Stripes offend you, or
you don't like Uncle Sam, then you
should seriously consider a move
to another part of this planet. We
are happy with our culture and have
no desire to change, and we really
don't care how you did things where
you came from! . This is
OUR COUNTRY,
our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the
right to express his opinion and we
will allow you every opportunity to do so!
But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag,
our pledge, our national motto, or our
way of life, I highly encourage you
take advantage of one other great American freedom,
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
It is Time for America to Speak up
If you agree -- pass this along;
if you don't agree -- delete it!

AMEN

I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends
(and enemies) it will also, sooner or later
get back to the complainers, lets all try,
please.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you one and all!

[unpossibles]

1. sadly, I got this one too

"Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holiday? "

uh,.... maybe because Christians stole the winter holiday from pagans, since Jesus' birthday is not in December.....

<smacking head>

[Skittles]

2. "If English was good eough for Jesus it's good enough for me"

that kind of idiocy is pervasive

[pamela]

3. I got this one, too.

I just hit the reply button and wrote "Please don't send me this right-wing crap again."

[4morewars]

4. Does your mom have the courage to learn the truth ?

If so, send her this article:

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1220-20.htm

The Myth of National Victimhood - All Wrapped and Delivered for Christmas
by Thom Hartmann

If she can't handle it, at leasat you will have an understanding of what is going on, and maybe you can gently persuade her.

Good luck

[samplegirl]

5. Sadly

the "Old" are such and easy target

[SheilaT]

6. It's hard to know where to begin

in dealing with this. But let's look at the underlying philosophy, which is simply a version of "America, love it or leave it", as if those are the only two choices. It also accuses those who do not simplemindedly agree with the notion that this country is perfect already hate this country. It does not acknowledge that there may be valid criticism. Nope. If you don't agree, leave.

It was also Jerry Falwell and other right wingers, NOT the liberal left, that said this country deserved the attacks of 9/11.

How old is your mother? Not that her actual age matters, because she could do something else besides fall asleep in front of crap TV shows. Try to get her to read and watch other stuff. Get her out of the house. She could do volunteer work at an animal shelter maybe.


Oh, I know. Send her this in reply:

A Day in the Life of Joe Republican

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards.

With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer adheres to these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the taxpayer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

[gmoses]

7. thanks sheila

I'll send it to my family

[gmoses]

9. here's how family answered--got an hour?

OK, I tried this at home. The original JOE is in bold, replies in ital, beginning with:

I received this email from someone else earlier this year and deceided to research it. Here is what I found.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICAN

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal.

Well yes, the National Parks Service was started under Democrat Woodrow Wilson. However Mr. Wilson was far from being a liberal. Wilson advanced rapidly as a conservative young professor of political science and became president of Princeton in 1902. He was a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt who was one of this country's first conservationists. In 1917 he proclaimed American entrance into World War I a crusade to make the world "safe for democracy."

He was nominated for President at the 1912 Democratic Convention and campaigned on a program called the New Freedom, which stressed individualism and states' rights. In the three-way election he received only 42 percent of the popular vote but an overwhelming electoral vote.

fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water,

Wrong:

The EPA Was Founded By President Nixon (R)
www.epa.gov/history/timeline/70.htm Just four months after his January
1969 inauguration, President Nixon established in his cabinet the
Environmental Quality Council, as well as a complementary Citizens' Advisory Committee on Environmental QuaIity. Opponents denounced both as ceremonial and Nixon, ever sensitive to criticism, rose to the challenge. He had already asked Roy L. Ash, the founder of Litton Industries, to lead an Advisory Council on Executive Organization and submit recommendations for structural reform. In November, the President's Domestic Council instructed Ash to study whether all federal environmental activities should be unified in one agency.
During meetings in spring 1970, Ash at first expressed a preference for a single department to oversee both environmental and natural resource management. But by April he had changed his mind; in a memorandum to the President he advocated a separate regulatory agency devoted solely to the pursuit of anti-pollution programs.

Forging such an institution actually represented the final step in a quick march towards national environmental consciousness. Congress recognized the potency of the issue in late 1969 by passing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This statute recast the government's role: formerly the conservator of wilderness, it now became the protector of earth, air, land, and water. The law declared Congressional intent to "create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony," and to "assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, esthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings." Henceforth, all federal agencies planning
projects bearing on the environment were compelled to submit reports
accounting for the likely consequences--the now famous Environmental
Impact Statements (EISs). Secondly, NEPA directed the President to assemble in his Cabinet a Council on Environmental Quality. Undersecretary of the Interior Russell E. Train agreed to be its first chairman. The Council's three members and staff would assist the President by preparing an annual Environmental Quality Report to Congress, gathering data, and advising on policy. Signing the Act with fanfare on New Year's Day 1970, Nixon observed that he had "become further convinced that the 1970s absolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its
air, its waters, and our living environment. It is," he said,
"literally now or never."

Pressing the initiative in his State of the Union Address three weeks later, the President proclaimed the new decade a period of environmental transformation. On February 10, he presented the House and Senate an unprecedented 37-point message on the environment, requesting four billion dollars for the improvement of water treatment facilities; asking for national air quality standards and stringent guidelines to lower motor vehicle emissions; and launching federally-funded research to reduce automobile pollution. Nixon also ordered a clean-up of federal facilities which had fouled air and water, sought legislation to end the dumping of wastes into the Great Lakes, proposed a tax on lead additives in gasoline, forwarded to Congress a plan to tighten safeguards on the seaborne transportation of oil, and approved a National Contingency Plan for the treatment of petroleum spills.

he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.

Wrong

Theodore Roosevelt (R) founded the FDA in 1906

From 1969 - 1977 the following changes were made to the FDA under Republican leadership and presidents Nixon and Ford.

1969 FDA begins administering SANITATION PROGRAMS for milk, shellfish, food service, and interstate travel facilities, and for preventing poisoning and accidents. These responsibilities were transferred from other units of the Public Health Service. The WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE ON FOOD, NUTRITION, AND HEALTH recommends systematic review of GRAS substances in light of FDA's ban of the artificial
sweetener cyclamate. President Nixon orders FDA to review its GRAS
list.

1970 In UPJOHN v. FINCH the Court of Appeals upholds enforcement of the 1962 drug effectiveness amendments by ruling that commercial success alone does not constitute substantial evidence of drug safety and efficacy

.

FDA requires the first PATIENT PACKAGE INSERT: oral contraceptives must contain information for the patient about specific risks and benefits.

The COMPREHENSIVE DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT replaces previous laws and categorizes drugs based on abuse and addiction potential compared to their therapeutic value.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY established; takes over FDA program for setting pesticide tolerances.

1971 PHS BUREAU OF RADIOLOGICAL HEALTH transferred to FDA. Its mission: protection against unnecessary human exposure to radiation from electronic products in the home, industry, and the healing arts.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR TOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH is established in the biological facilities of the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. Its mission is to examine biological effects of chemicals in the environment, extrapolating data from experimental animals to human health.

Artificial sweetener SACCHARIN, included in FDA's original GRAS list, is removed from the list pending new scientific study.

1972 OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUG REVIEW begun to enhance the safety, effectiveness and appropriate labeling of drugs sold without prescription.

REGULATION OF BIOLOGICS-including serums, vaccines, and blood
products-is transferred from NIH to FDA.

1973 THE U.S. SUPREME COURT upholds the 1962 drug effectiveness law and endorses FDA action to control entire classes of products by regulations rather than to rely only on time-consuming litigation.

LOW-ACID FOOD PROCESSING regulations issued, after botulism outbreaks from canned foods, to ensure that low-acid packaged foods have adequate heat treatment and are not hazardous.

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION created by Congress; takes over programs pioneered by FDA under 1927 Caustic Poison Act, 1960 Federal Hazardous Substances Labeling Act, 1966 Child Protection Act, and PHS accident prevention activities for safety of toys, home appliances, etc.

1976 MEDICAL DEVICE AMENDMENTS passed to ensure safety and effectiveness of medical devices, including diagnostic products. The amendments require manufacturers to register with FDA and follow quality control procedures. Some products must have pre-market approval by FDA; others must meet performance standards before marketing.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS AMENDMENTS ("Proxmire Amendments") stop FDA from establishing standards limiting potency of vitamins and minerals in food supplements or regulating them as drugs based solely on potency.

All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance.

Misleading, In 1948 only 31.8% of the Entire Workforce were Union Workers and 12.1% of them worked for the government. In 2003 its only 13.2 % of the workforce with a wopping 37.5% of them were working for the government. Doesn't seem like a much of trend setter for the rest of the population.

Oh, and by the way only a little over half of the union workers are covered anyway. They sure do make a lot of noise for such a small % of the workforce. www.laborresearch.org/charts.php?id=29

- now Joe gets it too.

Which no small business employer can afford due, in large part to frivilous law suits by liberals such as...

August 14, 2004 Doctors Take John Edwards' Medical History to Heart More press reports roll in on the Kerry-Edwards approach to medical malpractice issues, including discussions of the likely motive for giving those proposals a high profile: overcoming doctors' hostility to John Edwards.

Senator Kerry's hometown paper, the Boston Globe reports on the
campaign's larger effort to re-define Sentaor Edwards as a Friend of Doctors, rather than as their longtime nemesis:

Since first running for the US Senate in 1998, John Edwards has been the politician many doctors dislike most -- a trial lawyer who amassed an eight-figure fortune from personal injury lawsuits and became a symbol of the soaring medical malpractice insurance premiums physicians must pay

.

But there is another John Edwards that the Kerry-Edwards campaign is taking pains to introduce: a man whose past legal advocacy for patients stemmed from a passion for quality health care, for allowing doctors to make medical decisions instead of insurance companies, and for unfettered medical research.

* * *

Behind the campaign's effort to recast Edwards lies a fear that doctors' anger over his trial-lawyer image could deprive the Democratic ticket of support from a medical constituency that is very much in play in this election. Polling data from recent elections show that doctors, who traditionally vote Republican, are moving toward Democrats because of concerns over health-care issues, including a patient bill of rights.

The medical profession makes up a sizable constituency: the article quotes an AMA figure putting the number of U.S. medical doctors about 853,000.

In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, medical malpractice claims and premiums are very much on the minds of health care providers, according to this story in the Bucks County Courier Times, and John Edwards professional history of pursuing medical malpractice claims represents a sizable obstacle to earning those doctors' votes in November:

The hot topic this election eason for many Pennsylvania doctors is skyrocketing liability insurance costs. Because of the incumbent
president's position on the issue, many local doctors said he gets their vote.

'It's the main reason I am backing ,' said Dr. John Petolillo Jr., an orthopedic surgeon based in Middletown. Insurance carriers consider his field extremely high risk.

'It's important enough to back him solely on that issue,' Petolillo said.

First lady Laura Bush addressed about 300 white-coated doctors and other healthcare practitioners Monday at the Sheraton Bucks County hotel in Falls. Dressed in a gray suit and blue scarf, her honey-colored hair tidily coifed, Bush talked about her husband's position on medical liability insurance, healthcare reform, the economy and foreign policy. She also accepted the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Medical Society.

* * *

Others at Monday's medical society event said the Democratic
candidate for president, John Kerry, has alienated many doctors by choosing medical malpractice trial lawyer John Edwards as his running mate.

'Normally, we don't get involved with presidential issues,' said Dr. George Green, a board member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society. 'The choice of Edwards forced us.'

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

Wrong again.. Please refer to the FDA above. You know, the one started by Teddy Roosevelt.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is
properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Wrong Again...FDA....Roosevelt

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

Yawn...EPA That would be Mr. Nixon

He walks to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Wrong.

January 12, 1874, Representative Laurin D. Woodworth (R-OH) introduces the first post-Civil War legislation to establish a federal bureau of transportation.

January 15, 1969, the Civil Service Commission ruled that PATCO was an employee organization, not a professional society, because it had sought and obtained a dues-withholding agreement. (Gee a Union?)

January 16, 1969, Metroliner service commenced between Washington, D.C., and New York City.

January 22, 1969, former Massachusetts governor John Anthony Volpe (R) took the oath of office as the nation's second Secretary of Transportation.

Mr. Volpe's personal history reflects the success story of the
self-made man. In 1933 he cashed a $300 insurance policy and borrowed $500 to begin a construction firm that was parlayed into a multi-million dollar organization. The Volpe firm established a national reputation for construction excellence.

Mr. Volpe was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1960, lost in 1962, and won a second term in 1964. He then was reelected in 1966 for the first four-year term in the State's history. He was serving his third term when President Nixon swore him in on January 20, 1969, as the second Secretary of Transportation.

In 1973, John Volpe was appointed Ambassador to Italy, realizing a lifelong ambition.

March 21, 1969, in the PATCO newsletter, F. Lee Bailey recommended that controllers disobey the orders of a superior if they thought they were endangering air traffic safety. ( First we get the union...now we need? Yes, a liberal Lawyer!)

March 28, 1969, Volpe called for the establishment of a centralized Departmental library. As a result, DOT formed the Transportation Department Library administratively in July, by consolidating the headquarters libraries of the Bureau of Public Roads, the United States Coast Guard, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

April 8, 1969, Turbotrain service commenced between New York City and Boston.

April 24, 1969, Volpe established a Departmental Office of Civil Rights, with counterpart offices established in the operating administrations on May 8.

June 18, 19, and 20, 1969, five hundred fifteen controllers--members of PATCO-claimed to be ill. Tantamount to a strike, this sickness resulted in major service interruptions in Denver, Oakland, Kansas City, Chicago, and New York City. (union + lawyer)

September 10, 1969, Volpe and Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel met with Florida's Governor Claude Kirk to announce environmental concerns relating to the proposal to build the Miami Jetport on a 39-square-mile site in the ecotone between Big Cyprus Swamp and the Everglades National Park. After environmental studies, Dade County officials agreed to seek another site. (Wow, another republican trying to protect the enviornment)

December 9, 1969, Volpe attended groundbreaking for Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail rapid transit system.

January 1, 1970, Nixon signed into law the National Environmental Policy Act, which created the President's Council on Environmental Quality and required federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements and public hearings on their proposed actions.

January 29, 1970, the Corson Committee criticized the Federal Aviation Administration's lack of competent internal communication, and management's failure to sanction employee organizations.

March 18, 1970, Volpe announced that the Department was considering a rule that would require all motor vehicles to have some form of passive restraint--air bags, motorized seat belts, cushioned interiors, or some combination of these.

March 22, 1970, a separate National Highway Safety Bureau established by administrative act; the NHSB later became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

March 25, 1970, in a PATCO-engineered sickout, approximately 1,000 controllers at key facilities in New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City, Denver, and Oakland, called in sick or failed to report to work.

April 2, 1970, PATCO ended its work stoppage, and sent telegrams to all national, regional, and local officials advising its members to go back to work.

May 21, 1970, Nixon signed into law the Airport and Airway Development Act of 1970 and the Airport and Airway Revenue Act of 1970. This legislation established a trust fund and airline ticket taxes to assure $11 billion for airports and airways over the next five years. The measure also directed the Secretary of Transportation to draw up a national transportation policy and submit it to Congress within a year.

September 6, 1970, two members of Dr. George Habash's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine commandeered a Pan Am 747 in Israel, and had it flown to Cairo, where they evacuated the passengers and blew it up.

September 11, 1970, to provide for the protection of persons and property aboard American air carrier aircraft, Nixon designated the Department to lead the government's anti-hijacking program. (This is just spooky, look at the date.)

September 20, 1970, Volpe established the Office of Civil Aviation Security under the command of retired Air Force Lieutenant General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.

October 15, 1970, Nixon signed into law the Urban Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1970, a $10 billion, 12-year program to upgrade mass transit systems.

October 30, 1970, Congress passed the National Railroad Passenger Service Act, creating a semipublic corporation, Amtrak (American Travel and Track), to improve the quality of service and to satisfy the nation's intercity passenger transportation needs.

January 8, 1971, Nixon signed into law the Emergency Rail Services Act of 1970, in which Congress authorized up to $125 million in Federal loan guarantees for the bankrupt Penn Central Railroad

.

February 23, 1971, Volpe established the Transportation Safety
Institute at the FAA's Aeronautical Center, in Oklahoma City. Although initially operated by the FAA, this school provided training for the investigation of accidents and incidents in all modes of transportation, and in related regulatory matters.

April 27, 1971, Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca conferred with Nixon, claiming that compliance with the new passive restraint standards, which Volpe had announced in March, was beyond the industry's technical capacity, within the specified deadline.

May 1, 1971, Amtrak took over nearly all intercity passenger services. It was to provide service by 182 trains to more than 300 cities.

August 10, 1971, Nixon signed into law the Appropriations Bill for the Department of Transportation, which among other things contained $174 million for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for the District of Columbia's rapid rail transit system (METRO).

August 11, 1971, Nixon signed into law the Federal Boating Safety Act of 1971, providing the Coast Guard the authority to establish minimum safety construction standards for boats and associated equipment.

December 21, 1971, Volpe announced that the U. S. Coast Guard had ended its participation in the Vietnam War, with the transfer of two of its 311-foot, high-endurance cutters, the CASTLE ROCK and the COOK INLET, to the South Vietnamese navy.

March 9, 1972, DOT Order established the Transportation Safety
Institute.

October 20, 1972, Nixon signed into law the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, to promote safe automobiles and to make them less costly to repairs. Implementation of this legislation, which required such things as stronger auto bumpers, became part of the mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

January 5, 1973, responding to hijacking threats, the FAA initiates universal preboarding electronic screening of passengers and inspection of their carry-on luggage.

February 15, 1973, Fidel Castro reached a formal five-year accord with the United States, the first treaty of any kind since the revolution, to extradite or prosecute hijackers who ordered planes to fly to Cuba

.

May 10, 1973, the CAB published the first rule regulating smoking on aircraft for reasons of consumer comfort and protection.

August 13, 1973, Nixon signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973, which included optional application of Highway Trust Funds for urban mass transit projects.

February 17, 1981, President Ronald Reagan signed Executive Order 12291, which required agencies to weigh the costs and benefits of proposed major regulations and to pick the least costly alternative.

May 26, 1981, in APTA v. Lewis, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that DOT's Section 504 regulations (nondiscrimination on the basis of handicap) exceeded the limits of the law upon which they were based, and imposed onerous burdens on local transit programs. Rather than throw out the rules, the court directed the Department to amend them.

July 20, 1981, DOT issued an interim final regulation, amending its Section 504 regulations, giving local communities greater flexibility in determining how to apply transit funds to provide transportation for persons with disabilities.

October 20, 1980, GOP presidential candidate Ronald Reagan wrote PATCO president Robert E. Poli, saying: "You can rest assured that if I am elected President, I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available and to adjust staff levels and work days so that they are commensurate with achieving a maximum degree of public safety." Three days later, the PATCO executive board endorsed Reagan for President.

August 3-5, 1981, approximately 12,000 air traffic controllers
belonging to PATCO walked off their jobs. Reagan gave the strikers forty-eight hours to go back to work, after which he fired them. About 1,000 PATCO members obeyed the President's order. The others lost their jobs without redress.

June 14, 1985, two Shiite Muslims hijacked TWA Flight 847 just after takeoff from Athens, Greece, and forced it to Beirut, Lebanon, precipitating a 17-day hostage crisis. Dole subsequently closed Lebanon to American aviation.

August 8, 1985, Reagan signed into law the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985, authorizing the use of $5 million from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for research on and development of airport security devices and explosives detection techniques.

October 7, 1985, terrorists from the Palestinian Liberation
Organization hijacked the Italian cruise ship, ACHILLE LAURO, killing Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American.

August 27, 1986, Reagan signed into law the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Antiterrorism Act, which among other things, imposed on the Department reporting requirements regarding security at foreign and domestic ports, and required the State Department to issue travel advisories when DOT judged foreign ports unsafe. Maritime sections were a response to events such as the hijacking of the Italian liner, the ACHILLE LAURO.

July 11, 1984 Dole issued a final rule mandating air bags and/or automatic seat belt restraints in all automobiles after 1990, unless states representing two-thirds of the American population voted for the mandatory use of seat belts.

September 15, 1986, Reagan signed Executive Order 12564, calling for a drug-free federal workplace.

September 18, 1986, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to overturn the July 1984 rule encouraging the states to pass mandatory seat belt laws, but said that, because of the way their legislatures had drafted them, the Department could not count twenty of the states' laws toward rescinding passive restraint standards.

September 26, 1986, Reagan signed Executive Order 12566, which required federal employees to use safety belts.

October 2, 1986, Reagan signed into law the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, which required commercial airlines to provide nondiscriminatory service for passengers with disabilities.

HAD ENOUGH YET!

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards.

I think we can pretty much call bullshit on this by now.

Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

Whatever! Look at the %'s again. What employee wants to pay outrageous union dues and answer to corrupt union bosses afilliated with organized crime.

Anybody find Hoffa Yet?

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check. because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

Wrong. This is like shooting liberals at a self pity party! Oh, sorry, I meant fish in a barrel.

The first "workmen's" compensation law passed in the United States was the Federal Employer's Liability act. Covering certain Federal Government employees engaged in hazardous occupational duties as well as employees of common carriers engaged in interstate and foreign commerce. It was adopted in 1908 at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt. He pointed out to congress that "the burden of an accident fell upon the helpless man, his wife and children" and that this was "an outrage". So it was that the Federal Government took the lead in providing workers with protection in the event of on the job injuries in the United States.

1927 President Calvin Coolidge (R) The Federal Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act set up a workmen's compensation program for certain maritime and related industries workers who could not be covered under State programs.

It's noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC

First, some history: The FSLIC no longer exists. It was abolished in 1989. Fslic Resolution Fund:A fund established by the financial institutions reform, recovery and enforcement act of 1989 (firrea) to assume all the assets and liabilities of the federal savings and loan insurance corporation (fslic), which firrea abolished. The fslic resolution fund is managed by the resolution trust corporation (rtc). Firrea required the fund to be dissolved
upon the satisfaction of all fslic debt and liabilities and the sale of all fslic assets assumed by the fund. It performed the same function for S&Ls that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) performed for traditional banks. However, when a significant number S&Ls experienced problems in the 1980s and effectively bankrupting the FSLIC, the FDIC assumed the deposit insurance role for any remaining S&Ls, too.

April, 1987--Edwin Gray ends his term as chairman of Federal
Home Loan Bank Board in June. Before his departure, he is summoned to the office of Sen. Dennis DeConcini. (D) DeConcini, with four other Senators (John McCain (R) who was asked recently to run with John Kerry as his running mate, Alan Cranston (D), John Glenn (D), and Donald Riegle(D)) question Gray about the appropriateness of Bank Board investigations into Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings and Loan. All five senators, who have received campaign contributions from Keating, would become known as the "Keating Five". The subsequent Lincoln failure is estimated to have cost the taxpayers over $2 billion

This should be the FDIC (Fereral Deposit Insurance Corp.) Well I'll have to give them this one, but somehow it doesn't hurt much to give it to a great American like FDR. I think Zell Miller would agree with me.

Following the example of his fifth cousin, President Theodore
Roosevelt, whom he greatly admired, Franklin D. Roosevelt entered public service through politics, but as a Democrat. FDR instituted the FDIC in 1934. I wonder what Clinton would have done about Pearl Harbor? Send in the FBI? FDR was truly a great American leader.

because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Keep in mind, it was FDR who took us off the gold standard.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage.

I'll get to that later. But the answer is WRONG! See boyhood home below.

and his below-market federal student loan

Correct: the higher education act of 1965 signed into law by LBJ. However current legislation signed into law by Mr. Bush and legislation pending by Republicans such as "Buck" McKeon
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?&Db=d105&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Rep+McKeon++Howard+P.+(Buck)))+00778))
break all previous democratic spending records for student loans and
pell grants.

because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime.

Smart folks, I agree completely!

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards.

Wrong! First review some of the items above in the DOT listings. I'll restate a few of them below.

December 13, 1983, the Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving, which former Secretary Volpe had chaired, issued its report, recommending, among other things, that Congress deny some federal highway funds to states that did not adopt a minimum drinking age of twenty-one.

October 20, 1972, Nixon signed into law the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, to promote safe automobiles and to make them less costly to repairs. Implementation of this legislation, which required such things as stronger auto bumpers, became part of the mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

March 18, 1970, Volpe announced that the Department was considering a rule that would require all motor vehicles to have some form of passive restraint--air bags, motorized seat belts, cushioned interiors, or some combination of these.

March 22, 1970, a separate National Highway Safety Bureau established by administrative act; the NHSB later became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

And the liberal contribution to safety standards:

April 27, 1971, Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca conferred with Nixon, claiming that compliance with the new passive restraint standards, which Volpe had announced in March, was beyond the industry's technical capacity, within the specified deadline.

July 31, 1979, the Chrysler Corporation requested $1 billion in federal funds to avert bankruptcy. January 6, 1980, Carter signed into law the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act of 1979. 2004: Lee Iacocca Endorses John Kerry for President www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0624a.html

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

Wrong again,

Housing Act of 1949 established the Farmer's Home Administration and Fathered FHA and Fannie Mae.
www.fanniemaefoundation.org/index.shtml

Robert Taft, a leading Republican Senator, was a crucial public housing supporter who recognized the fallacy of the 'trickle down' theory of housing. (Photo: Dallas Public LibrThe landmark Housing Act of 1949 called for "a decent home and suitable living environment" for all Americans. While the act's strategies achieved, at best, mixed results, the goal continues to drive federal housing policy. Further, lessons learned from the act strongly influenced subsequent policies on homeownership, urban redevelopment, and
housing assistance for low-income households.ary)

the house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

This is true: And again I'm glad to hand this one to FDR
President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed strongly that America's rural
areas should have the same access to electricity as cities did. In 1935 the Rural Electric Administration (REA) was created to bring electricity to rural areas like the Tennessee Valley.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security

True: And again it's FDR President Roosevelt signied the Social Security Act--August 14, 1935. But it was an expansion of previous agenda and legislation by Teddy Roosevelt.

1909 TR, The first Federal old-age pension bill was introduced in Congress.

1906 TR, American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) was founded.

1909 A Conference on the Care of Dependent Children was held in
Washington, D.C. at the invitation of President Theodore Roosevelt. This was the first of the White House Conferences on child welfare.

December, 1912 President William Taft (R) A Social Insurance Committee was created by the American Association for Labor Legislation.

1923 President Harding (R) was unsuccessful in his attempt to
establish a Department of Education in Welfare.

July 21, 1930 Herbert Hoover (R) The Veterans Administration was established by Executive Order

and a union pension

Again, Although nearly 85% of all union workers are covered by some form of pension plan they only represent about 14% of the entire workforce.

because some wine-drinking,

Wine drinkers might be more sophisticated; they might be more health conscious; they might eat healthy food and exercise," he said, perhaps drawing on stereotypes as well as research. "Whereas beer drinkers and liquor drinkers are more likely to be found sitting in the pub." Wine drinkers were the least extroverted and scored lowest on ego strength and on a scale measuring "sensation seeking" - a sort of quest for stimulation of some kind. Beer drinkers scored highest on extroversion, ego strength and sensation-seeking. They also scored highest on psychoticism - a tendency toward anti-social behavior.

Personally I can't see how any of this means your a conservitive or a liberal.

Oh well, I know who I'd rather drink with!

cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Reagan gave away tons of free cheese! Here is a great short story about that.
www.austinchronicle.com/issues/annual/stories/96/story.cheese.html

We republicans will not give our love of cheese away easily!

Aug 4, 2004 SARGENTO SALUTES CREW AND FAMILY OF USS RONALD REAGAN With Cheese-Themed Activities Including SargentoBurger Lunch
and 550-Pound Cheddar Cheese Replica of the Ship
www.sargentocheese.com/aboutus/press_story.jsp?pressReleaseId=38

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home,

Remember!

February 23, 1971, Volpe established the Transportation Safety
Institute at the FAA's Aeronautical Center, in Oklahoma City. Although initially operated by the FAA, this school provided training for the investigation of accidents and incidents in all modes of transportation, and in related regulatory matters.

and turns on a radio talk show.

For this we truly have to thank a democrat for the July 22nd 1959 amendment to the 1934 democratic legislation that effectivly shut down conservitive radio by requiring them to give "equal time" to liberals. The amendment abolished the equal time clause. Thank you Senator John O. Pastore, former Rhode Island governor and U.S. senator. Now at least the conservitive voice is heard somewhere. Thanks Rush, Thanks Mr. Savage, Thanks Mr. Hannity

The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good.

Well, if the shoe fits?

He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day.

That's because it would be an unsubstantiated lie.

Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."

Atta Boy Joe! You Rule!

[livinginphotographs]

10. Just scanning this thread, in a hurry...

but some things that jumped out at me. The "founding fathers" were at best deists, and at one point, Benjamin Franklin was a proud atheist who later settled for deism. But they were NOT Christians.

And the crap in the reply about Bush increasing spending for Pell Grants? After the election, the first thing he's trying to do is cut Pell Grants.

Also, when people bring up Republicans from anytime before Kennedy, they were NOT the Republicans of the day. The Republicans back then were generally what we'd consider liberals. It's completely ignorance of history to say otherwise.

I'd find some links, but I'm sure some other DUer will pick up the slack for me. Gotta run... :evilgrin:

[gmoses]

11. in reply I did note that when Republicans were the party of Lincoln

you could expect them to be more liberal than the Dixiecrats. Now the red-states and blue states have switched parties. The Dixiecrats are Republican now, etc. A whole new breed of Republican we have here in Texas, not the missionaries who set up schools. So when we step back to see the forest, if it's liberal policies you like ... um ... come to think of it ... aren't you pretty much out of luck?

[gmoses]

12. here's what I got back in reply to Pell Grants

Inquiring Republican Relative Replies:

Pell Grants

Kerry: They've cut the Pell Grants . . .

Bush: He said we cut Pell Grants. We've increased Pell Grants by
a million students. That's a fact.

Kerry: But you know why the Pell Grants have gone up in their
numbers? Because more people qualify for them because they don't have money. But they're not getting the $5,100 the president promised them. They're getting less money.

livinginphotographs writes:

"And the crap in the reply about Bush increasing spending for Pell
Grants? After the election, the first thing he's trying to do is cut Pell
Grants."

Factcheck.org Says:
Wrong on Pell Grants

Kerry claimed the Bush administration had cut Pell Grants for
low-income students to attend college. Bush said Pell Grants have been increased
by a million students. Bush was correct.

Department of Education figures show the number of Pell Grants awarded
the year before Bush took office was 3.9 million. The number grew to 5.1
million for the most recent academic year -- an increase of 1.3 million,
actually.

Spending for Pell Grants grew from just under $8 billion in the
academic year that was underway when Bush took office to nearly $12.7 billion
three years later, a jump of nearly 60%. That's some "cut."

It is true that during the 2000 presidential campaign Bush promised to
increase the maximum size of Pell Grants to $5,100 for first-year
students, a promise that remains unfulfilled. The maximum grant has risen from
$3,300 at the time Bush made that promise, but only to $4,050. Under Bush's
proposed 2005 budget the maximum grant would remain frozen there for
most students for the third year in a row.

In April Bush proposed an increase of as much as $1,000 in the maximum
award, but only for those students who prepare for college with
demanding courses in high school, which would allow only a small fraction of Pell
Grant recipients to qualify for the maximum. So Kerry was correct when
he said students are "not getting the $5,100 the president promised them."

[gmoses]

13. and this just in from Dad

"The results of no actions which have resulted in wars (which by the
way are not the favorite hobby of those who fight them) would be a world where all of the fanatics, tree huggers, etc would be dead or buried so deep in detention that they would wish they were dead and the water would be inpure. Warriors love peace but not at any cost. Much of the energy devoted to all the criticism of how things are done or were done might be better spent in one trying to take a place in the world where the individual can make a significant influence on future actions.
Learning Farsi, Arabic, Chinese, or Pushtu might allow more
conversation with the other folks and maybe they can be talked into joining the peace movement."--W.C.Moses

[livinginphotographs]

14. Hmmm...

Not what I heard.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1461526&mesg_id=1461526&page=

[gmoses]

15. yeah I think the discussions talk past each other ...

you did mention THIS year's Pell, the reply refers to past performance. also, this discussion has -- in typical form -- completely hijacked the race question and immigration and bigotry, etc., so I'll not extend these notes any further.

In Texas we are fighting for one immigrant Democrat, to save his seat from being taken away thru Republican challenge. I posted the article elsewhere at DU and it dropped like a rock.

So when it comes to fighting for immigrant rights, perhaps Democrats can get back to the question thru support of folks like Hubert Vo:

http://www.zzi.net/news/20041230074023.shtml

[mcscajun]

8. This got posted to another board I frequent

The political leanings are all over the place. The person who posted this one did so with the subject: What's your opinion?

This was my response: My opinion? I'm Soooooooooooo bloody tired of jingoistic diatribe masquerading as patriotism. 'Nuff said.

I just couldn't, wouldn't go into a point-by-point refutation of this tripe, 'cause it made my head explode!

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.