Reader comments
Report: Bush program extended beyond wiretapping

one would think that with all the snooping that goes into the law inforcement in SE Utah...by this bill , they would have averted the artifacts incident. Only thing that emerges on a regular basis is what comes over those pay phones they got hooked up and ussually ends up as gossip by people who have to be in the know.

“The report describes the program as unprecedented and raises questions about the legal grounding used for its creation.”

Clearly Bush overstepped his bounds greatly.

“FBI, CIA and National Counterterrorism Center analysts, said intelligence gathered by traditional means was often more specific and timely, according to the report.”

Overstepped and all for naught.

“Yoo ignored an explicit provision in the FISA law designed to restrict the government's authority to conduct electronic surveillance during wartime.”

Let's talk about these GOP. The race for the Republican presidential nomination reflected the extent to which conservatives have abandoned their own principles. The two leading Republican contenders, George W. Bush and John McCain, waged a fierce fight over who is the true conservative and the real government reformer. But what does conservatism have to do with reform of government programs? Conservatives were once guided by the moral principles undergirding economic liberty, free markets, private property, and limited government. If a government program violated those principles, conservatives would ardently oppose it. No longer. Now the quest is not to abolish anything - not even the once-favorite whipping boy, the National Endowment for the Arts - but rather to reform and improve government departments, agencies, and programs.

The GOP are their own nightmare. Principle or power. Thus, today, the fight is not over principles but rather over who will triumph in the quest to wield the power to control people's lives and fortunes. As Republicans are now constantly reminding us, they thirst to recapture the White House not for the achievement of any principles of freedom, but simply to deny Al Gore the power over people's lives and fortunes. Some cause. The inherent conflict within the conservative movement is its dual devotion to freedom and conserving. When people live in a free society, conservatives are likely to fight hard to conserve their freedom. The problem arises when people live under the yoke of such socialist programs as Social Security, national health care, state schooling, and income taxation. When that happens, conservatives unfortunately subordinate their dedication to freedom and free markets to conserving the tyranny under which they suffer.

Today the GOP scares me. Platitudes and buts. And what's pathetic about all of this is that conservatives continue to mouth the principles for which their forebears stood. We favor free enterprise, private property, and limited government, they often remind us. Yet, when you ask a conservative, Does this mean that you favor abolishing public schooling and having a totally free market in education? he answers, "Oh, I believe in free enterprise, but education is just too important to be left to the free market. Or if you ask conservatives, "Does this mean you favor repealing Medicare and Medicaid and occupational licensure so that there will be a totally free market in health care? they answer, Oh, we believe in free enterprise, but health care is just too important to be left to the free market. Or: "Does this mean you favor abolishing Social Security and leaving retirement and the honoring of mother and father totally to the free market? Their answer: Oh, we believe in free enterprise, but that would cost us votes.

All GOP programs extend to the left. Conservative support of income taxation. Consider another example of conservative abandonment of conservative principles: the matter of the so-called surplus. Conservatives once believed that what a person earned belonged to him by right. Property, conservatives would remind us, is a fundamental, God-given right with which no government can legitimately interfere. Thus, when the 16th Amendment was proposed, after approximately 125 years of life without a national income tax, conservatives ardently opposed it. Today, the conservative spectacle with respect to income taxation is a disgrace to the princi-ples of liberty, private property, and limited government which conservatives once stood for and fought for. Bush proposes an income-tax reduction, which is just another way to try to buy votes from people during election time. Worse, however, is his implicit acknowledgement that every-one's income is owned by the government, which has the power to adjust the percentage so that people can be offered a bigger allowance at election time.

Did Bush cut her a deal to?. You know that I voted for Sarah Palin in 2008 also. A spokeswoman for Governor Sarah Palin is scoffing at comments by Bristol Palin's former fiance, who says he thinks Palin resigned to cash in on her fame. "It is interesting to learn Levi is working on a piece of fiction while honing his acting skills," Palin family spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said in an email to the Associated Press. Levi Johnston, 19, whose wedding to Bristol Palin was called off earlier this year, said yesterday he lived with the Palin family from early December to the second week in January. He claimed he heard the governor several times say how nice it would be to take advantage of the lucrative deals that were being offered, including a reality show and a book. Johnston made his comments at a news conference yesterday at the office of his attorney, Rex Butler. Johnston came forward, Butler said, because Alaskans want to know why Palin has decided to resign, effective the end of the month. Palin resigned to cash in on lucrative deals, says Johnston?.

Whaaat!??

Obama and democrats have extended the patriot act.

Doesn't that make them a worse violator of rights than Bush ever was?

Yes sireee!

Complain about Bush all you want,

But Obama and the Democrats, have extended and continued EVERYTHING bush supposedly did.

Which shows what a joke and what political partisan hacks liberals are.

Re: An Observer | 3:31 p.m. July 10, 2009

Which shows what a RINO joke and what political partisan hacks the Steele GOP are. As Republicans are now constantly reminding us, they thirst to recapture the White House not for the achievement of any principles of freedom, but simply to deny Al Gore the power over people's lives and fortunes. Some cause. The inherent conflict within the conservative movement is its dual devotion to freedom and conserving. When people live in a free society, conservatives are likely to fight hard to conserve their freedom. The problem arises when people live under the yoke of such socialist programs as Social Security, national health care, state schooling, and income taxation. When that happens, conservatives unfortunately subordinate their dedication to freedom and free markets to conserving the tyranny under which they suffer.

"Obama and democrats have extended the patriot act."

I recall, writing comments trying to example to the conservative mind, that the new powers of the Bush presidency would go to any democrat elected in the future. A conservative listen to reason? Fat chance!

Being a liberal, I detest Obama extending many of Bush's imperial policies.

We have Social security because American want social security. I've sen the life would have been dismal for many older and disabled American without it.

I know no greedy conservative will help their follow man.

Salt Lake has an nice International Airport. You are free to leave, and find a better nation to reside in.

If you want people to read your comments, keep it short.