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Let's not blow this election along with our future!
I am a white 60 year old Vietnam Veteran and a commander of a VFW Post. I am also a sensible hard working patriotic man. We cannot and must not continue to select political candidates based on the good old boy mentality or on preferences people have for their cronies or individuals because of their gender, race, religion or name etc. We as a people are regressing into primitive backwoods people. We need to embrace competence and intelligence instead of settling for people like Hillary who arrive at the right decisions after they are forced by others to look at their past mistakes. She is experienced at making poor decisions and continues to exhibit the same tendencies. Women will put up with it for a while but men, by nature, will not. National dissatisfaction will abound, and a rush to conservatism will follow. Now is not the time for her. I support Barack Obama because it is absolutely imperative that he win the nomination. I say this not only because he is obviously the most qualified, but because this may be the last opportunity we have to restore our nation to its former glory and prosperity. Because of the baggage Hillary is carrying (which will be exposed later) and because so many democrats and virtually all republicans pretty much despise her I am afraid we may, in the event she is nominated, loose the election to the republicans. Many others feel the same. There are some democrats and other party members who will go as far as to vote for a republican candidate before voting for her. On the other hand, if she is nominated and some how becomes our next president Americans will quickly become very disappointed with her. She will barely get one term in and be replaced with a republican and that will be the end of a desperately needed opportunity for the middle class to regain some of the ground it had lost during the Bush era…… All that so she can have bragging rights. Barack is really aware of our short comings in both foreign and domestic areas and has a sense of what needs to get done and how to get there. In the past he has shown he is willing to take positions contrary to popular preference if it is in the interest of our nation. (The war for example). Many republicans and independents can see this along with his other qualities, and are impressed by him. Barack is right for the times and it will be a great misfortune for our nation and the world if we should somehow not recognize this and capitalize on it. It’s not often that such an individual comes alone, and that we are so lucky to have one that is willing to be our president during these historically difficult times.
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David Shuster was rightfully suspended for his offensive comments. But I don't understand why Clinton agreed to a Fox debate with all their pattern of disgusting comments over several years at Democrats' expense but is now threatening to not debate on MSNBC.
The Unemotional Case for Obama. I know, it's Andrew Sullivan but watch the video of the Obama supporter. He's pretty well informed.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/th...
DFA NEEDS TO ENDORSE OBAMA NOW!
I am on the Steering Committee for Chicago's Northside DFA. This week at our monthly meeting, our group voted 15-0 to endorse Obama. (The vote will be held open for a week so voting members of our group who weren't there can vote on line, but I don't expect the result to change.)
I believe DFA members need to find a way to convince national DFA to hold a membership vote ASAP so DFA can endorse Obama while it still matters. This race is for the soul of the Democratic Party: will we be a party of the people or of corporate lobbyists, grassroots or big money? DFA was founded on the idea of making the Party truly democratic (small d). Endorsing Obama and working toward his election is the way to achieve this.
In Iowa DFA had a campaign to elect a progressive: either Edwards, Kucinich, or Obama. Now that Obama is the only one left of those 3, I think we need to give the DFA membership a chance to endorse him.
When I spoke to Jim Dean 2 weeks ago, he said he did not plan to hold another vote. I think this would be a huge mistake. DFA has a role to play in this fight. We should not sit on the sidelines. I hope people reading this can find a way to persuade the folks in Vermont that the time for a new vote is NOW.
More %$#*&% begging from the Hillary campaign to seat FL delegates.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1816
Getting tiresome.
I think the FOX debate could help both HC and BO. It'll give the viewers a chance to hear a different and much better point of view and could be very educational, plus pick up votes for our candidate. I'll tell my repug neighbors about it!
HC prolly doesn't want to debate on MSNBC cuz of the remark about Chelsea.
Good morning, everybody 5:39 AM EST
The previous post by paine was fun. Thanks for submitting.
A bunch of our group are going to watch "Uncounted" at a new member's house. He just joined up. Tells me that people are getting into the campaign mode--ordinary people, other than us nuts.
Mr. Archibald's points are well taken. He doesn't come off as manipulative. It's also a good use of the crony concept (shorter than "friends and relations")
BTW, there's a funny article in a New Yorker from a few weeks ago about the corrupt Italian legislature.
Beppe Grillo is an Italian version of Michael Moore. Photograph by Stefano De Luigi.
On September 8th, two million people in two hundred and twenty cities across Italy celebrated V-Day, an unofficial new national holiday, the “V” signifying victory, vendetta, and, especially, “Vaffanculo” (“Fuck off”). The event had been organized by Beppe Grillo, Italy’s most popular comedian, to protest endemic corruption in the national government. Grillo, a bearlike, trumpet-voiced man of fifty-nine with a pile of graying curls, is a distinctly Italian combination of Michael Moore and Stephen Colbert: an activist and vulgarian with a deft ear for political satire. Grillo led the demonstration in Bologna, appearing in the Piazza Maggiore, the city’s largest public space, before a crowd of about a hundred thousand—more than had congregated there when Italy’s soccer team won the World Cup the year before. He wore jeans, sneakers, and a long-sleeved black polo shirt, and stood on a stage flanked by tall black panels decorated with blood-red “V”s. Behind him, against a cloudless sky, rose the crenellated Renaissance city hall with its squat clock tower. A large screen had been erected there, projecting the names of twenty-four convicted criminals currently serving as senators and representatives in the Italian parliament, or as Italian representatives in the European Parliament. Grillo read the names aloud, in alphabetical order, together with their crimes, which ranged from corruption, perjury, and tax evasion to more inventive infractions, such as fabricating explosive ordnance and aiding and abetting a murder. The crowd booed and jeered, raising their index and middle fingers in a V, for victory, or, whenever Grillo cried “Vaffanculo,” their middle fingers alone.
5:00 CST
James Ginsburg
I couldn't agree more. We could be a big help in Texas and Ohio.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
headed for Des Moines for one of my last times as a SCC member as I intend to give up my seat to some young enthusiast of Obama at the District since I am not running for re-election, but can't pass up a timely support of the Governor for his endorsement of Obama and will be seeing my good friend today (last time we threw around a frisbee so it has been some months ago)
I also need to get hooked up into the Harkin campaign and meet face to face with the people I will be working with on that one.
every four years I try to hit 2000 doors for the Democrats and whoever is on the top gets the results of that effort because I work for the ticket bottom up
we have some great local legislators, a Democratic Congressman, and Harkin on the ticket so a good year for the Court House crowd
see you tonight
Phil, thank you for all your work. Have a wonderful day.
What the conservatives are struggling against is the principle of equality and popular rule. The reason for their antagonism is simple. Equality challenges their perception of themselves as an elite group and popular rule subjects them to the will of the common man whom they disdain.
Where do these people who have this great need to feel superior come from? My latest hypothesis is that they are reared up inadvertently by people who, in their own need to feel superior, treat them as inferiors. So, just as physical abuse is passed on from generation to generation as each individual seeks to compensate for the insults and injuries he has suffered, psychological abuse creates an inferiority complex which no amount of compensation can ever satisfy.
VA primary survey results......
http://www.wtvr.com/global/story.asp?s=7...
Mornin'
Sustained U.S. Presence in Iraq
The following DOD release is, I think, a must read:
DoD News Briefing with Col. Grigsby From Iraq http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4136
"Colonel Wayne Grigsby, and he is the commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division ... Sledgehammer Brigade ... part of Multinational Division-Center, or Task Force Marne, under the command of Major General Rick Lynch"
Important for the following...
Major General Rick Lynch will be on C-SPAN tomorrow (Sunday) at 10am and 6pm EST:
Roundtable
Situation in Iraq
C-SPAN, Newsmakers
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
ID: 203732 - 02/07/2008 - 0:30 - No Sale
Tyson, Ann ScottCorrespondent, [Washington Post], Military AffairsLynch, RickMajor General, U.S. ArmyLubold, GordonCorrespondent, [Christian Science Monitor], Pentagon
Army Major General Rick Lynch, commander of the Multi-National Division-Center, spoke by live remote from Baghdad about the situation in Iraq. Topics included security operations, how the surge has affected life in Iraq, the integration of Iraqi citizen groups into securing areas, and whether the U.S. should slow down or halt withdrawal of troops. After the interview, the reporters in the studio discussed his responses with the host.
AP Poll: Fix Economy by Leaving Iraq8:28am EST
REUTERS
Reuters North American News Service
Feb 08, 2008 23:57 EST
BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks in Iraq on Friday, the U.S. military said on Saturday.
8:47 AM EST
18.Charles in Montana
Sat, 02/09/08
Reply to this
AP Poll: Fix Economy by Leaving Iraq8:28am EST
+++
Charles -
Amen.
The CM seems to want to forget about Iraq and, in so doing so, that helps McCain and Clinton, both who voted to authorize the U.S. to go to war (to invasion/occupation) in Iraq.
"It's the economy (dragged down by the costs of the war in Iraq) stupid !" is this prez cycle's framing, no matter that the CM and the Clintons are trying to simply make it the old framing of "it's the economy stupid".
China Is Installing a Warhead Said to Be Based on U.S. Secrets By JAMES RISEN AND JEFF GERTH
Published: May 14, 1999
China is close to deploying a nuclear missile with a warhead whose design draws on stolen American secrets, United States intelligence officials say.
A long-range Chinese missile, known as the Dong Feng-31, is being equipped with a small nuclear warhead whose design uses secret American technology, according to American intelligence assessments. The technology is believed to have been stolen from a Government weapons laboratory, although there is some debate over precisely what technical information officials believe is being used.
According to the assessments, the missile is expected to be deployed within three or four years, giving China what officials believe would be its first warhead designed using secret American technology. ...full article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.ht...
8:48 AM EST
In terms of the other costs of the war in Iraq -- the human ones -- I'd like to know how many of those McCain and Clinton supporters have loved ones serving in Iraq and, especially, have lost loved ones there ?
(Photo)Test results: China is said to now hold decades of US information
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/350000/ima...
Tuesday, May 25, 1999 Published at 07:27 GMT 08:27 UK
How China targeted US secrets
When a Chinese commercial rocket due to launch an American satellite exploded in 1996, it appeared to be just an accident for the insurers to sort out.
But the event eventually led to the 700-page Congressional report into how China targeted the United States' nuclear secrets - and how it appears to have got away with enough of them to close a huge technological gap with a superpower.
The report, chaired by Republican Representative Chris Cox, was completed in December last year with committee members unanimously agreed on its content.
But its release was delayed amid wrangling between the White House and Capitol Hill over what the public report would say.
...full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/america...
8:55 AM EST
dem voting events today:
LA primary -- poll locations are open from 6 am to 8 pm
NE caucus -- caucus locations open at 9:30 am
WA caucus -- caucus locations open at 1:00 pm
How China Steals U.S. Military Secrets
A spate of recent spying cases opens the lid on China's aggressive military buildup. What's most troubling: It is based largely on U.S. technology.
By Simon Cooper
Published in the August 2006 issue.
On a hot Florida day late in 2005, Ko-Suen "Bill" Moo was preparing for the endgame of a covert operation he'd been orchestrating for nearly two years. He had arrived in Fort Lauderdale at 5 am on Nov. 7, as the city was recovering from the onslaught of Hurricane Wilma two weeks earlier. Moo checked into a $350-a-night room at the plush Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, and now, a day after arriving in town, the Korean-born businessman was ready to sign what promised to be a lucrative contract. In a few days, he'd head back to Hollywood International Airport to see off a plane, chartered for $140,000 to carry a special package. Moo would catch a commercial flight and meet up with his cargo in Shenyang, a city in northeastern China. The cargo was costing him nearly $4 million, but it was worth it. He would clear $1 million in profit once he made the delivery to his clients, senior officials in the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
Moo's package was an F110-GE-129 afterburning turbofan engine, built by General Electric to power America's latest F-16 fighter jet to speeds greater than Mach 2 (1500 mph). Over lunch in the Marriott's restaurant, 58-year-old Moo told the arms dealers who had arranged the purchase that he would soon be looking for additional engines--or even an entire F-16. But what the Chinese army wanted most of all was an AGM-129A, the U.S. Air Force's air-launched strategic nuclear-capable cruise missile. The stealth weapon, which flies at 800 miles per hour, can deliver a 150-kiloton W80 warhead to a target 1800 miles away.
Like everything else Moo was shopping for, the missile is guarded by at least three laws forbidding its sale or the transfer of its design details to foreign countries without government permission. Moo knew this quite well. In addition to working as a covert agent for China, he had a day job in the U.S. aerospace industry. For more than 10 years Moo had been an international sales consultant for Lockheed Martin and other U.S. defense companies in Taiwan. He was arguably the Taiwanese air force's most critical arms broker.
full 5 page article: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technolo...
* rdorgan--You're kidding, right? The people who support the war-mongers aren't into love. They don't even love themselves, so it's not possible for them to love others.
The economy is being dragged down by the habitual reliance on military force, or the threat of using it, to back up our commercial relations. Industry and trade do not flourish in a coercive environment. The concept of the free market has been perverted from one in which people participate for their mutual benefit to one where the participants are coerced either by monopoly conditions or not being able to sustain themselves outside it. The world-wide effort to erradicate subsistance agriculture has been quite successful.
Subsistance agriculture has been decried as un-economic. This is true. But, un-economic should not be equated with insufficient for survival. Un-economic merely means that the failure to conduct transactions intermediated by money keeps the transactions from being calculated as part of the economy. The economy is that portion of the process by which humans exchange goods and services to sustain themselves which is trackable in terms of a currency. "trackable" and "currency" are equally important. Inadequate tracking is what accounts for what's often referred to as the "underground" or "cash" economy in our country.
Many perceived economic problems are merely a function of some people not being able to keep track of what other people are up to.
In a very real sense, economic development merely means more money being used and better record-keeping. That the health statistics in the most developed economy are tracking down-ward, is a clear indication that economic development and human well-being are not necessarily related. Iraq, of course, is an example of a highly developed economy which has virtually collapsed because of outside force being applied. The U.S. economy is being stressed by internal forces which undermine productive activity. People having to waste hours waiting in airports and doctor's waiting rooms is just one example. People spending many hours a day sitting idle in their cars in commuter traffic is another. While many people take the opportunity to take in information while they are waiting in their cars, as long as their hands are occupied, they're not likely to be even minimally productive.
9:23 AM EST
Debunking 9/11 Myths
The first conspiracy theories about September 11 began to emerge while the wreckage was still smoldering. Today, nearly five years later, hundreds of books and thousands of Web pages are devoted to the idea that the U.S. government encouraged, permitted, or actually carried out the attacks. These theories claim to be based on hard evidence.
Popular Mechanics began researching the facts behind 9/11 conspiracy theories in late 2004 and published a cover story on the topic in March 2005.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/91...
Popular Mechanics Podcast
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technolo...
Ethanol Hype, Wiretapping Woes, eVoting and More
Dec 21, 2007
As President Bush signs the new energy bill into law, we crunch the numbers on corn-based fuels with PM editor-in-chief James B. Meigs--and track the future of MPG research with David E. Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research. Plus, how government spying on the Web and over the phone actually works, when we may pick a president online, why some car nav systems suck and who makes the high-tech moves behind the scenes of New Year's Eve.
America's New Surveillance Society
Dec 7, 2007
Every day we're being watched a little bit more, by intelligent cameras, unmanned aircraft and newfound gadgetry. We'll get an exclusive report on FAA-approved drone tests by American law-enforcement agencies, suggestions from Instapundit blogger and PM contributing editor Glenn Reynolds on how to watch back, and a first look at a eye-tracking hardware that might make Google millions. Plus, Mike Allen turns the new fuel-economy standard on its nose, and we meet an NHL Zamboni guy.
My Dad always read Popular Mechanics. He had stacks of them all over the garage and next to his favorite chair. I was thinking about him this morning.
Denise said: "cC, DFA didn't say anything about "pimping Chelsea". A pundit on MSNBC did - it's out on the tubes in today's news."<<<<
Denise, thanks for that clarification. I appreciate that you took the time to do that. Makes me feel much better. Guess I didn't see the source of the post.
Good morning, all:)
rd, according to the most recent polling on the issues most important to Americans....it IS the economy, stupid.
Would be great to see you post about Barack's ideas for change. For instance how will an Obama presidency improve our economy? This is clearly of highest importance to most Americans. Tell us, please.
In terms of the other costs of the war in Iraq -- the human ones -- I'd like to know how many of those McCain and Clinton supporters have loved ones serving in Iraq and, especially, have lost loved ones there ?<<<<<<<<<<<<
So far, in terms of the popular vote, Barack and Hillary are about even. It is reasonable to discern that some # of Hillary supporters have loved ones in Iraq. Obviously, they don't blame Hillary for the debacle in Iraq.
You have poor reasoning skills, rd. That was an easy answer.
Additionally, I note that Obama lost in your state. Do you think that if folks like you, who spend most of their time "supporting" their candidate by blathering incessantly on a blog, mostly bad-mouthing the other Democrat in the Rovian tradition, could have made a difference in their own states?
If most Mass. Obama supporters would have spent their time knockin' on doors and talking up what an Obama presidency might look like....that they might have changed the outcome in that state?
Had he won CA or MA he'd probably have the nomination.
Heed JudyforDean's commentary.
YOUR commentary is the type that makes many women want to vote for Hillary.
5. DFA NEEDS TO ENDORSE OBAMA NOW!
No it doesn't. Many DFA'rs, myself included, view Obama as the lesser of evils between the DLC-approved corporate candidates. If a credible progressive-independent candidate appears, many of us will jump to his/her support, regardless of the consequences.
My last "lesser of evils" vote was the one I wasted on Kerry!
10:01 am
as far as McCain goes: John McCain continues to support the war, as we all know and has a 20-year old son, a marine, stationed in Iraq.
I don't support McCain. Never have. But you can't say he has no skin in the game when it comes to Iraq.
How about the fact that Obama will free senior citizens making less than 40k of federal income tax obligations?
I like that idea.
How about Obama's commitment to nuclear disarmament?
I LOVE that idea.
Support your candidate by standing up for his platform, his ideas for change.
Sitting around taking cheap shots at Hillary is Rovian and chicken-sh!t.
John wrote "Many DFA'rs, myself included, view Obama as the lesser of evils between the DLC-approved corporate candidates."
Keep your eyes on the watch. Your eyelids are getting heavy. You're getting sleepy. Sleepy. Now, when I snap my fingers, you'll wake up and forget this happened, but whenever you hear the name Obama mentioned, you will say "Yes, we can."
James Zogby writes in the Huffington Post:
"Just a few months ago, Hillary Clinton was seen as the inevitable Democratic nominee. She has run a strong campaign, and been an impressive candidate; but much has changed in a short time.
"Instead of finding a clear path to the White House, Clinton has run into the rather extraordinary movement set in motion by Barack Obama. This has confounded not only the Clintons, but many pundits and politicos as well.
" . . . .
"I''ve traveled to other cities to see the impact this movement has had on real people. I have been struck by vignettes which, for me, tell the story so well. There was, for example, a fourteen year-old Pakistani girl in New York who handed me a letter, asking me to pass it on to Senator Obama. In the letter she referred to him as 'the hero of my generation' and offered to volunteer in his campaign, describing it as 'my campaign.' Or the taxi driver here in Washington who told me that Obama makes him believe, "for the second time, that the promise of America is real" (the first time being when arrived here fifteen years ago). He told me that he is organizing other cab drivers to work in the campaign on election day.
The momentum that Obama has recorded is measurable, and appears to be growing. Just two and half months ago his campaign was viewed with skepticism, and dismissed. Even two weeks ago, after setbacks in New Hampshire and Nevada, the conventional wisdom was that his momentum had been stopped. He was still 20 percentage points down in national polling. Now he is dead even with Senator Clinton, both in polling numbers and in delegates amassed. 'Something is happening.
" . . . .
"[I]gnoring the reality of this still-emerging movement comes with a risk to Democrats. Obama was right when he observed at a press conference last week that, should he win, Clinton's voters would support him; but should she win, his voters would not necessarily support her. The movement he has unleashed is not focused on just winning. That is too limited and too cynical a goal for his supporters. They do not seek to power for its own sake, they seek to bring about fundamental change."
38.
how will an Obama presidency improve our economy? This is clearly of highest importance to most Americans. Tell us, please.
cC
Here ya go!
The ProblemWages are Stagnant as Prices Rise: While wages remain flat, the costs of basic necessities are increasing. The cost of in-state college tuition has grown 35 percent over the past five years. Health care costs have risen four times faster than wages over the past six years. And the personal savings rate is now the lowest it's been since the Great Depression.
Tax Cuts for Wealthy Instead of Middle Class: The Bush tax cuts give those who earn over $1 million dollars a tax cut nearly 160 times greater than that received by middle-income Americans. At the same time, this administration has refused to tackle health care, education and housing in a manner that benefits the middle class.
Barack Obama's PlanProvide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief
Obama will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.
- Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new "Making Work Pay" tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.
- Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans: Obama will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes. Obama will ensure that the IRS uses the information it already gets from banks and employers to give taxpayers the option of pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return. Experts estimate that the Obama proposal will save Americans up to 200 million total hours of work and aggravation and up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees.
Obama believes that trade with foreign nations should strengthen the American economy and create more American jobs. He will stand firm against agreements that undermine our economic security.
- Fight for Fair Trade: Obama will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread good labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central American Free Trade Agreement that fail to live up to those important benchmarks. Obama will also pressure the World Trade Organization to enforce trade agreements and stop countries from continuing unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports.
- Amend the North American Free Trade Agreement: Obama believes that NAFTA and its potential were oversold to the American people. Obama will work with the leaders of Canada and Mexico to fix NAFTA so that it works for American workers.
- Improve Transition Assistance: To help all workers adapt to a rapidly changing economy, Obama would update the existing system of Trade Adjustment Assistance by extending it to service industries, creating flexible education accounts to help workers retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs.
Obama will encourage the deployment of the most modern communications infrastructure to reduce the costs of health care, help solve our energy crisis, create new jobs, and fuel our economic growth.
- Support Job Creation: Barack Obama believes we need to double federal funding for basic research and make the research and development tax credit permanent to help create high-paying, secure jobs. Obama will also make long-term investments in education, training, and workforce development so that Americans can leverage our strengths - our ingenuity and entrepreneurialism - to create new high-wage jobs and prosper in a world economy.
- Invest in U.S. Manufacturing: The Obama comprehensive energy independence and climate change plan will invest in America's highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world. Obama will also provide assistance to the domestic auto industry to ensure that new fuel-efficient vehicles are built by American workers.
- Create New Job Training Programs for Clean Technologies: The Obama plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama will also create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
- Boost the Renewable Energy Sector and Create New Jobs: The Obama plan will create new federal policies, and expand existing ones, that have been proven to create new American jobs. Obama will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own. Obama will also extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs.
- Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Obama believes we can get broadband to every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation's wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives.
- Protect the Openness of the Internet: Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others. This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or nonprofit speakers, have the same opportunity as big companies to innovate and reach large audiences.
- Invest in Rural Areas: Obama will invest in rural small businesses and fight to expand high-speed Internet access. He will improve rural schools and attract more doctors to rural areas.
Obama will strengthen the ability of workers to organize unions. He will fight for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Obama will ensure that his labor appointees support workers' rights and will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers. Obama will also increase the minimum wage and index it to inflation to ensure it rises every year.
- Ensure Freedom to Unionize: Obama believes that workers should have the freedom to choose whether to join a union without harassment or intimidation from their employers. Obama cosponsored and is strong advocate for the Employee Free Choice Act, a bipartisan effort to assure that workers can exercise their right to organize. He will continue to fight for EFCA's passage and sign it into law.
- Fight Attacks on Workers' Right to Organize: Obama has fought the Bush National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) efforts to strip workers of their right to organize. He is a cosponsor of legislation to overturn the NLRB's "Kentucky River" decisions classifying hundreds of thousands of nurses, construction, and professional workers as "supervisors" who are not protected by federal labor laws.
- Protect Striking Workers: Obama supports the right of workers to bargain collectively and strike if necessary. He will work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers, so workers can stand up for themselves without worrying about losing their livelihoods.
- Raise the Minimum Wage: Barack Obama will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.
Obama will crack down on fraudulent brokers and lenders. He will also make sure homebuyers have honest and complete information about their mortgage options, and he will give a tax credit to all middle-class homeowners.
- Create a Universal Mortgage Credit: Obama will create a 10 percent universal mortgage credit to provide homeowners who do not itemize tax relief. This credit will provide an average of $500 to 10 million homeowners, the majority of whom earn less than $50,000 per year.
- Ensure More Accountability in the Subprime Mortgage Industry: Obama has been closely monitoring the subprime mortgage situation for years, and introduced comprehensive legislation over a year ago to fight mortgage fraud and protect consumers against abusive lending practices. Obama's STOP FRAUD Act provides the first federal definition of mortgage fraud, increases funding for federal and state law enforcement programs, creates new criminal penalties for mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud, and requires industry insiders to report suspicious activity.
- Mandate Accurate Loan Disclosure: Obama will create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score, which will provide potential borrowers with a simplified, standardized borrower metric (similar to APR) for home mortgages. The HOME score will allow individuals to easily compare various mortgage products and understand the full cost of the loan.
- Create Fund to Help Homeowners Avoid Foreclosures: Obama will create a fund to help people refinance their mortgages and provide comprehensive supports to innocent homeowners. The fund will be partially paid for by Obama's increased penalties on lenders who act irresponsibly and commit fraud.
- Close Bankruptcy Loophole for Mortgage Companies: Obama will work to eliminate the provision that prevents bankruptcy courts from modifying an individual's mortgage payments. Obama believes that the subprime mortgage industry, which has engaged in dangerous and sometimes unscrupulous business practices, should not be shielded by outdated federal law.
Obama will establish a five-star rating system so that every consumer knows the risk involved in every credit card. He also will establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to stop credit card companies from exploiting consumers with unfair practices.
- Create a Credit Card Rating System to Improve Disclosure: Obama will create a credit card rating system, modeled on five-star systems used for other consumer products, to provide consumers an easily identifiable ranking of credit cards, based on the card's features. Credit card companies will be required to display the rating on all application and contract materials, enabling consumers to quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents.
- Establish a Credit Card Bill of Rights to Protect Consumers: Obama will create a Credit Card Bill of Rights to protect consumers. The Obama plan will:
- Ban Unilateral Changes
- Apply Interest Rate Increases Only to Future Debt
- Prohibit Interest on Fees
- Prohibit "Universal Defaults"
- Require Prompt and Fair Crediting of Cardholder Payments
Obama will reform our bankruptcy laws to protect working people, ban executive bonuses for bankrupt companies, and require disclosure of all pension investments.
- Cap Outlandish Interest Rates on Payday Loans and Improve Disclosure: Obama supports extending a 36 percent interest cap to all Americans. Obama will require lenders to provide clear and simplified information about loan fees, payments and penalties, which is why he'll require lenders to provide this information during the application process.
- Encourage Responsible Lending Institutions to Make Small Consumer Loans: Obama will encourage banks, credit unions and Community Development Financial Institutions to provide affordable short-term and small-dollar loans and to drive unscrupulous lenders out of business.
- Reform Bankruptcy Laws to Protect Families Facing a Medical Crisis: Obama will create an exemption in bankruptcy law for individuals who can prove they filed for bankruptcy because of medical expenses. This exemption will create a process that forgives the debt and lets the individuals get back on their feet.
Obama will double funding for after-school programs, expand the Family Medical Leave Act, provide low-income families with a refundable tax credit to help with their child-care expenses, and encourage flexible work schedules.
- Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act: The FMLA covers only certain employees of employers with 50 or more employees. Obama will expand it to cover businesses with 25 or more employees. He will expand the FMLA to cover more purposes as well, including allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs; allowing parents up to 24 hours of leave each year to participate in their children's academic activities; and expanding FMLA to cover leave for employees to address domestic violence.
- Encourage States to Adopt Paid Leave: As president, Obama will initiate a strategy to encourage all 50 states to adopt paid-leave systems. Obama will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers.
- Expand High-Quality Afterschool Opportunities: Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve a million more children. Obama will include measures to maximize performance and effectiveness across grantees nationwide.
- Expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit: The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit provides too little relief to families that struggle to afford child care expenses. Obama will reform the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit by making it refundable and allowing low-income families to receive up to a 50 percent credit for their child care expenses.
- Protect Against Caregiver Discrimination: Workers with family obligations often are discriminated against in the workplace. Obama will enforce the recently-enacted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines on caregiver discrimination.
- Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Obama will create a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules; help businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increase federal incentives for telecommuting. Obama will also make the federal government a model employer in terms of adopting flexible work schedules and permitting employees to request flexible arrangements.
- Housing: In the U.S. Senate, Obama introduced the STOP FRAUD Act to increase penalties for mortgage fraud and provide more protections for low-income homebuyers, well before the current subprime crisis began.
- Predatory Lending: In the Illinois State Senate, Obama called attention to predatory lending issues. Obama sponsored legislation to combat predatory payday loans, and he also was credited with lobbied the state to more closely regulate some of the most egregious predatory lending practices.
- American Jobs: Barack Obama introduced the Patriot Employer Act of 2007 to provide a tax credit to companies that maintain or increase the number of full-time workers in America relative to those outside the US; maintain their corporate headquarters in America; pay decent wages; prepare workers for retirement; provide health insurance; and support employees who serve in the military.
(Or for easier reading:
Hi Folks,
Wind, wind, wind here, the pines angling down. Must have been 75 miles an hour all night long.
I'm still reading Obama's book, and in my opinion, he runs circles around all the candidates with his analyses. He knows what's going on.
With his health plan, we only have heard sound bytes with our so-called debates. He not only has a health plan, but he details the process by which it can be adopted. That's what bothered me about other candidates' plans: a nice list of goals, but how do you make it happen? In his book, Obama tells how.
I find it, yes, I'll say it, appalling that people make judgments about candidates based on sound bytes and impressions based on nothing but individual affinities. We have to do better than this. No, Obama isn't the lesser of two evils, and frankly, to make a statement like that having read nothing about him is not worthy of making that statement.
No, he isn't owned by the coprorations. No, he isn't all loft. Hillary Clinton wrote a book about it taking a village, but it was ghost written. I've not read either of the two books she supposedly wrote, so I cna't comment. But, Obama has written two books, and folks, this man sees the whole picture. He sees the complexity, and he provides ways to deal with the whole picture.
We need this person. We can't afford the superficial, market oriented, pandering, ignorant, and egotisitc candidates we've had if we are going to survive as a country. Just this morning on NPR, more sanctions on Iran. What don't we understand about sanctions not working? What don't we understand about creating animosity, resistence, and determination to oppose the US in its arrogance.
Watching Bill Moyers last night and seeing Rumsfield, if that wasn't teenage arrogance, cockiness, and belligerence, I've neer seen it. When are we going to grow up, take problems seriously and try to understand them instead of shouting slogans and puerile opinions based on nothing, certainly not knowledge or information?
Thanks Joan, cChalfonte, Denise and others for giving us information. It helps.
I couldn't argree more. Included in my reply are more reasons for people to be very concerned.
Hillary Clinton is really experienced and, as she claims, she is going to be ready from day one if elected. She has had a remarkable career since her graduation from Yale.
Her early political development was shaped most strongly by her energizing high school history teacher, who got her to read Goldwater's classic ‘The Conscience of a Conservative’ . The book covers such topics as education, labor unions and policies, civil rights, agricultural policy and farm subsidies, social welfare programs, and income taxation. The book is considered to be a significant statement of politically and economically ‘American concservative’ ideas which were to gain influence during the following decades.She later volunteered for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in the U.S. presidential election of 1964.
After graduating from Yale Law School in 1973 she became a lawyer and married Bill Clinton in 1975. She served Briefly as a congressional legal counsel and in 1979 was named the first female partner at ‘Rose Law Firm’ known for representing corporations including; Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart, large brokerage Stephens, Inc., Worthen Bank, and the Arkansas Democrat and other Hussman Family media holdings. Because of her partnership with such a pristigious law firm and her corporate connections etc. She was listed as one of the one hundred most influential lawyers in America in 1988 and 1991. During this period from (1985-1992) she served on the Board of Directors for Wal-Mart which is known to be anti union and to import more than
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By Phil Specht on Feb 8, 2008 4:15 PMHoward Dean is first.