My right to bear arms is under fire right now.

I guess I never did understand the government's reasoning in that it is perfectly OK to send USA troops overseas to fight and die not only for our freedom, but also the freedom of other country's citizens, yet seem all in a tizzy and astonished to think that we might be willing to fight and die for our freedom HERE that they would want to encroach upon.

And they can't seem to comprehend why we demand that we retain the tools needed in order to that, if necessary. No we hope we never have to do just that. But as my mom used to tell me, "Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it."

Originally Posted by beautifullywild77

I do not think PTSD should be considered in the ownership of guns. Sure it might play a role but it shouldn't be the sole reason to be denied the right to bare arms.

The problem is Michael is the government is not taking care of its veterans. They keep taking away right after right from them. They make getting help from the VA sometimes impossible. They will fight you tooth and nail to pay as little as they can get away with. Our veterans are suffering, yet I don't see it on the front lines of the news. I see our President and current congress doing nothing to help Veterans but take away more money from the GI bill or from VA disability health care.

BW77 Those funds are more needed for things like free cell phones!

I don't know anyone who has a free cell phone. It's not to say that there aren't plenty who have them, but I'm highly doubtful that it's the tipping point for this country's financial problems.

The problem is that you have rich, privileged politicians, who have the easy decision to send away lives that aren't in any relation to them. They can afford to send someone like Outcast away to fight, because it's not their child fighting. It's not their money being spent to fight. And they have an endless, repopulating pool of people to send to fight their wars for them, just like him, should he die, become too injured, or become deemed "damaged goods". And once he returns, it's not (in their eyes) the responsibility of them to make sure that he's able to seek treatment. Because, to them, replacing him with a younger, "un-damaged" person is cheaper and more effective than investing in his recovery. It's sad, sickening, and unfortunately just one way that our Gov't abuses it's citizens/military members.

Originally Posted by Michael823

I don't know anyone who has a free cell phone. It's not to say that there aren't plenty who have them, but I'm highly doubtful that it's the tipping point for this country's financial problems.

You're correct it's just a drop in the entitlement ocean that's drowning this nation. In just four years this program has increased 2400% over the 2008 figure in Baltimore alone. It's an expense that is simply not needed at all. It exists as part of a welfare state that gets votes for demicans. Too many people are willing to shrug off the frivilous spending just as you have, that's the tipping point for this country's financial problems.

Originally Posted by Michael823

The problem is that you have rich, privileged politicians, who have the easy decision to send away lives that aren't in any relation to them. They can afford to send someone like Outcast away to fight, because it's not their child fighting. It's not their money being spent to fight. And they have an endless, repopulating pool of people to send to fight their wars for them, just like him, should he die, become too injured, or become deemed "damaged goods". And once he returns, it's not (in their eyes) the responsibility of them to make sure that he's able to seek treatment. Because, to them, replacing him with a younger, "un-damaged" person is cheaper and more effective than investing in his recovery. It's sad, sickening, and unfortunately just one way that our Gov't abuses it's citizens/military members.

I can agree with some of that. Though it's laughable to believe the political motivation is the lack of it being their child. Political motivation has always been about power and control. The republicrats are given power through corporations and appealing to a conservative base. The demicans derive their power from the welfare state, regulation and appealing to the liberal base.

If demicans came out tomorrow and said we're going to greatly reduce entitlement spending, reduce taxes(on those that actually pay income tax) and increase the defense budget(pays for veteran care) the majority would be ousted. If republicrats came out tomorrow and said we are going to cut defense spending, raise taxes(on those that actually pay income tax) and increase spending on the welfare state the majority would be ousted.

IMHO the causation of veteran care struggles is behind the scenes fallout from DoD spending control. The DoD budget is cut under the guise of we don't need new tanks, but that budget also funds veteran care. Also IMHO the removal of outcast's rights has very little to do with public safety, rather more with control.

Tsst brings up a very good point. The defense budget does in fact pay for Veterans health care. The problem is, when the defense budget takes a cut, it cuts from the lowest priority, which is Veterans health care.... In order to keep paying for those new planes and tanks...

Originally Posted by Outcast

Tsst brings up a very good point. The defense budget does in fact pay for Veterans health care. The problem is, when the defense budget takes a cut, it cuts from the lowest priority, which is Veterans health care.... In order to keep paying for those new planes and tanks...

Heck, that's the way it always is. When the congress critters cut the budget, they make certain that the money comes from areas that will hurt the most people. They slice off the meat instead of the fat, just so they can look all hurt and pious when it happens.

And yeah, I love how they are talking about raising taxes to try to avoid this "fiscal cliff" nonsense. Basically, they are saying, "Sorry, but we could not control our spending, so we have to punish YOU because of our actions."

Can ANYONE actually see a happy ending down the road this country is heading?

Oh, by the way. I read somewhere that they are planning on increasing spending when the new taxes start rolling in. Instead of paying of debt, they want to dig the hole deeper... Pretty soon it seems like they will end up running into magma and burning up...

Originally Posted by Rich Z

...Can ANYONE actually see a happy ending down the road this country is heading?

Not a chance in hell! This country is more divided now than it probably was during the civil war.

I have been saying it for a while now. Most countries, when they reach this point (land base size/unhappiness) they begin to fracture. It is the natural progression of empires...

Well, based on what you guys are telling me, the US was a lot happier when taxes were higher.