You imply that liberal/socialist/communist are inseparable. This demonstrates a rather profound lack of understanding of any of them.

Your statement that Gore had the election handed to him on a silver platter is odd since pollsters and pundits alike claimed that Gore had an uphill battle from the get go. A Supreme Court decision that elevated sophistry, cynicism and lack of character to new levels had a little to do with it. However, if you believe that we are a Nation of the Law, that's the way it is.

If people are becoming educated about the "true agenda" of the LSC then the interesting fact that the single most valid predictor from the presidential election was religious affiliation would seem to show all us LSC's that the true agenda of whatever the opposite of LSC. (I'll let others decide what that might be) is religiously motivated.

Those you characterize as LSC share the blame for what's wrong in this Country. Just as they can accept praise for their part in what's right

The manifest agenda of the "other side" is heavily laced with religion. Strange that the Constitution was designed to limit the involvement of Church and State and the Bible admonishes use to render unto caesar that which is caesar's, yet the answer to everything is to entangle religion with government. I predict that even if it happens, the long term losers will be religion. Once tax-payer's dollars start flowing into religious organizations, tax payers of all flavors are going to start demanding accountability. When the church becomes accountable to Caesar, you end up with a church stripped of all those elements that make it important. Just another arm of the secular bureaucracy. Belief in God being optional.

I have a number of friends who teach. I'm sure they would like to know where all the money went. Not into text books. Or computers. Or buildings. Or salaries. Or supplies. The Florida Legislature did a one time appropriation of $756 million two years ago to fund text-book purchases. The goal was to ensure that every student had their own text-book. They reached about 80% of that goal. The next year the appropriations for text-books were cut from the budget since they'd given them so much the year before. This, btw was a conservative legislature.

Money, however, was never the answer. Parental involvement was and is. For a group who champions family values, you seem very quick to blame everything except the fact that most parents aren't involved. In public schools in my area, about 45 % of the parents show up for scheduled parent/teacher conferences. Less than30% come to open house. Less than 5% volunteer to help out at school.

I have a friend who runs a private school that requires that parents help out as aides on a regular basis as part of the tuition "cost". About 15% offer to pay more so they wont have to show up. About 10 % of the 15% have valid reasons why they can't show up. The rest are "just too busy. And that's what we're paying you for". This is an LSC school, btw.

My sister, on the other hand, sends her children to a private school run by their church. They have the same requirement and the same problem. Their percentages of "I just can't" runs at about 25%, with 5% having legitimate excuses.

Another fact. In public schools that require parental involvement (usually magnet schools), performance skyrockets. Unfortunately, those kind of programs cost money.

All anecdotal. But factual. More than can be said for the opinions your shared.

Your comments about Russia are curious as their major problem was that productivity was extremely low and they didn't have the money to throw at their many problems. And they had massive corruption and a rich, sheltered, elite and the system collapsed. And they weren't communistic anyway. Neither is Cuba, come to that.

Want to talk about poverty and hunger? We have it here in the richest country in the world. With all those LSC programs gobbling up tax dollars. Or to you believe that the only reason people are hungry is becasue they're to lazy. Or being punished by God. (Strange. I don't remember that part of the Bible.)

We have more millionaires than anyone in the world. The President has proposed a tax cut that would give $36 billion dollars in tax cuts to 1% of the people. $804 million would benifit 1200 people. Talk about a rich sheltered elite. With 4% of the worlds population, the US uses 40% of the resources. This allows us to take the moral high-ground?

And finally, as evil, corrupt and selfish as most of us LSCers are here on mudcat, at least we have the integrity to register and post and defend, if needed, our beliefs and ideas, rather than hide behind an anonymous login. Should I presume that this sort of thing is also a characteristic of the non LSCers?

Regards,

John