Another Political post

Alright, well I promised myself I wouldn't do this... but I have. I SWEAR in the next few weeks this will have more to do with my life and not politics! But, I have had too much time on my hands to do this "research", if that is what you want to call it. At work we have 30 people trying to learn so it takes forever to do anything. So basically, I'm just so good, that I am always one of the first done. I've started using google reader, which is a service where you subscribe to different news feeds and it brings them all to one place. It is a really good way to keep up with current events! You guys should become my "friend" on google and share interesting articles with me. Just make an account, and at "kurtiswh@gmail.com" and you should be able to see my "shared" stuff.

Ok, well, this is about Obama again. While I'm not a huge fan of either of the main candidates, Obama is by far the bigger "evil", imo. On my "feed" I have the Democratic National Convention blog and the Republican blog. I love reading both b/c you get 2 different sides. Today on the DNC blog, they hammered John McCain for saying he would stay in Iraq as long as required. This isn't anything new, so I didn't understand why it was such a huge issue today, instead of the fact that Obama's top VP advisor stepped down, but that is a different issue.

What I want to talk about is Obama's "Iraq plan", or lack of it. Obama's only plan for Iraq is "withdraw" now. When asked about current conditions or successes, he seems clueless. This excerpt from the GOP blog sums it up greatly:

Similarly, pretty much anyone paying a nominal amount of attention to the presidential race recognizes that Barack Obama remains focused on withdrawing troops irrespective of conditions on the ground, of which he has zero personal, direct knowledge, because a) he hasn’t been to Iraq since before the surge strategy was implemented and b) he doesn’t think attempting to speak to General Petraeus, outside the setting of Senate Committee hearings, is an especially important thing for a would-be Commander in Chief to do.

Shoot, McCain offered to take Obama with him to Iraq to look at the current war up close, but Obama refused. To me, the guy that wants to be commander in chief should at least try and get some good information, from someone who has played a big role in the war. Watch this:


So, he plans on visiting Iraq in the next few months to "see how it is that we can begin to carefully remove them and carefully bring them back to their families and bring them back to the United States"? WHAT?!?!? Are you kidding? To me, it seems you would go over to assess the current situation, not go to Iraq to make good on a campaign promise.

Another thing that really bugs me is Obama's tax policy. Obama says he wants to get rid of the cap on Social Security(increases taxes on people making 100k). In high cost of living areas, that isn't rich at all! According to Steve Moore, Obama repealing Bush's "tax cuts for the rich" would produce $40 billion in more revenue. Obama has proposed $400 billion in new "plans" for when he becomes president. So, $360 billion more to go. Well, then he plans on increasing the capital gains tax. What does that mean? That means your 401k and any investments you have are going to take a huge hit. And who gets hit more by the capital gains tax? THE LOWER INCOME INVESTOR. The big boys aren't hurt as much. It is the investor that needs the Return on Investment(ROI) that is hurt as his/her investment gains will be cut in half(he will raise the tax from the current 15% rate to 25 to 28%). Also, if you make over $200,000, your tax rate will go from 35% to 39%. All of this takes money out of our pockets! I'm sorry, but with my limited knowledge, in a recession isn't that the last thing you want to do???

My solution? Don't raise taxes! Get rid of earmarks!!! Only after that issue has been dealt with will I even listen to a politician trying to raise taxes. I guarantee that billions and billions more could be saved if you got rid of useless programs too! The US will not get out of debt until we really slim down those two issues.

Anyways, just a random thought of mine. I really hope Obama and McCain will get together for more debates like McCain is proposing. I think the format would favor Obama, but I really think it could be a good thing for American politics. It would be great if these 2 could change the way the presidential campaigning is conducted... meaning more meaningful debates with real questions and no moderators. Hey Obama wants "change" and McCain has been throwing the word around too!

Hopefully that all made sense, b/c to me it seems like a lot of rambling! I can't wait for the weekend! I get to come home and play in a golf thing with my dad and brother. Hopefully I have the chance to hang out with some friends! Also, I am officially moving into my apartment on July 5th! I can't wait, because that means I can actually have a home!

O, give me suggestions on what to do with my 12 days of vacation! I'm pumped!