GOP 2008 Platform – I like it

14 Comments / 14 Comments

1. Sunstar:

   …I know where you and Levinson can get a special deal on your white sheets. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

   Comment by h peskin — September 9, 2008 @ 9:25 pm

   You left me out! Am I the only one here who has to pay retail?

2. Hi, Peskin

   You’ve strayed a bit from the Platform topic, but I don’t blame you — we do need to talk more about the economy here, because it is an important issue.

   Why it’s a bad idea: The yearly bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is certainly enormous. Yet it still covers less than half of the United States’ projected $490 billion deficit for 2009. Given the massive tax cuts that McCain also supports, it’s unclear how his debt-reduction math adds up. McCain opposes a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, yet he feels confident enough to budget for victory by the end of his first term. Afghanistan is getting worse, not better. And as for “the fight against Islamic extremists,” how does one even define victory? Don’t try asking McCain: He doesn’t have an answer.

   It is true that our budget deficit this year is about twice what was expected. I could actually graph out our budget deficits over the past several years and point to 2007, the year the Democratic majority took over Congress, as the time the budget started turning sour. I COULD do that, but it would be disingenuous. In fact, the current deficit cannot be blamed solely on either party. The culprits mortgage defaults, which are causing the federal government to dish out more money than usual, and the continuing recession, which is cutting into tax REVENUES.

   Notice that I said “revenues” and not “taxes”. Revenues are not down because the tax rate is not high enough, but because people have been losing their jobs; and this is because of the bad economy. And you cannot energize a bad economy by increasing the taxes on corporations and wealthy investors; in fact these things tend to make the economy worse.

   Here’s a good example: In my city of some 160,000 people, we recently lost about 2,000 jobs. These, of course, will lead to more job losses and decreased paychecks as all the local businesses that made THEIR money from those 2000 workers start going under. Of the 2,000 jobs, 1,300 were at a Korean chip manufacturer which is closing down its operation here due to the economic slowdown. No amount of increases in taxes on corporations will bring that Korean company back to our town; in fact, any increase in business taxes here will merely scare away new investors. Tax increases will not help the terminated workers find work either. You can send them back to school until you’re blue in the face (Since losing my last job, I went back to get an AAS in Network Operations and an MS in Chemistry, but I still have no job); but unless new businesses are attacted to this area or new jobs are created, all we’ll have is an even more overqualified workforce competing for nonexistent jobs.

   This is where the low-tax philosophy of the Republicans makes more sense than the tax-and-create-bureacracies policy of the Democrats.

   Michael Sunstar,

   I read your comments about being an “economic failure”. As you can see, I’m in the same boat. Our lives are very short, whether we make big bucks or no, and we can’t take anything with us; so how much we earn or own doesn’t matter that much. What matters much more, is how we relate to God and to those around us. I do my best, and I can see that you do yours. Good to have you on board.

   Same to you, pesky — You help balance us out.

   Shalom shalom 🙂

3. Sunstar:

   I can understand BOTH sides, but this year, thanks to Fox News, the Spirit of America remains alive – thank you for keeping us alive in a world of dead beats – beating Obama this year is like beating a dead horse…….or a dead ape……but this year, THE PLANET OF THE APES is voting for Obama and we need to honor the memory of Charlton Heston by honoring MOSES OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and not BURAQ, the winged horse of Muhammad – this year, voters must decide which heaven or hell they want to ascend/descend to.

   Does it not make those patriotic, racist, right wing balls of yours absolutely quiver with pride viewing Fox News. And don’t forget to extend my greetings to the gang at your next Klan meeting.

4. Sunstar:

   Thank you OReilly for that brilliant Obama smackdown – did you see how BLACK and DIALATED Obama’s eyes were during the OReilly interview while Obama stuttered?

   I know where you and Levinson can get a special deal on your white sheets. Wink, wink, nod, nod.

5. Fp periodical

   Making the Bush Tax Cuts Permanent

   What he said: “We’ve got to make these tax cuts permanent. We have to, otherwise I think it’ll have a negative impact on our economy.” —NBC’s Meet the Press, Jan. 27, 2008

   Why it’s a bad idea: You might say McCain was against the $1.35 trillion Bush tax cuts before he was for them. In 2004, he said he opposed them “because of the disproportional amount that went to the wealthiest Americans.” Now, he says he supports them because the economy is weakening. Yet “the tax cuts are more likely to reduce long-term growth than to increase it,” according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. McCain insists he will restrain spending and eliminate the budget deficit. But McCain’s budget numbers simply don’t add up, and the senator’s constant hammering on congressional earmarks misses the big picture: Defense and entitlement programs are where most of the fat lies, not in relatively small pork projects such as Alaska’s infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”

   Hp comments. More bushisms and B.S. and the beat goes on and on ……………………………………………

6. Fp. periodical

   Drilling Our Way Out of the Oil Crisis

   What he said: “Gas prices are through the roof. Energy costs have seeped into our grocery bills, making it more expensive to feed our families. … It is time for America to get serious about energy independence, and that means we need to start drilling offshore at advanced oil rigs like this.” —Press conference on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, Aug. 19, 2008

   Why it’s a bad idea: Even ignoring potential environmental impacts, lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling would make little difference for consumers. According to the government’s own Energy Information Administration, production of the new supplies would not even begin until 2017 and would have little effect on what Americans pay at the pump anyway—just a few cents a gallon by 2030 under the best-case scenario. More to the point, it’s a strategy of yesteryear. As columnist Thomas Friedman put it in a recent interview with FP, “When I hear McCain pounding the table for ‘drill, drill, drill,’ it reminds me of someone pounding the table for IBM Selectric typewrite

   hp comment: It has the hollow note of being in the pockets of the big oil interests. Bush term no 3 and the beat goes on and on…………………..

7. Quoted in FP.periodical

   Balancing the Budget through Victory in the War on Terror

   What he said: “The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.” —Jobs for America: The McCain Economic Plan, released July 7, 2008

   Why it’s a bad idea: The yearly bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is certainly enormous. Yet it still covers less than half of the United States’ projected $490 billion deficit for 2009. Given the massive tax cuts that McCain also supports, it’s unclear how his debt-reduction math adds up. McCain opposes a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, yet he feels confident enough to budget for victory by the end of his first term. Afghanistan is getting worse, not better. And as for “the fight against Islamic extremists,” how does one even define victory? Don’t try asking McCain: He doesn’t have an answer.

   H.P. comment. McCain has no answer and no one else has anything remotely resembling a credible explanation. The lies and deception of Bushism continues, and the beat goes on…….

8. Yuu know that sometimes I offer SOME critique, not that my or any other person’s opinions ever really mattered to a successful, smart, sophisticated, intelligent, good and decent person like you who FIGHTS for Americans.

   Thank you OReilly for that brilliant Obama smackdown – did you see how BLACK and DIALATED Obama’s eyes were during the OReilly interview while Obama stuttered?

   I couldn’t RELATE to Obama any more than O’Reilly. O’Reilly is successful in his career, and well, although I don’t earn ANY MONEY at my career and consider myself successful without the fortune and glory, O’Reilly’s paycheck is much bigger than mine and he is a much smarter person in the gift of news reporting than me. To go on television every day, such as Fox News does, is extremely stressful and I applaud every Fox News hero, even the heroes behind the cameras, the writers, the thinkers, the speech writers, the shadow writers J, and all those whom I admire, appreciate and respect. I have been more financially broke throughout my lifetime and just because I’ve always been between jobs and have suffered misery and ruin as a result of BAD FISCAL POLICIES, I could never RELATE to Obama religiously or spiritually or on any point or issue. If anything, Obama is an insult to Chicago and to the United States. Why? Well, my uncle and grandfather’s GUILTY BY ASSOCATION friends built Chicago and would laugh that Obama represents the people of Chicago.

   Nevertheless, O’Reilly’s Obama interviews were very well done and I feel that I am honored and privileged to be an American because of great people, such as EVERYONE at Fox News, who JUST GET IT in ways that the DNC, Obama-Clintonian trolls just don’t get.

   The MCCain-Palin coverage has been superior and I’ve listened to some of these leftist radio programs speak on Palin’s daughter being pregnant and they are just SOOOO PATHETIC and Obama’s DAILY KOS leftist organization is even more pathetic. I have accepted the fact that I am both a winner and a loser – a winner spiritually, but a loser financially. Yes, I hate MONEY and the MONEY SYSTEM for BAD POLICY, but I love all the gifted and talented and smart people who used the system to make their lives and the lives of others BETTER.

   I can understand BOTH sides, but this year, thanks to Fox News, the Spirit of America remains alive – thank you for keeping us alive in a world of dead beats – beating Obama this year is like beating a dead horse…….or a dead ape……but this year, THE PLANET OF THE APES is voting for Obama and we need to honor the memory of Charlton Heston by honoring MOSES OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and not BURAQ, the winged horse of Muhammad – this year, voters must decide which heaven or hell they want to ascend/descend to.

   O’Reilly didn’t need Buraq, the winged horse – he just raptured all the good and decent Americans! Heh! Heh!

9. In comment number four the posted link opens each user’s own mailbox.
   It could be a harmless prank or it might be a hacking attempt.
   …
   In either case it is invasive.

10. Once again, the comments here prove that you can not please everyone.

11. I am old enough to know full well that party platforms are nothing more than words on paper that are seldom if ever carried out. What will or will not get done depends in large measure on special interest groups. Additionally, the GOP may win the White House but they are in serious trouble with Congress.

    Just to show my point: take the last item: ensure that taxpayer money is focused on ccaring for US Citizens legally. Do emergency rooms ask for papers and then, if one has none, turn the patient aside? More nonsense.

    But this might be of more interest about what is going on with Russian, Georgia the US and Israel

    http://by114w.bay114.mail.live.com/mail/InboxLight.aspx?FolderID=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&InboxSortAscending=False&InboxSortBy=Date&n=1887346304

12. I have a particular interest in what reforms are proposed to ensure that the weakest in our society get healthcare. So here it is

    Medicare
    We support the provision of quality and accessible health care options for our nation’s seniors and disabled individuals and recognize that in order to meet this goal we must confront the special challenges posed by the growth of Medicare costs. Its projected growth is out of control and threatens to squeeze out other programs, while funding constraints lead to restricted access to treatment for many seniors. There are solutions. Medicare can be a leader for the rest of our health care system by encouraging treatment of the whole patient.

    Specifically, we should compensate doctors who coordinate care, especially for those with multiple chronic conditions, and eliminate waste and inefficiency. Medicare patients must have more control of their care and choice regarding their doctors, and the benefits of competition must be delivered to the patients themselves if Medicare is to provide quality health care. And Medicare patients must be free to add their own funds, if they choose, to any government benefits, to be assured of unrationed care.

    Finally, because it is isolated from the free market forces that encourage innovation, competition, affordability, and expansion of options, Medicare is especially susceptible to fraud and abuse. The program loses tens of billions of dollars annually in erroneous and fraudulent payments. We are determined to root out the fraud and eliminate this assault on the taxpayer.

    Medicaid
    Our Medicaid obligations will consume $5 trillion over the next ten years. Medicaid now accounts for 20-25 percent of state budgets and threatens to overwhelm state governments for the indefinite future. We can do better while spending less. A first step is to give Medicaid recipients more health care options. Several states have allowed beneficiaries to buy regular health insurance with their Medicaid dollars. This removes the Medicaid “stamp” from people’s foreheads, provides beneficiaries with better access to doctors, and saves
    taxpayers’ money. We must ensure that taxpayer money is focused on caring for U.S. citizens and other individuals in our country legally.

    I have trouble with the platform in that it doesn’t go far enough to protect them. The GOP should address what they are going to do to protect them better.

13. The 2008 Platform better represents Republicans by standing up for parents’ rights to use vouchers,

    Is Phyllis Shlafy happy about vouchers going to students to attend islamic madrassas? Perhaps conservatives may want to rethink the idea of vouchers.

14. Glad they are rejecting the North American Union, that is a horrible idea that would end badly.