acolussi88 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

The lady in pink is wearing the same jacket as Marge Simpson's in that famous country club episode

agnosticChurchworker (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@Lord0Xel I'd almost agree with you...except (and Maher explains this in other episodes) that foreign aid only really accounts for less than 1% of the national budget. Personally, I agree that the US should stop treating Israel like a baby. But in all seriousness, military and government costs need to be cut first.

manthasagittarius1 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@LightningBoltz This is the comparison you brought up several posts ago, in charming deferential prose:"Mahers logic is shit, by the way. But it doesn't matter, because anyone who feeds into the left/right illusion is already a moron anyways. Maher forgets to mention that their is a bigger boat, and it's called ENTITLEMENTS. Look at the numbers people You're all fucking diluted by idiot pundits like this."You didn't do the analysis, but you brought it into the conversation.

LightningBoltz (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@manthasagittarius1 MY COMPARISON??? That's the freaking government's comparison. I had nothing to do with it, other than sending you a link. So, go ahead and try to discredit the facts by attributing them as my own, doesn't change anything. I agree that we are spending way too much on our militarism. However, welfare, entitlements, etc. exceed "defense" which was the original point of this debate. We can beat around the bush as far as semantics, but the facts remain.

manthasagittarius1 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Stop whining. I'm not on the web either to pick or to hang around the outside of fights. You're the one who has used the blanket insult "you're all fucking diluted [sic])." And I'm not rejecting the information link -- I intend to have a very good look at it and assess it for myself, but I think much may hang on your use of the word "entitlement" to represent human services. how about this -- take your difference between 25% and 36% and throw it directly on services for returning vets.

manthasagittarius1 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@LightningBoltz Then too, I think your comparison of defense spending (really, offense spending) and "entitlements" is specious, and too much in one block piece to make any sense. Health and human services -- in other words, providing decent care of our own -- in all their complexity, ought to cost more than shock and awe bombing junkets to provide death and disease and disrupt services elsewhere. Never mind care of our military when they return, which is a service shambles.

LightningBoltz (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@manthasagittarius1 If you really cared to know outside of arguing on the internet you would have looked it up yourself. Either way you've been provided with a link to prove your assumptions wrong and I don't feel the need to defend my vocabulary any further.

LightningBoltz (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@manthasagittarius1 It's called human error. I'm well aware of the definitions of both words. I read quite frequently, thank you. You have done nothing but make assumptions out of ignorance on both issues, the federal budget and my literacy. I provided you with information, you rejected it based on ignorance of facts.

manthasagittarius1 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@LightningBoltz That's not a spelling error, it's a wrong word, of the sound-alike kind that is chosen because the user does most of his learning by ear and does not read much. So I'm not being snotty or playing grammar cop -- it's more serious than a typo, because if you had any critical chops you would realize that "diluted" makes no sense in the context. That devalues your opinion, see? Second, it is not lazy of me -- the onus is on you to provide evidence with a statement.

LightningBoltz (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

@manthasagittarius1 Got to make sure we point out the spelling and grammar errors. I'm sure you've used a wrong word before as well, pretty lame. Now only if you could get the motivation to do a simple google search and see that 1.1 trillion is being spent this year on "health and human services". More than "defense" spending. I messaged you a link but you are just being lazy by not searching this out yourself.