Okay

[one_undone]

I'm calmer now. Many thanks to those of you who were patient with me when I was infuriated and ranty. Now I'd like to talk about the issues.

The McCain campaign has attempted to create suspicion and distrust for Obama, but it's unwarranted. Obama is not Muslim. He is not anti-white, or foreign. Obama was not born in Africa. He is half white and he is American. The McCain ticket is pushing fear and confusion, not facts.

Get the facts here. I am asking people to just read this and think about it. I've listened to McCain and Palin and in fact I used to be a McCain supporter before he lost his mind and judgment. Will you please listen to what Obama really proposes?

Why I choose to vote for Barack Obama:

Obama has integrity and upholds high ethical standards:

• Unlike other candidates Obama’s campaign refuses to accept contributions from Washington lobbyists and political action committees.
• Obama and Senator Feingold (D-WI) took on both parties and proposed ethics legislation that was described as the “gold standard” for reform. The Washington Post wrote, “The final package is the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."

His fiscal plans are conservative, realistic, and protect the American people:

• Obama will reinstate pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules, so that new spending or tax cuts are paid for by spending cuts or new revenue elsewhere.
• Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.



He has a good plan for investing in education:

• Obama will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that will make tuition at the nation’s community colleges completely free and will cover up to two-thirds the cost of tuition at the nation’s public colleges and universities.
• Obama will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to ease the burden on working families.
• Obama’s “STEP UP” plan addresses the achievement gap by supporting summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged children through partnerships between local schools and community organizations.

Obama believes every American deserves health care, and has a plan to provide it:

• Obama will make available a new national health plan so all Americans, including the self-employed and small businesses, can buy affordable health coverage that is similar to the plan available to members of Congress.

He cares about issues important to me as a woman and mother:

• Barack Obama will better enforce the Equal Pay Act and improve child care options and family medical leave to give women equal footing in the workplace.
• Obama supports expanded access to contraception, health information and preventive services to reduce unintended pregnancies. Obama has been a consistent champion of reproductive choice.

Obama has good ideas about issues affecting employment:

• The Obama plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
• Barack Obama will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.

For these reasons, and many others, I will be casting my vote for Barack Obama. Please consider doing so yourself.

Titles are mine but all bulleted information was cut and pasted directly from Obama's policy booklet, "The Blueprint for Change," which you can find here:
http://obama.3cdn.net/9d0ea07cdff500749e_86m6iynw2.pdf