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One.More.Day

Tomorrow is America's day of reckoning. After eight long years of Bush failures and congressional GOP assistance, now is the time to make a correction and to make a statement. What will you tell your grandkids you did this year?

John McCain was supposed to be a "different" kind of Republican; a maverick. That you voted against his party from time to time shouldn't be a bragging point when your party has been so severely off the rails. McCain was supposed to run an honorable campaign; he knows better than most the damage a campaign of personal attacks can level. He then went out and hired the same people who called him a half-crazy Manchurian candidate and a race traitor. He paid those people with contributions from his supporters. That says all I need to know about his character, the way he's conducted his campaign should tell you all you need to know.

We've been lucky in the United States that the Vice President has had to assume to duties of the Chief Executive a relatively few times. We've also been lucky that in those rare times we've had someone in position who could competently assume those duties. We may not have agreed with their politics but we know that the world did not come crashing down once they stepped into office. Our Constitution only details TWO responsibilities for the Vice President: Break ties in the Senate and be able to assume the Presidency should the boss be unable to continue serving. Barack Obama picked a man who bolsters his ticket and provides decades of crucial experience in foreign policy, budgetary oversite, and cross-party negotiating. John McCain picked Sarah Palin.

One the right's favorite talking points is that Barack Obama talks a lot about change but doesn't provide any details. They must not have access to the Internet because his proposals are all available online. Check them out yourself.

There are a couple of key things you should know...

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Obama's Plan for Taxes

  • Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase. The typical middle class family will receive well over $1,000 in tax relief under the Obama plan, and will pay tax rates that are 20% lower than they faced under President Reagan. According to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama plan provides three times as much tax relief for middle class families as the McCain plan.
  • Families making more than $250,000 will pay either the same or lower tax rates than they paid in the 1990s. Obama will ask the wealthiest 2% of families to give back a portion of the tax cuts they have received over the past eight years to ensure we are restoring fairness and returning to fiscal responsibility. But no family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s. In fact, dividend rates would be 39 percent lower than what President Bush proposed in his 2001 tax cut.
  • Obama's plan will cut taxes overall, reducing revenues to below the levels that prevailed under Ronald Reagan (less than 18.2 percent of GDP). The Obama tax plan is a net tax cut – his tax relief for middle class families is larger than the revenue raised by his tax changes for families over $250,000. Coupled with his commitment to cut unnecessary spending, Obama will pay for this tax relief while bringing down the budget deficit.

    GET THE DETAILS:
    Full Obama Tax Plan
    Comparison of the Obama and McCain Tax Plans
    Key Facts About Obama and Taxes

    Obama's Plan for Iraq
    Barack Obama will responsibly end the war in Iraq:
    Immediately upon taking office, Obama will give his Secretary of Defense and military commanders a new mission in Iraq: successfully ending the war. The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased.

    Encourage political accommodation:
    Obama and Biden will press Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their future and to substantially spend their oil revenues on their own reconstruction.

    Increase stability in Iraq and the region:
    Obama and Biden will launch an aggressive diplomatic effort to reach a comprehensive compact on the stability of Iraq and the region. They also will address Iraq's refugee crisis.

    Obama's Plan to Jumpstart the Economy
    Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families:Barack Obama and Joe Biden will enact a windfall profits tax on excessive oil company profits to give American families an immediate $1,000 emergency energy rebate to help families pay rising bills. This relief would be a down payment on the Obama-Biden long-term plan to provide middle-class families with at least $1,000 per year in permanent tax relief.

    Provide $50 billion to Jumpstart the Economy and Prevent 1 Million Americans from Losing Their Jobs: This relief would include a $25 billion State Growth Fund to prevent state and local cuts in health, education, housing, and heating assistance or counterproductive increases in property taxes, tolls or fees. The Obama-Biden relief plan will also include $25 billion in a Jobs and Growth Fund to prevent cutbacks in road and bridge maintenance and fund school re­pair - all to save more than 1 million jobs in danger of being cut.

    Now compare the level of detail Obama provides against that of John McCain's campaign: Why Vote for John McCain. Good luck finding any details because there are none. There are a lot of accusations about what Obama's plans are and a lot of platitudes about "providing opportunity" and "rewarding work" and there's a hint of class warfare here in there by claiming Obama wants to provide a handout "40% of Americans who pay no taxes" but that's it.

    This country made two huge mistakes in 2000 and 2004 by electing and re-electing George W. Bush, an intellectually incurious and craven political hack who has undermined the Constitution of the United States of America and damaged our image abroad. Now's your chance to fix that.

    • Posted by Derek Phillips on November 3, 2008 10:54 AM |

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