What section of the gov't should be kept open at all costs?

[saxitoxin]

What is most important not to be shut-down?

[DoomYoshi]

What is the name for the department that owns Area 51 to hide aliens; and planned the 9/11 bombings; and ensures that the Bills never win the Superbowl?

[universalchiro]

Barack Hussein Obama promised on his campaign trail that he vowed to open the books of all government expenses on the Internet. So I vote that he keep his promise & expose where the heck this government spends 1.6 Trillion dollars each year.

Seems to me that those with something to hide, hide. If we still have a Republic of the people for the people, then the people have the sovereign right to know where they are spending their hard earned money. Especially when the people's representatives continually asked for more money & continually purport the people are becoming further and further in financial debt to a private company called the Federal reserve.

I for one vote for total reform. Bring back the times when Congress in obedience to the constitution, was the only body that could print the people's money. Seems today both the Republican & Democratic parties have sold out to the whims of the Private firm, Federal Reserve.

I submit that even this thread has fallen victim to chasing a red herring. Follow the money. Our government postulates that all mankind are created equal & free, but our government has an aggressive policy to make all citizens financial slaves & the elite families of the founders of the Federal Reserve don't pay taxes, nor do they report their income.

Summary: a ledger of all government expenditures should always remain open at all cost. As Constitutionally decreed & campaigned promised by Obama & his ilk.

[The Voice]

What is the name for the department that owns Area 51 to hide aliens; and planned the 9/11 bombings; and ensures that the Bills never win the Superbowl?

That department in charge of ensuring the Bills never win a superbowl is actually in charge of ensuring that us Buffalonians never win anything. Ever.

[DoomYoshi]

What is the name for the department that owns Area 51 to hide aliens; and planned the 9/11 bombings; and ensures that the Bills never win the Superbowl?

That department in charge of ensuring the Bills never win a superbowl is actually in charge of ensuring that us Buffalonians never win anything. Ever.

I know, right. Like Buffalo is always covered with clouds. Do you think you would win the cloud cover award? Nope, Seattle and Portland slap you. You get all the miserable, grey days without the glory.

You get enough snowfall to film Canadian movies. yet your measly record is 35 inches. Just last week, a dickhole in SD dropped 43.5 inches.

Actually though, you suck less than Cleveland.

Between the Browns, the Indians, and the Cavaliers, Cleveland last celebrated a title four years before LeBron’s mother was born—that’s a combined 152 seasons of futility.

So even with all these losses, buffalo isn`t the losingest city in the States.

[Frigidus]

Barack Hussein Obama promised on his campaign trail that he vowed to open the books of all government expenses on the Internet. So I vote that he keep his promise & expose where the heck this government spends 1.6 Trillion dollars each year.

I completely agree with the sentiments of the above statement, but why do you feel it necessary to call him "Barack Hussein Obama"? Do you call Clinton "William Jefferson Clinton"? Do you call Reagan "Ronald Wilson Reagan"?

[Lootifer]

Education

[universalchiro]

Barack Hussein Obama promised on his campaign trail that he vowed to open the books of all government expenses on the Internet. So I vote that he keep his promise & expose where the heck this government spends 1.6 Trillion dollars each year.

I completely agree with the sentiments of the above statement, but why do you feel it necessary to call him "Barack Hussein Obama"? Do you call Clinton "William Jefferson Clinton"? Do you call Reagan "Ronald Wilson Reagan"?

I'm sorry, I do not. I admit I got caught up in the emotions.
President Obama.
Better?

[universalchiro]

President Obama promised on his campaign trail that he vowed to open the books of all government expenses on the Internet. So I vote that he keep his promise & expose where the heck this government spends 1.6 Trillion dollars each year.

Seems to me that those with something to hide, hide. If we still have a Republic of the people for the people, then the people have the sovereign right to know where they are spending their hard earned money. Especially when the people's representatives continually asked for more money & continually purport the people are becoming further and further in financial debt to a private company called the Federal reserve.

I for one vote for total reform. Bring back the times when Congress in obedience to the constitution, was the only body that could print the people's money. Seems today both the Republican & Democratic parties have sold out to the whims of the Private firm, Federal Reserve.

I submit that even this thread has fallen victim to chasing a red herring. Follow the money. Our government postulates that all mankind are created equal & free, but our government has an aggressive policy to make all citizens financial slaves & the elite families of the founders of the Federal Reserve don't pay taxes, nor do they report their income.

Summary: a ledger of all government expenditures should always remain open at all cost. As Constitutionally decreed & campaigned promised by Obama & his ilk.

*President... change made.

[AAFitz]

Brilliant Poll. All two awesome to pick just one.

[mrswdk]

All government is oppression, the submission of the individual to the institutions of patriarchy. I vote for throwing off our shackles and reclaiming our free will.

[Phatscotty]

Education

Education isn't shut down, but if it was, I would say that would be the best thing possible for my country.

Separation of education and state please. Federal government involvement in schools is the worst thing to ever happen to education, and the results back it up. Education has gotten worse and more expensive at the same time every year since the Federal government took over and has inflated tuition prices so high that the regular person cannot even afford to pay tuition anymore. The price explosion in tuition has made affordability impossible without going into debt that is becoming impossible to pay off. Students are slaves to debt before they even get the job they want, if that job is even available, which is less and less likely as well.

If the money stopped rolling in tomorrow, it's not like parents and teachers and state government would just throw their hands up in the air and pretend to be paralyzed. Finally fixing education would begin immediately.

[thegreekdog]

I think most high school students should make an informed decision on college; unfortunately, it appears that some combination of society/peers/parents creates enough pressure for children to go to college, whether they want to or not. I don't blame government for that (or, rather, I don't blame government entirely for that - encouraging all kids to go to college is probably not something the government should be doing).

[Phatscotty]

I think most high school students should make an informed decision on college; unfortunately, it appears that some combination of society/peers/parents creates enough pressure for children to go to college, whether they want to or not. I don't blame government for that (or, rather, I don't blame government entirely for that - encouraging all kids to go to college is probably not something the government should be doing).

I take it then you are not a fan whatsoever of CommonCore?

[thegreekdog]

I think most high school students should make an informed decision on college; unfortunately, it appears that some combination of society/peers/parents creates enough pressure for children to go to college, whether they want to or not. I don't blame government for that (or, rather, I don't blame government entirely for that - encouraging all kids to go to college is probably not something the government should be doing).

I take it then you are not a fan whatsoever of CommonCore?

Don't know about it. My kids aren't in school yet.

[Phatscotty]

I think most high school students should make an informed decision on college; unfortunately, it appears that some combination of society/peers/parents creates enough pressure for children to go to college, whether they want to or not. I don't blame government for that (or, rather, I don't blame government entirely for that - encouraging all kids to go to college is probably not something the government should be doing).

I take it then you are not a fan whatsoever of CommonCore?

Don't know about it. My kids aren't in school yet.

Well, in non-partisan summary, the main goal of CommonCore is to prepare and encourage children to go to college. But it will only cost hundreds of billions in the short term.

[saxitoxin]

I think most high school students should make an informed decision on college; unfortunately, it appears that some combination of society/peers/parents creates enough pressure for children to go to college, whether they want to or not. I don't blame government for that (or, rather, I don't blame government entirely for that - encouraging all kids to go to college is probably not something the government should be doing).

I take it then you are not a fan whatsoever of CommonCore?

Don't know about it. My kids aren't in school yet.

Well, in non-partisan summary, the main goal of CommonCore is to prepare and encourage children to go to college. But it will only cost hundreds of billions in the short term.

I don't know anything about CommonCore so forgive me if this is an ignorant observation, but I wonder if this is a very good idea? Already Americans have to import workers to pick fruit because they're all running around with Art History degrees from Fresno State and don't want to do it. What good does it do to have more people in college?

[mrswdk]

State involvement in education has made education worse for the average citizen? Government support ensures that everyone has the financial support to receive a high school education and ensures that this education meets a basic standard. What is so great about the alternative?

As for universities: it is not the US government's involvement in higher education that has made tuition at America's top universities so expensive, rather it is the government's lack of involvement. Compare the elite universities of the US and UK (which are of comparable quality). A US citizen pays $30-40,000 a year in tuition to attend one of the top American schools; a UK citizen pays $15,000 to attend one of the UK's top schools. This is precisely because the UK's top universities are public and are funded like public institutions

[Metsfanmax]

I voted for the DOE because it funds a substantial portion of my field (nuclear astrophysics).

[saxitoxin]

Compare the elite universities of the US and UK (which are of comparable quality).

Well ... if by "elite universities" you mean Oxford and Cambridge. Beyond those two there might be a little literary license at work in this sentence.

And many U.S. elite schools founded after 1800 are state-owned institutions, like MIT, Berkeley, etc. Among elite universities, it's mostly ones that were founded before a state existed (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) that aren't state-owned. (except for University of Phoenix Online)

I voted for the DOE because it funds a substantial portion of my field (nuclear astrophysics).

Do you know the secrets of the DoE's nuclear weapons trucks "that can defend themselves" even if all their guards have been killed? Don't be coy, Mets, spill it.

[Metsfanmax]

Do you know the secrets of the DoE's nuclear weapons trucks "that can defend themselves" even if all their guards have been killed? Don't be coy, Mets, spill it.

I can't share... but it works a little bit like Dead Hand.

[saxitoxin]

Do you know the secrets of the DoE's nuclear weapons trucks "that can defend themselves" even if all their guards have been killed? Don't be coy, Mets, spill it.

I can't share... but it works a little bit like Dead Hand.

I was hoping for something more like this -

[Phatscotty]

I am a greedy Republican, so I voted for what is best for me and my wallet, and I don't care that the money must be taken from someone else to get it, or if the price I am being charged is robbing me blind, or if we even have the money at all! I like my expensive red bull energy drinks and I shouldn't have to give them up! So I voted defense so I can use the power of the state to arrest and punish anyone who tries to get in the way of me and my sweet sweet red bull!

FTW

[MeDeFe]

The department with the most kittens should be kept open. It'd be a transparent and clear criterion.

[thegreekdog]

I think most high school students should make an informed decision on college; unfortunately, it appears that some combination of society/peers/parents creates enough pressure for children to go to college, whether they want to or not. I don't blame government for that (or, rather, I don't blame government entirely for that - encouraging all kids to go to college is probably not something the government should be doing).

I take it then you are not a fan whatsoever of CommonCore?

Don't know about it. My kids aren't in school yet.

Well, in non-partisan summary, the main goal of CommonCore is to prepare and encourage children to go to college. But it will only cost hundreds of billions in the short term.

I think I've stated this before in this forum, but I'm pretty convinced that universities and the government are making a concerted effort to increase the "demand" for post-secondary education to generate revenue for universities. That being said, society and the idea that getting a post-secondary education is necessary to succeed have more to do with the increase in "demand" (and therefore increase in pricing).