Hal Donahue - I appreciate your point of view, though we'll have to agree to disagree.

"If you grew up in the South you did and anywhere else you probably did benefit from being "white" if in no other way than contemporary minorities were not allowed to compete on an equal playing field. As poor as you may have been you still most likely benefited from this racial preference program" and "You had enough of an education to get into college to use the GI Bill..."

Actually, I grew up in Baltimore and attended integrated public schools. I may have been the beneficiary of a better public education (through grade 10, earned a GED later) than what may have been available in other regions. That "better" education being a product...

St. Denis - "Please take the race-baiting somewhere else. Most of us do not care about race. We've transcended race; perhaps, you should as well."

Amen. I believe many of us have. However, apparently the rest of the mob didn't get the memo. It seems this great and noble goal of equality was a myth. It's really about payback - getting even for the great societal ill of the past. I assume we'll be ready for true equality in about 100 years or so - after the "books have been balanced".

Hal Donahue says

"LMAO sure you would say this now yet all you have you got because of racial preference programs. Isn't this funny LOL?"

I've seen you make this reference before regarding any "white" person over the age of 40 and I am frankly sick of hearing it. I can assure you growing up in poverty I never felt I was part of the "privileged race". What I did, however, was take advantage of the opportunities that were presented to me and leverage them to better myself. These very same opportunities were available to any other 18-year old male at the time regardless of race. I served in the military, utilized the GI Bill to get an education, and have succeeded through hard work. How this makes me "advantaged" I fail...

"Con men understand that their job is not to use facts to convince skeptics but to use words to help the gullible to believe what they want to believe."

The good Doctor hits the nail with this observation. If it sounds good, do it. If it feels good, do it. If it accomplishes your end goal, do it.

If every official in D.C. miraculously became frank and honest with the people for one week it would scare the citizenry half to death.

"...what does it take to connect the dots?"

A simple #2 pencil should do the trick. Apparently, good reasoning and problem-solving skills are becoming a lost art.

Yes, I recognize the system needs improvement. I simply don't agree with the methods being proposed. And...

Primus54 - "Whenever I see "killer's" name and read his rants, I can't help but imagine a teeny, tiny, 5 lb. chihuahua whose owner's named it "killer" in a fit of hysterical irony."

Yes sir, irritating to the ear and a general pain in the ankle.

Wagner, I'm not sure where Killer originated, but he has made it clear before that his loyalties are not with this country. That, for me, makes his opinions "irrelevant".

killer Location: GA
Reply # 19
Date: Sep 10, 2009 - 10:56 AM EST

"But, I guess; Desperate people do Desperate things? How does being "Irrelevant" feel?"

How soon we forget the pendulum swings both ways.

So tell me sir, are you still prepared to aid and abet our enemies to bring harm to our country should the President so much as "choke on a chicken bone and die(s)"?

"...do you feel that the Russians can have any positive influence on Iran and if so, how can we best mobilize them to our cause?"

You didn't ask me, but I'll respond. No I don't. I don't believe the Russians will do anything that is not in their best interest. There is no motivation for them to be mobilized to our cause.

Why shouldn't I be expected to pay a higher premium? If I'm a higher risk I would expect that from insurance. If I live next to an explosives factory I would expect my premiums for property insurance to be greater. If I drive a more expensive car and/or live/drive in an area with higher accidents and incidents of theft I would expect to pay higher premiums.

I think the problem stems from a belief that we have a right to premium health care and linking health insurance to employment and group health plans designed with minimal co-pays and negotiated fees for services. We have no idea what things cost, nor do we understand the cost (value) incurred by our employer. Another fallacy is that group insurance is cheaper than...

My2CentsWorth Location: VA

Parts 1, 2 & 3 - Touche'. Darn those wascally facts. Part deux was especially humorous.

Reagan? Who cares about what Reagan did? I think the lesson to be learned from 1980s immigration "reform" is that amnesty as policy was a failure. The problem grew from 3MM to 12-15MM. I expect this failure to be repeated as soon as space on the worktable becomes available. Amazing how we can continue to repeat what hasn't worked here, and elsewhere, instead of finding new solutions to these problems.

I saw a report yesterday where the ongoing maintenance of the "fence" was projected at about three times the construction costs, and the "fence" had been breached over 3,000 times. I'm waiting...