watch all the hillbillies come out of the woodwork when Obama wins next Tuesday... they will be saying he is a terrorist.... it is so predictable that it is funny. The GOP really have nothing but fear to fuel their party these days... it is so played out.

Do want want troops in Iraq for one hundred years,a war with Iran,another deciple of Bush? Vote John McCain. No more Republicans in office for the next hundred years please. The Only GOP person I trust is Ron Paul.

Government can be a better facilitator or steward by keeping taxes low for all economic classes and cutting overall government spending in both the military and domestic budgets to reduce overall Federal footprint that is not mission critical or which does not add to value to GDP.

To date, neither political party has cut the size of government footprint or spending. The first priority of the next newly elected government should be to reduce the cost of governing by any means based on sound accounting and management.

The Democrats and Republicans just don't get it.

The bottom line is that CHANGE is coming. Hopefully, it is OBAMA. Stop being immature (speaking here to Mr. "I'm broke" Marley). So, it's ok to keep the same old, same old with nothing getting accomplished. It's okay to have an endless, billions of dollar war. It's ok that our infrastructure is falling apart. So, you might have to actually sacrifice some more in taxes. Everyone is going to have to do some sacrificing in order to rid ourselves of a huge deficit. I make $59000.00 a year with 2 kids. I would pay more if that's what it takes. Part of what's wrong with this country is so many are unwilling to help out someone else other than themselves. I guess it doesn't matter if more people are homeless, we have 40 million plus uninsured, vets are being treated like crap...again, same old same old. Where are peoples spirits, hopefulness? What is wrong with making a sacrifice where you could be part of a change that is SO needed? Suck it up....

First, isn't it rich? McCain is getting slammed from both sides about his "straight talk" turning crooked. That's what happens when you're dishonest with yourself. Trying to be all things to all people never works. Second, Obama going on the attack is a calculated move to convince the Republicans early on that McCain just might be a force to be reckoned with. In reality, Democrats could not be happier that McCain grows closer and closer to being the GOP's guy. Once he is, they'll mop the floor with him and wring him out so fast that he and all moderate Republicans will stumble around in amazed confusion.

Mr. Marley:
Wait -- you said "among other things, payroll, social security, state taxes, health-care costs and student loans, I AM GETTING PROVERBIALLY RAPED BY THE GOV'T ALREADY!"

Health care costs? Government paid? Student loans? Excuse me?

You mean to tell me that the best the Republicans can offer are a 71 year old hawk who "will stay in Iraq 100 years" or a man they call "a great manager" who has spent $35,000,000 of his own money on an unsuccessful campaign??? Obama/Hillary or Hillary/Obama. We need America back and they will deliver. Pulling for Obama in Texas where Bush will soon be doing the only thing he knows how to do. Clear brush.

All Obama can do is take swipes at everybody else in the race, Democrat & Republican, because he's done nothing himself. What was once a promising candidate is no more. He just keeps alienating more and more people. He'll never get my vote now.

A vote for McCain is a vote for Bush. I for one have had enough of the republicans. WE NEED CHANGE OUR COUNTRY IS FALLING APART AND THAT CHANGE IS NT MCCAIN!!!!MCCAIN IS TOO OLD AND REPRESENTS OLD WASHINGTON.
ITS TIME FOR THE DEMOCRATS TO TAKE OVER. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE HURTING AND MCCAIN WILL DO NOTHING AGAIN BUT PANDER TO THE RICH..OUT WITH ALL THE REPUBLICANS!!! TIME FOR AMERICANS TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY!!!

I love it when the leftist, neo-Marxist democraps talk about the Constitution and how THEY will restore it! For example, I challenge ANYONE in the media to ask Obama or Clinton where the federal government derives power to create a nationalized health care system.

All powers not enumerated in the Constitution are reserved for the States and Citizens.

We need to end this nanny-state mentality. Government's role is to protect private property rights from foreign or domestic threats. Look at the Bill of Rights. These are all government protections of private property. The Founders did not intend for the government to be a surrogate mother by providing employment, food, shelter, health care or any other "social need". Such roles were deferred to the private sector, more specifically, charitable/fraternal organizations.

With regard to all the "Kill the Rich" folks out there, ponder this:

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar too It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill,
they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Bruce - just curious; you have all the answers...when are you running for office?

Bruce can't have all the answers, Obama does.

McCain is now portending to be against pork spending? Unbelievable! McCain played a big role (one of the Keating 5)in trying to cover for the crooks in the savings and loan scandal, which cost the taxpayers more than a trillion dollars to bail these crooks out. With that kind of corruption, going after pork spending looks petty. McCain craves, usurps and abuses power just as bad as does Bush, and would be a total disaster for our nation (as if Bush was not bad enough).

Now this is an attack I like. Good for you, Obama. It's time for the Democrats to take out after the greedy Repubs instead of each other.

rickman454 - You forgot to mention that the reason the richest man was rich is because he had a contract with the bar to provide the beer. And that the total the rich man charged the bar for the beer they drunk was 125 dollars per round. But how could the bar exist selling beer for $80 dollars which they payed $125 for thus losing money? No problem, the children of the people drinking will be expected to pay for the beer.

Oh, I love the line from McCain about securing the US border first.

Uh, he is from a border state. 25 years in office.

The border of his own state is not secure. There is no complete wall.

There's a promise kept.

Whatever.

OBAMA promises to give all the illegals a drivers license, this will be the joke of the campaign, if he's nominated. Then there will be Resko, and the mideast money that paid for his house. Don't forget how Obama praised Rumsfeld. His lack of leadership, no expeience, poor showing in the Illinois legislature, chemical dependance history, and part time attendance in congress. Obama's dirty laundry is there, but the republican media keeps it quiet to get him as the democratic caidate. This is the only way the republicans can hope to win.

The question that should have been asked of Hillary at last night's debate is this ...

"Ma'am, your husband's presidency was marked by scandals running from the salacious to national security, you've run a campaign based on race coding, and both you and your husband have scant regard for the truth.

"What could you possibly have to say to young people, what could you possibly bring to the table, for those who need to hear a message of honesty and integrity, as personal responsibility is the cornerstone of government accountability?"

2009 Where Are You? : Excellent post !! You are SO right on----that is why I ditched CNN because of their Pro-Obama stance. Other media websites are not too much better. I believe the underlying reason that the media is so Pro-Obama is because if they start to question or criticise Obama or put him under the microscope as they have done Hillary for so many years, that people will run around screaming, "Prejudice! Prejudice because you-all are attacking a "black" man." That's the only reason I can think of....I mean, they can't be Pro-Obama because he has the experience and leadership, because he doesn't. Ask people from here in Illinois what kind of a record he has. You'll get some honest answers about why he is not qualified. We are not missing him here in Illinois because he sat on the fence on issues---he did not vote "yes" or "no" when the roll call was called for him to take a stance on an issue, whether it was an important issue or not.

2009 Where Are You?, the reason why American companies outsource and/or ship their headquarters off-shore is because many of them cannot compete on a global scale. Why is this? Because our country has the second highest corporate taxes in the industrialized world. Even the neo-socialist Scandinavian countries figured out that high corporate taxes moves capital off-shore. Look it up. Only Japan has higher corporate taxes than we do, and we all know how well THEIR economy grew in the 80's and 90's.

With regards to personal income taxes, a flat tax is a good start. A better idea would be to scrap the IRS for a national consumption tax -- no loopholes. Liberals throughout America could then rest easy knowing that those rich ######## are getting theirs!!!

Liberal definition of rich: Anyone who has more money or property than you.