here

http://www.economist.com/vote2008/?source=hpevents&source=hpevents

In an unofficial poll of ONLY our CTer's abroad that are non-US Citizens, if you could vote in this upcoming Presidential election, who would you like to see elected to the office?

[ 10-25-2008: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

P.S. No real reason to put a 'why' to your vote. Just vote. We certainly will be here in the US in 10 days. Early voting has already started. And what we elect could change the world forever. I got my West Virginia Voters Registration Card in the mail today. I am so excited. This is going to be historic!!!

P.S.S. If you do vote a bit of demographic info may be appreciated, i.e. age group (18-25, 25-40, 40-65, 65 and older) and sex (M or F).

[ 10-25-2008: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:

P.S. No real reason to put a 'why' to your vote. Just vote. We certainly will be here in the US in 10 days. Early voting has already started. And what we elect could change the world forever. I got my West Virginia Voters Registration Card in the mail today. I am so excited. This is going to be historic!!!

[ 10-25-2008: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Get a paper ballot. West Virginia uses the Diebold voting machines which switch votes to the Republican party.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
Neither one is a prize. I'd pick Hillary Clinton

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
Bozo or Bonzo? I really think we are in for a very rough ride in the next 4 years. Very poor choices to run our country
F4

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Poor choices or good ones aside, it all comes down to this:

Can the United States afford or will it survive another four years of the failed economic, social and forigen policies of the Duh-bya administration?

Even if it can down to Senator Cranky McMaverick and Honky-tonk Mama Palin running against an untrained monkey and a penguin, I would vote for the pair with the higher intelligence quotient - the monkey and penguin.

A few of my predictions for whoever wins:

We won't be leaving Irag anytime soon and will keep forces there for as long as there is oil. The entire goal of that mess appears to have been to secure the supply of oil. We'll be there for as long as we have been in Europe or South Korea-I don't kid myself about that one.

Taxes won't/can't be raised until the economy stabilizes so no new/expanded social programs until that time.

Obama will have to scale back most if not all his historic social spending programs until the economy rebounds. After the $800 billion bailout, there is only so much socialism the country can afford-w/out massive tax increases

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:

Even if it can down to Senator Cranky McMaverick and Honky-tonk Mama Palin running against an untrained monkey and a penguin, I would vote for the pair with the higher intelligence quotient - the monkey and penguin.

Tim

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Here's a couple of bumper stickers I have tacked onto the back of my car...

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Originally posted by eroller:
Interesting. In the past I recall posts from you where you very much supported Bush so I assumed you were Republician? Perhaps I you confused with another poster? Ernie - has no bumper stickers

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:

I could write a book on how much I loathe our current President. Anytime he comes on TV I have to change channels. NOTHING he says, or reads off the peice of paper in front of him (he repeatedly looks down to get the next sentence), nothing ever seems to come from the HEART. He is an awful president. January 20, 2009, End of an Error.

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Alrighty then! I obviously have you confused with someone else unless you changed your position sometime during the last eight years.

Personally I have never been more disgusted with a President or an administration. I could not stomach Bush from day one and have never trusted him. What has always baffled me is why so many American's bought into his fear based agenda. It has often made me question the intelligence of this country. Even today people defend him and are willing to vote in "four more of the same McSame" and his sidekick Caribou Barbie. It's absolutely frightening to me. These people must be absolutely terrified of Obama getting elected. What they are so afraid of I don't know?

Based on the sorry state of our great nation and the last eight years, Obama should win in a landslide but I'm not so certain. Based on election results four years ago I have come to the realization that anything can happen. If Obama doesn't win and suspicious voter fraud is once again sighted, I think we can expect some rioting in our major cities.

I'm hoping November 4th will make history in several amazing ways (voter turnout, landslide election, etc), but I am also prepared for the worst (my one-way ticket to Sydney is ready to go!).

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Originally posted by eroller:
Alrighty then! I obviously have you confused with someone else unless you changed your position sometime during the last eight years.

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In 2000 I lived in NC, I wanted Al Gore to win. Was sure it was going to happen. It didnt. By 2004 I was so disgusted with the Bush Presidency for the first time in my life I registered to vote (I was 44 years old at the time). I voted for John Kerry.

Florida was mocked in this now classic episode of South Park (the 'Trapper Keeper' is a side line story). It's hilarious:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103902

[ 10-26-2008: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

Both sides will protect their own which makes me really not trust either side. Most politicians today seem to be corporatists w/little regard for the American worker and population in general.

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Al Gore for President
October 2000
Despite all the complaints about the difficulty of falling in love with either Al Gore or George W. Bush, these two very different men have delivered a clean, well-argued campaign that offers a choice between two sharply contrasting visions of the future. Even though Vice President Gore is a centrist Democrat and Governor Bush has presented himself as the most moderate Republican nominee in a generation, they have sketched very different pictures of the role of government and how actively the president should help families secure adequate education, health care and retirement. This is also the first presidential campaign in recent history centered on an argument over how best to use real, bird-in-the-hand resources to address age-old domestic problems while also defining the United States' role in a world evermore dependent on it for farsighted international leadership.

Having listened to their debate, we today firmly endorse Al Gore as the man best equipped for the presidency by virtue of his knowledge of government, his experience at the top levels of federal and diplomatic decision-making, and his devotion to the general welfare. We offer this endorsement knowing that Mr. Bush is not without his strong points and that Mr. Gore has his weaknesses. But the vice president has struggled impressively and successfully to escape the shadow of the Clinton administration's ethical lapses, and we believe that he would never follow Bill Clinton's example of reckless conduct that cheapens the presidency. Like Senator John McCain, Mr. Gore has been chastened by personal experience with sleazy fund-raising. He has promised to make campaign finance reform his first legislative priority, whereas Mr. Bush is unwilling to endorse the elimination of special-interest money from American politics.

We commend Mr. Bush for running a largely positive, inclusive campaign. He has not reviled government like Ronald Reagan in 1980 or played on divisive social themes as his father did in 1988. But on women's rights, guns and law-enforcement issues, he has a harsh agenda, and the centerpiece of his domestic program is a lavish tax cut for the rich that would negate the next Congress's once-in- a-century opportunity to move the country toward universal health care and stabilization of Social Security and Medicare.

Leadership

Mr. Bush has asked to be judged by something more than his positions. He offers himself as an experienced leader who would end the culture of bickering in Washington and use wisdom and resoluteness in dealing with domestic social problems and international crises. But his résumé is too thin for the nation to bet on his growing into the kind of leader he claims already to be. He does have great personal charm. But Mr. Bush's main professional experience was running a baseball team financed by friends and serving for six years as governor in a state where the chief executive has limited budgetary and operational powers. His three debates with Mr. Gore exposed an uneasiness with foreign policy that cannot be erased by his promise to have heavyweight advisers. John F. Kennedy, as a far more seasoned new president, struggled through the Cuban missile crisis while his senior advisers offered contradictory advice on how to confront a Soviet military threat on America's doorstep. The job description is for commander in chief, not advisee in chief.

The vice president has admitted to his limitations as a speaker. But Al Gore has a heart — and a mind — prepared for presidential-scale challenges. When it comes to the details of policy making, he will not need on-the-job training.

Taxes and the Economy

Preserving the nation's remarkable prosperity must be considered the thematic spine of this election. Mr. Gore helped stiffen Mr. Clinton's resolve to maintain the budgetary discipline that erased the federal deficit, stimulated productivity and invigorated the financial markets. Now, Mr. Gore and his running mate, Senator Joseph Lieberman, promise to maintain fiscal rigor while using the surplus on spending programs and tax breaks for the working families that profited least from the biggest boom in American history. More specifically, Mr. Gore would seize this opportunity to improve the environment and spend more money to hire teachers and build schools. We like his capitalism with a conscience more than the trickle-down sound of Mr. Bush's compassionate conservatism.

To be blunter, Mr. Bush's entire economic program is built on a stunning combination of social inequity and flawed economic theory. He would spend more than half the $2.2 trillion non-Social Security surplus on a tax cut at a time when the economy does not need that stimulus. Moreover, as Mr. Gore has said repeatedly and truthfully, over 40 percent of the money would go to the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers. Mr. Bush would expand some programs for schools, but he also embraces the Republicans' ideologically driven approach of using vouchers to transfer money from public to private schools. There is nothing compassionate or conservative about blowing the surplus on windfalls for the wealthy instead of investing it in fair tax relief and well-designed social programs.

The nation's biggest domestic need remains universal access to health care. Neither candidate would move as fast as we would like. But Mr. Gore has outlined steps that would start us down the road to covering the 45 million uninsured Americans. He would expand Medicare, guarantee prescription drugs for seniors and provide more opportunity for the uninsured to obtain coverage. Mr. Bush favors a bipartisan approach on these issues, but his proposals have seemed reactive rather than driven by an inner passion.

Mr. Gore's commitment to Social Security is deeply rooted, too, and more responsible. His proposal to supplement the system with personal investment retirement accounts is superior to Mr. Bush's plan to privatize part of the system. The governor's scheme would siphon money out of Social Security at the very moment when both seniors and younger taxpayers want to see long-term fixes to ensure its solvency.

Foreign Policy

Upon his arrival in Washington more than two decades ago, Mr. Gore set out to master the intricacies of arms control and foreign policy. He broke with his party to support the war against Iraq in 1991. He was an advocate of military force in the Balkans, and today he calls for a more muscular approach to using American forces to protect the country's security interests and prevent genocidal conflicts abroad.

We have expressed concern here that Mr. Gore might sometimes be too eager to project power overseas. But it is also true that Mr. Bush's repeated objections to using troops for peacekeeping and nation-building do not add up to a mature national- security vision. Neither does his promise to rely on his running mate, former Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, and his likely secretary of state, the retired general Colin Powell.

Mr. Gore will have advisers, but he will not need a minder. He understands that in order to influence the allies an American president must lead from the front. He has already been eye to eye with the world's leaders. While Mr. Bush has a contracting definition of national security, Mr. Gore has been in the forefront of redefining it to include issues of health and environment and the containment of regional conflicts that can metastasize into threats to world peace.

Rights and Values

Mr. Gore has said that abortion rights are on the ballot in this election. So are other issues such as civil liberties, environmental protection and gun control. The next president may appoint up to five Supreme Court justices and thereby exercise a lasting impact on the daily lives of Americans. A court tilted by conservative Bush appointees could overturn Roe v. Wade and assert a doctrine of states' rights that would take environmental protection out of federal hands. Ralph Nader and his supporters are not simply being delusional when they say there is no real difference between these candidates. They are being dishonest, and dangerously so.

Mr. Gore brings a lifelong record of protecting basic rights for women, minorities and gays, while Mr. Bush has almost no record at all. The vice president has been the driving force in this administration's environmental successes, and he understands the need for federal regulation for environmental tasks like saving the Everglades and for American leadership to combat global warming. Mr. Bush is for an unrealistic regimen of negotiating with industry on air and water problems and for letting the oil companies loose in sensitive areas.

The Real Choice

Most citizens know that Mr. Gore wins any comparison with Mr. Bush on experience and knowledge. Yet many voters seem more comfortable with Mr. Bush's personality and are tempted to gamble on him. We do not dismiss this desire for someone who they feel does not talk down to them and would come to the White House free of any connection to Mr. Clinton's excesses. But it is important to remember that the nation's prosperity, its environmental progress and its guarantees of civil rights and reproductive freedom took years to build. They could be undone in a flash by a pliable and inexperienced president driven by a highly ideological Congress.

Mr. Gore does have a tendency to be patronizing and to exaggerate. But he has a career of accomplishment that can stand on its own without exaggeration. Despite his uneven performance in the debates, the content of his campaign in these final days demonstrates how much he has grown in the last year. Voting for him is not a gamble on unknown potential.

We support Albert Gore Jr. with the firm belief that he will go just as far in bringing "honor and dignity" back to the White House as Mr. Bush, and that he will bring an extra measure of talent and conviction as well. His seriousness of purpose, his commitment to American leadership in the world and his concern for those less fortunate in American society convince us that he will lead the country into a creative, productive and progressive era at the beginning of the 21st century.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:

Here in California we have a far left (by US standards) state government that is'nt capable of running the World's 6th largest economy.

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Your Governor is a moderate Republican. I don't really consider that far left??

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Originally posted by eroller:

Your Governor is a moderate Republican. I don't really consider that far left??

Ernie

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Yes Arnold is thankfully a very moderate Republican (could even be called a conservative Democrat in the JFK tradition) but he has limited power against the left to far-left legislature. He is caught in the middle as the far-right loons and far-left loons don't trust him

[ 10-26-2008: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]

A President Gore would have faced the same financial mess as the situation started when the no-money down loans were being approved by Freddie and Fannie. Barney Frank (D), SEC Chair Chris Cox (R) and various Democrats and Republicans are directly responsible for the meltdown and as we well know-neither party will force real hearings on this matter as both parties are equally to blame.

[ 10-26-2008: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]

http://www.factcheck.org/

These are a real doosey doosey:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/spread_the_tax_hooey.html

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/there_he_goes_again.html

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/health_care_spin.html

And this site:

http://www.politico.com/

[ 10-27-2008: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
The financial mess has its roots in providing housing loans to people who could not afford them.
[ 10-26-2008: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]

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Let us add in 2004 Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley were allowed a 30-1 leverage ratio where most investment banks are 12-1. They bought the sub-prime loans and guess what, 3 of the 4 collapsed.