Candidate and President Barack Obama is the first leader of the free world to champion equal rights regardless of sexual orientation or belief (or absence thereof). In future posts, I hope to explore the progress (or lack thereof) of these issues, along with whatever comes up as you read and respond to my writings and comments of others. - Freethinker
Hello everyone,
I would like to invite you to attend the Avon Township Democrats Open Meeting on October 17, 2009 at 10am at the Round Lake Beach Village Hall. Candidates, public officials, and other progressives will be meeting to discuss what issues are being considered at the county, state, and/or federal level as well as what SHOULD Be worked on.
We are a grass-roots, progressive organization that is small but growing and committed to giving back to our community. We meet monthly at the Round Lake Beach Village Hall and are ALWAYS looking for new members.
For more information, please contact me:
Marc Feldstein - Avon Township Democrats Chair Marc.Feldstein@tds.net
Sometimes all this activism seems to be vanishing into the void, but I was happy to see that one of my comments on the NYT site garnered 439 "recommendations." It was in response to Paul Krugman's article about the seeming lack of trust in the voting base...
Here it is:
Seeking an individual who is passionate about progressive politics....
Field organizer needed ASAP for special election in NYC on February 24th. This organizer will be working to elect a progressive Hispanic Democrat running for a vacant seat in a diverse community. The organizer will have general field duties, including running canvasses and phonebanks, working to recruit and manage key volunteers, etc. Requirements: Must have worked at least one previous election cycle. Bilingual Spanish/English is a plus. Must have experience organizing in African-American communities. How to Apply / ContactTo apply, please send a resume to wjhowell1220@gmail.com
In my life as a lawyer I have lived out a commitment to one cause above all – to bring economic security to working Americans, in our District, in our country. That’s the same commitment I will bring to Congress. We’re deep in an economic crisis unlike any other we’ve known. It may last years. We need new and creative ways to protect working Americans, especially our older working people who have no real pensions to live on.
For years we’ve heard the doomsayers: “We can’t afford Social Security.” “We can’t afford ‘single payer’ national health.” One thing we all learned from the $700 billion bailout: We’ve got the money to do all of this and more. At the moment, the Federal Reserve is literally printing money, to give not billions but trillions to banks and financial firms. To the people of this District, the banks and others have gotten their money. Now it’s your turn. Here’s the bailout I will go to Congress to get:
First, I want to expand Social Security, our public pension system, to replace, not overnight but in stages, the private pension system which has collapsed. Social Security now pays about 38 to 39 percent of your working income. In other developed countries, it averages 65 percent. That’s where our fiscal stimulus should be: a commitment to reach this goal, a public pension that ordinary working people can live on.
Second we have to move to single payer health care program, at least in phases: we might begin with extending Medicare to children, but the government should ultimately be the single payer for all. That’s not because single payer is the only ethical and efficient way to protect us all. No, it’s also because it is crucial to making us competitive globally. Through single payer and expanded Social Security, the goal is to pick up the “non-wage” labor costs that employers now have to pay. That’s already how other countries out-compete us: they have the government and not the private employer pick up these non-wage health and pension costs.
Unless we have government pick up the costs of pensions and health care, our companies can’t compete, and we’ll go on piling up huge trade deficits. We’ll have debacles like GM, which has collapsed in part because of the health and pension costs that the federal government should have been paying all along.
For years, the conservatives have said: “We can’t do this. The money isn’t there.” Well, the money is there. It was there for the Iraq war, a colossal waste of money, and for the bailout, the first half of which has been a colossal waste as well. And if we now have the government pick up non-wage labor costs with the use of general revenues, we will in fact make it cheaper and easier for our companies to hire. This is in fact the best and most realistic approach for a long term recovery.
Finally we have to put limits on returns to financial firms. We should re-enact the usury laws, the interest-rate caps that were in place in America up till the 1970s. We need to stop the rates of 30 to 35 percent, the hidden fees, the hundreds of ways that banks pull our money out of industry and into gambling and speculation.
In my campaign, I will have a single minded focus on the economic security to working Americans, that’s why I so strongly support the Employee Free Choice Act and other changes in our labor laws. And that’s why I support policies that will reduce the debt of working Americans. Overall, the plan I am setting out here will help make our country more competitive.
I’m a strong supporter of President Obama. Yes, I strongly support his program to repair our infrastructure. Even so, we don’t have to pave the streets with gold. If not the meltdown then the bail out should have opened our eyes. The real fiscal stimulus has to be the kind that brings financial security to the middle class. The message of this campaign is: We’re moving beyond the bailout. Now it’s your turn.
www.tom09.com
So many things are going on in the world. In the past, we had to stand on the sidelines waiting for someone to step forward on our behalf, now a new belief has taken hold. That belief claims that change can happen from the ground up. I happen to agree with that and certainly the elections proved that it's possible. Now it's our turn to do something with our economic woes. The trickle down theory hasn't worked for our ecomonic system and we can't just depend on those at the top to handle all the changes and have that trickle down too.
The only way that our economic system can really change is for those who are holding the system up to stop supporting the failed policies and prioroites of the Status Quo and create a tipping point for economic prosperity.
Our Intuitive Learning Game dares to test the question:
"Is it possible to reverse our collective mindset around economic sustainability and responsibility with a minimum of conflict?"
I think it is possible and want to invite each of you to join me in a free consciousness raising game process known as "Sacred Cow Tipping".
The goal of our game is to create a tipping point for positive change that will lead us through this financial quagmire to a more peaceful and sustainable economic system.
What is a Sacred Cow?
Sacred Cows are social agreements, decrees, doctrines, adages or points of law that have outlived their positive purpose, if there ever was one, and have become a burden to our evolution.They are important to deal with because as long as the agreement behind a Sacred Cow remains unconscious, our collective mindset continues to behave as if the agreement were true. This causes unnecessary suffering and a slowing down of progressive change for the better.Therefore, the purpose of our Sacred Cow Tipping Game is to find a way to release old, dogmatic agreements from the past on a conscious and unconscious level so that our minds can focus on something positive as we navigate the difficult waters that face us before and after the inauguration
The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.
Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.
Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when
Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.
Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
hello reader.
well, let´s say, I´m also QUITE, really happy, that a) it´s done, the elections, that b) everything is fine so far. but c) please do not be too upset with reading that actually the shield question will be the first one to be posted.
in my opinion, shields like that are only stuff, that "catches" rackets, but in another sense of the sentence.
actually, in my opinion,
"shields" only provoke something, they do not "prevent" something.
in my eyes, this "shield" stuff "only wakes the bear up",
and you may know, what I mean (not the wall street),
when i tell you, that in our language (PL) people are talking about the history of their families with sentences like "my grandma has been a white polar bear - sitter" which means not a baby sitter, but has been in a quite cold white surrounding. history of east europe / polish part of it.
"i do not know why", but i quite good remember this and that from your last visit in this city here, I am writing from a part of this ex-wall-city :] let´s call it like this now.
and.
there has been - later i will have to say also other sentences about "forbidding people to have own transparents", but I said, this will come later.
first.
there has been a quite good discussion after your visit, someone has been there who´s writing for a newspaper, a daily one, which i choosed to be one of a few that I will allow to print this and that from my hands.
the person was - in this discussion - a bit surprised about a young female person (not me), taking part in this talk. and you know what? in this case - see: i like the newspaper, really. but in this case I´m on her side. actually, critical points, critical point of view, ability to put it in words, even words "not only the ones everyone is used to" has a kind of a young, 40 years old young literal tradition.
so.
what she said, was: c´mon, i´m also like "i would never even think about voting someone else. but i´m trying to speak it out: ok change, but let´s slowly come to the details."
so i am on her side. and - if you would ask ME, i would HAVE to answer: NO. this letter. where there is WRITTEN, that "well we are tryig to start with coming back with all this strange steps of my former call-it-whatever" - this letter is NOT on my writing desk. this letter is NOT here. i have NOTHING black on white, that you are preparing to take this STUPID IDEA back, this stupid idea, because shields directly lead to a bit more than only "problems".
i do NOT have it in the newspaper BECAUSE i do NOT have it on my desk / writing table.
so what now? how long will / do you want to wait with this? some of us here in eastern europe have a bit of a feeling like sitting on a powder box, and i do NOT mean "make-up", ya know what I mean.
ehm - all I want to say, is that it would be nice to hear a bit more than "we are working on the problem."
I´ll come back and see if I`ll find some comments or write on soon. bye.
ph.... does anyone there know, when they are going to pack their stuff? in our tradition in europe we do not wait until the last day when we start to pack our stuff into. boxes. cages. suitcases. when are they going to move out there? there in this white cottage? it´s getting boring. really. i´m happy that the .... guantanamo .... desisions ..... begun....... that it is starting to work a bit, move a bit. but this "call-it-whatever" there. your readers still-"plesidwnt" :] your joke, honeys, americans, really. we europeans will remember this last years period as the "US middle ages". we will make a joke history of it. like we´ve done so far, we know why. and ONE good journalist I heard here. an american one. was :] brilliant enough some years ago. in the middle of his sentence he just smiled bride and said it oud loud, normally: "well, I know i should not say anything here. I mean, I´m actually from a country whose president is not even elected :] and that´s through with his "colleagues" "helping him" to "make forget" about those "elections mistakes". i am also reading a bit more than only short messages, shortest news, so - in your case, as you as an american reader - i really would not try to make like "are you sure?" in this case.
so. i am happy to write on a bloq page, freshly created, looking like belonging to a country, whose ("whatever") is legally elected again. with normal votings.
let´s see how this one will develop.
let´s switch ("zipp") shortly to a culture channel. rumours are going around, that in germany somewhere deep deep there far far away in "cultured" ( :] very. oh very. "cultured." ) europe there is a marcel reich-ranicki and whatever the story is about: marcel made a good performance. why? because he is a a) reader. b) literature 'unofficial' scientist. c) a clever, ... - no, a really brilliant thinker and talker, so good, that really, here in "cultured" country, you can ask every one of the street, everyone recognizes marcels slang. not even this: everyone here has a fun about really knowing how to talk a bit like him :] and THIS - in my eyes - also is a - 'reputation'. you can ask around: this is really a tip. and: someone thought: ok, it´s a good friend of mine, i will ak him if he wants to take part in a tv show. to get a tv prize. well. and marcel took a chance and made a performance. he said what - something - there - something, that has been to be said. :] a lot of people were on tv. and later a lot of other people tried to save the "HM." the honour of the persons, that he said he has nothing to do with them.
but actually: his speech had a good reason. he took the tv-show-chance (he had done a lot of better with more tv viewers before, so it was not "complicated" to take this chance.) ... he took the chance and said some things about tv quality. the rest...later.
why i´m writing this one here. on a bloq site in washington DC, like standing in front of a white cottage. and :] waiting for those bunny-uncles too move out there. the reason I will tell you as soon as the bunny uncle - your former "whatever" - (your former "pwesilent" :] as soon as he moved out.
the story is interesting, but he takes too much time for moving out of a white cottage, it´s not so complicated to organize an. an umzug. a moving out. let´s now switch back to DC another channel now, 'cause see above, this was a guest visit in the culture channel.
[later i´ll write this here on, now i have to come back to my work place. see you.]
First off, I would like to take a moment and introduce myself. My name is Matt Webb, I am a father of 3, progressive democrat (almost liberal), and a webmaster/internet marketer by profession. And on top of that, I'm also extremely proud of what was just accomplished too. You know the feeling, I know you do. As we all begin to slowly walk down from our ascension to success, the dust is settling and we are now realizing we are in an incredibly unique position; we have access to our new President, and he has the same access back to us.
I find it ironic that for the last 8 years it was a one sided connection between us and our government; aka the Patriot Act. We were the subject of scrutiny, unwarranted mistrust and unknowing investigation while having our patriotism questioned when we dared to speak up and perform the most patriotic duty we can perform; question our leaders and speak out against their decisions if it does not represent what we as a people want.
However, here we are today, with a doorway open to us and him. Mutually kept open, intentionally forced open out of our fear and discontent of the last 8 years we were dragged through. In beautiful contrast, we now stand ready, steadfast in our dedication, empowered by assurance of our man taking us to better days. So what are we to do in the meantime until we get our first orders?
Keep pressing the good word I say. We still need to talk to people, remind them that this machine won't run itself if we aren't there turning the wheels.
There is so much more that can be done, but this is just keeping your little bubble around you clean and efficient. Get enough of us doing it and the ripple swells to a giant wave. Show people how it can be done and how much it saves you money.. they know it will, but they probably don't have someone showing them how easy it is.
We can not get complacent now. We have come too far to take a "wait and see" approach to fixing what needs to be fixed. We need to talk. We need to listen too. Will you join me by keeping the conversations going?
In this blog I’ve criticized the campaign heads for spending huge money targeting people who won’t vote for our guy. Spend the money on fence sitters, I reasoned, and on the committed folks and our enthusiasm will be the wave that sweeps Obama into the White House.
But let me say here and now, I’ve reconsidered. I was wrong in a betterment of the electorate kind of way. Oklahoma and Missouri where I grew up are home to exactly the people I thought the Obama campaign should write off. There is no way those knuckleheads will ever vote for a Democrat, much less a black one.
With a few notable exceptions, teachers mostly and one friend’s father who ran for Governor, everybody I knew was a Republican. Democrats it seemed were fools who didn’t understand the nature of human beings and were prone to spend money on wasteful programs for unsalvageable people.
After a few weeks of posting that criticizing blog, it occurred to me that I’m guilty of the same kind of thinking. Write them off because of their knuckleheadiness? No, we can’t do that, as much as we’d like to. We can’t and be true to what it means to be moral, progressive, liberal, or to just reasonably egalitarian. Our campaign may not actually move these knuckleheads to vote for Obama, but Obama and his campaign are not writing them off. They are included. By the campaign speaking to them, a seed is planted. This maybe is the best that can be done. Or maybe they’ll not vote because murky foul stuff is moving inside them.
Voting for McCain no longer interests them. Maybe they don’t know why. But maybe, just maybe, they do. Not likely but so what. The Republican base is now in play.
Like Obama, I monger after hope, and my hope is that by the time Obama’s terms are over these Americans whose opinions are now shifting - will have shifted. Those days of Republicans leading knuckledads around by their wedge issues will be gone.
I don’t see where the Republicans get off accusing Obama’s policies as socialism (connoting it in a bad sense). As near as I can tell, America does not yet achieve the goal of providing its citizens equality of opportunity. Surely, a major factor of one’s opportunity is an individual’s economic means, i.e. that they can afford food, shelter, clothing. In addition, a gov’t that spends progressive taxation’s revenues on better public primary education, increased access to healthcare, as well as improving our nations, and particularly our inner cities’ and outer rural crumbling or absent basic infrastructure is making long strides in improving our nation’s promise of equal opportunty.
We aren’t talking about creating equality of economic status, but rather a tax policy that helps guarantee equal access to the engines of personal advancement - that’s what our government should be looking to enable.
Recently, I had a very un-pleasent reminder that racism still lurks in our country.
I'm a second generation Italian American that lives and works in the Greater Boston Area ... a relatively progressive part of the country. I have proudly displayed my Veterans for Obama sticker on my vehicle for nearly a year. While driving to a store over this weekend with my Youngest (11 Year old) and Oldest (22 Year Old) daughters as passengers we reached a traffic jam. A White Cadillac behind us starts honking and at first I thought it was just someone being impatient ...then the driver of the White Cadillac starts screaming obscenities .... referring to Barack Obama with the dreaded N***** word. This went on for a couple of minutes and my oldest daughter was about to lose her cool, wanting to respond (Heck ...I wanted to respond).... then I told her not to respond ... that the driver a middle aged nordic looking fellow wanted attention and was trying to intimidate us. After Three minutes more of these obscenities ... the driver drove off.
I have had the rewarding experience of working along side Americans of every ethnicity and backgrounds in both my military and professional career.
It saddens me deeply that ignorance and racism still lurks in the country I love so much. After 35 years I still don't understand what motivates this kind of behavior ... especially from people who profess to be christians ?
We are all brothers and sisters .... it's time to Move our country forward. We must succeed in delivering new and progressive leadership in our country at all levels of government. Beyond sending Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the White House we need a democratic majority in both the House and Senate to secure a progressive agenda for all Americans.
Barack the Vote !
A Veteran for Obama.
We are all brothers and sisters .... it's time to Move our country forward.
We must succeed in delivering new and progressive leadership in our country at all levels of government. Beyond sending Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the White House we need a democratic majority in both the House and Senate to secure a progressive agenda for all Americans.
A Veteran for Obama
Debate Flow: It is in the flow of the debate I felt Joe Biden did well enough to keep the race against Palin's "I'm not near as bad as everyone thought" experience. While she appeared to do better because the bar was set so low, Joe Biden silenced all the critics by not gaffing or being long winded. It was the flow of how he debated that caused him to pull ahead in the end. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, seemed very nervous and her voice quivered at times. I almost got the sense that she didn't believe what she was saying with a passion that could have convinced many more people to get behind her. While she did a good job debating, as I predicted, she was still not the debate winner. Unfortunately, throughout most of the debate she SEEMED like she was the winner because of the bar being set so low. Thankfully, Joe Biden came to compete and did so without offending anyone, attacking Palin personally or giving in to his critics with long, painful answers and a forked tongue. Raw, Real, Respectable Emotion:
Joe Biden got choked up during the debate when speaking of his son in Iraq and his wife and infant daughter who have passed on. He did this because that's the type of guy he is. It is this type of emotional thinking and empathy that makes him the great man he is. He is a man of the people, who is for the people and lives like the people. His net worth is roughly $100,000. He doesn't live beyond his means and he only has one house, just like Obama. It was this emotion that won Joe Biden the first and only Vice Presidential Debate of 2008.
When Biden got choked up thinking of his family that has passed on and his son in Iraq, he did so with grace and a raw truth that nobody can dispute. Sarah Palin, unfortunately, did not show any sympathy whatsoever. She didn't apologize for his loss or express empathy in any way about her own situation or his. Instead, she rattled off another McCain sound bite in a poor attempt to change the subject. While I think she was smart to change the subject and not attack back, she should have at least said something to the effect of "Mr. Biden, I am extremely sorry for your previous loss and you have my most sincere condolences. We both have children in Iraq and that is why this war must be won." This would have put her back in the lead. She didn't do it so she didn't win. Conclusion:
This was a great debate that did not bore me like the last one did. I was entertained and informed throughout the broadcast. Both candidates did well even though, in my opinion, Joe Biden took the trophy at the end. Not only did each candidate treat each other with respect, but they even had a nice chat afterwards showing that, politics aside, people can get along.
Joe Biden is a very nice man and is well liked on a personal level by man members of Congress. He has a great air of bipartisanship that many in Congress could take a lesson from. Sarah Palin also seems like a nice person. From what I could see she has the potential to be bipartisan and work with anyone. While I don't think she is ready yet for the position she is interviewing for, I think with enough study and real world experience, she may be one day. All in all I give the entire debate an "A."
Now that Palin has said she had a great time and wants to do it again, let's see if they let her give a press conference and finally put to rest once and for all if she can handle herself in a high pressure situation where you literally have ZERO clue what will be asked next.
permalink: http://progressives.blogspot.com/2008/09/debate-analysis.html
The debate last night was one of anger vs. level headedness. Many times it was also a debate on lies vs. the truth. While I feel Obama had a better night in terms of truth, McCain showed his strength on Foreign Policy in a haughty and, according to some, in a disrespectful way. McCain seemed to force himself to not look Obama in the eye even once the entire debate. I doubt any Republican out there will feel that McCain was too haughty and dismissive of actual facts. On the other hand, I am a Democrat who feels Obama could have done so much more, and didn't. The polls show Obama winning by at least 1% amongst all the ones performed. I disagree with the polls. Obama vs. McCain Round One: While I was hoping to give this debate three rounds, it simply wasn't meant to be. As the debate begins Obama comes out strong on the bailout plan: "No. 1, we've got to make sure that we've got oversight over this whole process; $700 billion, potentially, is a lot of money. No. 2, we've got to make sure that taxpayers, when they are putting their money at risk, have the possibility of getting that money back and gains, if the market -- and when the market returns. No. 3, we've got to make sure that none of that money is going to pad CEO bank accounts or to promote golden parachutes. And, No. 4, we've got to make sure that we're helping homeowners, because the root problem here has to do with the foreclosures that are taking place all across the country. Read more about the expectations" With McCain siding with the House Republicans' initial plan for less regulation, less corporate taxes and lowering the capital gains tax it is apparent he doesn't realize that that is the exact recipe that got us in this mess in the first place. "And (I) have no doubt about the magnitude of this crisis. And we're not talking about failure of institutions on Wall Street. We're talking about failures on Main Street" It is obvious how out of touch McCain is with a statement like this. While "Main Street" can take some of the blame for our crisis, it is, in the end, the investment banks & lending institutions that approve loans. The crisis roots in their inability (thanks to no regulation) to vet the borrowers' ability to pay timely as well as passing around debt with far too little care on what happens in the long run. It is also failures of the Bush Administration to put taxes on shipping jobs overseas to encourage more growth at home. Adding to this the investment banks lack of oversight and extreme corporate greed, you have a recipe for the disaster we currently have. These three factors played a roll in our current crisis and McCain just doesn't get it. While he claims he wants oversight, his actions speak to the opposite. Let's not forget that McCain didn't even bother to read the 2 and a 1/2 page Paulson document until Wednesday of last week. He was making opinions on the crisis situation as if he had read it, but when pressed admitted he would have to get back to the reporter. It is also important to note that in the opening question McCain decides to tell his first lie of many: But there's also the issue of responsibility. You've mentioned President Dwight David Eisenhower. President Eisenhower, on the night before the Normandy invasion, went into his room, and he wrote out two letters. One of them was a letter congratulating the great members of the military and allies that had conducted and succeeded in the greatest invasion in history, still to this day, and forever. And he wrote out another letter, and that was a letter of resignation from the United States Army for the failure of the landings at Normandy. Not only is this a bold faced LIE...but it is so widely known to be a false claim, that this, once again, shows how out of touch with the truth John McCain is. By the end of the evening Lie-O-Meter showed McCain: 11 Lies - Obama: 3.5 Lies. (You can read the lies at the end)It is also important to note that McCain claiming move oversight on Wall Street prompted Obama's first invocation that John McCain is "absolutely right." While I know some debate analysts will claim this is a bad debate tactic, I disagree. I think one candidate showing that they have the ability to think the other is right on some issues is noble and NORMAL. John McCain, I believe, did not claim Obama was right on ANYTHING the entire night. Not only is this the "Old Boys" way of thinking, it speaks volumes on his current stance on bi-partisanship. This is a different McCain from 2000. This McCain continues to scare me. After a few minutes of all talk and no substance by both candidates, McCain had this gem to lay out to the American people: "You know, we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that was a criminal issue or a paternal issue, but the fact is that it was $3 million of our taxpayers' money. And it has got to be brought under control." Now, I don't know if the bears needed their DNA studied or not, but what I do know is that John McCain himself voted FOR the legislation containing this study. Again this shows that McCain continues to use poor judgement in his attacks against the 'system.' A clear point that needs to be made is the change in John McCain since the year 2000. He is no longer the maverick voting against his party. He has gotten more conservative as he's gotten older, not less. John McCain outright panders to the "evangelical right" (as an example) even though he's made direct attacks against them years ago. My real fear is, "Which John McCain do we get, old John McCain or the older John McCain?" Obama: Let's just be clear. What I do is I close corporate loopholes, stop providing tax cuts to corporations that are shipping jobs overseas so that we're giving tax breaks to companies that are investing here in the United States. I make sure that we have a health care system that allows for everyone to have basic coverage. I think those are pretty important priorities. And I pay for every dime of it. Now let me be clear on this one. The plan Obama currently has for public view does NOT appear to "pay for every dime of it." Obama did an excellent job of fending off the "Raise your taxes" attacks from Mr. McCain. He did so without admitting he is raising taxes (on the rich). Great debate tactic and kept the lie of earlier at even. While Obama DOES pay for the new projects that he proposes he fails to let the public know that he is inheriting a $700+ billion dollar deficit (thanks to Bush, the former rubber stamp congress and Iraq) and Obama needs to update his plan to account for the deficit. Don't get me wrong, I feel Mr. Obama will do this but he needs to get more specific on spending cuts, capital gains tax increases, and more importantly, taxing companies who ship jobs overseas. This worker tariff tax could very well solve our national debt over the next few years. And if it didn't, it would create a huge amount of new American jobs, give us a better sense of national pride in our own products and give the world the view that we can still do it on our own now and then! Allowing companies like former CEO, Dick Cheney's Halliburton, to move their home base to Dubai just to avoid taxes should NOT BE ALLOWED. Especially when this company was given NO BID CONTRACTS in Iraq to do work on behalf of the American people. McCain wants to make Bush's tax cuts permanent and his tax plan actually rewards companies for shipping jobs overseas. McCain's tax plan gives all corporate players tax cuts without any stipulations that give punishment to corporations for shipping jobs overseas. I'm not an accountant, but I'm pretty sure that giving Corporations tax cuts should come with stipulations. If the government is scratching YOUR back...then you should be scratching the American people's backs in return. Debate Tracker: Round 1 on Economics goes to Barack Obama. McCain vs. Obama Round Two: I ended up having to split this debate up into two rounds instead of the three I originally wanted. It was a little less than halfway through that the debate shifted to Foreign Policy. This is where McCain gets angry and nasty and Obama is too timid on some responses. I think the lessons of Iraq are very clear that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict. Our initial military success, we went in to Baghdad and everybody celebrated. And then the war was very badly mishandled. I went to Iraq in 2003 and came back and said, we've got to change this strategy. This strategy requires additional troops, it requires a fundamental change in strategy and I fought for it. And finally, we came up with a great general and a strategy that has succeeded. While McCain centered his Iraq policy around the Surge, Obama maintains the position that it was the poor judgement of leaders in Congress, like John McCain, that got us into a war based on lies in the first place. Unfortunately, the presentation by McCain was sharper and I think resonated a good knowledge on the subject. Senator Obama said the surge could not work, said it would increase sectarian violence, said it was doomed to failure. Recently on a television program, he said it exceed our wildest expectations. Let's be clear here. The surge was not and is not a complete success. While there was not an increase in sectarian violence, there was not a lessening of it, either. Never forget that we are paying off the Iraqis to not fight. A move that is politically motivated to help maintain peace until after the election. The sunnis and shi'a are still on the brink of a civil war. While I feel the surge was a great initial strategy, the list of goals originally proposed has still to be completed in a timely fashion. The Sunni Awakening has a lot to do with helping the short term success of the Surge appear to work. However, it hasn't. What it DID do was reduce U.S. troop death averages. I am totally glad it did, but we need to be thinking of the Iraqis as well as ourselves in this conflict. With over 100,000 Iraqi's dead and the countrymen and women still maintaining a 300-500 person death toll per month since the surge, a phased redeployment is obviously needed to get the Iraqis to stand on their own. Senator Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversights NATO that's in Afghanistan. To this day, he has never had a hearing. Another outright lie by McCain. Obama has been to hearings on Afghanistan. On the flip side, McCain has not been to even one of the eight hearings on Afghanistan. Despite the truth being on Obama's side throughout much of the debate, John McCain still came off better when it came to foreign policy. Unfortunately, the McCain lies appeared to be truth and the likelihood of normal America researching the truth is very low. Because of his haughty and almost angry debate style John McCain lost the economic battle against Barack Obama. Ironically, the very same debate style is what led Mr. McCain to win the second round of the debate. Mr. Obama came off as cerebral, but he was not tough enough to call out McCain's lies and didn't have enough substance to offer himself. Debate Tracker: Round 2 on Foreign Policy goes to John McCain Conclusion: In my opinion, last night's debate was a tie. Obama showed his strength on the economy and silenced the critics who felt he would be severely beaten on Foreign Policy. While Mr. Obama did not win the debate on foreign policy, he showed that he has a plan and will make sure it gets executed. Mr. Obama did a far better job at telling the truth than his opponent. While some figures were off and "families" should have been used instead of "people," the list was very minor. Due to this, I believe Mr. Obama showed himself to be very presidential and maintaining a presidential sense of integrity and gave him Round 1. John McCain showed his strength with several harsh and haughty responses. A lack of direct contact with Mr. Obama, which some may have seen as disrespectful, I saw as a smart move to keep Mr. Obama on the defensive during the entire foreign policy segment. It was this harshness 'street fighter' mentality that helped him in the end. Most of the American people will likely see him winning the debate on Foreign Policy. While I do not feel his tactics are right for (bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb) Iran & the rest of the world, there is no doubt he is driven in his desire to resolve foreign affairs. Mr. McCain did an excellent job of making Mr. Obama seem almost too reserved at a few key moments later in the debate. Mr. Obama needed to win at the podium, not in the fact check later. This is why I give John McCain round 2. Congratulations on both Candidates for winning a round. I have major policy differences with John McCain, but I'm not so blind that I cannot see where he performed well. What's next? On Thursday, October 2nd, 2008, VP candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin will participate in a debate that will likely cover a large amount of topics. While most of the country is anticipating a blood bath, I am not. Sarah Palin will show up poised, knowledgable, and confident thanks to McCain's strong finish last night. Do not be fooled into believing she will mess up. Instead, focus on her policies and the way she could shape the country. It doesn't take long to realize that Sarah Palin is more like George W. Bush than even McCain is. Her lack of experience is real, but she will be trying to hide that the entire evening. I feel Palin will be successful unless the moderator actually follows up on questions and encourages answering the question with something other than the memorized responses. The problem with that is that Biden will be put into the same spot. While I like Joe Biden and feel he is the most qualified of the entire bunch to be President, he has gaffe issues and sometimes doesn't think before answering.
Here's the list of lies and how much they weigh: McCain's Debate Lies, Half Truths and Exaggerations Lie: 1 McCain Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks with Iran “without preconditions,” but McCain disputed that. In fact, Kissinger did recently call for “high level” talks with Iran starting at the secretary of state level and said, “I do not believe that we can make conditions.” After the debate the McCain campaign issued a statement quoting Kissinger as saying he didn’t favor presidential talks with Iran. Lie: 2 McCain McCain and Obama contradicted each other on what Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen said about troop withdrawals. Mullen said a time line for withdrawal could be “very dangerous” but was not talking specifically about “Obama’s plan,” as McCain maintained. Lie: 3 McCain McCain tripped up on one of his signature issues – special appropriation “earmarks.” He said they had “tripled in the last five years,” when in fact they have decreased sharply. Lie: 3.5 McCain (McCain's healthcare gaffe is only worth 1/2 point) McCain misrepresented Obama's plan by claiming he'd be "handing the health care system over to the federal government." Obama would expand some government programs but would allow people to keep their current plans or chose from private ones, as well. Lie: 4.5 McCain (here's where a simple Google search would have prevented) McCain claimed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had drafted a letter of resignation from the Army to be sent in case the 1944 D-Day landing at Normandy turned out to be a failure. Ike prepared a letter taking responsibility, but he didn’t mention resigning. Lie: 5.5 McCain McCain claimed that Admiral Mullen suggests that "Senator Obama's plan is dangerous for America." It is important to note that this was a particularly heated exchange between the two and McCain appeared to win the exchange with an outright falsity. Lie: 6.5 McCain McCain brought up that he went against President Bush when it came to torture. This is not true. While McCain was outwardly spoken against torture, in the end he voted AGAINST the bill that would ban waterboarding as an interrogation tactic. Lie: 7.5 McCain McCain again repeated the claim that we send "$700 billion to foreign country's that don't like us very much." The number is actually $536 billion. Normally I would let this go as a 1/2 point, except one third of that money is sent to the U.K. (ally), Canada (ally) and Mexico (ally). A slap in the face to our 3 best allies. Lie: 8 McCain (Would have not counted it at all, except he's repeating lies that have already been debunked a while back - 1/2 point) McCain repeated the false insinuation that Obama opposed naming Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Lie 9 McCain McCain was went too far when he said, "I saved the taxpayers $6.8 billion by fighting a contract that was negotiated between Boeing and DOD that was completely wrong. And we fixed it and we killed it." McCain did lead a fight to kill the contract, and the effort ended in prison sentences for defense contractors. But the contract isn't exactly "fixed" yet. In fact, questions have been raised about the role McCain has played in helping a Boeing rival secure the new contract. Lie 10 McCain McCain said Obama was against storing nuclear waste. That's very obviously not his position. Obama's official position has always been that he does support safe storage of nuclear waste. Lie 11 McCain McCain stated, "I have voted for alternate fuel all of my time. ... No one can be opposed to alternate energy." But McCain's record says differently. He has voted against funding for alternative energy on 11 occasions. He may be in favor of alternative energy in theory, but he has declined opportunities to support it.
Obama's Debate Lies, Half Truths and Exaggerations Lie: 0.5 Obama (no such increase is in Obama's current plan and the legislation voted for would not actually tax the single taxpayer without further legislation being written, so as it stood the taxing of that bracket did not take place in that particular vote - 1/2 point) Obama denied voting for increased taxes on “people” making as little as $42,000 a year, as McCain accused him of doing. McCain was right, though only for single taxpayers. A married couple would have had to make $83,000 to be affected by the vote, and anyway no such increase is in Obama’s tax plan. Lie: 1 Obama (a dumb mistake that was true not long ago - 1/2 point) Obama claimed Iraq “has” a $79 billion surplus. It once was projected to be as high as that. It’s now down to less than $60 billion. Lie: 2 Obama Obama said 95 percent of “the American people” would see a tax cut under his proposal. The actual figure is 81 percent of households. Lie: 2.5 Obama (saying employers instead of employees is more of a gaffe than a lie and since McCain made his own 'gaffe' on healthcare we will call it even) Obama mischaracterized an aspect of McCain’s health care plan, saying “employers” would be taxed on the value of health benefits provided to workers. Employers wouldn’t, but the workers would. McCain also would grant workers up to a $5,000 tax credit per family to cover health insurance. Lie: 3.5 Obama Obama said that McCain had voted 23 times against alternative energy.
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