Not one Bush extended family is in Iraq

[Erika]

Not one. I got challenged that since the rich pays the majority of the taxes it is the duty of the poor to defend the country.

That is twisted thinking. The rich gain from the wars they choose not to fight "Just let the poor people do the fighting"

[tkmorris]

1. Someone really made that argument to you?

That's outrageous. That might actually incite violence in me.

[Erika]

2. Yes, they said since the rich paid the majority of the taxes

that it was only proper the others defend the country. This is Idaho.

[WI_DEM]

9. what a pathetic arguement, probably from some rich chicken hawk trying to justify why

he or members of his family are not serving.

[LibDemAlways]

3. The Iraq casualty list from California tells the

socioeconomic tale. No one from Beverly Hills, Palos Verdes, San Marino, Newport Beach, or Hillsboro is on that list, but plenty of soldiers from working class communities across the state are. 17 of the 22 from Los Angeles have Hispanic surnames. While already obscenely wealthy criminals like Cheney continue to get rich off this war, it's middle class and poor people who are losing their lives over there.

Whoever told you that the poor have a duty to defend the country while the rich skate is an ass. Unfortunately, in this case it is the poor who are fighting the rich bastards' war of choice.

[Erika]

4. It saddens me that wealth

is used as a cause for the poor to fight. The wealthy have far more to lose than the poor monetarily.

Not one Bush family member is in Iraq.

[fasttense]

5. The rich do not pay the majority of taxes.

If you only calculate federal wage taxes (not FICA) you can make it look like the wealthy pay the most. But if you calculate everything (sales tax, FICA, property tax, state and local tax) you get a very different picture. The truth is the middle class pays the most in taxes. Her is a link: http://www.askquestions.org/articles/taxes/

Remember Helmsley?

"Fifteen years ago, socialite Leona Helmsley bragged, “only the little people pay taxes,” but then she went to jail for tax fraud. Unfortunately, Helmsley's statement is even more accurate today than it was at the time."

http://www.askquestions.org/articles/taxes/

Don't buy off on the radical-conservative manipulation of economic numbers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. I had one tell me he had to go to college so he couldn't go to war

because he wanted to serve his country as a successful businessman.

Really.

[genie_weenie]

7. Thank goodness.

Could you imagine the horror of having to explain the loss of one of the Plutocratic Class in this conflict? I would be distraught beyond belief if one of America's betters was injured...

Hussah! Continue to thin out the plebes! Now if only we could ignore those at Walter Reed long enough for them to succumb...

[Bridget Burke]

8. There are other ways to serve society.

One can enter a profession that helps people--medicine, teaching, law enforcement. And even some of the wealthy in Houston engage in serious philanthropy.

Unfortunately, no member of the Bush family fits into any of these categories, either.