A couple of points on the above. First, the "bill" at the center of the disagreement about whether Obama voted to increase taxes was not a tax bill, but a resolution. One of the assumptions in the resolution was that some tax cuts would be rolled back. So it is technically true that Obama did not vote to increase taxes with that measure, although the assumption was that the congress would do so at some point. And it is true that his current plan does not include anything like that. Second, when he talks about the % of people who will get a tax cut under his plan, he usually says "95% of working families," not 95% of households. Some people, including many retirees, who pay no taxes because their taxable income is below the threshold would not get a tax cut. They are already paying zero federal income tax, and would not get any refundable credits, hence no tax cut. That accounts for the difference between the 95% and 81% figures - it's 81% of all households, 95% of working families.
Good thing because this Friday's debate will be one for the history books. It is my hope that no one is treated as "fragile" in the upcoming VP one. I believe the moderator had a very hard time trying to get the candidates to debate, which they never did. Of course, had I been Obama I would have started out by saying "I would like to thank Senator McCain for resuming his campaign, since the bailout bill has been agreed upon and for him fitting this stop into his schedule." Had he started it off that way I could have just turned my television set off and known that my decision, already made, will never be second guessed by me on this election. Good morning, Sherry
My 2p on the debates... First off, I am so ticked. We had the grand-kids over Friday so I Tivo'd the debate on CSPAN so that I could watch it after they went to bed (I'd rather not have to hear the opinions of the talking heads, give me a direct feed without opinion). At about 10, they were out and I started watching the recording only to find that CSPAN had decided to put the debate on CSPAN-2. In short, I was only able to watch the last half of the debate. Both spoke very well, I don't think either threw a knock out (or even won by TKO). Actually, after hearing Mr. Obama speak in public (with out a teleprompter), I was surprised at his speaking Friday night. He seemed a little more at ease and didn't have as many "um" and "uh" time fillers. I did get a bit tired of McCain informing us of yet one more thing Mr. Obama doesn't understand. I equate that whole bit to the "Gore sigh" that was equally as annoying and condescending. All in all, for the most part, a good debate. I look forward to the next (and more so for the VP debate on Thursday)
Clif, Yes, I made a mistake on my Post above. The VP debate that I am looking forward to is on Thursday not Friday. Thanks, Sherry
McCain's condescending tone at times during the debate was a bit annoying. Obama's age old lumping him with Bush, Iraq War, blah, blah, blah has grown old. Nov. 4th please come and end this.
I almost typed Friday myself, but it didn't feel right so I looked it up. If you think it's going to end on November 4th, you haven't been paying attention to the last few elections.
Because I'm too lazy to start a McCain thread, here is a comment in from the N&O's McCain is a Leaner article. It made me laugh at least. When the South Rallies! A Democrat Socialist has observed that when Obama holds a rally 25,000-30,000 people show up, whereas when McCain holds one he only draws 10,000-15,000. A Middle Class Republican replied, "That's because McCain's supporters are at work."
