funscout

I agree with ScoutLdr and ASM857 that welfare abuse is and has been a problem for a long time. I also know that there are people who truly need it. One family I know of is an example of both sides. A man I used to work with, was working as a teacher Aide by day, and a waiter at night, while going to school to better himself. When his class load became too heavy, he had to give up one of his jobs, and he accepted govt. assistance for his wife, 2 kids and himself. As soon as he finished school, he got off welfare, and supported his family of four by himself. His sister, however, chose to h

Here in the Midwest, I've been told "Merry Christmas" in every store where I have shopped lately. I didn't even initiate it, the clerks, did.

LisaBob and Eammon, You are absolutely correct that people from both political parties can show compassion for their fellow man. I was simply trying to make the point that while Republicans are typically assumed to be selfish and Democrats are assumed to be the only ones who care about others, that there are exceptions to to that way of thinking. I'm glad you two realize that, too!

Good one, OGE!

Eammon, You may have misunderstood me and thought that I don't advocate helping the needy. I DO advocate helping the TRULY needy. Personally, I don't know of anyone who does not advocate taking care of the truly needy. In this and other threads I have told of how my fellow Conservative Christian church members (mostly Republican) help others on a daily basis. I took time away from my own family when my best friend was dying of cancer. My kids and husband didn't see as much of me as they should have, during that time, but my friend's kids had a greater need for me, so that's where I p

LisaBob, Saddam Hussein was given many, many chances, and was given warnings, so he knew what the consequences of his actions/inactions were. How many more warnings should he have been given? Unfortunately, Bill Clinton gave Osama Bin Laden "one more chance" and didn't take him as prisoner when he had the chance. After all, that would have made America look bad in the eyes of other countries. So, instead Bin Laden went on to orchestrate the nightmare of September 11, 2001. We will never know how many other terror attacks were thwarted by our going to war against Saddam Hussein. I'm

Although I disagree with his politics, I do respect Obama. I am concerned, however, that he will not defend our country. He proudly admits that he voted against the war in Iraq, back when the ONLY info. we had was that Iraq had WMDs, and we all know how suspicious Sadam Hussein was, at not allowing inspectors in his country. I am worried that Obama wouldn't take our national defense seriously enough. We don't know how many attacks on America have been prevented by our going to war in Iraq. All anybody sees is the money and soldiers' lives, which, of course, is tragic, but how many more pe

That's good, LisaBob! I'm sure I have plenty of scoundrels in my family tree, but I guess they weren't famous.

I decided to start a topic that shouldn't be controversial, but rather kind of fun. I've been researching my family's ancestry for a couple years and have discovered that I share a common ancestor with both current President George Bush and former President Bill Clinton. Both of my parents, like me, are conservative Republicans, and my Dad, who shares an ancestor with Bush, has had a great time razzing my Mom because she shares an ancestor with Clinton. There are other presidents in our extended family tree, but I thought this was the funniest situation. So, do any of you know of famou

Democrats have been raising taxes since way before Fox news. Actually I don't even watch Fox news. I watch very little T.V. these days, as I prefer to spend time with my family. I don't know of anyone else who is worried about taxes like I am, so I didn't get this idea from any hysteria that may or not be out there. It is all my own idea. I am worried about my family, and frankly I have wondered why I never hear anyone else complain about this issue. It has bothered me ever since I got my first paycheck and saw how much the government took out of it. Talk about a shocker! I

Thank you TheScout, I appreciate your understanding of my position. Even though my "whining" about having to go back to work full time looks petty and selfish to some, I have to do what is best for my family. It is definitely best for me to be at home. Even though my kids would love to have all the material things that their "rich" friends have, any time I have asked them if they wished I were back at work, they say, "No, we'd rather have you home." They remember what it was like when I was stressed out all the time, and none of us wants to go back to that. As for the S-CHIP, I w

All of you are right. I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself, and actually, after I thought this through, I realized how easily my problem would be solved. I guess I just had one of my panic attacks! If taxes are raised and I do have to go to work full time, while I'm still a mother of 2 adorable yet very challenging boys, then history will repeat itself, and I'll find myself back at the psychiatrist's office. This time, when he recommends disability, I'll have no choice but to take it. So, after the govt. raises taxes and takes more money from my family, they will then turn around a

Sorry I didn't make myself clear. I think of my husband and myself as a team, so what I meant was when HIS taxes get raised it will affect our whole family.

Read through a few of the past topics and you'll find that many of them have nothing to do with scouting. One current topic that has nothing to do with scouting is the one about whether Mormons are Christians. The whole idea for having a seperate site for Issues and Politics is so people who don't want to read these topics can skip it, and stick with the topics that are solely scout related.

oldsm, I am very sorry for your son's loss of vision. I am also happy that you are not "sue-happy." My family also doesn't believe in suing just because we feel we deserve it. My grandfather died because of a staph infection he got while IN the hospital. I know this happens often. A family friend who is a doctor, privately told my Mom and her brother that they not only had grounds to sue, but would probably win. I am proud to say that my mom and uncle did not sue the hospital. They knew that a lawsuit over this tragic mistake was not going to bring back their father.

My biggest fear about this election is that if a Democrat wins, my taxes will be raised and I will have to go back to work full time. Since I quit my teaching job during the current presidency, my family hasn't had to try to make it on one salary during a Democrat's reign. I'm not just trying to start a big controversial topic, but I truly am very SCARED! I missed at least 10 days of work each school year when I was a working Mom, due to the stress, and should have stayed home more. Lots of women can be workers AND mothers, but I can not do it. My Psychiatrist wanted me to go on disab

I always thought Mormons were not Christians since they believe Jesus is just another prophet, not THE way to salvation. For Mormons to be Christian, they would have to personally denounce some of the Mormon beliefs that go against Christianity. Would that make them no longer Mormon? I don't know. I'll have to agree with Mike Huckabee's response to the question of whether or not he believed Mitt Romney was a Christian. Huckabee responded that only Romney could answer what was in his own heart. One thing I have always admired about Mormons is their strong sense of family. I would n

The elementary schools in my area still let kids dress in costume and have a Halloween party at school. The kids get all sugared up at school, and then come home to get more candy when they go trick-or-treating!

Den Chief training is usually offered at Pow-Wow, and is always offered the weekend before Cub Scout Day Camp, in our area. I didn''t realize Den Chiefs could hold the position while untrained. Now that I know that, maybe we can get more of our Boy Scouts involved. I thought they couldn''t start until they had been through training.

Skeptic, Your reasons are exactly why I started this thread. Some people are unwilling to look at the fact that there MIGHT not be a human cause to global warming. It''s scary to think that some people will only present the human-caused idea, but will not share studies for the other side. I present my own children with both sides of this argument. Hopefully no one out there is pushing political ideas in scout meetings. I stopped my own son when he got into a friendly debate with a fellow scout about global warming. They were just sharing different studies they had heard about,

LisaBob brings up some good points. I suspect that this man''s reasons for leaving his current Pack could have ended up being similar reasons for later leaving your Pack. You can''t please everyone. Any time we got a transfer, it was because of a move or a scheduling conflict. We almost got a boy whose parents were upset with another Pack. When I very nicely made it clear that I would not listen to any "slamming" of another Pack, and indicated that I had friends in that Pack, the mother ended up pulling the boy from scouts altogether. It was too bad for the boy, but lucky for my Pa

That''s right, Gern, we Americans ARE the good guys! Let''s not forget that even when we disagree with each other, we are all still Americans, and Americans are GOOD! Hey, here''s an idea. Okay, so I''m not a truck driver from Great Britain, but I think I''m still qualified to throw out an unscientific idea. How about if we ask all able bodied people in the world to hold their breath at the exact same time, for 30 seconds or more? Do you think the reduction in CO2 emissions would be enough to bring the global temperature down a notch? Of course, this is just one side of a theory,

I DO look at both sides. If I only looked at the supportive studies, and ignored all others, then I wouldn''t have posted this. Even though I believe global warming IS occurring, I am willing to look at studies that show that it is not. It''s too bad others are not willing to look at both sides. If George Bush had come up with an Inconvenient Truth, I still would not have wanted it shown in the schools, since it is not fact, but theory, and only shows ONE side of the theory. It does not show the scientists'' theories who do not believe global warming is happening. I DO disagree w

It''s interesting that some of us are willing to look at both sides of an issue, while others stick to their point no matter what evidence is shown. Based on some studies, I DO believe global warming is happening. Based on other studies, I think maybe it''s NOT happening. I have an open mind on the subject. I am willing to look at ALL studies instead of just one side. It''s too bad Al Gore didn''t look at all the studies before he made his documentary. He is not an expert on this issue and neither am I. By the way, I didn''t realize I was a neo-con. I don''t care what I get calle

Oops, just as Al Gore wins a Nobel Peace Prize, a truck driver in Great Britain has filed suit to prevent Gore''s film from being shown in Enland''s public schools. Problems with showing this film in the Public schools are: "1. The film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument. 2. If teachers present the film without making this plain they may in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination. 3. Eleven inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children." You can read about the 11 inaccurac