Just in case you were considering voting for Hillary

[Joey Link]

Good to hear man. I'm a true populist at heart, and I honestly thing the best thing for people, especially poor people, are conservative policies that enable those who want to help themselves do so.

And for the record, although someone with a liberal viewpoint may group all conservatives together and/or not see much difference between them, Bush and many other senior members of the Republican party are NOT conservatives and do not adhere to the Republican party platform. They may be conservative in some aspects, but it's not difficult to see how money and personal gain shapes their policy making.

I'm pretty sure at the end of this election cycle McCain will be president and Dems will control the house and senate. For me, this is the best case scenario, as there will most likely be little change. You think things are bad now? Wait until someone dramatically raises your taxes in the beginning of a recession. We need to reduce spending, leave taxes as they are, cease any form of 'bail out' be it corporate or personal, and ride this thing out.

[joshh]

The government needs to start spending our money on running the country not "benefits" for upper level Government employees.

[Ral]

or "benefits" for people without jobs...

[trent]

great paragraphs

Very well written, fantastic.

[DarkWing6]

Very well written, fantastic.

Agreed. Thanks Joey.

[brandondan1]

Really now? Obama thinks that black people are picked on because they are black.
Now, OSU is a very good engineering school, but I bet you could have gotten into a much better university being black, with your same credentials.

How is that for fair? Sounds like black people already get special priveleges.

Are they not? Just because slavery was long ago, doesn't mean there isn't still a stigma towards African Americans. Blacks are discriminated against everyday, no matter what you want to believe. Just because someone doesn't goto klan meetings every Sunday, doesn't mean they don't have hate in their heart. Have you ever been followed in a store because people thought you were going to steal something? Have you ever been pulled over for driving a nice car?

I keep hearing people saying "Don't blame me for what my ancestors did," but the fucked up relationship between whites and blacks originated from slavery...that's why it's always taken back to that when racism occurs. Or did it originate from nothing?

These "special privileges" were sure as hell necessary when they were first enacted, because blacks weren't even given a chance to walk in the door. When they finally were let in the door, they were subtlety rejected by managers so their racism wouldn't show. All affirmative action is doing is leveling the playing field for hundreds of years of slavery (which had a huge negative effect on the African American race).

I feel sorry as hell for anyone who discriminates, because it's truly ignorant. However, racism does still exist, and all Obama was doing was stating how things sometimes are. Conservatives are just looking to bash him on anything they can.

[brandondan1]

^^^ e30esque...
you can't be serious. Bush isn't exactly republican anymore, Obama is a racist, communist goofball who wears his ass like a hat, and Hilary is a fascist dictator in the making.

It's funny how all of the die-hard republicans who voted for Bush are now trying to disown him. Instead of voting for Gore, you picked the "Non-communist, big business, genius" and look where that got us.

Any Democrat would be better at this point.

[Ral]

here's the problem with voting based on parties and not candidates: Bush, who ran as a conservative, turned out to be very un-conservative. Bilary and Obama may run as democrats but I seriously doubt they will stick to traditional democratic roots, with Democratic meaning both party philosophies and overall governmental philosophies that the country was founded on. You're upset about a larger, more invasive government, and yet you want to vote for people who have promised to raise taxes significantly during a recession, nationalize healthcare (Because Medicare/medicade/social security are run efficiently as it is, so why not expand it to 5x the size? Bigger means more efficient, less corruption, and more streamlined right?) and turn this country further towards a "nanny state"?



And don't think Al Gore would have been any better.

[h0lmes]

Obama and Hillary are commies and McCain is not getting my vote because of what he did with the Boeing tanker contract. Looks like I will be voting for Rob.

[Joey Link]

It's funny how all of the die-hard republicans who voted for Bush are now trying to disown him. Instead of voting for Gore, you picked the "Non-communist, big business, genius" and look where that got us.

Any Democrat would be better at this point.

If I were asked to choose between Gore and Bush again, knowing now what I didn't know then, I'd still choose Bush. As horrible as this has been, it's much easier to cut spending and repeal the patriot act than it is to stop a government mandated social program such as universal healthcare or any of the hundred others Democrats are waiting to implement.

[CorvallisBMW]

If I were asked to choose between Gore and Bush again, knowing now what I didn't know then, I'd still choose Bush. As horrible as this has been, it's much easier to cut spending and repeal the patriot act than it is to stop a government mandated social program such as universal healthcare or any of the hundred others Democrats are waiting to implement.

But what's wrong with universal health insurance? Notice that many people call it 'universal health CARE' which is totally innaccurate. Obama and Hilary have proposed a national health INSURANCE system, not a national health care system. The government will not be running your hospitals or hiring your doctors, they will merely be providing insurance for those that need it.

The US currently spends more on health care (both in total and per capita) than any other nation on earth, yet our system only covers about 20% of the population. Does that make sense? fuck no! We've got 3 different healthcare programs currently (medicare, medicaid, and social security). If we instituted a national health insurance plan, we could completely eliminate Medicare and Medicaid and reduce spending on SS. That would save us hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars every year.

[whiltebeitel]

Are they not? Just because slavery was long ago, doesn't mean there isn't still a stigma towards African Americans. Blacks are discriminated against everyday, no matter what you want to believe. Just because someone doesn't goto klan meetings every Sunday, doesn't mean they don't have hate in their heart. Have you ever been followed in a store because people thought you were going to steal something? Have you ever been pulled over for driving a nice car?

I keep hearing people saying "Don't blame me for what my ancestors did," but the fucked up relationship between whites and blacks originated from slavery...that's why it's always taken back to that when racism occurs. Or did it originate from nothing?

These "special privileges" were sure as hell necessary when they were first enacted, because blacks weren't even given a chance to walk in the door. When they finally were let in the door, they were subtlety rejected by managers so their racism wouldn't show. All affirmative action is doing is leveling the playing field for hundreds of years of slavery (which had a huge negative effect on the African American race).

I feel sorry as hell for anyone who discriminates, because it's truly ignorant. However, racism does still exist, and all Obama was doing was stating how things sometimes are. Conservatives are just looking to bash him on anything they can.

To give a counterpoint, I believe that a lot of people especially on this forum grew up in an upper-middle class, mostly white area. I am one of those people, and I grew up without any sort of stereotype that blacks were in any way inadequate, so affirmative action, while very necessary at a time when "separate but equal" seemed like a valid idea, it comes across as unfairly advantageous to someone that grew up in a racially-equivalent environment. You see where the idea comes from?

Now since coming to Texas, and being in a much more metropolitan area, I see a much greater racist tone, relatively speaking, which is brought about by a sense of complacency like Mr. Link wrote so eloquently upon.

While you have a very valid point, i think it is useful to look at it form a different perspective.

[Funkmasta]

But what's wrong with universal health insurance? Notice that many people call it 'universal health CARE' which is totally innaccurate. Obama and Hilary have proposed a national health INSURANCE system, not a national health care system. The government will not be running your hospitals or hiring your doctors, they will merely be providing insurance for those that need it.

The US currently spends more on health care (both in total and per capita) than any other nation on earth, yet our system only covers about 20% of the population. Does that make sense? fuck no! We've got 3 different healthcare programs currently (medicare, medicaid, and social security). If we instituted a national health insurance plan, we could completely eliminate Medicare and Medicaid and reduce spending on SS. That would save us hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars every year.

Just remember... the same people that manage FEMA would be managing the healthcare.
Instadeath.

[trent]

Just remember... the same people that manage FEMA would be managing the healthcare.
Instadeath.

That is the main problem I have with goverment programs. If goverment had a good track record of actually running decent programs, I wouldn't be so worried. But Joe, FEMA is the least of the problems, lets take a look at Social Security, Medicare/caid....

[h0lmes]

But what's wrong with universal health insurance? Notice that many people call it 'universal health CARE' which is totally innaccurate. Obama and Hilary have proposed a national health INSURANCE system, not a national health care system. The government will not be running your hospitals or hiring your doctors, they will merely be providing insurance for those that need it.

The US currently spends more on health care (both in total and per capita) than any other nation on earth, yet our system only covers about 20% of the population. Does that make sense? fuck no! We've got 3 different healthcare programs currently (medicare, medicaid, and social security). If we instituted a national health insurance plan, we could completely eliminate Medicare and Medicaid and reduce spending on SS. That would save us hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars every year.

Yeah and I would have to pay a portion of the expenses of every lowlife drug addict that overdoses and every illegal Mexican mother that has a child in one of our hospitals. Also, the government will most definitely pay less to doctors and health companies which will cut down on r&d. Universal health care will lower the amount of money going into the health system while at the same time raising the amount of people that need to be taken care of. I am not saying our current system is perfect but universal health care will be a 10x bigger mess.