The next time you hear a politician use the words "billion"
casually, think about whether you want that politician
spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to
comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:

-A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

-A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

-A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone
Age.

-A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at
the rate Washington spends it.

Ron wrote in
:


The next time you hear a politician use the words "billion"
casually, think about whether you want that politician
spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to
comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:

-A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

-A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

-A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone
Age.

-A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at
the rate Washington spends it.



And I vote we spend the next billion years' proceeds to hunt down and
exterminate all terrorists and religious fundamentalists who think that
god tells them to kill, maim, and torture.

r

--
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic."

Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - ), "Technology and the Future"

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 00:17:34 -0000, Rich Andrews
wrote:

Ron wrote in
:


The next time you hear a politician use the words "billion"
casually, think about whether you want that politician
spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to
comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:

-A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

-A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

-A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone
Age.

-A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at
the rate Washington spends it.


And I vote we spend the next billion years' proceeds to hunt down and
exterminate all terrorists and religious fundamentalists who think that
god tells them to kill, maim, and torture.

r

Amen. Unfortunately, a lot of what we spen has nothing
to do with preserving out way of life.

I got the following a couple of days ago. It's long, but
makes mfor worthwhile reading. (BTW, I despise Rush
Limbaugh):

My friend, definitely of the liberal persuation wrote:

Subject: Fw: Rush Limbaugh 1 Congress 0

Love him or loath him, he nailed this one right on the
head.............


By Rush Limbaugh:

I think the vast differences in compensation between victims
of the September 11 casualty and those who die serving the
country in Uniform are profound. No one
is really talking about it either, because you just don't
criticize anything having to do with September 11. Well, I
just can't let the numbers pass by because it says something
really disturbing about the entitlement mentality of this
country. If you lost a family member in the September 11
attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The
range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000, all the way up to
$4.7
million. If you are a surviving family member of an American
soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a
$6,000 direct death benefit, half of which is taxable.
Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the
surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry.
And there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under
18. When the child hits 18, those payments come to a
screeching halt.

Keep in mind that some of the people who are getting an
average of $1.185 million up to $4.7 million are complaining
that it's not enough. Their deaths were tragic, but for
most, they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Soldiers put themselves in harms way FOR ALL OF US, and they
and their families know the dangers.
We also learned over the weekend that some of the victims
from the Oklahoma City bombing have started an organization
asking for the same deal that the September 11 families are
getting. In addition to that, some of the families of those
bombed in the
embassies are now asking for compensation as well. You see
where this is going, don't you? Folks, this is part and
parcel of over 50 years of entitlement politics in this
country. It's just really sad. Every time a pay raise comes
up for the military, they
usually receive next to nothing of a raise. Now the green
machine is in combat in the Middle East while their families
have to survive on food stamps and live in low-rent housing.
Make sense?
However, our own U.S. Congress just voted themselves a
raise, and many of you don't know that they only have to be
in Congress one time to receive a pension that is more than
$15,000 per month, and most are now equal to being
millionaires plus. They also do not receive Social Security
on retirement because they didn't have to pay into the
system.

If some of the military people stay in for 20 years and get
out as an E-7, you may receive a pension of $1,000 per
month, and the very people who placed you in harm's way
receive a pension of $15,000 per month. I would like to see
our elected officials pick up a weapon and join ranks before
they start cutting out benefits and lowering pay for our
sons and daughters who are now fighting.

"When do we finally do something about this?" If this
doesn't seem fair to you, it is time to forward this to as
many people as you can. If you're interested there is
more.......................

This must be a campaign issue in 2004. Keep it going.

SOCIAL SECURITY: (This is worth the read. It's short and to
the point.)

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during election
years. Our Senators and Congressmen do not pay into Social
Security. Many years ago they voted in their own benefit
plan. In more recent years, no congressperson has felt the
need to change it. For all practical purposes their plan
works like this:
When they retire, they continue to draw the same pay until
they die, except it may increase from time to time for cost
of living adjustments. For example, former Senator Byrd and
Congressman White and their wives may expect to draw
$7,800,000 - that's Seven Million, Eight Hundred Thousand),
with their wives drawing 275,000.00 during the last years of
their lives. This is calculated on an average life span for
each.

Their cost for this excellent plan is $00.00. These little
perks they voted for themselves is free to them. You and I
pick up the tab for this plan. The funds for this fine
retirement plan come directly from the General Fund--our
tax dollars at work! From our own Social Security Plan,
which you and I pay (or have paid) into -- every payday
until we retire (which amount is matched by our employer)
--we can expect to get an average $1,000 per month after
retirement. Or, in other words, we would have to collect
our average of $1,000 monthly benefits for 68 years and one
month to
equal Senator Bill Bradley's benefits!

Social Security could be very good if only one small change
were made. And that change would be to jerk the Golden
Fleece Retirement Plan from under the Senators and
Congressmen. Put them into the Social Security plan with
the rest of us and then watch how fast they would fix it.

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness
will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve. WE,
each one of us... can make a difference..

How many people can YOU send this to?

-- Ron

The conservative attack phrase "tax and spend" popped in my mind, and I
thought: What else can a government do besides tax and spend if it is to
accomplish anything? Has any country existed without having to spend money,
and therefore to collect money to pay for it.?
Like to see your government spend less? Become a citizen of a very small
very poor country. The USA spends big money because it is a big rich
country. But due to clever thinking we now collect less than we spend, all
due to having a goverenment controlled by (gasp!) conservatives. What does
"conservative" mean any more?



"Ron" wrote in message
...

The next time you hear a politician use the words "billion"
casually, think about whether you want that politician
spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to
comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:

-A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

-A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

-A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone
Age.

-A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at
the rate Washington spends it.

Rich Andrews wrote:


And I vote we spend the next billion years' proceeds to hunt down and
exterminate all terrorists and religious fundamentalists who think that
god tells them to kill, maim, and torture.

r



Can we include McFarty in that list? D

"WindsorFox[SS]" wrote in newsSr8b.8982
$pe.7489@lakeread06:

Rich Andrews wrote:


And I vote we spend the next billion years' proceeds to hunt down and
exterminate all terrorists and religious fundamentalists who think that
god tells them to kill, maim, and torture.

r



Can we include McFarty in that list? D


In the grand scheme of things a few BMC's aren't going to make a hill of
beans. A few well placed kooks can certainly cause death and misery for
no good reason at all.

r


--
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic."

Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - ), "Technology and the Future"