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Red Dirt Talk – Part 3, the Positions (2)

Previously in this series: “Red Dirt Talk – Part 1, the Setup” and Red Dirt Talk – Part 2, the Positions.”



Health Policy

Obama

Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All
Lower Costs by Modernizing The U.S. Health Care System

See Economic policy and advisors, above.

This one’s been gone over so many times that everyone on the planet probably knows it by heart. Fact is, in May of 2007, HRC put out her plan, complete with all the lessons learned from the 1994 debacle (which I must remind everyone again – was torpedoed by Democrats). HRC’s plan very cleverly included a roadmap to single-payer, the ultimate goal. Exactly one week later, just enough time to plagiarize and re-brand, BHO came out with his copycat plan. Except BHO’s plan dispensed with the single-payer option and places the mandatory membership subscriptions firmly in the hands of the private insurance companies – who is this guy working for again?

McCain

Will Reform Health Care Making It Easier For Individuals And Families To Obtain Insurance
Will Reform The Tax Code To Offer More Choices Beyond Employer-Based Health Insurance Coverage
Making Insurance More Portable
Will Encourage And Expand The Benefits Of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) For Families
Cares For The Traditionally Uninsurable
Will Work With States To Establish A Guaranteed Access Plan

Bromides from the (R) side of the aisle. It’s glaringly obvious that McCain doesn’t give a rat’s ass about health care except in the context of preventing any public poaching of private party property (alliteration anyone?).

Energy Policy

Obama

Next in the examination chamber is Energy Policy, below are the BHO talking points

Reduce Carbon Emissions 80 Percent by 2050
Invest in a Clean Energy Future
Support Next Generation Biofuels
Set America on Path to Oil Independence
Improve Energy Efficiency 50 Percent by 2030
Restore U.S. Leadership on Climate Change

More valueless drivel on a large scale. First, the chances of us reducing carbon emissions 80% by 2050 are vanishingly small (except for the small possibility mentioned below). Even if we did, by 2050 China and India will be producing 2 to 3 times our present CEs. This is not a US problem it is a global problem and must be addressed in that context. BHO utterly fails to address this.

Second, biofuels is a counter-productive deadend as is already becoming painfully apparent: fill your tank, starve a neighbor. BHOs reliance on pop solutions to real problems is emblematic of his incompetence.

Another personal rant: We need to bite the bullet – it’s time to dump petroleum. Take the $150 billion BHO proposes to enable the unsupportable biofuels economy and put it into nailing down hydrogen fuel cell technology. Find better, cheaper ways to crack seawater into its constituent parts. Hydrogen for clean burning fuel, oxygen gets liberated into the atmosphere and BTW we stop pumping thousands of tons of carbon into the sky. I could go on…

McCain

From his Lexington Project:
Expanding Domestic Oil Exploration and Use Domestic Supplies
Clean Car Challenge
Full Commercial Development Of Plug-In Hybrid And Fully Electric Automobiles Supports Flex fuel and Ethanol
Goes Green, Will Commit $2 Billion Annually To Advancing Clean Coal Technologies
Construct 45 New Nuclear Power Plants By 2030 With The Ultimate Goal Of Eventually Constructing 100 New Plants
Permanent Tax Credit Equal To 10 Percent Of Wages Spent On R&D
Will Encourage The Market For Alternative, Low Carbon Fuels Such As Wind, Hydro And Solar Power
Cap-And-Trade System That Would Set Limits On Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Surprisingly, this looks to be a well thought out program combining accepted concepts such as Cap and Trade and Clean Coal initiatives. I like the tax credit idea and the emphasis on low carbon power. Not so much the expanded domestic oil stuff (can you say ANWAR?) but I want to talk for a moment about nuclear power.

It seems to be an article of faith in the leftie community that nuclear=bad. We need to stop engaging in knee-jerk responses to this. Yes, older nuclear designs were primitive and overly complex, some were even inherently dangerous, Chernobyl is the poster child for that. Yes, there is a problem with disposing of nuclear waste – but not an insoluble one. Yes, fission reactors are really only a way-station on the road to fusion. All stipulated. But. Let’s look at nuclear power with our critical thinking caps on, this is the Red Dirt Talk after all…

Nuclear Myth #1: All those nuclear power plants are creating more and more radioactivity all the time.

No, Johnny, only a very few nuclear reactors actually create new fissile material – fast breeder reactors, and even then they create the plutonium from uranium as it transforms to lead (this transforming takes a very, very long time). Mostly what reactors do is just transfer radioactivity from one place to another (see Nuclear Myth # 2 for more on this) Bad point here, fast breeder reactors are what you want to build when you want to make weapons-grade radioactives. Extended point: there is radioactive material all over the planet with a high concentration in Africa (remember the Niger Yellowcake?). There is even some speculation that high radioactivity levels in Africa are responsible for mutations that led to the development of Homo Sapiens.

Nuclear Myth # 2: That nasty nuclear waste will just sit around forever making everything glow in the dark.

Well, yes and no… if you pick a remote place that is geologically stable (say Yucca Mountain) and sequester the waste in sealed glass containers and then store them several thousand feet underground in salt formations, you will get the glow in the dark scenario, but if you think critically about it there is a handy solution – take a deep breath here, assumptions are about to be challenged: go out into the middle of the ocean and build a floating launch facility, put your nuclear waste in a rocket and shoot it into the Sun. The Sun will know what to do with it. Yes, we’ve actually been sending nuclear materials into space for years. No, it’s not inherently more dangerous than burying it in salt mines. Yes, rockets used to be famously unreliable and would blow up at the drop of a hat. No, that’s no longer the case… did I mention that the launch takes place in the middle of the ocean?

Nuclear Myth # 3: All nuclear plants are unsafe.

They used to be exactly that, especially idiot designs like the open graphite reactors the USSR dotted all over the landscape. The fact is that many countries have relied on nuclear power for a substantial portion of their energy needs for decades (see France). They have developed new, simpler, inherently safe-by-design nuclear reactors, Pebble Bed reactors for instance. We in the US get about 14 percent of our energy from nuclear reactors. They’re here, they’re staying, they’re getting safer all the time – get over it.

Nonetheless, there is a salient point here: fission is inherently dangerous by virtue of the fact that you have to gather relatively large amounts of radioactive material together in order to make it work at all.

So what’s the solution? Glad you asked: fusion. This holy grail of energy production has been pursued by every capable agency on the planet for over fifty years. Why doesn’t it work? Actually it does, the latest Tokamak reactor produces about 102% energy output from energy input – not very impressive. What is even more unimpressive (more unimpressive?) is the paucity of R+D spending on fusion research. In the decade of the ’90s the total R+D investment by all the IEA members (the US, EU and Japan) totaled US $8.9 billion – total – for, essentially, all the countries of the world – combined – for ten years. Plainly we’re not serious yet about energy independence, when we are, we’ll know it because we’ll be putting in about $100 billion per year into R+D and pilot production and ramping up to bringing fusion online to the grid.

Why should you be happy about this? Here’s the interesting thing about fusion: if it breaks, it turns off; if you make a mistake, it turns off; if the bad guys get in and blow something up, it turns off. No muss, no fuss, no lingering evil cloud, no China Syndrome, no cancer down the line – no radioactivity.

It. Just. Turns. Off.

Did I mention that Exxon made US $40 Billion in profits… this year?

Immigration

Obama

Create Secure Borders
Improve Our Immigration System
Remove Incentives to Enter Illegally
Bring People Out of the Shadows
Work with Mexico

Once again, BHO doesn’t have strong positions on this, though I must say that cracking down on employers who hire illegals would go a long way to solving the problem outright.

McCain

Secure borders
Welcomes immigrants and guest workers

This is a McCain signature issue, he’s been highly visible out front on this and has garnered the respect of Hispanics in Mexico as well as the US.


Space Program

Obama

Zero, zip, nada on his website, however his previous position (stated multiple times) was idiotic Go here for a deeper look at this)

Essentially BHO’s opinion is that the Constellation program (our next generation space vehicle system) should take a break for, oh, say about 5 years so that he can funnel NASA funding into – education (paging Bill Ayers). Seriously, he’s gonna bring the US$240 billion/year space industry to a grinding halt for 5 years… and then just flip the switch on ‘em and crank it up again!?!

McCain

Strong supporter of NASA, the space industry, exploration, science, truth, justice and the American way – on this one anyway.


Supreme Court

Obama

Nothing on website, vaguely supports Roe v Wade and claims that: “We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges.”

Apparently, BHO – the constitutional scholar, is off eating waffles somewhere.

McCain

Strict Constructionist
Supported Alito and Roberts

Well, he’s a Republican. What you see is what you get here.


From my blog, The Heraclitan Fire.

  • UKforDems

    Given the current deficit yep- cut the Space Programme and make it truly Private Sector. Even Virgin Airlines are launching a space programme and if the subsidies were not not there the satellites would still be going up.

    • Bella

      Who gives a shite what you think. You can’t even VOTE for your empty suit fake plastic jesus.

      You area a snore.

    • HARP

      The only space program Obama has is between his substantive ears.

      • believe

        Right. One of the top law schools in the country always hires airheads to teach constitutional law.

        • HARP

          Speaking of the constitution. Why didn`t he know this little fact.

          More lack of international knowledge:

          One might expect a Constitutional law expert to understand the historical record of the Nuremberg trials, especially if using them as an example in his speeches. Unfortunately, Barack Obama showed his lack of preparation yet again in Pennsylvania as he praised the Boumediene decision by the Supreme Court last week. Obama claimed that it represented a return to American values as represented by the Nuremberg trials — which actually didn’t allow habeas corpus through American civil courts at all:

          Obama a former senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, cited “that principle of habeas corpus, that a state can’t just hold you for any reason without charging you and without giving you any kind of due process — that’s the essence of who we are. I mean, you remember during the Nuremberg trials, part of what made us different was even after these Nazis had performed atrocities that no one had ever seen before, we still gave them a day in court and that taught the entire world about who we are but also the basic principles of rule of law. Now the Supreme Court upheld that principle yesterday.”

          (Though Obama was clearly referring to the principle of giving criminals a day in court, it’s worth pointing out the distinction here, that the Nuremberg trials did not give Nazi war criminals access to U.S. courts, but to a special international military tribunal created by the U.S., USSR, France and the U.K. Though Nuremberg currently is considered a model for international law, it’s not as if Rudolph Hess had access to challenge his detention in U.S. federal court.)

          • believe

            You are really overly literal. Obama wasn’t talking about access to US courts, but to due process in courts. Gitmo prisoners didn’t have any substantial due process.

            • HARP

              Gee, you don`t suppose that`s because they are not

              • believe

                Who is they? You have an unclear referent.

                • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

                  You have an unclear reasoning process, as evidenced by the fact that you “believe” Obama.

                • http://deleted imustprotest

                  believe always likes to make these “who are they” comments, its like her thing…maybe that’s what she’s famous for down at Obamacentral,Chicago, ILL. Who are they? Believe, how do you think they are? Are they the ones we’ve been waiting for?

          • Leisa

            It would be interesting to hear from several of his former students to see how much they learned from him…
            I am sure that he was a wonderful lecturer…

            was there any substance in his lectures that you could actually use?

        • Teakwood

          with all those friends on the faculty, being a “lecturer” …no big.

          I can draw on board a white board too.

          His version of the Constitution is BLT.

          as far as airheads…that is EXACTLY what they did.

    • blankscreenobama

      Are still here? you have no respect here. How is your Asian Prime Minister coming along?

    • blankscreenobama

      Is there any blogs in the UK you can post on? It is kind of irritating when someone from outside the US posts on political things in the US

      • http://deleted imustprotest

        I read this about poor UKdems blogs, poor bloke, no good blogs in the UK

        Political blog coverage in the UK lags well behind that in the US, two of the web’s newest online publishers have claimed.

        UK blogs have failed to replicate the success of powerful and influential US political sites like Wonkette and Politico because of the lack of a ‘developed’ online community this side of the Atlantic, Lloyd Shepherd and Andrew Levy, co-founders of Messy Media, told Journalism.co.uk.

        • http://deleted imustprotest

          I guess when the bloke has no good blogs in his country he has to come to our blogs and blab.

    • Leisa

      Well, there are more important thing in life than American Idol…

      Here us an eye opener. The world problems are brewing. Who is paying attention?

      http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=573

      • Leisa

        please excuse my typos

    • Hope Floats

      Privatize the space program! Are you sure you aren’t a libertarian Republican? Jeez. Even Ron Paul supports the space program. Never mind.

  • believe

    Obama hired Clinton’s top health care policy advisor and this, along with his interest in getting very strong support from Clinton and from Elizabeth Edwards, will lead him to make his plan more like Clinton’s.

    Meanwhile, McCain wants employers to get rid of health coverage so we can all buy our own health insurance!

    • Bella

      You can’t possibly be that stupid. Do you think Oblahma is going to give you free health insurance? Hmmmm?

      • believe

        That’s not his proposal, so no, I don’t think that.

        And that wasn’t Clinton’s proposal either, not for people in my income range.

        However, a lot of folks will get coverage when you expand Medicare, as should occur.

        And I think all SHOULD get it, just like every other industrialized country in the world. And those countries have greater levels of satisfaction in their health systems and also much better health outcomes (morbidity and mortality).

        • Bella

          Uh, so what is the problem with buying your own health insurance? Are you skerred? Or are you too lazy and you want the government to do it for you.

          • believe

            Huh? Most people can’t afford to buy their own insurance. In the rest of the industrialized world people don’t do that and they have a much better system, one which people like more and where people are much healthier and people live longer.

            • Bella

              Oh sweetie, you are so ignorant just like your Barry.

              You specifically said We will all have to buy our own health insurance.

              Then you backtracked and admitted it wasn’t going to be free under Barry’s plan.

              Now you are back to saying most people can’t afford to buy their own. So who exactly is going to pay for their insurance since you said it wasn’t free?

              You are completely ignorant to think you’re going to get free or cheap health insurance via the government. Someone pays, just as long as it’s not you, right? Lazy POS.

              • believe

                I wrote that under McCain’s plan we would all be responsible for our health insurance. Why?

                McCain has a plan to phase out employer-paid health insurance. He also wants to reduce Medicare and Medicaid.

                This shifts coverage to individuals, which he has explicitly said he wants to do.

                I never said that Obama would provide “free health insurance” because under his plan, health care would paid by individuals, by employers, and by the government. However, more would be covered by subsidies and mandates.

                Now, you seem to dislike government picking up health care costs. I don’t. It’s done all through the world with superior health outcomes than we have. And it would be affordable if we weren’t paying for this stupid war.

                • HARP

                  Who the Fuck do you think the government is you imbecile.

                  • believe

                    Yep. I’m fine with paying taxes so that people get health coverage. I’d rather not pay taxes for a stupid war.

                    How about you?

                    • HARP

                      “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

                • Bella

                  You think the government is the answer to all life’s problems. How sad. Just because one doesn’t have health insurance we should run and cry to the government?

                  If you think gov health care is so friggin great, why do all those Canadians come here for superior health care?

                  You get what you pay for, Einstein and again, IT WON’T BE FREE UNDER BARRY’S PLAN OR EVEN HILLARY’S PLAN so get over it.

                • Bella

                  So typical of a bot to lie. Good thing I looked it up on Mac’s site. I admit, the health insurance issue isn’t one of my voting priorities. ‘believe’ is a liar. Here is McCain on health care:

                  Straight Talk on
                  Health System Reform

                  A “Call to Action”

                  John McCain believes we can and must provide access to health care for every American. He has proposed a comprehensive vision for achieving that. For too long, our nation’s leaders have talked about reforming health care. Now is the time to act.

                  Americans Are Worried About Health Care Costs. The problems with health care are well known: it is too expensive and 47 million people living in the United States lack health insurance.

                  John McCain’s Vision for Health Care Reform

                  John McCain Believes The Key To Health Care Reform Is To Restore Control To The Patients Themselves. We want a system of health care in which everyone can afford and acquire the treatment and preventative care they need. Health care should be available to all and not limited by where you work or how much you make. Families should be in charge of their health care dollars and have more control over care.

                  Making Health Insurance Innovative, Portable and Affordable

                  John McCain Will Reform Health Care Making It Easier For Individuals And Families To Obtain Insurance. An important part of his plan is to use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety to match people’s needs, lower prices, and portability. Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines.

                  John McCain Will Reform The Tax Code To Offer More Choices Beyond Employer-Based Health Insurance Coverage. While still having the option of employer-based coverage, every family will receive a direct refundable tax credit – effectively cash – of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset the cost of insurance. Families will be able to choose the insurance provider that suits them best and the money would be sent directly to the insurance provider. Those obtaining innovative insurance that costs less than the credit can deposit the remainder in expanded Health Savings Accounts.

                  John McCain Proposes Making Insurance More Portable. Americans need insurance that follows them from job to job. They want insurance that is still there if they retire early and does not change if they take a few years off to raise the kids.

                  John McCain Will Encourage And Expand The Benefits Of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) For Families. When families are informed about medical choices, they are more capable of making their own decisions and often decide against unnecessary options. Health Savings Accounts take an important step in the direction of putting families in charge of what they pay for.

                  A Specific Plan of Action: Ensuring Care for Higher Risk Patients

                  John McCain’s Plan Cares For The Traditionally Uninsurable. John McCain understands that those without prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions have the most difficulty on the individual market, and we need to make sure they get the high-quality coverage they need.

                  John McCain Will Work With States To Establish A Guaranteed Access Plan. As President, John McCain will work with governors to develop a best practice model that states can follow – a Guaranteed Access Plan or GAP – that would reflect the best experience of the states to ensure these patients have access to health coverage. One approach would establish a nonprofit corporation that would contract with insurers to cover patients who have been denied insurance and could join with other state plans to enlarge pools and lower overhead costs. There would be reasonable limits on premiums, and assistance would be available for Americans below a certain income level.

                  John McCain Will Promote Proper Incentives. John McCain will work with Congress, the governors, and industry to make sure this approach is funded adequately and has the right incentives to reduce costs such as disease management, individual case management, and health and wellness programs.

                  A Specific Plan of Action: Lowering Health Care Costs

                  John McCain Proposes A Number Of Initiatives That Can Lower Health Care Costs. If we act today, we can lower health care costs for families through common-sense initiatives. Within a decade, health spending will comprise twenty percent of our economy. This is taking an increasing toll on America’s families and small businesses. Even Senators Clinton and Obama recognize the pressure skyrocketing health costs place on small business when they exempt small businesses from their employer mandate plans.

                  CHEAPER DRUGS: Lowering Drug Prices. John McCain will look to bring greater competition to our drug markets through safe re-importation of drugs and faster introduction of generic drugs.

                  CHRONIC DISEASE: Providing Quality, Cheaper Care For Chronic Disease. Chronic conditions account for three-quarters of the nation’s annual health care bill. By emphasizing prevention, early intervention, healthy habits, new treatment models, new public health infrastructure and the use of information technology, we can reduce health care costs. We should dedicate more federal research to caring and curing chronic disease.

                  COORDINATED CARE: Promoting Coordinated Care. Coordinated care – with providers collaborating to produce the best health care – offers better outcomes at lower cost. We should pay a single bill for high-quality disease care which will make every single provider accountable and responsive to the patients’ needs.

                  GREATER ACCESS AND CONVENIENCE: Expanding Access To Health Care. Families place a high value on quickly getting simple care. Government should promote greater access through walk-in clinics in retail outlets.

                  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Greater Use Of Information Technology To Reduce Costs. We should promote the rapid deployment of 21st century information systems and technology that allows doctors to practice across state lines.

                  MEDICAID AND MEDICARE: Reforming The Payment System To Cut Costs. We must reform the payment systems in Medicaid and Medicare to compensate providers for diagnosis, prevention and care coordination. Medicaid and Medicare should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement.

                  SMOKING: Promoting The Availability Of Smoking Cessation Programs. Most smokers would love to quit but find it hard to do so. Working with business and insurance companies to promote availability, we can improve lives and reduce chronic disease through smoking cessation programs.

                  STATE FLEXIBILITY: Encouraging States To Lower Costs. States should have the flexibility to experiment with alternative forms of access, coordinated payments per episode covered under Medicaid, use of private insurance in Medicaid, alternative insurance policies and different licensing schemes for providers.

                  TORT REFORM: Passing Medical Liability Reform. We must pass medical liability reform that eliminates lawsuits directed at doctors who follow clinical guidelines and adhere to safety protocols. Every patient should have access to legal remedies in cases of bad medical practice but that should not be an invitation to endless, frivolous lawsuits.

                  TRANSPARENCY: Bringing Transparency To Health Care Costs. We must make public more information on treatment options and doctor records, and require transparency regarding medical outcomes, quality of care, costs and prices. We must also facilitate the development of national standards for measuring and recording treatments and outcomes.

                  Confronting the Long-Term Challenge

                  John McCain Will Develop A Strategy For Meeting The Challenge Of A Population Needing Greater Long-Term Care. There have been a variety of state-based experiments such as Cash and Counseling or The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) that are pioneering approaches for delivering care to people in a home setting. Seniors are given a monthly stipend which they can use to hire workers and purchase care-related services and goods. They can get help managing their care by designating representatives, such as relatives or friends, to help make decisions. It also offers counseling and bookkeeping services to assist consumers in handling their programmatic responsibilities.

                  Setting the Record Straight: Covering Those With Pre-Existing Conditions

                  MYTH: Some Claim That Under John McCain’s Plan, Those With Pre-Existing Conditions Would Be Denied Insurance.

                  FACT: John McCain Supported The Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act In 1996 That Took The Important Step Of Providing Some Protection Against Exclusion Of Pre-Existing Conditions.

                  FACT: Nothing In John McCain’s Plan Changes The Fact That If You Are Employed And Insured You Will Build Protection Against The Cost Of Any Pre-Existing Condition.

                  FACT: As President, John McCain Would Work With Governors To Find The Solutions Necessary To Ensure Those With Pre-Existing Conditions Are Able To Easily Access Care.

                  Combating Autism in America

                  John McCain is very concerned about the rising incidence of autism among America’s children and has continually supported research into its causes and treatment. Click here to learn more.

                  • believe

                    That’s not the full plan. And you have to read the health care briefing papers the McCain campaign prepared and used to brief health policy folks.

                    • Bella

                      blahblahblahblaha.

                      Link or lie.

                    • Bella

                      P.S.

                      Why do you keep saying “folks”

                      That you Barry?

                    • memyself&i

                      Where can I read them? Please link.

              • believe

                And given my income and coverage now, I would think that I’ll be paying taxes for others to get coverage while still getting money from my employer (under Obama’s plan). That’s perfectly cool with me. I consider it to be a shared responsibility to provide health care and see health care as a right.

                You evidently think that only some should get health care coverage. Most Americans and most Democrats disagree with you.

                • Bella

                  You evidently think that the government should pay for your health insurance and it’s a birth right. What next for your lazy arse? You want free housing too? Oh wait..

                  • believe

                    Yes, I do think health care is a right and a shared responsibility. It’s like that in the entire industrialized world and they have superior health outcomes.

                    You sure don’t sound like a Democrat with your views. I mean, really, every Democrat since Harry Truman has pursued an expansion of health care.

                    • Bella

                      I’ve traveled to many countries and I have to say not one single country outside of the US has more McDonalds than we do per capita, or more junk food. People here rarely exercise either. I’ve walked up the hills with 80 year olds in Jimena de la Frontera, Spain. Try getting a computer addicted gamer with 40 BMI kid to do that. We are an OBESE nation that is where your problem lays. Stop looking at the government to fix your personal problems. Take responsibility for yourself. Me me me me. Wow, suxs to be you.

                      And I am a Dem, thank you very much. Just not a BOT.

                    • memyself&i

                      This is why I sometimes question if Obama ever was a food stamp kid like he claimed. The government medical program for low-income people is very inefficient and the quality of care is not good.

                      Did you see that video of the poor woman lying in the waiting room, dying, and the staff people just ignored her and let it happen? That happened in a county hospital. The quality of our county hospitals is horrible. Even poor uninsured people try to drive an extra mile bleeding to get to the emergency room of a private hospital. Expanding that type of system is not a good idea.

                      America has some of the best doctors. That’s why rich people from other countries come here for serious medical problems. If the government takes over the medical system, many bright minds will choose to enter other fields. This has happened in many of the countries with government run medical systems.

                • elise

                  believe, don’t hold your breath for Obama’s health care. Any program not including mandatory participation will not work and I’m sure he knows it and has never had any intention of implementing it anyway. So you can remain secure in your millions and will not be forced to pay anything for the poor who can’t afford health care for themselves or their families.

                  This is the second comment I have seen where you refered to your wealth. My mama always told me it is very bad manners to discuss money. I guess your mama didn’t tell you that? Anyway, here is a link explaining the phoney health care program Obama is claiming will help the poor and sick in this country. If you don’t like links, ask your maid or butler to pull it up for you.

                  http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/obama-does-harry-and-louise-again/

            • Roger De Bris

              Which country with the better system of health treatments and outcomes did Ted Kennedy go to for his brain tumor operation?

              • believe

                If you look at health data for populations, the morbidity and mortality rates for the US are midrange, below virtually every industrialized country.

                And, of course Ted Kennedy can get the best care available in the US. He is wealthy. That has nothing to do with health outcomes across nations.

                • Bella

                  Bullshit! I know someone in NC that went to Ted’s same dr for surgery after brain cancer. This family is far FAR from wealthy. You talk out of your ass.

                  • WildChild

                    They scary part is they want to run our country.

                  • believe

                    And that has nothing to do with health outcomes across nations either.

                    • Bella

                      Huh?

                    • blankscreenobama

                      Believe,

                      I am sorry you cant make us believe we are older and wiser than you but keep posting and you might learn’
                      we have all been though that phase where everybody older does not know shit.

                • Roger De Bris

                  The British that can afford it are now opting out of NHS and paying for their own private insurance because the level of care under NHS has deteriorated badly.

                  • believe

                    Well, NHS is not a good system. However that’s hardly the only model for comprehensive, universal health care in the world. The Dutch, Belgian, German and Norweigen systems are more to my liking.

                    • Bella

                      You know how much the German’s pay? My husband is from Berlin and he paid approx 15% of his gross income per month for the health insurance in Germany.

                    • memyself&i

                      Do you know how long they have to wait and the amount of paperwork they have to go through to get approval for basic procedures?

                    • Frau Fabrissina

                      and you have to book a bed in the delivery room at least 12 months in advance.

                    • UKforDems

                      Actually very little is wrong with the NHS – now in its 60th year. How long have you had free at the point of use universal health care? Oh you do not.

                      We spend less per capita on healthcare than the US and have better health outcomes. For serious or major operations there are no waiting lists. For non serious operations there are waiting lists of no more than 3 months. There are no endless forms and everyone has 24 hour access to a GP – free.

                      There are charges (for prescriptions and dental treatment), but the poorest and pensioners do not pay them. There is a flourishing (and much cheaper than the US) private health care system.

                    • memyself&i

                      That is not what I have heard…

                      timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4252092.ece

                      guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jun/04/nhs.health2

                      dailymail.co.uk/health/article-544112/Lung-patients-condemned-death-NHS-withdraws-expensive-drugs.html

                      metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=127814&in_page_id=34

                      That’s just a sample of some of the stories out there.

                • blankscreenobama

                  Please keep posting, you might learn something our pay is not good but you can get a job outside of school. and not have to have the guilt you voted and promoted Obama.

                • Teakwood

                  Believe you just shot your arguement in the foot. Hurray you need medical attention pronto!

                  what you say? Your not as wealthy as Kennedy? You are told that you will have to choose which finger you want?

                  My point is the medical care for Kennedy should be the same for the illegal immagrant I saaw being told by the doctor he could not stay after they patched him up.

                  Money should not determine the quality of care.

                  Quit bleeding all over the thread.

            • Disgusted

              Put Obamas Healthcare plan in one hand and a pile of shit in the other and see which grows first. Obamas Healthcare plan is a ruse, a farce, we here in Illinois are still waiting for Obamas last healthcare plan. Where is it Obama ? YOU want me to jump for joy over your healthcare plan when the first plan was BS?

          • believe

            And I don’t buy my own insurance now. My employer pays most of the cost for it and I chip in a bit. I’m very lucky that I have that deal; a lot of people don’t, particularly people who have chronic illnesses or a history of cancer.

            • Bella

              My god are you ignorant. You honestly don’t think you’re paying for it 100%? Hahahaha! Sweetie, human resources is making you pick up the cost alright, they are just giving you less pay.

              • believe

                Actually, I took that into account when I negotiated my salary package. When I compared it to other jobs for my education and experience, I figured out how to make the numbers work for me. So, well, I have great coverage and a fine salary, too.

                How about you?

                • Bella

                  I’m under 30 and retired. Sold my minority shareholder stock 2 years ago in a large manufacturing company that I was VP and Secretary of.

                  I have great coverage and have started my own charitable trust, however we don’t give to lazy people like you. ;-)

                  • believe

                    I work more than full-time and have health insurance. And most people who DON’T have health insurance also work full-time.

                    • Bella

                      Sure you do, sweetie. ;-)

                    • let them eat change

                      What, were you 4 when Hillary fought for single payer? Don’t you understand that she had the COURAGE to almost martyr her career for the cause that you have no historical insight about.

                    • let them eat change

                      Some of us are mentally ill and can’t afford it because of pre-existing conditions.

                    • let them eat change

                      Believe, where did you go? Does OB’s plan have nothing to say about the mentally ill?

                • elise

                  Well, believe, I was almost convinced you really feel their pain. So silly of me. I hope your “package” is secure enough to survive if Obama becomes president.

              • HARP

                Bella… lol…I pretend to work. They pretend to pay me.

                • Bella

                  I pretend to work

                  Hehehehe… that you Obama? :-)

        • Hope Floats

          Clinton’s plan was not to expand Medicare; that’s what Obama wants to do. She wanted to make the healthcare that Congress enjoys available to all Americans. People could choose their own plans or keep the ones they were happy with.

    • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

      You can argue from now until Obama’s defeat in November, but the bottom line is that no matter what pretty promises Obama makes or puts on his website, he is a liar and a flip-flopper, so we don’t really have any idea what he would do if elected — except put a lot of people like Rezko and Ayers in charge of our government.

    • Northwest rain

      Mrs. Obama is making money from the Health care system — so much that Mr.&Mrs. Obama can buy a Mansion.

      Obama has NO (zero) interest in universal health care — he would lose his gravy train express.

      Obama is a fraud — he is in the Green (money) class and he wants more of the green stuff — he could care less about any of the issues listed in this article. I doubt he spends any time at all trying to understand the problems — he’ll merely copy from someone else.

      He is not creative and he is not a deep thinker. All Obama thinks about is Obama — he is by, for and about Obama (or whatever his real name is).

    • memyself&i

      I would like the government to give me a tax credit to buy my own private health insurance. If they said I had to join one of several government funded private insurance plans, that would be okay too. If I ever find myself unemployed or too poor to pay taxes, I hope the government will still let me sign on to one of those private plans at little or no cost until I get back on my feet. What I don’t want is for the government to take my taxes and force a DMV-style health care system on me. Rich politicians have the money, clout, and connections to get better care and access while I get a number, fill out lots of forms, and wait and wait and wait….no thank you.

  • http://puma caligirl

    Obamaba will lose big time in November hahahaha

    • Northwest rain

      Of course Obama will lose — sane people won’t and can’t vote for Obama. And most people in the US are sane — the exceptions are the Obamabutt trolls. Perhaps the trolls should lobby for mental health care coverage — but then I’d bet anything that the sucker trolls aren’t getting health insurance.

  • http://puma caligirl

    go look at the AOL straw poll- all 50 states are red!

    • believe

      Do you know what a straw poll is?

      It’s a poll that has no way of getting a representative sample. That’s what the Literary Digest used when they predicted a big landslide for Roosevelt’s opponent. Then FDR won all states except for ME and VT (which were strong Republican states then).

      So who would care what a straw poll would say? You got to look at a) broadly representative national polls and b) state polls.

      http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
      http://www.pollster.com/08-US-Pres-GE-MvO.php
      http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

      • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

        Ooooh. Look. Obama is ahead, just like President Kerry was. Oh, nevermind.

        • believe

          Well, of course polls can change. However, actually Kerry wasn’t ahead in July 2004.

          And straw polls are the exemplar of worthless trash.

          • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

            Funny how you Obamabutts opinion of polls changes depending on how The Messiah is doing.

            And, apologies for pointing out you are just as full of crap as your Messiah, but the compilation of polls in July 2004 shows President Kerry leading Bush 291 to 247 electoral votes.
            http://electoral-vote.com/evp2004/jul/jul08.html

            And look — President Kerry is even further ahead (298 to 231) in November, well, until that nasty old election.

            At least Obama will have all those losers who helped him steal the nomination to console him in his time of grief when he loses just like they did (only probably even worse).

      • elise

        Thank you, believe, for providing some humor to this serious discussion. Does anyone here know more than you? A straw poll is like taking your temperature every day. Don’t you wonder when Obama will heat up? Straw polls are automated which some statisticians believe create more accuracy.

        Have you noticed how the RealClear polls are an average of all polling data? During the course of the primaries, the low to high spread was as much as fifteen to twenty percent. I wonder why they didn’t discard the high and low before they averaged? Zogby is usually included and they should be eliminated completely since the son of the founder is a vocal Obama supporter.

        I wouldn’t want to accuse them of tricking the numbers, but before one Primary, they showed Obama in the lead by ten percent and if you looked up the previous polls after the primary, they showed Hillary leading by ten which was the actual outcome.

        Oh well, I’m sure you can explain the discrepancy because you are so smart and so rich.

      • memyself&i

        I look at straw polls as a measurement of enthusiasm. People who will take the time out to do it will probably take the time out to vote, to volunteer for his or her candidate, to get others out to vote, etc. It is good to see so many people are enthusiastic supporters of McCain.

  • s. hall

    believe — except for one thing — Obama is a liar. How can you believe a liar?

    • believe

      Most of the things you call lies are not lies.

      http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/50lies.asp

      • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

        Yes they are. Just a variation on the old joke. How do you tell Obama is lying? His lips are moving.

        • elise

          So good Marcy.

          • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

            Thank you.

  • s. hall

    caligirl–from your mouth to God’s ears.

  • Roger De Bris

    Cutting the space program should be a deal breaker for anyone. Cutting entitlements that are now 65% of the annual budget are are growing is where the cuts should come from.

    Obama has sponsored the Global Poverty Act in the Senate, hopefully that one never gets out of Committee. That would create yet another boondoggle entitlement for the UN, not the US , to spread around on poverty reduction programs. We all know what a great custodian the UN is of money. We would be lucky to see one tenth of one cent out of every dollar reach the needy recipient.

    It’s great that Exxon Mobil made $40b in profits. That’s were the money comes from for investing in R&D for new energy technologies and building those nuclear plants. A company can not invest what it does not earn, and companies are in the business of staying in business, so they will invest. If you don’t believe the oil companies are interested in investing in new non-oil technologies for their own future, one need only look to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

    • jwrjr

      Cutting the space program would be a bad idea verging on suicidal. Who is ready to do without long term weather forecasts? Or GPS? Or even satellite TV (which describes most of it outside of the local channels)? One other point – the space program is responsible for much medical technology and even the inventions leading up to the computers we use to read these posts and enter our replies. All of this is done with a small fraction of the federal budget. Does any sane person want to throw this away?

      • memyself&i

        There is a reason China, India, and Russia are all investing in their space programs. I think of the space program as part of our national defense so I don’t see ignoring it or cutting funding for it. McCain understands the importance to our economy and security to explore space.

        I am not surprised Obama has NO plan for space. Watch him come up with something now though. He has to pretend like he cares in the general election to get moderates and independent voters. His disregard for the space programs is the same type of attitude that has led us into the oil crisis we are in today. Obama has NO clue, NO solutions, only grandiose speeches day after day about himself…his patriotism, his dignity, his national service, his faith, etc.

        • Hope Floats

          It’s a lot of jobs, too. We can’t even fill all the space jobs, or at least we couldn’t a decade ago. A friend of mine works for NASA in LA. He is getting his US citizenship, because they told him the government is cutting back on visas. He has worked for NASA almost ten years (nanotechnology.) I can’t imagine what cutting the space program would do to the economy.

          • memyself&i

            Good point about all the jobs. It would be sad if we let another industry die in this country. It really is about our economic and national security as well as the progress of human understanding about the world we live in.

            Listening to his national service speech, I wonder why he thinks only that type of labor helps the world or mankind? Aerospace contributes a lot to society.

  • http://puma caligirl

    Well believe if you think we should all get health insurance then you couldn’t possibly be supporting Obamba because that is not his policy. That was Hillary’s.

    • believe

      No, it wasn’t Hillary’s. Hillary wanted everyone to buy private insurance and she would have fined people if they didn’t.

      And I don’t think Obama’s proposal (nor Clinton’s) is exactly the one I would put in place. But I also think they are both far, far better than McCain’s. I’m supporting the candidate who is closer to what I prefer, not the one who has a terrible health care policy.

      • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

        Can’t you stop lying about Hillary? Her program made affordable care available to everyone and required them to get it. That crap about “she’s going to fine you” made solely to scare low-income people into thinking Obama gave a shit about them was scummy then, and it’s still scummy since the old boys in the Party Formerly Known as Democratic raped and murdered her campaign.

        Have you no decency? Okay, that’s a stupid question. You obviously don’t, since you are on here lying.

        McCain ’08. Hillary ’12. Stephanie Tubbs Jones ’20. Chelsea ’28. Obama never.

      • Teakwood

        You really bought the farm with that one.

        “fined people”?

  • http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com Uppity Woman

    I have been meaning to do a blog on Obama’s bogus health care No Plan.

    Obama’s Health care plan is useless and, in fact, keeps things exactly the way they are.

    For starters, in deference to Health Care Insurers, Obama says that he isn’t going to “interfere with states”– as if the states are going to do the magic changey thing. Whomever put his plan together either has woefully inadequate knowledge of how States operate–or is in the pocket of the Health Care Insurers. In MANY states, the state legislators are in the back pocket of health care insurers. Barack Obama clearly also does not know that some states forbid by law that their residents cross state lines to get health insurance cheaper. This means they not only cannot purchase “congressional health care plan” Obama says will be an “option,” but they cannot shop beyond the state. This means that health care insurers in these states will happily gobble up any “Supplementary incentives” and STILL continue to raise rates– and the state ‘leaders’ won’t do a thing about it. Leaving things to the states is tantamount to leaving things just as they are.

    And telling someone proudly that you will reduce the yearly cost of health insurance by $2500 shows a REAL lack of understanding of exactly how much a single pay health insurance policy costs. I am convinced that Obama hasn’t got Clue One about what a single pay health care policy costs, because he is so accustomed to getting government freebee insurance of the best kind. In my state, you would pay 2k Per Month for a family HMO policy that will surely let you die if you sign on and get sick. And that’s a fact. I can assure you that a family that can’t afford $24,000 a year cannot afford $21,500 a year. A single pay for a single person for that same policy is roughly $900 per month.

    Giving “incentives” to states is tantamount to giving the health insurers another freebee, while they still raise the rates double digits to make up for the people Barack Obama says don’t have to get insurance if they don’t want to. Somebody has to pay for them. That means the rest of us. That means higher rates. Much higher rates.

    I won’t even get into the fact that he has said NOTHING specific about how he intends to reduce cost that will stop Health care insurers from raising rates yearly over the already obnoxious rates.

    This is not universal health care at all. It is a No Health Care Plan. The 50 million people who are not insured now won’t be able to be insured under Barky’s plan either. They won’t be able to afford it even with his pissant $2500 promise. In fact, John McCain will give me a $5k write off. Hell, I’m better of with his plan.

    Worthless. Simply Worthless. Obama should be laughed off the platform when he talks about his No Plan.

    • believe

      Multiple misrepresentations, whether willful or not.

      And in any case, with Clinton’s health care policy advisor working for him now and Elizabeth Edwards and HRC on board, the plan will get closer to what Clinton proposed soon.

      • let them eat change

        I am so glad you’re back to answer: What the hell does “believe” mean?

      • Bella

        Too funny! After Obama used Republican tactics to attack Hillary’s plan, now he wants to copy it.

        What a FRAUD!

        • believe

          They’re all politicians. I sure didn’t expect any different.

          And if you’re waiting for a perfect candidate, good luck!

          • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

            We’re not waiting for the perfect candidate. We’re just going to vote for the one who’s not a lying sack of shit.

            McCain ’08. Hillary ’12. Stephanie Tubbs Jones ’20. Chelsea ’28. Obama never.

            • believe

              McCain is a major league flip-flopper:

              The past couple of weeks have been especially difficult when it comes to McCain flip-flops.

              * McCain supported the drilling moratorium; now he’s against it.

              * McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.

              * McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.

              * McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)

              Wait, I’m not done with the last two weeks yet….

              * McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.

              * McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.

              * He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”

              * McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.

              And these come after these other reversals from April and May:

              * McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.

              * McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.

              * McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.

              * McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.

              * McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.

              * He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.

              * McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.

              * He wanted political support from radical televangelists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.

              * McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.

              And these are the flip-flops I’ve noticed earlier:

              * McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”

              * McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.

              * McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.

              * In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.

              * McCain has changed his economic worldview on multiple occasions.

              * McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions.

              * McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.

              * McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off than they were before Bush took office.

              * McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.

              * McCain believes his endorsement from radical televangelist John Hagee was both a good and bad idea.

              * McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.

              * McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal.

              * In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.

              * McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.

              * McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.

              * On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own legislation.

              * In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.

              * McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”

              * McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”

              * McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

              * McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.

              * McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.

              * McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.

              * On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.

              * In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.

              * McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.

              * McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.

              * McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.

              * McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.

              * McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.

              * McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.

              http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15924.html

              • WildChild

                It took McCain years to change his positions.

                LOL It took BOBO the month of June.

                • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

                  And sometimes he can do it two or three times within five minutes. But the Obamabutts are so stupid they think that’s a good thing — look, he’s more two-faced than McCain. How kewl!

              • Northwest rain

                HEY ASSHOLE — nobody reads this cut and past — we skip past the obamabutt crap.

                • UKforDems

                  Comment by Northwest rain | 2008-07-02 23:35:32

                  HEY ASSHOLE — nobody reads this cut and past — we skip past the obamabutt crap.

                  Well you do not – I guess it must be hard to when you have to look through a white sheet.

              • memyself&i

                I agree with Wild Child that McCain’s position has evolved over time while Obama’s positions have flipped-flopped in a matter of days and weeks (since the primary ended to be exact).

                Most of that list is inaccurate. Take the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca. McCain went to Nevada where there is strong opposition to nuclear power and told the voters he would build 45 nuclear power plants by 2030, in addition to the development of other alternative power. Obama said he was against nuclear power, now he said he might be for it if…but maybe not, blah, blah, blah,

                Recently, McCain said that if the world agreed to store nuclear waste at another area, then the US might participate in that, making Yucca a non-issue. He did not say he no longer supported the waste site at Yucca. As things stand, he supports the waste site at Yucca.

                You can study all the issues carefully and see that a lot of what is written is inaccurate.

                • Hope Floats

                  Or ethanol. McCain has always been against ethanol subsidies. He has only warmed up to its viability over time, and we all know it doesn’t go far. A little bit starves a lot of people. (Obama loves ethanol.)

                  • memyself&i

                    Exactly. It is true, McCain is both for and against ethanol. He opposes corn-based ethanol and supports cane-based ethanol, and I think he might support cellulose-based ethanol but I am not sure.

                    McCain has been against subsidies for corn because he thinks corn-based ethanol cannot be efficiently produced and it would drive food prices up. I believe he supported the import of cane-based ethanol from Brazil and other countries. It is cheaper than oil and is pretty clean.

                    I am still trying to learn more about his energy policy. At least he has a plan unlike Obama. He just blames us for eating too much and keeping our thermostat on too high. I think McCain is gathering more information each day so he can improve his energy plan.

            • http://deleted imustprotest

              I love your time line of presidental future!

        • Hope Floats

          So, wait. A candidate had a superior plan. She devoted her life to UHC. Obama lied to people who could have been helped by her plan, misrepresented it deliberately, hoping they would vote for him.

          Then once she’s out of the race, he wants to copy her plan. Correction. He says he wants to copy her plan. Then you say we’re too hung up on the perfect politician.

          How about actual experience and ideas? We wanted to vote for the person who had real vision and leadership. But she was the wrong color or had the wrong last name. I honestly don’t know what you ever saw in Obama. But the best you can come up with at this late stage in the game is, “Get over it. He’s a liar. Maybe he’ll try real hard.” You can see why this site has absolutely no respect for this fraud.

      • HARP

        Yep. Your guy is a real gem for the little people.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeC8BE-2T_k

      • tampagurl

        Believe, we will all have to pay for our own health insurance under Obama’s plan, but that’s not the problem. The problem is we won’t be able to receive care because the providers will be flooded with all the illegals that would now have free health care through Obama’s plan.

      • elise

        Except he isn’t going to be elected. Even, if by some fluke, he should be he will not steal Hillary’s plan because he has no interest in or intention of implementing any health care plan.

    • http://theheraclitanfire.blogspot.com/ craigdp

      Thanks, Uppity Woman, there’s a lot more to be said in re health care, this is just a quick scan of the positions. For starters we might want to talk about universal health care in the context of business competitiveness. US companies are saddled with the cost of paying for health care whilst their competitors don’t pay a dime. For this reason alone we should enact single-payer immediately.

      • believe

        I agree and companies are realizing that they would benefit in terms of competitiveness. GM is getting killed in their coverage of health care for retirees. Single payer would be best!

        I wish Obama would pursue that but, still, his plan is SO much better than McCain’s.

        • blankscreenobama

          Are you still here? and with UK idiot this is going to be fun..

        • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

          You don’t know anything about how Obama’s plan would be, because nothing Obama says can be relied on. He lies and flip-flops so often, he sometimes takes two different positions on the same issue within the space of a few hours.

          From his past behavior, however, we can predict a couple of things about what he would do in the unlikely event he is able to steal the GE. First, what he would do would not in any way benefit any ordinary citizen but would make some or many insurance companies who had supported his campaign fabulously wealthy.

          Second, he would put one of his criminal cronies in charge of the program. Any health care program put in place by Obama would do for people needing health care what Rezko’s low income housing apartments did for people needing a place to live.

          The only difference between Obama and McCain on this issue is that McCain is not lying to us. So I’ll be voting for McCain, since he is, unlike Obama, at least in some respects qualified to be President.

        • Hope Floats

          Even though he was answered thoroughly up thread, “believe” just pops back in and makes a fallacious argument: Obama has a health plan. Liar.

      • elise

        No, Craig, we do not need to talk about health care in terms of business competitiveness. We need to talk about the millions of people in this country who are ill or have children with health problems and can’t afford health care or medicine.

        There was a BBC report last month about an Australian man, Steve Brock. He bought an old WW11 plane a few years ago and equipped it with medical supplies and volunteer doctors, dentists and other health care professionals and began to fly to third world countries to provide medical services.

        Now 60% of his time and resources are devoted to service for American Citizens who have no access to medical, dental or visual care. I provided a link to the story below. I have never felt such shame for our country and if you don’t mind shedding a few tears for the unkept promises of the United States of America, I recommend you read the story.

        Take your business competition (another word for protect the wealthy and ignore the poor) and shove it.

        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7420744.stm

    • sic721

      And out of those 47 million people without
      health insurance, 12-15 million are
      illegal immigrants who Obarfme wants to
      “give them the exact same coverage I receive
      here in the Senate”.

      • HARP

        I started out with nothing & still have most of it left.

      • UKforDems

        Comment by sic721 | 2008-07-02 20:57:54

        And out of those 47 million people without
        health insurance, 12-15 million are
        illegal immigrants who Obarfme wants to
        “give them the exact same coverage I receive
        here in the Senate”.

        That is a “misspeak”. The 47 million number does not include illegal immigrants, or the millions of others with plans so basic that they are worthless.

  • justsomeone

    Roger De Bris, Not only is The Global Poverty Act already out of committee (FRC) it’s been passed by the house, so now it’s up to the Senate & POTUS.

  • fred

    On a lighter note
    Hillary, marry me baby Video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFBiUfne9WY

    • http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html Hillary’sSimplytheBest

      Thanks, for that one.

  • http://nad Dan

    In 4 years we could have Hillary’s plan

  • k in the northwest

    I think its kind of funny —- Even the bias media that has been pushing Obama since the beginning dont really know where Obama stands on most policies.

    I wonder if anyone could actually give the public a honest rundown of Obama’s policy. I bet Obama cant.

    • Roger De Bris

      BO has clearly, distinctly and succinctly given the public an honest assessment. toquote from his own book:

      “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”

      • memyself&i

        Being a blank screen is a double edge sword. At first people project whatever they want in a leader onto him but when they see he is all things to everybody (a flip-flopping, lying panderer), he becomes everyone’s worse political nightmare.

    • blankscreenobama

      Thats why I started getting scarred after the way they treated Hillary and I wasn’t a fan until now. but I knew if they treated her that bad..and she didnt back down; she could not be that bad. Now I know because of the fans that loves her. she rocks

      • believe

        Yes, as Obama said last Friday – She rocks, she rocks.

        And she’s supporting Obama because he’s so much better than McCain.

        • Roger De Bris

          In the primaries, and the RNC is using this as an ad now, Clinton said on day one McCain brings a lifetime of experience to the White House, Obama brings a speech he wrote two years ago.

          She is giving the appearance of supporting Obama because of the (D) after her name. SHe doesn’t want to pull a Lieberman and go independent. She is still playing party politics. Also she hasn’t released her delegates yet either, she is showing tepid support at best until she can get something out of BO, like debt relief.

          • believe

            Folks say all sorts of things in primaries, each and every year, and then they support the nominee. That’s the norm.

            She’s definitely a political pro and can easily shift to support the nominee, knowing that it’s typical say things in the nomination fight you have to retract later.

            • elise

              In your dreams. I don’t know who “they” are, but they are wrong. I have probably been involved in more elections than you and I can tell you this is about so much more than Hillary. What were you saying about her two months ago and did she suddenly “rock” or has she always “rocked”. You are filling in the blanks here, trying to change what was, is and will be. Believe? What was your name before? I can’t tell you how repulsive your hypocrisy is and your belief in your superiority over others is nauseating.

              • http://deleted imustprotest

                Very well said, Elise, I hope believe was hearing and listening.

            • Northwest rain

              SHUT the fuck up “believe” — you are in need of your medicine!

              Go away and go to hell.

              You unpatriotic sons of bastards.

            • Hope Floats

              This was not your typical primary. Hillary is a thousand times better an option than Obama, and McCain is an excellent second choice.

        • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

          How can Obama accept support from Bill and Hillary Clinton after accusing them both of being racists? Has he no pride? Is he going to seek support from David Duke next? Or does this just demonstrate what a lying dirty politician he is?

        • elise

          Would you be interested in some of the other things he has said about her? Hillary is doing what she thinks is right and she gave her word. That sort of thing doesn’t matter much to Obama and his lovely wife Michele who said she would have to think about supporting Hillary if she won the nomination.

          Sen. Clinton is so far above Obama in every way and I respect her and the courage it takes to stand on the same stage with that lesser man. However, I didn’t give my word and I will use my precious vote to protest against the rotting, corrupt DNC.

    • WildChild

      The BOBOweenies used to be able to give us lists of BOBOpositions during the primaries. But since BOBO started changing all his positions his faithful haven’t been producing these lists anymore.

  • anonymous

    Larry Sinclair says some news is breaking on Rense at 10:30 PM Eastern.

    To listen go here and click on Network 3.

    It appears Webster Griffin Tarpley is the guest. You may recall No Quarter published one of his articles here:

    FREE LARRY SINCLAIR, OBAMA’S POLITICAL PRISONER

    • anonymous

      Apparently Tarpley is the guest but Sinclair is cutting in for 10 minutes and will announce his Delaware attorney is backing out of representing him.

      • A. Nony Mouse

        I guess even lawyers have their standards.,,

        • anonymous

          We have a right to legal representation, innocent until proven guilty and all that constitutional stuff if that matters anymore in America.

          • A. Nony Mouse

            Innocent until proven guilty?

            You mean, like with all those allegations about Barack Obama?

            Interesting concept. I’ll try to give that some thought.

            • anonymous

              I don’t assume Obama did anything. I also do not assume Sinclair is making the allegations up. I treat them both the same. It is always a mistake to assume without sufficient facts.

              • let them eat change

                Rightfully so, it has made a donkey out of you and me.

    • http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html Hillary’sSimplytheBest

      Poor Larry’s getting screwed royally by this lawyer. Looks like some corrupt stuff is going on in the state of Delaware to block LS’s right to council.

      • anonymous

        Based on what has been reported that is a possibility. I am hoping an attorney steps forward to represent him.

  • Chicago Joe

    George W. Obama
    ABC News’ Rick Klein counts the ways that Barky measures up to Shrub.
    http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/george-w-obama.html

    • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

      How many volumes did that take?

    • believe

      Of course you could just xerox Bush’s positions and you’d have McCain’s platform.

      • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

        Wrong again, poor little Obamabutt. Obama has stolen Bush’s campaign slogans, his dirty style of campaigning, and now his faith-based programs. Does Obama have no original thoughts at all?

  • believe

    If Obama’s doing so badly, why is the McCain campaign being forced to run ads in Virginia, a state that hasn’t gone Democratic in a presidential race since 1964?

    And here’s another interesting story:

    Republican strategists are worried that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will make a very positive impression and burnish his international credentials when he takes his much-ballyhooed foreign trips in the coming weeks.

    “It has the potential to be a big plus for Obama,” says a senior Republican who has advised several presidents over the years. “The American people know we are not liked overseas anymore, and it bothers them. People feel that Obama could help change that.”

    http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/campaign-2008/2008/07/02/gop-fears-that-obama-will-get-a-boost-from-foreign-travel_print.htm

    • http://marcysmutiny.blogspot.com MessyMarcy

      At least you are linking to a real news source, not some Obamablog. But then again, you are linking to the MSM. We concede the MSM is in the tank for Obama, just like they were for the person Obama is exactly like, George W. Bush. And voters don’t want another four years of an unqualified, petulant, spoiled brat in the White House. So McCain will win, and you’ll have to get a real job.

  • blankscreenobama

    Hey I am a con. but if I make a pledge that I will vote
    for Hillary over McCain if they run, can I be a PUMA?

    I would be proud

    • blankscreenobama

      You woman and men ROCK

  • anonymous

    Is this the source of the pandering to faith based groups? I don’t see the evangelicals ever backing Obama due to his 20 years in Wright’s church.

    Conservative evangelicals discuss backing McCain

    Conservative evangelical leaders met privately this week to discuss putting aside their misgivings about John McCain and coalescing around the Republican’s presidential bid while urging him to consider social conservative favorite Mike Huckabee as a running mate.

    About 90 of the movement’s leading activists gathered Tuesday night in Denver for a meeting convened by Mathew Staver, who heads the Florida-based legal advocacy group Liberty Counsel.

    Many evangelical leaders backed other GOP candidates early on and remain wary of McCain’s commitment to their causes and his previous criticisms of movement leaders. But with the presidential field now set, many evangelical leaders are taking a more pragmatic view, realizing also that the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, is making a strong play for evangelical voters and talking freely about his faith.

    “Our shared core values compel us to unite and choose the presidential candidate that best advances those values,” said Staver, who previously backed Huckabee’s bid. “That obvious choice is Sen. John McCain. I think people left the meeting in unity the likes of which have not been evident through the primaries.”

  • catseye

    McCain says in a new TV ad: “Let’s give every American family a $5,000 refundable tax credit” to buy health insurance.

    Sounds good. But McCain failed to mention how existing employer-sponsored health benefits would be affected.

    • Workers would be taxed on the value of any employer-paid health benefits, partially offsetting the $5,000 credit for those now covered by such plans.

    • Experts say a tax credit plan like this would likely cause companies to reduce or eliminate health benefits for their employees.

    The aim of the McCain plan is to reduce health care costs through increased competition, by encouraging individuals to shop around for health insurance and medical care. There are many who favor such an approach, and we take no position on it one way or the other. But McCain’s simplistic ad misleads viewers by promising to give “every American family” a $5,000 benefit while failing to mention what he would also take away.
    Analysis

    http://www.factcheck.org/mccains_5000_promise.html

    Experts say the health care plans put forth by Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are very similar – and Obama himself has said his proposal has 95 percent in common with hers. But that other 5 percent is a source of contention.

    The debate between Obama and Hillary’s health care hinges on one real difference in their proposals: Clinton’s includes an individual mandate that would require everyone to obtain health insurance; Obama’s plan only mandates that children have it.

    Hillary will be work with Obama on his health care plan. It is a matter of her heart and she ask everyone who voted for her to support Obama so that they together can get a meaningful health care plan passed.

    • Dawnelle

      LMAO! Pastor Manning’s JUST released message to BILL CLINTON.

      says don’t let Barack pimp your wife! LOL

      • anonymous

        And Pastor Manning has this new video as well:

        The Historical & Traditional Ignorance of Black people

      • http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html Hillary’sSimplytheBest

        what’s a mac daddy?

        • let them eat change

          Thank the lord almighty jesus, this was the only smile, chuckle, and laugh out loud that I have had all day.

      • Hope Floats

        I love Pastor Manning! “He’s sitting up there on that stool like Iceberg Slim. Don’t let him put your wife on the stroll, President Clinton. Keep your dignity. Keep your woman.” AMEN!

    • candymarl

      Yeah I believe it. Just like they promised not to go after politicians that didn’t immediately jump on the Obama bandwagon.

      What’s that you say? They promised Hillary they wouldn’t do that and did it anyway? What a shocker.

  • k in the northwest

    Has anyone gotten a phone survey about the election…
    I just did and stated that I was NOT voting for Obama.
    They said they were an indepent firm out of NY yet the phone is no a NY phone #—In fact its a new cell phone according Whitepages.com Anyone a subcriber to reverse phone number directory….This is all the information I could get..

    (205) 705-3099Type: Cell Phone
    Provider: New Cingular Wireless Pcs, Llc
    Location: Birmingham, AL

    • Bella

      I had one asking all about energy and oil. In the middle they asked what I thought of Al Gore.

      They said they were calling from OR. I didn’t check the caller id tho.

    • Northwest rain

      We’re getting harassed by Obama representative demanding a donation.

      I told the idiot to go to hell.

      We no longer respond to any survey.

  • blankscreenobama

    Is it OK for a con to be a PUMA this is your movement.
    It is like Paul about the Gentiles.

  • blankscreenobama

    No I was never a Dem but I saw the light on the road.

    • blankscreenobama

      To Dimascus
      sorry for the spelling even the spell check cant fix that

      • http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html Hillary’sSimplytheBest

        maybe you meant dimasskiss? lol

      • elise

        It’s Damascus. If you are currently in prison, you can’t vote. If you’re a felon, you will not be able to vote when you get out. If you are not a con or ex-con and are lying, God will in all probability, strike you with lightening and I’m sure someone at PUMA will say a prayer for your soul.

  • Mary

    Has anyone read Larry Sinclair’s posting today? His lawyer backed out at the last minute because of pressure. Larry needs help. Can anyone help him?

    • B from Bloomington

      That stinks. The lawyer signed an agreement and then backed out at the last minute.

      • http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html Hillary’sSimplytheBest

        Is that legal?

    • sowsear

      His court appearance is scheduled for 8:30AM tomorrow and the lawyer didn’t call until after 5PM, knowing that he couldn’t get another lawyer on such short notice. So much for Joe Biden and his son the AG in DE.
      How about the ACLU? They should be willing to help Larry and they don’t have to worry about retribution from BO’s camp/other lawyers. (Didn’t I read today that BO’s biggest donors are lawyers?)

      • elise

        The ACLU probably wouldn’t get involved unless there is a question about the original charges against him. The court will have to appoint a public defender or postpone until he can arrange for another attorney. He can file a complaint with the Bar Association, but lawyers are good at covering their asses. I don’t know if what he charges against Obama is true or not, but he was definitely set up at his press conference. The National Press Club could not afford to refuse him the right to present his case because they would have been accused of violating his First Amendment Rights, but someone arranged for the sheriff to be there to arrest him afterwards.

    • Hope Floats

      The lawyer in the kilt with the big stuff?

      • B from Bloomington

        No, THAT lawyer would have had the balls to go through with it. The lawyer that won’t is Richard Wier, former Attorney General of Delaware and buddy to bo pals Joe Biden and his son the current Attorney General of Delaware.

  • Andrew

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q50wYU0RgLk&feature=email

    This is what Obama’s full coverage plan will be covering. NOBAMA!!!

  • B from Bloomington

    These dirt articles are crap. Wasn’t sure if I would vote 3rd party or McCain. These articles have sealed my vote for McCain.

    The reason obamabots are hanging out here is because their candidate is losing ground and they know it.

  • candymarl

    Hey you gay folks and Roe v Wade supporters. Step right up to the new Obama Funhouse Emporium.

    First he’ll be for gay rights and then he’ll have people that “cure” gays as his backdrop.

    While he’s at it he’ll have all kind of faith-based folks (only the good ones of course) that he’ll give massive amounts of money to. Just like G W Bush! They won’t object to Roe v Wade! Honest!

  • Mary

    Larry Sinclair’s lawyer backed out at the last minute because of what he was saying about Obama and the Bidens. He also told him no lawyer in Delaware would help him. Larry will have to appear in court tomorrow with no counsel.

    • Teakwood

      Counsel will be appointed and a continuance granted. The court date will be “down the road” …

    • Hope Floats

      So it was the Bidens stirring the pot? Thought so.

    • elise

      Shakespeare’s Henry VI: “First thing lets do is lets kill all the lawyers.”

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KZ2afBtLU mi5

    Does his health care plan include something for whitey?

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39KZ2afBtLU mi5

    Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All”

    For all? Does that include whitey?

  • k in the northwest

    I wonder if someone talked to Someone connected with Manning, Hannity or ??? could Sinclair get a lawyer?

  • socalannie

    Craig, great post! I greatly appreciate having these comparisons between the two candidates laid out this way. Thanks for taking the time to do this for us!

  • glennmcgahhee

    Tennessee had a healthcare program like to one that Obama describes. Anyone could buy into the state’s medicaid program which was called Tenncare. The problem was that the only people that bought into the program were people that couldn’t get healthcare any other way because of pre-existing conditions. The program could not be sustained because the people who needed it were the sickest and the healthy folks did not need to buy in. Within 3 or 4 years, the state was broke and had to dis-continue the program and everyone, including the very sick were thrown out. The only people that were left covered were those with children. Like Hillary said, it only works if everybody is in it and pays in. Alot of sick people were left to fend for themselves and the end of the program was decided by a Democrat Governor, Phil Bredesen.