Ladies and Gentlemen, as our attention has been increasingly drawn toward
             the international arena, our president and his administration have
             conveniently avoided addressing issues that actually affect your daily
             lives. As a result, many of us have become complacent about such important
             domestic policy issues as social welfare. We have conveniently forgotten
             about the millions of homeless, jobless, and poverty-stricken Americans who
             live next door to us, instead worrying about overblown threats to national
             security. Well, I am here to remind you that many of the social services
             you rely on are in jeopardy. Your fellow citizens, your neighbors, even
             your friends and family members are suffering while the wallets of
             corporate bigwigs are being stuffed with your taxpayer dollars. Even those
             of you who do not rely on any governmental or outside assistance know that
             social services are necessary for the kind of egalitarian and just society
             that our founding fathers envisioned.
             The conservatives in power would like to sidetrack the importance of
             social services. They hope that blinding the public will enable them to
             funnel public monies directly into the doffers of big business and special
             interest groups. Focusing on Iraq has given President Bush the ability to
             fool the public into thinking that everything is alright on the home front.
             Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. It's time we voters woke up,
             smelled the coffee, and realize once again how integral social services and
             The conservatives would have you believe that welfare is outdated,
             that it does nothing to alleviate poverty and that it only encourages
             laziness or even the degeneration of society. These politicians and
             businessmen, most of whom live high on the hog, would like to deny the
             poor, the disenfranchised, and all marginalized members of society access
             to public funds. These politicians are overtly deny...