Who runs this country?

Question

I sent this email to President Bush and Vice President Cheney, by the way. Please don't reply to me how naive or something ... I'm well aware. I just want to be a responsible citizen and question my government and hold them accountable to answer ... to me. I ... and you ... are supposed to run this country. We are a democracy. We hire them. They work for us, I believe. Isn't that what a democracy is? Isn't that what our constitution says? (Yes it's an imperfect system, with the electoral college all messed up. But that's another issue, OK?)

Also, please, let's not all go crazy. I really DO NOT APPRECIATE POLEMICS. And if you don't know what a polemic is, you're probabaly doing one. I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE A REASONED DISCUSSION AND A COMMITMENT THAT WE CAN SOMEHOW change the world, maybe just a little, maybe just a start. Let's NOT ABDICATE OUR RESPONSIBILITY. It is too easy to blame Bush, Cheney, anybody else. We NEED TO BLAME OURSELVES. Because we do not inform ourselves, we don't vote, we are ineffective IN RUNNING OUR COUNTRY!

Please don't conclude anything regarding my politics from this ... This is just some research I'm doing to try and get the facts. Part of the process of forming political opinions is educating oneself. That's all I'm trying to do. And is this relevant to me, to my family, to my community, to you? Absolutely. I don't think it could be more relevant. Our military spending makes the "economic stimulus package" pale in comparison. If you violently disagree with these "facts", please don't attack me or wikipedia. I believe these are fairly accurate figures, but PROVE ME WRONG. PLEASE, I don't want to believe this.

Altogether, [U.S.] military-related expenses [for the year 2007 alone - one year] totaled approximately $626.1 billion.

The ... U.S. military budget is almost as much as the rest of the world's defense spending combined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_military_budget

Factbox: Details of U.S. economic stimulus package

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSN2426178220080124

(Reuters) - President George W. Bush and the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives have reached a deal on a fiscal package aimed at staving off a recession in the troubled U.S. economy.

Here are some details of the plan.

* The $150 billion plan is worth about 1 percent of U.S. economic output and would include tax rebates for individuals and families as well as incentives for business investment.

* Individuals would get rebates of up to $600 and married couples could get up to $1,200, plus $300 per child, no limit. Individuals with annual incomes above $75,000 in adjusted gross income (AGI) or married couples making $150,000 in AGI would get less depending how high their incomes are above those thresholds. Democrats estimate some 117 million families will receive a check.

But that's just measuring the "on-budget" money spent. Go to http://wikipedia.com and check out U.S. military spending and see how much money is spent for "off-budget" military and military-related items. Adding these items in about doubles the military spending totals. President Bush will preside over the spending of more than a trillion dollars on the war on terror. That alone terrorizes me.

House votes to provide $162 billion in war funding

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_go_co/congress_iraq_funding

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A much-delayed Iraq war funding bill sailed through the House on Thursday, along with a doubling of college aid for returning troops and help for the unemployed and Midwestern flood victims. Republican allies of President Bush provided the winning margin in a 268-155 vote to provide $162 billion to fund U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan well into next year.

The recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are largely funded through supplementary spending bills outside the Federal Budget, so they are not included in the military budget figures listed above.[13] In addition, the United States has black budget military spending which is not listed as Federal spending and is not included in published military spending figures. Other military-related items, like maintenance of the nuclear arsenal and the money spent by the Veterans Affairs Department, are not included in the official budget. Thus, the total amount spent by the United States on military spending is higher.

Answer 1

I would just like to point out that we are republic.

re·pub·lic    

–noun

1. a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives chosen directly or indirectly by them.

So basically we vote for people who vote for people who run this county and normally they try to run it into the ground.

Answer 2

Money.

Answer 3

Israel!

Answer 4

This surprises you?  If you were the leader of any other country in the world and you needed defending, whom would you call?  France?  

When there is a job to be done, the world counts on the English speaking countries; the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada.  A few others pitch in, but most use their resources to support social programs within their own countries, knowing the USA and its allies will come to their aid when there is danger.

It is not fair, but I think our government is less to be blamed and international groups like NATO and the UN should do more to distribute the responsibility among their nation members.