The Punisher

[level_head]

(Note from LH: This is not hype. This is my best understanding of the positions of Barack Obama, and the presentation is fair. I listen to his speeches fairly frequently; I've heard perhaps 20 live speeches of his personally. There are some YouTube links here, and they have their own dramatization -- but the words are Barack Obama's himself.

Comments

[deckardcanine]

I never thought I'd say this, but I might just not vote for the presidential spot at all this time. I've heard too many bad things about both main choices and don't trust myself to choose right. Not that I'd make a difference anyway, especially as a D.C. citizen.

They say that if you don't vote, you can't complain. Very well, then: I won't complain. I need to get out of the habit anyway.

[level_head]

*chuckle*

You're complaining here. ];-)

Go vote, even (as per GraveYardGreg below) it is for the lesser of two evils.

And you still have the right to complain, legally, because enough of us care enough to keep that right.

One proposal ready to go for an Obama presidency will threaten my right to do so, though: I have more than 200 readers between LJ and elsewhere -- and that means that I must submit personal financial statements to the Democrats and provide equal time for opponents on my own blog, and face constant threats of litigation for speaking my mind.

I've already been attacked for this electronically.

===|==============/ Level Head

[deckardcanine]

Would you believe how many times today alone I've vacillated among (a) voting for Obama, (b) voting for McCain, (c) voting only with regard to lower offices, and (d) skipping the vote altogether?

I'm not too worried about the proposal you describe, tho, because I can't see it passing. The uproar would be just too tremendous.

[level_head]

And this uproar would be played through the media who stands to benefit from the elimination of alternative sources of information. Do you think this would have an influence?

Remember, we had a law rather like this before.

===|==============/ Level Head

[level_head]

This is no surprise, my friend. There is no candidate that you or I would agree with 100%.

In fact, if you were to run for office yourself, you'd find yourself compelled to compromises in your official capacity that you, in your private capacity, would disapprove of.

So it is ALWAYS the lesser of two evils, in that sense.

Nevertheless -- we have a choice. And by expressing that choice, we can elect people who will do their jobs properly.

Even if you and I don't vote for the same things, and the same people, your vote is still important.

My (self-assigned) job here is to try to provide enough good information to make a decision. This is why Senator Obama's own words are significant; you don't have to trust me.

But those words have not been getting out, nor are they challenged -- and I think the Democrats will be surprised at what they have bought in the nomination process, and possibly tomorrow.

===|==============/ Level Head

[level_head]

It's your business, and not my place to give you grief.

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[antayla]

Neither of the current candidates will do what I want: eliminate complicated income and payroll taxes and institute a simple sales/transactions tax on everything... No loopholes. But, even then I'm sure they'd have the temptation to tax this or that thing more or less, depending the agenda they wish to pursue

[level_head]

Then if they INSIST on redistribution, then I think everyone should be equally entitled to benefits.

There is an interesting book by Charles Murray called "In Our hands" that uses this assumption. Redistribution it still is, but it is arguably more fair on several levels.

Even if someone earns millions of dollars every year, they should get that free college benefit,

Come now; Harvard has only about $34 billion in cash, and if they gave away college tuition to ALL their students for free, it would cost them nearly 1% of that -- and they only made 19% on investments of it last year. How would you expect them to continue to survive making only 18% of 34 billion dollars?

===|=================/ Level Head

[heart_of_sword]

Frank is more of a libertarian in my view. /nerd

[level_head]

But Barack Obama has demonstrated repeatedly that he is not frank.

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[heart_of_sword]

That bastard! He's never getting my vote!

[rillifane]

I've concluded that neither candidate's stump speech positions mean squat. Frankly, Obama could be a secret fan of Mao and it wouldn't make much difference. The more radical and left wing he tries to be the more likely and the sooner that the electorate will vote out the huge Democrat majority they are about to vote in.

Democrats talk "share the wealth" while Republicans talk fiscal responsibility but neither does either.

[level_head]

The more radical and left wing he tries to be the more likely and the sooner that the electorate will vote out the huge Democrat majority they are about to vote in.

The difference here is that the damage done by such past experiments is still with us. We can never get shut of the statutes once enacted.

===|==============/ Level Head