Maybe I am crazy, but I happen to believe that the person who will run the country that I am a citizen of needs to be smarter than me.
I also believe experience is important, but I believe that education is paramount. I say this solely because I believe if one is educated, experience will be garnered quickly and applied intelligently.
For someone to really believe that because a man happened to be in the military and happened to be captured in war, somehow qualifies him as fit to be commander in chief is, as Mike would say, “ludacris!” Did I mention this man's lackluster performance in the naval academy? Or his questionable alliances while a state representative? Let me not forget about the benefactors without whom he would never have made it to the Senate.
Are we really the blindest nation in the world? Other nation's citizens are asking Americans....WTF? Do you not see that your choice is a no-brainer?
Here we go; the position of President of the United States of America is a job. And like all jobs, you must have education; I would even go further to say that you must have been the best of the best at whatever institution of higher learning you attended. Military service is not needed, but I would agree that your service record could serve in lieu of higher education. If you combine McCain's educational career and his service record, he is still unworthy of running alongside Barack Obama.
WITH THAT SAID, HOW IN THE FUCK ARE JOHN MCCAIN AND SARAH PALIN EVEN A FUCKING CHOICE IN THIS ELECTION?
I am just asking a question.
4 comments:
In the 13 years I have been able to vote I must say this is the first year that I decided to pay attention and listen to the debates (in part b/c of my husband's interest in politics). I agree with you concerning McCain/Palin, if I wanted to listen to child-like rantings I would go visit my nieces and nephews bicker..."it's mine...no it's mine...oooh I'm telling". Yes, I believe a President should have some sort of experience but like you said it's a job.....you are not expected to know everything but you certainly should know how to use your resources. Obama doesn't profess to know it all but has stated some key individuals to rely on in making decisions. McCain spent the last debate talking about the negative campaigning and how "America" doesn't want to hear all the B.S. yet he spent 10 minutes whining about Obama not defending him against nay-sayers. I need a President that has enough common sense not to resort to bickering, can make wise decisions, know how to use their resources, and can make a difference in this declining economy. I don't know who the bigger baby is between Palin and McCain but I'm definitely tired of hearing both of them whine!
Actually I disagree with the experience vs. education debate. Education is a way to get your foot in the door. With an education you can obtain an entry level position, while experience is what will get you promoted. Most employers will take experience in lieu of education, but none will take education in lieu of experience. (i.e. you will not get an executive position with education, unless you’re a family member of the CEO)
Obama has run a good campaign. He's a great speaker, and a very intelligent individual. But his policies scare the hell out of me. I am genuinely concerned about him being our next president.
Redistribution of wealth? Simplified, taking from people who’ve earned it and giving to people who didn't? I don't know how anyone could think that is right. As an individual if you build your own wealth, you do it with hard work and sacrifices. You put in 12 - 14 hour days, 7 days a week. You sacrifice time with your wife and kids, and probably even sacrificed other things in life, such as vacations, to have a better future. Now you have someone come along and take a chunk of it and give it to someone who does jack to improve themselves or earn it?
Am I the only one who thinks that "redistribution" of the wealth sounds like a socialist policy? What's next, you're going to be told what job to perform as an adult?
I'm not sure how anyone can think that's fair. Oh, I know how. The Democratic Party has built a need for them. They make the middle and poor classes of society feel like they are victims and that the government owes them this money. So they put these government programs in place that "help" these people make ends meet, rather than the individuals working for themselves to do it. These people come to rely on these government programs, and in order to retain the programs, they must vote democratic. Thus, democrats remain in power, and they maintain their control over these people. Making sure they always feel like the victim and NEED to have the Democratic Party in power just so they can live. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is living it up, pretending to be the "Party of the poor", living by their double standards, telling you to make sacrifices for these individuals while they make none. I get to watch the sorry people that went to my high school who spent their time party and living it while I spent my time studying, get things handed to them while I'm working my ass off and barely making ends meet because a huge chunk of my hard earned pay goes to them for sitting on their asses.
Taxing corporations more (an Obama Policy) only drives the economy down. And as you know, it’s already bad. Ask Michigan and California. Two states that have raised taxes on corporations, and now corporations are leaving the state because it’s too costly for them to operate. Coincidentally, these 2 states have the worst economy out of all 50. Look at Texas, Florida, and Ireland. All of them have lower taxes on corporation, and have the best economies in the 50 states. Ireland's economy started BOOMING once they put in the incentives for corporations to move there. Now if you want a Mercedes in Ireland, you're going on a 6 month waiting list. (At least the was the case a year or two ago, the manufacturers may have caught up by now)
If you want the economy to prosper, jobs need to be created. The middle and poor classes aren't going to create jobs. Corporations create jobs. If you drive out corporations with high taxes, then who creates the jobs? The government? pffft.
Why is the economy In the state it is? Well because of the housing crises. This crisis put the American economy in the dumpster, which in turn has a negative effect on the global economy. What got us into this crisis? Well, mortgage company’s lending to people who really couldn’t afford it. Most of the time, it wasn’t the people’s fault, although they should have been a bit smarter with their money. But these mortgage “Professionals” made people believe they could afford a mortgage they really couldn’t. Why could these banks all of a sudden lend to people they couldn’t? Well because of democratic legislature that was put into place that loosened up the restrictions on banks so they can lend to people will worse credit ratings. Coincidently, John McCain voted against it and warned everyone including Bush that this was going to lead to economic crisis. Hmmm..I wonder why Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac was one of Obama’s biggest contributors.
This fella says it better than I ever could. I'm just not articulate enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxhYampIl7A
Now on to Governmental run health care. Seriously? Everyone wants this? Does anyone know anybody that participates in the governmental health care? First I'd like to say, can anyone name a program that the government has run successfully? Social Security? Nope, Medicare/Medicaid? Nope. Public School System? Nope. Welfare? Nope. So what makes you thing governmental health care will be any different? Not to mention that people who live in countries that have governmental health care have to wait months for things like and MRI or cat scan. Oops, hope it's not too late once you get your turn. "Oh yeah, we've discovered brain cancer. You have 2 years to live. Had we discovered this earlier, we might have been able to cure it". That scares the hell out of me. But hey, we don't have to pay for it, right? Well, it may not come out of your check labeled as "Health Care", but it WILL come out of your check labeled as Income tax. That's ok, because pot head Joe Schmuck 3 doors down from you, who dropped out of high school to party, and hasn't held a job for more than 6 months and financially can't see past his next 6 pack, will be well taken care of off of your money. While your child looks at you with those big eyes and asks if you can take him to movies because that's the one thing he LOVES to do with you, but you can't because you just can't afford it.
Whatever happened to people being responsible for themselves? When did it become the government’s responsibility to make sure we're taking care of? I'm not sure what's wrong in America these days. People feel like they can just screw off and then the government will take care of them. I know everyone knows the ant and the grasshopper story. If not, google it. It’s worth the read.
The Democratic Party is the party of big government. They want to put in program after program to "protect" the American people, all the while, with each and every program put into place we get closer and closer to Socialism. Our Forefathers knew big government was bad. That's why the state governments were supposed to hold much of the power and not the federal government. But over the years the federal government though financial tactics has seized power from the state governments (i.e. either the states do it the way the Federal government wants, or they don't receive funding they've requested.)
Another reason that Obama as president scares the hell out of me, is because Congress is a majority democratic, now with a democratic president, the democratic party will be free to do what they want. Any vote will be passed; we will be at the mercy of them. If you don’t like it, well you can vote to change it in 4 years. Hopefully..
And the American people are none the wiser because the majority of their information comes from the heavily democratic/liberal controlled media. There is a severe double standard in the media.
For example, everyone remembers Obama going to Iraq. That was very noble of him. It was all over the news. Every channel had it on. You couldn't miss it. How many people know that McCain when to Iraq 8 times? There was no swarm of media following him. No media blast..nothing..nada.
Another example. Sarah Palin is being criticized because her campaign wardrobe cost $150k. We're hearing that all over the news these days. But what the news ISN'T telling you, is those clothes are only borrowed, and some donated. They will be returned or auctioned off for charity. Many clothes designer would love to have the claim that a high ranking official was wearing their clothes. It's business for them. I wonder how much Nancy Pelosi's pearl necklace costs. LoL, you think she paid for that? I bet the necklace itself is close to $150k. I really can't believe that the media would leave that lil piece of info out. Actually, never mind, I can believe it. It doesn't fit with their political agenda.
Also, Palin is being fussed at because she had the Alaskan government pay for her children to go on some "official" trips with her. Again, that's all over the news, but what they're leaving out in this case, is it is customary for the govt to pay for your family as well when it's a FAMILY function. Did the "news" tell you that on each of these trips she didn't take all of her kids? Did they tell you that, she sold off a private governor's jet that the last governor purchased, saving the state $300k. No, they sure didn't.
Anyhow, that's how I feel. And all of this is coming from me, a person who grew up on welfare, and am currently considered "middle class" and would supposedly benefit from Obama's tax cuts. Yeah, I'm going to get a tax cut. But I hope it's not my job that gets cut when my Company has to make cuts to be able to pay the higher taxes or has to move over seas. Personnel are the highest expense of any company, and will be one of the first places cuts are made. I seriously hope it doesn't happen to me, that tax break isn't enough to last the next four years.
I know it's long everyone, but I really feel strongly about this and really do have a lot to say on the situation. Thank you for listening/reading, and thank god America is still free enough that I can voice my thoughts and make my choice at the polls.
First things first, thank you for joining the conversation.
I only wish that you had not posted your comments anonymously, we are
all friends here on my blog.
Second, I must disagree with you on the education vs. experience argument. There are few businesses that will make an offer to a person with experience in lieu of education. The only businesses I believe that would make a concession like that, is one that is trade specific (manual labor of some sort). In my experiences, both personal and vicarious, most, if not all, corporate jobs are contingent upon education not experience. I will say however, your experience in combination with your education will determine on which rung of the ladder you begin your climb. You are right that education alone will not grant you the position of C.E.O. of an organization, but neither will just experience.
On to the redistribution of wealth. I will say one word, "TAXES".
That is what taxation is all about, except the current tax structure has the flow traveling in one direction. I believe that one should be taxed sensibly, if at all. Someone earning $2.5M should not be taxed the same as someone earning $375K, but guess what,
they are. That is not a sound tax code to me, to be quite honest with you, I actually agree more with Senator Ron Paul on this matter. But Obama's tax plan makes more sense to me, and for me, than McCain's. It is sad when people cling to a soundbyte, rather than listening to the entire conversation. When Senator Obama made that remark, it was in response to a five minute or more exchange he and Joe the Plumber were having about the Fair Tax plan. But do people who are not going to vote for Obama care what the entire conversation was? Of course not. If that were so, they would have never vilified...I will not go there! And I feel that you are reaching with the "What's next, you're going to be told what job to perform as an adult?" "We the people"...have never been the controllers of where our tax dollars have been applied, we are simply told to pay them. The bottom/middle has always carried the tax weight of the nation. I believe someone needs to revisit the entire tax code and make it FAIR TO ALL, IT SHOULD NOT BE DISPROPORTIONATE. When you have a man like Warren Buffet telling his secretary that she is being FUCKED by the tax systems, you know more of the 5% up top know that as well.
And by the way, I don't know if you know that Social Security IS A SOCIALIST PROGRAM. And I don't
hear anyone over 65 yrs of age bitching about it. As a matter of fact I hear some that are willing
to fight rather than lose it. So "Obama = Socialism" is a weak assertion. Try again when there is
something of substance to attack with.
Now lemme go into a bit of history with you. This country was built on the backs of others. Those others
were then subjugated to less than humane conditions, in education, housing, and human rights. Now lemme ask you a philisophical question: What happens to the generations of those people who were subjected to the above treatment? What happens when several generations of people are not allowed to amass wealth or, property, or gain education? My answer to that question is struggle and strife. And by the way, I am not just speaking of the African slaves, I am also speaking about the natives of this country who were killed by disease and given
a piece of land, only for it to be taken again. This country is long overdue for some attention.
Those peoples should not just be pandered to when needed and then forgotten.
Moving right along, I live in Florida, the only reason that we seem to miss some of the
tax woes that most of the country experiences is because DISNEY WORLD pays the tax for the citizens. Don't even get me started on that nasty little deal, that was worked behind the backs of the state's taxpayers; again, GREED! But if you have not noticed in the last 8 years, corporations have been GRACIOUSLY PASSED OVER ON TAXATION, AND THEY STILL MOVED THE FUCKING JOBS OVERSEAS! Come on, GREED IS GREED, the president in power gave them benefits and they took it and then some. I think they should be hit harder than ever for the next 50 years, just for their GREED! Mind you, I am only speaking to those corporations who stole the jobs of their countrymen. Now I will say that the mortgage debacle was a component to this economic collapse, but we see it from different angles. I don't know where you are getting your
information, John McCain against deregualtion? He was a major proponent of the deregualtion of the economic systems. However, there were hundreds if not thousands of smaller banks, in combination with the deregulation
of the banking system and the all out greed of men, in the bank, on wall street and on main street, who saw this time and lack of control as a supreme opportunity. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were merely tools which men in government used to try and stop the hemorrhaging that failed policies started. And really, the idea that Obama benefitted most from those organizations is laughable. Do you look into this for yourself or are you one of those who spit back the PROPAGANDA the parties throw you?
Now on to your issue with the so-called "government run health-care", this is another one worder for you MEDICAID/MEDICARE. This system has been in place for decades and is government run, I would have, at one point prior to Bush years, say the program ran well, both for patients and for doctors, but due to all the scandalous rewrites of HIPAA codes, now this program is suffering. It is not that the system is not sound, but the men and women we elect, see fit to erode working systems with bureuacracy; as a result people, like yourself, look at the last few years of a system as proof for an argument. I would also like to point out that there are loads of doctors who are championing the Single-Payer system. Are these people socialist as well? I would sooner listen to someone in the field; they recognize that patient care would be dramatically improved without the Bureaucratic bullshit. I am someone who believes that a country that can afford $10B a month on a war, should be paying for its citizens healthcare and education up to B.S./B.A. What a novel idea, take care of the people, is that not why you are elected to these positions in the land, to represent the will of your constituents?
I am not a democrat, I am a proud Independent. I looked carefully at all the choices for the Presidency and Barack Obama fits. If I could build a president from all the choices available, I would take a bit from each of them, a sprinkle of Nader, a dash of Paul, a helping of Barr, but I have to say that an overwhelming amount of the Frankenstein President would have what Barack Obama is, or what he has presented himself to me as.
I am not concerned about the Democrats having the filibuster-proof Senate, I am not concerned because these are all men and
women who will ultimately disagree on damn near everything.
Look the media is slanted and as crooked Lombard Street in San Fran. It is not ruled/controlled by any one party. Depending on the station you watch it's bending for someone. So get over the "liberal media" comments, most especially because the people who claim to be conservative are only that way for the money. Which brings me full circle...that's what this is all about, MONEY AND WHO CONTROLS IT.
Look and this will be the very last point I make...I SWEAR IT.
Palin is a fucking joke, plain and simple. Alaska is the most sparsely populated state in all of the United States and she was the mayor of a small ass town, that had only twice the amount of people that populated my high school. Does that mean that my principal is qualified to be Veep? I mean by those standards he should be. She is not even knowledgable about world matters. I mean, your post tells me that you are at least well read. Can you really say with a straight face that she is qualifed? It is easy for me to guess how she became govenor.
I too am a kid who grew up on Welfare in the 80s, and aspired for the highest my whole life and am seeming to make it. I will benefit
from an Obama tax cut, but I wish to hell I didn't.
Thanks for joining the convo.
Peace.
Hey Man, Sorry for the anonymous post. I didn't want to have to create another account to take care of and I had already posted before I realized I could use a name or my current Google ID. But anyhow, I'll just go with MikeIT for now since my google name contains my last name, and I'm just being a little cautious.
I like talking to you man, I love your outlook on life and hearing about your experiences.
Many of the things you've said I agree with. Yeah, I think Social Security is a socialist program as well. Not something I completely agree with. I believe I should get back what I pay into it. I don't believe other people should foot the bill for my expenses. But I believe that social security shouldn't even exist and we should be responsible for our own retirement. I, like you, was very poor when I grew up. All of it based on my parents own bad decisions. I learned over the years that you get what you earn. I worked hard all my life to get what I've had. I've spent much of my life making those sacrifices, not going out and partying while many of the slackers around me did. Did I want to go party it up all the time. Of course I did, but I stuck to my guns and did what I had to do to prepare for life. These guys didn't, and now their living off my ticket, and my hard work while they're still partying. My son wants to visit disney world, but I don't think I will have the money, and I look at my check and think of all these programs I am funding. If I didn't have to pay for a lot of people living off the system, I might be able to take him there. Same thing when I'm standing in line and some dude's got gold falling out of every orifice, wearing designer clothes and $200 sneakers, then pays with food stamps. WTF?!?!?
Do people need help now and then? Of course, I've been there. I've been "down and out" and received help, but it was all from my family, and nothing from the Gov't. A system I pay heavily into.
So, I'm real bitter about these programs put in place to "help" society. These programs are the basis that the democratic party runs on. And like I said, they create a need for themselves to their constituents that live off the system. These people then have no choice but to vote for them. Democrats want to make the government bigger, and again, that's not something I can agree with.
And redistribution of the wealth is not just a "Joe the Plumber" thing, though I have seen other interviews with this guy, not just the sound byte. This is a plan to take hard earned money from people who make $250k or more per year and give it to people who didn't earn it. Plain and simple. No matter how you sugar coat it, that's a socialist program.
I agree with you that someone making $375k per year should not have the same amount of taxes as someone who makes $2 million. But as far as I know, your current tax rate increases the more you make. But I still don't agree with that, I'm a proponent of the Fair Tax. I think a 10% tax across the board is fair, and it significantly simplifies the tax code. I think it's BS that we have to follow a tax code that we can't understand.
And actually my comment about "What's next, will the government tell us what job to do". Is not so far fetch. The bigger government gets, the more likely we are heading into that scenario. Seriously think about it, are we really a free society? We have freedom of speech..right? Well that is until it offends someone else. And honestly, I can't think of anything that someone could say, that someone couldn't get offended at. Hell, I was just reading an article a few weeks back where a fast food worker was offended when someone told them to "have a blessed day". Seriously?!? I've seen people complain about service from a company, then turn around and get sued for defamation. Socialism is the direction we're heading, and we're heading that way faster with the democratic party in office. Program after program creating a need for them to be in power and disguising it as help. People accept change about 10% at a time. It's like that saying that when you throw a frog into boiling water, he'll jump right out. But if you put him in the water and slowly bring it to a boil, he'll never notice.
And again on taxation of corporations. You're right, jobs are being sent over seas. But not all of them. That's the natural flow when building wealth as a Country. We were once an agricultural society, most of those jobs are now over seas, and we evolved into a manufacturing society, many of those jobs went over seas, we're now a technology based country, and those jobs are going over seas. What's next? I'm not sure but as we evolve as a nation, jobs will be sent overseas, it's the nature of a big economy. Japan sends jobs here. My old Nissan was built in Tennessee. But with that all being said, do we still have Agricultural, Manufacturing and technology jobs? Yes we do. Now, back to taxing corporations. When you impose higher taxes on them, they're going to make that money back somehow. Their going to cut jobs, move somewhere else (whether it be to another state or another country) or they're going to pass that bill on to the consumer. The middle and poor classes. Those classes think they got a tax cut, but in reality, they're still paying for it. But now they're still paying for it with less jobs and less income. And honestly, the poor class doesn't pay income tax. They get a majority of it, if not all of it back. If they even have an income. So I'm not sure how you can give a tax break to someone who's not even paying taxes. But now these people who don't pay taxes, WILL be paying taxes because the corporation as raised the price on the goods they buy.
You point to Disney world as the reason for Florida's good economy. You're right, a good chunk of Florida's revenue is generated through tourism. Disney and Orlando being one of the biggest. But California is a huge tourist state as well. I'd say bigger than Florida with Hollywood and such. But businesses are pulling out of California due to high taxes. They just can't afford to operate there. They're taking with them the jobs and California's economy is suffering for it. And as for Florida, don't think for one second that the Corporations here in Florida don't have a huge impact on the economy. Jacksonville is the Insurance capital of the U.S. If we start taxing the hell out of them, and they'll leave, again taking jobs with them. After 9/11 and the recent economic problems, tourism is down significantly, yet the Florida economy still thrives because of the business here.
Then there is Ireland. A totally different country that gave tax breaks to corporations, and they have one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
I haven't researched it thoroughly yet, but Brazil's economy is going through the roof and I bet if you look into it, they have incentives for corporations as well.
But your right, many of the issues we face today boils down to greed. But there is also a fine line between someone wanting to be wealthy and greed. Had it not been for capitalism and what some people label as "greed", many of the inventions and things we enjoy today would not be in place. Many of the advancements in science, technology, medicine or any field you can imagine are driven by someone wanting to earn a profit. And don't forget the fact the Research and development costs a lot of money. When does earning a profit become greed? That's a tough question.
As far as the history you explained I'm not sure what you're trying to explain there. But If I understand correctly you're saying that because the Native American and Slavery issues in the past, that Native and African Americans aren't allowed to amass wealth today? Or it's more difficult to amass wealth today? Anyhow, I'll leave any response until I fully understand what you're saying there.
On the issue of Government run health care, I'll be honest, this is the first election since I can remember that Medicaid and Medicare haven't been an issue talked about frequently. I agree with you that bureaucracy erodes these programs. Bureaucracy is another part of big government. Another reason why I'm against it. So you probably shouldn't lump people like myself into a generic category because you feel like I'm talking from the last few years on this issue.
The government run healthcare seems great on the outside...ooohhh..free healthcare, cheaper drugs, everyone gets insurance. But, just like every other bureaucratic laden government program we deal with, this is going to be a bust. We as tax payers are still going to pay for it, and we won't have a choice any longer. Sure you can go out and still get your own healthcare. But those taxes coming out of your check are going still pay for your share that you aren't using.
As far as Palin in concerned. In your opinion she may be a joke. She's not a very good debater, I'll agree with that. You can diminish her experience all you'd like but she as a governor of a state, and mayor of a small town, has more governmental experience than someone who was a community organizer and hasn't even completed one term in senate yet. I'm sorry, there's no way around that.
LoL, bro, you're an intelligent, well-read dude. I respect you man. But when it comes to politics, I think we both have experienced a lot of different things that have shaped our views. But you know, I love listening to you. You give me some insight I may not have had, and really at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Learn as much as you can to make the most informed decisions as possible, and respect your fellow human's choices.
Thanks bro!
Later!
P.S. I wasn't calling you a democrat, I just keep referring to it because that's the party that Obama runs for.
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