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Many businesses have long term obligations to their former employees, including health insurance and, to a lesser extent, pensions. If they can not meet their financial obligations, they can and do go into bankruptcy to rid their businesses of much, if not all, of those obligations. Many state and local governments are now having the same problems. There has been one city on the east coast that has gone through bankruptcy to accomplish the same types of ends as businesses. It wouldn't surprise me if California at some point has to do the same. The federal government has an obligation to those owed Social Security and Medicare. The rules on collecting either will certainly be changed, with the caveat that those of a certain age (probably 55 and older) will be exempt from the changes. Hopefully, when the federal government screws the veterans, they will at least apply the same logic and leave the older one's benefits intact.

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All social contracts both implicit and implied are no longer sacrosanct. Greece is the extreme case but America is certainly the same. Long held social constructs such as pensions even for public employees are now negotiable and can be changed despite what was agreed to when the contracts were signed.

 

Japan used to have lifetime employment if you worked for Toyota for example. It was a cornerstone of their labor customs. No longer.

 

I fear the result of all this is that people will no longer have any faith in any institutions. You may argue they shouldn't in the first place but the truth is we were all raised to believe in it. I may be accused of being melodramatic but I think its the start of the breakdown of society. What made most western societies prosper and advance were certain laws, customs and such that were followed and believed with almost religious belif. For example, English common law that protected everyone and gave the pauper an equal footing against a Prince.

 

In America culturally we don't trust the government but there were some things that we regarded as sacrosanct and those are being violated. People, i fear, will lose all faith in the government as well as institutions. I know to some extent I have. I have the same fears my grandparents did about financial institutions during the great depression. I have a decreasing faith in currency. Not only to retain its value but the very concept of it as having any value.

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In the 1990s the Feds reduced the military retirement pension at 20 years from 50% of your pay to 40%. This is when they also would allow only high school grads to enlist, and it required a BA or BS to be commissioned. It took an MA or MS to be promoted above captain.

 

With Bush and Obama's wars, the military was expanded and the requirements were eased. It think retirement is back up to 50% again. Obie must be very confident that the US will fight no more ground wars, if he is going to be giving people less reason to enlist. Then again, he has been seduced by the claims that wars can be fought and won mainly by technology. So let's see him hold territory without boots on the ground. :p

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No one is going to choose to war on America. Its foolish. Countries or more likely groups like al qaida do so when they are provoked. The trick is not entering wars in the first place. At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, our wars in the last 20 years were preventable.

The first gulf war should be remembered in the history books as the oil companies war. The arab league should have fought that one. They were universally against Iraq. The second war with Iraq was totally avoidable and not in hindsight either. With regards to Afghanistan what emboldened bin Laden was us having a military base on the holy lands. We shouldn't have been there in the first place. We were high there to protect the house of Saud.

 

We shouldn't be involved any thing that requires those high numbers of troops. I guarantee you a Republican president urged on by the military/industrial complex would have sent troops to the Arab spring uprisings. Military aid, technology and helping from a distance is the way to go as Obama proved. The only thing I would be for in terms troops on the ground and this would have to be a coalition is humanitarian causes such as Rwanda where you have genocide. And that would be a UN matter and I'd give the Chinese a chance to be world cop and see how it suits them.

 

We are in no condition to be the world's cop with troops housed all over the world. Our economic and politic power should be enough for most things. All this sabre rattling and threats from the Republican candidates about Iran is asanine. A military strike against Iran over its nuke program is one of the worst ideas in the anals of bad ideas...and they are fool enough to let Israel drag them into that mess as well with the Saudis behind the scenes urging us on to ease their own fears about Iran.

 

We act like we have some universal right to the Hormuz. We shouldn't be so dependent on oil in the first place and if the Iranians are fool enough to risk the ire of the other mid east countries by f*cking with it, let them be the bad guy. Its not up to us to gurantee the rest of the world access to oil. China has a voracious apetite for the stuff, let them take our place. We need to take care of ourselves right now.

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Obama keeps racking up foreign affair accomplishments (N. Korea below). I recall one of the big things we were all warned about was his lack of experience in this area and he would be way over his head. I've always thought foreign policy stuff was largely over-stated in terms of policy. Many of our foreign policy stances are not based on reason and logic but politics at home (Cuba, Israel) and businesses with an interest (Iran).

 

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/u-announces-diplomatic-breakthrough-north-korea-152331635.html

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I'd distinguish between combat veterans and the rest of the military. Combat veterans deserve greater benefits than they receive now.

 

 

I would support this cut for E-6 and above and O-4 and above and CWO-2 and above. They make a TON more then those lower on the pay scale. And yes, it would effect me, too.

 

(Oh and you currently get 50% pay at 20 years 75% pay at 30.)

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Media finally paying attention to eligibility?

 

 

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Poll after poll in recent months has indicated that Americans have a high level of concern over Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president, with one poll showing fully half of the nation wants Congress to investigate the question.

 

But reporters for the traditional media – networks, major newspapers, major news corporations and conglomerates – mostly have giggled when talk turns to the serious question of just what the U.S. Constitution requires of presidents.

Nevertheless, media organizations from all political persuasions are seeking admittance to a news conference to be held by Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.

 

The event is tomorrow at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time in Phoenix, 3 p.m. Eastern, and will be live-streamed by WND.

 

The topic of discussion will be an investigation by Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse into concerns about Obama’s eligibility. It’s the first time an official law enforcement report has addressed many of the allegations about the presumptive 2012 Democratic nominee for president.

 

The issues include Obama’s eligibility under the U.S. Constitution’s requirements, questions about his use of a Connecticut Social Security number and the image of his purported birth certificate from Hawaii.

 

In addition to the live-streaming, WND will make available to the public, the same day by email, the official report distributed to media by Arpaio’s investigators. Those interested in receiving the report can sign up for the free service.

 

Top national media organizations have indicated their plans to attend, and bookings for radio and television reports are in the works. Expected are reporters from the Associated Press, Reuters, Univision, the Washington Times and NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates, as well statewide radio networks, among many others.

 

Because of the circumstances, a decision was made to hold the press conference at the sheriff’s training center on the outskirts of Phoenix, rather than at the downtown office.

 

The event is expected to draw protesters who object to the sheriff’s office review of allegations that Obama may attempt to use a fraudulent document to have his name placed on the 2012 presidential election ballot in Arizona.

 

Without releasing any details, Arpaio has said the findings “could be a shock.â€

 

He constituted a special five-member law enforcement posse last year to investigate allegations brought by members of the Surprise, Ariz., Tea Party that the Obama birth certificate released to the public by the White House on April 27 might be a forgery.

 

The posse is made up of three former law enforcement officers and two retired attorneys with law enforcement experience. Members have been examining evidence since September concerning Obama’s eligibility to be president under Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, which requires a president to be a natural-born citizen.

 

Among other issues, there also have been allegations of Obama’s use of a Social Security number that corresponds to a Connecticut address, even though the president apparently had no links there.

 

WND earlier reported a private investigation found that the Social Security number being used by Obama does not pass a check with E-Verify, the electronic system the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has created to verify whether or not someone is authorized to work legally in the country.

 

Arpaio’s investigation is the first official law enforcement look at the allegations surrounding Obama’s eligibility. Many of the private investigators who have examined it contend there are too many questionable circumstances to believe that everything regarding Obama is above-board.

 

Arpaio previously told WND that when he launched his Cold Case Posse it was with the possibility that he would clear Obama.

 

He said it wasn’t an issue he could ignore, after 250 members of the tea party organization “came to me and asked their sheriff to investigate Obama and the birth certificate.â€

 

The WND TV live-streaming coverage of the news conference Thursday is possible through the support of the Western Center for Journalism.

 

The decisions in dozens of court cases over the last few years questioning Obama’s eligibility were typified by a recent decision in Georgia in which several individuals filed challenges to Obama’s name on the 2012 ballot and provided evidence to a hearing officer.

 

Even though Obama and his lawyer deliberately snubbed the case – the lawyer wrote the judge a letter in advance telling him Obama would not attend – the judge threw out the evidence presented by several attorneys and ruled in favor of Obama.

 

Similar ballot challenges are being filed in a long list of other states already.

 

The Arpaio investigators were given the case following a meeting held in the sheriff’s office Aug. 17, 2011, with tea party representatives from Surprise, Ariz., who presented a petition signed by more than 250 Maricopa County residents. The petitioners expressed concern that their voting rights could be irreparably compromised if Obama uses a forged birth certificate to be placed on the 2012 presidential ballot in Arizona or otherwise is found to be ineligible.

 

The tea party letter formally stated the following charge: “The Surprise Tea Party is concerned that no law enforcement agency or other duly constituted government agency has conducted an investigation into the Obama birth certificate to determine if it is in fact an authentic copy of 1961 birth records on file for Barack Obama at the Hawaii Department of Health in Honolulu, or whether it, or they are forgeries.â€

 

The posse was constituted as a 501©3 organization, designed to cost the people of Maricopa County nothing, while enabling people from around the country to contribute to its mission.

 

WND has reported that dozens of experts with varying ranges of competency who have looked at the situation believe the birth documentation image released by Obama last year is not genuine.

 

A flying-banner and billboard campaign to let people know about the questions regarding eligibility that was started by WND CEO and Editor Joseph Farah also has raised the public’s awareness of the situation.

 

Farah wrote recently that the underlying question to be determined is whether the U.S. Constitution remains the law of the land, or whether it has become “an archaic old document that needs to be amended.â€

 

“At its core, it’s really quite simple: Does Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution dealing with who can serve as president of the United States simply mean that any citizen age 35 or older is eligible? If so, why did the founders use a different term altogether – ‘natural born citizen’? What is a ‘natural born citizen’? Is it anyone born in the United States? If so, why have candidates born outside the United States been deemed eligible? Do we owe it to America’s future to go back in history to determine what that term actually means?

 

“Until now, as hard as it may be to believe, no official vetting of Obama’s credentials has been done – not by the 50 secretaries of state who oversee elections, not by the Federal Elections Commission that administers the nation’s elections laws, not by the Electoral College, not by any judge in America, not by Congress, not by anyone,†he continued.

 

Even before the results become public, Farah said he’s confident there will be a significant impact.

 

“I strongly believe it could be a game-changer,†he said.

 

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The Republicans do the most flag waving and are more hyprocritical.

 

That's a HUGE load of you-know-what Stevo. Anyway, the reasons for not trying to shuffle civilian union workers are at least 2: 1.) their benefits are contractual obligations/bargaining agreements, whereas the military is not unionized and has no bargaining agreements: 2.) union employees support Barry, whereas I'd guess that most military personnel have no use for Barry and won't vote for him. (Recall how it was Republicans who demanded that the votes of foreign-serving military voters be counted 4 years ago?)

 

It's a take-off on Barry's signature "class warefare" campaign message: "I will not allow the 1/2 of the citizens who don't pay taxes to shoulder the burden of the 1/2 of the citizens who don't pay their fair share". Something like that, anyway, eh?

 

HH (Thinking Stevo was kidnapped and now being forced to send messages from some dark, cold room in Pyongyang.)

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Media finally paying attention to eligibility?

 

 

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Poll after poll in recent months has indicated that Americans have a high level of concern over Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president, with one poll showing fully half of the nation wants Congress to investigate the question.

 

He constituted a special five-member law enforcement posse last year to investigate allegations brought by members of the Surprise, Ariz., Tea Party that the Obama birth certificate released to the public by the White House on April 27 might be a forgery.

 

The posse is made up of three former law enforcement officers and two retired attorneys with law enforcement experience. Members have been examining evidence since September concerning Obama’s eligibility to be president under Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, which requires a president to be a natural-born citizen.

 

 

A poll would also reveal a good number of Americans believe Elvis and bin Laden are still alive and the moon landing was faked. Heck, a scary number still think he's a practicing muslim.

 

This will backfire. If he's kept off the ballot or they force the President to do some jumping through hoops, it will provide a lot of sympathy for him. Lets face it, birthers will NEVER be satisfied with any proof and they can and will find some nutty 'expert' to confirm their suspicions. I could find an expert to say I'm a white female if I look hard enough.

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