--Thanks to Sine from KS who originally sent this to me.
.... Many people believe that Obama would raise their taxes. Fortunately, the non-partisan Tax Policy Center has released a report on the two proposed tax plans and CNN boiled it down to an extremely informative table.
Gist: If you're making less than $603k, you're taxes are going to basically stay the same as today or go down. And if you make less than $112k, you're taxes are going to go down MORE under Obama than McCain.
Please distribute these links widely to get the truth out. You'd be surprised how many people think the opposite.
References:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/11/news/economy/candidates_taxproposals_tpc/
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/411693_CandidateTaxPlans.pdf
Source:The Tax Policy Center
Re: "The sky fell in 2007" | Report to Admin Reply By Joy IA Yesterday at 1:15 am EDT (Updated Yesterday at 1:15 am EDT)
[REPOSTED FROM THE BLOG BECAUSE WE SHOULD ALL READ THIS!] Joy wrote:
How do you think all of us in Iowa felt when the polls late last summer and into early fall consistently showed Barack down 20-30 points? ***In July 2007, polls showed HRC at 43% and Barack at 22%. This campaign was down TWENTY-ONE effing points!!***
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama Energy Town HallAs Prepared For DeliveryYoungstown, OhioTuesday, August 5th, 2008 We meet at a moment when this country is facing a set of challenges unlike any we’ve ever known. Right now, our brave men and women in uniform are fighting two different wars while terrorists plot their next attack. Our changing climate is putting our planet in peril and our security at risk. And our economy is in turmoil, with more and more of our families struggling with rising costs, falling incomes and lost jobs. So we know that this election could be the most important of our lifetime. We know that the choices we make in November and over the next few years will shape the next decade, if not the century. And central to each of these challenges is the question of what we will do about our addiction to foreign oil.
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Energy Town Hall
As Prepared For Delivery
Youngstown, Ohio
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
We meet at a moment when this country is facing a set of challenges unlike any we’ve ever known. Right now, our brave men and women in uniform are fighting two different wars while terrorists plot their next attack. Our changing climate is putting our planet in peril and our security at risk. And our economy is in turmoil, with more and more of our families struggling with rising costs, falling incomes and lost jobs. So we know that this election could be the most important of our lifetime. We know that the choices we make in November and over the next few years will shape the next decade, if not the century. And central to each of these challenges is the question of what we will do about our addiction to foreign oil.
EACH ONE TEACH/SUPPORT ONE....
With my vast experience of having been out canvassing once (see my previous blog), I agreed to go out with a fellow Obama supporter, Alan (see blog about the Platform meeting), who had (inadvertently) signed up to canvass his neighborhood when he had intended to just look at the neighbor-to-neighbor page to see what was involved. He had never canvassed before.
WHAT I LEARNED:
Teamwork:
We had a team of three--Alan, his wife Melody, and me, and that allowed for a good division of labor. Alan knocked on doors and initiated the conversation. I was information girl, with flyers and handouts and a head stuffed full of facts. Melody had the clipboard and kept track of results and names of people and where we needed to go next.
MY FIRST CANVASSING EXPERIENCE, Eugene, OR
Today was my first time ever canvassing.
I should start by saying that I'm an introvert and one of my least favorite activities is initiating conversations with complete strangers, especially if they might not be that interested in talking to me. In college I had a summer job once as a phone telemarketer and I was a total failure at this because I was even less eager to promote a product to a stranger than the people answering the phone were to buy it.
However, to support Obama I would be willing to learn how to walk on hot coals or bungee jump, and all the other "firsts" that people report on this blog inspire me, so I figure I can learn to like canvassing too.
What Proportion of Democrats ACTUALLY support McCain?
A recent Rasmussen report is titled "30% of Conservative Democrats Say They’ll Vote for McCain." According to the poll results, this is a factual statement.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/30_of_conservative_democrats_say_they_ll_vote_for_mccain
However, the title also gives a misleading impression that McCain has a meaningful amount of support from Democrats. To get a better overall picture, one must read the article carefully and do a little simple math. Here it is:
The data shows that 43% of Democrats consider themselves politically liberal, 37% say they’re moderate, and 18% are conservative. So those who say they'll vote for McCain are 30% of the 18% of conservative Democrats. .3 x .18 = .054. That's 5.4% of the total.
Yesterday evening my Obamacan husband and I attended a Platform meeting hosted by friends of ours in Eugene, Oregon. It was a wonderful night of grassroots policy discussion and community building. After an hour and a half spent generating and voting on planks, we rewarded ourselves with dessert and socializing. A slowly dwindling group of people lingered until midnight, many hours after our platform work was done.
Alan (one of the hosts) and I created a handout with a list of two dozen topics and a brief description of *what* we would be doing – generating proposed planks for the party Platform -- and *how* we would do it – by breaking into subgroups who would write up planks on different issues, which would then be presented to the whole group for discussion. We asked people to pick out the topics of greatest interest to them on the list.
Twenty-five people attended, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. Quick introductions revealed a variety of political leanings and backgrounds, from conservative to liberal, from long-term politicos to those getting involved for the first time in their lives. Some became Obama fans in 2004 after hearing his convention speech, others originally supported Kucinich or Edwards, and one woman told us “I’ve been a conservative all my life… and I’m sick of it…and now I have a crush on Obama.”
(preliminary comments)
I read with interest your recent discussion regarding my comments on the floor(1, 2, 3) during the debate on John Roberts' nomination. I don't get a chance to follow blog traffic as regularly as I would like, and rarely get the time to participate in the discussions. I thought this might be a good opportunity to offer some thoughts about not only judicial confirmations, but how to bring about meaningful change in this country.
Maybe some of you believe I could have made my general point more artfully, but it's precisely because many of these groups are friends and supporters that I felt it necessary to speak my mind.
(Full text of Diary follows)
THE call by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki for a timetable for the removal of American troops from Iraq presents an enormous opportunity. We should seize this moment to begin the phased redeployment of combat troops that I have long advocated, and that is needed for long-term success in Iraq and the security interests of the United States.
Thank you Barack Obama, for being the seed around which an awesome movement has formed. Thank you for pouring your heart and soul into this campaign, and for giving voice to the yearning we have to be one country, one people again, all of us pledging allegiance to the best in us, devoted to what can be, rather than tethered with cynicism to what the country has become during the last seven years. Thank you for your brilliance, and your steadiness, and your toughness under attack, and your unwavering compassion and good judgment, which has been an example to us all. You are the leader we need and have hoped for.
Dear Speaker Pelosi-- When a member of the Democratic Party is caught on tape suggesting that the last plausible route for her to gaining the party's nomination is the assassination of one of the brightest stars the party has seen for decades, I think it is time for the Party to take action. Please do whatever you can to put a firm end to this shameless campaign which has stripped all honor away from a woman who had formerly been one of the most prominent female members of the Party besides yourself.
Sincerely...
In case you run into a smear email or blog post that gives false portrait of Barack by (supposedly) quoting from his first book, here's the site that gives the context and points out the made up or changed quotes:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/ownwords.asp
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Here is the prepared text of Sen. Barack Obama's victory speech he delivered in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday after winning the North Carolina primary. I want to start by congratulating Senator Clinton on her victory in the state of Indiana. And I want to thank the people of North Carolina for giving us a victory in a big state, a swing state, and a state where we will compete to win if I am the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
When this campaign began, Washington didn't give us much of a chance. But because you came out in the bitter cold, and knocked on doors, and enlisted your friends and neighbors in this cause; because you stood up to the cynics, and the doubters, and the nay-sayers when we were up and when we were down; because you still believe that this is our moment, and our time, for change - tonight we stand less than two hundred delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.
More importantly, because of you, we have seen that it's possible to overcome the politics of division and distraction; that it's possible to overcome the same old negative attacks that are always about scoring points and never about solving our problems. We've seen that the American people aren't looking for more spin or more gimmicks, but honest answers about the challenges we face. That's what you've accomplished in this campaign, and that's how we'll change this country together.
Inspired by other hopemongers who have been writing poetry for the blog (THE TRUTH, Joe Ruwe, Strong Heart, NY Woman for Obama, Michelle B, and others) I've decided to change my name and generate haiku and other poems as my contribution to the blog for a few days. This is my archive of haiku and other poems
Wed 30 April 2008
Here in the Hope sphere The t***l and spam intrusions Evoke donations
She who is not named Buzzes with indignation Dodging fake bullets
May all our votes be Based on love of our country Not on distractions
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois, sat for an interview Saturday in Indiana with Chris Wallace. The interview aired on “FOX News Sunday.” They touched on a wide range of topics including the marathon race to the Democratic nomination, Obama’s controversial former pastor, patriotism, and Obama’s positions on the Iraq war, taxes and education.
CHRIS WALLACE: Senator Obama, welcome to FOX NEWS SUNDAY.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you for having me.
WALLACE: Long time, no see.
OBAMA: Well, it takes me about 772 days to prepare for these questions. But I think there was a leap year in there so I think it’s only 771.
WALLACE: We checked - anyway. Your defeat in Pennsylvania raises new questions about your candidacy and especially about some of the pillars of the Democratic base. Let’s take a look at the numbers. Among white union households, Clinton beats you 72 percent to 28 percent. Among white Catholics, again, same margin, 72 percent to 28 percent.
Senator, why are you having such trouble convincing white, working class voters that you’re their guy?
COLUMBIA, South Carolina (CNN) -- Here is the transcript of Sen. Barack Obama's remarks after he won the Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina.
Thank you, South Carolina.
Thank you to the rock of my life, Michelle Obama.
Thank you to Malia and Sasha Obama, who haven't seen their daddy in a week.
Thank you to Pete Skidmore for his outstanding service to our country and being such a great supporter of this campaign.
Over two weeks ago, we saw the people of Iowa proclaim that our time for change has come. But there were those who doubted this country's desire for something new, who said Iowa was a fluke, not to be repeated again.
Well, tonight, the cynics who believed that what began in the snows of Iowa was just an illusion were told a different story by the good people of South Carolina.
After four -- after four great contests, in every corner of this country, we have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans that we've seen in a long, long time.
