Sarah Palin? NO WAY!!!

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Sarah Palin is a woefully poor choice for Vice President. Yes, she's feisty, determined, good looking (if you like hornet's nest hairdos), and is apparently a strong Christian. However, she is wholly unprepared to assume the duties of President should 72 year old two-time cancer victim John McCain be elected and then die in office, just as she is wholly unprepared for the office of Vice President. Like Dan Quayle before her, she is rash and highly partisan with a decidedly far-right bent. To allow this terribly unprepared person to ascend to either office would be as foolish as taking a 16 year old hometown sandlot baseball phenomenon and shipping him up to the major leagues. He wouldn't be able to cut the mustard no matter how hard he tried, and, no matter how dazzling his play had been at the neighborhood park baseball field, major league baseball would be way too far out of his league. So, too, would be the number two or top position in our government way too far out of Sarah Palin's league. One would never even consider taking the manager of a quiet little computer store and propelling that person up to the position of VP or CEO of Microsoft Corporation! It's a matter of proper perspective, good judgment, and common sense, that's all. These are important elements apparently lacking in the John McCain campaign.

Sorry, folks, but in my view, having been mayor of a small Alaskan town of less than 10,000 people does not prepare one for the nation's biggest and most important jobs. Neither does being Governor of a state with a population of only 670,000. Yes, in both cases, some executive decisions are made, but they pale tremendously when compared with the complexities and far-reaching consequences of those made in the Oval Office. For decisions made at the White House level deal with the subtle nuances of foreign diplomacy. They deal with matters of war and peace, and of micro and macro economics, and a host of other highly detailed and crucially important pressing issues. They demand far more knowledge and background than Sarah Palin's 4 year degree in Jornalism or minimal political experience provide!

The sad fact is that neither John McCain nor the national media have given Ms. Palin the necessary background checks one running for Vice President should have. Not much substantive information about her has surfaced in the press, and the McCain campaign has shielded her from direct media access and interviews to an unprecedented degree. Still, a number of questionable actions and practices relating to her performance as both mayor and Governor have surfaced. Palin has always claimed to be a fiscal conservative. But as mayor, she inherited a city with zero debt but left it $22 MILLION in debt. She spent $1 million for a new park and $1.5 million on a new city sports complex, pushing to build it on a tract of land the city did not have clear title to. Her rash action has involved the city in a costly ongoing litigation battle. She redecorated her office numerous times at taxpayer expense. She also pushed through a $5.5 million roads project, something which could have been completed in a more gradual 5-7 year time frame without borrowing. Ms. Palin is also currently under investigation for abuse of power in her firing of a Police Chief who refused to dismiss a trooper. It turns out this trooper was "coincidentally" her brother-in-law, who at the time was in the process of divorcing her sister. Palin is refusing to release hundreds of emails she sent during this period, and is citing executive privilege for doing so, just as George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have done so infamously over the years. Something clearly stinks about this, and it's not rotting Alaskan salmon or King Crab either. Prudent and capable leaders do not find themselves in controversial situations like this. Reckless, impulsive, disingenuous, vindictive, narrowly-focused ones with their own agenda do. Palin and McCain claim she is a reformer who will champion transparency and clean Washington up by ridding it of pork-barrel Congressional earmarks and corrupt lobbyists. Yet she herself enlisted the aid of a lobbyist with ties to Jack Abramoff to procure a $27 million earmark for her little town! As Governor, she claims she told Congress "thanks, but no thanks" for the $200 million "bridge to nowhere" obtained by indicted Alaskan Republican Senator Ted Stevens. But this is an outright twisted lie. While campaigning for Governor, she came out in SUPPORT of the earmark until it proved embarrassing and politically unpopular, when she began to speak out against it. Not only that, but SHE KEPT THE $200 MILLION AND SPENT IT IN OTHER AREAS OF THE STATE! This smacks of the same old, same OLD brand of politics, not a reformer's new approach. Further evidence of her impulsiveness is shown in the tax rebates she has issued to every Alaskan. During the recent huge rise in oil prices, Alaska's state budget enjoyed a sizable surplus. Rather than investing even a part of this in technology to create future energy independence, the rash and short-sighted young Governor pushed to return the entire surplus to every resident of the state, a sort of politically popular short term gain, long term don't-even-worry-about-the-future approach to governing.

CONSIDER THIS: Can you honestly see Sarah Palin sitting at the same table as Russia's Putin, or Iran's Ahmadinejad, or Venezuela's Chavez, or any other damgerous and seasoned adversary, and being able to accurately size these crafty old cunning veterans up, and effectively negotiating with them? I DON'T THINK SO! The fact is this: Unlike Barack Obama, who has actually LIVED in a foreign country, met with foreign leaders, and been on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sarah Palin has done NONE of these things. She has been limited to the narrow world view of her tiny, remote little Alaska town. Just this week, in an interview with ABC's Charles Gibson, it was painfully obvious she has no real grasp of the repercussions American foreign policy can have on the world. It was abundantly clear she had no knowledge of the "Bush Doctrine", the practice of pre-emptive military strikes, and the foreign relations damage this illegal policy has caused. For her advice in this vitally important realm of foreign affairs, she would be relying on and drawing from the same hawkish, militaristic neoconservative Republicans who led us into our disastrous and costly debacle in Iraq. Palin displays none of the maturity, sophistication, worldliness, or realpolitik knowledge other important female leaders have possessed, among which would be Margarte Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Benazir Bhutto, Golda Meir, or even our own Hillary Clinton. With her impulsive, pep rally, shoot-from-the-hip, my-way-or-the-highway confrontational style, Palin would be a divisive figure here at home and an absolute catastrophe for foreign relations. I would NEVER feel comfortable with her in charge of the military, or with her finger on our nuclear trigger. Would YOU?

The Republican Party and the McCain campaign are similarly trying to create a myth that both Palin and McCain are mavericks and reformers. Owing to the fact that ex-Bush campaign aides and seven different lobbyists are directing, operating, and advising the McCain campaign, it is highly unlikely they will generate any REAL reform. With this type of campaign direction, it is no wonder they are cynically and deceptively trying to steal Barack Obama's widely popular and relevant theme of change in Washington. McCain and Palin are fraudulently twisting this idea and perverting it to their own dishonest design. Not very original. Not very new.

There are those wildly partisan people who insist that Sarah Palin has the ability and executive experience to perform the roles of Vice President or President. There are also those who still believe the earth is really flat, or that the world was created exactly 6,000 years ago in exactly six days. They split hairs, grasp at straws, and will say and do virtually ANYTHING to keep Obama out of the White House. Strongly held and shrilly-voiced social convictions do NOT in and of themselves a Vice President or President make. Ms. Palin has claimed similarity with Harry S Truman in a cynical attempt to attract small town voters to herself and away from Obama. But that, like many of her other assertions, is faulty. Harry S Truman had been a soldier overseas in World War I. He was VERY well read in history, law, and politics even before coming to Washington. He served in the US Senate before becoming Vice President and had a good understanding and working knowledge of Washington politics. Upon becoming President, he had a wealthy supply of successful military, economic, and foreign policy advisors from the FDR presidency to draw from, not the lobbyists, poltical ideologues, and discredited militarists she would be employing. Truman was therefore infinitely more prepared for the job than she. So sorry, young lady. We knew Harry Truman, and you are no Harry S Truman!!

Look at it this way, folks: If you were to HIRE Sarah Palin, would you consider her to be worth a salary of $208,100 a year as Vice President, or $400,000 a year as President? Or would you be able to do far, far better than that for that kind of money?

John McCain picked Sarah Palin merely as a political move, to further pander to the hardcore far-right elements in his party. These people, and Palin herself, are not in the American political mainstream. McCain did NOT put "country first" in selecting Palin. Instead, he made a seriously flawed and short-sighted judgment. It was a cynically selfish move which put politics and electability above the best interests and future of the nation. THINK ABOUT IT, EVERYBODY: We have just experienced 8 disastrous years of a President "everybody would like to have a beer with." That President, too, was poorly suited for the job, intolerant of differing viewpoints (as is Ms. Palin), and whose policies have lowered our standard of living and engaged us in a senseless TRILLION dollar war we and the next generation will be paying for decades into the future! Do we want to make the same mistake all over again? I think NOT! McCain's campaign advisors, like Steve Schmidt and the notorius Karl Rove, have tried to steer the perceived choice in this election away from consideration of issues and policy, to one of which ticket is more likeable or "just like me". That's why we hear Palin refer to herself as a "hockey mom" and a "pit bull with lipstick", in an attempt to be cute and endearing to us. That is why she is NOT discussing the economy or foreign affairs. This is an insult to every concerned and intelligent voter and true patriot. It is NOT acting in the country's best interest! Because of this, and for all the other reasons I have outlined here today, Sarah Palin must NOT become Vice President and the McCain/Palin ticket must NOT be elected on November 4!!! Honest, thinking people will put mind over chatter in this election and will say, to quote Hillary Clinton directly, "No McCain! No Palin! NO WAY!"

NEXT WEEK: TIME TO PUT 9/11 BEHIND US!

JESUS WOULD BE ASHAMED!

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Riding a city bus can be a very interesting experience sometimes. You never know what type of people or situations you might encounter. Not long ago while on a bus, I had the good fortune to overhear a young mother giving some practical, everyday morality lessons to her small children, aged (I would guess) about 4 and 5. "Mommy," asked the younger of the two, a boy, "would Jesus be ashamed of me if grandma gave me some candy and I didn't share it with Kylie?" I had to chuckle at the child's wide-eyed innocence and deadpan earnestness. The young mother softly explained that Jesus wants everybody to share and be good to everybody, even to older sisters. Then older sister Kylie piped in to ask a similar question, and she, too, received a similar answer. This back and forth went on for a while until soon all three rose and got off the bus. The incident stuck with me, and I've thought about it ever since. Here were two innocent children and a young mother, and she was the provider of absolute truth, and the unassailable decider of good and evil in their eyes. As adults, we have no such human counterpart, and must rely instead upon our own moral upbringing and remember the lessons our own parents, teachers, and preachers taught us over the years. I realized that these young children had unwittingly asked a very significant and profound question of their mother. In fact, the question they asked was one it wouldn't hurt each one of US to ask ourselves every day. The children's questions, and their mother's responses, led me to think: What WOULD Jesus be ashamed of if He were physically walking among us today? It didn't take me long to come up with quite a few answers.

I believe that, today, Jesus would be ashamed:

...if He saw the distortion, misrepresentation, and outright lies being presented by the McCAIN Presidential campaign. AND by the OBAMA Presidential campaign. AND by nearly all other politicians' election or re-election campaigns. Why? Because Jesus taught all to tell the TRUTH. not to distort or to deceive others for personal gain.

...if He saw people putting THEIR perceived rights and THEIR choice before that of a helpless, innocent, unborn child, by promoting or having abortion on demand rather than accepting responsibility for one's own actions and the human life it created, or for not having practiced pregnancy prevention measures beforehand. He would be ashamed to see a human life reduced to a matter of mere personal economics or convenience, devoid of personal responsibility.

...if He saw those who slack off on the job, steal from the workplace due to a sense of entitlement, deliberately not work at all to milk the system for undeserved welfare or unemployment checks. He would be ashamed at the dishonesty, greed, and theft.

...if He saw people unfairly or fraudulently obtain huge insurance settlements or lawsuit damages. He would be ashamed at this untruthful and selfish behavior.

...if He saw company owners or corporate officers reward themselves with lavish compensation and benefits packages while denying lesser employees wage increases, reducing or eliminating their benefits packages, and/or shipping their jobs overseas to cheaper and even slave labor markets. He would be ashamed to see these executives engaging in gluttony, self interest, and the idolatry of excessive profit to the detriment of others.

...if He saw married couples (especially with children) engaging in extra-marital affairs for fun, ego, or profit. And unfortunately, this is a very common happenstance.

...if He saw political figures like Sarah Palin standing up in churches speaking in support of guns and war, or preachers like Rev. Wright saying God should damn a country for its moral or ethical failings.

...if He saw cruel, domineering, and deceitful men kidnap or sweet talk young girls into prostitution.

...if He saw the hatred and intolerance shown by some religious groups purporting to be operating in His name actively castigating others for being Jews, Muslims, Catholics, or homosexuals. He would NEVER approve of blistering verbal attacks, character assassinations, or discrimination against those not following His creed. Not once did He EVER advocate burning non-believers or moral misfits at the stake, or engaging in war, plunder, or murder against them.

...if He saw our businesspersons, press, or government officials advancing, emgaging in, or profiting from war on false pretenses for political or economic gain.

...if He saw people who loudly profess to be His followers send hate-filled and fearful lies and distorted emails around like "Barack Obama is really a Muslim" or "All Muslims want to destroy us and Israel" out of ignorance and stubborn stupidity. A very wise man once said, "The Christian Right is NEITHER." Many of them practice this kind of tactic, and that wise man was totally correct about them!

...if He saw our military engaging in torture and then our government lying about and defending it.

...if He saw people cheating on their taxes, in sports, or in business for their own profit or self-gratification.

...if He saw indiscriminate murder through drive-by shootings or car bombs. He preached life, not death.

...if He saw His priests engaging in pedophilia and His church ignoring the problem and even resorting to covering it up.

...if He saw government and judicial officials routinely approving the murder of criminals for crimes committed.

...if He saw government officials regularly giving themselves pay raises but voting down increases in the minimum wage for the poor...


Yes, honest people will realize that Jesus would indeed be very ashamed of much of today's goings-on. And I believe that honest people would, on occasion, examine their own behavior to make sure that it, as well, is nothing to be ashamed of!

JOHN McCAIN HAS SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!

"At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past."
- Belgian poet, playwright, and essayist Maurice Maeterlinck

John McCain has some explaining to do. He claims to be an independent maverick, yet he has voted with George W. Bush well over 90% of the time. He wants to continue Bush's foreign and economic policies. Steve Schmidt, who was a top communications aide in the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign, now runs the McCain campaign's day to day operations. Phil Gramm, the architect of the "Enron loophole" lifting restrictions on energy speculators which has over-inflated the selling price of oil and led to $4.00 per gallon gasoline, and whose deregulation efforts for the banking/mortgage industry have contributed directly to millions of foreclosures on American homes, was McCain's chief economic advisor, then resigned, and now is back again. With a voting record like that and reliance on key Bush neoconservatives, McCain is hardly being independent, original, OR a maverick.

John McCain has some explaining to do. He has named his campaign the "straight talk express", but it has apparently become mired in a double talk ditch. He has had to backtrack and retract a number of campaign claims and distortions over the past few months, and www.factcheck.org/ has cited his campaign for a much larger number of campaign exaggerations, misrepresentations, and distortions than the Obama campaign.

John McCain has some explaining to do. He has portrayed Barack Obama as an elitist who is out of touch with the average American, yet McCain himself owns 7 homes, a private jet, married into a $100 million fortune many years ago, and has been a Washington insider for more than 25 years. In contrast, Obama owns one house, forsook what could have been a huge law practice salary to live among and organize lower-income Chicago south side residents whose jobs had been displaced, as well as teach law in college before being elected to the US Senate. So who's an elitist? And who's out of touch?

John McCain has some explaining to do. He has said he is not well-versed on economic matters, then has said the economy is strong and has prospered during the Bush years, even as foreclosures accelerate to record levels, middle class and poor wages and buying power have declined over the past 8 years, and millions of good-paying American jobs have been exported overseas, being replaced by lesser-paying ones.

John McCain has some explaining to do. He claims Barack Obama will raise everybody's taxes, but Obama's tax plan clearly shows that 95% of all Americans' taxes will DROP under that plan, and the only rise will be on incomes over $250,000. In fact, Obama's plan CUTS taxes by 5.5% on the vulnerable below-$18,900 income level (whereas McCain's plan cuts them by only a measley 0.2% there). In the $18,900-$37,600 range, Obama's plan CUTS taxes 3.6% (whereas McCain's only cuts them there by a tiny 0.5%). In the $37,600-$66,300 range, Obama's plan CUTS taxes by 2.4% (and McCain's by only 0.7%), and in the $66,300-$111,600 range, Obama's plan gives 1.8% tax relief (while McCain's gives only 1.4%). It is interesting to note, however, that McCain will cut taxes by 3.4% on incomes between $603,000 and $2.87 million, a level at which Obama raises them. And, on incomes over $2.87 MILLION PER YEAR, McCain proposes cutting taxes by a whopping 4.4%, while Obama would raise them there by more than 11%. It is easy to see whose plan is best suited for the vast majority of cash-strapped Amnericans, and that tax plan is NOT McCain's, which, like Bush's, blatantly favors the wealthiest 1% who don't need any help.

John McCain has some explaining to do. He supports more "free trade", a policy which has allowed millions of American jobs to go to cheap foreign slave-labor markets outside our country. He is also opposed to closing tax loopholes for companies which export American jobs but turn around and sell their cheaply produced goods back over here.

John McCain has some explaining to do. He claims he'll give us a tax credit with which to buy health insurance, but will then turn around and tax this "benefit." He doesn't say how these tax credits will enable all citizens to be fully covered, and they won't be. The net increase of his plan will not be more covered people, but only increased sales and profits for insurance and pharmaceutical companies with the taxpayer footing the bill.

John McCain has some explkaining to do. For much of the past 2 years, he has repeatedly said Barack Obama has neither the experience, judgment, nor the temperament to become Commander In Chief. Then what does McCain do? He selects for his running mate a half-term Alaska Governor with ZERO foreign affairs experience, who, prior to becoming Governor had been mayor of a town with a population just over 9,000, and who has never met with foreign leaders or served on a Senate Foreign Relations committee! This stands in stark contrast to himself, Joe Biden, AND Obama, all of whom have done so. And, should McCain, the oldest Presidential candidate in history (and one who has twice had cancer), die in office, we are supposed to entrust the defense of our country and the control of our military to THIS person? Not only that, but he has previously met his prospective running mate only TWICE! What type of foresight or judgment is THAT? And, unlike Obama, who has a well-developed strategy of diplomacy, for attacking terrorists where they're AT, and for using our military solely as a last-option resort, McCain is far more bellicose in his approach to foreign affairs. He favors continuing the now-discredited Bush neoconservative practice of using pre-emptive military strikes and unilateralism rather than diplomacy and consensus-building, as even George H. W. Bush had previously done. McCain favors military intervention in Iran even though they, like Iraq before them, have never attacked us. Rather than using the prudent and time-tested technique of speaking softly and carrying a big stick, McCain prefers to use a big stick first and then MAYBE speak afterward. What kind of temperament is THAT?

Yes, John McCain has some explaining to do. His policy positions appear dangerously impulsive, confused, and are often contradictory. He makes very frequent false accusations and inaccurate statements. He has a LOT of explaining to do before his comprehension, reasoning, and judgment can be deemed suitable for the presidency!

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NEXT WEEK: JESUS WOULD BE ASHAMED!

THE MOST HATED MAN IN AMERICA

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He'll be just like Zell Miller was in 2004: A former Democrat who crosses party lines to actively support and publicly endorse the Republican candidate for President at the Republican National Convention. That's right: On the evening of Monday, September 1, 2008, LABOR DAY evening, he will abandon labor altogether and take active part in the convention of the political party that is opposed to labor and labor unions, has fervently supported union busting, and has even favored shipping American jobs overseas. By doing this, he will be compromising long held political principles on a large scale. And, just like Zell Miller, he will be doing so out of cowardice and fear.

It obviously doesn't matter that the candidate he'll endorse supports a continuation and expansion of Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy. It doesn't matter that his candidate favors continuing tax subsidies for big business and an oil industry that has been binging on record high profits for years at our expense. It doesn't matter that his candidate favors the adoption of more unrestricted "free trade" policies, the likes of which have exported millions of good paying American jobs to foreign slave labor markets overseas. It doesn't matter that his candidate will appoint more "strict constructionist" justices to the Supreme Court, a move that will cement the Executive Branch of our government into an all-powerful entity no longer subject to oversight by the Legislative or Judicial Branches, effectively turning us into a monarchy or mild dictatorship. It doesn't matter that the First and Fourth Amendments to our Constitution will, in essence, become null and void. It doesn't matter that the current corruptly executed practice of privatizing the military, begun by President Bush, will continue unabated and will likely grow in scope and influence, moving us from democracy to oligarchy. It doesn't matter that his candidate has joked that we should "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" and supports continuing the Bush aggressor policy of employing pre-emptive military strikes against countries with whom we differ in opinion or view as a threat.

It defies logic that this former Democrat would support John McCain for President as he does, flying all over the country and world with him and even propping him up when necessary. McCain's new ultra-conservative stances do not represent his economic or philosophical views. So why then is he supporting McCain as he is? He claims close friendship, but evidence strongly suggests a different REAL reason.

This former Democrat is Jewish and has been Israel's staunchest supporter in the Senate during his tenure there. Not to suggest that our important Middle East ally is not deserving of our support, but this man has carried it to an extreme. Even as Israelis abuse native-born Palestinians and further fan the flames of that geographical tinderbox, he proclaims that Israel can do no wrong. He is convinced Bush was right to invade Iraq no matter what, and he, like McCain, has bought into every Bush aggressor military move. He has supported all of Bush's domestic security measures, constitutional or otherwise. He, like McCain and all the other neoconservative Republicans, has been deluded into believing these excessive Bush security measures have prevented us from receiving another 9/11 style attack on our soil. He and McCain steadfastly believe this, even though Bush has left our ports and borders wide open and leaky as sieves EVER SINCE 9/11! His irrational fear of the Jewish homeland being imminently destroyed by surrounding hostile Arab or Muslim states is what has led him to support the Bush administration in all of its illegal and unconstitutional domestic spying, detention, and foreign policy initiatives. Last election, his own state party dumped him for this collusion with Bush.However, with big Republican fundraising money behind him and 70% of the Republican vote, he won re-election with 50% of the total. He declared himself an Independent but stated he would caucus with the Democrats, a calculated move which would give him the Chairmanship of the powerful Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. That was self-serving and aggravating enough, but now has come the final straw. He has decided to officially turn Benedict Arnold and support a man for President who compromises nearly all of his other principles. He will proudly speak on the same night from the same stage as the most arrogant, corrupt, and destructive to our Constitution Vice President ever, Dick Cheney. All under the guise of "friendship" for John McCain and concern for the "lack of experience" of Barack Obama, even though Obama's superb choice of an advisory running mate, Joe Biden, has foreign policy experience even dwarfing that of McCain. Irrational fear does such things to small, weak, deluded and petrified people of this nature.

So watch Senator Joe Lieberman abandon all of his long held principles as he caves in to fear and publicly endorses militaristic, pro-wealthy John McCain at the Republican National Convention on Monday night, September 1. Watch this pathetically timid and wimpy old man cower before the military-industrial complex to spinelessly support their man McCain. Watch him abandon and stab his old colleagues like Joe Biden in the back by endorsing the McCain ticket over his former party's own. Yes, that night you will see Joe Lieberman's turncoat behavior cause him to briefly, and instantly, replace George W. Bush as the most hated man in America!

AN END TO BUSHONOMICS!!!

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Huge multinational corporations and wealthy individuals have profited very nicely as a result of Bush administration economic policy between 2001-2008. Under these "Bushonomics" the uppermost 1% of American households saw their annual AFTER TAX earnings rise from $722,000 to $868.000 (an astonishing 20%!) in 2006, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The same cannot be said for the remaining 99% of the country, comprised of the poor, working, middle, and upper middle classes.

Noted economists Emmanuel Saez, a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies at Stanford University, and Thomas Piketty, a professor at London's Centre for Economic Policy Research, have reviewed income taxes for all economic groups dating back to 1917. They found that, in 2005, the richest 1% of Americans received their largest share of net income since 1928! The gap in income between America's wealthiest and poorest has tremendously widened since 2001, and this trend has no end in sight under current conditions. Economist John Wells has stated that this increased income inequity is largely due to a less progressive tax structure and a severe weakening of labor unions, which has given more bargaining clout to concentrated capital and less to ordinary workers.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2001, the Federal Government had a $128 billion budget surplus, according to U.S. Treasury and Bureau of Economic Analysis figures. A combination of massive tax cuts pushed for by the Bush administration and passed by the neoconservative Republican-controlled Congress in succeeding years, coupled with giant increases in expenditures for the Iraq War, turned that comfortable budget surplus into a $168 billion DEFICIT by 2007. And that is just the FEDERAL deficit. Many states and local governments are operating in the red now, too. George W. Bush was the first President in the nation's entire history to run an expensive overseas war and simultaneously push for and pass tax cuts. The most alarming thing of all is that, as a result of these misguided Bushonomics, our national debt has been increased by a staggering $1.7 TRILLION! That's right, folks: Our government is in debt to its people, and to foreign countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and others, an unbelievable and unsustainable $9.6 TRILLION AND RISING!!! In numbers easier to relate to, that is roughly $11,500 FOR EVERY CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY! As you can see, our apparent and seeming prosperity is resting on a VERY WEAK foundation! In fact, we're in debt way over our heads! It is long past time to do some thinking here. The time has come to REVERSE these disastrous economic policies! But there's even more...

Bush and his pro-business, anti-labor neoconservative Republican allies (and even some Democrats) have also long promoted "free trade" economic policies. "Free Trade" means business between countries should be conducted with no government control or regulation, no tariffs and no quotas (or greatly, greatly reduced ones), and basically no interference at all. It is policies like these (NAFTA, CAFTA, and many others passed during Bill Clinton's and George W. Bush's terms in office), which have led to thousands and thousands of good paying American jobs being shipped overseas to cheap foreign slave labor markets in China, India, Mexico, and elsewhere. It has also led to the establishment of giant new plants and factories in foreign countries, and gigantic increases in pollution in China and Mexico. China has now become a major producer, exporter, and economic giant. In 2006, for every dollar China spent on one pf OUR products, we spent $6 on THEIRS. This trend has been going on for many years and is continuing. According to long time Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, we shelled out $700 BILLION to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia, and other countries last year for foreign oil. This oil went into our cars, trucks, buses, and planes, and was burned up. The money is gone forever, out of OUR pockets and now in THEIR pocketbokks! It is no wonder the Chinese economy is growing at a very healthy rate of 8% while ours struggles to grow between 1 and 2%. WE are fueling THEIR, and the oil producing nations', economies OURSELVES through short-sighted stupidity!

Bush's tax cuts DID stimulate our economy. Gross Domestic Product posted gains, and American workers' productivity rose by a whopping 19% during the Bush years. But American workers did not reap the benefits of this increased productivity. Instead, their wage rates stagnated or even fell, and their buying power shrunk tremendously, even with the influx of cheaper imports which the free traders assurred us would increase our standard of living. THINK ABOUT IT: In the past 8 years, has YOUR income and YOUR buying power gone up to the point where you can say you're better off today than you were 8 years ago? I seriously doubt it. I fyou can honestly answer "yes" to that question, you are most definitely in the minority of the population!

At a time where wage rates are staying the same or falling, where large numbers of high paying new jobs are NOT being created in this country, where high paying jobs and even entire plants are STILL being shipped overseas, where uneven tax and wage policies have realistically transferred wealth to the rich from the poor and middle class, and where one-sided trade policies are transferring wealth from our country overseas at a record rate, there are still large numbers of Bushonomics proponents in today's Republican Party. John McCain himself has stated repeatedly he will extend and expand Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy if he is elected. He is also dedicated to pursuing more free trade deals. In fact, one of his major economic advisors is former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, a huge proponent of deregulation, free trade, and tax cuts. Gramm was the one responsible for the "Enron loophole" which ended regulation on energy speculators and enabled them to drive the price of gasoline up to all-time highs well over $3 and $4 per gallon. Gramm was also responsible for bank deregulation which caused the subprime mortgage crisis and brought about the bankruptcies and forecllosures of millions of Americans. This would strongly suggest that, unless John McCain does a massive revision of his proposed economic policies, a defacto continuation of Bushonomics, he is a DANGEROUS and UNSUITABLE man to elect as President!

It is abundantly clear to this writer that Bushonomics must come to a screeching halt and be replaced by something FAR more fair and beneficial to the vast majority of this country! We cannot afford any more reckless one-sided trade deals or uneven tax breaks for the wealthy! Bushonomics must END JANUARY 20, 2009!!!

JOHN EDWARDS

Like everybody else, I was flabbergasted beyond belief to learn of John Edwards' extramarital affair in 2006. It was as shocking and stunning as JFK's, RFK's, and John Lennon's assassinations. It boggles the mind to think someone could carry on like that after his wife had recently fought breast cancer and was then in remission, and who still has relatively young children. For a man who had come from very humble beginnings and had successfully amassed great wealth by dilligently and benevolently working on behalf of countless victims and the less fortunate people, it is unfathomable that he could show such short-sighted selfishness and thoughtlessness.

John and Elizabeth Edwards have both worked very hard all their professional careers to aid the needy. They have both been very selfless in this regard and have poured a lot of their just reward and compensation into help for the poor. Now all of their work, or at least John Edwards' effectiveness and credibility in pursuing it, has been shattered. It is a terrible tragedy, for the entire Edwards family, for the people they strive to help, and even for the country as a whole. The last thing Elizabeth needs at this time, as she battles courageously for her causes AND her life after being diagnosed with a recurrence of her now-incurable cancer, is this added stress and public humiliation. We can only hope the media will extend a rare cortesy to her and allow the Edwards family the privacy they seek and truly need at this time.

We can only wonder what goes through the minds of people like Bill Clinton, Idaho Senator Larry Craig, and John Edwards when, as successful public figures, they engage in such indiscretions which result in shame and public outrage. Is it ego-deficiency, or a hormonal imbalance which leads them to such destructive behavior? Are these people otwardly wise but inwardly stupid? We can only wonder, as behavior like theirs seems to defy logic.

One can only hope that John Edwards will fully and truly realize the devastation his silly and unnecessary tryst has wrought, and that he will rededicate himself with increased vigor and reckless abandon to the causes he has worked for and championed. His political effectiveness may be over for good, but there is still much beneficial work he can accomplish. Let us hope that he does just that!

REMEMBER TO GO TO www.factcheck.org/ FOR TRUE FACTS IN POLITICAL ADVERTISING!

DISGUSTING POLITICAL ADS: AN ANTIDOTE

Already getting sick of disgusting and negative political ads? Today's post will provide you with an antidote for this wicked poison!

As of today's writing, neither major Presidential candidate has been officially endorsed by his political party. Even so, both have already spent millions of dollars on TV and radio ads. These ads often misrepresent their own or their opponent's record or position. There are lots of disgustingly negative insinuations and lies being presented and not much solid fact. How, then, can one make an intelligent choice and voting decision based on honest FACT? It may interest you to know there is in existence a truly fact-driven, fully non-partisan site you can use as a reliable reference: http://www.factcheck.org/. This is a consumer advocacy site dedicated to truth in political advertising and is funded by the Annenberg Foundation. The Annenbergs were the founders of TV Guide, and they have traditionally been California Republicans. But you will not find an iota of Republican or Democratic bias or spin at this fabulous site. Instead, it dispels rumors, distortions, misstatements, and insinuations, and does so with solid factual background information. If we seek truth and clarity in our political information, as each of us SHOULD, this site will prove to be an invaluable tool for us all!

It is interesting and perhaps revealing to note that, in this past month of July, the McCain Campaign Committee, 527 Political Action Committees (PACs) supporting McCain, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) were cited for false, distorted, exaggerated, or misleading anti-Obama ads a whopping 11 times! However, the Obama camp haven't been pure angels, either. The Obama Campaign and 527 PACs supporting Obama were cited 4 times. Of these, only 3 misrepresented McCain (2 by the AFL-CIO and 1 by Planned Parenthood), and not by the Obama Campaign itself. We saw what the 2004 Bush Campaign, shady 527 PACs like the "Swift Boat Veterans" (aka LIARS), and the RNC did to Bush's opponent last time around. It would appear the same types of forces are active again in this election, in varying degrees in both political parties. This strongly suggests we should all ignore blatant political ads altogether and should, instead, visit www.factcheck.org/ at least once each week from now through the November elections. Doing so will prevent us from being misled or from becoming low information voters. History has proven that when it comes to political decision-making, garbage in = garbage out, the net result being garbage elected. With 76% of the country correctly believing that we are on the wrong track, we cannot afford another inept, overly-political administration like we have suffered with the last time around. That is why we MUST base our voting decisions this election on FACT rather than partisan spin or slick, misleading Hollywood production. That is why I strongly urge you to visit www.factcheck.org/ VERY frequently, and to PASS THIS INFORMATION ALONG TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!