OMG you didn't just say that. Putting FAR in capital letters makes that sentence even more ridiculous because you obviously believe it
Getting this thread back on track(sort of), I went with my fiancee to her friends' house a couple months back. During dinner, the election came up. One of her friends said she was afraid Obama would only want to help black people should he get elected. I naturally told her(in a nice way) that she was off her rocker. I think Obama will be a terrible President, especially with the Congress we currently have. But he's not gonna have it in for white people.
Sorry to pick on you Nero but I just realized you are wrong about this statement. In 1960 the Republicans lost the Whitehouse even though the two Eisenhower terms were fairly peaceful, prosperous, and Ike was still fairly popular.
Korea. Done in 53, true, but then an occupation and an ongoing presence. Plus, I don't think Kosovo is comparable. I didn't say fairly peaceful. But you are right about the terms (call it one 'peaceful term' instead of two), but we were at war then, but not from 92-2000. Maybe there just haven't been that many times such a situation has come up anyway, but still, typically the incumbent party usually has the advantage, and especially in 2000 with all the things that were supposedly going 'right', the election results were a clear indication of just how tired the country was of the clintons and anything that still had their stink. As for this upcoming election? Obama is not going to win, but since McCain is such a pathetic excuse for a candidate as well, we will probably see record low turnout for this one. 2012 is going to be the one to watch. 2 years of McCain will lead to large upheaval in the mid-terms in 2010, and then in 12 it's going to be crazy.
Do Obama supporters now want Obama to suspend Habeus Corpus and call for the deportation of all African Americans?
I think DiLorenzo is just as over the top about Lincoln as the "Lincoln Cult" that he rails against. On the other hand, How Capitalism Saved America is an excellent book.
Really. Last time I checked, this was still a two-party system, and one one side of the aisle, conservative voters are fed-up with electing republicans who zip to Washington and start acting like stoned democrats. Many conservatives are going to simply sit this one out. On the other side, in case you missed it, hillary was supposed to be the 'presumptive candidate' ever since she took that temp Senator job in new yawk. Problem is, she set herself up as the 'women's candidate', and these very vocal and angry womens' groups put up with 8 years of Dollar Bill because they always had the dream that hilly would be the first woman president. But then '08 rolls around, and the dnc couldn't throw her away fast enough. So you have an extremely vocal, angry and large portion of the left side of the aisle which is either not going to vote, or actually jump ship and vote for McCain. Combine that with the fact that the usual marketing targets of the left for the 'get out and vote' campaigns are notorious for not showing up at the polls anyway, and you have a recipe for very low voter turnout. We'll see in November I guess.
I don't know if I agree with the low voter turnout theory. Bush didn't exactly have high approval ratings in '04 and he still got a record number of votes(as did Kerry even though he lost). A lot of people will vote in this election. I agree that many conservative voters are fed up and may stay home, but overall the voter turnout will be high. Look at how many people voted in the Dem primaries.
Of course, you could be right. A lot can happen between now and November. I just judge it as it stands now, the situation as it is at this point in time, and add in two candidates, neither of whom are very compelling, and the massive amounts of disillusionment and disgust seemingly felt by everybody towards everybody else, and the whole thing just smells sour and unpleasant. It won't surprise me if more people than ever simply turn their backs on the whole thing come votin' day. But yes, it's probably a bit silly to try to predict such a thing this far ahead.
At this point, it is not about "wealth redistribution," it is about balancing the budget, which means taxes must go up. In a progressive income tax system, that means the taxes on the rich go up more than the taxes on everyone else. Since the income tax was introduced, the rich have seen their tax bills slashed by over 2/3 while the rest of the population has seen no net tax reduction at all. How exactly is it "fair" to see taxes on the rich reduced by that much while the rest receive no net reduction at all?
What are you talking about? Shrinking the government is a far better solution for balancing the budget than simply raising taxes. All raising taxes does is give brain-dead congressmen and senators dollar signs in front of their eyes about how much more money they can spend. And maybe your definition of 'the rich' is different from mine. It's not like you suddenly receive a trophy one day that says 'Congratulations! You are officially Rich!'. The vast majority of wage-earners in this country pay little to no income tax at all. So technically, it may be true that those people have received little or no net decrease in their taxes. But it is disingenuous to suggest that they are somehow bearing an unfair tax burden when the top 2 percent of earners in this country pay over 90% of all the taxes already. I know a lot of well-meaning people fall for the class-warfare notions of 'fairness' and that it's ok to take more from those who have more, but it is still wrong. It's socialism. It doesn't work. In a capitalist economy, the capital is always best left in the hands of the people and not in the hands of the government. Smaller government is the way to go, not higher taxes.
I went back to Obama's website and read his platform or issues section. I still have alot to read, but I just can't support his proposals. I wish I could support Obama because he has a terrific personality and he is the most likeable candidate I have seen in many years. But for me he is like Joel Osteen, he makes me feel good but I can't get with his program. It is too bad that President Obama (I am pretty sure he will win) and I do not share values and principles because he has alot of leadership qualities that have been missing in Washington. He will succeed I believe but that is all in God's hands. I am sure I will not vote for him or McCain.
"The top 1 percent of income earners, by household, paid 39 percent of all federal income taxes in 2005, whereas the bottom 50 percent paid a little over 3 percent. Further, 32 percent of all tax returns filed in 2005 were from people who paid no federal income tax at all." Source: SOI Bulletin, Statistics of Income Division, Table 6. I don't have the '06 or '07 numbers, but I can't imagine they're too different. My point being that any tax cut of significance will obviously impact the top wage earners more than the middle and especially lower class. And you certainly can't reduce taxes on people who don't pay any.
Nero, ur distorting the facts. for those making less than $250K, that's about >85% of US taxpayers, their tax liability will not be affect. Obama will raise tax for those making > $250K. he will also take away tax shelters / incentives for Corporations to outsource jobs overseas. imagine what this will do for job creation in the US and most importantly, to disable US-based corporations---enjyoing the benefits of US taxpayer-funded infrastructures---to register as a non-US companies, therefore not subject to US taxation. multi-billion conglomerates such as Accenture, Tyco ,etc. can no longer avoid US taxation; they have to pay taxes like any other other US taxpayer imagine how much lighter the tax burden on the middle class ! ps. one of Clinton first acts was to increase taxes on the wealthy. what was the effect on the economy ? budget surplus, unprecedented job creation and good economic times. one of W first acts was to cut taxes across the board, which benfits the rich the most. as his second term comes to an end, what has been the effect on the economy ? all-time record budget deficit, out-sourcing of jobs by US companies, mortgage crisis, just to name a few.
