If Only Our Glorious Leaders Put as Much Effort into Making People’s Lives Better

[20score]

as they did into tracking us and covering their own asses….

If the number of people, the amount of money, and the all the work that was put into the NSA spying programs had instead been funneled into single-payer healthcare, or alternative energy programs, our country would be in far, far better shape than it is now.

If all the effort that has been used to catch, demonize and punish whistleblowers - from Manning and Kiriakou to Assange and Snowden – had been put toward a campaign to bring back good paying jobs and quality education….

Really, what kind of country do we want to be?

[suede1]

1. K & R!

[Scootaloo]

2. K&R

[punkin87]

3. Exactly!

[Fire Walk With Me]

4. The surveillance state budget is said to be $1 trillion a year.

http://www.alternet.org/meet-contractors-turning-americas-police-paramilitary-force?paging=off

January 30, 2013 |

The national security state has an annual budget of around $1 trillion. Of that huge pile of money, large amounts go to private companies the federal government awards contracts to. Some, like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, are household names, but many of the contractors fly just under the public's radar. What follows are three companies you should know about (because some of them can learn a lot about you with their spy technologies).

L3 is everywhere. Those night-vision goggles the JSOC team in Zero Dark Thirty uses? That's L3. The new machines that are replacing the naked scanners at the airport? That's L3. Torture at Abu Ghraib? A former subsidiary of L3 was recently ordered to pay $5.28 million to 71 Iraqis who had been held in the awful prison.

Oh, and drones? L3 is on it. Reprieve, a UK-based human rights organization, earlier this month wrote on its Web site:

“L-3 Communications is one of the main subcontractors involved with production of the US’s lethal Predator since the inception of the programme. Predators are used by the CIA to kill ‘suspected militants’ and terrorise entire populations in Pakistan and Yemen. Drone strikes have escalated under the Obama administration and 2013 has already seen six strikes in the two countries.”

(More at the link.)

[20score]

6. Wow! Thank you!

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. I share your passion. All of that money could be going into all of the schools which they're closing

etc. etc. etc. This is "austerity", meaning the rich get richer off of the poor (it's our tax dollars funding the surveillance state budget) while they tell us there's no money for =our= needs, where tax dollars used to go. Quite a scam; just look at Greece, Ireland, Spain, Italy...

[20score]

9. (Hope this works.)...

[Hydra]

5. This whole circus puts to lie everything they've said about how they can't get things done

This is a Bipartisan, high energy and solidly pushed effort to have everyone spied on. They've literally moved mountains to get this apparatus in place and keep it secret.

A common deflect on DU is that the President doesn't have a magic wand. He sure as hell does- he made all of the discussion and criticism of this *disappear* after the Bushes left the building(Did they even leave?) by making it look like it disappeared.

If they want to, they can do ANYTHING. The fact that they haven't done certain things means they simply don't want to.

[sheshe2]

10. He has a magic wand!?? I didn't know that~

A common deflect on DU is that the President doesn't have a magic wand. He sure as hell does-

Hallelujah! Amazing Grace...

More info please, do you have a link to when he was crowned the King! Damn! I missed the coronation!

[Hydra]

12. Oh, if you want to put it that way

Who gets to order executions without a trial?

They say it's good to be the king...

[sheshe2]

16. Huh?

Who is ordering execution without trial?

[Hydra]

17. Know the facts before you argue your point

TIA.

[sheshe2]

24. Well let's see...

You said:

This whole circus puts to lie everythig they've said about hwo they can't get things done
This is a Bipartisan, high energy and solidly pushed effort to have everyone spied on. They've literally moved mountains to get this apparatus in place and keep it secret.

A common deflect on DU is that the President doesn't have a magic wand. He sure as hell does- he made all of the discussion and criticism of this *disappear* after the Bushes left the building(Did they even leave?) by making it look like it disappeared.

If they want to, they can do ANYTHING. The fact that they haven't done certain things means they simply don't want to.

Then I said:

He has a magic wand!?? I didn't know that~

"A common deflect on DU is that the President doesn't have a magic wand. He sure as hell does-"


Hallelujah! Amazing Grace...

More info please, do you have a link to when he was crowned the King! Damn! I missed the coronation!

Then you said:

Oh, if you want to put it that way

Who gets to order executions without a trial?

They say it's good to be the king...

Then I said:

Huh?

Who is ordering execution without trial?

Then you ended with:

Know the facts before you argue your point

TIA.

So okay, first I had to look up TIA:
Abbreviation
Transient ischemic attack.

Then I had to look up "Ischemic":

No, actually it is an, often, overused medical term to describe any transient focal neurological symptom. Although if I were to have another child I am sure TIA might be on the list of names. T.I.A. stands for transient ischemic attack. It results from a brief lack of blood flow to a part or parts of the brain.

The symptoms can be almost anything, including weakness, numbness, tingling, vision loss or changes, balance difficulties, slurred speech or difficulties expressing words, dizziness, or even confusion. Because of the plethora of symptoms, diagnosing TIA has taken on a life of its own and can be easily overused.
http://www.maplevalleyreporter.com/lifestyle/212353671.html

So please clarify what facts I need to know other than what you stated! I did not argue a point. I responded to your post.

[Hydra]

37. TIA

Thanks In Advance

[Iliyah]

29. shesha2

same bullshit, different time.

[Maedhros]

44. Who is ordering execution without trial?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/10/03/f-rfa-macdonald.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/human_nature/2011/10/anwar_al_awlaki_and_drone_strikes_on_u_s_citizens_due_process_wo.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/11/nyt-obama-awlaki

[cali]

35. and what do you call this?

http://election.democraticunderground.com/10023156

The President owns the "double tap" policy and yes, he could stop it easily.

[Democracyinkind]

52. I'm sure there was a trial for every one double tapped...

Surely there is also a trial for everyone killed in signature strikes (a strategic madness that even the previous admin shyed away from).

I can't believe that people are actually suggesting what I wrote above. Either that, or they've simply missed or ignored double taps and signature strikes. It's gotten so far that I don't even know which of the two is the more generous interpretation of the motivations of such posts.

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. Seach GD for posts on the TPP, by Alan Grayson as well as one discussing Obama's transparency

as he has basically kept this corporate take-over quiet and hustled it along. Rep. Grayson says he's seen it and it will turn our country over to corporate interests and their legislation. If you know ALEC, a conglomeration of corporations and the rich, who write laws and states in turn adopt them, including the "stand your ground" law which led to the Trayvon Martin murder. This is ALEC and NAFTA on steroids, and it took a large petition for a US CONGRESSMAN to ever get to take a look at it. Such things are being brought into being beyond the influence of our own representatives; certainly there is something "magical" about this chain of events and the people and institutions involved.

[20score]

14. Perfect!

Even if others pretend not to understand, it should be obvious.

Thanks!

[Hydra]

19. TY

I think this episode really highlights what the real agenda is. When you have Obama, Kerry, Boehner, Clapper, Feinstein, Cheney and most of Congress all working together...

“The word bipartisan means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out”
George Carlin

[sheshe2]

7. Oh my...

I knew nothing could squeak by without the mention of ....Snowden.

I thought this wasn't about him~

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. Snowden has forced national and international conversation on this ugly topic.

We have to consider what exactly we are becoming, or wish to become, and are we as US citizens actually allowed to have input regarding it, or not. Please see my post number 4 in this thread about the $1 trillion dollars of taxpayer money going into the security state instead of into schools. Chicago has just closed a large number of schools, mostly in poor neighborhoods; the same with medical services and emergency care and mental health care. In Philly, they're closing schools as well, and charter organizations intend to snap them up, taking education out of the hands and direction of the people. Privatization while the rich get richer off of our tax dollars. It's called "austerity".

[20score]

23. I think you're missing the point.

[woo me with science]

15. Huge K&R

[20score]

33. Thanks

[gtar100]

18. What a novel idea! I wonder the same thing all the time. Everyone of the boneheads in power who go

for their own personal interest are just incredibly short-sighted. They just don't have the integrity or character to do things which can be wildly more profitable in the long run than any of their stupid get-rich-quick schemes. There's a whole universe to explore and these idiots spend their time making our world a shit hole clogged with their waste.

For all the wealth the Kochs have, and all their grand schemes, they are little more than a couple of low-lifes.

[20score]

34. Well said

[mindwalker_i]

20. On the flip side, if only we'd demand it of them

There are people here who still support what the government is doing as fighting terrorism. It might actually be used for that on occasion, but I bet it's mostly used for marijuana busts or political leverage.

[20score]

21. Yes, I do wish people would fight for their ideals.

Settle on tactics, not principles.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

49. Sadly, the majority of people in this country

have a deficit of ideals, principles, or tactics.

[LovingA2andMI]

22. K/R~~~

[Amonester]

25. You won't have any of these good programs anytime before private money is banned from politics

first.

I know it, you know it, and anyone who thinks it's doable without getting private money out of politics first is just plain simply naïve.

[20score]

36. The first thing we need to do. Exactly.

[MotherPetrie]

26. You got that right.

[DeSwiss]

27. ''Really, what kind of country do we want to be?''

- This kind: ''Peaceful, wise, compassionate and caring.''

K&R

[font color=gray size=3]A Different Perspective[/font]

If Everyone In The World Lived In Texas

If you divided the square footage of the State of Texas by the world's population, what would be the square foot area available per person?

Texas land area is: 261,232 square miles

1 square mile = 640 acres: 261,232 x 640 = 167,188,480 square acres

1 acre = 43,560 square feet: 167,188,480 x 43,560 = 7,282,730,188,800 square feet

World Population: 7,000,000,000

Thus: 7,282,730,188,800 square feet divided by 7,000,000,000 people = 1040.39 square feet per person

Conclusions:
It occurs to me that if the world's population could fit inside an area the size of Texas giving each person 1000 or so square feet each to live in (the average size of a 2BR apartment), that would put the ratio between all the people of the world to its resources in a mind-boggling skew in favor of people, thousands and thousands of times over. We are all billionaires. So why does this planet have poor people? At all? We all know the answer to that question.

[font size=4]THAT'S OUR MAIN PROBLEM[/font].

~DeSwiss

[20score]

38. Nice post!

[Iliyah]

28. Oh shit

we have to fight each other. . .

ok

[HiPointDem]

30. kr

[Iliyah]

31. And stop with JFK and MLK and Mandela

Rosa Parks and Paul Revere and the rest.

[Egalitarian Thug]

32. K&R If only... n/t

[Enthusiast]

39. Kicked and Recommended!

The nation's priorities are just a tad askew.

[20score]

41. I wish more could see that.

[Enthusiast]

42. There are a shit load of us and more every day. nt

[suede1]

40. Kick

[WillyT]

43. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[FiveGoodMen]

45. They do. Really.

But only a select group of people.

And 99% of us ain't in it.

[suede1]

50. How true!

[forestpath]

51. +1000

[MichaelSoE]

46. all i can say is amen brother

[malokvale77]

47. All I can say...

in a nut shell. Thank you.

[ReRe]

48. K&R

Exactly! We could have been that "shining city on a hill" that they love to equate America to. No one can deny when the peddle was put to the metal, though. Greed is good, ME ME ME, Ronald Reagan. American Exceptionalism, my ass. There is nothing exceptional here, unless you consider the ginormous heist that has been perpetrated upon the citizens of this country, and even the world at this point in time.

[raouldukelives]

53. We want to be a 100% corporate owned & controlled country.

And if someone has Wall St investments, its what they strive for as well. Laughingly enough, many of them claim to want the opposite.
Exactly like someone secretly profiting from a slave run plantation in the old south but publicly claiming to be on the side of anti-slavery.
The words ring hallow, the sincerity vacant.

[Nevernose]

54. The military spent more in 2010 on air conditioning

Than the whole government spent on NASA's entire budget.

Locally, we're laying off teachers, yet the school district employs 12 people full time in their PR department. The police department pays out 48 million a year to lease one building; they have 8 full time police officers assigned not to fighting crime, but to PPA liaisons.

It's all over. I don't mind government spending. He'll, I think we should be spending MORE. I just think that most of it goes to the powerful and relatively little goes to the people.

[marym625]

55. They keep this up, it won't be long before we crumble

This is a great post. Just too bad our elected officials don't see it and just don't give a fuck.

we need more people like Wendy Davis. One woman inspiring action. A liberal with a backbone. Hopefully, others will see the reaction to her standing up for civil rights, to standing against oppression, and will follow in her footsteps

again, great piece!

[woo me with science]

56. kick

[treestar]

57. That can't just simply be done, because enough of our fellow citizens don't want it

that it can't be done. There is no single payer because there are not enough voters to vote for representatives who will vote for it.