Life is about making choices. Living day to day is about making choices. Most importantly though is the responsibility which comes with making those choices.

Americans have been polarized on issues out of fear from those that use fear as its weapon. Are people making decisions out of fear? Are people getting involved with issues out of fear without truly knowing the facts? How many in the media use fear for whatever purpose to get the response they want from their listeners. Is the media part of the problem and not a part of the solution? The answer is simple. Any corporation, celebrity, government official or agency that uses fear in manipulating the real facts to get the reaction they want out of the masses is manipulating the outcome of issues.

And I feel one of the greatest fears that has developed into a serious problem is how many Americans feel their "vote" will not count. This has come about I believe because many Americans simply do not trust their own politicians anymore to tell them the truth. But one must never forget, your vote does count. This is what has made this great country is the power of the people. So, get out and make your vote count, it will count. Failure to do so means you have "given" in to the fear and it has won. I do not believe for one minute that is the "real" substance of Americans of letting fear control them. Which leads me to this photo.

Is this what fear has taken us to? The searching of a little boy at an airport like this?

Worse yet, those using fear are not providing solutions to the problems or issues, they are only making situations worse, they are part of the problem. Fear has been used throughout history to manipulate innocent people.

Those that use fear present only those facts that they are usually slanted to the further the purpose of their cause. Have Americans forgotten to look past the fear, the hype of the issues being thrown at them to truly get to the truth and facts of issues?

In December, 2003, Thomas Kean, Chairman of the 911 Commission in a press conference stated publicly that 9/11 could have and should have been prevented. You will learn why later on.

Nationalism, religion, and ignorance have always gone hand-in-hand throughout history, and now our society has the new human invention of corporatism using fear to boost the influential power of ignorance. Mergers of corporate, religious, and nationalist interests can already be seen all over America. One only has to walk into any major outlet store which caters to the masses, such as Wal-Mart, Lowes, and other such corporate places, and you can see the nationalist/religious/corporate triad in effect.

These things are ignored by most of the American public because the majority of people, out of ignorance of not knowing the real facts and the fear that is being used against them, have bought into the American fantasies that the powers to be want them to be in.

I have also tired of the radio talk show hosts in this country, whether they be from the right or the left. They are all playing to the fear emotions of their listeners. From Al Franken and Sean Hannity to Rush Limbaugh and finally Michael Moore. Are any of these people addressing the real issues in this country? No! Are they providing solutions to the problems or have they become part of the problem?

Recently, Rush Limbaugh's statements concerning the prisoner mistreatment in the prisons in Iraq were nothing short of preposterous. He compared what has been going on in the detention camps and prisons to the Skull and Bones (college) hazing. There is a HUGE difference between a college hazing and what went on in those prisons. That is just simple common sense.

First and foremost, keep in mind one thing. 38 states have instituted laws that do not allow hazing. These were enacted because of the many deaths of students.

The left is just as bad as the right. Those from the left are playing on the public's fears as well. All of these "celebrities", if you stop and really think about it are playing on the fears of the public.

In this column, I am going to present the facts on issues that are facing America. I will present the facts without political agenda or preference. As both political party conventions go into full wing and the election nears, Americans need the facts about the real issues. Many of these "real" issues have been thrown to the side, especially now with all sides of the political spectrum focusing only on the issues of the definition of marriage, the war in Iraq, and taxes. This is what they want you to only concentrate on. Why? It goes back to my first paragraph. It is all about choices and the responsibility of those choices. Politicians are the elected representatives of the people. Their choices come attached with responsibilities on many fronts. However, when is the last time you have seen any politician actually take responsibility in the choices they have made in representing you.

By presenting the facts as they are, I will most likely take a lot of heat from people from all political parties. People are reacting out of fear and not truth. When they are presented with the obvious facts and truth, they do not want to deal with it. It is much easier to make an excuse for their cause or ignor it altogether. Facing the truth is one of the hardest things mankind has yet to overcome.

I will present the facts as they are and call a spade a spade as my grandfather used to say. Life has no gray areas. There is a simple right and wrong. There is what is called using common sense as well. One can readily see that this is being forgotten on many fronts.

There are many "real" issues facing our country besides the ones being focused on.

The column is in three parts, so make sure you click at the bottom for the next part. On some issues, I will highlight the main facts. For more detailed facts on that issue, please click on the link for that issue to learn more detailed facts of that issue.

At the end of part three, you can click on part four which is a listing of the platforms that both President Bush and Senator Kerry are taking on issues.

There is something that you might want to know first of all. Did you know that President Bush and Senator Kerry are related. It all began with a man named Edmund Reade and a woman named Elizabeth Cooke. Reade and Cooke had two daughters. From them came both the Bush and Kerry family tree.

Here is the family tree.

Before I begin these series of in-depth articles, I want to comment on the findings of the 911 Commission. I cannot believe that the Commission found no blame for either President Clinton or President Bush for 911.

FACT:

There were 14 warnings from the CIA to various White House Adminstrations that terrorists could use commercial airliners as weapons to crash into buildings. Question: Why didn't any adminstration act on these warnings from the CIA prior to 911?

Is there something to this news report that WCPO TV in Cleveland reported on September 11th, 2001, at 11:43 AM? Please note that it mentions flight 93, the airliner which was reported later to have crashed.

The following can be read on WCPO TV's website at:
http://www.wcpo.com/specials/2001/americaattacked/news_local/story14.html

Reported by: 9News Staff
9/11/01 11:43:57 AM

A Boeing 767 out of Boston made an emergency landing Tuesday at
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport due to concerns that it may
have a bomb aboard, said Mayor Michael R. White.

White said the plane had been moved to a secure area of the airport and was evacuated.

United identified the plane as Flight 93.
The airline did not say how many people were aboard the flight.

United said it was also "deeply concerned" about another flight,
Flight 175, a Boeing 767, which was bound from Boston to Los Angeles.

On behalf of the airline CEO James Goodwin said: "The thoughts of
everyone at United are with the passengers and crew of these flights.
Our prayers are also with everyone on the ground who may have been involved."

"United is working with all the relevant authorities, including the FBI, to
obtain further information on these flights," he said.

There is more. Two planes made an emergency landing in Cleveland, in close succession. The proof is based on local newspaper and radio reports from September 11th and 12th (mainly from the Akron Beacon Journal and the Cleveland Plain Dealer), statements of eyewitnesses and internet postings in the morning of 9/11 (people were listening to the radio and immediately submitted the breaking news to the net). One of the flights was indeed Delta 1989. We don't know the identity of the other one, it has been named "Flight X", and to this day United has not disclosed what actual flight it was and where it came from.

From various sources, including statements of the passengers, it can be concluded that Delta 1989 landed at 10:10 and was evacuated at 12:30. Flight X landed at 10:45 and was evacuated at 11:15.

There are many unanswered questions concerning these events at the Cleveland Airport on 911 that the 911 Commission failed to investigate. You can read more about these events at these websites and make your own decision.
http://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=323

Flight 175. What are the bumps under the plane?

Despite any view, photos, video from the various networks, when you look at Flight 175 that crashed into the tower, you can see that there is something definitely under the belly of the plane that cannot be explained. It is not reflection from the sun. Read this story and view the photographs of the plane right before impact that have been analyzed at the website listed below. This article first appeared in a Spanish newspaper in Spain. The article was translated into English by another website.
http://www.amics21.com/911/flight175/third.html

Futhermore, in this article

English translation
www.amics21.com/911/report.html

Original Spanish Version
www.amics21.com/911/Informe.html

by spanish professor, Amparo Sacristan Carrasco at the Barcelona University in Barcelona, Spain raises further questions as to what is under the belly of the plane. Professor Carrasso has digitally analyzed the undercarriage of flight 175 that crashed into the tower. His findings: "the cylinder objects under the plane are three-dimensional in nature and could not have been caused by shadows or reflections."

The photo used is a frame from the television footage shot by all 3 networks. In his report are the actual digital analysis of the plane undercarriage and comparing it to a regular 767.

Is there something under the belly of the plane that crashed into one of the towers? At this controversial website, actual film footage from the various network feeds have been framed stopped shortly before impact into the tower. Although the images are not clear of what is there, something is definitely under the belly of the plane. I'm not sure what to make of this or agree with what this website is suggesting. I have come to one conclusion, there is something underneath the belly of the plane. That cannot be discounted. By the way, something I have noticed by taking the image of the plane and using a good enhancement program using zoom, I have noticed there are NO WINDOWS on this plane except for the cockpit? Even though when you use zoom in a program and it distorts the image, if there had been windows on this plane there would be digital light variations where the windows should be, there are none. It shows only solid digital fragments that show no "openings", ( lighter digital pixels), in the metal frame of the plane for windows. Try it yourself.

Make your own observation, but try to keep an open mind. You can view this at this website:
http://www.letsrolls911.org

There is also the information in another disturbing document.

It is a document that entails plans and subversive tactics for the overthrow of the Cuban government in 1962. What is so disturbing about this document is, there are recommendations for U.S. agencies to use various plans like "blowing" up parts of the base in Cuba we have there, to actually using a commercial airliner to be flown into the base to use as an excuse to attack Cuba. These plans were written up by the Joints Chief of Staff at the time for the Secretary of Defense. My fellow Americans, this is disturbing to see that our own government would actually think of doing such things.

If you want to view this document, it is in .pdf format and you will need Acrobat Reader to do so. It is a large document of 770K and will take a few minutes to download. You can view it at:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/northwoods.pdf

It simply appears that many more questions need to be investigated. There may not be anything to these events. Or, that whatever is under the belly of the plane can be explained with further enhancement of the images. You make your own decisions regarding these issues, but try to keep an open mind. Don't say no immediately, there just could be something in these issues.

911 Familes Dissatisfied With The Quality of Questioning
During the 911 Commission’s Public Hearings.

The 911 Family Steering Committee remains dissatisfied with the quality of questioning during the Commission’s public hearings. In particular, we are extremely disappointed with the 9/11 hearings that took place in New York May 18th and 19th.

You can read more about the comments from the 911 Family Steering Committe at this website:

http://911independentcommission.org/nychearings52204.html

The 911 family organization main site is:http://911independentcommission.org

You also might want to read my columns, file. What Really Happened On 911
The Facts of 911 - Who Knew What When

After you read other facts in this three part series, you can then decide if all answers to 911 have been fully explored and investigated and if the 911 Commission Report is accurate in its findings.

Now to the real facts and real issues facing our country.

THE DEFICIT:

The United States deficit will hit the highest debt in U.S. history by 2008 of $5.24 trillion dollars according to current projection of expenditures and revenues. Over $1.2 trillion dollars has been attributed to the ongoing re-building and stabilization of IRAQ and Afghanistan since 2002. That does not include the cost of the war, estimated to be $1.5 trillion if American forces are in Iraq through 2006. This does not count the $200 billion that the U.S., you the American taxpayer is spending to re-build Iraq.

MEDICARE:

$1.1 trillion will be the actual cost of the Medicare Prescription coverage from 2004 to 2014. It was originally reported that the program would initially cost $400 billion to implement, however it is now known that the total cost will exceed $550 billion. The original price tag that was revised was hidden from the public until the measure passed the Senate and House. It mainly benefits the huge pharmaceutical companies.

Another problem began with the budget that was submitted to Congress. What most Americans do not know is that 60% of the cost of the program that was budgeted, or approximately $350 billion was not included in actual budget figures until 2008. This means that the budget initially declared in 2004 and submitted to Congress was off by some $330 billion dollars, or one-third of a trillion dollars.

The cost of medical care is rising at over 22% a year. This is partly caused by the greed of medical corporations for profit who control over 75% of health care facilities in the country. However, there is a much larger problem. The huge influx of immigrants that has relied on Medicaid for medical care has actually bankrupt non-profit hospitals and emergency rooms across the country at an alarming rate over the last ten years.

45 MILLION AMERICANS ARE WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE:

Presently, 45 million of Americans and 50% of children are without any type of healthcare coverage. A rise in child deaths has resulted, partly due to child preventative health programs for the poor that have been cut. Mortality rates in both men and woman have soared for poor patients not being able to receive proper medical care and treatment. Countless people have died because they could not afford to pay for the latest medical treatments.

ECONOMY AND JOBS:

Over 2.4 million jobs have been permanently lost between 2001 and 2003 due to corporations closing plants and building new ones overseas. These jobs will never be replaced because Congress failed to close the loop holes for corporations setting up facilities overseas. It is estimated, by the U.S. Labor Dept., that by 2014, another 8 million jobs will be permanently lost to overseas outsourcing. In 2002, tax reforms in the form of tax credits were pushed through for corporations if they built facilities overseas. This was a Republican President and Congress that allowed this to happen.

Due to the huge influx of baby boomers that will begin to retire in 2008, there will be a severe shortage in the health care fields. Even with the increase of immigrants that are flooding into the country, (approximately 1,000 per day), and filling menial type jobs, there will be a huge shortage of health care workers to care for the elderly either in their homes or in assisted living facilities.

The situation could become a crisis which the White House and Congress will not know how to deal with. The elderly and disabled could be moved and consolidated into "camps" across the country to be taken care of by the military. This has caused the ACLU and various civil rights groups to file court actions in Federal courts to prevent this from happening. However, under the laws passed by Congress in 2002 under the Homeland Security Act, and partly under the FEMA Acts, the government can at any time under the auspices of National Security to prevent civil unrest can "segment" and "segregate" any group of society that is posing a risk or is a risk to themselves.

Growth of Low-wage Jobs Will Change U.S. Standard of Living

The growth of low-wage employment in the United States is not being looked at seriously by the politicians. Good-paying blue-collar manufacturing jobs are disappearing permanently overseas as well as white-collar jobs.

There are 34 million workers earning less than $8.70 per hour. They have seriously fallen behind in their standard of living because of short-sighted business cost-cutting, government deregulation and technology changes.

A study of 10,000 workers and managers in 25 predominantly low-wage industries was performed by Eileen Appelbaum, the director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University, and Annette Bernhardt, a senior policy analyst at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

The expansion of low-wage jobs that do not support a middle-class standard of living far exceeds the number of workers affected in manufacturing and offshoring, the two say in their study, "Low-Wage America: How Employers are Reshaping Opportunity in the Workplace."

Two-thirds of the 277,000 jobs that were added to private payrolls in March were in low-wage industries, such as retail trade, food and drink establishments, janitorial services, home health nursing, repair and maintenance, the women say. The study suggests that government policymakers must help more low-wage workers and industries by increasing minimum pay, supporting local job raining and business-labor cooperative efforts and strengthening enforcement of collective bargaining rights.

The real value of the minimum wage has decreased by 40 percent below its 1968 level, they added. If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would be $8.46 today, instead of $5.15.

The authors say the problem isn't going to go away. Of the 10 occupations the government estimates will have the greatest job growth in the next eight years, seven pay below-average wages, including five that pay very low wages, the study shows.

Hidden Unemployed Ignored in Official U.S. Jobless Rates

There are reports called, "Alternative measures of labor underutilization," that are buried deep inside the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly jobless reports. These reports reveal a truer and less rosy picture of employment in the United States than what is being reported in the mainstream news media.

These reports show the hidden unemployed, those who are not included in the official unemployment rate for various statistical reasons. If these hidden unemployed figures were included, unemployment in the United States would have stood at 9.7 percent in May, compared with the official level of 5.6 percent.

Using the alternative measure would add an extra 6 million jobless people to the 8.2 million "officially" unemployed.

The alternative measure includes people described as "marginally attached" to the labor force. These are workers who have not actively looked for jobs in the past four weeks, including "discouraged workers," those who have given up altogether looking for a full time job.

While the Federal Reserve uses the official unemployment rate to determine such things as interest rates, it pays little attention to the effect the alternative measures of joblessness has on the economy.

Lee Price, research director at the independent Economic Policy Institute, said the withdrawal from the labor force over the past three years is "unprecedented." "The traditional measure of labor market slack, the unemployment rate, is giving us a misleadingly tight picture."

In fact, the labor force participation rate is at its lowest since 1988, lower even than during the last recession.

Ian Morris, chief economist at HSBC, said there needs to be a debate on unemployment, "but it's not happening." All of the politicians are ignoring this. Wall Street analysts hold upbeat views on the economy and accept the unemployment rate at face value, he added.

Jose Rasco, senior economist at Merrill Lynch, said the adjusted measure shows "unemployment remains stubbornly high and higher than it should be at this point in the cycle."

Other economists say that if the hidden unemployed start looking for jobs, the unemployment rate could actually go higher at a time when new, lower paid, jobs are being created.

In addition, the nation's long-term jobs crisis continued in May, with more than 8 million workers unable to find jobs and the average length of unemployment increasing.

Although the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a net increase of 248,000 new jobs in May, the economy has lost 1.2 million jobs since January 2001, and 8.2 million people remained unemployed. The overall jobless rate remained at 5.6 percent but was much higher among African Americans at 9.9 percent and Latinos at 7 percent.

What you have not heard or read about from the mainstream media is that 11,000 more jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector. These jobs were permanently lost to out sourcing overseas.

The BLS reports the average length of unemployment rose to 20 weeks last month, up from 19.7 weeks in April. Nearly 22 percent of all jobless workers have been without work for 27 weeks or more. Their situation is made all the more desperate by the failure of the Republican-dominated Congress to extend unemployment insurance benefits to the long-term jobless.

"The economy is not yet creating enough jobs to keep pace with workers entering the labor force and we're still way behind the employment levels of three and a half years ago," says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "With gasoline prices above $2 a gallon and workers' premiums for family health care coverage rising nearly 50 percent over the past three years, working families cannot make ends meet.

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reported this week that BLS statistics for May show 35 states have fewer jobs than in March 2001. In April, 13 states and the District of Columbia reported unemployment averages higher than the national average.

The Bush administration predicted its "Jobs and Growth" tax cut would add 3.4 million jobs in the 11 months since Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy went into effect in July 2003. But since then, the economy has added only 1.4 million jobs-making it short more than 2 million jobs below the administration's promise, according to the EPI.

"We have got to do something to get back to an America where people could get a decent job and live a dignified life," says Carla Meert, a sales associate with BellSouth in Hollywood, Fla., and a member of the Communications Workers of America Local 3104. "Pretty soon there will be no good jobs left in this country for our children."

Working Women Hard Hit

Working women have been hit hard by the jobs crisis. Fewer women are employed today than in March 2001. In April 2004, some 63,553,000 women were employed, compared with 63,699,000 in March 2001, a decline of 2.3 percent.

"If the upward trend in the number of women employed over the 1990s had continued from March 2001 on, we would expect an additional 3.9 million women would be employed now," says Vicky Lovell, study director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Nearly half, 48 percent of working women say they have been out of work in the past year or have a family member or close friend who has been out of work, according to the 2004 Ask a Working Woman survey report. The survey was conducted for the AFL-CIO by Lake Snell Perry & Associates.

The report also shows working women, including single mothers and married women, many of whom work in low-paying jobs-contribute a majority of their families' incomes.

"The new jobs in industries that are growing offer 20 percent lower wages, on average, than those in industries that have been shrinking, and many don't offer basic benefits," says AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson. Women from all backgrounds and from across the country fear for their future, because they find it harder and harder to find good job

White-Collar Job Growth Slows

New projections by BLS for white-collar job growth for 2002-2012 refute earlier optimistic estimates and reveal the harmful impact of shipping jobs offshore, according to an analysis of the BLS figures by the AFL-CIO Professional Employees (DPE).

Over the next decade, the greatest job growth will be in low-wage service jobs, BLS says. Seven of the 10 occupations expected to gain the most ground are low-wage occupations that do not require a college degree.

The largest number of U.S. jobs will be created in low-wage, low-skill areas such as retail sales, restaurants and building service, according to BLS. In the most rapidly growing occupations, the rate of increases will be highest among low-paid health care workers, physical therapy assistants and aides, medical assistants, home health aides, medical records and health information technicians.

Projected growth in information technology jobs has dropped significantly, the BLS reported. Two years ago, BLS predicted an average of 152,800 high tech, white-collar jobs would be added annually to the economy. The latest BLS figures show the seven most rapidly growing professional and technical occupations will add only 10,600 information technology jobs annually between 2002 and 2012.

"Government and business economists promised that high-tech and knowledge jobs would replace the manufacturing jobs that were offshored, but now they are being exported, too. This is dramatically changing the nature of employment in our country," says DPE President Paul Almeida.

BLS Employment Figures Show Impact of Outsourcing

Would you like to know the real facts of the outsouring of jobs overseas and how it has hurt Americans?

There are no better examples exist of how outsourcing and offshoring have caused the decline of good-paying middle-class jobs in the last couple of years than the U. S. government's own statistics and projections for job growth.

In December 2001, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projected that the most rapid job growth for the 2002-2012, period would be in high-tech occupations, where salaries were expected to match those in the declining manufacturing field.

But by February 2004, the BLS had to make a new projection for the same 10-year period. Those projections said the fastest growing jobs would be in the low-paid, less-skilled service area.

"As a result, instead of 152,800 high-tech white-collar jobs being added annually to the economy, the seven most rapidly professional/technical occupations are projected to add only 10,600 information technology jobs annually between 2002 and 2012 -- an astounding 70 percent decline," the AFL-CIO's Department for Professional Employees said.

Paul Almeida, president of the department, said, "The changing job projections show that outsourcing has reduced the nation's ability to create high-skill, well-compensated jobs that are the backbone of our middle class." The high-tech and knowledge jobs that were supposed to replace U.S. manufacturing jobs that previously moved to other countries now "are being exported, too," he added.

Other labor statistics support that conclusion, Almeida said. Labor Department figures for 2000-2003 show a 95 percent increase in unemployment among workers with college degrees, compared with a 40 percent increase among those with a high school diploma or less. Long-term unemployment for those with college degrees rose by nearly 300 percent over the same period.

As of July 2, 2004, employment growth slows, and unemployment is stuck at 5.6%. However this does not count the previously explained percentage that would increase that by 6 million or an actual unemployment rate of 8.2%. The nation's employment rolls grew by 112,000 in June, well below the pace of job growth in recent months, according to today's employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the past three months, the labor force has expanded by 629,000, compared to a decline of 228,000 over the prior three months. This trend means that more jobs must be created simply to keep the unemployment rate from going up.

In fact, there is some evidence that the ranks of the unemployed are increasingly dominated by those entering the workforce. The share of the jobless who are new entrants or re-entrants to the labor force was 38% last month, compared to 34% when the recovery began in November 2001.

Regarding the quality of the net new jobs, some higher-wage sectors came in particularly weak this month. Manufacturing employment, after expanding since February, contracted by 11,000 (the average wage in manufacturing is $16.12, compared to the overall average of $15.65). These losses mostly occurred in the lower-paying non-durable part of the industry (-14,000 jobs), but durable manufacturing only added 3,000 jobs after averaging 21,000 per month over the past three months. Hiring in information services-which has an average hourly wage of $21.34, remains weak, and the sector added only 1,000 jobs in June. Financial services (with an average hourly wage of $17.58) also added fewer jobs than in recent months.

On the other hand, professional and educational/health services were large contributors to June's payroll gains, adding 39,000 and 37,000, respectively. While prior monthly gains in professional services were largely in temporary work, a sub-sector with below-average wages, last month's jobs were added in higher-end sub-sectors, including computer systems design and management.

Another sign of weak demand by employers in June was the two-tenths-of-an-hour decline in weekly hours worked. The very slight increase in hourly wages and this drop in weekly hours caused weekly earnings to fall in nominal terms, from $528 in May to $526 in June. The relatively low number of jobs added this month in tandem with the decline in weekly hours led the index of aggregate hours, a broad measure of labor market demand, to fall for the first time since last July.

Since January 1, 2004, the following companies have announced staff reductions and mass layoffs:

AlcaTel, AllTel, American International Group (AIG), AOL, AT&T, Baltimore Maryland Schools, Best Buy, Biddeford Blankets, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Blue Ridge Paper, Boeing, Bombardier, Bon-Macy's, Bose, Cebal, Champaign County, Illionois, Cigna, Cigna Corp., City of Baltimore, Maryland, City of Benton, Illinois, City of Boston, Massachusetts, City of Chicago, Illinois, City of Chillicothe, Ohio, City of Cleveland, Ohio, City of Erie, Pennsylvania, City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, City of Houston, Texas, City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, City of Providence, Rhode Island, City of Salem, New Jersey, City of Sioux City, Iowa, Cooper Bussman, Covenant Medical Center, CXS, Danka Business Systems, Dickinson Hospital, Bismarck, North Dakota, Drexel Heritage, DST Systems, Earthlink, Eastman Kodak, Emisphere Technologies, Fetzer Vineyards, Ford Motors, Gradall, Hennepin County, Minnesota, Home Depot, Hoover Hanes Rubber Custom Mixing Copr., Huffy, IBM, Iowa Packing Co., Kanawha Manufacturing, KB Toys, Kraft Foods, Madison Square Garden/Cablevision, Maytag, Meijer Foods, Monroe County, New York, National Textiles, Northampton County, New Jersey, Northwest Airlines, Ohio Casualty, One Price Clothing, PalmOne, Perdue Farms, Pillowtex, Rainbow Movers, Reliant Energy, REMEC, RJR/Brown & Williamson Tobacco, Rouge Steel, Rubbermaid, SBC, Sprint, State of California, State of Colorado - CSU Veterinary Teaching School, State of Connecticut, State of Missouri, State of Oregon, Steelcase, Subaru, Systemax, The Carrier Corp., TSYS, Tulalip Casino, Tulsa World News, TYCO, U. S. Airways, Union Institute, United States Navy - civilian employees, Walt Disney Studios, Washington Mutual, Weirton Steel Corp., Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Wilson's Leather, Yale University Library.

The ripple effect of these lost jobs will be enormous. One of the many apparent consequences will be the reduction in the monies that are received by the U.S. Treasury, making the deficit grow exponentially.

The loss of jobs within our borders shows that the current administration's mantra of cutting taxes has failed to support its snake-oil claims of "job creation." In fact, the opposite is true. These tax cuts encouraged the flight of jobs from the United States. Treasury Department figures show that actual corporate income tax revenues fell to $132 billion in 2003, down 36 percent from $207 billion in 2000.

And the Iraq War will have cost $1.4 trillion by the end of 2005? Who is going to pay for all this? Not the corporations who have saved $75 billion dollars in taxes.

Is this why the Republican party likes outsourcing jobs, contributions? This is just a sample of the many corporations who have laid off hundreds of thousands of workers, moving jobs overseas. These corporations have not contributed as heavily to the Democrat party.

American Express
Contributions directly to the President Bush: $39,000
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $422,405

Bechtel
Contributions directly to President Bush: $10,300
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $465,150

Convergys
Contributions directly to President Bush: $7,500
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $5000

Dell Computer
Hard Money to Bush: $40,250
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $793,550

Delphi Automotive
Contributions directly to President Bush: $10,950

Fidelity
Contributions directly to President Bush: $164,908
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $574,270

Ford
Contributions directly to President Bush: $76,200
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $268,257

General Electric
Contributions directly to President Bush: $49,125
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $756,987

Hewlett Packard
Contributions directly to President Bush: $6,200
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: 29,000

HSBC Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $4,240

McKinsey & Co
Contributions directly to President Bush: $19,500
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $102,500

Sallie Mae
Contributions directly to President Bush: $19,250
Soft Money contributions to the Republican Party: $261,000

FACT:
U.S. FEDERAL SPENDING HITS ALL TIME HIGH:

Since 2001, even with record low inflation, U.S. federal spending has increased by a massive 28.8% (19.7% in real dollars)-with non-defense discretionary growth of 35.7% (25.3% in real dollars)-the highest rate of federal government growth since the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson. This increase has resulted in the largest budget deficits in U.S. history, over $520 billion in fiscal year 2004 alone and estimated to be over $2.4 million by 2006. Furthermore, the projected spending for 2005 is a conservative estimate, since it doesn't include at least $50 billion annually for the ongoing cost of the Iraq occupation.

The U.S. National Debt surpassed $7 Trillion last week, an amount equal to sixty-three percent (63%) of our 2003 Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Republicans have been saying that 'deficits don't matter' since Ronald Reagan. This explanation for the justification of the insolvency of our country makes no sense.

The following numbers tell the real story of Bush's economic failure:

3,000,000: Since George W. Bush took office, America has lost 3 million jobs.

1,000,000: One million jobs have been outsourced since President Bush took office.

50% Higher: Health care costs have increased 50 percent since 2001 when Bush took office.

33% Higher: Unemployment has increased 33 percent since Bush took office.

$35,000: Bush is worried about death taxes for people making tens of millions of dollars -- but he has saddled every child born into this country with a $35,000 birth tax.

$10,368: American families will pay $10,368 in interest on the debt by 2014.

James Baker of Houston, Texas. This is the same James Baker who was the elder George Bush's campaign chief and Secretary of State. Baker was also called in to handle the Florida recount in the last Presidential election. Baker was also former chief counsel for ENRON, and is the chief counsel for the Carlyle Group which is making billions from the war in Iraq.

FACT:
Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush Are At Odds With One Another

Facing hostile questioning in parliament, Prime Minister Tony Blair has acknowledged some friction in his close relationship with President Bush and the political problems the friendship has caused in Britain with Blair. Blair used his sharpest language yet in the long-standing disagreement over the Bush administration's detentions at the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying they ''must end.'' And the British leader said it was likely weapons of mass destruction may never be found in Iraq.

''I have to accept that we have not found them, that we may not find them,'' Blair told the House of Commons Liaison Committee in regards to weapons of mass destruction. ''We do not know what has happened to them. They could have been removed, they could have been hidden, they could have been destroyed.''

FACTS:
CORPORATE MISDEEDS LEFT UNPUNISHED:

The Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) will refund the U.S. government $27.4 million for over-billings at five dining halls in Iraq and Kuwait, according to a Pentagon statement. Vice President Cheney was once the CEO of Halliburton.

A Pentagon audit has found wide-spread deficiencies in the way Halliburton tracks billions of dollars of government contracts in Iraq and Kuwait, leading to "significant" overcharges.

Billions have been swiped from Iraq as Occupation Authorities stash oil funds as Iraqi Health Care System dies. Iraqi children perish for want of medicines and equipment in Iraq's under funded hospitals while U.S. Treasury officials have billions of dollars of Iraqi oil revenues stashed away in secondary "slush funds" and U.S. Treasury bills.

The ENRON collapse should never have happened. Who was suppose to have been watching the hen house? You can thank deregulation of public utilities in many states for this fiasco that cost thousands of workers retirement and untold millions lost to stockholders. Not to mention the debt that California incurred over this mess. Certain insiders within Enron cashed out stock to a total of over 1 billion 1 hundred million dollars. Chairman Kenneth Lay take was $37,683,887 million. Jeff Skilling, former CEO, $14,480,755 million. Lou Pai, Unit Ceo, $62,936,552, yes that is nearly $63 million. Andrew Fasto, the fired Chief Financial Officer, $30 million. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. They ranked in millions more before ENRON failed. ENRON executives contributed over $2 million dollars to President Bush's first bid for President. FACT

Enron was built with $7 billion of your tax dollars.

And don't forget Senator Phil Gramm's wife, Connie, who was on the board of ENRON. Mrs. Gramm also received $50,000 for a "special charity" shortly before the ENRON scandal hit. Mrs. Gramm joined Enron's board in 1993 after helping to get new rules written,( during former daddy Bush's Presidency), exempting some energy trades from government oversight, particularly the type of energy business that Enron was doing. The exact type of trades that led to the little guy getting milked out of millions.

Read the rest of the story here: http://www.uruknet.info/?colonna=m&p=3907

ERRATIC BEHAVIOR ?

President George W. Bush's increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader's state of mind. Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.

"The mood here is that we're under siege, there's no doubt about it," says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. "In this administration, you don't have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President."

DUCK HUNTING?

Vice President Cheney's duck hunting with Chief Justice Scalia must have taken down a couple of birds. The Supreme Court ruled recently Cheney doesn't have to turn over records of the energy meetings with corporation executives. What is it in those papers that the administration does not want the public to know about. I'll explain what I think is the reason why later.

CATHOLIC CHURCH SELLING OFF CHURCHES:

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in South Boston has been sold to a developer. The community put up a lot of resistance in the sell. Not only was the beloved church closing, it was being turned into something that was an anathema to the working-class neighborhood: luxury condominiums.

At the former St. Peter and Paul's Church, condos have sold for between $300,000 for the smallest one-bedroom unit to $1.2 million for a penthouse unit with cathedral ceilings and overlooking the original bell tower of the 1848 church.

The Boston Archdiocese is putting 60 churches up for sale. Developers and real estate brokers predict they will be scooped up and converted into condos because the market is hot for trendy, distinctive real estate.

Archbishop Sean O'Malley has stated that declining Mass attendance, a shortage of priests and the inability of the archdiocese to support struggling parishes, many with older buildings in desperate need of repairs have added to the crisis.

Is this an indication that religion is losing a foothold in America?

FACT
CREDIT CARDS ARE BANKRUPTING AMERICA:

The debt that consumers now owe on credit card debt has reached an all time high of over $4.3 trillion dollars. The average debt that consumers owe on credit cards is $6,151, up 30% from just fives years ago. The interest paid by consumers to credit card issuers is running at a whopping $80 billion annually and fees are becoming larger. It is estimated that credit-card fees cost consumers about $31 billion a year. The interest rates on credit cards can change overnight even if the consumer is making payments on time. If a credit card company thinks you are at "risk" because you have used up most of your credit on your cards, the interest rate could jump from 15.8% to as much as 22.98%.

Since the Bank De-regulation Act of 1984, Americans have been taken to the cleaners so to speak. The act gave banking corporations to expand into insurance that should never have been allowed. There is very little regulatory control over banks anymore because of the Act.

POSSIBLE ELECTION POSTPONEMENT BECAUSE OF TERRORISM

Why is this being brought up now and not addressed after 911?

This needs to be watched very carefully. Republican Rep. Christopher Cox of California, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, told CNN that the idea of legislation allowing the election to be postponed was similar to what had already been looked at in terms of how to respond to an attack on Congress.

WISE WORDS FROM PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS AND OTHERS:

"If I were an employee, a working man, or a wage-earner of any sort, I undoubtedly would join a union of my trade... I believe in the union ...... Theodore Roosevelt.

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
- Theodore Roosevelt

"A passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils.

Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one nation the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country,"

- George Washington
- Farewell Address

"Reason and Ignorance, the opposites of each other, influence the great bulk of mankind. If either of these can be rendered sufficiently extensive in a country, the machinery of government goes easily on. Reason obeys itself; and Ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it." - Thomas Paine

"Conspiracy stuff' is now shorthand for unspeakable truth.
It is an article of faith that there are no conspiracies in American life."
- Gore Vidal - Daring to Think the Unthinkable About 9/11

UNDOCUMENTED - ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

FACT: Both Bush and Kerry want to give amnesty to these people
FACT: Isn't it interesting how the U.S. Govt. can track a cow that was born three years earlier to show it was born in Canada, but yet it cannot track down the estimated 9 million undocumented immigrants in this country?

Giving amnesty should not happen and here is why. But first, I want to clarify something about the information below. I am disclosing it as fact. I am not a racist and believe that America is a land for those seeking freedom. However, we cannot take in everyone from countries that are not solving their own problems.

It is estimated there are over 9 million undocumented immigrants in the country today. Of this 9 million, approximately 7.2 million are of Latino descent. They are not all from Mexico though. Some of these people are coming up from Central America from countries that have had years of revolution. Could this be why we are having more crime in this country? Remember that south of the border, especially in Central America, the mentality of these people are of the gang/family/mafia type mentality. Over centuries, they have had resort to this type of mentally for survival as groups fought over land and control of the countries. This influx of illegal immgrants are also bankrupting hospitals in the U.S. and making healthcare more expensive for others.

Additionally, over 1,000 undocumented immigrants are crossing the border from Mexico everyday. Undocumented immigrants can apply to the IRS for a tax ID number to pay taxes. However, it is estimated that only half of the 9 million are actually paying taxes. Of these that are paying taxes of an estimated $15 billion, they are taking over $30 billion in public services from public education to federal prisons to welfare programs like Medicaid and food stamps. Of the remaining that are not paying taxes, this group of approximately 4.5 million are taking an additional $15 billion in public assistance, for a grand total of nearly $45 billion a year.

Those undocumented immigrants not paying taxes are self-employed in such jobs as selling ice cream street wagons, maids at hotels, kitchen workers, or doing manual labor at construction sites. For those undocumented workers that have acquired a Federal ID tax number are taking jobs away from Americans at an alarming rate. For example, in the Southwest, in one city, there are approximately 500 undocumented workers working for construction companies. It is estimated that nearly 2 million undocumented workers being hired by companies are being paid in cash and no taxes are being witheld.

It is said the reason why these construction companies have to hire undocumented workers is because are no Americans that are applying for the jobs. Yet, these companies are paying these undocumented workers on an average 30% less than what they would have to pay an American applying for the job. Makes you wonder what they real reason is doesn't it?

Several years ago, I wrote that the undocumented worker problem in this country was going to grow to a huge problem and burden on our social welfare and health programs in this country by 2005. I was only off by a year. And don't forget that these undocumented/illegal immigrants are causing the closing of hospitals across the country and an estimated 20% increase in overall health costs to American citizens. The marjority of these people are on Medicaid in which the hospitals do not get paid hardly anything towards the care of these people. They have also learned how to "work" the system.

It is estimated that over the last five years, these undocumented/illegal immigrants have cost the country over $200 billion in public services as listed above. And that dollar figure will grow as 30,000 more illegals cross the border each month or approximately 400,000 a year. For this price tag, as I suggested five years ago, it is time that America build a 25 foot high double contrete wall that has 25 feet between each wall across our southern border. It would seal the avenues that these illegals are entering the country thru. The only way into the United States would only be through crossing border stations. This would be a permanent secure border that would reduce the need for the massive border patrol hiring that is estimated to be needed to try and control this situation in years to come. This is the most prudent and common sense thing to do. But will our politicians in Washington see the sensibility and savings of billions of dollars in taxpayers money in doing this? If you believe as I do, start writing and calling your Congressmen before this problem literally bankrupts this country. It is estimated that by 2010, 37% of the population in America will be Hispanic. According to the 1990 census, it was less than 19%.

7,000 MILE BORDER - IS IT PROTECTED?

There is over 7,000 miles of border between the north and south borders. Funding has not be adequate to protect these borders.

Does George Orwell's 1984 Book Show Insight:

Orwell first published1984 in 1949. The following is an excerpt of the analysis (14 pages) of George Orwells book "1984" by Erich Fromm, a great psychologist/humanitian. Fromm wrote the "afterward" in 1961.

"George Orwell's 1984 is the expression of a mood, and it is a warning. The mood it expresses is that of near despair about the future of man, and the warning is that unless the course of history changes, men all over the world will lose their most human qualities, will become soulless automatons, and will not even be aware of it."

Read more of what Orwell's book 1984 has to offer HERE