This guy is scary, he will say and do anything to get elected. Watch out for the snake oil salesman.

Roamney is a joke...do not believe a word he says. He has so much money he will work for nada. Thing is he does not work..only for his own agenda. So be careful..in this case YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

maybe if we quit invading islamic countries and trying to democratize the entire planet radical islam would not be so radical, the mittster fails to comprehend the extent of the threat of american fascism

Just another Republican who wants to spend more. I don't see the rationale in tying defense spending to GDP. What's the magical connection there? Our defense budget now accounts for something like half the global defense spending. That's according to the CIA unclassified fact book, and sure there's some guessing about what some countries, like China and North Korea, spend on defense. Plus there's apples to oranges comparison problems. For instance, Japan uses its military for tasks our Coast Guard does, so for them such patrolling and rescue type things are paid for our of their defense budget, whereas ours are separated out. But let that sink in for a second... Of all the money spent in the world on defense, something close to half of it is from our own U.S. budget. How much do we need, and if we aren't getting all we need out of that much money, how well is the money being managed? The simple fact is that non-discretionary spending is increasing, and reducing our ability to fund discretionary programs, which include defense. So again, where's the logic in trying our budget to a percentage of GDP? Hard to find, isn't it? But its not hard to find a Republican who is willing to spend more, more, more. I never dreamed I see the day when I consider the Democrats the more fiscally responsible party.

The masses are asses! Mitt is it!

Can someone please tell me when "soldiers" became "troops"? Is this a way to dehumanize our men and women who are fighting this war and desensitize us to the loss of life? Am I the only one who feels this way?

Yea cause Obama and Clinton are not politicians they are just caring honest people right??? Give me a break. If you trust any of these people you are nuts. Trust me I live in Illinois and between Obama and our lovely Governor Blago every business in the state is leaving for other areas. We have become a giant welfare state with a huge budget issue.

Paul - I imagine that Romney got much of this 4% idea from here http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/em1027.cfm Just thought you would like to know.

Jamie, while some may use it as you mention the term "troops" is a broader term that properly identifies all armed forces serving. The 'common' name for members of each branch are: Army: Soldier Air Force: Airman Navy: Sailor Marines: Marine Combined they represent the US Armed Forces and collectively can be referred to as 'troops'.

I found something Hillary said that is very disturbing. She told a bunch of high school kids the other day that"Fairness doesn't just happen, it takes the right goverment policies". Romney is a good man, I hope we don't end up with a bunch of "goverment Policies" like Hillary will unleash on this country.

I would only be right for a Republican President (God Forbid) to rebuild a military that has been "rode hard and put away wet" by the previous incompetent Republican Administration. As for the rest of his positions he seems like McCain light, Great Taste...Less Filling. And McCain is like Bush Light. Kind of a bad after taste, bitter maybe. As for Bush well Here's to you Real Man of Genius. Today we salute Mr. Decider, War President, surround em in Iraq so they can't come here. So crack open a cold bud O' Prince of Hubris, because not since Vietnam as a president spent so many lives, so much money, and so much of his countries Honor on a mistake of such huge proportions. Way to go Junior!

Terry in Iowa is right on. Romney is a snake who will say anything to get elected ..in fact he nearly admitted that in his 60 minutes interview. Furthermore he wants to expand our military budget which most americans will agree is important; however, he,like his buddy Bush, fails to explain how this nation will pay for this. I see Romney continuing to expand government just like the current over spending republican white house. Enough of the Radical Right driving this nation into debt that will take generations to pay off .. we need a centrist who will cut the budget not expand it.

So Romney wants to leave our troops (ok..soldiers) in Iraq to die, increase the defense budget (aka...Haliburton), allow oil companies to do more drilling to increase their obscene profits while wrecking the environment, trash the UN but ask friends to stand along side us, and hold a summit. Great plan Mitt. Next.

The military is 80% republican. Nothing worse then libs acting like they care about the military. The military is behind the president and they want the next one to be republican. To bad the military is forbidden to endorse a candidate. The truth about the military is the military is still recovering from the cutbacks of the Clinton Administration. Very little funding went toward training. Bush Sr. started some cutbacks but Clinton far exceeded what was planned. IT SURE IS SAD THAT THE DEMS HAVE TO LOOK ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE TRUMMAN PRESIDENCY TO FIND A DEM PRES. THAT WAS HALFWAY COMPETENT.

Let's see we have Mitt Bush, John Bush, Rudy Bush, and Fred Bush and they all sound the same stay in Iraq indefinitely, spend billions on weapons and mass destruction, create more programs or policies to spend more money. When are we going to see a "true young conservative" who wants to reduce the size of government, cut government spending, reduce government interference in our private lives, and at least attempt to rebuild a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Remember a vote for Mitt is a vote for Satan. Mitt is the anti-Christ. Go Fred!

"Many still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam." Apparently, so does Romney. It's not our freedom that pisses them off; it's our insistence that they conform to our way of doing things...that they abandon their heritage in favor of one heavily influenced by the western nations. Forming this Partnership for Prosperity and Progress will not do anything more than further alienate them and make them feel even more persecuted. I'm not advocating joining hands and singing Kumbaya or anything, but I think we have to at least start from a place where we are being honest in acknowledging what the real issues are in this conflict.

Paul Miller: We're probably spending more on warfare than the rest of the world, combined. Some of it is buried in NASA's budget (militarization of space), the "National Endowment for Democarcy" (sic), and the "Intelligence" budget. It's a sad commentary on our society. Stupid is as stupid does.

ok I see it as this, which politician to vote for? hmm we got a cold woman that probably drove her husband to cheating, good selection there! barak woo ho that is agood choice to lead us, romney i am just jumping for joy on that choice, mccain another outstanding candidate. so the whole point of the matter and has always been in a presidential race, whom do you dislike the least? frankly I would rather see satan himself in the office before another Clinton.

"Many still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam….” I think we fail to comprehend the threat posed by the fundamentist christians on our civil liberties. And their right in our backyard.

One GOP activist and longtime ally of the White House, who declined to be named so as not to further inflame tensions with administration officials, tells NEWSWEEK he was “incensed” by Bush’s comments Tuesday, particularly at a time when White House officials have been working to win support of people like him behind the scenes. “[The White House] has lost credibility with conservatives,” the activist told NEWSWEEK. “Their arrogance on this issue … it’s just astounding. Their attitude is that if you disagree with them, you’re wrong. It’s just unbelievable.” Welcome to the real world everyone else has had to live in for the last 6 years! Right now President Bush is pandering and begging for anything to put his name on whether it be Global Warming, Social Security reform, Immigration reform, Aids research, Aid to Africa, anything as long as it doesn't concern Iraq.

paw paw, better vote for the democrat in 08, the repubs need some time to look at what they have become, maybe 20 to 30 years in a federal penitentiary would be enough

Carrie - If, as you claim, "it's our insistence that they conform to our way of doing things...that they abandon their heritage in favor of one heavily influenced by the western nations." that pisses them off, then why were they attacking us and our intrests throughout the 90's? Not only were we not pressuring them or insisting on anything, we were letting them run free throughout the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Mark...Is happening..Satan is serving his last term now.

Romney is a Mormon. Good Christians will not vote for him because hes a Mormon. End of story.

...a cold woman that probably drove her husband to cheating? Mark, welcome to the 21st century...you seem to have missed the past 50 or so years. Ya know, when it stopped being acceptable to blame the wife for the husband's infidelity? Kinda like it is no longer acceptable to blame the victim of a rape for the rape. But you would probably say she was asking for it because she let him buy her a drink, right?

Romney has the same view on Iraq that Dubya has, an "American Style-Democracy". Might as well call him "Dumbo II", on that one.

Romney may be a good man, but like all politicians, he still fudges some answers. During the last rep debate, he said he had never raised taxes. Technically, this is true, but it's also misleading. Romney did not raise anything called a tax during his tenure as governor, but he did increase state revenues by raising various types of fees. In 2003, Romney doubled fees for court filings (which include marriage licensing fees), professional registrations and firearm licenses. It doesn't matter if you call it a "tax" or a fee; you still have to pay more! Reminds me very much of Bush. He "cut" taxes, but for most of the people I know, they pay way more in fees to make up for these wonderful cuts.

What are the other candidates offering in the way of foreign policy, energy independence, and a discussion of what to do about fanatics that just want to kill anyone who disagrees with them? I'd be interested in reading their ideas and comparing them for substance and new ideas. What we are doing now obviously isn't working. I for one am impressed that Romney isn't trying to ignore the real problems that we as a nation are facing.

"Many still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam” -Romney >>> “I don’t think people care a lot about which church you belong to." - Romney ______ Well, I guess as long as it is a "Church" we're talking about and not a "Mosque". ______ Previously, Romney accused all Muslims of being radical. ______ "We'll move everything to get him [Bin Laden]. But I don't want to buy into the Democratic pitch, that this is all about one person, Osama bin Laden. . . This is about Shi'a and Sunni. . . They also probably want to bring down the United States of America." -Mitt Romney ______ So if Romney considers both major divisions of the Muslim religion (Sunni and Shia) to be the enemy, why does his buddy Bush hold hands with Saudi royalty -- with Sunnis of the treacherous Wahhabi sect -- the sect responsible for Bin Laden and 9/11? Remember this picture with Bush and Rice kissing up to Saudi Royalty after 9/11, despite the fact that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia? http://www.geocities.com/segacs2/weblog/bush_saudi.jpg ______ May 11, 2007 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002506.html Vice President Cheney faces a diplomatic rescue mission tomorrow in Saudi Arabia, where King Abdullah has told top State Department and Pentagon officials over the past six weeks that the kingdom no longer supports Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and does not believe the new U.S. military strategy to secure Baghdad will work, U.S. officials and Arab diplomats said. . . In striking language, the king publicly called the U.S. presence in Iraq an "illegitimate occupation" . ______ http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zepezauer_Mark/SaudiArabia_Boomerang.html . . . excerpted from the book BOOMERANG (2003) The name Saudi Arabia means that it literally belongs to that one family, the House of Sa'ud. They rose up out of the Riyadh area in the 18th century, hitching their wagon to the emerging Wahhabi movement. From the beginning, they showed a ruthless streak . . . The level of corruption in the House of Sa'ud is staggering. While they impose strict Wahhabi law on their subjects, with public beatings for alcohol consumption and amputations for thievery, the thousands of princes have siphoned off billions of dollars from the public treasury, wining and dining all over Europe and America, building lavish palaces and gambling away their stipends. A minor scandal ensued in Washington when some of the Saudi entourage's slaves tried to escape from a hotel suite by jumping out of windows. . . In order to placate Islamists, the regime has set up a chain of Wahhabi religious schools both at home and worldwide, and anti-Western rhetoric is commonplace. Schools set up in northern Pakistan trained the students who became the Taliban regime-which could not have come to power without Saudi assistance. . . FBI agent John O'Neill, the government's top al-Qaida hunter, resigned in protest over the cover-up of the corrupt U.S.-Saudi connections. O'Neill told French journalists that the main obstacles to investigating Islamic terrorism were "U.S. corporate interests and the role played by Saudi Arabia in it." ________ http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Afghanistan/Afghanistan_CIA_Taliban.html To hurt the Russians, the U.S. deliberately chose to give the most support to the most extreme groups. A disproportionate share of U.S. arms went to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, "a particularly fanatical fundamentalist and woman-hater."' According to journalist Tim Weiner, " [Hekmatyar's] followers first gained attention by throwing acid in the faces of women who refused to wear the veil. CIA and State Department officials I have spoken with call him 'scary,' 'vicious,' 'a fascist,' 'definite dictatorship material." _______ May 24, 2007 http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373427 Two years after the Pakistani government banned it from publication, Shahaadat Daily newspaper, funded by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Party of Afghanistan), is again available on the streets of Peshawar. The daily has published articles that denounce the Afghan government and its major supporter, the United States. . . Just as he did during the jihad against the Russians and their appointed government in Kabul, Hekmatyar continues to exploit two key assets: providing humanitarian aid to the people and garnering positive publicity. _______ May 7, 2007 http://www.afgha.com/?q=node/2830 Senators okay reconciliation bill, call for talks with Hekmatyar . . . KABUL, May 6 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The upper house of parliament on Sunday approved the reconciliation and amnesty bill amidst calls from some senators for negotiations with former premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. . . During their speeches, some senators stressed the need for negotiations with former premier and chief of the Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Those advocating talks with dissidents argued negotiations were the only viable option to restore peace and bring stability to the country. Chairman of the Senate Sibghatullah Mujaddedi accused the foreign troops of not supporting the reconciliation process. He said they had made several efforts to bring Taliban and other dissidents into the fold of the national reconciliation; however, the coalition forces did not cooperate with them in pushing forward the process. _______ 19 May, 2007 http://www.countercurrents.org/bhadrakumar190507.htm New fault lines have appeared on the Afghan chessboard. . . Looking back, the ground began to shift on New Year's Eve, when the lower chamber of the Afghan Parliament passed a bill that would grant amnesty to all Afghans involved in any war crimes during the past quarter-century. . . For the first time, Afghans spoke out that they no longer held the United States in awe. At a single stroke, the December 31 amnesty move deprived the US of the one weapon that it wielded for blackmailing the "warlords" into submission . . . What was astonishing was that the amnesty bill covered even Taliban leader Mullah Omar and Hezb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Clearly, an Afghan "revolt" was afoot against the existing political order imposed by the US.

Good Christians won't vote for a Mormon?? My father's side of my family are ALL Mormons, and the last time I checked Mormons ARE VERY GOOD CHRISTIANS. I think that Mitt could easily receive the majority of christian voters. However, he will never receive a vote from me. As for the military being 80% Republicans, I call BS. Where is the website that I can see those numbers? My father was in the Army and my cousin is in Iraq, they are telling me something different than what Chuck Cooley is telling us. Another thing that I fact checked was more of Chuck Cooley's post about the military cut backs from the Clinton Administration and what I found was that under President Clinton, the Department of Defense (DoD) had shaped the military into a well-prepared, technologically-advanced, integrated force. As Lawrence Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration, wrote on May 13, "Not only did Clinton spend a large amount of money on the military; most of it was spent wisely... The Clinton administration also kept the quality of our military personnel high by closing the gap between military and private sector compensation, a gap that the first Bush administration had allowed to grow, and improving retirement and health benefits for military retirees." Enough said.

ryan mich, to answer your question, the reason all islamic states hate us is because we made it clear that if they touch isreal we would kill them all, and we have and always will medal in the middle east because of that black gooey substance that we are currently killing people for, we have never let them run free as you put it

"Nothing worse then libs acting like they care about the military." Cowardly bronze Star winners! You need to be a brave and patriotic draft dodger to care about the military. Here's something worse: people spewing lies like "80% of the military are republican." If they were republicants, they'd be quaking cowards and draft dodgers.

MK - considering that Isreal gets "touched" every day by some terrorist organization and many of the islamic states are still around, pretty much negates your argument. Also, I'm not saying that the U.S. has no intrest in the oil in the Mid-East but we import about 10% of our oil from the Middle East. We get a vast majority of it from Canada and Mexico. Europe and Asia are far more dependent on Mid-East oil then we are. That being said oil is a global market and of course the U.S. has an intrest there but by no means is that the sole purpose for us being there.

I think it's all about: 1. Are we going to get their oil or are they? 2. Are American countries going to keep making money rebuilding their country, or are businesses of other countries also going to be allowed to do so? 3. Are we planning to stay indefinitely in Iraq (permanent bases are being built), or are we planning to leave one day?

ryan, keep repeating that to yourself and maybe it will become something other than fantasy someday, it's all about the money ryan nothing more, we are not trying to do anything noble in iraq, the repubs got to have that oil drenched dollar bill, where's all the money that's been sent over there? and the fact that we are currently in heart of islamic territory shooting islamics as we speak kind of negates you argument

Chuck Cooley Ozawkie kS--This is an excerpt from an article by Rosa Brooks in the LA Times that cites some numbers from this years poll by The Military Times. "LA TIMES January 5, 2007-- BURIED IN THE NEWS last week was one of the most potentially significant stories of recent years. The Military Times released its annual poll of active-duty service members, and the results showed something virtually unprecedented: a one-year decline of 10 percentage points in the number of military personnel identifying themselves as Republicans. In the 2004 poll, the percentage of military respondents who characterized themselves as Republicans stood at 60%. By the end of 2005, that had dropped to 56%. And by the end of 2006, the percentage of military Republicans plummeted to 46%. The drop in Republican Party identification among active-duty personnel is a sharp reversal of a 30-year trend toward the "Republicanization" of the U.S. military, and it could mark a sea change in the nature of the military — and the nature of public debates about national security issues.".....................There you have it Chuck. According to The Military Times, the percentage of Republican Military at it's high point was 20 points lower than the number that you pulled out of your Attache case. Way to make stuff up. Just like Karl Rove would do. He'd be proud of ya. It's OK though. Just put your hands over your ears and start yelling LALALALALALALA! That seems to help George II when ever he is presented with inconvenient facts.

Ryan, Michigan--You are correct. Oil is a global market. The price of a Barrel is the same no matter what region it comes from. If events occur that effect production in any region the price will go up in all regions. It's not the physical oil that Bushes Boss's care about, it's the price.

Chuck Cooley Ozawkie kS--Here is some more of that article by Rosa Brooks, LA Times. It offers some explanations for the apparent shift by the military away from the republican party. I knew you'd want to read this. "The latest Military Times poll offers the most telling evidence yet that this is beginning to change. Although the reasons for the recent military flight from the Republican Party can only be guessed at, it's a safe bet that disgust at Bush administration bungling in Iraq is the single biggest factor. The poll shows that only 35% of military personnel approve of the president's handling of the war, and three-fourths of those polled say that the military is "stretched too thin to be effective." Anecdotal evidence suggests that many career officers also are skeptical of the administration's approach to combating terrorism and unhappy with its undermining of the norms of the Geneva Convention."

Don't we have a litmus test to join the military? Guess that's just the justice department.

Gary, Good research! As usual, repugs like chuck cooley and karl rove do not use facts...the biggest reason this great nation of ours is facing the problems it does today. repugs keep blaming Clinton; however, if you think aobut it, after 6+ years, the repugs have not been able to "fix" anything "broken" by Clinton except turn a surplus into the largest deficit in history. any fact-based response(s), chuck?

Gary: Now let me tell you a little since your resciting this BS poll. I happen to be one of those soldiers polled back in 2005 and I said that I didnt think we were overwhelming Iraq and hitting them hard enough. That is totallly different from what comes out about the military not supporting the mission. First of all the Military Times is not an official paper of the military nor is it a friend and that goes for the Army Times also. Both are full of liberal reporters. I can go to any base anywhere in the world and I guarantee that the vast majority of military people vote Republican, maily because that is where all of the decent raises, equipment, bonuses come from. The LA times is no friend of Republicans either. Most Senior Officers are political and the ones that rise to the rank of General mostly come out of Ivy League schools, so that should tell you where their political allegiance is.

DogFaceSouljah, Thank you for your service and wish you were not in harms way. The real point was what party does the military affiliate itself with, and formerly, it was a Repub haven. Now, however, the article cited by Gary stated that is changing. It may very well be many of our soldiers wanted a bigger force to keep the peace after toppling Saddam. I thought it would be best to get bin Laden first before anything else. I do not think the poll was BS...I believed you misinterpretted the post since the original statement was 80% of the military was republican and the latest survey by Miliatry Times definitely contradicted the 80% post. Thanks again for your sacrifices and hope you make it home safely to your family.

With GOP favoite-in-every-way Fred Thompson running, the cuckoo-eyed Mormon Mitt will be where he should be- low man on the totem pole. He'll be dyeing his hair jet black at 70 too.

DogFace--Ok, you question the veracity of the poll and the politics of the the publication. So what. That doesn't change the findings. Your denunciation is somehow supposed to carry special weight because you say you are a soldier stationed at Ft Hood? It sounds like you would be happier if the Military and Army Times were full of conservative reporters as if that would make it somehow more truthier. How can you guarantee that the vast majority of military people vote Republican? Are you psychic, are you ordered to vote that way? Your opinion is your opinion but that is all it is. Check with FOX news though, they could probably cook you up some numbers since they aren't hindered by any kind of journalistic constraints.

Back again Chris?

Chuck Cooley- do you really want to use the term "halfway competent"?

Gary, I don't believe that's true - about how strongly the military supports the GOP. The GOP has more support than the Democrats among military folks, but I would guess the percentages stated above are, well, pretty much made up. Last year in Virginia, we had that race between Webb and Allen. Webb has a lot of ties to the military from before (SecNav and he wrote what is considered by many to be the best Vietnam novel out there). But Virginia is also, I believe, the state in which the largest percentage of voters are either current or former servicemembers. We have the largest concentration of military bases in the country, and as a result we also have a large population of military retirees. A year before that election, Allen was considered unbeatable in Virginia - he was talked about as the insiders' presidential front-runner, as you may remember. Yet Webb, who ran a single issue campaign against the Iraq War, beat him. I was on the Quantico Marine base one day before that election - I can tell you I saw a whole lot more Webb bumperstickers than Allen.

Just another Bush-Bot. Really people, aren't we sick of this yet? How much more is it going to take?

Phoney right wing Christians and devout Catholics will not vote for a MORMON- sorry folks, again I say it aint gonna happen.Too freaky of a religion.

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