Candidates, campaigns, and core values

I think both candidates' wives look completely stressed out, but that is irrelevant. Issues are relevant. Issues like - vouchers. I support Obama AND I am happy that he doesn't support vouchers. Vouchers are not innovative. Vouchers lead to increased discrepancies in schools and it is the poor and disabled who end up in the worst situations. Private and public schools are apples and oranges. They are different creatures and the government should NOT have a voucher program that puts public money into private schools. The most obvious reason is that private schools do not accept any and all students. Students who are severely physically disabled and need a full-time nurse, students who are autistic, students who speak no english, students who have no permanent address and students with zero parental cooperation are accepted without question in public schools. As long as private schools filter admission, they do not deserve school voucher money.

Reply

I don't make what Obama and Michelle make and and send my kid to a private school whoms price tag makes me sigh everytime I write a tutition check - just because they dont' make the choices you would make doesn't make them any less committed to seeing public school do better - I am committed to that as well but I choose to send my kids to get the best education I can and its simply not in the publich school system. There is no crime in that - I personally would be upset if they didn't do the absolute best they can for thier kids.

Reply

Could the fact that the girls were able to start there (most likely for free - university employees often get more then a break but free tuition) been the reason they kept them in the school, though Michelle is no longer there? They can obviously afford to have them continue there, and to uproot their children from a good school which they've been in for some time and that they can pay for easily just because they support public schools is unfair to their children.

Reply

blue mom...you really need to work on presenting a cohesive argument. you're all over the place from the deficit, to education, dying grandmothers and this gem: "As suggested in a recent profile in the New York Times, Palin was perhaps pregnant when she eloped, too". anyone with even the smallest rock in their head know the NYT is about as unbiased a source as Fox News.

"Barack Obama suspended his campaign not to stage a failed last-ditch bid to portray himself as a non-partisan economic savior..."

i know. god forbid he suspend his campaign to do the job he was actually elected to do.

Reply

1) I would love to hear what Marva Collins thinks of Obama's education policy. Ms. Collins is an innovative black teacher who started an extremely successful charter school in inner-city Chicago. She breaks from the typical rantings of her race and profession to argue, and prove, that poor black kids have tremendous capabilities that are being suppressed by the policies and people behind the Chicago public schools.

2) The deficit that built during the Bush administration can be directly traced to 9-11-01, which was planned years before Bush took office. It has absolutely nothing to do with Bush's economic policies, and no bearing on McCain's policies.

3) Obama visited his ailing grandma - whooptie doo. His mom was fatally ill for months (I've read as long as a year) and he chose not to visit her during that time, because he was estranged from her. He was in his 30s when he died. One minute he says he regrets not seeing her before she died, the next minute he's putting out a campaign ad saying his mom was sick for months and worrying about her health insurance, hence we "vote for me" so I can take over your health care. Yeah, terrific family values.

4) The reason Republicans voted against that EXPANDED child health measure was that it was to be funded by cutting benefits to the elderly. Who can deny that the elderly need government-funded health care more than children do? Children have fewer health problems and usually have parents who could work and pay a few bucks for their own children's care. Besides, the vast majority of kids, including "uninsured" kids, already have access to affordable health care, through subsidies or free programs.

5) Obama's stated tax plan, through expiration of the Bush tax cuts for working- and middle-class people, will result in significant tax increases even for people earning below the median income in our country. McCain proposes to continue the Bush tax cuts for everyone, not just the "rich."

6) Obama's voting record in IL includes blocking a measure against infanticide and being the sole vote in favor of rights for pedophiles.

7) Obama was against welfare-to-work, believing that pure welfare was more beneficial to the constituents he chooses to represent.

8) Obama for decades sent his kids to church with a "pastor" who spouted anti-US and anti-white rants, and went so far as to write a book about what a great guy he was, before dumping him for political expediency in the past year.

9) Obama wants to make it illegal for parents to support their families by working for a company where the union is on strike.

10) Obama has a pretty spotty personal past, and it isn't ancient history.

11) Obama and his campaign ruthlessly punish anyone who dares to ask a question of them. No wonder he can't wait to sit down with Castro and Chavez. He'll fit right in! But wait, I thought this was America?

12) Obama never admits that he was wrong. He is the second human being in the history of Earth who has always gotten it right. Maybe he is the Messiah after all?

13) Obama presided over conflicts of interest in disbursing government funding to radical and anti-white groups.

14) Obama spews lie upon lie about his record and about the "facts" he states to support his platform. So how can anyone believe he isn't lying about his plans for the future, particularly those that are completely different from his actual voting record and "community organizing" efforts of his past?

15) Obama agrees that an increase in capital gains tax, which would impact half of Americans (not just the "rich"), would actually result in LESS tax revenue for the treasury, but he plans to do it anyway because, in his opinion, it's "fair" to punish people (e.g., retirees with a little nest egg) for owning stocks.

16) Obama's tax plan will result in lower tax revenues, job losses, and higher costs for basic necessities, as businesses scale back their operations and raise prices to cover increased taxes. If Obama nevertheless pursues his spending plans - and I think he will, to further his wealth redistribution goals - then deficits will balloon even further. He uses the deficit to criticize republicans, yet what's he going to leave us with? Think Jimmy Carter, only worse.

If enough of you folks are foolish enough to vote for Obama, I'm just gonna hunker down and ride it out. I don't need a job; I've paid my dues, I've saved my money, I've paid off my house. I'll just give my kids some quality time so that when the country gets back on the right track, we can all pick up and move forward. But what will all the spoiled "I deserve more" working / middle class people do? Listen to Obama's ever-changing stories about why your job loss is gonna benefit everyone? OK, whatever.

Reply

So Rachel - It's okay for McCain to send his kids to private school but not Obama??!! What a double standard - you just don't even make sense any more!

SKL - the larger the gap in the polls, the longer your ramblings get; by next week you'll have taken over the entire blog! BTW - #2 is false, #3 is pathetically bitter; #4 the elderly have SS and Medcare; aren't children our future? #5 hasn't worked for 8 years; why continue? #'s 6 - 13; just spouting FOX news talking points; the rest are so in accurate it is impossible to address them.

And finllay - Are you implying in your last paragraph that the country is "on track" right now??!! That's the craziest assertion in your entire rant!

Reply

jen, regarding #4, good morning, the dems wanted to CUT MEDICARE, hence the votes against the proposal. Regarding #5, from the recovery from 9-11 up until about a year ago, this economy was kicking ass. Even now, it's great compared to most developed countries and most of US history. CNN propoganda is different from fact. How many people do you personally know who aren't gainfully employed though they have the will and skill to be? I don't know any. There's room for improvement, but not through raising taxes. I won't respond to your other comments since they are non-substantive.

Reply

SKL, I always start thinking of ways to respond, and then I discover you've already given that response and more! Thanks for doing what you can to infuse some reasonableness into the minds of people here. I'd vote for you, too.

Reply

The phrase "tax breaks for the rich" always kills me. My husband has worked very hard his entire life. He got an advanced degree after college at great expense (our student loan payments are nearly $1,000 per month) and now he has a good job making an income that Mr. Obama considers "the rich." We have a house and two cars and we generally don't struggle to buy groceries. But we do still have huge budget concerns with utilities, gas for our cars, putting away money for retirement and our children's future college educations (our kids won't qualify for ANY financial aid), etc. To penalize my husband with higher taxes because he worked and worked to gain a position of prominence while my cousin's husband ENJOYS being on unemployment because he "hates work" and wants more government services is just ludicrous to me and gets under my skin every time I hear an Obama speech.

To penalize working families (it's amazing how many of us accidentally fall into Obama's "wealthy" category) with higher taxes, the inability to choose the best education for our children (vouchers WORK!), and the burden of supporting a great number of people with no interest in supporting themselves is a disservice to this country and the American way.

Reply

I think it was Oliver W. Holmes who best summarized my own attitude toward all this: "I like paying taxes. It buys me civilization."

Reply