I can usually get to my computer several times during a workday. I also dont work weekends. I find time to go to basketball and football games too...amazing isnt it.

2/3/2008 10:58:45 PM

If Obama is talking about taxing then he's only admitting the truth where as Reagan and Bush ranted against taxes and ended up raising them anyway.

PS-We already have a progressive tax system.

2/4/2008 12:36:47 AM

Quote :

"The top 1 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation's income"

2/4/2008 3:54:03 AM

2/4/2008 10:05:53 AM

Quote :

"Is McCain's only chance of getting Rush on his side having Clinton as his foe? Maybe, then again maybe not. Here's what Rush in a weekend interview with the Post: “‘If I believe the country will suffer with either Hillary, Obama or McCain, I would just as soon the Democrats take the hit . . . rather than a Republican causing the debacle,’ he said. ‘And I would prefer not to have conservative Republicans in the Congress paralyzed by having to support, out of party loyalty, a Republican president who is not conservative.’” "

2/5/2008 11:55:25 AM

Rush makes a very good point.

The only thing that would rally my vote for McCain is the prospect of SCOTUS appointments, and really for me that's all it comes down to.

2/5/2008 12:22:31 PM

Well who does Rush support? Romney and Huckabee are not 'conservative' either.

2/5/2008 2:21:52 PM

^honestly, it shouldnt matter. People should make up thier own minds by doing thier own research.

I dont care what rush, clooney, oprah, or the governator think.

2/5/2008 2:24:22 PM

^Of course, same here, but I'm referencing that quote above where Mccain isn't conservative enough. Well, hell, Ron Paul is the only conservative in the bunch.

2/5/2008 2:27:44 PM

Quote :

"as long as they aren't against roe v wade"

Roe v Wade is a ridiculous, unconstitutional decision that should certainly be overturned.

2/5/2008 2:39:48 PM

didn't realize you were pro-Life

2/5/2008 2:43:18 PM

most of you are incredibly

incredibly

incredibly intelligent

it certainly is time to redefeat communism

gat her dunn!

amirite

its that brilliantly simple

i mean, if you were born and raised in New England, i'm sure you would have the same views you do now, and not the ones they do now

i'm sure of it

god bless all those that hate communism, and noone else

2/5/2008 2:46:09 PM

http://tinyurl.com/33g37b

2/5/2008 2:54:55 PM

^^ it has nothing to do with being for or against abortion

it has to do with it not being the business of the federal gov't

me personally? I'm cool with very early term abortions (i.e., RU-486). Later term, I don't think we should allow the practice. I'm not 100% sure where the cutoff should be, but I do believe it should be much earlier than it is now.

2/5/2008 2:55:52 PM

I think current laws even before partial-birth ban set the limit at viability outside of the womb which is just before the 7 month mark.

2/5/2008 3:06:46 PM

^^ i'm in the same boat.

as a person with a biological education, you can't tell me something with a heartbeat and brainwaves is not alive. and as a person with a conscience, i can't condone killing someone who is alive in the womb.

i don't support murder, and i am a huge supporter of morning after solutions and mass commoditization of birth control applications.

[Edited on February 5, 2008 at 3:07 PM. Reason : ]

2/5/2008 3:07:39 PM

does it have a name, SSN, or can it survive at 3 months w/o its host mother? If a mother is neglecting their kid Social Services can step in and take them. Social services can't exactly do anything about a 12 week old

2/5/2008 3:15:40 PM

Quote :

"rather than a Republican causing the debacle"

Rush, I think it's a little too late for that.

2/5/2008 3:19:34 PM

^So true.

Although most feel bush is far from a republican and view mccain as more of the same.

2/5/2008 3:38:41 PM

I view McCain as much more of a step back towards what the GOP is about than Bush has been. I mean, no, he's not Jesse Helms, or his predecessor (Barry Goldwater), but this reputation is--for better or for worse--mostly unwarranted.

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 1:19 AM. Reason : also, this should be pretty apparent, but my previous post should've had one more " ^ "]

2/6/2008 1:17:58 AM

The time for theoretical presidential candidates is quickly drawing to a close. There's the courage of your convictions and then there's whiny--yet dangerous--stupidity.

When many conservatives finally come to the realization that McCain is the only option, they'll reluctantly get on board. If they don't, I think the rest of us conservatives and some moderates should hold them accountable for electing Hillary or Obama--neither of which appeals to me.

Two related items:

1. Despite the animosity, I think Hillary and Obama will set aside their differences and join forces to create a historic and most certainly unstoppable ticket for the Democrats--I don't know who will be on the top of the ticket, though. The Democrat voters will also set aside their differences and be united like never before in support of such a highly electable ticket.

2. The ticket at issue and other events will hasten this:

Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System
by Douglas Schoen

2/6/2008 1:48:27 AM

so mccain is basically a lock right?

2/6/2008 2:14:17 AM

Unless Romney throws his support and bank roll behind huckabee, yup

2/6/2008 2:15:54 AM

if huckabee is elected to some position what tax things will he try to do...or should i say, what could he get?

i figured mccain/huck were more likely than romney huck

2/6/2008 2:18:49 AM

Right now, I think McCain is the only Republican that can win in the general election--for every conservative he loses, he'll likely gain a moderate. And don't forget that many conservatives will vote for him--but moderates won't vote for Romney.

In any event, it's going to be very hard for a Republican to win this year. As I indicated, if Hillary and Obama team up, I think it's a lock for them.

BTW, Romney is one smart guy--I respect his accomplishments. I just don't think he can win.


[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 2:29 AM. Reason : .]

2/6/2008 2:28:07 AM

it'll be McCain/Stanford

2/6/2008 2:28:10 AM

seems like obama has the better pull with independents than hillary...but i wonder if obama or mccain in an election would split the independent vote a lot repub/dem

2/6/2008 2:38:30 AM

Quote :

"Despite the animosity, I think Hillary and Obama will set aside their differences and join forces to create a historic and most certainly unstoppable ticket for the Democrats"

It's possible, but I don't think it's dramatically more likely than them heading to a contentious and divided convention that could seriously hamstring them. If the Democrats had been playing the game a little smarter these last eight years, I would say you're very likely right. As it stands, not so much.

2/6/2008 2:56:03 AM

I don't see a Hillary/Obama or Obama/Hillary ticket happening.... at least not in the case of Obama/Hillary. Having her as VP would hurt Obama's appeal to a group that has been a large focus of his: moderates and independents. After having Cheney (who basically made it his life's mission to increase the power of the executive branch) as VP, many people aren't going to want another big government politician who has been in government as long as Clinton has. Hell, that's one of the reasons a lot of people are voting Obama in the first place. The people voting Clinton tend to be more hardcore democrats, and would vote for whoever the democratic candidate is before voting for a republican.

Similar to McCain/Huck, which, unfortunately, seems possible... Huckabee would drastically decrease McCain's appeal to non-hardcore-Christian moderates. He might get more southern baptists out of their houses on election day, but it's questionable whether or not it would offset the lost moderates. It definitely would not be viable in the event of Obama as the nominee, as having Huck on the rep side could seal their decision to vote Obama.

2/6/2008 4:55:39 AM

Quote :

"Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System "

i hope so

2/6/2008 6:34:50 AM

^^ This election is going to turn on voter turnout. Right now, the Democrats are out raising, and out voting (by turnout numbers for primaries) the Republicans by a significant margin. If this occurs in November, swing voters will be irrelevant. So, McCain will have to chose someone who will appeal to the Republican base, without alienating the middle. It is going to be a very tight rope for him to walk.

2/6/2008 8:42:59 AM

wait?

rich people money makes up a huge percentage of taxes !!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!?

OH MY GOD! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2/6/2008 9:16:08 AM

^yep. Democrats are excited about their choices. Republicans not so much.

There is no way obama and clinton run together. If clinton gets the nom, obama will make a push for 2012.

The only thing that might energize conservative base is the shear number of socialst plans both dems are spouting off. With a democratic controlled house and senate this could be disasterous.

2/6/2008 9:16:50 AM

I'm sure they already have the form you need have to fill out that signs your entire income over to the feds just waiting for house approval. They're still working on the form you need to fill out to get back what they feel you deserve though.

2/6/2008 9:32:40 AM

^funny. Whats real funny is that they already take from your check before you get it.

You can laugh all you want, but its plain common sense. Look at the promises they are making. Look at our current budget and debt. There is no way it can work or is financially feasible.

Look at entitlment spending now. With NO changes, will alone will bankrupt our country in a couple decades, with the rising costs of healthcare, booming welfare class, and the boomers retiring. Now you want to EXPAND it? massively? then allow illegals immediate access? You see no problems with that?

2/6/2008 9:46:33 AM

Quote :

" The only thing that might energize conservative base is the shear number of socialst plans both dems are spouting off. With a democratic controlled house and senate this could be disasterous."

McCain is my favorite candidate as of right now. Regardless I would be more worried for the US as a whole with a GOP candidate continuing Bush's fuck ups then I if someone like Clinton or Obama taking office.

Electing a GOP congress would easily curb a Dem presidents socialists tenancies also a Dem president would less likely to continue on our policy of neo-colonialism that has the potential on getting us stuck in future costly (lives and tax $$) conflicts. It will really suck though at the potential of having more of my paycheck chomped away on taxes, however, at least if i get laid off i will be better taken care of .

Quote :

"Look at our current budget and debt. There is no way it can work or is financially feasible. Look at entitlment spending now. With NO changes, will alone will bankrupt our country in a couple decades, with the rising costs of healthcare, booming welfare class, and the boomers retiring."

eyedrb while i agree with you to a point changes in entitlement spending have to be changed over time. We simply cannot pull the plug of programs like social security. We'd have senior citizens starving to death and w/o any health care coverage. We would also have a very large and politically powerful baby boomer group infuriated about receiving no retirement assistance from a gov't program that they have been paying into since they were 16 flipping burgers.

If you look at non-entitlement spending (budget minus social security , welfare and medicare); DoD and HomeLand Security amount to over 1/2 the spending. Between the hippies, warhawks, and everything in the middle we could argue about the necessity of this spending till the end of days. Either way i think a lot of this budget is being spent inefficiently and question the direction of a lot of $$$ in this area. Companies like Cheney Inc. Halliburton with non-bid gov't contracts that has been notorious for the mark-up they bill to the gov't. Also the cost of merely funding a new bureaucracy with the creation of the department of homeland security through the splicing together of programs that used to be within the DoD, DoJ, etc.

I also think we are shooting our selves in the foot by not overhauling the healthcare industry, tort reform, and reducing the barriers of entry the FDA creates to get new drugs to the market. All of which increase medicare and medicaid costs.

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 10:19 AM. Reason : a]

2/6/2008 10:05:46 AM

Hur, I respect you opinions. You actually provide reasoning behind them and I respect that.

However, imo, Mccain is just the same as bush..but without the taxcuts...yeah no thanks.

Im not advocating cutting our seniors off, but give us, the chance at actually having a SS when we retire. It either wont be there, or you will be means tested out...again penalizing responsiblity.
We can continue to fund the current retirees, but allow our SS to go into private accounts and not be able to be spent in the general budget. So the money YOU put in will be there when you retire. Afterall it is YOUR money. I wish people would realize that. So you could pass it on to loved ones. Its basically a forced retirement account. You couldnt just cut it out for the youth, bc they will piss it away and then bitch they are broke when they retire.

Healthcare? Get the govt out of it. Allow for competition and possibly allow tax credits or some for of handouts for catastrophic policies. Let people PAY for thier care. Companies used to not have copays, they introduced them bc people were abusing it..they are there as a deterant for abuse. Allow hospitals to triage and decline services if needed. Tort reform is a biggie, but will never pass. NOthing but lawyers in govt. All three dems candidates were lawyers.. awesome.

The future of entitlement spending is the number one threat to this country, imo. Expanding that with universal healthcare and the countless other freebies being spouted, ALONG with allowing the millions of illegals access to it is nothing short of disasterous. But people dont want to hear it, they keep voting on emotion. sad actually.

2/6/2008 10:35:36 AM

that is my feeling on SS. I think it needs to be phased out by slowly weaning people from a 6.5% payroll tax to a forced retirement plan in which an individual can choose how and who within the private sector they choose to contribute for retirement. Unfortunately a lot people in this country lack the self-control or intelligence to be expected to save for their retirement on their own.

I think McCain is a Lot more moderate on social issues than bush who pretty much uses the GOD card every chance he gets. I also believe McCain is a lot less impressionable and malleable than bush was; which was a major problem considering the idiots he surrounded himself with (cheney, ashcroft/gonzales, rumsfeld, bolten, john walters, karl rove). After all the president is one man and often merely acts as a figurehead relying on the advice of his cabinet to help shape presidential policy.

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 11:15 AM. Reason : a]

2/6/2008 11:14:13 AM

Quote :

"The top 1 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation's income"

why cant it be the top 35 percent earn like 50 percent and the bottom 65 percent pay like 50 percent

2/6/2008 5:57:25 PM

This could very well be a wholly inaccurate portrayal of things, but this is kind of where I see the current presidential candidates and which way they are going.

Obviously they want to expand their range on both ends, but they seem to be making pushes that are stronger in one direction than the other.

Clinton talks about her democratic experience and is trying to get strong democratic base support, Obama is obviously a democrat but one who rose to fame talking about uniting a country, red & blue, and who mentions the importance of republicans in a lot of his speeches including I think his south carolina victory speech, and McCain is trying real hard to prove he is a conservative republican. But those hard core religious conservatives he's pushing for aren't up for grabs by anyone else, so is it really worth hemorrhaging the moderates to get the more radical end of the wing?

2/8/2008 4:59:26 PM

Quote :

"But those hard core religious conservatives he's pushing for aren't up for grabs by anyone else, so is it really worth hemorrhaging the moderates to get the more radical end of the wing?"

From a purely strategic viewpoint, there's something you're neglecting here - if McCain fails to appease the right wing of his party, he runs the risk of depressed Republican turnout - these people aren't in danger of defecting to anyone else, they're in danger of not showing up at all. Whereas even if McCain were to put all of his energy into appealing to moderates, he is guaranteed at best only a fraction of their support.

Any candidate who wants the presidency needs to be able to drive turnout from their own party, lest they stay home. (This, incidentally, is how the Republicans managed to lose Congress - a combination of losing moderate support, but more importantly, Republican voters staying home.)

2/8/2008 5:39:17 PM

Quote :

"From a purely strategic viewpoint, there's something you're neglecting here - if McCain fails to appease the right wing of his party, he runs the risk of depressed Republican turnout - these people aren't in danger of defecting to anyone else, they're in danger of not showing up at all. Whereas even if McCain were to put all of his energy into appealing to moderates, he is guaranteed at best only a fraction of their support. Any candidate who wants the presidency needs to be able to drive turnout from their own party, lest they stay home. (This, incidentally, is how the Republicans managed to lose Congress - a combination of losing moderate support, but more importantly, Republican voters staying home.)"

And how Bush in 2004 won per Karl Rove's strategy was to ignore appealing to the centrists and moderates and just drove conservatives to come out in a huge GOTV effort.

2/8/2008 5:42:30 PM

Quote :

" Analysis: Obama has advantage in head-to-head with McCain * Story Highlights * Polls suggest Sens. Hillary Clinton and John McCain would be tied * Sen. Barack Obama would have a clear lead over McCain, polls suggest * Men would be more likely to vote for Obama than Clinton in a general election"

Quote :

"en. Barack Obama believes he can do better, arguing "I've got appeal that goes beyond our party." In the CNN poll, Obama leads McCain by 8 points, 52 percent to 44 percent. That's outside the margin of error, meaning that Obama has the lead. And in the Time poll, Obama leads McCain by 7 points, 48 percent to 41 percent -- a lead also outside of the poll's margin of error of 3 percentage points. ... Why does Obama do better against McCain than Clinton? Obama does do a little better than Clinton with independents and Republicans. But the big difference is men: Men give McCain an 18-point lead over Clinton, 57 percent to 39 percent, according to the CNN poll. ... But Obama actually fares better than Clinton with white voters. McCain still leads, but by a smaller margin, (52 to 43 percent). Obama argues that he can reach across party lines. And he does do a little better than Clinton with Independents and Republicans, at least in these polls. But the big difference is that Clinton doesn't draw very well with men. Obama does."

(i posted this int he obama thread too, but i thought it was also relevant to the McCain thread for obvious reasons)

The better Obama does with moderates, the more it likes look a bad idea to me for McCain to retreat to the radical end of his party. If Obama is the nominee I think he will get most of the Hillary votes b/c to those strongly democratic people he is still a better choice than McCain, but if Hillary were to win the nomination then McCain could easily hold the center and still have the right turn out against Hillary even if not for him. After so much Bush & Clinton and divisiveness I think the middle ground is the winning ground, and McCain is foolish to so readily give up his stake to it.

2/9/2008 8:43:41 PM

Have you seen any of the Huckabee vs Clinton or Huckabee vs Obama polls? McCain is polling a hell of a lot better than Minister Huckabee

2/9/2008 9:09:14 PM