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Well, I don't for sure know how things are going to go, but here in Australia, Barack Obama is pretty popular.

I think Obama is pretty popular in just about every country, including here in the US. I just pray to God there are enough people with some common sense that show up to vote this election. We can't afford going down the same road for another 4 years. But the thing that really scares me is that Palin could be in the white house at some point in time. I am going to need more than a six-pack to deal with that.

Haha true true. Well I'm not even American, but having the thought that we may have to associate with you while she's got anything to do with your government is scary for me too.

I'm voting for Nader. The two primary candidates talk too much war, which is sucking money out of this country. Subprime ain't sucking as much money as war is.

I'm not going to take a political side on here, but isn't everybody tired of the black/white extremes that have taken over politics?

"We can't afford going down the same road for another 4 years."

Isn't that like saying if the Democrats win, we are going to have to another infidelity scandal?

"But the thing that really scares me is that Palin could be in the white house at some point in time"

Why should that scare the hell out of you? Of the 4 main running candidates right now, she is the only one who has actually made any real decisions. Being a senator means you are 1 of 100, and the vote is always going to go with your party anyway. At least Palin as governor had to make tough decisions. The buck stopped with her. And she improved Alaska. That's something no senator can say, because they just pass the tough decisions along.

I'm not trying to pick on goldennugget here, because the stuff he said is the same stuff i've heard 100 people say, but why has politics gotten so extreme. Obama is a great speaker and looks to be a great leader. Mccain has some great questions about Obama's results (he's cutting taxes, but spending more money, AND reducing the budget?). Both candidates are good people, with good plans, and are good leaders. We just get to choose which we like more.

goldennugget, if palin makes it to the White House, I'm gonna need some opium, crack, and acid and then a nap until we have a new president. You betcha!

I like people who provide a global perspective of what's going on in the U.S. Sarah Palin, outside of America, is famous for her fashion sense, aka her glasses. I can almost swear she is a female clone of George Bush. She uses the same folky style as he did to get elected.
Unfortunately, what can you expect of a country that has undervalued education. About 40% of the nation graduated from college (including Community College). Ever since College students rebelled against Nixon during the Vietnam War, causing him to cut federal funding for education, we have become a country that devalues the intelligent and the intellectuals.

whatever happens, the united states of america will still be the most f*cked up country who do the best job at making other countries just as f*cked up as them. sweet land of liberty

Good ole USA, still the greatest country on earth!

I have to take issue with what john said. Palin is by far the least experienced or qualified to haev any part of natinal govrnment for the very reason you cited. She's govenor of Alaska (lowest population in the nation) she has absolutely no experience in National government. Also, states have a house which votes on measures just like the nation does, Palin isn't supreme dictator of alaska or anything like that so the buck doesn't really stop with her and the idea of her being President????!!!!!! Forget the crack I'm going to canada

Bottom line is just vote smart. Don't vote partisan just because mommy and daddy tought you to. Vote for who would be the best leader of this country. Personally, I don't wan't the person running this country shooting wolves from helicopters at the same time. But that's just me. John, you are entitled to your own opinion and I respect that.

Everybody blames the economy on President Bush.

Everybody blames everything on President Bush in fact.

But it takes a long time for an economy to fail, and it also take a long time for an economy to recover from failure.

Bill Clinton supported and signed a document, which later became a law, demanding lenders make a certain portion of their loans high-risk. He did this to promote home ownership, which everybody thought was great at the time. Well now all of those high-risk loans are killing our economy, but nobody blames Clinton, because he was president 8 years ago, they blame Bush.

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2008/02/clintons_drive.html

If the economy gets better under Obama, it's probably because Bush laid the groundwork for it to improve. And Obama will get all of the credit.

If the Economy doesn't improve under Obama, he will get ridiculed, even though HE may be laying the groundwork for the economy to recover.

People need instant gratification, but when it comes to things like the economy, it takes a little bit longer than a 4 year term to destroy or remake an economy.

Whomever gets voted in, we as a country ALL need to support them. Just because the person whom you didn't vote for wins, doesn't mean you have to hate that president.

Taxes Properly Explained...

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce
the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so
the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide
the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized
that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from
everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being
paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's
bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts
each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).

The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four
continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.

'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed
to the tenth man,' but he got $10!'

'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar,
too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!'

'That's true' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when
I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat
down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they
discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between
all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is
exactly how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes
get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them
for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they
might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do
not understand, no explanation is possible.

Obama is going to win in an embarrassing landslide. McCain's time was 2000. I liked the 2000 McCain. Still somewhat spry, stuck to his ideals. Now he's a corpse-like shill.

They are both products of the same crappy system. Democrat or Republican = same damn thing every time. They are both backed by big money and don't have any interest in helping most people with their day to day problems. So vote either way, it doesn't matter at all. Since they are both full of total crap and won't do anything they say they are going to do anyway.

Zachm219: Create a website, iammovingtocanada.com. I'm sure plenty of us Americans would be glad to pay for your trip expenses.

Sarah Palin is a fuckin idiot any way you slice it.

And to John and your analogy regarding "fair shares"... to that I say "complete bullshit"

The problem with your analogy is that you need to seat everyone at that bar according to who makes what and who's paying who.

The guy who's paying the lions share of that tab is also making the lions share of money and NOT paying the low guy on the totem pole a fair amount while Mr. Rich guy sits on his fat ass and gets paid for the lesser earner doing all the actual work. Trickle down economics is what's ruined this country.

You can't leave it up to the discretion of the business owner to take care of his people plain and simple... the state of the economy and the discrepancy between percentages of rich and poor prove this - without a doubt.

So get off your republican fallacies and get a clue. If all those guys at the bar made exactly the same amount of money and the guy paying the lions share wasn't continually fucking the guy over that's in his mail room or his middle manager, he would have a legitimate bitch about picking up more of the tab... but he doesn't... he needs to shut the fuck up.

"John" that's not to say that I don't find what you've stated to be somewhat middle road in terms of picking a winner of the elections... you were kinda balanced in your statements. I just hate the fact that rich people think, "well if this little bastard wants to make more money, screw him I'll take my jobs overseas, and if these bastards want me to pay more taxes, screw them... I'm going to vote someone into office that looks out for the rich guy first. I'm going to fight my way into the billionaire club first and foremost, fuck everyone else."

There are plenty of rich people though that actually understand their responsibility to the lesser earners of the world, who have actually aided in them gaining their riches (think actors - who everyone wants to write off as insignificant just because they are "only actors").

It's the true asshole of the world who has one purpose in life and that's keeping up with the McCains'... errrr, Jones' and trading up their Chalet in Vail for one in Aspen one day. Nothing else matters to those people and that's what's killing our nation.

My taxes analogy is dead on by the way. You (Eric) are talking of the way you think society should be, not the way it is. My analogy is based not on your fantasy, but how things are.

John, maybe we should just tax the shit out of people like you, like a 75% tax on you. It might not solve anything, but it sure would make all of us feel better.

Why, because I understand the government and the economy?