[Peace-discuss] [sf-core] Re: Local rep. right about war...

[C. G. ESTABROOK]

That's an astonishing statement, Mike.  Here we spend ten years trying  
to convince the government to cease its criminal wars, and when a  
congressman - no better than he should be - comes around to the  
correct point view, we dismiss it...?


On Sep 29, 2011, at 10:10 AM, Mike Lehman wrote:

> A stopped clock is right twice a day. That hardly rates a headline  
> -- or a Subject line -- in my book.
> Mike Lehman
>
> On 9/29/2011 10:06 AM, C. G. ESTABROOK wrote:
>
>> Apparently similar in this regard to his potential Democratic  
>> opponents (whom he also resembles in talking nonsense about the  
>> deficit).
>>
>>
>> On Sep 29, 2011, at 8:56 AM, David Green wrote:
>>
>>> And also unwilling to consider the implications re Israel/Palestine.
>>>
>>> From: C. G. ESTABROOK <cge at shout.net>
>>> To: peace-discuss at anti-war.net
>>> Cc: sf-core <sf-core at yahoogroups.com>
>>> Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 8:51 AM
>>> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Local rep. right about war...
>>>
>>> [...but wrong about Social Security, Medicare, and the deficit...   
>>> --CGE]
>>>
>>> Johnson stance on war draws support
>>> Wed, 09/28/2011 - 9:03pm | Tom Kacich
>>> DECATUR -- About two years after he first called for the  
>>> withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. Tim  
>>> Johnson, R-Urbana, now appears to be gaining the support of his  
>>> constituents.
>>> Speaking to about 100 people -- nearly all white and conservative  
>>> -- at the Decatur Public Library, Johnson received a burst of  
>>> applause Wednesday evening when he again called for an end to U.S.  
>>> military involvement in the Middle East.
>>> Johnson also suggested gradually raising the retirement age to  
>>> strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and said he was willing  
>>> to look at revenue measures, not just budget cuts, to reduce the  
>>> federal deficit.
>>> The six-term congressman criticized Democrats for not being  
>>> willing to make cuts in federal spending and hit Republicans for  
>>> supporting only "cuts in non-defense discretionary spending."
>>> "That is not acceptable, ladies and gentlemen," said Johnson. "I  
>>> understand there are people in here who are going to vehemently  
>>> disagree with me and who believe that every war is a good war. The  
>>> reality is that by the time we will have completed our quote- 
>>> unquote mission -- and I don't know what the mission is, ladies  
>>> and gentlemen -- we will have spent close to 4 trillion dollars in  
>>> those wars.
>>> "We cannot exclude defense from the cuts in dealing with our  
>>> national debt."
>>> Johnson said he doesn't believe his constituents "are one iota  
>>> safer because we're losing thousands of American men and women,  
>>> and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and  
>>> Libya and Iraq."
>>> "I have consistently voted in appropriation after appropriation  
>>> and bill after bill to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya,"  
>>> he said. It was at that point and during other statements about  
>>> defense spending that Johnson received his only sustained applause  
>>> during the meeting.
>>> "We can't afford it in our men and women's lives, we can't afford  
>>> it in our infrastructure, and we can't afford it fiscally," he  
>>> said of the wars.
>>> Following the meeting, Johnson said he was surprised by the  
>>> response.
>>> "But generally in the public and even among the conservative base,  
>>> people are starting to say, why are we here? Why are we spending  
>>> the money? Why are we allowing men and women to be killed for a  
>>> mission we cannot define? I think it's critical to our economic  
>>> and moral future that we get out tomorrow, and that we don't  
>>> engage in some new stupid war the next time. I'm just quoting the  
>>> president."
>>> On other issues, Johnson said:
>>> -- He thinks Social Security and Medicare can be strengthened by  
>>> gradually raising the retirement age.
>>> "To prevent the system from going bankrupt, there have to be  
>>> modest changes for new workers in the system," he said. "For  
>>> people who are entering the system tweaking the age of retirement,  
>>> when it has stayed the same for decades, makes economic sense.  
>>> Relatively small changes in the retirement age have a dramatic  
>>> effect on the fiscal soundness of Social Security. I'm not  
>>> suggesting we move the age to 75, but moving it to  
>>> 67                              1/2 over a phased-in period makes  
>>> economic sense and moral sense."
>>> He also said he wouldn't rule out the need for higher  
>>> contributions into the system.
>>> "I'm not ruling anything out but what I'm ruling in is the fact  
>>> that we have to make common-sense, fair changes to preserve the  
>>> safety net," he said. "If we don't do that there's going to be no  
>>> Social Security, no Medicare for the future."
>>> -- He is not ruling out the need for revenue measures to cut into  
>>> the federal budget deficit.
>>> "The revenue side of the equation has to be examined. There are a  
>>> number of tax loopholes that exist now, some tax breaks that are  
>>> being phased out that I support phasing out and others that I  
>>> don't. I think we need to look at the whole picture. I don't think  
>>> you can responsibly look at the debt crisis we face without  
>>> looking at every aspect of ways to solve it."
>>> http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2011-09-28/johnson-stance-war-draws-support.html
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Peace-discuss mailing list
>>> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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