BestOfBid.com

What is the first step to take to get government contract? What is the first step to take to get government contract? Please give me few steps to get a government contract for a small business. May be the first thing is move to DC area?? help

How do I obtain a grant of any kind or Government contract? I`m a naval war vet, college grad, and now a licensed contractor with the state of California. How do I obtain a grant as a small business owner, or obtain government contracts for over seas duty in support of our troops?

What do I need in order to issue a 1099 to people that contract with my small business? I am starting a sole proprietorship and will have other people that will I will be getting work for. They will be paid using 1099. What government forms or ID numbers do I need to be able to do this?

As a small business, how can I have the opportunity to compete with larger companies on Federal projects? I manage a small business in Wisconsin. With all of the federal stimulus money that is going into construction projects across the state, I was wondering if there was some certification process that can help us get an edge in bidding for contracts. I have read that the Federal government needs to have 23% of its contracts go to small business. We are not minority or women owned, just small. Are there any programs that we can get certified for the help us gain an edge?

What do you think of government making an attempt to take control over 4 million small businesses? NEW LAW WOULD AUTHORIZE GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF 4 MILLION SMALL BUSINESSES National Center for Policy Analysis The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA, H.R. 1409, S. 560) does more than take away secret ballot elections: It empowers the federal government to impose contracts on newly organized companies. The government would set wages, benefits, work assignments, promotion procedures, and any major changes to business operations. Because EFCA has no meaningful small businesses exemption, it would authorize federal control of up to 4 million small businesses employing 39 million Americans. Consequently, bureaucrats with no management experience would effectively control these small businesses, says James Sherk, the Bradley Fellow in Labor Policy at the Heritage Foundation. The misnamed Employee Free Choice Act affects both large and small businesses, says Sherk: The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) has a small business exception, however, this exemption has not been updated for inflation since 1959. It covers all non-retail businesses with gross revenues of $50,000 a year and retail businesses with gross revenues over $500,000 a year. To put those figures into perspective, the average private-sector worker costs his or her employer $56,000 a year in wages and benefits--before the cost of any capital needed to do the job. A business with one worker earning average pay would not qualify, consequently, the law has no meaningful small businesses exemption. The Heritage Foundation used Census Bureau data to calculate how many small businesses EFCA would affect: The act covers 4,180,000 businesses employing 38,934,000 workers. EFCA takes away these workers' right to a secret ballot vote on joining a union -- a consequence that has attracted considerable controversy, says Sherk. However, the bill has a second provision of equal if not greater significance to small businesses that has attracted much less attention: EFCA replaces collective bargaining with government-imposed contracts for newly organized companies. In practice: EFCA will effectively eliminate collective bargaining for initial contracts because the system provides no reason for unions not to hold out for a government contract. Unions would have strong incentives to make extreme demands and hope the FMCS appointed arbitrator splits the difference between these demands and management's position. Granting such a radical amount of power to the FMCS puts control of workplaces in the hands of unaccountable government bureaucrats, says Sherk. Source: James Sherk, "EFCA Authorizes Government Control of 4 Million Small Businesses," Heritage Foundation, WebMemo #2341, March 12, 2009. For text: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Labor/wm2341.cfm For more on Unions: http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=43 "I am expected to read the whole of this copy and paste job?" Yes you are expected to do so. I did. How else do you expect to learn the issues? From simplistic one liner bumper stickers perhaps? I'm not here to provide you with a cliff notes version to make life easier for you. "Oh, well, when the information comes from right-wing think tanks, you know it's got to be unbiased!" The MOST predictable response. Biased or unbiased is irrelevant. Biased sources can be informative. Try not to use your partisanship as an excuse to remain ignorant and uninformed. And when you find an "unbiased" source reporting on thsi same issue, then you go post it. "The Heritage foundation is a well know right wing site.....right wingers HATE unions. The NCPA is a WELL KNOWN anti-union site...that posts biased" And the info contained within the article is all wrong....how? Dont try to use the claim of "biased article" as an excuse not to discuss this issue. If its wrong, then inform us how.

With bad credit and no seed money... other than government grants how do we get a small business loan? My boyfriend and I are trying to get his company a boost for his backhoe purchase so he can start work for himself. Of course his credit isn't the best and we have no seed money or investors at the moment. The business plan is drawn up and everything has been priced and we even have pending contracts, but we can't get a loan to get it started. I have faith in the operation, but he is fading fast I need some light at the end of the tunnel for him to see if you have any ideas on where to turn or what to try please let me know. We are currently looking into government grants which is about as much pain as trying to get a loan. All advice is welcome. Thank you.

background check with government contracts? Can a small business contract with the federal govt with misdemeanors on the records of the business owners. Not horrible crimes. I researched the websites and procedures for govt contracting awards but it did not mention this. thanks

My company is a small women owned 8a certified company. How do I go about going after government contracts? We have been 8a certified for a couple of years and the owner of my company has gone after just a couple. I know that there is a lot of business that we are missing. We do IT staff augmentation. Any advise on what steps I should take will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for you time.

Have I chosen a poor business name? I am in the planning phases of a software development services business. The business will target government contracts with small business set-asides. We will not target the consumer market or small business market. It is not too late to change the name because the business hasn't actually launched. Other than a domain name, web server, and mail server there won't be much work in changing. The name is "CoderBrigade". I see both positive and negatives to it. First the positive. It is early in the alphabet. It is easy to remember. I own the domain name. Good domain names are hard to come by. It describes what we do. The bad points, courtesy of my wife: 1) sounds militant 2) Misleading; a brigade is usually a large organization. We are not. 3) "Coder" is not a respected title, as Software Engineer, etc 4) She doesn't think it sounds professional If you had the chance to pick a business name from the beginning, would you change what I have or go with it?

I am a small business owner, How do I check if somebody is in the U.S legally or not? Hi, I really appreciate your time taken. thankyou for answering. Let me explain this requirement. Considering current economic situations and the highly specialized nature of the Job i need to get done, there is No way in Hell, the government going to know if I hire this person or not to do a certain work for me. I am basically hiring him as a contract employee, and it is all by word. He trusts me, i trust him. I pay him cash x amount at the completion of the work. It involves a LOT of highly skilled programming. There is NOBODY else i could find after months of interview and job search who is skilled enough. This is Completely off the books, I put an ad, and he called me on my cell, and he is qualified to do the job upon interviewing him. The work takes about 2 months. My business is very small. less than 4 employees including myself. NObody in the world is going to know if I hire this person. Now, I dont care where he is from or what he is, or what color he is, as long as the job is done and he is terribly good at it. That being said, I really would like to ask this question. How would I know what is the nationality of a person? How can I check if he is legally in the U.S. or not? I am not going to call the authorities on him. Frankly, I don't care if he is here illegally, and only wishes good for him, and want the best for him. But is there a way to check? Without asking him. I have his full correct name and copy of the front page his passport, with number, DoB,country etc. I feel and I know Everything he told me is honest except his legal status. Please help advise me. Mine is a very VERY small business. THank you. P.S. please don't give any political or racial rants here. I respect this person and his past life. I am not going to call the USCIS, OR any police OR ICE to check if he is legal. If that is your answer, please don't comment. I have is full correct name and nationality with passport details. I do not want to go to hell for screwing over a young man who is only trying to survive in this world. There will be no other contracts. This is a one time deal, and I found the perfect man suitable for the job. All I need to check is if he is legally present here or not. Ok. Let me make my q clear. No, I really don't care if he is legal or not. I only wish to know to check.

Should we restrict voting to only those people who do not take money from the government? One of the complaints of democracy is that voters can "vote themselves money". So what if people who receive money from the government were just not allowed to vote? This would exclude e.g. people on welfare, most farmers, all military personnel, Social Security recipients, people on Medicare, government employees, postal employees, other government contractors, people who net a refundable tax-credit, etc., etc., etc. Corporate officers of companies that have government contracts should probably be excluded. But what about the employees? What if the company just sells things to the government? What if it's just a small percentage of the company's income? How about the owners of a bar or other business who's customers are mostly military or government employees? Should these people be excluded not just from voting but excluded from the entire political process? including making campaign contributions or contributions to PACs and 527 groups? What do you think? (((christy8075))): Good point! If a voter can't figure out how to fill in a W-4 then he probably shouldn't be voting!!!! (((Tim G))): Sorry, those don't count since you can't really spend a road or an education. Free lunch programs might count (but in any case those kids are probably too young to vote.) (((coach))): white protestant land owners can still "vote themselves money" so I don't see how that would take care of the problem. (((claudiacake))): Not a bad idea, but how will you restrict PACs and 527 groups ("issue groups")? (((JonChicago))): Pretty much EVERYONE pays taxes (if you count sales taxes, gas taxes, property taxes, phone bill taxes, etc., etc.) (((Java))): Again, pretty much everyone PAYS taxes.

What do I need to get an 8A certification? I am planning to start a small business with the hope of getting lucrative 8A contract from the government and private enterprise. Could someone suggest how to get started? How could I find mentors who can help? Thanks

How will this effect the unions? Obama said, "We will stop outsourcing services that should be performed by the government and open up the contracting process to small businesses," recently regarding federal contracting. Here is the link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090304/ap_o...

Should the US gov consider disabled minority? The Small Business Administration has special programs to help minorities of different race and females. Government contracts give special consideration to minorities based on race, or if they are female owned companies. Why doesnt the US government give special consideration to businesses operated by the disabled and why are they not considered a minority? After all, the disabled are most likely the most oppressed minority in the country, where is the help for those with disabilities who are trying to make it on their own?

Can prior military civilians apply for the Defense Acquisition Corps? I am trying to get my foot in the door with government contracts/procurement/acquisitions. I am prior military and currently work in the purchasing field for a small business. Someone mentioned the Acquisition Corps and I was wondering if it is only for DOD/DON or current active duty personnel. Can a non-DOD, non-DON, military vet apply?

People, we need 2 wake up !? US Lawmakers Invested in Iraq, Afghanistan Wars Abid Aslam / Inter-Press Service | April 8, 2008 WASHINGTON - U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed. Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups. David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in Iraq, is to brief the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees on Tuesday and Wednesday. The latest findings are unlikely to have a significant impact on this week’s proceedings but could stoke anti-incumbent sentiment in this year of presidential and legislative elections. Lawmakers charged with overseeing Pentagon contractors hold stock in those very firms, as do vocal critics of the war in Iraq, says the Centre for Responsive Politics (CRP). Senator John Kerry, the Democrat from Massachusetts who staked his 2004 presidential bid in part on his opposition to the war, tops the list of investors. His holdings in firms with Pentagon contracts of at least five million dollars stood at between 28.9 million dollars and 38.2 million dollars as of Dec. 31, 2006. Kerry sits on the Senate foreign relations panel. Members of Congress are required to report their personal finances every year but only need to state their assets in broad ranges. Other top investors include Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican with holdings of 12.1 million - 49.1 million dollars; Rep. Robin Hayes, a North Carolina Republican (9.2 million - 37.1 million dollars); Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin (5.2 million - 7.6 million dollars); and Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat (2.7 million - 6.3 million dollars). Sen. Jay Rockefeller, the Democrat and former governor of West Virginia who chairs the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, invested some 2.0 million dollars in Pentagon contractors, CRP says. Other panel chiefs who invested in defence firms include Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut Independent who presides over the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Rep. Howard Berman, the California Democrat who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In all, 151 current members of Congress — more than one-fourth of the total — have invested between 78.7 million dollars and 195.5 million dollars in companies that received defence contracts of at least 5.0 million dollars, according to CRP. These companies received more than 275.6 billion dollars from the government in 2006, or 755 million dollars per day, says budget watchdog group OMB Watch. The investments yielded lawmakers 15.8 million - 62 million dollars in dividend income, capital gains, royalties, and interest from 2004 through 2006, says CRP. Not all the firms deal in arms or military equipment. Some make soft drinks or medical supplies and military contracts represent a small fraction of their revenues. Many are leaders in their industries and, as such, feature in the investment portfolios of millions of ordinary people who invest at least a portion of their savings in mutual funds, which in turn hold stocks in up to hundreds of companies. “Giant corporations outside of the defence sector, such as Pepsico, IBM, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson, have received defence contracts and are all popular investments for both members of Congress and the general public,” says CRP. “So common are these companies, both as personal investments and as defence contractors, it would appear difficult to build a diverse blue-chip stock portfolio without at least some of them,” the group acknowledges. If some of the stocks appear innocent, aides say legislators also are. Some did not buy the stocks in question but inherited them. Many hold them in blind trusts, so called because the investments are handled by independent entities, at least theoretically without the politicians’ knowledge of how their assets are being managed. Even so, according to CRP, owning stock in companies under contract with the Pentagon could prove “problematic for members of Congress who sit on committees that oversee defence policy and budgeting.” Members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees held 3.0 million - 5.1 million dollars in companies specialising in weapons and other exclusively military goods and services, it added. Critics have assailed President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney for their ties to companies seen as benefiting from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Bush was characterised as pushing conflict in the interest of the oil fraternity whence he hailed. Before becoming vice president, Cheney headed Halliburton, a major player in the oil services industry and the object of controversies involving political connections, government contracts, and business ethics. Halliburton’s subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, was given multi-billion-dollar contracts to provide construction, hospitality, and other services to the U.S. military following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The contracts drew fire because of Cheney’s history and then-ongoing financial relationship with the firm, and because the company did not have to compete for the Pentagon’s business. The firm was renamed KBR Inc. after Halliburton spun it off last year.

What can be done to stop government officials from giving contracts to friends who own businesses? What can be done to make it more fair for all firms competing for the profitable contracting the government does. Often these contracts go to friends of high ranking officals, or companies who funded a campaign. Should businesses be able to buy clout and contracts from the government? Is this fair to the smaller companies who aren't capable of funding a campaign? What can be done to make this process fair?

Some of you wanted to know how illegals affect us? personally???? Here is ONE example!!!!!!!!!!!!! Catastrophe in Care Hospitals are being crippled by the costs of treating migrants--and that could be just the start of an immigrant-related health crisis By LEO W. BANKS Leo W. Banks One of the many signs on the Naco Highway. Leo W. Banks "It's not unusual to have one UDA (undocumented alien) cost $5,000, and we know we're not going to get that back," says Josie Mincher, emergency room manager at Copper Queen Hospital. Leo W. Banks "Until we have comprehensive immigration reform, we need to bear the health-care costs for undocumented workers, whatever those costs are," says Rev. Tom Buechele. If you drive along Southern Arizona's border with Mexico long enough, you might see a lone illegal wandering the desert. Or maybe he's hunched at the roadside sipping water from his milk jug. What's he doing there, and where are his compatriots, the people he broke into the country with? The uninformed might ask those questions, but those who live with the daily invasion across our open borders can make a pretty good guess what's happening. The fellow got bounced from his group by the coyote-guide. Two transgressions will get an illegal cut loose with certainty: Either he can't pay, or he shows signs of tuberculosis. You think these coyotes are fools? They don't want some hollow-eyed lunger hacking and coughing blood on them. So it's adios, pal, and now you're America's problem. But they know that already. Every illegal realizes that if he makes it to an emergency room in Southern Arizona, or anywhere around the country for that matter, he can get treatment, free of charge. It's federal law, and has been for 20 years. In its evolution, the policy has become a kind of federal health insurance program for illegals, and its rising costs are eating up resources that could otherwise go to poor and uninsured American citizens. It has created a financial nightmare for border hospitals and contributed to cutbacks in services at Tucson hospitals. Is this an outrage? A scandal? Some think it's both. But going back to our active TB sufferer, here's something even worse: The guy can't get treatment anywhere, goes underground and takes a job at a restaurant in Tucson or L.A., and coughs his way to infecting scores of others. Talk about a Hobson's choice. But as with everything in the ongoing crisis of illegal immigration, the hard choices would largely evaporate if the federal government fulfilled its constitutional duty and took control of our border. The threat illegal immigration poses to American public health plays out every day at Arizona's hospitals. Until recently, the issue remained only marginally public, a problem medical people batted around among themselves, not with the media. Even today, several hospitals contacted for this story declined comment. The Copper Queen Hospital in Bisbee, one of the hardest hit, helped break that barrier when CEO Jim Dickson began returning reporters' calls, even though the subject, as he puts it, has become "like the third rail. You don't want to touch it." But his problem had grown severe. Dickson's uncompensated costs for treating illegals rose from $35,000 in 1999 to $450,000 in 2004. His total shortfall now sits at about $1.4 million, a hefty deficit for a 14-bed hospital. To make ends meet, he had to close, in June 2000, the Copper Queen's long-term care facility, and cut back on staff and hours, forcing some employees to take second jobs to survive. The hospital has seen a ray of light, however. In the first months of 2005, the Copper Queen has gone back into surplus, in part because more illegals are in Border Patrol custody when brought in to the hospital. That means the Border Patrol must reimburse the Queen for the cost. In the past, agents would drop injured illegals not in their custody at the ER and take off, sticking the hospital with bills that never got paid. Another reason for the decrease, says Dickson: the Minuteman Project. "It's been terrific for us in April," he says, cutting down on the number of people coming across and therefore the number requiring ER treatment. Dickson says the hospital wrote off about $6,000 in losses in April this year, compared to about $35,000 in April 2004. The central issue, though, remains in place--the hospital has had to scale back health services to American citizens to treat illegals. Bisbee isn't alone. The most comprehensive study on the subject found that 24 counties in four states bordering Mexico wracked up $190 million in unpaid emergency medical bills caring for illegals in the year 2000. The study, commissioned by the U.S.-Mexico Border Counties Coalition, found that California spent $79 million of that; Texas, $74 million; Arizona, $31 million; and New Mexico, $6 million. Bear in mind that these numbers, the best available, are from 2000. We can assume, with increasing rates of crossings since then, the costs are considerably higher today. Nor do the above figures take into account non-border counties. Treating illegals in Maricopa County costs as much as $50 million a year, according to an estimate used by Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. Nationally, American hospitals lose $1.45 billion a year. The Medicare reform bill passed in 2003 allocated $1 billion to reimburse states for federally mandated ER care given to illegals--about $45 million a year of that to come to Arizona over four years. But even that, some hospital staffers say, is little more than a Band-Aid on a huge problem. Ruth Kish, director of patient care services at Copper Queen, expects that under the repayment formula, her hospital will receive only 10 cents of every dollar they spend on illegals. "But every bit helps," says Kish. Another factor: The counties in the above-mentioned study spent an additional $13 million in 2000 on emergency transportation, such as helicopters and ambulances, to pick up illegals injured after sneaking across the line. The Bisbee Fire Department's ambulance responds to about one of these calls a day during the summer, says Chief Jack Earnest. Asked how many of these patients pay up, Earnest wasn't sure, and recommended contacting the billing office in Sierra Vista. The billing office knew exactly how often illegals pay their ambulance bills--never. But there's another category--Mexicans injured in Mexico who call American ambulances for help. By federal law, they have to respond, which makes Bisbee's Copper Queen the trauma center of choice for Sonora's northern frontier. The calls come from Naco, Sonora, the town across the line just south of Bisbee, where, in spite of widespread poverty, cell phones are popular, and everybody knows the Americans are bound by law to treat them. "When we get a call we go, and we don't ask where the person's from," says Earnest. Naco residents needing care go to the port of entry and declare an emergency to American officials. When they're waved through, they're transported to the Copper Queen's ER in Bisbee's ambulance, or they drive themselves in private cars. The policy is called Compassionate Entry, and it applies to hospitals up and down the line. The Copper Queen averages about five such cases a month. Some abuse the privilege, says ER Manager Josie Mincher. She's seen Compassionate Entries with bad sore throats and others who aren't sick at all. One pregnant girl landed in the ER recently complaining of morning sickness. Most are seriously sick, though, and the staff rushes to help, "because that's what we do," says Mincher. But it doesn't take much to blow the budget. "Just walking in the door is $400," says Mincher. "It's not unusual to have one UDA (undocumented alien) cost $5,000, and we know we're not going to get that back. We're playing with monopoly money here." Here's an example of how one patient can wrack up a huge bill: A young Mexican man had a bad auto accident across the line and was taken to Douglas' Southeast Arizona Medical Center with severe neurological problems. After being stabilized there, he was transferred to Barrow's Neurological Center in Phoenix. He spent a costly month there, courtesy of the Center, and was transferred--with a tracheotomy tube in his throat and supplies to clean it, also provided gratis by Barrow's--to a hospital in Hermosillo. That facility kept him less than a day before releasing him to his home in Naco. But for reasons no one can explain, the Hermosillo hospital kept his trach kit and cleaning supplies. As a result, he became septic--a bad infection--and came through the Naco port under Compassionate Entry to the Copper Queen. He spent three days there, then the staff sent him off, with more free supplies, to a clinic in Agua Prieta for continued care. How much did this fellow cost the American health care system? A figure of a quarter-million dollars would surprise no one. Cost to the Copper Queen? Almost $6,000, and they got none of it back. Northern Cochise Community Hospital is in Willcox, far enough from the border that it doesn't get patients crossing the line for health care. But that doesn't mean it escapes the invasion. CEO Chris Cronberg loses about $100,000 a year caring for illegals, mostly those injured in traffic accidents when their loaded vehicle flips while speeding north. "It's not make or break for us," says Cronberg. "But as a small hospital, we depend on cash, and those are dollars that aren't coming in, so it has an impact." The same is true at Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, according to Vice President Marie Wurth. She expects the hospital to lose $250,000 this year treating those who jump the line, get hurt doing it and don't pay their bills. The big squeeze is on in Tucson, too. Tucson Medical Center loses an estimated $4 million every year treating illegals. The corresponding figure at UMC, which includes some foreign nationals, was $3.5 million for fiscal 2004, a $2 million increase from the previous year. Part of that is attributable to UMC, in July 2003, becoming Tucson's only Level One trauma center, meaning it saw the most serious cases. Chief Financial Officer Kevin Burns says the hospital's re-payment rate for treating illegals is about 5 cents on the dollar. "It's very expensive for us and continues to grow," says Burns, who says many illegals, as well as uninsured Americans, use his ER like a primary care physician. "We hear anecdotally that people come here from across the border because they know they can get cared for, and if they present at the ER, they can get that care at no cost." The federal law that put the hospitals on the hook for the medical bills of illegals goes by the acronym EMTALA--Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. It says that anybody who shows up in an ER must get screened, treated and stabilized, regardless of citizenship or ability to pay. But since its passage in 1985, the definition of emergency has evolved to include just about anything, and because Congress didn't fund the requirement, hospitals have had to eat the costs as word has spread that the federal goodie wagon is parked at the ER door. In cities with huge illegal populations, such as Los Angeles, the effects have been disastrous. In its spring 2005 issue, the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons reported that between 1993 and 2003, 60 California hospitals closed because, for several reasons including EMTALA, half of their services became unpaid. Another 24 are near closing, says author Madeleine Pelner Cosman. She also writes that in 1983, before EMTALA, L.A. County put together a trauma network that was "one of America's finest emergency med response organizations." A mere 22 years later--again, in part because of EMTALA--Cosman says the system is coming apart, with most trauma hospitals having left the network, along with physicians, surgeons and others. The law has caused a similar situation in Tucson, on a smaller scale. "With EMTALA, the government created an unfunded national health insurance program, and it has caused real problems in this community," says Dr. Herb McReynolds, who works for a company that manages the ER department for St. Mary's Hospital, which treats a large number of illegals. Lawmakers wrote the legislation to prevent patient dumping--in which one hospital refuses to accept, say, an uninsured woman in labor, telling ambulance personnel to take her to the county hospital instead. It stopped that practice. But it has caused a big increase in the amount of un-reimbursed care that hospitals provide, and in McReynolds' words, "made physicians rethink their careers and lifestyles." "The price of it has come over time, because after so much uncompensated care, it forces physicians off our call list," says McReynolds. "Physicians have a practice to go to the next day and a family, and ask themselves, do I really want to be up at 2 a.m. providing care when I won't get comp, and I can still get sued?" Some docs have removed themselves from on-call lists by going to work at outpatient surgical centers not affiliated with a hospital. Others stay on call, but limit the amount of time they're available. A neurosurgeon might take call one day a week, and that satisfies the law. EMTALA says that you must provide a reasonable amount of coverage, without being strict or specific about how much that is. McReynolds says that EMTALA--in tandem with the malpractice crisis--has caused the loss of medical coverage at many hospitals around the country and in Tucson, including St. Mary's. "Several years ago we had five neurosurgeons on staff here, and now we have two," he says. "We had hand surgery coverage every day, and now we have it one week a month. We used to have full ob-gyn coverage, and now they've left and gone to TMC. We have no ob-gyn and one gynecologist on staff covering emergencies one day a week." With docs all over Tucson running for cover, trying to stay off call and away from ERs, the variety of emergency health care available to Tucsonans has seriously diminished. And here's the most maddening irony of all: The feds now reimburse American hospitals for treating non-paying illegals, but not for treating American citizens. Exception: Those eligible for care under Federal Emergency Services, a fairly restrictive program. For a year and a half now, UMC has approached non-paying illegals in a novel way--it actually reports them to immigration officials. "Some people find that cold, but we have a responsibility to protect this charitable asset (hospital)," says CFO Burns, adding that UMC's status as a public entity requires a different approach. "Our belief is that to the extent people have ability to pay, we expect them to." After triaging and stabilizing an ER patient, the hospital sets out to learn who that patient is, and how he or she plans to pay. To those who are uninsured and underinsured, the hospital offers the option of applying for its innovative Charity Care program. Under it, the hospital charges the patient the same rate it would receive for that service from Medicare, a possible reduction of up to 70 percent. Patients unable to pay at that discounted rate are eligible for further discounts that can tear up the bill entirely. To apply for Charity Care, the patient need only return to the hospital with a W-2 or other documents. Those who cooperate and return with the required documents don't get reported to the feds. But the hospital does report those who take the medical care and run. How many illegals cooperate with this generous offer? Ten percent. Burns says UMC began reporting the 90 percent who don't pay in November of 2003. So far, they've reported 565 persons. Why start reporting? "Maybe a bit of it was born of frustration because people use our resources and make no effort to work with us and pay," he says. "Even if part of the population doesn't pay, I still have to hire new people and buy and upgrade equipment, which costs $15-$20 million a year. When you have these strains on resources, from foreign citizens and as well as Medicaid patients, you have to manage cash flow very carefully." As with most issues related to the illegal invasion, those who live along the Mexican border, the scene of the crime, have the best view. Where health issues are concerned, it's not a pretty sight. Residents say they've come across ground dotted with discarded pills, syringes containing nobody knows what, and used needles. Some report riding horses along creek beds, popular pull-up areas for groups heading north, and finding 70 or 80 piles of human feces, some of it blackened and running with blood. It's as disgraceful as it is disgusting--and it raises a question: What happens when rain washes all this into the water supply? Is it a threat to spread diseases such as hepatitis? Some believe it might be. What happens when cows drink from these contaminated creeks? And what happens when this constant flow of Third World humanity goes north, fanning out all across Arizona and the country? What kind of diseases do they bring with them? ER workers like Mincher live with that question every day. "We protect ourselves best we can," she says, "but if somebody comes in with a contagious disease, I might as well buy the farm, because I don't know what it is. A lot of times, they don't know what they have either. If they came off a ranch in southern Mexico, they've had no immunizations, no health care, nothing." Most of what she sees at Copper Queen--around 75 percent--is orthopedic, falls suffered while jumping fences, for instance. Dehydration, too. Some of these are pregnant women nine months along, who, in Mincher's words, "are so desperate to have their babies born in the U.S., they'll do whatever it takes." She sees cardiac-related cases among illegals who've been given crack, methamphetamine or speed by their coyote so they can keep walking. But she's also treated illegals with active chicken pox, tuberculosis, all varieties of hepatitis and AIDS. The Web and print media are full of stories about the diseases illegals carry, and their effect on American health. But some writers make alarming claims with sketchy evidence at best. In the cases of two diseases, however--Chagas and tuberculosis--the evidence is clearer that they're indeed coming across our border. Chagas, a potentially fatal illness spread by contact with the feces of the reduviid bug, called the "kissing bug," is prevalent in South and Central America. Fifteen million people in that region are infected with the parasite, and 50,000 die of it every year, according to the World Health Organization. A person can be infected for 10 or 20 years or more before showing symptoms, making it particularly insidious. At its most severe, the disease can cause the heart to fail, and literally explode. In the United States? Louis Kirchhoff, of the University of Iowa Medical School, estimates that between 80,000 and 120,000 Latin Americans with Chagas live here. Matching prevalence studies and immigration numbers, Kirchhoff figures about 10 Chagas-infected persons entered every day from Mexico alone in the 1990s. The disease can be transmitted four ways, but for Americans, the most worrisome is the blood supply. In the United States overall, the chance of contracting Chagas from a blood transfusion is small, one in 25,000, according to David Leiby, a research scientist at the American Red Cross in Washington. But in cities with high populations from Latin America, the numbers fall to much riskier levels. In Miami, for example, the chance is one on 9,000. In L.A., 1 in 5,400. Researchers have confirmed seven cases of people contracting Chagas through blood transfusions--five in the U.S., two in Canada--and they say the number of unknown cases is probably much higher. "A rate of one in 5,400 is something we're concerned about," says Leiby, adding that the FDA is still a few years away from a useable blood-screening test. "Chagas is overlooked by the health care system in the United States. Our physicians aren't aware of it and wouldn't recognize it in most cases." Tuberculosis, which also shows up in high rates in Mexico, is migrating north as well. Many assume a place like Cochise County, right on the border and overrun by illegals, would have a high incidence of TB. But it doesn't, says Edith Sampson, of the Cochise County Health Department. "The immigrants only pass through here on the way to Atlanta, or whatever city they're going to," she says. Exactly the problem--which is a big reason why 53 percent of the TB in the United States in 2003 was among foreign-born persons, up from 29 percent in 1993, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In L.A., again because of its huge illegal population, the figure is closer to 80 percent. Only 15,000 Americans suffer from active TB, the only dangerous kind because it can be passed to someone else, usually by coughing and expelling the bacteria from the throat or lungs. That's a small number, but the New York Academy of Sciences estimates that each victim will "infect 10 or 20 or more people--in whom the disease will likely remain latent, creating the potential time-bomb effect." The State Health Department says that Arizona had 295 reported cases of active TB in 2003, a jump from the previous year. Why the increase? More of the disease was found among kids under 5 years old and prisoners. The latter were mostly Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees--in other words, illegals. Sixty-eight percent of Arizona's foreign-born TB cases are from Mexico, says state health. Will TB return to the United States in a big way? It hasn't yet, says Lee Reichman, executive director of the New Jersey Medical School's National Tuberculosis Center. But he adds that with globalization--the ability to get around the world in 20 hours--and because "we can't stop people from getting in to this country, no matter how hard we try," the potential exists for a new epidemic. His particular concern is with multi-drug-resistant TB, fatal in 60 percent of cases. This strain requires a long regimen of costly drugs that illegals are unlikely to take, or have access to. Arizona has a small number of MDR-TB cases, and all of them in the past five years have been among foreign-born persons. "The reason you haven't heard about TB here is that good public health is working," says Reichman. "People who are symptomatic go to physicians, and the physicians don't ask questions. As soon as you have to ID yourself, or say we're going to send you back to Mexico, these people go into hiding and spread more TB. Any physician who cares about being a physician isn't going to ask those questions, because he took an oath to treat sick people." The Copper Queen's Rush Kish says that under Medicare reimbursement guides, her hospital cannot ask patients if they are in the country illegally. But how do you bill the feds to get money back for treating illegals if you can't ask if someone is illegal? Well, you play a little Orwellian word game, probing around the issue with a list of government-approved questions, then make educated assumptions. But the illegal holds the trump card, because he can refuse to answer every question. "We don't know yet what evidence Medicare will accept when we apply for reimbursement," says Kish. "But at least we can begin documenting the enormity of this problem." The question isn't whether those with genuine emergencies should get treatment. Of course they should. In Naco, residents have no access to ER care and many would die if they didn't get to the Copper Queen. The real question is: Who pays? Rev. Tom Buechele, pastor at St. John's Episcopal Church in Bisbee, thinks it's appropriate for the federal government to keep ponying up, as long as American companies "maintain their illegal trafficking in human labor." "Until we have comprehensive immigration reform, we need to bear the health-care costs for undocumented workers, whatever those costs are," says Buechele, who, for almost a year now, has been running a free monthly clinic in Naco, Arizona, catering to the poor and uninsured on both sides of the line. Although they talk a different language, politicians, even Republicans, promote policies that further Buechele's liberal vision. They boast to constituents that they've saved border hospitals by pushing through the Medicare reimbursement plan, which provides a relatively small amount of money over four years. But that's another Hobson's choice, which is to say no choice at all. What do you do, let hospitals go under? Kyl, who pushed to get the reimbursement money, says an emphatic no. "If we want those ERs to be there for us, then we'd better keep them in business," says the Arizona senator. "If our hospitals are required by federal law to treat anybody who comes into the ER, and the federal government has failed to control the border, then it's appropriate for the government to reimburse these hospitals." But some argue that the system as it stands now, with EMTALA firmly in place, is rigged to produce two results: The federal treasury will remain wide open to illegals, and that all but guarantees that more and more of them will bust the line to get here. After all, this is the end of the rainbow for them, where jobs await, education is free, health care is free. Who wouldn't come? And the more they come, the more American health suffers--from such diseases as Chagas and TB, further cutbacks in hospital services to American citizens, and even possible closures. Where's the compassion in that? Copper Queen ER nurse Josie Mincher, herself Hispanic, puts her health, and possibly her life, on the line to treat illegals. Listen to the emotion in her voice as she describes what that's like: "I go to work every day feeling like I'm on a torture wrack. My heartstrings get pulled in one direction by these sick people I want to help. Because I'm Hispanic, I know how they live. And I'm pulled in the other direction, too, thinking that if our hospitals aren't around, where do I take my own kids? "But we have to treat them because of EMTALA. It says that anybody who comes within 250 yards of an ER gets treatment. What would happen to Safeway if the law said anyone who comes within 250 yards of the store gets free food? They'd go out of business. Well, we're a business, too." Mincher's solution? "Send the bills to Mexico. If it affected them financially, they might do something about all these people coming across. My grandparents came here legally, and it took a long time and a lot of money. They respected the law. These people just walk across now. They weren't brought up the same way." Burns at UMC says he wants the U.S. and Mexican governments to work together to find a solution. But, as Kyl cautions, don't expect any breakthrough soon. Mexico benefits far too much from our illegal immigration nightmare--in jobs for its citizens and cash sent home--to step up with money to care for its own people. Until the border brought under control and the invasion stopped, we'll continue to pay the bills of people who illegally tiptoed across the line in the dead of night. This is an article from the Arizona Repuiblic newspaper, NOT something i "made up"!!!! If you don't believe me, LOOK IT UP FOR YOURSELF!!! It's on-line, if you look under Copper Queen hospital!!! And for those of you that can not take the time to READ this article, i can SEE why you are so UNINFORMED on this issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Is A Contract Postal Unit Worker A Government Employee? Are individuals who work for a Contract Postal Unit (A small USPS service center often seen in grocery stores or other businesses) considered governement employees with the same pay grade and benefits? How much are they typically paid?

Can u give me a summery of 8 lines? Dont give up, its a nice story: THE GATE OF A HUNDRED SORROWS. "If I can attain Heaven for a pice, why should you be envious?" Opium Smoker's Proverb. This is no work of mine. My friend, Gabral Misquitta, the half- caste, spoke it all, between moonset and morning, six weeks before he died; and I took it down from his mouth as he answered my questions so:-- It lies between the Copper-smith's Gully and the pipe-stem sellers' quarter, within a hundred yards, too, as the crow flies, of the Mosque of Wazir Khan. I don't mind telling any one this much, but I defy him to find the Gate, however well he may think he knows the City. You might even go through the very gully it stands in a hundred times, and be none the wiser. We used to call the gully, "the Gully of the Black Smoke," but its native name is altogether different of course. A loaded donkey couldn't pass between the walls; and, at one point, just before you reach the Gate, a bulged house-front makes people go along all sideways. It isn't really a gate though. It's a house. Old Fung-Tching had it first five years ago. He was a boot-maker in Calcutta. They say that he murdered his wife there when he was drunk. That was why he dropped bazar-rum and took to the Black Smoke instead. Later on, he came up north and opened the Gate as a house where you could get your smoke in peace and quiet. Mind you, it was a pukka, respectable opium-house, and not one of those stifling, sweltering chandoo-khanas, that you can find all over the City. No; the old man knew his business thoroughly, and he was most clean for a Chinaman. He was a one-eyed little chap, not much more than five feet high, and both his middle fingers were gone. All the same, he was the handiest man at rolling black pills I have ever seen. Never seemed to be touched by the Smoke, either; and what he took day and night, night and day, was a caution. I've been at it five years, and I can do my fair share of the Smoke with any one; but I was a child to Fung-Tching that way. All the same, the old man was keen on his money, very keen; and that's what I can't understand. I heard he saved a good deal before he died, but his nephew has got all that now; and the old man's gone back to China to be buried. He kept the big upper room, where his best customers gathered, as neat as a new pin. In one corner used to stand Fung-Tching's Joss-- almost as ugly as Fung-Tching--and there were always sticks burning under his nose; but you never smelt 'em when the pipes were going thick. Opposite the Joss was Fung-Tching's coffin. He had spent a good deal of his savings on that, and whenever a new man came to the Gate he was always introduced to it. It was lacquered black, with red and gold writings on it, and I've heard that Fung-Tching brought it out all the way from China. I don't know whether that's true or not, but I know that, if I came first in the evening, I used to spread my mat just at the foot of it. It was a quiet corner you see, and a sort of breeze from the gully came in at the window now and then. Besides the mats, there was no other furniture in the room--only the coffin, and the old Joss all green and blue and purple with age and polish. Fung-Tching never told us why he called the place "The Gate of a Hundred Sorrows." (He was the only Chinaman I know who used bad- sounding fancy names. Most of them are flowery. As you'll see in Calcutta.) We used to find that out for ourselves. Nothing grows on you so much, if you're white, as the Black Smoke. A yellow man is made different. Opium doesn't tell on him scarcely at all; but white and black suffer a good deal. Of course, there are some people that the Smoke doesn't touch any more than tobacco would at first. They just doze a bit, as one would fall asleep naturally, and next morning they are almost fit for work. Now, I was one of that sort when I began, but I've been at it for five years pretty steadily, and its different now. There was an old aunt of mine, down Agra way, and she left me a little at her death. About sixty rupees a month secured. Sixty isn't much. I can recollect a time, seems hundreds and hundreds of years ago, that I was getting my three hundred a month, and pickings, when I was working on a big timber contract in Calcutta. I didn't stick to that work for long. The Black Smoke does not allow of much other business; and even though I am very little affected by it, as men go, I couldn't do a day's work now to save my life. After all, sixty rupees is what I want. When old Fung-Tching was alive he used to draw the money for me, give me about half of it to live on (I eat very little), and the rest he kept himself. I was free of the Gate at any time of the day and night, and could smoke and sleep there when I liked, so I didn't care. I know the old man made a good thing out of it; but that's no matter. Nothing matters, much to me; and, besides, the money always came fresh and fresh each month. There was ten of us met at the Gate when the place was first opened. Me, and two Baboos from a Government Office somewhere in Anarkulli, but they got the sack and couldn't pay (no man who has to work in the daylight can do the Black Smoke for any length of time straight on); a Chinaman that was Fung-Tching's nephew; a bazar-woman that had got a lot of money somehow; an English loafer--Mac-Somebody I think, but I have forgotten--that smoked heaps, but never seemed to pay anything (they said he had saved Fung-Tching's life at some trial in Calcutta when he was a barrister): another Eurasian, like myself, from Madras; a half-caste woman, and a couple of men who said they had come from the North. I think they must have been Persians or Afghans or something. There are not more than five of us living now, but we come regular. I don't know what happened to the Baboos; but the bazar-woman she died after six months of the Gate, and I think Fung-Tching took her bangles and nose-ring for himself. But I'm not certain. The Englishman, he drank as well as smoked, and he dropped off. One of the Persians got killed in a row at night by the big well near the mosque a long time ago, and the Police shut up the well, because they said it was full of foul air. They found him dead at the bottom of it. So, you see, there is only me, the Chinaman, the half-caste woman that we call the Memsahib (she used to live with Fung-Tching), the other Eurasian, and one of the Persians. The Memsahib looks very old now. I think she was a young woman when the Gate was opened; but we are all old for the matter of that. Hundreds and hundreds of years old. It is very hard to keep count of time in the Gate, and besides, time doesn't matter to me. I draw my sixty rupees fresh and fresh every month. A very, very long while ago, when I used to be getting three hundred and fifty rupees a month, and pickings, on a big timber-contract at Calcutta, I had a wife of sorts. But she's dead now. People said that I killed her by taking to the Black Smoke. Perhaps I did, but it's so long since it doesn't matter. Sometimes when I first came to the Gate, I used to feel sorry for it; but that's all over and done with long ago, and I draw my sixty rupees fresh and fresh every month, and am quite happy. Not DRUNK happy, you know, but always quiet and soothed and contented. How did I take to it? It began at Calcutta. I used to try it in my own house, just to see what it was like. I never went very far, but I think my wife must have died then. Anyhow, I found myself here, and got to know Fung-Tching. I don't remember rightly how that came about; but he told me of the Gate and I used to go there, and, somehow, I have never got away from it since. Mind you, though, the Gate was a respectable place in Fung-Tching's time where you could be comfortable, and not at all like the chandoo-khanas where the niggers go. No; it was clean and quiet, and not crowded. Of course, there were others beside us ten and the man; but we always had a mat apiece with a wadded woollen head-piece, all covered with black and red dragons and things; just like a coffin in the corner. At the end of one's third pipe the dragons used to move about and fight. I've watched 'em, many and many a night through. I used to regulate my Smoke that way, and now it takes a dozen pipes to make 'em stir. Besides, they are all torn and dirty, like the mats, and old Fung-Tching is dead. He died a couple of years ago, and gave me the pipe I always use now--a silver one, with queer beasts crawling up and down the receiver-bottle below the cup. Before that, I think, I used a big bamboo stem with a copper cup, a very small one, and a green jade mouthpiece. It was a little thicker than a walking-stick stem, and smoked sweet, very sweet. The bamboo seemed to suck up the smoke. Silver doesn't, and I've got to clean it out now and then, that's a great deal of trouble, but I smoke it for the old man's sake. He must have made a good thing out of me, but he always gave me clean mats and pillows, and the best stuff you could get anywhere. When he died, his nephew Tsin-ling took up the Gate, and he called it the "Temple of the Three Possessions;" but we old ones speak of it as the "Hundred Sorrows," all the same. The nephew does things very shabbily, and I think the Memsahib must help him. She lives with him; same as she used to do with the old man. The two let in all sorts of low people, niggers and all, and the Black Smoke isn't as good as it used to be. I've found burnt bran in my pipe over and over again. The old man would have died if that had happened in his time. Besides, the room is never cleaned, and all the mats are torn and cut at the edges. The coffin has gone--gone to China again-- with the old man and two ounces of smoke inside it, in case he should want 'em on the way. The Joss doesn't get so many sticks burnt under his nose as he used to; that's a sign of ill-luck, as sure as Death. He's all brown, too, and no one ever attends to him. That's the Memsahib's work, I know; because, when Tsin-ling tried to burn gilt paper before him, she said it was a waste of money, and, if he kept a stick burning very slowly, the Joss wouldn't know the difference. So now we've got the sticks mixed with a lot of glue, and they take half-an-hour longer to burn, and smell stinky. Let alone the smell of the room by itself. No business can get on if they try that sort of thing. The Joss doesn't like it. I can see that. Late at night, sometimes, he turns all sorts of queer colors--blue and green and red--just as he used to do when old Fung-Tching was alive; and he rolls his eyes and stamps his feet like a devil. I don't know why I don't leave the place and smoke quietly in a little room of my own in the bazar. Most like, Tsin-ling would kill me if I went away--he draws my sixty rupees now--and besides, it's so much trouble, and I've grown to be very fond of the Gate. It's not much to look at. Not what it was in the old man's time, but I couldn't leave it. I've seen so many come in and out. And I've seen so many die here on the mats that I should be afraid of dying in the open now. I've seen some things that people would call strange enough; but nothing is strange when you're on the Black Smoke, except the Black Smoke. And if it was, it wouldn't matter. Fung-Tching used to be very particular about his people, and never got in any one who'd give trouble by dying messy and such. But the nephew isn't half so careful. He tells everywhere that he keeps a "first-chop" house. Never tries to get men in quietly, and make them comfortable like Fung-Tching did. That's why the Gate is getting a little bit more known than it used to be. Among the niggers of course. The nephew daren't get a white, or, for matter of that, a mixed skin into the place. He has to keep us three of course--me and the Memsahib and the other Eurasian. We're fixtures. But he wouldn't give us credit for a pipeful--not for anything. One of these days, I hope, I shall die in the Gate. The Persian and the Madras man are terrible shaky now. They've got a boy to light their pipes for them. I always do that myself. Most like, I shall see them carried out before me. I don't think I shall ever outlive the Memsahib or Tsin-ling. Women last longer than men at the Black- Smoke, and Tsin-ling has a deal of the old man's blood in him, though he DOES smoke cheap stuff. The bazar-woman knew when she was going two days before her time; and SHE died on a clean mat with a nicely wadded pillow, and the old man hung up her pipe just above the Joss. He was always fond of her, I fancy. But he took her bangles just the same. I should like to die like the bazar-woman--on a clean, cool mat with a pipe of good stuff between my lips. When I feel I'm going, I shall ask Tsin-ling for them, and he can draw my sixty rupees a month, fresh and fresh, as long as he pleases, and watch the black and red dragons have their last big fight together; and then . . . . Well, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters much to me--only I wished Tsin-ling wouldn't put bran into the Black Smoke.

Do you belong to the "new Church of Global Warming"?

Certified payroll on governemt projects for professionals? I run a small contracting business. We do some government jobs which require certified payroll according to the Davis-Bacon Act. From what I can read, this refers to "laborers" and "mechanics" What do i do if A) I personally do the majority of the work on the project (I am the Vice President with a Professional Engineer License) or B) All of my employees are degreed engineers, who i see and treat as professionals and not laborers or mechanics. The prime contractor is asking for this and we are having a bit of a back and forth on it. If you could also tell me your experience in this matter i would appreciate it, thanks :)

Can u give an 8 line summery? Dont give up, its a nice story: THE GATE OF A HUNDRED SORROWS. "If I can attain Heaven for a pice, why should you be envious?" Opium Smoker's Proverb. This is no work of mine. My friend, Gabral Misquitta, the half- caste, spoke it all, between moonset and morning, six weeks before he died; and I took it down from his mouth as he answered my questions so:-- It lies between the Copper-smith's Gully and the pipe-stem sellers' quarter, within a hundred yards, too, as the crow flies, of the Mosque of Wazir Khan. I don't mind telling any one this much, but I defy him to find the Gate, however well he may think he knows the City. You might even go through the very gully it stands in a hundred times, and be none the wiser. We used to call the gully, "the Gully of the Black Smoke," but its native name is altogether different of course. A loaded donkey couldn't pass between the walls; and, at one point, just before you reach the Gate, a bulged house-front makes people go along all sideways. It isn't really a gate though. It's a house. Old Fung-Tching had it first five years ago. He was a boot-maker in Calcutta. They say that he murdered his wife there when he was drunk. That was why he dropped bazar-rum and took to the Black Smoke instead. Later on, he came up north and opened the Gate as a house where you could get your smoke in peace and quiet. Mind you, it was a pukka, respectable opium-house, and not one of those stifling, sweltering chandoo-khanas, that you can find all over the City. No; the old man knew his business thoroughly, and he was most clean for a Chinaman. He was a one-eyed little chap, not much more than five feet high, and both his middle fingers were gone. All the same, he was the handiest man at rolling black pills I have ever seen. Never seemed to be touched by the Smoke, either; and what he took day and night, night and day, was a caution. I've been at it five years, and I can do my fair share of the Smoke with any one; but I was a child to Fung-Tching that way. All the same, the old man was keen on his money, very keen; and that's what I can't understand. I heard he saved a good deal before he died, but his nephew has got all that now; and the old man's gone back to China to be buried. He kept the big upper room, where his best customers gathered, as neat as a new pin. In one corner used to stand Fung-Tching's Joss-- almost as ugly as Fung-Tching--and there were always sticks burning under his nose; but you never smelt 'em when the pipes were going thick. Opposite the Joss was Fung-Tching's coffin. He had spent a good deal of his savings on that, and whenever a new man came to the Gate he was always introduced to it. It was lacquered black, with red and gold writings on it, and I've heard that Fung-Tching brought it out all the way from China. I don't know whether that's true or not, but I know that, if I came first in the evening, I used to spread my mat just at the foot of it. It was a quiet corner you see, and a sort of breeze from the gully came in at the window now and then. Besides the mats, there was no other furniture in the room--only the coffin, and the old Joss all green and blue and purple with age and polish. Fung-Tching never told us why he called the place "The Gate of a Hundred Sorrows." (He was the only Chinaman I know who used bad- sounding fancy names. Most of them are flowery. As you'll see in Calcutta.) We used to find that out for ourselves. Nothing grows on you so much, if you're white, as the Black Smoke. A yellow man is made different. Opium doesn't tell on him scarcely at all; but white and black suffer a good deal. Of course, there are some people that the Smoke doesn't touch any more than tobacco would at first. They just doze a bit, as one would fall asleep naturally, and next morning they are almost fit for work. Now, I was one of that sort when I began, but I've been at it for five years pretty steadily, and its different now. There was an old aunt of mine, down Agra way, and she left me a little at her death. About sixty rupees a month secured. Sixty isn't much. I can recollect a time, seems hundreds and hundreds of years ago, that I was getting my three hundred a month, and pickings, when I was working on a big timber contract in Calcutta. I didn't stick to that work for long. The Black Smoke does not allow of much other business; and even though I am very little affected by it, as men go, I couldn't do a day's work now to save my life. After all, sixty rupees is what I want. When old Fung-Tching was alive he used to draw the money for me, give me about half of it to live on (I eat very little), and the rest he kept himself. I was free of the Gate at any time of the day and night, and could smoke and sleep there when I liked, so I didn't care. I know the old man made a good thing out of it; but that's no matter. Nothing matters, much to me; and, besides, the money always came fresh and fresh each month. There was ten of us met at the Gate when the place was first opened. Me, and two Baboos from a Government Office somewhere in Anarkulli, but they got the sack and couldn't pay (no man who has to work in the daylight can do the Black Smoke for any length of time straight on); a Chinaman that was Fung-Tching's nephew; a bazar-woman that had got a lot of money somehow; an English loafer--Mac-Somebody I think, but I have forgotten--that smoked heaps, but never seemed to pay anything (they said he had saved Fung-Tching's life at some trial in Calcutta when he was a barrister): another Eurasian, like myself, from Madras; a half-caste woman, and a couple of men who said they had come from the North. I think they must have been Persians or Afghans or something. There are not more than five of us living now, but we come regular. I don't know what happened to the Baboos; but the bazar-woman she died after six months of the Gate, and I think Fung-Tching took her bangles and nose-ring for himself. But I'm not certain. The Englishman, he drank as well as smoked, and he dropped off. One of the Persians got killed in a row at night by the big well near the mosque a long time ago, and the Police shut up the well, because they said it was full of foul air. They found him dead at the bottom of it. So, you see, there is only me, the Chinaman, the half-caste woman that we call the Memsahib (she used to live with Fung-Tching), the other Eurasian, and one of the Persians. The Memsahib looks very old now. I think she was a young woman when the Gate was opened; but we are all old for the matter of that. Hundreds and hundreds of years old. It is very hard to keep count of time in the Gate, and besides, time doesn't matter to me. I draw my sixty rupees fresh and fresh every month. A very, very long while ago, when I used to be getting three hundred and fifty rupees a month, and pickings, on a big timber-contract at Calcutta, I had a wife of sorts. But she's dead now. People said that I killed her by taking to the Black Smoke. Perhaps I did, but it's so long since it doesn't matter. Sometimes when I first came to the Gate, I used to feel sorry for it; but that's all over and done with long ago, and I draw my sixty rupees fresh and fresh every month, and am quite happy. Not DRUNK happy, you know, but always quiet and soothed and contented. How did I take to it? It began at Calcutta. I used to try it in my own house, just to see what it was like. I never went very far, but I think my wife must have died then. Anyhow, I found myself here, and got to know Fung-Tching. I don't remember rightly how that came about; but he told me of the Gate and I used to go there, and, somehow, I have never got away from it since. Mind you, though, the Gate was a respectable place in Fung-Tching's time where you could be comfortable, and not at all like the chandoo-khanas where the niggers go. No; it was clean and quiet, and not crowded. Of course, there were others beside us ten and the man; but we always had a mat apiece with a wadded woollen head-piece, all covered with black and red dragons and things; just like a coffin in the corner. At the end of one's third pipe the dragons used to move about and fight. I've watched 'em, many and many a night through. I used to regulate my Smoke that way, and now it takes a dozen pipes to make 'em stir. Besides, they are all torn and dirty, like the mats, and old Fung-Tching is dead. He died a couple of years ago, and gave me the pipe I always use now--a silver one, with queer beasts crawling up and down the receiver-bottle below the cup. Before that, I think, I used a big bamboo stem with a copper cup, a very small one, and a green jade mouthpiece. It was a little thicker than a walking-stick stem, and smoked sweet, very sweet. The bamboo seemed to suck up the smoke. Silver doesn't, and I've got to clean it out now and then, that's a great deal of trouble, but I smoke it for the old man's sake. He must have made a good thing out of me, but he always gave me clean mats and pillows, and the best stuff you could get anywhere. When he died, his nephew Tsin-ling took up the Gate, and he called it the "Temple of the Three Possessions;" but we old ones speak of it as the "Hundred Sorrows," all the same. The nephew does things very shabbily, and I think the Memsahib must help him. She lives with him; same as she used to do with the old man. The two let in all sorts of low people, niggers and all, and the Black Smoke isn't as good as it used to be. I've found burnt bran in my pipe over and over again. The old man would have died if that had happened in his time. Besides, the room is never cleaned, and all the mats are torn and cut at the edges. The coffin has gone--gone to China again-- with the old man and two ounces of smoke inside it, in case he should want 'em on the way. The Joss doesn't get so many sticks burnt under his nose as he used to; that's a sign of ill-luck, as sure as Death. He's all brown, too, and no one ever attends to him. That's the Memsahib's work, I know; because, when Tsin-ling tried to burn gilt paper before him, she said it was a waste of money, and, if he kept a stick burning very slowly, the Joss wouldn't know the difference. So now we've got the sticks mixed with a lot of glue, and they take half-an-hour longer to burn, and smell stinky. Let alone the smell of the room by itself. No business can get on if they try that sort of thing. The Joss doesn't like it. I can see that. Late at night, sometimes, he turns all sorts of queer colors--blue and green and red--just as he used to do when old Fung-Tching was alive; and he rolls his eyes and stamps his feet like a devil. I don't know why I don't leave the place and smoke quietly in a little room of my own in the bazar. Most like, Tsin-ling would kill me if I went away--he draws my sixty rupees now--and besides, it's so much trouble, and I've grown to be very fond of the Gate. It's not much to look at. Not what it was in the old man's time, but I couldn't leave it. I've seen so many come in and out. And I've seen so many die here on the mats that I should be afraid of dying in the open now. I've seen some things that people would call strange enough; but nothing is strange when you're on the Black Smoke, except the Black Smoke. And if it was, it wouldn't matter. Fung-Tching used to be very particular about his people, and never got in any one who'd give trouble by dying messy and such. But the nephew isn't half so careful. He tells everywhere that he keeps a "first-chop" house. Never tries to get men in quietly, and make them comfortable like Fung-Tching did. That's why the Gate is getting a little bit more known than it used to be. Among the niggers of course. The nephew daren't get a white, or, for matter of that, a mixed skin into the place. He has to keep us three of course--me and the Memsahib and the other Eurasian. We're fixtures. But he wouldn't give us credit for a pipeful--not for anything. One of these days, I hope, I shall die in the Gate. The Persian and the Madras man are terrible shaky now. They've got a boy to light their pipes for them. I always do that myself. Most like, I shall see them carried out before me. I don't think I shall ever outlive the Memsahib or Tsin-ling. Women last longer than men at the Black- Smoke, and Tsin-ling has a deal of the old man's blood in him, though he DOES smoke cheap stuff. The bazar-woman knew when she was going two days before her time; and SHE died on a clean mat with a nicely wadded pillow, and the old man hung up her pipe just above the Joss. He was always fond of her, I fancy. But he took her bangles just the same. I should like to die like the bazar-woman--on a clean, cool mat with a pipe of good stuff between my lips. When I feel I'm going, I shall ask Tsin-ling for them, and he can draw my sixty rupees a month, fresh and fresh, as long as he pleases, and watch the black and red dragons have their last big fight together; and then . . . . Well, it doesn't matter. Nothing matters much to me--only I wished Tsin-ling wouldn't put bran into the Black Smoke.

please answer my question about the constitutional convention? TeachingAmericanHistory.org Homepage Register Online About Us Search Site Seminars & Institutes Historical Documents Library Audio Lectures & Discussions Constitutional Convention Home > Constitutional Convention > Introduction to the Constitutional Convention by Gordon Lloyd Introduction to the Constitutional Convention by Gordon Lloyd See Also: Convention: Introduction to this Site | Introduction to the Convention | Four Act Drama | Day by Day Summary | Major Themes | Madison's Notes | Selected Correspondence Delegates: Age of Framers in 1787 | Educational Backgrounds | Continental Experiences | Delegates by State | Alphabetical List | Interactive Scene at the Signing of the Constitution | Interactive Map of Philadelphia | Entertainment of George Washington at the City Tavern The Call for a Grand Convention On May 15, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, is so can you answer my question?

"Childhood Poverty Is Found to Portend High Adult Costs? KENNEDY: In the New York Times today: "Childhood Poverty Is Found to Portend High Adult Costs." Here it is in the newspaper today, just what we've been talking about! The United States! The highest poverty rate for children of any industrial nation in the world! RUSH: Stop the tape! Let's compare poverty, shall we? You want to examine the average poverty stricken person in America with the average poverty stricken person anywhere else on the planet? Senator Kennedy, you're not talking apples and apples. But he gets even more histrionic here as things go on. KENNEDY: Who's delaying? Who's opposing? Who's using every kind of parliamentary tactic known to every possibly parliamentarian to delay action on the increase in minimum wage! It lies right at the feet, right at the feet of the Republican leadership! Make no mistake about it. Make no mistake about it! RUSH: That's exactly right -- and we are applauding it here, senator! What is he upset about? He's upset that there are tax breaks for small business in the minimum wage bill. There aren't such tax breaks in the House bill, but they have been added in the Senate because there is a cost to small business, and they simply want to get some tax breaks so as to be able to afford the increase in the minimum wage without having to fire anybody! Of course, we can't have tax cuts, and so Senator Kennedy is out there saying this a filibuster, filibuster, filibuster, by amendment, make no mistake about it! It's a filibuster by amendment! He this one continued. KENNEDY: What do we tell them after five days: $200 billion more in tax cuts here; $35 billion more in tax cuts here; $8 billion more tax cuts for HSAs! How many more billions of dollars do we have to give you, Mr. Republican? How many more dollars do we have to give you to get an increase in the minimum wage? RUSH: Ha-ha-ha! Whatever we can get, senator, because it's not your money, and you're not giving it to anybody! You are stealing it! That's what taxation is, particularly exorbitant taxation. I saw a story about taxes in California. I had it in the stack. Tax revenues are down. There was a line in the story that said the state "earned," blah, blah, X, X, from tax revenues. The state didn't "earn" anything! It wouldn't have the money if it hadn't taxed people for it. I'd love to be able to "earn" money that way, just go tell the people, "You owe me X," every month and then call it earnings. Senator Kennedy asks, "How much money do we have to give you Republicans"? It's not your money, and you don't "give" it! The objective here, senator, is to see to it that more and more of people's money never gets to you in the first place! That's the purpose of tax cuts, but here again, you shouldn't be surprised because small business is on the Democrats' enemies list. Big Oil is, and Big Pharma, and try this. I was reading something in the New York Post today. They're going after Big Pharmaceuticals. They just can't stand them, and the government is now wanting to negotiate prices for Medicare, which means (heh-heh) that the drug companies will not be allowed to recoup investments in the R&D of new drugs! I think one of the companies mentioned here is Pfizer. Pfizer has a lot of drugs that their patents will be expiring and that means anybody can make them and go generic on them within the next, oh, few short years. It's going to add up to $14 billion in lost revenue and Pfizer is going to be laying off, in the New York area, 600 workers and 10,000 nationwide -- and of course, that's not good enough for the Democrats. They've gotta inflict even more damage. Anyway, Dingy Harry got in on this. I was just watching it here at the top of the hour, and he was whining and moaning about $350 billion in tax cuts for the minimum wage. "This two dollars an hour increase in minimum wage, why, this is important! People could use that money to go buy health care," and I about made a mess in my pants! You going to go out and buy health care, with a minimum wage increase of two dollars an hour that phases in over three years? Buy health care? If health care is that cheap, I want to know where! BREAK TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Now: "Business lobbyists believe that lawmakers will ultimately strip from Senate minimum wage legislation any sanctions against companies caught hiring illegal immigrants. Whether they can keep it out of immigration laws is another matter. The Senate 94-0 vote yesterday inserted a federal contracting ban for businesses that violate immigration law into a bill that would raise the minimum wage," and the provision was offered by a good guy, Jeff Sessions, Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama. Under this amendment, "companies caught hiring illegal workers while on a federal contract would be banned from government work for ten years. Other companies discovered with illegal workers would be prohibited from getting federal contracts for seven years," and I'm telling you big business is howling. They are screeching! They think they might be able to get this taken out of the minimum wage bill, but they're not so sure they can keep it out of any further immigration bill or additional immigration. I told you last year that one of the problems Republicans have is that whole bunch of Republicans in big business want illegals flooding the country for the cheap labor aspect of it, and you thought, "It's not that many, Rush. Come on!" I'm telling you, it is. Labor costs? It's the number one cost of every business! The lower you can make 'em, the better. It's just axiomatic.

Why would yahoo answers remove this question? Okay so I asked for people's opinion on my reasoning for why gas is SOO HIGHH. You may not agree with it but how does this violate the rules it's suspicious don't you think? Okay here is the problem. 1. A lot of people have no room to complain they drive really BIG TRUCKS and SUV'S for no reason except to try and impress their neighbor and drive to Wal-Mart for goodies-you should get mad at them. 2. The oil companies may be charging more BUT that does not mean that most the gas problem is caused by them-farmers right now are making a fortune selling wheat does that mean they are price gouging? NO! Oil companies are making record profits becasue there is LESS SUPPLY and MORE DEMAND=more profits now to the reasons it is expensive. 3. Speculators, investors, traders-on Wall-Street play the little commodities game like a fiddle. You can buy FUTURES contracts on oil and they are 1,000 barrels per contract. As you can see Rich people are buying the oil FIRST and then when the demand gets higher i.e. rich people are hording it, they turn around and sell it to you and I later---the poor people. Thank you WAL-STREET. 4. Environmental nuts who think that OIL COMPANIES and oil exploration companies shouldn't be drilling for oil. These are the crazy tree huggers that you see dangling off bridges; according to them the U.S. economy should shut down, and really we shouldn't be driving at all, or using electricity, or breathing...or really we shouldn't even be alive. 5. The falling value of the U.S. dollar caused by Excess money printing to fund the War in IRAQ by the great George Bush whom we should all stand in awe at! What a great job he has done. 6. OPEC only pumps oil to 50% of their capacity. Yes this is true MIND YOU that is still plenty of oil for all of us if they pumped it faster all the Rich people on wal-street would just buy more of it. However if they pumped a little faster YES it would help to a small limited degree but MOST of our oil comes from Canada and the U.S. Anyway--85%. 7. China is using gas-more gas usage=less supply and more demand=price is going up. 8. The government puts a HUGE tax on gas Like about a dollar of what you pay goes right into funding the war and other stuff the government does (crazy politics)!!! 9. Some gas station just like to GOUGE you a bit. While it is true that most the gas stations really ARE NOT making all that much off gas some still overcharge. Be aware however that MOST gas station do not do this they only make like 20 cents a gallon or so i.e. they charge just above the MARKET price that the U.S.A. is getting. 10. Are these enough reasons? Are you at all surprised that it is going up? What we can do about it you might be asking? Well first you can try to LIMIT the size or your car and fight for bills being passed that regulate large ridiculous monster trucks around town. THIS WOULD REALLY HELP!!! Second you could try to vote for a president like Ron Paul and Hope the elections aren't rigged. Lastly you could plan your trips out betting and shop at places nearby and NOT drive across town to go to Wal-Mart to save a whole 2 bucks on a bunch of groceries NOTE: people do that . It's gunna get worse. So lets review why it's high in case your wonder later on. --War In IRAQ and falling U.S. dollar (too much printing) --Trading and investing on Wall-Street (some RICH GOONS PLAYING THE MARKET LIKE A FIDDLE AND HORDING OIL TO SELL IT TO ME LATER FOR A HIGHER PRICE) --Environmental CRAZIES (no oil drilling or exploration) --Big Taxes (The Gov is the biggest business of all time) --China (They live driving now too) --OPEC (why pump more when it's a limited resource and we can charge more later--don't pump fast) --Gas Stations being Greedy (Hey Some are) At anytime you can ponder and review these in your head lol. I hope this helps and good luck. Peace

wheres this story at CNN PMSNBC Feinstein routes government money to firm doing business with husband? Feinstein routes government money to firm doing business with husband | The Washington Times reports that Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) took unusual steps to route government funding to an agency that usually works from a separate stream of revenue just after the agency awarded her husband’s firm a lucrative contract. The FDIC gave Richard Blum’s firm, property management firm CB Richard Ellis, contracts to handle residential foreclosures at a higher rate than normal market price, even though CBRE had less experience in that market than other competing firms. And Feinstein got the FDIC the money even though she has no connection to the Senate Banking Committee, the body that normally deals with the FDIC: On the day the new Congress convened this year, Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation to route $25 billion in taxpayer money to a government agency that had just awarded her husband’s real estate firm a lucrative contract to sell foreclosed properties at compensation rates higher than the industry norms. Mrs. Feinstein’s intervention on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was unusual: the California Democrat isn’t a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs with jurisdiction over FDIC; and the agency is supposed to operate from money it raises from bank-paid insurance payments - not direct federal dollars. Documents reviewed by The Washington Times show Mrs. Feinstein first offered Oct. 30 to help the FDIC secure money for its effort to stem the rise of home foreclosures. Her letter was sent just days before the agency determined that CB Richard Ellis Group (CBRE) - the commercial real estate firm that her husband Richard Blum heads as board chairman - had won the competitive bidding for a contract to sell foreclosed properties that FDIC had inherited from failed banks. About the same time of the contract award, Mr. Blum’s private investment firm reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it and related affiliates had purchased more than 10 million new shares in CBRE. The shares were purchased for the going price of $3.77; CBRE’s stock closed Monday at $5.14. In other words, Richard Blum bought 10 million shares at the same time his wife arranged for an unusual and extremely large chunk of taxpayer money to go to FDIC. Blum must have been an investment genius to guess that his wife’s intervention would coincidentally precede the FDIC’s award, making CBRE stock more valuable. Blum’s investment made a $14 million profit for Blum and Feinstein and their partners. But of course, that’s all just a coincidence. The contract award to CBRE should raise a few eyebrows: The firm, known for its commercial real estate services, is to be paid monthly maintenance fees for each foreclosed property it handles, as well as commissions and incentives. The total compensation can range from 8 percent of the sales price on many residential properties to 30 percent for properties worth $25,000 or less. A smaller firm also won a slice of the work with similar terms, records show. Most real estate agents earn no more than 6 percent on residential, even on foreclosed properties, and CBRE doesn’t have as much experience in foreclosure sales as other firms, the experts said. FDIC awarded this contract to CBRE even though it’s more known as a commercial real estate property management firm, and it gave them more commission than agents usually get. Why would the FDIC deliberately award a contract at relatively unfavorable terms to a company with a weak track record in this industry? Perhaps they knew that the contract award would net them a lot more cash than they would have to pay out, thanks to the political connections at CBRE … and they were right. Now Feinstein wants people to believe that she and Blum had no idea that the FDIC would give CBRE this contract at the time she gave the FDIC $25 billion. How did CBRE get the contract — a lottery? They had to bid for the FDIC contract. Blum obviously knew that the bid was under consideration, or he’s the most incompetent board chairman in history. Feinstein expects us to believe that the board chairman would have no idea that his own company had a major bid under consideration for handling foreclosures at a time when foreclosures were exploding? Is that really going to be her final answer? At the very least, this shows a clear conflict of interest, especially with Feinstein suddenly jumping into the banking arena and FDIC at a time when her husband was doing business with them. It looks a lot more like a payoff and a shell game to allow her family to cash in on taxpayer-funded bailout money. (

If a company sues another company and loses, can the winner recover the fees from the suer for initiating? A big company sues a small, family owned company, for what it believes to be breach of contract, and loses. Can the Small company sue the big company back for the legal fees it had to spend in defending itself? Additionally, can the small company sue for punitive damages for loss of time spent at work? The case would be in Illinois and involves two for-profit, non-government businesses.

Liberals are followers and Bush is a leader. Its better to be right than popular? President Bush's Accomplishments Abortion & Traditional Values 1. Banned Partial Birth Abortion — by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. 2. Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy. 3. By Executive Order (EO), reversed Clinton's policy of not requiring parental consent for abortions under the Medical Privacy Act. 4. By EO, prohibited federal funds for international family planning groups that provide abortions and related services. 5. Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals. 6. Made $33 million available for abstinence education programs in 2004. 7. Supports the Defense of Marriage Act — and a Constitutional amendment saying marriage is between one man and one woman. 8. Requires states to conduct criminal background checks on prospective foster and adoptive parents. 9. Requires districts to let students transfer out of dangerous schools. 10. Requires schools to have a zero-tolerance policy for classroom disruption (reintroducing discipline into classrooms). 11. Signed the Teacher Protection Act, which protects teachers from lawsuits related to student discipline. 12. Expanded the role of faith-based and community organizations in after-school programs. Budget, Taxes & Economy 1. Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. 2. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax. 3. Turned around an inherited economy that was in recession, and deeply shocked as a result of the 9/11 attacks. 4. Is seeking legislation to amend the Constitution to give the president line-item veto authority. 5. In process of permanently eliminating IRS marriage penalty. 6. Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people. 7. Initiated discussion on privatizing Social Security and individual investment accounts. 8. Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules would have shut down every home business in America. 9. Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals. 10. Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains. 11. Signed trade promotion authority. 12. Reduced and is working to ultimately eliminate the estate tax for family farms and ranches. 13. Fight Europe's ban on importing biotech crops from the United States. 14. Exempt food from unilateral trade sanctions and embargoes. 15. Provided $20 million to states to help people with disabilities work from home. 16. Created a fund to encourage technologies that help the disabled. 17. Increased the annual contribution limit on Education IRA's from $500 to $2,000 per child. 18. Make permanent the $5,000 adoption tax credit and provide $1 billion over five years to increase the credit to $10,000. 19. Grant a complete tax exemption for prepaid or college tuition savings plans. 20. Reduced H1B visas from a high of 195,000 per year to 66,000 per year. Character & Conduct as President 1. Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the presidency. 2. Has reintroduced the mention of God and faith into public discourse. 3. Handled himself with enormous courage, dignity, grace, determination, and leadership in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 hijackings and anthrax attacks. He almost single-handedly held this country together during those searing days: Just three days after the attacks, in his address at the National Cathedral, the President reassured the nation when he said: "War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing." On Friday, September 14, 2001, President Bush visited Ground Zero. Standing on a crushed and burned fire engine atop the smoldering pile at Ground Zero, he put his arm around a retired firefighter who had volunteered to help, and began speaking to the crowd. Rescue workers shouted that they could not hear him. Someone handed him a small American flag and bullhorn. The President spontaneously shouted: "I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." The crowd roared with cheers and chants of "USA! USA! USA!" Then he raised that American flag and rallied a nation. Education & Employment Training 1. Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations). The very liberal California Teachers union is currently running radio ads against the accountability provisions of this Act. 2. Announced "Jobs for the 21st Century," a comprehensive plan to better prepare workers for jobs in the new millennium by strengthening post-secondary education and job training, and by improving high school education. 3. Is working to provide vouchers to low-income students in persistently failing schools to help with costs of attending private schools. (Blocked in the Senate.) 4. Requires annual reading and math tests in grades three through eight. 5. Requires states to participate in the National Assessment of Education Progress, or an equivalent program, to establish a national benchmark for academic performance. 6. Requires school-by-school accountability report cards. 7. Established a $2.4 billion fund to help states implement teacher accountability systems. 8. Increased funding for the Troops-to-Teachers program, which recruits former military personnel to become teachers. Environment & Energy 1. Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. 2. Submitted a comprehensive Energy Plan (awaits Congressional action). The plan works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc. 3. Established a $10 million grant program to promote private conservation initiatives. 4. Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops. 5. Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger. 6. Part of national forests cleanup: Restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges), and removed the need for an Environmental Impact Statement before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger. 7. Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California. 8. Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species. Defense & Foreign Policy 1. Successfully executed two wars in the aftermath of 9/11/01: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom. 2. Saddam Hussein is now in prison. His two murderous sons are dead. All but a handful of the regime's senior members were killed or captured. 3. Leader by leader and member by member, al Maida is being hunted down in dozens of countries around the world. Of the senior al Qaeda leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators the U.S. Government has been tracking, nearly two-thirds have been taken into custody or killed. The detentions or deaths of senior al Qaeda leaders, including Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, the mastermind of 9/11, and Muhammad Atef, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command until his death in late 2001, have been important in the War on Terror. 4. Disarmed Libya of its chemical, nuclear and biological WMD's without bribes or bloodshed. 5. Continues to execute the War On Terror, getting worldwide cooperation to track funds/terrorists. Has cut off much of the terrorists' funding, and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network. 6. Initiated a comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, and which accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE capabilities were critical in the 21st Century. 7. Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses. 8. Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency. 9. Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace," along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU. 10. Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year. 11. Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia. 12. Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia, and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ. 13. Prohibited putting U.S. troops under U.N. command. 14. Paid back UN dues only in return for reforms and reduction of U.S. share of the costs. 15. Earmarked at least 20 percent of the Defense procurement budget for next-generation weaponry. 16. Increased defense research and development spending by at least $20 billion from fiscal 2002 to 2006. 17. Ordered a comprehensive review of military weapons and strategy. 18. Ordered a review of overseas deployments. 19. Ordered renovation of military housing. The military has already upgraded about 10 percent of its inventory and expects to modernize 76,000 additional homes this year. 20. Is working to tighten restrictions on military-technology exports. 21. Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed. Globalization & Internationalism 1. Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become another League of Nations (in other words, showed the UN to be completely irrelevant). 2. Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court. 3. Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control (i.e., the International Ban on Small Arms Trafficking Treaty).* 4. The only President since the founding of the UN to essentially tell that organization it is irrelevant. He said: "The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of UN demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?" We all know the outcome and the answer. 5. Told the Congress and the world, "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." Government Reform 1. Improved government efficiency by putting hundreds of thousands of jobs put up for bid. This weakens public-sector unions and cuts undeserved pay raises. 2. Initiated review of all federal agencies with the goal of eliminating federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of the federal government while increasing private sector jobs. 3. Led the most extensive reorganization the Federal bureaucracy in over 50 years: After 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency, the Department of Homeland Security.* 4. Ordered each agency to draft a five-year plan to restructure itself, with fewer managers. 5. Converted federal service contracts to performance-based contracts wherever possible so that the contractor has measurable performance goals. Health 1. Strengthen the National Health Service Corps to put more physicians in the neediest areas, and make its scholarship funds tax-free. 2. Double the research budget of the National Institutes of Health. 3. Signed Medicare Reform, which includes: A 10-year privatization option. Prescription drug benefits: Prior to this reform, Medicare paid for extended hospital stays for ulcer surgery, for example, at a cost of about $28,000 per patient. Yet Medicare would not pay for the drugs that eliminate the cause of most ulcers, drugs that cost about $500 a year. Now, drug coverage under Medicare will allow seniors to replace more expensive surgeries and hospitalizations with less expensive prescription medicine. More health care choices: As President Bush stated, "…when seniors have the ability to make choices, health care plans within Medicare will have to compete for their business by offering higher quality service [at lower cost]. For the seniors of America, more choices and more control will mean better health care. These are the kinds of health care options we give to the members of Congress and federal employees. What's good for members of Congress is also good for seniors. New Health Savings Accounts: Effective January 1, 2004, Americans can set aside up to $4,500 every year, tax free, to save for medical expenses. Depending on your tax bracket, that means you'll save between 10 to 35 percent on any costs covered by money in your account. Every year, the money not spent would stay in the account and gain interest tax-free, just like an IRA. These accounts will be good for small business owners, and employees. More businesses can focus on covering workers for major medical problems, such as hospitalization for an injury or illness. At the same time, employees and their families will use these accounts to cover doctors visits, or lab tests, or other smaller costs. Some employers will contribute to employee health accounts. This will help more American families get the health care they need at the price they can afford. Homeland Security, Border Enforcement & Immigration 1. *See Government Reform above. Under President Bush's leadership, America has made an unprecedented commitment to homeland security. 2. Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first 10 ABM silos in Alaska so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes. Has ordered national and theater ballistic missile defenses to be deployed by 2004. 3. Announced a 9.7% increase in government-wide homeland security funding in his FY 2005 budget, nearly tripling the FY 2001 levels (excluding the Department of Defense and Project BioShield). 4. Before DHS was created, there were inspectors from three different agencies of the Federal Government and Border Patrol officers protecting our borders. Through DHS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now consolidates all border activities into a single agency to create "one face at the border." This not only better secures the borders of the United States, but it also eliminates many of the inefficiencies that occurred under the old system. With over 18,000 CBP inspectors and 11,000 Border Patrol agents, CBP has 29,000 uniformed officers on our borders. 5. The Border Patrol is continuing installation of monitoring devices along the borders to detect illegal activity. 6. Launched Operation Tarmac to investigate businesses and workers in the secure areas of domestic airports and ensure immigration law compliance. Since 9/11, DHS has audited 3,640 businesses, examined 259,037 employee records, arrested 1,030 unauthorized workers, and participated in the criminal indictment of 774 individuals. 7. Since September 11, 2001, the Coast Guard has conducted more than 124,000 port security patrols, 13,000 air patrols, boarded more than 92,000 vessels, interdicted over 14,000 individuals attempting to enter the United States illegally, and created and maintained more than 90 Maritime Security Zones. 8. Announced the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), an internet-based system that is improving America's ability to track and monitor foreign students and exchange visitors. Over 870,000 students are registered in SEVIS. Of 285 completed field investigations, 71 aliens were arrested. 9. This week, the US-VISIT program began to digitally collect biometric identifiers to record the entry and exit of aliens who travel into the U.S on a visa. Together with the standard information, this new program will confirm compliance with visa and immigration policies. 10. Eliminated INS bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability. 11. Split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two agencies: one to protect the border and interior, the other to deal with naturalization. 12. Signed the workplace verification bill to prevent hiring of illegal aliens. 13. Established a six-month deadline for processing immigration applications. 14. Information regarding nearly 100% of all containerized cargo is carefully screened by DHS before it arrives in the United States. Higher risk shipments are physically inspected for terrorist weapons and contraband prior to being released from the port of entry. Advanced technologies are being deployed to identify warning signs of chemical, biological, or radiological attacks. Since September 11, 2001, hundreds of thousands of first responders across America have been trained to recognize and respond to the effects of a WMD attack. Judiciary & Tort Reform 1. Is urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits. 2. Killed the liberal ABA's unconstitutional role in vetting federal judges. The Senate is supposed to advise and consent, not the ABA. 3. Is nominating strong, conservative judges to the judiciary. 4. Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims. Politics 1. His leadership resulted in Republican gains in the House and Senate, solidifying Republican control of both houses of Congress and the presidency. 2. Signed an EO enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision regarding union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes. Second Amendment 1. Ordered Attorney General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, and is NOT a Leftist-imagined "collective" right. 2. Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit. 3. Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers. 4. *See Globalization & Internationalism. Traditional Values, Compassion & Volunteerism 1. Endorses and promotes "The Responsibility Era." President Bush often speaks of the necessity of personal responsibility and civic volunteerism. He said, "In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else — to one in which every single American understands that he or she is responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself." 2. Started the USA Freedom Corps, the most comprehensive clearinghouse of volunteer opportunities ever offered. For the first time in history, Americans can enter geographic information about where they want to get involved, such as state or zip code, as well as areas of interest ranging from education to the environment, and they can access volunteer opportunities offered by more than 50,000 organizations across the country and around the world. 3. Established the The White House Office and the Centers for the Faith-Based and Community Initiative — located in seven Federal agencies. The faith-based initiative supports the essential work of these important organizations. The goal is to make sure that grassroots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers. Work focuses on at-risk youth, ex-offenders, the homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families. 4. The White House released a guidebook fully describing the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring — even when Federal funds are involved. 5. Issued an EO implementing the Supreme Court's Olmstead ruling, which requires moving disabled people from institutions to community-based facilities when possible. 6. Increased funding for low-interest loan programs to help people with disabilities purchase devices to assist them. 7. Revised the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 rent subsidies to disabled people, permitting them to use up to a year's worth of vouchers to finance down payments on homes. HUD has started pilot programs in 11 states. 8. Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men, women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa. 9. Heeding the words of our own Declaration of Independence, the president laid out the non-negotiable demands of human dignity for all people everywhere. On January 29, 2002, he said, "No nation owns these aspirations, and no nation is exempt from them. We have no intention of imposing our culture. But America will always stand firm for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity." As stated by the President, they are a virtual manifesto of conservative principles: Equal Justice Freedom of Speech Limited Government Power Private Property Rights Religious Tolerance Respect for Women Rule of Law

PLEASE HELP!!! QUIZ ON MONDAY!! Need CORRECT answers to STUDY for test on MONDAY!!!? 1.) When we see a ball game between two teams, we are seeing sports live, and not on television. competition in action. a monopoly at work 2.) In business, competition will provide disagreements and controversy. the best service at the best price. poor service at a poor price. 3.) A group of businesses that have given control over their prices and selling practices to a small group of people is a stock. bond. trust. 4.) Anti-trust laws have been passed to prevent trusts and monopolies. monopolies and franchises. trusts and franchises. 5.) A board or commission will grant a public utility a ___, which is a contract between the government and the company. monopoly deed franchise 6.) What makes each seller work to provide lower prices and better services to customers? corporation competition company 7.) When one company has exclusive control over a service or product, it is a monopoly franchise corporation 8.) Public utility boards or commissions are used by the federal government the state and federal government the local, state and federal government 9.) Being an innovator, risk-taker, and businessperson are characteristics of a monopoly an entrepreneur a federal employee 10.) Franchises give the utility the right to establish a monopoly control prices hire new employees

A new kind of politics? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0704060020apr06,1,1855420.story?coll=chi-news-hed&?track=sto-topstory MEXICANS IN CHICAGO: A NEW KIND OF POLITICS Influence on both sides of the border Activists' political power is rising in Chicago and their homeland, as they seek reforms through marches and money Advertisement By Antonio Olivo and Oscar Avila Tribune staff reporters April 6, 2007 To outsiders, the men and women gathered inside a sleepy West Side restaurant may have seemed unlikely power brokers: a janitor, a real estate agent and others hardly known outside their circuit of neighborhood dances and back-yard barbecues. Jose Luis Gutierrez, who plotted strategy with the group as a soccer match flickered on a nearby TV, was himself a wholesale grocer until last year. But Gutierrez is now a top aide to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and he was joined at the table by leaders of Chicago-area Mexican immigrant clubs, the engines behind a new political movement that is making itself felt from Illinois to Michoacan. Gutierrez received smiling nods when he likened the political muscle of the region's 563,000 Mexican immigrants to the power of Irish-Americans in the 19th and 20th Centuries, who came to control the Chicago machine. In May, the strength of Mexicans will be on display when many of the region's 300 immigrant clubs -- known as "hometown associations" -- will help organize a march in downtown Chicago a year after their political coming-out party, demonstrations that flooded the Loop last spring and charged the national immigration debate. For decades Mexican hometown associations have functioned as social networks whose members pooled their money earned here to help build new schools or churches back in Mexico. But leaders in Chicago's largest immigrant group have a more ambitious worldview than their predecessors, even more than the ethnic blocs that preceded them decades ago. Some, like Gutierrez, wield growing influence in both countries. One morning, he's unveiling a blueprint for more immigrant services in Illinois as director of the state's Office of New Americans Policy and Advocacy. The next night, he's brainstorming with activists in his home state of Michoacan about a slate of candidates for Mexico's congress. An active role in Mexican politics might seem at odds with building political influence here. But Gutierrez and others say they form a budding new political consciousness among Mexican immigrants -- a "third nation" of sorts that transcends the border, advancing the community's cause on both sides. "The nation-state concept is changing," said Gutierrez, 46, who came to Chicago in 1986 and led one of the Midwest's largest federations of hometown associations. "You don't have to say, `I am Mexican,' or, `I am American.' You can be a good Mexican citizen and a good American citizen and not have that be a conflict of interest. Sovereignty is flexible." That concept worries some U.S. officials and scholars who see the dual loyalty as undermining the assimilation of Mexican immigrants. Irish, German and Polish immigrants eventually melded into Chicago's landscape, their ties to their native soil largely sentimental. But Mexican immigrants today are linked to their homeland like no group before, scholars say, connected by NAFTA, satellite TV, the Internet, cell phones and cheap non-stop flights. In Mexico, their power stems from the nearly $25 billion these immigrants send home every year, the country's second-highest source of income behind oil. Their political influence surfaces in places like Teloloapan, far up in the cactus-filled hills of the state of Guerrero, where a Chicago restaurateur helped build new roads and business. Grateful townspeople elected him mayor in a landslide. In the U.S., immigrants' power is driven by numbers and a growing deftness at the levers of this country's political machinery. That recently manifested itself in a fledgling political action committee called Mexicans for Political Progress, which raised $23,000 for Blagojevich's re-election and rallied volunteers to walk precincts during November's election. An unfolding movement Fabian Morales, a soft-spoken Realtor with a well-clipped mustache, stands at the center of the unfolding movement. He handled logistics for three massive immigration marches in Chicago last year -- including a four-day walk to suburban Batavia -- and co-founded Mexicans for Political Progress. After coming to Chicago in 1970, Morales helped launch one of the city's then-few hometown clubs, devoted to his tiny native village of Xonacatla, Guerrero. Back then, Xonacatla was without roads, potable water or electricity. It was a slow journey from other towns by foot or horseback, Morales said. The club members in Chicago resolved to change that. Collecting $50 to $100 at a time, Morales and others raised enough through barbecues and door-to-door soliciting to replace a house used for worship services with a towering marble church that rises from the green hillside. Morales has since helped develop CONFEMEX, an umbrella organization for most of the hometown clubs in the Midwest. Among other things, the group is a central voice in economic development in Mexico, representing an estimated $340 million in projects generated by U.S.-based hometown associations in the last five years, according to Mexican federal officials. "We want to focus on creating more jobs there so they don't have to think about emigrating," Morales said. The rising activity of hometown associations caught the eye of the Mexican government, which eventually created a "3-for-1" matching project, where federal, state and local governments split the cost of a new bridge or computer center with the U.S.-based groups. Those projects have given Mexican immigrants "a great moral authority" in their homeland, as well as political cachet, said Carlos Gonzalez, executive director of the Institute for Mexicans in the Exterior, or IME, a Mexican federal government agency that fosters stronger ties with expatriates. "During the 1970s, [Mexicans] called the people who left Mexico and acclimated to the U.S. 'pocho,' which, if you look in the dictionary, means 'spoiled fruit,' " Gonzalez said. "The change we've seen in the public perception of Mexicans in the exterior has been 180 degrees." In 2006, citizens abroad were allowed to vote in Mexican presidential elections for the first time. Leaders are also pushing for changes that would allow expatriates to vote in local elections and even hold elective offices while residing abroad. Recently, Gutierrez and others persuaded Michoacan to become the first state in Mexico to extend voting rights to expatriates. Their rationale: Almost half of those born in Michoacan, Zacatecas and several other Mexican states now live in the U.S. Timoteo "Alex" Manjarrez, 44, is among a small but growing number of Mexican immigrants making a bolder claim in their motherland. Arriving from his native town of Teloloapan, Guerrero, in 1980, Manjarrez spent 19 years in Chicago. The stocky, boyish-looking immigrant worked for years as a dishwasher at the Columbia Yacht Club and, eventually, became owner of three Mexican restaurants in the city. Fulfilling a desire shared by many immigrants, Manjarrez moved back to his native town in 1999 with enough money for his family to live comfortably. But the place he had longed for all those years was still frustratingly poor, despite the investments Manjarrez's hometown club made in new roads and other improvements. Manjarrez, who holds both Mexican and U.S. citizenship, settled in and quickly built a new health club and a hacienda-style restaurant named La Condesa, after the three he still owns in Chicago. In 2004, he ran for mayor of Teloloapan. With long-distance backing from his hometown club friends in Chicago, who sent money and telephoned friends and local officials on his behalf, Manjarrez won handily. 'The city that works' Since taking office, the man who sees Mayor Richard M. Daley as a political role model has pushed to remake Teloloapan into a Mexican version of "the city that works." The effort includes newly paved streets, a recreation center that replaces a local swamp known as "black waters," and a towering hotel being built privately by Manjarrez's family. Next to a new medical clinic, a donated Chicago ambulance sits in the parking lot. Its emblem has been painted over, but it serves as a reminder of the continued links Manjarrez has to his former city, where he maintains a home near Midway Airport, votes in U.S. elections and checks in on his businesses. Aurelio Santamaria Bahena, mayor of a town near Manjarrez's called Tlapehuala, labeled such changes "a blessing" for an area of Mexico dominated by crumbling lean-to houses and children in bare feet pulling bone-thin donkeys. But, as with other parts of the country where the immigrant handprint is deepening, the introduction of U.S.-style governance has also bred resentment. Local leaders of Manjarrez's own Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) are trying to drum him out of office, arguing he is too brash and condescending. The mayor counters the fight is about his efforts to take away "a plate of corruption that they've been able to eat from for years." The conflict was an uncomfortable backdrop during a recent PRD strategy meeting at a restaurant in Chilpancingo, Guerrero's capital. Headlines that morning featured a march against Manjarrez, orchestrated by his opponents. "People see you as an outsider," a worried Santamaria cautioned Manjarrez. "People don't think you see things as they are here." Manjarrez, wearing a black "La Condesa" windbreaker, patted his friend on the back and smiled. He had a media plan, one that might have made Daley proud. "We'll publish photos of the streets of Teloloapan before and after I came into office," Manjarrez said. "And, we'll ask the people: `Which would you prefer?' " That same week, Mexican immigrants from the U.S. and Canada met in Mexico City, as members of an advisory council created by the Mexican government. With a brash American style, they soon escalated their advice to demands, the members' voices echoing through the meeting hall. Morales, the Chicago Realtor, and about 100 other council members pushed Mexico to lobby the U.S. harder on immigration reform. They chastised their hosts for not creating more jobs. Buttonholing federal legislators in hallways, they reminded elected officials how much their districts relied on money sent from the U.S. They want 'results now' Gregorio Luke, a blond member of the council from Los Angeles partial to designer suits, observed that this kind of behavior wouldn't exist in a purely Mexican forum, where deference toward authority guides nearly all dialogue. "These people come here speaking Spanish, but they're negotiating as Americans," said Luke, a museum director who once oversaw cultural affairs at the Los Angeles Mexican Consulate. "They want to see results now." The meeting of the advisory council also illustrated the provocative overlap of Mexican and American political action. In addition to all-day strategy sessions on how to improve Mexico, council members brainstormed over late-night drinks on next moves in the fight for U.S. immigration reform. Many members had used their existing e-mail network to coordinate simultaneous demonstrations in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. Though not active participants in the U.S. immigrant movement, Mexican officials urged their compatriots to keep on fighting. "Let there be no barriers or walls between Mexicans here on the inside and the outside," former Mexican President Vicente Fox told the group, referring to a 2006 U.S. law that allows for a 700-mile fence to be built at the border. The audience stood and cheered. The idea that the Mexican government might be helping its nationals shape U.S. politics has raised red flags, both in the halls of academia and in the more volatile world of talk radio and the Internet. Robert Leiken, director of the immigration and national security program at the right-leaning Nixon Center in Washington, argued that binational activism among Mexican immigrants is bad for both countries. In the U.S., the meetings in Spanish and the often-passionate interest in Mexico's future hinder assimilation, he said. In Mexico, the relationship to hometown associations fosters an unhealthy economic dependence on U.S. remittances. "If I went out to Pilsen and spent some time with people from a hometown association, I'd think these are really cool people," Leiken said. But, "Standing back and looking at this from a social policy standpoint, I see some real problems." James McCann, a Purdue University political science professor, found that immigrants interested in Mexican affairs were more likely to participate in U.S. politics. He helped interview about 1,100 Mexican immigrants and found that hometown clubs promoted activism. "The conventional wisdom is that any transnational engagement is going to suck the oxygen out of your civic life in the States," McCann said. "But it seems that if you open a new avenue of expression in Mexico, that new avenue might pay some other dividends in the U.S." Some of those dividends went directly to the Blagojevich campaign last fall, when the governor found himself being serenaded by a trumpet-playing mariachi band inside the Hacienda Tecalitlan restaurant on the Near Northwest Side. Near a trickling courtyard fountain, Morales praised the governor in Spanish at the kickoff dinner for the Mexicans for Political Progress PAC. While Morales once raised money for his hometown with $1 tamales, the price here was as much as $500 a plate. "Let us demonstrate our political power by voting in the election, by voting for our friends interested in the prosperity of Mexicans. Friends like Gov. Rod Blagojevich!" Morales told the crowd. Blagojevich, who speaks a hint of Spanish, took the microphone and shouted: "Viva Chivas!" a reference to a popular Mexican soccer team. When the laughter and applause subsided, he switched to English and added: "By organizing, you are empowering a community. Your voice will be heard." The mood is darker in northwest suburban Carpentersville, where a growing Mexican community has rallied in large numbers in the face of a local backlash against undocumented immigrants. Last fall, about 3,000 Mexican immigrants and their supporters turned up outside Carpentersville's City Hall in an unexpected show of opposition to a proposed ordinance that would penalize landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and employers who hire them. The crowd was so riled a vote on the ordinance was postponed and has yet to be taken. The quick response came largely due to the hometown association representing the village of La Purisima, Michoacan, local activists said. The club turned to its telephone list of 400 families, said Salvador Balleno, the group's president. The turnout was a victory, but it has not deterred Carpentersville trustees from other proposals that would allow local police to trigger deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants and make English the village's official language. And as Balleno has struggled to register voters and rally volunteers for this month's village elections, even sympathetic politicians have seemed hesitant to link themselves too closely with the hometown association. Balleno now fears the village's hard-liners have the upper hand, intimidating some of the immigrants who protested last fall. "The [club] members know that if these people stay [in office] it is going to affect their kids," Balleno said, sounding anxious that an opportunity was slipping through his fingers. Jose Artemio Arreola, a key organizer of next month's march in Chicago, has been actively monitoring the battle in Carpentersville. He sees the activity there as part of a plan to create a political empire for Mexican immigrants, one linking hometown associations in Chicago and other cities to labor unions and Mexico's congress. His strategy includes moving back to his native state of Michoacan to run for congress there, something Arreola never imagined doing when he left a town overrun by poverty and ruled by local drug kingpins. He got his start in Chicago working in a plastics factory. Frustrated by the union representation there, he ran for shop steward and won. Unable to speak English, he relied on his bilingual co-workers to help him negotiate union contracts. He has since become a school janitor in Oak Park. The position pays little, but it has allowed Arreola to climb the ranks of the Service Employees International Union, where he has become key in that union's national efforts to tap further into the country's exploding Mexican immigrant workforce. All the while, Arreola has used the sharp elbows and old-school union tactics acquired in Chicago to become a power broker in his hometown of Acuitzio del Canje. He started in 2004 when the local mayor refused to back projects proposed by his hometown association. Arreola, a burly backslapper partial to gold neck chains, recalled thinking: "I need to take them out." He recruited a teacher to run for mayor in the Mexican town. Arreola then brought back a town phone book and, with others in Chicago, called voters one by one, promising a stream of U.S. investment if his candidate won. The incumbent opted for traditional rallies and car tours through town with a bullhorn. More than two years later, sitting in a Pilsen restaurant, Arreola opened a laptop computer and showed off the fruits of what proved to be an easy victory. Pictures of a new retirement home popped onto the screen, one featuring a grinning Arreola at a groundbreaking ceremony. Another showed a new computer lab with 40 computers for local schoolchildren, an investment in the future of Acuitzio del Canje. The town's name comes from an 1865 decision to make it the site for a "canje," or exchange of prisoners between warring Mexican and French troops. Sitting deep in the dusty mountains of Michoacan, it was neutral ground back then, Arreola explained, territory that didn't fully belong to either country but, in some ways, belonged to both. ---------- aolivo@tribune.com oavila@tribune.com - - - IN THE WEB EDITION Jose Artemio Arreola is one of several Mexican hometown association leaders in Chicago with multiple connections in Mexico and the U.S. From helping organize last year's massive immigration marches to slating political candidates in his home state, he wields influence on both sides of the border. To learn more about Arreola, watch videos and see photo galleries, go to chicagotribune.com/mexicansinchicago. Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

If American oil companies only make 8 cents on the dollar. Is my business going to get windfall taxed too?!? And how much is too much. Hell the government contracts guarantee 6-7 cents on the dollar. Exxons huge profits stems from their size and volume of buisiness. If they broke up into twenty smaller companies, their numbers would be acceptable and they would avoid a windfall tax based on the overall dollar amount of profit. But each mini exxon, making 8 cents on the dollar, would not change fuel costs a bit. Oh, and to all you calling for a boycott of Exxon and going to some other fuel station. Kind of dumb to leave an American company to pay a foreign one.

How would advise which gov agencies & /or other sources of info are available for small biz wishing to trade? If the business is, I and my partner are condering expanding our business into Europe. Please could you advise me on which government agencies and /or other sources of information are available for a small firm wishing to trade in Europe? Also, how would you advise them to minimise the uncertainty of trading in euros if exchange rates fluctuate between the time of agreeing contracts and the time of payment?

Why are republicans selling the American people to Big Oil? Real Energy independence or Big money for them? Republicans blocked a proposal Thursday to tax the oil industry an additional $29 billion, while the Senate moved closer to an agreement on raising automobile fuel economy for the first time in nearly 20 years. The tax package was aimed at channeling billions of dollars to subsidize windmills, hybrid cars and other alternative energy resources. But many Republicans said it was too harsh on the oil industry and could lead to less production and higher gasoline prices. The struggle over the tax provision signaled that Democrats may have a hard time pushing through the broader energy bill, which tilts heavily toward promoting energy conservation and renewable fuels and away from support for traditional fossil fuels. As the debate over taxes reflected the Senate's division, senators were said to be close to completing work on a compromise on automobile fuel economy that would garner enough votes to overcome strong auto industry opposition. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., chastised Republicans for caving into pressure from oil companies in blocking the tax provisions, but said he planned to press forward with the overall energy legislation, hoping to finish late Friday. "We have (auto fuel economy) standards in this bill. This is a good bill. There's a lot of good stuff in this bill," said Reid. He said work was under way on a compromise aimed at gaining wider support. "I can live with either one of them," Reid told reporters. The talks were believed to be close to an agreement that would require automakers to increase the fuel efficiency of new vehicles to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but abandon a provision that would have required 4 percent annual efficiency improvements after that. The automakers had complained vigorously about the 4 percent increase, saying they would be required to meet 52 mpg for cars and SUVs by 2030, a mandate they said they couldn't meet. A group of senators, including Michigan Democrats Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, have pressed for consideration of an even less stringent proposal that would let SUVs and small trucks achieve just 30 mpg and postpone the mandate to 2025. On taxes, Democrats came three votes shy, 57-36, of the 60 votes needed to overcome a threatened GOP filibuster and add the massive tax package to the energy bill. It called for $32 billion in tax breaks for renewable and clean energy programs and energy conservation, all but about $3 billion paid for by oil taxes. Republican senators contended that the nearly $29 billion in additional taxes over 10 years on major oil companies would have led to reduced production and higher gasoline prices, an argument Democrats rejected, noting the largest oil companies earned $111 billion last year. Reid said the industry stood to make $1 trillion in profits over the 10 years when the $29 billion in new oil taxes would have been collected. He expressed doubt the measure could be revived and put onto the Senate bill, but left open getting it added later, probably when Senate and House versions will be consolidated. "It's not over," said Reid. A $16 billion tax package — largely mirroring the priorities in the Senate legislation but smaller — advanced from the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, to be added to a House energy bill later this summer. The massive tax measure marked a sharp turn from longtime congressional support of the oil industry to promoting alternative energy development and moving toward energy sources that would help deal with the growing concerns over global warming. But Republicans said it tilted too far in favor of renewables and conservation at the expense of the oil companies. "When you put a tax on a business it gets passed on to consumers," argued Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. "Instead of reducing gasoline prices, this bill is going to add to the cost of gasoline." Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., whose Finance Committee crafted the tax package, said the incentives for renewable and alternative fuels would "help wean ourselves away from OPEC ... from these very high gas prices." The tax changes would have channeled $11 billion over 10 years into development of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel and power from wind turbines. It provides an additional $18 billion in other tax breaks — from tax credits to clean and renewable energy bonds — to support improvements in energy efficiency, clean coal technology, development of gas-electric hybrid cars that could be plugged into the national power grid and other alternative energy programs. It would have rescinded a tax break given to oil companies in 2004 that was primarily aimed at helping domestic manufacturing; increased taxes paid under an oil spill liability law; and eliminated existing tax credits involving foreign oil production. Another measure also would have imposed a new excise tax on oil produced from the Gulf of Mexico to recoup $10.7 billion in royalties the government has been unable to retrieve because of flawed oil leasing contracts issued in 1998-99

Is Obama Disigenuous? http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23643866-5013948,00.html The illusion that is Barack Obama * Font Size: Decrease Increase * Print Page: Print Fred Siegel | May 05, 2008 POLITICAL campaigning necessarily produces a wide gap between words and deeds. This is the price of bringing together a broad coalition with disparate interests. All effective politicians are at times authentically insincere or sincerely inauthentic. Exaggeration, embellishment, overstatement, doubletalk, deception and lies presented as metaphorical truths are the order of the day. So, of course, Barack Obama is no different. He exaggerates the credit he deserves for a limited piece of ethics-reform legislation. He embellishes when he presents himself as having had a consistent record on the Iraq war when in fact he's done a fair amount of zigzagging. He engages in doubletalk when, on free trade and Iraq, he tells the yokels one thing and the policy people another. He overstates when he presents his minimal accomplishments in the Illinois Senate as proof of his stature. He engages in systematic deception when he says he doesn't take money from lobbyists. He presents a lie as metaphorical truth when he says it was the 1965 bloody Sunday attacks on peaceful civil rights protesters in Selma, Alabama, that inspired his parents to marry. (They had been married for years already.) All of this is unappealing, but also unexceptional. What makes it different is that there's not just a gap but a chasm between his actions and his professed principles, which would normally kill a candidacy. And because his deeds are so few, the disparity is all the more salient. Obama, far more than the others, is the "judge me by what I say and not what I do" candidate. He wants to be the conscience of the country without necessarily having one himself. The disparity between Obama's rhetoric of transcendence and his conventional Chicago racial and patronage politics is a leitmotiv of his political career. In New York, politicians (Al Sharpton excepted) are usually forced to pay at least passing tribute to universal principles and the ideal of clean government. But Chicago, until recently a city of Lithuanians, blacks and Poles governed by Irishmen on the patronage model of the Italian Christian Democrats, is the city of political and cultural tribalism. Blacks adapted to the tribalism and the corrupt patronage politics that accompanied it. Historically, one of the ironies of Chicago politics is that the clean-government candidates have been the most racist, while those most open to black aspirations have been the most corrupt. When the young Jesse Jackson received his first audience with then mayor Richard Daley Sr - impervious to the universalism of the civil rights movement in its glory - offered him a job as a toll-taker. Jackson thought the offer demeaning but in time adapted. In Chicago, racial reform has meant that the incumbent mayor, Richard M. Daley, has been cutting blacks in on the loot. Louis Farrakhan, Jackson, Jeremiah Wright and Obama are all, in part, the expression of that politics. It hasn't always worked for Chicago, which, under the pressure of increasing taxes to pay for bloated government, is losing its middle class. But it has served the city's political class admirably. For all his Camelot-like rhetoric, Obama is a product, in significant measure, of the political culture that Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass described: "We've had our chief of detectives sent to prison for running the Outfit's (the mob's) jewellery-heist ring. And we've had white guys with Outfit connections get $100 million in affirmative action contracts from their drinking buddy, Mayor Richard Daley ... That's the Chicago way." At no point did Obama, the would-be saviour of US politics, challenge this corruption, except for face-saving gestures as a legislator. He was, in his own Harvard law way, a product of it. Why, you may ask, did the operators of Chicago's political machine support Obama? Part of the answer was given long ago by the then boss of Chicago, Jake Arvey. When asked why he made Adlai Stevenson - a man, as with Obama, more famous for speeches than for accomplishments - his party's gubernatorial candidate in 1948, Arvey is said to have replied that he needed to "perfume the ticket". Obama first played a perfuming role as a state senator. His mentor, Emil Jones, the machine-made president of the Senate, allowed him to sponsor a minor ethics bill. In return, Obama made sure to send plenty of pork to Jones's district. When asked about pork-barrel spending, Jones famously replied: "Some call it pork; I call it steak." Obama repaid the generosity. When he had a chance to back clean Democratic candidates for president of the Cook County board of supervisors and Illinois governor, he stayed with the allies of the Outfit. The gubernatorial candidate he backed, Rod Blagojevich, is under federal investigation, in part because of his relationship with Tony Rezko, the man who helped Obama buy his house. The Chicago way has delivered politically for Obama even this year. Ninety per cent of his popular-vote lead over Hillary Clinton comes from Illinois, and two-thirds of that 90 per cent comes just from Cook County. Some of this advantage came from the efforts of Obama's political ally, the flame-throwing reverend James Meeks, a political force in his own right. Meeks, who mocks black moderates as "niggers", is an Illinois state senator, the pastor of a mega-church and a strong supporter of Jackson's powerful political operation, which has put its vote-pulling muscle squarely behind the Obama campaign. It was only with Obama's remark about bitter, white, working-class, small-town voters that we saw his difficulties appealing beyond the machine's reach. He won his US Senate race in 2004 not only because his opponents self-destructed but also because of the machine's ability to deliver votes. In Pennsylvania, he has lacked such assistance and the campaigning has not gone nearly so well. First, Obama pretended to be a tenpin bowler and scored a 37. Then, appearing before a supposedly closed San Francisco audience, he complained that small-town Pennsylvanians "cling to guns or religion or antipathy towards people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment, as a way to explain their frustrations". This is the man who belongs to a church built on bitterness, rancour and conspiratorial fear. During the Wright affair, Obama not only repeatedly lied about what he knew and when but violated the spirit of the civil rights movement in its mid-1960s glory. When, as a young man, I was on the periphery of the movement, there was an unwritten rule that if people told racist jokes or speakers engaged in defamatory rhetoric, you needed to register your immediate disapproval by confronting the speaker or ostentatiously walking out. Wright's "black theology" is essentially a Christianised version of Malcolm X's ideology of hate. But for 20 years, Obama, who had planned to run for mayor of Chicago, kept silent about the close, if at times competitive, relationship between Wright, whose 8000-member mega-church gave him his political base, and Farrakhan. His ambition overrode his moral integrity. As part of his "black value system", Wright attacked whites for their "middle classism", materialism, and "greed in a world of need". Obama sounded similar notes in his recent address at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, in which he laid the blame for the sub-prime mortgage crisis on those who had "embraced an ethic of greed, corner cutting and inside dealing". But that's exactly what Obama did in buying his luxurious house. Given the choice of purchasing a less expensive home or getting into bed with his fundraiser-cum-slumlord-cum-fixer Rezko, Obama chose the latter. Then again, the oppressed of Trinity United Church of Christ are building Wright a $US1.6 million ($1.7million), 960sqm home complete with four-car garage, whirlpool and butler's pantry. This house, which backs on to a golf course, is to sit in Tinley Park, a gated community in southwest Chicago that is 93 per cent white. The Obamas' charitable giving is consistent with Wright's talking Left while living Right. Obama and his wife are quite well off. They had an estimated income of $US1.2 million from 2000 to 2004. But the man who preaches compassion and mutuality gave all of 1 per cent of that income to charity during those years. Most of that went to Wright's church. There is a similar chasm when it comes to Obama's claim to post-partisanship. His achievements in reaching out to moderate voters are largely proleptic. But words are not deeds and, although Obama has few concrete achievements to his name, his voting record hardly suggests an ability to rise above Left v Right. In the Illinois Senate, he made a specialty of voting present, but after his first two years in the US Senate, National Journal's analysis of rollcall votes found that he was more liberal than 86 per cent of his colleagues. His voting record has only moved further Left since then. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gives him a 97.5 per cent rating, while National Journal ranks him the most liberal member of the Senate. By comparison, Clinton, who occasionally votes with the Republicans, ranks 16th. Obama is such a down-the-line partisan that, according to Congressional Quarterly, in the past two years he has voted with the Democrats more often than did the party's majority leader, Harry Reid. Likewise, for all his talk of post-racialism, Obama has played, with the contrivance of the press, traditional South Side Chicago racial politics. The day after his surprise loss in New Hampshire, and in anticipation of the South Carolina primary, with its heavily black electorate, South Side congressman Jesse Jackson Jr - Obama's national co-chairman - appeared on MSNBC to argue, in a prepared statement, that Clinton's teary moment on the campaign trail reflected her deep-seated racism. "Those tears," said Jackson, "have to be analysed ... They have to be looked at very, very carefully in light of Katrina, in light of other things that Mrs Clinton did not cry for, particularly as we head to South Carolina, where 45 per cent of African-Americans will participate in the Democratic contest ... We saw tears in response to her appearance, so that her appearance brought her to tears, but not hurricane Katrina, not other issues." In other words, whites who are at odds with, or who haven't delivered for, Chicago politicians can be obliquely accused of racism on the flimsiest basis, but pillars of local black politics such as Wright, with his exclusivist racial theology, are beyond criticism. Liberals love Obama's talk of taking on powerful financial interests. But here , too, he is rather slippery. In his Cooper Union speech, he denounced in no uncertain terms the "special interests" of people on Wall Street (who are well represented among his campaign donors). He, of course, had an opportunity to push for repealing the privileged tax treatment of private equity firms when that question was before Charles Grassley's Senate subcommittee - but he simply made a pro-forma statement in favour of doing so and disappeared. Nationally, as in Chicago, Obama the self-styled reformer never crosses swords with any of his putative foes. To pick another example, he has attacked "predatory" sub-prime lenders while taking roughly $US1.3 million in contributions from companies in that line of business. Obama is the internationalist opposed to free trade. He is the friend of race-baiters who thinks Don Imus deserved to be fired. He is the proponent of courage in the face of powerful interests who lacked the courage to break with Wright (until Wednesday). He is the man who would lead our efforts against terrorism yet was friendly with Bill Ayers, the unrepentant 1960s terrorist. He is the post-racialist supporter of affirmative action. He is the enemy of Big Oil who takes money from executives at Exxon-Mobil, Shell and British Petroleum. Obama has, in a sense, represented a new version of the invisible man, a candidate whose colour obscures his failings. But so far, the wild discrepancy between Obama's words and his deeds, and between his enormous ambitions and his minimal accomplishments, doesn't seem to have fazed his core supporters, who apparently suffer from a severe case of cognitive dissonance. Like cultists who rededicate themselves when the cult's prophecies have been falsified, his fans redouble their delusions in the face of his obvious hypocrisy. That is because Obama, in the imagination of many of his fans in the public and the press, is both a deduction from what was - the failures of the Bush administration and the scandals of the Clintons - and an expression of what should be. The ideal, the aspiration, is so rhetorically appealing that it has been assumed to be true. They remind one of Woodrow Wilson's answer when asked if his plan for a League of Nations was practicable: "If it won't work, it must be made to work." Fred Siegel is a contributing editor of City Journal. He teaches at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.

What party should I join? If: -believe in that we should keep "Under God" "In God we trust" -believe in limiting abortions to only emergency needs -Civil Unions for Gay marriage -keeping Defense spending at rates of the Cold War to defeat terrorism -believe in federalizing the school system -believe in affirmative action -believe that tax cuts need to be decreased -don't believe in vouchers for private schools or home schools -gun control for assault weapons -federal government overrides state governments (ala no more state rights debate that ended in 1865) -limited use of patriot act -decrease pork barreling in federal govt. -Keep organized prayer out of school -Small Business' rights to compete for federal govt. contracts -Farm Aid -increased humanitarian aid to Africa -Decreased trade with nations that openly have huge human rights violations (ala China) -increased enforcement of illegal immigrants while an increase of asylum recipients -Increased peaceful relations with Islamic states

Question about Business Management? I have to make a powerpoint slide on the fallowing scenario. You are the new training manager for a large corporation that offers employees the opportunity to purchase company stock directly through their paychecks. Using the following scenario and other recent real-life examples, develop a training session for the employees of the company. The goal of the training session is to accomplish the following: SCENARIO Jack and Diane are married and both executives at Electro-Source, a large multinational electronics company. The couple holds substantial Electro-Source company stock and the majority of their retirement funds depend on company stock performance. Jack is a director within the marketing division and Diane is a vice president in charge of all North American sales. One Friday, Jack advises Diane that the company lost a large government contract for new electronic components. The contract was worth over US $1 billion in sales and the loss could signal large layoffs. Government officials have not publicly announced their contract decision; however, they have advised (privately and confidentially) several non-winning bidders, including executives at Electro-Source. Jack and Diane decide to immediately sell the majority of their company stock to protect their retirement savings. The market on that Friday was favorable toward Electro-Source stock as earlier reports indicated that Electro-Sources was a finalist for the contract; however, as stated, a final decision was not yet public. Jack and Diane sell their stock to unsuspecting investors through their personal broker. Discuss in your small group discussion area the issues surrounding the situational scenario identified. Come to a consensus and then individually prepare and submit an 8-10 slide presentation that will address your thoughts and ideas. Reminder the task focus: So basically my job is to create a slideshow of the fallowing: What punishment(s) could be enforced? Provide other real-life examples of people who have committed this crime. Can anyone help me out as to what punishments could be enforced??

If American oil companies only make 8 cents on the dollar. Is my business going to get windfall taxed too?!? And how much is too much. Hell the government contracts guarantee 6-7 cents on the dollar. Exxons huge profits stems from their size and volume of buisiness. If they broke up into twenty smaller companies, their numbers would be acceptable and they would avoid a windfall tax based on the overall dollar amount of profit. But each mini exxon, making 8 cents on the dollar, would not change fuel costs a bit. Oh, and to all you calling for a boycott of Exxon and going to some other fuel station. Kind of dumb to leave an American company to pay a foreign one.

Please Read. What does it mean to you with the current state of the union and world? Were we warned? Farewell Address Farewell Radio and Television Address to the American People by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 17, 1961. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My fellow Americans: Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor. This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen. Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all. Our people expect their President and the Congress to find essential agreement on issues of great moment, the wise resolution of which will better shape the future of the Nation. My own relations with the Congress, which began on a remote and tenuous basis when, long ago, a member of the Senate appointed me to West Point, have since ranged to the intimate during the war and immediate post-war period, and, finally, to the mutually interdependent during these past eight years. In this final relationship, the Congress and the Administration have, on most vital issues, cooperated well, to serve the national good rather than mere partisanship, and so have assured that the business of the Nation should go forward. So, my official relationship with the Congress ends in a feeling, on my part, of gratitude that we have been able to do so much together. II We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment. III Throughout America's adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad. Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology-global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle-with liberty at stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment. Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small,there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research-these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel. But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs-balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage-balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between action of the moment and the national welfare of the future. Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration. The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only. IV A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peace time, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence-economic, political, even spiritual-is felt in every city, every state house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades. In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government. Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been over shadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite. It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system-ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society. V Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we-you and I, and our government-must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow. VI Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect. Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield. Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose difference, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war-as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years-I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight. Happily, I can say that war has been avoided. Steady progress toward our ultimate goal has been made. But, so much remains to be done. As a private citizen, I shall never cease to do what little I can to help the world advance along that road. VII So-in this my last good night to you as your President-I thank you for the many opportunities you have given me for public service in war and peace. I trust that in that service you find somethings worthy; as for the rest of it, I know you will find ways to improve performance in the future. You and I-my fellow citizens-need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation's great goals. To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.

Is this why the libs hate BUSH?

How should I register? Republican or Democrat? I’m interested in a career in politics? I am still young and confused about how I should register. Here are my views. After you tell me what I should register as can you tell me if you would ever support me in an election. I believe in lower taxes, I agree with a flat income tax and a flat sales tax. I also support a sales tax holiday to last thru the month of December to boost buying. I think that lower taxes and ax breaks should be used as incentives for companies to come back to the US and so that small businesses and entrepreneurs have a fair shot. I am a believer in capitalism with some regulation (health benefits, workers comp, and work hours obviously). I think that a good program would be a small business bond program where average Americans can lend money to government in secured loan with interests, so that that money can then be lent to small businesses but lenders would get money back with interest. I also believe that taxes should not control behavior but instead should be used as a way to receive revenue. On social issues. I believe that a civil union for any two consenting adults is a must but am opposed to calling it marriage because marriage is a religious ceremony. When it comes to abortion I strongly oppose it and believe that government money should not be used to fund abortions. I do believe though that it must remain legal but that people that do it should do it with their own money. I oppose GOVERNMENT funding of stem cell research and cloning. On foreign policy. I am against entangling alliances and I believe that our military resources should be used only for self-defense (Ex. 9/11). I also have my own philosophy called “western-hemispherianism”, where I think that the US should its private sector should instead negotiate and create jobs in the western hemisphere rather than in eastern countries like China and India. Doing so would weaken our political enemies and bring an end to the immigration crisis (the biggest reason why people migrate is lack of jobs). On that note I am strongly against illegal immigration. I support raids and deportation and the construction and investment in more border security. I believe in protectionist policies (tariffs) against companies that have jobs in eastern countries. On social security I oppose it except for helping those with disabilities and widows. I do not believe that retirees should be supported by the government but that they should rather have personal responsibility and save for the future. They should be able to use their money to invest how over they like. When it comes to welfare I believe that irresponsible parents and people who do not seek a job or an education. Welfare should be used and not abused. On energy I believe in investing in nuclear, clean coal, geothermal, solar, natural gas, bio-fuels, and the exploitation of OUR fossil fuels. I believe in energy independence. When it comes to health I think that workers should be able to choose to keep their own health insurance thru their jobs, purchase on their own. I also support legislation where hospitals and clinics can enlist their services in a database and where they promise to provide services to families that can prove that they have a wage of under $50,000. In exchange I would promise the hospital an annual $1 billion and clinics $4million (excludes cosmetic procedures and abortions). I support cancer research and AIDS research as well as autism research. Finally!Education. I think that the system needs to go through some serious reform. Teacher’s abilities should be tested by their respective states. States should also make legislation to not allow cell phone access in schools. They should also make contracts with internet service providers to make sure that all schools have access to the internet and that students have their textbooks. I am also a supporter of the voucher program for students who wish to apply for alternative schools. I also wish we had a program where students who graduate college/apprenticeship for example can receive a $1500 bonus after they graduate. I also think that cities should create local workshops paid by the government where students can go to and get tutoring free of charge by college students in certain fields (mathematics,literature). This could count as work study for college students while at the same time prepping elementary and high school kids. AND OF COURSE PARENTS MUST DO THEIR PART! sure unka dano

American Government school questions? Yes, I have already completed the test (for those of you who freak out and assume that someone is cheating. haha). I just need a second opinion, if you would be so kind! Thanks guys!! God Bless!!! 3: A group of businesses that have given control over their prices and selling practices to a small group of people is a stock. bond. trust. 4: Anti-trust laws have been passed to prevent trusts and monopolies. monopolies and franchises. trusts and franchises. 5: A board or commission will grant a public utility a ___, which is a contract between the government and the company. monopoly deed franchise 6: What makes each seller work to provide lower prices and better services to customers? corporation competition company 7: When one company has exclusive control over a service or product, it is a monopoly franchise corporation

Do Republicans realize how the rich really get rich? If you would put your library copies of rich people's autobiographies and Forbes, you would realize many of these rich people are LYING. Some of these inventors commonly say they made a mistake that developed a popular product. I think that's what the lawyers told them. Most rich people are thieves or criminals. There, I said it. I hate to say it. Most organized crime networks in various cities are responsible for funding many of the restaurants and businesses you go to. Just look at the Wire and The Sopranos. It's not some guy that worked at GM his whole life, took his savings out of a shoe box and started Starbucks! Bill Gates stole the operating system software from Steve Jobs. This guy that started a successful chicken tenders joint blatantly stole his secret sauce from other less established, smaller businesses. Many successful businesses use their political connections to get lucrative government contracts. Some of the people that had ventures in Iraq had no previous experience doing what they were contracted to do. I admit, they hustled and made it work, but often times the results were disastrous. However, they would not have gotten in the door without those contacts. I feel sorry for many of the people on this board that read these interviews and biographies of rich people and believe they all worked hard and were smarter. If you guys actually knew rich people, they're a lot like ancient kings and warlords; they commission writers to rewrite history and portray them almost like saints or martyrs who started out from the absolute bottom and became a success. Who buys that? Seriously, guys, stop supporting the pyramid scheme scam and start demanding a better life. You don't have to live in Beverly Hills, but is it really too much to ask for affordable health insurance, a decent job with decent conditions, a safe neighborhood and a proper education for your children?

I won a gov bid but needs funds to deliver the product? I own a small business and recently got a government bid. I need $45K to purchase the equipment from the MFG and will get $66K in the end. I wrote "payment in advance" on the bid but the county said they pay 30 days after install. It takes 35 days sea freight to get my product, 1 week for the install and 30-45 days to get paid. I offered a friend $6K to fund the deal for me but he could not qualify for a line of credit or short term loan. I can't take out a loan because I have an SBA loan that prohibits any other loans and I have no more room on that loan to get more. I tried a funding place in Florida but they want $12K. Do I have any options for $5-6K to get funded? I have the county's contract and bid acceptance paperwork. bond amount = no A friend of mine told me to check out www.liquidcapitalcorp.com/custage so I may have a solution.

Ap Us History...HELP? If you know the answers to any of this questions it would help me out a lot. The economic theory of mercantilism would be consistent with which of the following statements? a. Economies will prosper most when trade is restricted as little as possible. b. A government should seek to direct the economy so as to maximize exports. c. Colonies are of little economic importance to the mother country. d. It is vital that a country imports more than it exports. e. Tariff barriers should be avoided as much as possible. The immediate issue in dispute in Bacon’s Rebellion was a. the jailing of individuals or seizure of their property for failure to pay taxes during a time of economic hardship b. the under-representation of the backcountry in Virginia’s legislature c. the refusal of large planters to honor the terms of their contracts with former indentured servants d. the perceived failure of Virginia’s governor to protect the colony’s frontier area from the depredations of raiding Indians e. the colonial governor’s manipulation of tobacco prices for the benefit of himself and small clique of his friends The primary motive of those who founded the British colony of Virginia during the seventeenth century was the a. desire for economic gain b. desire for religious freedom c. desire to create a perfect religious commonwealth as an example to the rest of the world d. desire to recreate in the New World the story of feudalistic society that was fading in the Old e. desire to increase the power and glory of Great Britain The purpose of the Treaty of Tordesillas was a. to divide the non-European world between Spain and Portugal b. to specify which parts of North America should be French and which should be Spanish c. to create an alliance of France, Holland, and England against Spanish designs in the New World d. to divide the New World between France and Spain e. to exclude any Portuguese colonization from the Western Hemisphere During the 1760s and 1770s the most effective American tactic in gaining the repeal of the Stamp and Townshend Acts was a. tarring and feathering British tax agents b. sending petitions to the king and Parliament c. boycotting British goods d. destroying private property, such as tea, on which a tax was to be levied e. using death threats to intimidate British tax agents The Puritans who settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony wanted their settlement to be primarily a. a place where they could get away from persecution b. an example to the rest of the world c. a place where they would have the opportunity to prosper free from government regulation d. a society that practiced complete separation of church and state e. a pluralistic society in which all would be free to practice and teach their beliefs The Molasses Act was intended to enforce England’s mercantilist policies by a. forcing the colonies to export solely to Great Britain b. forcing the colonists to buy sugar from other British colonies rather than from foreign producers c. forbidding the colonists to engage in manufacturing activity in competition with British industries d. provided a favorable market for the products of the British East India company e. creating an economic situation in which gold tended to flow from the colonies to the mother county Congress’s most successful and effective method of financing the War of Independence was a. printing large amounts of paper money b. obtaining grants and loans from France and the Netherlands c. levying heavy direct taxes d. issuing paper securities backed by the promise of western land grants e. appealing to the states for voluntary contributions The Mayflower Compact could best be described as a. a detailed frame of government b. a complete constitution c. a business contract d. a foundation for self-government e. an enumeration of the causes for leaving England and coming to the New World In founding the colony of Pennsylvania, William Penn’s primary purpose was to a. provide a refuge for persecuted English Quakers b. provide a refuge for persecuted Christians of all sects from all parts of Europe c. demonstrate the possibility and practicality of establishing truly friendly relations with the Indians d. make a financial profit e. provide a refuge for English debtors All of the following were main principles of the Navigation Acts EXCEPT a. trade in the colonies was limited to only British or colonial merchants b. it prohibited the colonies from issuing their own paper currencies, greatly limiting their trading capabilities c. all foreign goods bound for the colonies had to be shipped through England where they were taxed with British import duties d. the colonists could not build or export goods that directly competed with British export products e. colonial enumerated goods could only be sold in England The reason slavery flourished in the Southern English colonies and not in New England is a. mos

Government help needed!!! Does anybody know any of these? Answer whichever you know. Thank you! 1. Civil disobedience means A. Intentionally breaking a law to bring public attention and reform to the law B. Failing to abide by the terms of a civil contract C.Failure to remain within the bounds of civility in a political debate D.Breaking one’s marriage vows 2. Economics is A. The study of the production of goods and services from raw materials to delivery B.The study of the interaction of consumers and suppliers C.The study of the utilization of goods and services D.A study of the way that capital investment influences market economics 3. The United States government predominantly supplies A. Services that benefit a small group of influential citizens B. Goods needed for all market segments C. Services that benefit the public good D. A stable business atmosphere in which the free market can operate 4. In a realistic market economy such as the United States, the government A. Intervenes only in extraordinary circumstances at the request of the World Bank B. Does nothing to interfere with the market C. Allows market forces to regulate the market for the most part, but intervenes for public good and in cases of market failure D. Manages everything in the market to prevent major market swings 5. The Central Bank is the financial institution A. To which all local banks report B. At which the government stores its gold reserves C. That decides monetary policy D. Is located at the geographic center of the continental United States 6. During the period 1784 – 1800, United States foreign policy was focused A. Westward as the country began expansion to the Pacific B. Inward as the country came to grips with itself C. Southward because of concerns with Spain and France D. On normalizing relations and expanding trade with England and Europe 7. The War of 1812 was ended in 1815 by the signing of the A. Anglo-American Accord B. Treaty of Versailles C. Treaty of Ghent D. Treaty of Manchester 8. In his farewell address, President Washington A. Encouraged the new country to assume its rightful position as a world power B. Enter into treaties that would advance American interests C. Use our growing influence to help solve European disputes and broker peace efforts D. Avoid becoming involved in foreign entanglements 9. In essence, the Monroe Doctrine declares that A. The United States would be divided from east to west into 48 states extending from ocean to ocean B. The United States would not permit any new foreign colonies to be established in this hemisphere C. Because we derived our origins from England, we would support its position in any European conflict in which it became involved D. The United States would negotiate agreements with France and Spain and continue its expansion into territories they occupied 10. Following World War I, Germany repaid the allies for damages through payments called A. War Taxes B. Spoils of War C. Reparations D. Tithes 11. The United States emerged as a global power following A. The Spanish-American War B. World War I C. World War II D. The Vietnam War

Railtrack Problems? If the little man in a small business was behind with his tax return, owing say £1000, the Authority would be on his back with threats of fining him £100 per day for non payment in time. What the blazes is the Government thinking of, in allowing Railtrack to negotiate a deal ,to upgrade its services to the rail companies, leaving the cost to escalate to such an extent> If you or I engaged a contractor to do a job, we would know how much the work was going to cost and the contractor woyld expect no more. Government should FIX the cost of all Contracts after due preparation of the deal. Government Contracts are a licence to print money - for the Contractor. This question has been re-instated following an Appeal. I would appreciate comment. Thank you

What do you think of my history paper? Industrialization (1870-1896)? Industrialization (1870-1896) A paragraph presenting the conflict from the perspective of labor A paragraph presenting the conflict from the perspective of business Labor thought businesses were a danger to America. They had too much power and too much power in politics. Laborers thought that corporations were creating a corrupt government. Corporations were bankrupting small companies because of lowering prices below market value. Laborers were angry with corporations and trusts. They wanted Congress to pass laws to limit the power of corporations. Laborer’s convinced congress to pass laws to limit corporation’s power. The first one was Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 which outlawed all conspiracies, contracts, or combinations designed to “restrain trade.” The oil family was broken into smaller companies such as Exxon, Chevron, Esso and others by the Supreme Court. This did not work too well though. Another act was passed by congress. The Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 listed several illegal “restraints of trade”, prohibited false advertising; corporations offering big discounts and pricing things before market price. That is the major reason how small companies were bankrupted. This limited the power of corporations. Business believed that a capitalist system would be good for everyone. The Laborers disagreed because they thought it would corrupt the government. Business believed that large corporations and trusts would benefit the economy of America. This was true. They thought that transportation would benefit the economy which it did. Railroads reduced immensely reduced the traveling time.

are yuo paying attention ? "The American public have not heard who is the real culprit behind 9/11" Most Gagged Whistleblower in US history Sibel Edmonds joins Alex Jones on air, says there are strong criminal elements within all three branches of Government. Prisonplanet | January 19 2006 Last Tuesday nationally syndicated radio host Alex Jones was joined on air by FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds for an in depth interview Edmonds was hired shortly after Sept. 11 to translate intelligence gathered over the previous year related to the 9/11 attacks. She says the FBI had information that an attack using airplanes was being planned before Sept. 11 and calls Condoleezza Rice's claim the White House had no specific information on a domestic threat or one involving planes "an outrageous lie." Although Edmonds is officially barred from revealing the specifics of what she found out, she has revealed that she was hired to find and cover up the prior knowledge intercepts. She refused to go along with the cover up. Of course only small criminal elements of the government were involved on 9/11, the majority of those working for the FBI, the CIA and the NSA are good people who would have picked up on the pre-intelligence. Edmonds has also previously gone on record with revelations of government run drug shipping and other organized crime operations. Firstly Edmonds was keen to stress that information relating to pre 9/11 terrorist activity was intentionally blocked by elements of the intelligence agencies. "I started reporting these cases together with documents and other witnesses in the department, within two months after I started working for the bureau, around November/December 2001. I went to my superiors, to their superiors and even all the way to the top of the chin, to Director Mueller himself within the FBI headquarters. Initially they were asking me not to push through this and in return they offered to give me a raise... When I did not continue reporting these issues, in about February 2002, they accused me of reporting these issues to the Congress via email." At this time Sibel was not attempting to do this, she was attempting to raise the issues internally. The FBI then sent several agents to her house and confiscated her home computer and took it apart to check exactly who Edmonds had ben contacting. They then forced her to take a polygraph test to determine whether she had been speaking to anybody outside the agency. This was the last straw for edmonds who decide it was time to blow the case wide open and go to Congress with her vital information. "So I went to these people within the Senate Judiciary Committee, I briefed their staff who had clearance, I went inside the secured facility and gave them documents, and about two weeks after that I was terminated without any reason being cited, in fact the letter I received from the Department of Justice said that 'your contract is being terminated as of this date purely for the convenience of the Government." Ms Edmonds went on to talk about the specifics of what elements of the Government are now doing and covering up. Starting with the revelation that forces inside the Congress and the FBI confirmed that House Speaker Dennis Hastert was illegally receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash bribes from foreign lobbying organizations in exchange for political favors. Other Senators and Congressmen have also been exposed in the activity of taking illegal cash. She then went on to talk about former Attorney General John Ashcroft who in an unprecedented move officially gagged the Congress over her case in order to "protect certain diplomatic relations of the United States and to protect sensitive US-foreign business relations." Ashcroft did not elaborate at all and many have come forward to suggest that the gagging order was wholly illegal. Edmonds then made an analogy, as she often does when she cannot reveal specific facts. She suggested that there could be a so called "war on drugs" but it is an unwritten rule that you only go after the lower end drug dealers and leave alone the middle men and those at the top because the government can directly profit from their activity. This is how things were handled with terrorism in the lead up to 9/11. "Intentionally, I and I want to underline this, intentionally they are not going after the middlemen and the people at the top. So to this day the American public have not heard who is the real culprit behind 9/11. There is money laundering, and certain narcotic and weapons procurements involved." Ms Edmonds went on to reveal that the criminal elements are active within all three branches of Government. Plus there are those who are working outside government towards the same agenda. She suggests that we should look towards lobbying groups who are registering as agents of foreign governments, such as International Advisors Inc, the lobbying company set up by arch Neo-Con Richard Perle, which is registered with the State Department as "agents of Turkey." These groups, with weighty influences upon the foreign policy of the US Government, some, including Perle, Pentagon architects of the Iraq war, are operating with elements of the Government in a nexus like fashion, moving around vast amounts of money and arms and profiteering from directing world events. Edmonds suggested that this information would become more widespread should more people demand that the media cover these issues. There are simply too many people who are not concerned by such revelations or who simply take no notice. "Our founders repeatedly stressed eternal vigilance because we can't say we have separation of powers, we have our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, they're going to take care of themselves and they are going to last, no, it does take eternal vigilance." Edmonds commented. Prisonplanet.tv subscribers watch this space for the full exclusive audio interview. Visit Sibel Edmonds' websites at http://www.nswbc.org and http://www.justacitizen.com/

What are your thoughts on Corporate Welfare? Or do you believe that pork barrel spending, earmarks, subsidies are a wonderful way to spend our tax dollars? You always hear people griping and complaining about entitlement programs and social programs, but these same people seem to support our government giving tax dollars to big business. Remember that farming subsidy program that was supposed to help the small farmers compete on the market? Why are agrigiants like ADM getting subsidized when their factory farms destroy small farmers and they employ illegals? Why are we paying big Pharma to sell our elderly prescription medicine at a higher cost? Why do we subsidize Big Oil while they rake in record profits and we pay astronomical prices at the pump? Why do we allow the Government to give no bid contracts out to Halliburton, with no regards to cost? It's your money people! crknapp - Why should my tax dollars go to pay for your employees? Pay for your own employees. That's no different than handing them a welfare check... only the corporation is benefiting.

Why wont the news media tell you the rest of the story on HR 6? Taxing "Big Oil" isnt the only part.. section 2, title II, section 204 and we actually page 10 under section 204, item C. And I will read this, will find this stunning that it is actually in print. That transfers item C, line 4, page 10: A lessee shall not be eligible to obtain any economic benefit of any covered lease or any other lease. So President Clinton's team had negotiated bad leases, and now our friends are saying that those bad leases must be stopped. We simply need to stop them. We don't need to unravel them. We don't need to go through the thorny process of making it right for both sides as we unravel. We simply are going to punish you by not allowing you to derive any economic benefit from this type of installation. I will tell you, that undermines the full faith and credit of the United States. If we cannot depend on the word of the United States, then what do we have? I would draw parallels to things that other countries have done. In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez in 2001 raised the royalty rates from 1 percent to 16 percent just like that. Now, I will tell you as a business guy, if you know that a cost is going to be 1 percent or 16 percent, it is sort of irrelevant, but you must know that the cost is steady. When he raised those rates just at a single point with no ability to redesign these types of infrastructures, then he severely limited the interest of people to invest in that country, and certainly [Page: H782] GPO's PDFthat is exactly what is happening. Foreign firms are already curtailing their investments in that country. So in Venezuela we see that there is an attempt to change existing contracts, very similar to the way that we changed yesterday on the floor of this House of Representatives, and it has affected the desire of people to invest in Venezuela. In Bolivia we have the same thing. The Bolivian government threatened to expel oil companies from that country in 2006 if they did not agree to new government terms on existing contracts. What has happened? I think you could forecast what has happened. What is done is that foreign investors are now beginning to reconsider whether or not they will actually be a part of the Bolivian economy or not. This is the thing that all shareholders, they will live with any certainty in life, but they will not live with uncertainty. And when we begin to change the contracts, they begin to pull their investments out and go to places where certainty is more of a potential. In Russia we have seen the same thing. Companies such as Shell, Exxon, BP have had valid oil and gas leases in Russia for years. President Putin had a number of government agencies threaten to pull these leases for a number of suspect reasons. By threatening to pull these leases, Shell was forced to give up assets that were worth billions of dollars. So we see in Russia this attempt to maneuver contracts, to manipulate contracts much as what we did yesterday, and the effects are very bad. Long term, Russia will not have people who are willing to come and invest in that country. In 2001, I had the opportunity to go as a company; my wife and I had a small company that dealt in oil and gas, repairs of oil wells. Russia was looking for such capability. So in 2001, I went with a team of people who did various different projects. We were the ones who did down hole repairs on oil wells. They took me, they showed me files of maybe 6,000 or 8,000 wells that were simple to correct, yet they in their technology in 2001 did not have access to even the basics that my father had seen here in the United States in the early 1950s when he was working in the same industry. My father retired from Exxon; his whole life was work. So when I went back, I showed him the videos of the equipment that was in Russia in 2001. He said, ``Son, in 1950 we were more advanced than what we are seeing here.'' When countries are unwilling to allow people to have stable returns, it doesn't have to be high returns, low returns, but there must be stability and there must be predictability. When countries do not allow that, there will be no investments. And so here Russia was with over 6,000 wells asking me in 2001 to come and fix because they did not have anyone that was capable of fixing them. I determined that the environment was very, very unsettling in Russia, so we actually opted not to become a part of the team that went there. There was a company that was about 10 times our size located in Abilene, Texas. They did go. That was about maybe a $50 million company, maybe a $100 million company. Within 2 years, they were selling everything at bankruptcy because the Russians, as you can predict, said, ``No. These assets are going to belong to us.'' So this contracting problem that was attempted to be cured yesterday in legislation I think is going to be, instead of a fix, is going to cause prices to be higher at the pump, investments to be less, and at the end of the day we are going to wonder if maybe we did not empower a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs to go around and make commitments on behalf of the Federal Government. We shall see. I wish my friends well. I would say that I am not the only one who wonder about the contracts. Just day before yesterday the Washington Post had an editorial which declared that these elements that are included in the bill, the ones that begin to undo the contracts that we voted on yesterday and pushed by the majority in this House, the Washington Post declared those solutions to be ones that Russia and Bolivia would be proud of.

Why do people come to the United States for health care? When they have the rest of the world to choose from? Visitors seeking U.S. health care fret over work By Ramit Plushnick-Masti, Associated Press GIBSONIA, Pa. — A bright girl with dark curls crowning her face, Matisse Reid has been sick all her life with a rare disorder that prevents her body from absorbing nutrients. She nibbles on beet salad for lunch, but Matisse's real meal — fats, nutrients and fluids — come from an intravenous line running from her backpack to a vein in her stomach. After six years of IV feedings, the pressure on her liver is becoming life-threatening and she is running out of usable veins. Often, she is doubled over with chronic pain and vomiting. After months of fundraising in their native New Zealand, Wayne and Jodee Reid, Matisse's parents, packed up their family of six and traveled 8,500 miles to Pittsburgh for a multi-organ transplant that could save their 6-year-old daughter's life. As they wait for a stomach, bowel and pancreas to become available, the Reids must draw from $260,000 they raised, money they are counting on to carry them through the years it will take Matisse to recover from her operation. Like other foreign families in the United States to obtain lifesaving medical care, the Reids are here on tourist visas, which do not allow them to find jobs. Families say that makes it more difficult to sustain themselves on the long journey of saving their children's lives, adding to their anxiety. "At the end of the day, we're just parents trying to do what's best for their children," Jodee said as Matisse, who is often in pain, played upstairs in the home they rent in this Pittsburgh suburb. The Reids arrived in Pittsburgh in January, expecting to spend about three years here for Matisse's operation and long recovery. But with the wait for the transplants expecting to take eight months to a year, they now realize they may have to stay closer to five years — and it's unclear whether the money they raised will be enough. If they spend only $60,000 annually — a tight stretch for a family of six — the money will run out in about four years. Often, coming to the United States is the only choice for families seeking complicated transplants, leaving people who have always worked dependent on charitable people and organizations. On rare occasions, they are forced to return home. "There's no provision whatsoever, even for humanitarian grounds, to allow these people to work," said Bruce Larson, director of the international personnel office at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., which treated about 8,000 foreigners last year at its hospitals, including several hundred children. The federal government does not track how many of the millions of people who come here on tourist visas are seeking medical care. Working with the Mayo Clinic and St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said he plans to sponsor a bill that would grant work permits to parents of children who need more than six months of medical care. But it could get hung up in the bitter debate over immigration reform. Cohen wants to attach his bill to the broader reform legislation, which collapsed in the Senate in June. "I should hope it would have support. It's logical, it's humane," Cohen said. "I can't imagine anyone thinking this would be a security risk. It's just a humanitarian issue." Matisse was born on Christmas Day 2000 with chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, a disorder in which the small or large intestines lose their ability to contract and push food, stool and air through the gastrointestinal tract. It affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States and is most common in children and the elderly. The cause is unknown but symptoms include severe bowel problems — from vomiting and diarrhea to chronic pain. Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, where Matisse is awaiting the triple transplant, treats fewer than 30 international patients a year. Years of lobbying convinced the New Zealand government to cover the $1.4 million cost of Matisse's planned transplants. Independently, the Reids also raised nearly $260,000 in donations to sustain Matisse and her three siblings — Rachel, 15, Kalani, 9 and Fraanz, 2 — during the years it will take Matisse to recover. "It's only the highly motivated or those with some resources to raise money to come to another country, whether it's England, France or the United States, can come," said Dr. George Mazariegos, director of pediatric transplants at Children's Hospital. "Right now the care is very disproportional to the need." Intestinal transplants have been done only about 1,300 times since 1989, nearly all in the United States, Mazariegos said. A study by a group of doctors in Columbus, Ohio, found that of eight children who underwent such transplants, two died a short while later. Of those who survived, the study found their lifestyles were significantly improved and at least three had normal bowel movements within 18 months. For the hundreds of foreigners who come to America every year seeking medical care, the issue of finances is ever present. Sometimes, medical care can take years, putting families in a financial bind. According to immigration attorneys, there are two alternatives for foreigners to receive work permits, and both are rarely effective. A family can open a small business. However, to ensure the business is viable they must invest at least $100,000. In this case, the owners of the business would have their visa status changed and they would get working papers. Getting hired by a research institute, such as a university, can also provide a work visa. However, there are just a few thousand such visas issued annually and they normally expire within days of the lottery. Non-profit research institutes, such as hospitals, do have an unlimited number of work visas that they can issue annually and a foreigner hired by such an institution could get working papers as well. Wayne Reid is a carpenter by trade and desperately wants to work — to keep busy and earn money for the family. He said he was offered under-the-table odd jobs but he refuses to do anything that might jeopardize his daughter's treatment.

Looking for a profession that fits what I want.? I'm going to be a senior in high school and am currently looking at schools such as University of Virginia, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin, Penn State, and UPitt Honors. I am interested in business, but not from a "numbers" point of view. I don't want to be telling people what numbers work with stocks or analyzing financial statements. I like to work with other people, preferably smaller groups than bigger ones, and would like to work out contracts or make business deals by schmoozing people. I also enjoy how the government works and wouldn't mind doing something business-law related for Congress and my local rep. I just read about someone being a legislative attorney for the House of Reps. What careers should I pursue? I don't want to go to business school and be unsatisfied. Thanks!

Please help me with mytest tomarrow? 1: When we see a ball game between two teams, we are seeing sports live, and not on television. competition in action. a monopoly at work 2: In business, competition will provide disagreements and controversy. the best service at the best price. poor service at a poor price. 3: A group of businesses that have given control over their prices and selling practices to a small group of people is a stock. bond. trust. 4: Anti-trust laws have been passed to prevent trusts and monopolies. monopolies and franchises. trusts and franchises. 5: A board or commission will grant a public utility a ___, which is a contract between the government and the company. monopoly deed franchise 6: What makes each seller work to provide lower prices and better services to customers? corporation competition company 7: When one company has exclusive control over a service or product, it is a monopoly franchise corporation 8: Public utility boards or commissions are used by the federal government the state and federal government the local, state and federal government 9: Being an innovator, risk-taker, and businessperson are characteristics of a monopoly an entrepreneur a federal employee 10: Franchises give the utility the right to establish a monopoly control prices hire new employees

30 days Plan to resemble a command economy in 30 days: free market and progress for all? Please Read This : http://www.mises.org/story/2685

Do you agree that Wal mart wants the people to pay their taxes do you agree with these statements against WM? Wal-Mart's Business Plan "Let the American taxpayer fund our expenses" Wal-Mart is the second coming of the 1920 Robber Barons Wal-Mart Is The Ultimate Predator It has destroyed 100,000 small businesses, is breaking the union movement, has shipped massive amounts of jobs overseas, and has the news media in it's pocket. They are a version of the Pullman Company, but much more dangerous. Wal-Mart's Lives On It's Facade The image of "Sam Walton was just a good old boy" and "Wal-Mart is just a warehouse" is total propaganda. Wal-Mart is peddling the same nonsense the Bolsheviks/Communists used in talking the Russians into destroying their country. Wal-Mart wants you to believe that the company's efficiency, and size, are responsible for the low prices, but that is total BS. Wal-Mart's price advantage Third World Countries This girl makes $1.20 an hour. She replaced a Tennessee housewife that made $14.40 an hour, plus health insurance benefits. The housewife paid taxes which paid for local schools. You may be buying a $25 item for $20, but it is slowly wrecking your economy, and eventually you will be paying full price. Nike shoes pulled the identical scam, when it gave you $22 sneakers for $12, but as soon as they bankrupted their competitors, you were paying full price. A Look At Wal-Mart's Costs Wal-Mart does $260 billion in annual sales, and $180 billion of it is the cost of merchandise, and the rest is land, buildings, advertising, etc. Wal-Mart employs a staff of attorneys and accountants, whose sole function is to shift expenses to the Federal, State and local governments aka the tax payer. States pick up health insurance, unemployment taxes, real estate taxes, electrical, bond financing,etc. They will negotiate a special fee from their electric power supplier, and guess who picks up the tab. Outsourcing To The Third World Is A Giant Swindle Income Taxes Most of Wal-Mart's $180 billion in merchandise is not made in America. 60% is from out of the country. Their suppliers may be in America, but the merchandise, or major components, are made offshore. Not only does a supplier get cheaper labor, but there are income tax considerations and lax accounting practices. When you trans-ship a product through a 'No income tax country', you inflate the bill and pay less income tax in the US. The trans-shipping swindle Made in China Inc Tax Made in America Inc Tax Pair of sneakers' cost $ 6.00 Pair of sneakers' cost $25.00 Sold to Cayman Corp $40.00 Sold to US Store $50.00 $3.50 Sold to an US store $50.00 Sold to customer $75.00 $1.50 Sold to customer $75.00 $1.50 ======= ======= $1.50 $5.00 Their Federal Income tax on the sneakers is $1.50 instead of $5.00. Nike, which could be considered to be a "baby Wal-Mart", with it's Chinese factories, should show a profit of $9 billion on sales of $13 billion, but strangely it only shows a profit of $1.5 billion. China not only provides cheap prices, but enormous opportunities for scamming thanks to trans-shipping and no accounting regulations. The Consumer Swindle When the pair of sneakers leave China, it costs $4.00, but once it enters the 'Sea of Trans-Shipping', and the 'Land of Mystery Expenses', the cost skyrockets to $50.00. Employee Taxes Chinese worker American worker Base Wage $ 1.20 Base Wage $14.60 = $ 30,300 F.I.C.A. $ .91 = $ 1,800 Medicare $ .18 = $ 363 Fed Unemployment tax $ .73 = $ 350 State Unemployment tax $ .92 = $ 800 Paid Vacation $ $ 1,680 State Income tax $ 1,500 Health Ins $ $ 8,000 Annual cost $ 2,500 Annual cost $ 42,000 By outsourcing the production to China, you have avoided $5,250 in taxes that pay for schools, unemployment, Social Security, Medicare and public services. Typical Mayor Typical incentives Wal-Mart gets States and political hacks prostrate themselves to get Wal-Mart stores in their areas. They will forego 10 years of state income taxes, five years of property taxes, build the infrastructure (roads and power). Why will local politicians go along? A super center can cost $20,000,000, and the average skim is 10%. Whose family owns the land Wal-Mart builds on? You have the general contractor who hires favored subcontractors, and there is lots of room for ghost employees and service contracts. There is the always the next election. The same newspapers, that overlook Wal-Mart's predatory practices, can quickly destroy a political career. Governors Agree...... "What's good for Wal-Mart is good for my state". Wal-M

Tea Parties: GOP once again manipulating the average joe? During the eight miserable, ineffective and wasteful years of the Bush administration, Karl "Turd Blossom" Rove, the president's chief political advisor, deftly crafted a successful strategy of turning the "little guy" on himself. That being, to divert and distract these Average Joes away from the real issues that effect them--unemployment, wages, health care, education--and instead drive them to the polls through hot-button issues including abortion, gay-marriage and life-support (Terri Schiavo). For a long while, it worked. The little guy consistently voted against his own self-interests. But the little guy's not completely stupid, and the inevitable backlash began with the 2006 midterm elections where Democrats won a small Congressional majority, and kicked into high gear last November, with Barack Obama's presidential victory and the Democratic landslide in the House and Senate. Dejected, the GOP crawled away a broken, dysfunctional family. A tarnished brand. But as this year's tax season rolled around, conservatives issued a rallying cry in the form of "tea parties," those ill-founded, embarrassing, scantly attended protests that were held Wednesday across the nation. Though touted by organizers (most likely GOP funded and supported) as being attended by "Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents," judging from the crowds and the signs they waved, it was pretty clear this was a decidedly anti-Obama movement. And that's the insane part. What the demonstrators are protesting is what they believe to be higher taxes and wasteful government spending, in particular the $787-billion stimulus plan and the $3-trillion bailouts of banks, Wall Street and the auto industry. But the not-so-comic irony here is that the Obama administration has yet to impose one single tax increase on anyone. To the contrary, it's giving income tax cuts to 95% of Americans, and gives additional tax cuts and credits for small businesses, tuition payers and home buyers. The only individuals that could be hit with an actual tax increase are those whose annual incomes exceed $250,000. An increase, mind you, that's still a full 10 points less than the rates during the Reagan presidency. But I didn't see any seemingly rich dudes in NY, Chicago, DC and elsewhere parking their Benz's and raising any protest signs at these rallies. The crowds, though small, were filled with the same types who've been used and abused before: low and middle-income taxpayers who ironically stand to gain the most from Obama's tax policies. And once again, they've somehow been manipulated by the GOP through lies, misinformation and perhaps even racial bias. I nearly cringed when I saw on Neil Cavuto's Fox News show a few people in the crowd jeering one of the guests being interviewed, a woman from a progressive/green organization, who supports taxing the rich. It was as if the poor and middle class in the crowd had been brainwashed into defending those mistreated rich folk at the hands of the elitist Obama. In case anyone hasn't noticed, there are many recent signs that the economy may finally be turning around. There's been several positive indicators in the banking, home, retail and auto sectors. The credit markets are opening up. The stock market's had the best rally since the Great Depression. And, there hasn't been one bank/Wall Street failure since the bailouts. Maybe, just maybe, the government's fiscal policies which began in the Fall under George Bush and then expanded under Obama are working? And maybe those misguided protesters--the ones out across America yakking about Obama as if he was the biggest socialist since Karl Marx--should realize that these same policies are the ones that will help create jobs; protect savings; make home-buying more affordable; make tuition easier to pay; create universal health care; make the US more energy efficient; and, overall, resuscitate this ailing economy. But the GOP sees opportunity here to revive its heretofore comatose, dispirited base. What a better, time-tested, tried-and-true conservative cause-celebre than taxes? It's the Republicans trying to create something out of nothing. But will this populist approach work? Will the newly-energized "Contract with America" folks like Newt Gingrich succeed in creating a groundswell of support over this issue and thus breathe new life into the near-dead Republican Party? A new Gallup poll released this week shows that 53%of Americans approve of big government spending to fix the economy, and 48% think that the federal income taxes they pay are "about right," indicating the lowest anti-tax sentiment in 50 years. And President Obama enjoys impressive overall approval ratings. Judging from yesterday's meager turnouts, it appears these tea-baggers are nothing more than a fringe minority