Outrage: How Illegal Immigration, the United Nations, Congressional Ripoffs, Student Loan Overcharges, Tobacco Companies, Trade

Shocking! How can anyone, after reading this, ever again have no interest in monitoring and participating in our government at all levels. Unfortunately, very few citizens ever read anything deeper that a magazine taken from a checkout rack at the local grocery store. The 20/80 rule is alive and well and a stiff price will eventually be paid for the ignorance pervading this land.

I don't know anyone who loves Dick Morris. Some people hate him and cannot hear anything he says. Just bringing up his name upsets them to the point of unreason. Yet, if one can simply consider what he has to say it is usually interesting and often worthwhile even if you strongly disagree with what he has to say. This is because he really does understand how our political emotions work and the kinds of issues that provoke the electorate to action. Whether or not he actually believes what he is saying on behalf of a politician or about an issue is not all that relevant. Personal convictions often wither under the hot sun of political campaigns. Even so, this book seems to be more about the frustrations Morris and McGann share with us about how both the Democrats and the Republicans are failing us in Congress. His take on the immigration problem is actually quite fresh. Rather than focusing only on the border with Mexico, he points out that at least half the problem, and the more serious failure in preventing another 9/11, is the millions who overstay their visas. They come in legally, but fail to leave as required. Since we do not track who leaves the country it is all but impossible to find out who is here in violation of their visas! Morris says that we not only need to begin tracking those who leave so we can get some idea who remains, but we also need to bar all immigration from those countries that are designated as sponsors and supporters of terror. The United Nations and its many failures and scandals are examined next. Morris and McGann show us why there is absolutely no motivation within the United Nations to behave well and how the organization's structure actually promotes human rights failures by putting the worst violators on the committees that are supposed to monitor and take action against situations such as Rwanda and Darfur. The authors also show us how Oil For Food was used by Saddam to not only line his own pockets at the expense of his people, but corrupted the political choices many of those nations who made our work in Iraq more difficult before the war, leading up to the war, during the war, and in helping Iraq build its own government. The efforts within the ACLU to suppress public criticism by its leaders of its leadership and policies are actually quite humorous and sad. It is hypocrisy of the first order and something more people need to be aware of when dealing with this organization that views itself as the final arbiter of our rights and social order. They need to be exposed more fully and we need organizations to resist and balance them more than we have now. Chapter four is the big biggest because it is where the authors expose the problems in Congress with travel, using family members to convert campaign contributions to cash, using family as lobbyists, and how little time they put in working on the people's business. Morris and McGann pull no punches and name names from both parties. This cha

I'm really glad to see that this book is doing so well- because people need to hear this and more. I was concerned more with the financial aspects of Morris' argument than the political or moral side, but I was intrigued and scared by most of what he and coauthor had to say. Most notable is the corruption in Washington. We are funding politicians and their inflated pensions (that's common knowledge), but we're also funding their spouses (who are on their payroll) and relatives who get paid to lobby their big-shot nepotists in DC. I love the bit on the UN too- can we say a little outdated bureaucracy? The former Clinton advisor (Morris) is hard-hitting and straightforward and alerts us to a ton of waste that we're paying for. Other books I recommend along these lines areHow to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You by Morse which shows you how to turn the tables on government (and more) and The Fair Tax Book, which lays out a revolutionary, yet thoughtful and prudent, way we should be taxed. Keep reading!

What makes this book interesting is the solutions( although some of them seem outrageous) Morris and McGann have offered us. We have seen and heard enough cry out of frustration from numerous Morrises and McGannses. Yet there are only few who offered series of concrete proposals to balance out their cries. The most important proposal that seems obvious is to track those who leave the country. Even failed states with zero law-and-order that kills and abducts its own people like Sri Lanka track those who leave the country. If you do not record emigration, you not only risk to track those who are here in violation of their visas, but also encourage others to overstay. The culprits know they won't be checked at the airport when they leave the US soil. Beside these fresh solutions, you may not agree with everything the authors have to say. But the book will sure make you think twice on all of the decisions that were made by our lawmakers in the past couple of years. Along the way, prepare to be surprised by allegations, assertions and revelations that may shoot your adrenaline level by a factor of ten. The most appalling ones are: > Find out the legislators who put their spouses on the payroll and Converted the campaign money into personal income. <br /> <br />> Find out the big insurance companies who are still thumbing their noses at their Louisiana policy holders who were victimized by Katrina. <br /> <br />> Find out the members of Congress who spent too many days on exotic vacations paid for by special-interest groups. <br /> <br /> <br />Outrage is a book that will sure spark plenty of debate. Its greatest value may be to encourage competent journalists to cover the same ground. <br /> <br /> <br />N.Sivakumar <br />Author of: <br />America Misunderstood: What a Second Bush Victory Meant to the Rest of the World