Indeed. and people wonder why we elect so many assholes.
On another note, Obama shot out a clear no chance message to Hillary today by hiring her ex campaign manager that she fired as “Chief of staff to the future vice presidential nominee”
Sorry but I have to disagree, if most of Americans want McCain for president then he should be president.
We live in a democracy.
No, we live in a republic. The masses do not decide who is elected president. It should stay a republic because smart people should be the ones deciding elections, not meatheads.
Sometimes I wish we could have a few years of dictatorship so things could actually get done instead of checks and balances turmoil but hey, what can you do.
well all know everyones just going to vote for the old white guy
Don’t count on it.
HAHAHA
we should get an official poll added to this thread: who are you voting for
Obama
McCain
3rd party candidate
Not Voting
Good to see Obama wasn’t lying to the Canadians when he told them his anti-nafta rants were just political rhetoric to help him beat Hillary.
“Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified,” he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA “devastating” and “a big mistake,” despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.
Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? “Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don’t exempt myself,” he answered.
There is no doubt that rising energy costs will be a major issue during this election. So far the solutions have been on opposite end of the spectrum.
McCain wants to open America up to more drilling, an effort many Republicans have been pushing for years (a measure I do not support).
Obama wants to put more emphasis on alternative fuels and eventually weed us off oil completely (a measure I support). As well as tax windfall profits by Oil Companies (a measure I do not support)
Both measures will not help us anytime soon but I do like this initiative made by the McCain camp for a $300 million dollar prize to those who create a working battery that can truley meet the needs of today’s drivers. Where he will get the money is anyones guess and it is unlikely that this is going to happen but I do like the direction that it is going.
I still believe however that Obama would make a better president to lead the way in this new energy crisis but I like seeing McCain start to follow suit.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/23/campaign.wrap/index.html
Good to see they’re both in favor of regulating the speculation in the commodities markets too…or at least McCain says he is until those oil company donations start coming in.
They both want to fund alternative energy, but Obama wants to keep your gas/oil prices this high or higher to force conservation.
But to encourage a transition toward alternatives, Obama favors legislation that would make fossil fuel more expensive. Doesn’t that mean more pain to come under an Obama presidency? “There is no doubt that in the short term, adapting to this new energy economy is going to carry some costs.” But, he adds, citing the coal industry’s ability to adapt to stop acid rain in the 1980s, “I would never underestimate the power of American innovation.”
I’m sorry, but that’s the wrong approach. Tax oil to force people to change when there is an alternative, not before we have a choice. Right now, and for the immediate future, this country is going to continue to run on oil.
Invest in alternative energy because it is the only long term solution but you can’t ignore that in the short term we have to keep the country running too.
yeah, I don’t agree with that either. Legislation to increase fossil fuel prices would never happen either way, its a pipe dream until the alternatives are actually viable.
While that legislation probably wouldn’t pass it’s just one more thing that tells me I don’t like how this guy thinks.
I realize you’re never going to agree with everything a candidate says, at least until you yourself are running, but this is just another example where I just can’t comprehend how he thinks it’s a good position.
And what scares me more than anything is how cavalier he is with the number “billion”:
His critics say that, unlike Reagan or Clinton, there’s not much that is daring or innovative in his economic policies. The core of Obama’s economic plan is
(a) more government spending: $65 billion a year for universal health insurance, $15 billion a year on alternative energy, $20 billion to help homeowners avoid default, $60 billion to bolster the nation’s infrastructure, $10 billion annually to give students college tuition in exchange for public service, and on and on;
How many people here really think we need more government spending in this country?
Intelligently? No one is going to conserve energy or really focus on finding new alternative sources of energy if it remains inexpensive to waste it. And what better way to fund alternative energy than to do so through a tax on fossil fuels?
Does the government need more spending? Maybe, maybe not. But it could certainly use BETTER spending. Let’s allow those Bush tax cuts to expire, let’s stop debt spending in Iraq.
So he wants to spend 170 billion a year on all that.
We are currently spending roughly 144 billion a year in iraq.
somehow I dont see our costs being REDUCED at all.
65 billion a year for universal health care…
YEAH RIGHT. And I’ve got a bridge to sell you in NYC.
Canada spends 160 billion on their health care that covers about 70% of the cost.
But Obama is going to give the entire United States, with more than 9 times as many people, universal health care for 2.5 times less money while promising much more than 70% coverage. Guess what folks, that doesn’t add up.
I wonder how many people he’d still have on the unversal healthcare bandwagon if he started talking about the real costs, which will easily be in the trillions per year.
And if you think Canada is just “blowing money” and the US will find a way to do it so much cheaper go talk to some Canadians. Better yet, talk to some duel citizen people like my coworker who have the choice between “free” healthcare over there or paying for it through work over here. He’s paying for it over here because the care is much better. Canada is finding they can’t even run it on 160 billion a year:
OHHHhHHHHHH snap
have you even read the specifics of Obama’s health care plan? it’s nothing like Canada’s.
It gives you the OPTION to get health insurance through the government. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. The only people that actually will be required to be insured are children. In most cases, its merely a supplement to employer-paid insurance.
Maybe you should try reading the specifics of a plan beyond 3 words. before you rant against it. Here’s your textbook.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/#coverage-for-all
^ And you don’t think most people are going to take the option?
Or a better way to word it, do you honestly think less than 33 million will take it, the size of the population of Canada that can’t be properly insured for 160 billion?
EDIT:
Just finished reading Obama’s “plan”. Much like his speeches it’s a little light on the details for me.
Here’s a hint Joe, never trust anything directly from a candidates own site. I don’t visit johnmccain.com very often, and certainly wouldn’t cite it as fact.
Here’s a text book for you, and it’s not discussing the plans of the author:
http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/2008/03/a-detailed-anal.html