Issues and insights

I didn't know this - very interesting.  Funny how much you can learn by researching.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=302137342405551

• Issues and insights - me
  • I'm glad the article was viewed for what its worth - me
  • don't stock investors have a lot to loose if dems get in the white house again? - MTPockets
    • Yes, investors have a lot to lose.... - sam
  • This article fills in quite a few blanks, doesn't it...sm - ms
    • Yep. I've been saying this for awhile. I'm glad people... - sam

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I'm not seeing any discussion about issues.  Can we stick to the issues.  Jeeze - I want to hear good and bad about both candidates but with facts to back whatever is being said.

P-L-E-A-S-E.....I want issues.  How can I make any kind of determinatons about who I'm going to vote for if I don't hear about the issues.  Reading some of this I'm thinking I'd get more truth if I read the National Enquirer.

Certainly I agree the issues you mention must, must, MUST have our attention.  However, what we are doing this year is chosing a leader.  In my most humble opinion it is of the utmost importance to know what kind of person we are chosing to lead us.  We absolutely must look beyond what the politicians say; we must study their character and with whom they associate.  As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

 As a life long Democrat, I am totally against Obama.  There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is his choice of pastors.  I believe his chosen church is a radical, devisive, racist group.  If Pastor What's His name isn't enough; what about the priest who delivered the sermon ridiculing Hillary in that same church?  By no means am I a supporter of Hillary Clinton but that show was disgusting.  Neither can I support John McCain.  I have changed my registration from Democrat to Independent because neither mainstream political party represents my values.  My voice will be heard in the election but I will do a write-in for Lou Dobbs.  Would he make a good or great leader?  I don't know.  He talks the talk but would he walk the walk?  The only thing any of us can do is to vote and vote our convictions......and pray.

such as celebrity, Ayers, etc.??

1.     Civil Rights.  Comprehensive Patriot Act reform.  Expand hate crime status, deceptive voting practices, racial profiling, sentencing disparities for minority offenders and better support programs for ex-offenders as the reintegrate into free world to reduce recidivism in crime rates, incorporate medical treatment for drug offenders into sentencing and rehabilitation initiatives.

2.     Economy.  Job creation such as green jobs (clean technology, renewable energy), invest in national infrastructure jobs, address outsourcing issues such as NAFTA reform, end tax breaks for companies who outsource, tax incentives for companies who preserve American jobs, tax relief for the middle class, tax relief for small businesses and start-up businesses, ensure workers' freedom to unionize and right to organize, raise minimum wage, clean up mortgage industry, address predatory credit card practices.

3.     Ethics.  Address lobbying, federal contracts, tax breaks, earmarks and special interests practices and reform.

4.     Faith.  Maintain strict constitutional separation of church and state and ensure freedom of all religions. 

5.     Fiscal.  Fiscal discipline, balance budget, reduce debt, tax system reform for better efficiency.

6.     Foreign Policy.  End war in Iraq, reform contracting practices relative to war reparations, restore alliances, renew American diplomacy, particularly in the Middle East, strengthen NATO, address global poverty, nuclear waste cleanup and nonproliferation.

7.     Health Care.  Quality, affordable, portable health care, accessible for all Americans, lower costs across the board and particularly for prescription drugs.

8.     Immigration.  Streamline immigration bureaucracy, legalization initiatives that keep families together, expansion of bilingual education for special needs of immigrants who seek legal status,  eliminate incentive to immigrate illegally by cracking down on employers who hire illegals, a better working partnership with Mexico to promote economic development to reduce illegal immigration.

9.     Poverty.  Expansion of transitional jobs and career pathway programs aimed at low-income Americans in workforce, Green Job Corp, improve transportation access to jobs, promote responsible fatherhood, Community Development Block Grant programs, affordable housing.

10.   Rural.  Subsidize family farmers, not agribusiness, encourage organic and local agriculture, connect rural America with communications infrastructure improvements, improve health care delivery, education and roads, bridges, dams infrastructure

11.   Seniors and Select Specialty Hospital.  Protect Social Security, affordable health care, develop community based senior supportive care systems, expand outreach for seniors.

12.   Technology.  Insure an open internet as highway to connected and transparent democracy, modernize communications infrastructure.  FCC reform to promote diversity in media ownership. 

13.   Women's issues.  Protect Roe-vs-Wade, promote sex education in schools, access to birth control and promote stem cell research. 

9/11/2001:  We all talk about 9/11.  How Pres. Bush should have known.  We did lose a lot of lives that day.  It was truly a sad day.  However, what about the World Trade Center bombing back in ྙ when Clinton was the pres.  That was by Islamic extremists.  Or about the US Embassy bombings in ྞ....also while Bill was in office suspect to have been coordinated by Osama Bin Laden.  Or the USS Cole incident in 2000 and once again Bill was in the White House and once again Osama was the suspect in the planning.  All these terrorists acts but the one people shout out about the most in 9/11 and how Bush is to blame.  Why?  Because more lives were lost in this one than with the other ones.  Weren't they all still terrorist attacks?  If Clinton had stood up and done something during his term....maybe 9/11 would not have happened at all but yet the blame all falls upon Bush.

Katrina:  Once again all Bush's faults and therefore all republicans faults.  Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff was the "federal official with the power to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina, [and] could have ordered federal agencies into action without any request from state or local officials."  "If you go back to August 27th," President Bush had already "declared a state of emergency in the state of Louisiana under Title V of the Stafford Act, ... Ergo, Katrina became an Incident of National Significance on August 27th -- two days before the storm. But Chertoff apparently didn't realize this and waited till a day after [on August 30th] to make the determination on his own, one that according to the flow chart had already been made."  Honestly though, if you live in a place that is well below sea level and you hear a really bit storm is coming your way.....common sense.....you get the heck out of dodge.

Iraq war:  The reason for the war was this:  The military objectives of the invasion were; end the Hussein regime; eliminate weapons of mass destruction; eliminate Islamic terrorists; obtain intelligence on terrorist networks; distribute humanitarian aid; secure Iraq’s oil infrastructure; and assist in creating a representative government as a model for other Middle East nations

As for Wall Street:  Firms such as Goldman Sachs and Lehman not only made billions of dollars packaging and selling these toxic loans, they also wagered with their own capital that the values of these investments would decline, further raising their profits. If any other industries engaged in such knowingly unscrupulous activities, there would be an immediate federal investigation.

At the same time, federal regulatory agencies such as the SEC stood idly by as Wall Street took advantage of the investment public during both the Internet and the housing bubbles. The SEC took almost no action against Wall Street after the dot-com implosion. And in the midst of the housing bubble, in 2006, only the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency pushed for any level of regulation to address subprime lending.

One has to wonder why Treasury secretaries under Presidents Clinton and Bush -- Robert Rubin and Hank Paulson, respectively -- took no action to curb these abuses. It certainly was not because they did not understand Wall Street's practices -- both are former chief executives of Goldman Sachs. And why has Congress been so silent? The Wall Street investment banking firms, their executives, their families and their political action committees contribute more to U.S. Senate and House campaigns than any other industry in America. By sprinkling some of its massive gains into the pockets of our elected officials, Wall Street bought itself protection from any tough government enforcement.

This is no doubt the same reason why so many members of Congress were consistently blocking attempts to reform and downsize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are essentially giant, undercapitalized hedge funds. These two entities have been huge money machines for Democrats in both the House and the Senate, many of whom recently had the gall to ask why these companies hadn't been reformed in the past. Nor should several Republican congressmen and Senators who likewise contributed to watering down legislation aimed at reforming these institutions be let off the hook.

I completely disagree with the stimulus package.  Only 25% is geared towards improving the economy, the rest is a joke!  Honestly, it is hard for me to get excited about anything he is saying as far as healthcare or education as we have all heard that before.  Remember Hillary's big plans for healthcare?  Umm...ok?  Now Obama is trying the same thing.  Ummm...ok?  I don't think he is going to create any more jobs.  I do feel the media is making the situation worse and everyone is now using the economy as an excuse for EVERYTHING.  It is just getting ridiculous.  I make the same as I did 4 years ago, my house payment is the same, car payment is the same, I still shop at Target and WalMart, so I don't see anything directly affecting me as of yet.  If is does start to affect me, well I WILL blame it on Obama, as I personally haven't been having a hard time in the last 4 years. 

I'm a democrat and I didn't vote for him.  I didn't like him from the start.  I hope he can turn it around, but I'm not hopeful at all. 

When we finally have universal health care, maybe those suffering from 911 Tourette's and Clinton sex life Tourette's will seek treatment? Wishful thinking or not? I am soliciting opinons.

It is just that our major issues differ immensely.

1.  I did read the article, and many more besides.  I did not state implicitly that we should model our healthcare system identical to France or Canada, it was only meant to represent that healthcare reform can work, that it is needed in this country, and that for the average individual to start seriously looking at it. There are great programs out there and there is absolutely no reason why we cannot take the best of them and create a whole new better system.

2. Yes, there will be some physicians who do not like the change, just as there will be citizens who do not like the change.  However, stating that they will not be willing to take a pay cut for the greater good of their patients is very narrow minded.  I helped recruit them to work in academic medicine and the VA system and never had a shortage of as you put it "the most brilliant minds of medicine" applying for those positions when they could have very easily went into the private sector for more money.  Furthermore, stating that if there were free tuition based medical schools, that the quality of our physicians would go down is an absolutely ignorant statement to make.  I cannot begin to fathom that line of thinking.  In those countries where tuition is either free based or fully reimbursed are creating a large percentage of "the most brilliant minds of medicine". 

3.  I never stated that socialized healthcare is not fraught with problems.  Our healthcare system is fraught with just as many. You cannot argue the statistics that in those countries where there is socialized healthcare, the citizens themselves are satisfied with it.  I believe the latest statistics are 78% of French citizens are satisified.  Granted there are issues on the table now in France, but many are stating that is because there is a creeping privatisation that is to be blamed.  My relatives in Montreal have no complaints, and they are the average middle class citizens.  And there is a very small percentage who are falling through the cracks compared to much more of your fellow Americans who are falling through our cracks.

5.  Insurance companies are driving are healthcare whether you chose to believe it or not.  Right now all across the United States there are insurance representatives walking the halls, looking through your patient records, deciding on the spot whether it is feasible for you to receive certain treatment or to stay an extra day, in which your physician will have to argue to ensure that you, the patient, is receiving the best care that he/she feels you deserve.  But because the money is not coming out of your pocket, who is to care right?

6. And last but not least, to make the leap that socialized medicine will lead to socialized government is ludicrous.  All I can say is what? 

Okay guys I'm trying to keep this at a civil note, no saying bad things about anyone (try your hardest i know some of you have a hard time with that), keep it to the facts and what issues are important to you.

For example, national security is high on my list, as is health care.

This came about because I was watching O'Reilly's interview with Obama.  I like Obama.  He is a great, eloquent speaker.  I also went and saw him a few months ago when he spoke in my home town.  I really do like him, his personality, his "hope".  However, the one thing I CANNOT get over is simply that under a democratic presidency my money will be taken away.  I feel so strongly about that... My taxes will be hiked.  They can say all the scare tactics they want about only taxing the rich more... but I simply do NOT believe them.

This is my #1 issue.  I work HARD.  Very very hard.  Two jobs.  that money I deserve.  I also deserve to give it to who I want to give it to (including St. Jude's Hospital, every single month, my #1 charity)...

Just because I don't want to give it to people on welfare and people that won't get a job... does that make me heartless? 

I do believe there ARE people that deserve help from the government... but not enough that we are paying out our asses.

Under Clinton I paid 40 percent of my IC wages to taxes with NO money back.  I know pay 30 percent of my wages to taxes and got my first $600.00 back this year.

Now, is this a crazy thing to have as my #1?

Opinions but try not to be mean!!!

their opinions.

I, for one, thought it was funny. Before the election, I also stated that if O was elected, I would be quitting my job 'cause I was tired of working and wanted some of the free money. That was also a joke. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't work. Workaholic, ya know.