Who would you vote for?

[Jimbo1]

A bear would never survive in Times Square long enough to attack you.



Seriously it comes down to a thing of how much of your life do you want the politicians to control? I mean they are sposed to work for you not the other way round.

[Baphomet]

I know it is a fundermental right to bear arms under the constitution but considering this was written at a time that a persons life could depend on having a firearm, would this now be superfluous to requirements as it were in modern day America.

My personal opinion is that when my wife and kids are home alone, and my wife is confronted with a burglar in the house she should be able to wallpaper the bedroom with his brains, and since she legally carries a gun she knows how (and will) use it.

[fixthecopier]

What is the opinion on taxes. What would you change? Just the rate, or the method. Raise the sales tax and do away with income tax? Flat tax? This question goes out to other countries also. What is your tax system like? Fair? Are you getting enough for what you pay?

[kyoceradude]

I say dump the entire tax code and abolish the IRS.... Move forward with a "Flat Tax" or even a National Sales Tax. That goes for local and state governments also..... Although I admit I don't know enough about either, to make an intellegent and informed decision. All I do know is that I pay "Way too much" the way it is now. That also goes for property taxes. The Governments fiscal irresponsibilty and willy nilly handing out of my money has to stop. I say Boston Tea Party all over again. Although we will never see that, it's not P.C. to dress up like Indians. If I don't have the money I can't spend it. I believe the Governments of this country need to start living the same way. Cut out all the corupt welfare, special interest, pork b.s., bailing out other countrys and get America back on track....

[mjarbar]

If you are a driver in Britian you get screwed over and over again and all for nothing.

You pay VAT on fuel (currently approx 80% of the pump price), road tax (currently around £280 for my car, going up to £350 next year and £400 the year after), VAT on you car insurance (rate of 17.5%), a licence that they make you renew at your own cost, VAT on the car in the first place, council tax "to help pay for the roads". Also if it is a company car you drive, the taxman makes you pay a higher rate of income tax because it is a 'perk of the job' - I would love for them to call out an engineer who doesn't need a car of some sort and still get the level of service they expect!

And thats just for a car driver, you also get inheretance tax, capital gains tax, you are taxed on any income from your own savings.

Now the gov of "Great" Britian is now giving taxpayers money to people who can't afford to pay for their houses! I can't afford a place of my own so why should I pay for someone else to buy his. I know this is a hard line to take but everyone in Britian knows that the houses they are buying are not worth the prices they are paying, but no one is saying anything, instead they rush headlong into forking out vast sums of cash purly because they may be close to a 'good school' or that they may only have one or two cars drive past once a fortnight! I strongly expect that the same can be said for the States with your house prices.

Now that I have that little rant out of the way how would I change things??? I would change the VAT (sales tax in the States) system so that there would be differing bands for essentials 0%, 'normal goods' 12% and luxury items 50% - This would be a tweek of the exsisting system. I would change the income tax system so that people earning big money (for example £500,000 / $800,000 and over assuming a conversion rate of $1.60 to the £1.00) pays a higher rate than everyone else, afterall do you think it's fair that you bust a gut every day to get what you get and someone who may play football (NFL and soccer) pays the same rate as yours!!!

The biggest difference though would be to completly close the gaps that allow corporations to pay little or no tax at all, that could add billions to any countries budget.

Richard Murphy: Corporations are avoiding tax and dues to society. | Comment is free | The Guardian

Unfortunatly it seems that this will be unlikly whoever gets in due to the nature of the US political system, and also the UK system to some degree, in the way that the parties raise cash for the campaigns and the lobbiests that have too larger a say in what happens.

[DallasTech]

fixthecopier you should read 11-13 is this the taxes you are talking about?
the reason i would vote for McCain is simple
More reasons than i can state here but here are a few.
McCain vs Barack
1. Favors offshore oil drilling (Mc=yes B=no)
2. Will appoint judges who interpet the law not make laws. (Mc=yes B=no)
3. served in armed forces (Mc= yes B=No)
4. amount of time served in the US Senate (Mc=22 years B= 174 days)
5. will institute a socialized health plan (Mc=no B=Yes)
6. supports abortion (Mc=no B=yes)
7.supports gun ownership (Mc=yes B=no)
8. Supports Homosexual marriage (Mc=No B=yes)
9.Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase (Mc=no B=yes)
10.voted to give social security to illegal immagrants (Mc=no B=yes)
11.capital gains on selling a house (Mc=no B=yes)
that means if you sell your home and make a profit you will have to pay
28% of your gain for taxes if you vote for Barack
12.inheritance tax (Mc=No B=yes) that means if you vote for Barack you will have to pay a nasty inheritance tax which most cant pay so you end up with nothing wow that's change)
13.Barack proposes new taxes on homes over 2400 sq ft. new gas tax, new tax on retirement accounts and new taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same medical treatment as other countries receive
wow! is that the change you want?
This info is taken from websites including
Taxes: Election Center 2008 - CNN.com
Shared Views but Also Contrasts in McCain, Palin Energy Policies - America’s Election HQ
and a few more.

^^^
I got this same chain email. I however realized how biased it was and decided to trash it. The sources cited doesn't even relate to the questions asked???


2nd amendment is written in pretty solid ink, but when we start letting things like the patriot act question our rights and we accept it. We should not complain when they start trying to assault our other amendments. The Republicans clearly attacked the 4th amendment with the Patriot Act. Why do we let this stand? Fear. Fear of terrorists. Fear of them bombing us again. Now all the government has to do is keep preying on our fear and they can get whatever they want.

"There is nothing to fear, but fear itself." -Winston Churchill.

[fixthecopier]

Sorry Dallas tech, that email you got was proved to be false a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link that will help you.
FactCheck.org: Would Obama tax my profits if I sell my home? Would he tax my IRA? Would he tax my water?
factcheck.org is nonbias and will help weed the "facts" out of the "truth"

[DallasTech]

Sorry Dallas tech, that email you got was proved to be false a couple of weeks ago. Here is a link that will help you.
FactCheck.org: Would Obama tax my profits if I sell my home? Would he tax my IRA? Would he tax my water?
factcheck.org is nonbias and will help weed the "facts" out of the "truth"

I got this same chain email. I however realized how biased it was and decided to trash it.

I didn't really need to fact check it to tell it was pretty bogus... Just look at which questions are answered in the top. I have seen this email from 2 other completely different sources and it makes me really angry that people spread this kinda BS around. I tried to verify the sources with the links at the bottom and they weren't relevant either.

[Baphomet]

Reliability of sources.

Touching on the reliability of sources, it is not just bogus email. Misinformation is coming from every direction. It is getting to the point where you cannot even trust a direct quote from a candidate. How many times have you read a quote by your candidate which made him/her seem like an idiot in an editorial or on a website and within the quote is the ever present ellipse (ellipse is the '...' which indicates missing words from the quote)? Later you read the same quote in its entirety and discover your candidates statement was taken completely out of context. Happens all the time.

Obama is not nearly as bad when you ignore the commentaries about him and just listen to what he has to say and look at his background yourself.

Same for McCain. He isn't half bad when you omit all the negative commentary.

I watched both conventions. After each convention I deliberately ignored, or did not watch, any commentary over what I just watched and I feel like I walked away with a better understanding of each candidate.

Bottom line is don't let other people analyze the candidates for you. Do it yourself with information not provided by the democrat or republican party spin doctors or the talking heads on the major networks. factcheck.org is a good soruce for busting the bs.

[DallasTech]

Touching on the reliability of sources, it is not just bogus email. Misinformation is coming from every direction. It is getting to the point where you cannot even trust a direct quote from a candidate. How many times have you read a quote by your candidate which made him/her seem like an idiot in an editorial or on a website and within the quote is the ever present ellipse (ellipse is the '...' which indicates missing words from the quote)? Later you read the same quote in its entirety and discover your candidates statement was taken completely out of context. Happens all the time.

Obama is not nearly as bad when you ignore the commentaries about him and just listen to what he has to say and look at his background yourself.

Same for McCain. He isn't half bad when you omit all the negative commentary.

I watched both conventions. After each convention I deliberately ignored, or did not watch, any commentary over what I just watched and I feel like I walked away with a better understanding of each candidate.

Bottom line is don't let other people analyze the candidates for you. Do it yourself with information not provided by the democrat or republican party spin doctors or the talking heads on the major networks. factcheck.org is a good soruce for busting the bs.

Well said. Another good thing to look at is the money. Where does it come from where does it go? Special Interests are getting huge. How can we trust someone with special interests pumping money into their back pocket? Would you do what was right if someone else was making you rich? I probably wouldn't, either.

[fixthecopier]

I agree, the words of Bapomet are wise and true. At this point I do not think anyone of us has anything new to add to this discussion. Are we not waiting for big bombshell to destroy one or the other? I guess most have made up thier minds unless something happens we did not forsee.

[Vista Tech]

As a Brit watching this election, I would like to ask what are the candidates (and everyone's) views on gun control?

The last I heard most Americans who got shot - apart from the actions of law enforcement - ended up being shot with their own gun, combined with the reports of people who should never have had a gun in the first place going crazy and going on a rampage, I would have thought tighter gun control would be a good idea, if not the banning of guns all together.


I know it is a fundermental right to bear arms under the constitution but considering this was written at a time that a persons life could depend on having a firearm, would this now be superfluous to requirements as it were in modern day America. Lets face it - how many New Yorkers for example get attacked by a bear in the middle of Times Square every year?

As far as the whole thing about people getting shot by their own guns.... That is stupid. Stats can be altered to whatever situation can help out the person who's trying to get the point out in their favor. I can understand that more then 50% of gun accidents occur by someone whom the victim knows is the owner of the gun. Most of these stats come from households where the parent left the gun unlocked and the kid thought it would be cool to play with it and shots someone or themselves. In that case I feel no sorrow for the people in the situation. If the parent brings home a weapon they should show it to their children and let them know that it is something not to be played with. My father retired from the military. I had a gun when I was 12 for a birthday present. It was VERY akward telling everyone that my present for my 12th bday was a gun when I lived in San Diego. I was immediately sent to the principals office for counsiling. The teachers and faculty of the school immediately saw me as a threat because I had a weapon given to me as a child. FFS!!! When my dad was growin up he used to bring his shotgun to school. That was in Minnesota about 40 years ago.


Take for instance where I live. In Sierra Vista, AZ there are more guns per household then most cities in the US. And the crime rate here is MUCH lower then other cities the same size. Its for the simple reason that a robber will think twice about robbing someone when there is a 90% chance that the person whom they chose to make their victim that day is packin heat. In AZ it is legal to walk down the street with a gun on your hip. As long as the weapon is not concealed then its completely legal. One can attain a CCW Permit (Concealed Carry Weapon) by simply going through the training courses. On the other hand where if someone who has a CCW has a gun accident then they will get in more trouble then someone who doesn't for the simple fact that they know the laws pertaining to locking and proper storage of guns. The simple fact is that 100% of all gun related accidents pertaining to self infliction by owners or housemembers of the owner are avoidable. Keep your weapons locked up properly.

[JustManuals]

I wonder what the results would be if Obama wasn't black?

[DallasTech]

I wonder what the results would be if Obama wasn't black?

If he was white, I think McCain would be in some big trouble. I come from a small town in Texas and if you don't think racism is no longer a factor, your crazy. I myself know that race has nothing to do with the person, but explaining this to people I grew up around, they think I am some kind of wacko. It's sad but true. No one benefits from racism.

[JustManuals]

I think McCain is in big trouble anyhow. I heard something today that the REAL reason he was going to skp tonights debate is because then the debate schedule would be pushed back and thier wouldn't be enough time for Palin to debate Biden.

Paul