Ministry of Truth

The United States must be the only industrialized western country in which religion plays a major role in government. A large number of simple-minded and unquestioning folk, who live in an area referred to politically as the Bible Belt are electing representatives who have more in common with the clergy than with their fellow senators and congressmen. Fanatic minorities as these are not as minor as their name suggests. They are spread across the country like paprika. A recent poll done by Newsweek reveals that 79% of Americans believe that the story of Christmas, as written in the Bible, is historically accurate. Another 55% say that the Bible is historically accurate to the word. The only other places in the world that have the potential to boast results such as these are the Vatican or a retirement home in Sicily.

The problem with the population extends right up to the President himself. Bush II has increased defense spending, alienated the US from the rest of the world, ignored the UN, attacked a defenseless country, and crushed civil liberties. The Government has even taken stands on social issues like gay marriage, arguing that it is immoral, because the almighty condemns gays. While men like Bush II apply the teachings of God to government, and Pope Benedict kindly points out the violent nature of Islam, Noam Chomsky gives insight to the true nature of the Bible itself:

The God of the Bible - not only did He order His chosen people to carry out literal genocide - I mean, wipe out every Amalekite to the last man, woman, child, and, you know, donkey and so on, because hundreds of years ago they got in your way when you were trying to cross the desert - not only did He do things like that, but, after all, the God of the Bible was ready to destroy every living creature on earth because some humans irritated Him. That’s the story of Noah. I mean, that’s beyond genocide - you don’t know how to describe this creature. Somebody offended Him, and He was going to destroy every living being on earth? And then He was talked into allowing two of each species to stay alive - that’s supposed to be gentle and wonderful.” - Noam Chomsky

Even if we ignore the contents of the Bible, and famous misprints such as “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” (Exodus 20:13), this old book is still too abstract and too devoid of proof to play a role in the government of any country. Religious governments have never thrived for long. Iran for countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran are full of Koran schools, resulting in a generation of ignorance. It is not coincidence that 61% (Washington Post) of suicide bombers in the middle east come from Saudi Arabia. That figure reflects the beliefs of the people there. The United States doe not (yet) have as severe an ignorance epidemic as the Saudis do. Nevertheless, the US is a country in which people are tought to believe rather than to think, and that results in incompetent, God-fearing leadership.

www.biblegateway.com

The economic policy of Ronald Reagan is strikingly similar to the one we live under today. For starters, both Presidents believed in supply-side economics, and therefore supported big businesses. Both also Presidents increased military spending (Reagan by 40%) to pay for increased defense of the most secure country in history. Reagan created the missle-defense system in an attempt to ward off possible nuclear assault, and to help pay for it, he cut taxes to encourage spending, just as Bush II did. In a startling inconsistency, Reagan also supported the Federal Reserve Board’s tight money policy, which discouraged spending. To my knowledge, Bush II did not destroy his credibility in this fashion. However, his tax cuts only affected the rich. To no surprise then is the fact that the poor and those suffering in poverty suffered under Reagan and Bush II. Though welfare must be abolished, the poor must not be the only ones being taxed. Tax cuts that benefit only the rich contradict the american dream, because the poor are unable to work their way up the ladder of success if they are weighed down by taxes. Bush continues Reagan’s tradition of granting the missle defense system $9,500,000,000 annually (Pentagon). According to the American Society of Physicists, the missle defense program would not work from a physic standpoint; “Now that is just one example of a clinically insane allocation of your tax dollars…that’s what Bush is: a taxer of grandchildren.” -(Ralph Nader). In short, both Presidents believed in subsidizing large corporations (supply-side economics), and cutting taxes, while drastically increasing defense spending for unnecessary wars in countries like Iraq, Grenada, and Nicaragua, which are not a threat to anyone in the United States, just as they were not a threat to their neighbors.

http://borgenproject.org/Defense_Spending.html