I was going to wait to exercise my first voting right as an American on Election Day. Since the political camps are getting so negative, I have decided to make a statement by voting early. As an Independent voter; like many others I dislike the game.
I have a feeling that from now on it’s not going to be about the issues that matters to us. When a candidate and his campaign don’t have anything to offer for the challenges we are facing, polls are going down they have only one way to stay in the race.
I have voted yesterday as an early voter to reject the character attack and worthless campaign for the next few weeks. Yes, I have voted for Obama-Biden ticket and I’m proud of being a first time voter.
For all my friends out there, please reject the negative campaign and vote early.
Thank you and love you all,
Ruble.
Her first time ever endorsing a Democrat. I hope she can persuade her husband to endorse our cause as well!!!!!
A pretty effective Sunday on the talk show circuit. Axelrod took on Steve Schmidt and made some very good points about the bailout, and how the debate was preceived by Americans. Kerry went on Fox News and completely destroyed the filmsly argument about how McCain saved the negotiations. "He suspended his campaign and it took him 22 hours to get from New York to Washington, a one-hour flight, had time to go do Katie Couric in an interview, had time to give a speech to the Clinton millennium, and when he got here, he wound up -- I mean, he said he was going to interrupt his campaign to come down and save the negotiations. Most people believe what he did was interrupt the negotiations to come down and save his campaign."
Great quote and I'm glad he put Chris Wallace in his place.
From Daily Kos a very scary story about how the Treasury Sec. is being given a very large amount of power. I'm not sure a single minded approach is the best solution to this challenging crisis.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/20/153952/268/395/603713
DONATE.
I was reading Kennedy's acceptance speech and picked out this selection. I understand that tying Bush to McCain is helpful but we need something that breaks through to folks out there. Our ideas are strong but they need a better showcase. The old ways of campaigning will not do.
"Our task is not merely one of itemizing Republican failures. Nor is that wholly necessary. For the families forced from the farm do not need to tell us of their plight. The unemployed miners and textile workers know that the decision is before them in November. The old people without medical care, the families without a decent home, the parents of children without a decent school: They all know that it's time for a change.
We are not here to curse the darkness; we are here to light a candle. As Winston Churchill said on taking office some twenty years ago: If we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future.
Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do."
Yesterday (September 15th) was a depressing day for American Financial Market and added more to our crumbling economy. After the bail out of two mortgage giants few days ago we were not ready to hear more bad news.
Unfortunately, the stock market was record down since September 11th 2001. 158 years old Investment bank has filed for bankruptcy and another bank got sold within 48 hours negotiation. Few more financial institutions are heating the bottom.
Yes, since this is an election year; we are seeing the political games played by both major parties and its candidates. As independent voters, we are the target of the deceiving political ads. At the same time, we must compare both plans and ask ourselves who can help us to get out of this mess.
Our mortgage market went down, people can’t keep their homes; job loss, income went down, living cost went up, education is expensive, gas price high and the gap between rich & poor grew bigger. I don’t need to tell you how badly we are suffering from the last 7 years economic policy, and that is why economy is number one issue for this election.
Before current president and his party came to office, we had surplus in the budget, low unemployment rate, and a sound economy. Last 7 years failed policy has given us deficit of more than 300 billion dollars. Our national debt doubled, gas priced more than doubled and unemployment is record high.
I agree with open market policy but strongly believe that it needs oversight and rules that holds the players accountable and responsible. Please compare the candidates on this issue.
We need to balance our budget not only for our own sake but for the interest of our future generation. What kind of parents would leave their children and grandchildren with a mountain of debt? We need to stop spending more than 12 million dollars per month in a wrong war and start investing in our own infrastructure. 2 wars have given us today’s economy; what would happen if we engage ourselves in 4/5 wars in the future? So, the foreign policy is a very important variable of economic equation, please beware of the candidate’s foreign policy.
Spending money for our domestics need is important; cutting the funding for those projects is not the answer for balance budget. Please compare the candidates on this issue and beware of “tax politics.”
I have to get ready for class now. I don’t have enough time to discuss the issue in details. I hope with this posting, we can start focus on the number one issue in this election. If more and more voters like you stay focus on the issues and demand solution from the candidates; maybe we can hear more details about their plans instead of fighting over “lipsticks.”
Thank you very much and love you all,
The video in Farmington Hill shows promise as a tactical plan against the "dynamic duo" grrr Halperin.....anyway I think Sen. Obama and Sen. Biden should be more direct about the media not doing their job. McCain hasn't received anywhere near the amount of scrunity from the press as Obama has on anything....Obama and Biden both got a whole lot of SURGE questioning this week on the Sunday programs but Bob S. completely let McCain off the hook on everything. All McCain had to do was flatter him and say that Gov Palin would do his show first (how sickening) and then sorry Bob I guess Charlie Gibson gets the first semi-interview that is sure to pile on the fluff. Just like Greta Van whats her name's piece on Fox this week. Back to my first point we all saw how biased Mr. Gibson was during the ABC debate so I won't hold my breath to see any objectivity in the interview's format.
WE can't let this continue.
http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=pluckpersona&U=29fad358623d448a940b3c9e6e11429f
Here's what I had to write this morning after Palin's speech.
Governor Sarah Palin introduced herself to her party and to the nation last night and many in the media are giving her a thumbs up for her fiery rhetoric. I find it amusing because what I heard last night was something completely different. I heard personal attacks, no real plan to get us out of the hole Republicans have dug us into, and to be blunt...whining. We've heard all week from the McCain campaign that she's gotten sexist treatment because the media would like to know her record and her experience. A process that is expec ted for every other candidate running for high office. Using the sexist card just like McCain using his POW experience to dodge questions is insulting to the American people. When instead of giving us answers to completely legitimate questions, we hear spin and lies and that is not behavior worthy of any presidential campaign, republican or democrat. Here are an example of some of those lies. Sarah Palin last night said that she told Congress, "Thanks but no thanks" to the 'Bridge to Nowhere' well the record actually shows that she supported it until it became unpopular and her state still kept the money after the project was scraped out. She touted reform last night as a key part of her biographical story. But the record shows that she worked for an shady independent group supporting Alaska senator Ted Stevens the first sitting United States Senator in 17 years to face criminal indictment. In addition according to the Washington Post she hired lobbyists to secure of 27 mill ion dollars in earmarks for her town of Wasilla, AK a town with a population of only 6700 residents. Is that really the change (corruption) we need? No it is not it looks like the last eight years.
Well I think the arguement has been put to rest. Senator Obama not only clearly defined what he would do as the leader of our armed forces. He also stated in strong terms how John McCain and his party have failed to secure the long term strategic interests of this nation. The "gates of hell" section was not only brilliant politically it is also a line that fires up our base and moves independants over to our cause.
Thomas Paine once wrote, "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion." As Commander in Chief I have no doubt in my heart that Senator Obama will struggle to move this country closer to Paine's vision.
I can't wait to see this fall campaign.
I love watching history being made.
Change is growing.
I'm sure some or most of you have seen this already but I think it's a very powerful ad against Senator McCain and is probably better than anything I've seen, even out of our own campaign war room. Somebody please hire this gentleman to make some ads for us!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdJUCU1UH2w
Just thought I'd share this with everyone. A webpost on Andrew Sullivan's blog that I found to be very touching.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/07/mental-health-6.html
And yet again the Democrats decide to let George W get his way. It's interesting to think about all the atrocities this man has committed against mankind and surprisingly he gets what he wants and there seems to be nothing we can do about it.
Now I'm all for compromise but trampling on the 4th Amendment is not a valid definition of that word. Truthfully I will always support Senator Obama. I've been sold on his ability to be president ever since he spoke at the 2004 Convention and that was a pretty big leap of faith....however faith like all things comes in degrees and to be equally honest my faith in "change we can believe in" is a little bit diminished.
If it were anything other than the Bill of Rights I wouldn't be making such a fuss, but this document is what defines us as a nation and is the very thing that has perpetuated our existence from enemies aboard and from within. Bin Laden got his wish today and I pray this is the last time we sacrific our rights to any more terrorists whether they be in the White House or some cave halfway around the globe.
Obama supporters decorated a truck and participated in the Brookings Fourth of July parade.
The Obama truck was decorated with American flags and banners, red, white and blue ballons, and lots of Obama signs. It was a lot of fun decorating the truck and the entry was a great success.
Originally posted on SD Watch http://www.southdakotawatch.net
http://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/06/10/mccain_tax.php
Rhetoric and Reality on McCain Tax SpeechJune 10, 2008
MCCAIN RHETORIC: Obama Will Enact the Largest Tax Increase Since World War II. “No matter which of us wins in November, there will be change in Washington. The question is what kind of change? Will we enact the single largest tax increase since the Second World War as my opponent proposes, or will we keep taxes low for families and employers? This election offers Americans a very distinct choice about what kind of change we will have. This is especially true for the small business community.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: BARACK OBAMA IS ACTUALLY PROPOSING A MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUT. JOHN MCCAIN WILL PROVIDE NEARLY $2 TRILLION IN CORPORATE TAX CUTS AND WILL MAKE PERMANENT THE BUSH TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHY. ORDINARY AMERICANS WILL ONLY SEE A SMALL FRACTION OF THE TAX CUTS JOHN MCCAIN IN PROVIDING. Obama Will Provide Real Middle Class Tax Relief.
Barack Obama is the only candidate who has a real middle class relief plan – he will provide $1,000 in a refundable tax credit to working families, create a universal mortgage interest credit for homeowners who cant benefit from a mortgage tax incentive available to wealthier Americans, and create a $4,000 college tax credit for middle class families. [Barack Obama, 11/07/07]
McCain’s Tax Plan Will Double the Size of Bush’s Tax Cuts.
According to recent study from the Center for American Progress Action Fund, “McCain’s three major new tax cuts – cutting corporate tax rates, expensing for corporate investment, and repealing the AMT – would cost the federal government more than $2 trillion in tax revenue over 10 years... They will approximately double the cost of Bush tax cuts.” [Robert Gordon and James Kvaal, “Five Easy Pieces and Two Trillion Dollars,” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 3/08]
McCain’s Tax Plan is More Regressive than the Bush Tax Cuts; Nearly 60 Percent of the Benefits Go to the Top One Percent.
As a study from the Center for American Progress Action Fund recently noted, “The McCain plan to cut corporate taxes and eliminate the AMT is very regressive as well as very expensive. The plan delivers the vast majority of its benefits to high-income taxpayers and very little to tens of millions of middle-class families. … The McCain tax cuts together are even more regressive than the Bush tax cuts. … The bottom 60 percent of tax payers get only 4 percent of the benefit, while the bottom 80 percent get only 9 percent.” The study also noted that the top 1 percent of income earners will receive 58 percent of the benefits of the McCain tax plan. By contrast, 31 percent of the Bush tax cuts went to top 1 percent of income earners. [Robert Gordon and James Kvaal, “Five Easy Pieces and Two Trillion Dollars,” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 3/08]
McCain Supports the Bush Tax Cuts that He Once Said were “Too Tilted to the Wealthy,” and “Go to the Most Fortunate Among Us, At The Expense of Middle-Class.” In late 2007, McCain promised, “I will not let the Democrats roll back the Bush tax cuts.” During a January 2008 GOP debate, McCain said: “I think it’s very important that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent.” And on an episode of Fox News Sunday, McCain said, “We need to make Bush tax cuts permanent.” [Associated Press, 10/10/2007; McCain Press Release, 12/18/2007; MSNBC/FAU GOP Debate, 1/24/2008; Fox News Sunday transcript, 2/3/2008]
McCain Said The Bush Tax Cuts Were “Too Tilted To The Wealthy, And I Still Do.” “In May 2001, Mr. McCain was one of only two Republicans -- the other was Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island -- to vote against President Bush's $1.35 trillion 10-year tax cut. … Later, he said he also opposed the 2003 tax cut because it, too, disproportionately benefited the rich. ‘I just thought it was too tilted to the wealthy, and I still do,’ Mr. McCain told Stephen Moore, a member of The Wall Street Journal editorial board, in an interview published on Nov. 26, 2005. These days, Mr. McCain says at almost every campaign stop that he wants to make those tax cuts permanent rather than have them expire, as the law stipulates, because getting rid of them would have the effect of a tax hike.” [The New York Times, 3/3/08]
McCain Said He Could Not “In Good Conscience” Support the Bush Tax Cuts That “Go to the Most Fortunate Among Us, At The Expense of Middle-Class Americans Who Most Need Tax Relief.” “I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us, at the expense of middle class Americans who most need tax relief.” [Congressional Record, 5/26/01]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “Senator Obama’s plans would add to the difficulties of small business in other ways, too. Currently, there are the 21.6 million sole proprietorships filing under the individual income tax. When Senator Obama talks about raising income tax rates on those making over 250,000 dollars — that includes these businesses as well. He also proposes increases in dividend and capital gains taxes. Under Senator Obama’s tax plan, Americans of every background would see their taxes rise – seniors, parents, small business owners, and just about everyone who has even a modest investment in the market. He proposes to eliminate the Social Security earnings cap, and thereby to increase the tax on employers. He proposes to eliminate the secret ballot for union votes, and to raise the minimum wage and then index it, which is a sure way to add to your costs and to slow the creation of new jobs. You work hard in small businesses to grow and to create new jobs and opportunities for others — and the federal government shouldn’t make your work any harder.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: OBAMA’S TAX PLAN IS FOCUSED ON RELIEF FOR WORKING AMERICANS, SENIORS AND SUPPORTING INNOVATION Barack Obama Will Only Raise Taxes for Those Earning Over $250,000 Per Year: In an interview with CNBC, Barack Obama stated, “And I think that we have an economy that's been out of balance for too long, so the general principle of raising taxes on higher income Americans like myself, and providing relief to those who haven't benefited as much from this new global economy, I think is a sound one. And keep in mind on all of these proposals, what I've said is, let's make sure that we define the well-off so that we're not hitting the middle class, you know. I generally define well-off as people who are making 250,000 dollars a year or more. And that means, for example, if we raise the capital gains tax, I will exempt people who are essentially small investors, and really capture those who have done very, very well over the last two decades.” [CNBC, 06/09/08]
Less than 2 Percent of Small Businesses Would be Affected by Rolling Back the Bush Tax Cuts on the Wealthy: According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, less than 2 percent of individual tax filers who report small business income fall into the top two marginal tax rates. [Tax Policy Center, 4/27/07]
Barack Obama is the Only Candidate to Propose Cutting the Capital Gains Tax Rate to Zero for Start Ups and Small Businesses: Barack Obama has stated, “As we make these changes, we'll be sure to encourage growth and innovation. So we'll exempt start-up companies and small businesses from capital gains to give them an added boost. Because when more Americans tap that well of opportunity, all of us are better off.” [Barack Obama, 9/17/07] John McCain’s economic proposal lacks such a provision. [JohnMcCain.com]
Barack Obama is the Only Candidate to Propose Tax Relief for Low and Middle Income Seniors: Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This will provide an immediate tax cut averaging $1,400 to 7 million seniors and relieve millions from the burden of filing tax returns. John McCain’s tax proposal lacks such a provision. [Barackobama.com; JohnMcCain.com]
Obama Will Provide Real Middle Class Tax Relief. Barack Obama is the only candidate who has a real middle class relief plan – he will provide $1,000 in a refundable tax credit to working families, create a universal mortgage interest credit for homeowners who can’t benefit from a mortgage tax incentive available to wealthier Americans, and create a $4,000 college tax credit for middle class families. [Barack Obama, 11/07/07]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “As president, I intend to act quickly and decisively to promote growth and opportunity. I intend to keep the current low income and investment tax rates. And I will pursue tax reform that supports the wage-earners and job creators who make this economy run, and help them to succeed in a global economy. Serious reform is needed to help American companies compete in international markets. I have proposed a reduction in the corporate tax rate from the second highest in the world to one on par with our trading partners; to keep businesses and jobs in this country.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: MCCAIN’S TAX PLAN CREATES MORE CORPORATE TAX HAVENS
John McCain’s Tax Plan Creates More Corporate Tax Havens: According to the Center for American Progress, “…McCain would create a potent new form of tax shelter through his pro¬posal to provide for immediate expens¬ing of investments in equipment and technology. As Avi-Yonah explains in his forthcoming paper, because McCain’s plan does not end the deductibility of interest paid by corporations, his expens¬ing proposal will let corporations obtain negative tax rates—making investments that are not only tax-free, but that can also reduce taxes owed on other income. Corporations need only borrow to pur¬chase equipment or technology, deduct the interest payments on that loan, and then immediately expense the entire cost of the equipment or technology. This tax shelter will allow corporations, and individuals using the corporate tax form, to avoid hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes. This tax shelter would also erode the individual income tax base by giving individuals strong incen¬tives to organize their affairs through corporations.” [ Center for American Progress Action Fund, March 2008]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “And as we expand markets for Americans products, we must do more tax reform here at home. I will propose and sign into law a reform to permit the first-year expensing of new equipment and technology. We’re also going to keep the low rate on capital gains, so that businesses like yours can expand and create jobs instead of just sending more of your earnings to the government. And so parents can spend and save more for their own children, I will propose to double the size of the child tax exemption. I will also propose as well a middle-class tax cut – a phase-out of the Alternative Minimum Tax to save more than 25 million middle-class families as much as 2,000 dollars in a single year.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: MCCAIN'S TAX PLAN IS REGRESSIVE John McCain’s Expensing Proposal Creates More Corporate Tax Havens: According to the Center for American Progress, “…McCain would create a potent new form of tax shelter through his pro¬posal to provide for immediate expens¬ing of investments in equipment and technology. As Avi-Yonah explains in his forthcoming paper, because McCain’s plan does not end the deductibility of interest paid by corporations, his expens¬ing proposal will let corporations obtain negative tax rates—making investments that are not only tax-free, but that can also reduce taxes owed on other income. Corporations need only borrow to pur¬chase equipment or technology, deduct the interest payments on that loan, and then immediately expense the entire cost of the equipment or technology. This tax shelter will allow corporations, and individuals using the corporate tax form, to avoid hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes. This tax shelter would also erode the individual income tax base by giving individuals strong incen¬tives to organize their affairs through corporations.” [Center for American Progress Action Fund, March 2008]
McCain’s Tax Plan is More Regressive than the Bush Tax Cuts; Nearly 60 Percent of the Benefits Go to the Top One Percent: As a study from the Center for American Progress Action Fund recently noted, “The McCain plan to cut corporate taxes and eliminate the AMT is very regressive as well as very expensive. The plan delivers the vast majority of its benefits to high-income taxpayers and very little to tens of millions of middle-class families. … The McCain tax cuts together are even more regressive than the Bush tax cuts. … The bottom 60 percent of tax payers get only 4 percent of the benefit, while the bottom 80 percent get only 9 percent.” The study also noted that the top 1 percent of income earners will receive 58 percent of the benefits of the McCain tax plan. By contrast, 31 percent of the Bush tax cuts went to top 1 percent of income earners. [Center for American Progress Action Fund]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “Another of my disagreements with Senator Obama concerns the estate tax, which he proposes to increase to a top rate of 55 percent. The estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books, and the first step to reform is to keep it predictable and keep it low. After a lifetime building up a business, and paying taxes on every dollar that business earns, that asset should not be subjected to a confiscatory tax.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: OBAMA HAS A RESPONSIBLE PLAN FOR THE ESTATE TAX; MCCAIN HAS FLIP FLOPPED ON THE ESTATE TAX Barack Obama Will Create a $7 Million Estate Tax Exemption for Couples and a 45 Percent Rate: According to Bloomberg News, “Both candidates [Obama and Clinton would allow President George W. Bush's tax cuts to expire for workers in the top two tax brackets and set the estate-tax rate at 45 percent with a $7 million exemption.” [Bloomberg.com, 03/13/08]
2006: McCain Voted to Move Forward with Legislation to Permanently Repeal The Estate Tax. McCain voted with all but one of his Republican colleagues for cloture on the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act, which failed in the Senate, 57-41. [Vote #164, H.R. 8, 6/8/06, 57-41]
2006: Mccain: “I Remain Opposed To Full Repeal Of The Estate Tax.” In a speech on the Senate floor, McCain stated that he opposed the full repeal of the estate tax: “In his 1906 State of the Union Address, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the creation of a Federal inheritance tax. Roosevelt explained: "The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government." Additionally, in a 1907 speech he said: "Most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax. In my judgement both should be part of our system of federal taxation." He noted, however, that such taxation should "be aimed merely at the inheritance or transmission in their entirety of those fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits." I agree with President Roosevelt, and I remain opposed to full repeal of the estate tax.” [Congressional Record, 6/8/06]
2006: McCain Said Repealing Estate Tax Would Expand Deficit Too Much. McCain and other moderate Senators "argued that, given domestic spending demands and need to fund military operations in Iraq, the repeal [of the estate tax] sought by Frist and President Bush would expand the deficit by too much." [Roll Call, 6/5/06]
2003: McCain Voted Against Accelerating The Repeal Of The Estate Tax. In 2003, McCain voted against Senator Kyl's amendment to S.Con.Res. 23 that would have accelerated the repeal of the estate tax from 2010 to 2009. McCain was one of four Republicans to vote against the amendment, which passed 51-48. [Vote #62, S.Amdt 288 to S.Con.Res. 23, 3/20/03, 51-48]
2002: McCain Voted Against A Permanent Repeal Of The Estate Tax. In 2002, McCain was one of two Republicans to vote against a permanent extension of the estate tax repeal. The motion failed, with a vote of 54-44. [Vote #151, S. Amdt 3833 to H.R. 8, 6/12/02, 54-44
]2001: McCain Voted Against Phasing Out The Estate Tax. In 2001, McCain was one of two Republicans to vote against the tax cut package that included an elimination of the estate tax over 10 years. The bill passed, 58-33. [Vote #170, H.R. 1836, 5/26/01, 58-33]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “It is not enough, however, to make little fixes here and there in the tax code – especially if you’re a small business owner filing under the individual tax. What we need is a simpler, a flatter, and a fair tax code. As president, I will propose an alternative tax system. When this reform is enacted, all who wish to file under the current system could still do so. And everyone else could choose a vastly less complicated system with two tax rates and a generous standard deduction.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: MCCAIN HAS NOT SAID HOW HE WOULD PAY FOR THIS PLAN
McCain Has Not Outlined the Details or the Cost of this Proposal: John McCain has still not provided the details of this proposal nor how he would pay for it so it would either provide no meaningful relief to working families or add to the $5.7 trillion debt John McCain has already proposed to put our country in. [John McCain.com, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/4dbd2cc7-890e-47f1-882f-b8fc4cfecc78.htm; “The Budget According to McCain: Part I,” FactCheck.org, 5/13/08; NY Times, 4/27/08]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “As for health care policy, I believe that the best way to help small businesses and employers afford health care is not to increase government control of health care but to bring the rising cost of care under control and give people the option of having personal, portable health insurance...As it is, the traditional tax-subsidy that supports private insurance is concentrated on a subset of American workers and a portion of our businesses. My health care reform will end that unfair bias in the law, while helping to make health insurance more affordable for every American. We’re going to offer every individual and family in America a large tax credit to buy their health care, so that their health insurance is theirs to keep even when they move or change jobs. My plan would allow those who want to stick with employer provided health insurance to do so. But I want to give individuals greater choice, rather than give small business no choice at all.
”THE FACTS: MCCAIN’S HEALTH CARE PLAN WOULD BURDEN SMALL BUSINESS AND MAKE IT HARDER FOR AMERICANS TO GET HEALTH INSURANCE McCain’s Plan Will Create More Instability for Small Business Premium Costs: According to the Center for American Progress, “To help small businesses, the majority of states take steps to cap premium rates within a certain range (technically called a “rate band”), and many states will also cap the annual increase in premiums… The McCain plan could very well create a rush to the bottom among insurers in these rules. McCain’s idea to allow insurance companies to sell policies over state lines will weaken small business protections by enabling businesses to simply market insurance policies around the country from states with weak protections. There would be no reason for an insurance company to sell a policy anywhere other than from states with weak insurance rules… But one reason these state rules exist is to prevent wild swings in price. McCain will offer much less predictability for small businesses on insurance costs, which will weaken small businesses.” [“Small Business is in Trouble Under McCain Plan”, The Wonk Room, 4/25/08]
McCain’s Plan Could Increase Costs for Many Americans and Make it Harder for Many Individuals to Obtain Insurance: According to Len Burman of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, “Removing or reducing employers’ incentives to sponsor health insurance would have mixed effects on coverage. While some young, healthy people might be induced to acquire coverage in the individual nongroup market under a different set of incentives, the loss of [employer-sponsored insurance] ESI could be particularly devastating to old and unhealthy workers who would face prohibitively high health insurance premiums in the private nongroup market in the vast majority of states.” And according to the Des Moines Register, “The proposal should scare the heck out of the millions of Americans who rely on employer-based coverage. Iowans who have tried to buy affordable coverage on their own know they need more than a tax credit and good health. Sometimes they need a winning lottery ticket…” The McCain plan “forc[es] millions of Americans to shop for their own coverage in a profit-driven, private-insurance sector.” [Len Burman, Testimony to House Committee on the Budget, 10/18/07; Des Moines Register, 5/3/08]
Small Business Owners Opposes McCain Plan to Eliminate the Employer Tax Exclusion: According to NFIB, “NFIB members do NOT want the current tax exclusion eliminated nor capped, but think the tax position of those purchasing health insurance on the individual market should receive equivalent tax benefits to those in employer-based plans.” [Small-Business Owners and Health Care Policy: NFIB Health-Care Survey – Summary of Results]
McCain’s Health Care Plan Falls Short; Tax Credit is Less Than Half of the Cost of an Average Family Health Care Plan. As the Wall Street Journal noted, under the McCain health care plan “the existing tax break for employer-sponsored insurance would be eliminated, taking a step away from the work-based model in place for the last half century and toward an individual market.” Instead, he would provide tax credits – $2,500 per individual and $5,000 per family – to allow workers to purchase health insurance in the open market. However, these tax credits are far less than what an average health care plan currently costs. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual cost for heath care insurance coverage in 2007 was $4,479 for single coverage and $12,106 for family coverage. [“Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey,” Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/11/07; “‘Call To Action’ On Health Care Reform,” John McCain 2008 press release, 4/29/08; Wall Street Journal, 10/11/07]
MCCAIN RHETORIC: “In so many ways, we need to make a clean break from the worst excesses of both political parties. And for Republicans, it starts with reclaiming our good name as the party of spending restraint. Somewhere along the way, too many Republicans in Congress became indistinguishable from the big-spending Democrats they used to oppose. The only power of government that could stop them was the power of veto, and it was rarely used. If that authority is entrusted to me, I will use the veto as needed. I will veto every bill with earmarks. I will seek a constitutionally valid line-item veto to end pork-barrel spending once and for all. And I will lead broad reforms that remove the many corporate tax loopholes that are costly, unfair to smaller business competitors, and inconsistent with a free-market economy.” [McCain speech to the NFIB, 6/10/08]
THE FACTS: MCCAIN’S EARMARK PLAN IS “LARGELY FANTASY.” Center for American Progress Action Fund: At Most, Eliminating All Earmarks Will Yield $18.3 Billion in Annual Savings. According to the Center for American Progress, “The Office of Management and Budget analysis found earmarks totaling $16.9 billion, and the Taxpayers for Commonsense analysis found $18.3 billion. Both show that earmarks account for only about 0.6 percent of government spending. More importantly, neither earmark tally would put a dent in the massive spending cuts required to offset McCain’s tax proposals… In order to get a bigger number, McCain and his staff turned to a three-year-old analysis by the Congressional Research Service…” [Center for American Progress Action Fund, 4/17/08]
Washington Post Fact Checker: McCain Proposal to Eliminate S100 Billion a Year in Earmarks is “Largely Fantasy.” “John McCain boasts that he can save $100 billion a year ‘immediately’ by eliminating the so-called earmarks that legislators attach to spending bills to finance pet projects, usually in their home state. But he has refused to say exactly which projects he would cut, and his estimates of the amount of money that is being spent on earmarks have been challenged by independent experts. … … McCain's talk about eliminating $100 billion a year in earmarks is largely fantasy. His advisers are now promoting a more realistic plan of eliminating $100 billion in overall spending. But it is difficult to take even that promise very seriously given the fact that the senator refuses to identify exactly which projects he will be cut. To use a phrase coined by George H.W. Bush, this is ‘voodoo economics,’ based more on wishful thinking than on hard data or carefully considered policy proposals.” [Washington Post, 5/23/08]
Wall Street Journal: McCain’s Plans To Eliminate Earmarks Will Not Pay For Lost Revenue From His Tax Cuts. “When asked Wednesday, after a town-hall meeting in Exeter, N.H., how he would balance his proposed budget, Sen. McCain responded, ‘By eliminating wasteful and pork-barrel spending, to start with.’ How much would that get him? In fiscal 2008, there were 11,737 appropriation earmarks totaling $16.8 billion. That is down from a peak in 2005, when there were nearly 13,500 earmarks totaling almost $19 billion. Eliminating earmarks wouldn't restore revenue lost by Sen. McCain's other propositions, including a litany of tax cuts. He plans to not raise taxes, but he also plans to increase the size of the military and institute health-care overhauls.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/14/08]
McCain Revealed.COMhttp://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/mccain_economy.cfm
ON THE ECONOMYJohn McCain said it in his own words: He just doesn’t understand the economy. His economic plan would give big tax breaks to corporations and tax workers’ health care benefits. We call on McCain to help turn around America, not choose corporations over working families.
McCAIN ATTACKED MEDICARE
McCain: I Never Really Understood Economics. McCain said, “The issue of economics is something that I’ve really never understood as well as I should.” (Boston Globe, 12/18/07)
McCain: Americans Have Seen Great Economic Progress Since Bush Took Office. Since President Bush took office, “I think if you look at the overall record and millions of jobs have been created… you can make an argument that there’s been great progress economically over that period of time,” McCain said. (“Money & Politics,” Bloomberg, 4/17/08)
HERE’S WHAT WORKING FAMILIES UNDERSTAND
McCain Says We’re NOT Headed Into a Recession. McCain said, “I don’t believe we’re headed into a recession. I believe the fundamentals of this economy are strong, and I believe they will remain strong.” (GOP Debate, Myrtle Beach, FNC, 1/10/08)
81 Percent of the Public Says We’re Already There. (NBC/WSJ Survey, 4/24-28/08)
McCain Dismissed Concerns on Mortgage Crisis and Economy. While campaigning in Florida, McCain dismissed concerns about the economy. “Even if the economy is the, quote, No. 1 issue, the real issue will remain America’s security,” McCain said. “And if they choose to say, ‘Look, I do not need this guy because he’s not as good on home loan mortgages or whatever it is, I understand about that, I will accept that verdict. I am running because of the transcendental challenge of the 21st century, which is radical Islamic extremism.” (The New York Times, 1/28/08)
But Economic Issues Top Working Family Concerns. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, the price of gasoline is the number one concern for the public. In second and third place are finding a good job and paying for health care and insurance. (Associated Press, 4/29/08)
McCAIN’S ECONOMIC PROPOSALS: HELP CORPORATIONS, NOT WORKING FAMILIES
McCain’s Economic Plan Helps Corporations, not Working Families. “McCain offered sweeping rhetoric about the economic plight of working-class Americans…even as he spelled out a tax and spending agenda whose benefits are aimed squarely at spurring corporate growth.” (The Washington Post, 4/16/08
)McCain Offers Massive Tax Cuts for Corporations and the Wealthy. McCain’s plan offers two massive tax cuts for corporations, slashing tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent, with 58 percent of the benefits going to the top 1 percent of taxpayers. This is an even larger tax rate cut for the wealthiest taxpayers than Bush gave them. (Reuters, 3/10/08; “Five Easy Pieces and Two Trillion Dollars,” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 3/21/08)
But He Wants to Tax Our Health Benefits. McCain would make employer-paid health premiums part of taxable income, creating a new tax on working families. He would drive insurance costs up further by promoting high-deductible health savings account plans. (Health08.org Forum, 10/31/07; Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 9/20/06, 4/5/06)
McCain’s Tax Cuts Would Cut Social Programs Working Families Need. “McCain cannot pay for his tax cuts without massive reductions in Social Security, Medicare or other key programs that benefit the vast majority of Americans.” (“Five Easy Pieces and Two Trillion Dollars,” Center for American Progress Action Fund, 3/21/08)
McCain Skipped Vote on Economic Stimulus Package Despite Being in Washington. McCain missed a key vote on economic stimulus legislation to provide rebates to taxpayers—even though he was in Washington, D.C., at the time. “McCain returned to Washington but made an eleventh-hour decision to skip the vote, aides to his campaign said.” (H.R. 5140, Vote #8, 2/6/08; Associated Press, 2/6/08)
McCain Says He Wants Tough Lender Standards—But Votes Against Them. McCain has called for strict standards and greater transparency for lenders and for cracking down on predatory lenders. But he voted against a measure to discourage predatory lending practices and failed to vote on a bill that would overhaul the mortgage lending practices of the Federal Housing Administration. (McCain’s Remarks on Economic Woes, 3/25/08; St. Petersburg Times, 1/24/08; S. 256, Vote #22, 3/3/05; S. 2338, Vote #432, 12/14/07) Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_Stateshttp://www.aflcio.org/issues/politics/mccain_economy.cfmhttp://factcheck.barackobama.com/factcheck/2008/06/10/mccain_tax.php
Hello!
My name is Stacy Falkner. I am a Student Leadership Mentor with the national organization of Students for Barack Obama. Last year I served as the State Coordinator of students in Idaho. Like many of you, we saw a record turnout of new voters, especially young people.
We are currently looking to create statewide leadership teams in several key states, with regard to Senator Obama's 50 state strategy. These include Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
The first order of business is to find ONE student per state willing to serve in the capacity of State Coordinator. In this role, you will be responsible for building your statewide leadership team and creating chapters of Students for Barack Obama (SFBO) at every college and university in your state. After Labor Day, we will be focusing on high-school outreach as well. This is an amazing opportunity to participate in a historic campaign, and many schools will offer internship credit for your participation. It will also look great on a resume!
You will need to commit at least 20 hours per week to this effort (unpaid), although hours are completely flexible. As your student mentor, I will provide you with the guidance necessary to get started, and will be available to answer questions along the way.
If you are interested in this opportunity and are passionate about Senator Obama, please send a copy of your (brief) resume to sfalkner@studentsforbarackobama.com and a paragraph about why you support Barack. We are looking to fill these positions by the end of June, so the deadline for submission will be June 20, 2008.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Stacy Falkner
Student Leadership Mentor
SFBO
My two finalists for VP only because I think they'd both give us the best chance for a successful partnership and all but guarantee 16 years of excellent leadership in the White House....
Chuck Hagel...A man who embodies bi-partisianship, has no love loss for this administration and who is a fierce critic of the war. He could play attack dog to McCain and Lieberman's foreign policy arguements and have every bit the creditiblity those two claim to possess.
Kathleen Sebelius...A remarkable politician who also has extraordinary talents when it comes to bringing people together. Not only would she play a huge role in Obama's administration but she also has the capability to easily learn the ropes of foreign policy in 8 years and would no doubt be a terrific commander in chief.
I think other suggestions like Nunn, Richardson, Edwards, Kaine, Napolitano and Dashcle are also worth considering....
However I don't think any sitting senator's should be considered due to the fact that we need our 60 plus majority to really move an agenda in the first six months. Very vital to our success in future endeavors.
I wish that the world knew how to behave toward one another but alas evolution is lost on some people. That's why Hillary and McCain can still campaign with a straight face because they know that for all the worthless garbage that spews from their mouth, there is going to be somebody willing enough to accept it as logic rather than hear divine truth from a black person. As a Native American I feel not only compelled to support inclusion as a main issue, (one that has motivated and expanded this campaign) but I also feel it necessary to say that we are still backwards as a nation in too many ways. It will soon be our destruction as it once was for Rome. Fig leafs everywhere and no statues to place them on. Only monuments with endless names that serve as a reminder that since the dawn of intelligence in humans did the few who are rich, send the many who are poor into certain doom for a profit gained through war and pillaging. Even in this new age some old ways never die.
160 days until the election. It seems like an eternity.
