NEW POLL *OUR NEXT PRESIDENT*UPDATED 9/5*

Grizz my issues are the same as yours, they're just in different order:

#1 Economy, jobs here in US not abroad.

#2 Pulling out of Iraq as soon as possible (Too much spending there, there used to be a surplus, now we have a big deficit)

#3 Health Care, Education

#4 Security here inland (while preserving civil liberties), I don't believe in invading countries with false intel.

#5 Energy Independence; drilling for oil, is not the solution, it will only prolong the oil dependence nor will drop the price of oil thanks to globalization, let's remember that economies are interdependent.

Those are other issues, but they are only minor. The ones I point out I believe will move the country forward, not backwards, that's my "truth".

Ghost wrote:

Grizz my issues are the same as yours, they're just in different order:

#1 Economy, jobs here in US not abroad.

#2 Pulling out of Iraq as soon as possible (Too much spending there, there used to be a surplus, now we have a big deficit)

#3 Health Care, Education

#4 Security here inland (while preserving civil liberties), I don't believe in invading countries with false intel.

#5 Energy Independence; drilling for oil, is not the solution, it will only prolong the oil dependence nor will drop the price of oil thanks to globalization, let's remember that economies are interdependent.

Those are other issues, but they are only minor. The ones I point out I believe will move the country forward, not backwards, that's my "truth".

obviously you have some strong feelings on the matters. you have made your points and in some ways, I probably feel the same way. As you said under point #4 its not just economies that are interdependent, much more than just money at stake now. Every thing that both of us listed above is made up of many interconnected issues and there are no simple fixes. We need broad reaching plans that will fix these problems for the long term and prevent future problems.

Some things seem simple, others are simple but all of them have broad reaching consequences.

So you listed Health and Education above, what are the issues to you and how would you see them fixed? or who do you feel will fix the issues from our candidates?

Well said, both of you, I am with you both on these issues.

So you listed Health and Education above, what are the issues to you and how would you see them fixed? or who do you feel will fix the issues from our candidates?

On education the issues that matter the most to me are:

Teachers are overworked, underpaid and unappreciated. If we have underqualified teachers in our schools is because qualified ones leave since pay is not enough for what they do. Don't blame them. You have to
pay bills and support your family.

Tuition on community colleges and universities have gone up, making harder for people to get an education. In this competitive
world, if we want to stay competitive as a nation, investing and helping students become productive citizens, it's in our
best interest to make sure everyone is well educated.

I feel Obama realizes these are the problems and will address them by helping people who want to become teachers. I really
like his plan, if you get help from the government, you pay back that help by working some years in areas in need after graduating. It's a win-win situation, I believe. Same with tuition fees, if you get free-tuition at community colleges and universities, it's only fair if you pay it back doing community service.

Now onto health care which is very expensive and unaffordable to millions of Americans.
We are part of the industrialized and most rich countries in the world, and yet we can't have a decent health care plan that covers all of our citizens. By no means I'm advocating socializing health care. I think government-run programs lead to inefficiency. On the other hand if these programs are left to the private sector, they become too efficient, thrive (which is good) but at some point they monopolize the sector and become too powerful. I believe in checks and balances. I believe in leaving the Health Care system to the private sector while maintaining a watchful eye preventing excessive power. Don't want to kill the private sector nor want to hurt citizens. Prescription drugs are expensive too, yes I agree that pharmaceutical companies invest millions into research to develop new products and they should protect their product by patenting it, however they also have a monopoly on the sector, and after their patents expire, we should have the ability to get cheaper generic drugs from Canada or anyone else who we know are trusted. Congress shouldn't decide if products from Canada are not "safe" for us as they did a year or two ago. FDA is "concerned" about our safety. Yeah right. Who buys that? Ever heard of lobbyists? Pharmaceutical companies want to keep that monopoly going as long as they can.

I feel Obama's plan does exactly what i think it's needed on education and health care as well. Although I must point out that buying health care plans across states is not a bad idea either as proposed by McCain.

While I too believe we should never go into a country without damn good reason, now that we're in there, I do not believe in pulling out of Iraq until we're fairly certain things won't degrade into something worse than what's there now. I do think it was a waste of money to go in, and that for the most part we're wasting money by being there. But I also believe that we could end up having to throw away more later, or end up with a full blown terrorist state, if we don't polish it off.

Because of this way of thinking that I have, I don't think we were fully done in Afghanistan when we went into Iraq, and we'll have to go back in there a bit before it is finished.

As for what would be considered "finished" in either country ... well, I'm just glad *I'm* not president (though I'm beginning to think that anyone who gets the job the way things are now doesn't really have the country's best interests at heart ... I'm beginning to think that individual and states' rights are falling by the wayside).

Healthcare: I don't want to pay for someone else's health care. I'm already paying for my own. Both presidential candidates have plans that I'm not sure I'm comfortable with.

a question regarding Ghosts post and pharmaceuticals
do you not have generic drugs in the US ?
the FDA pushes soo many drugs through and puts too many drugs into an OTC(over the counter) state and think generics are unsafe ?
I work in a pharmacy and generic drugs save individuals (and their insurance) hundreds a month
we do have a period of patent safety for pharmaceutical companies to re coop their investment , but to allow them to gouge people over the long term is disgusting.
reeks of lobbyists to me
for the most part individuals have coverage for drugs covered by work related insurance here but most hospital/doctor fees are paid by gov't run institutions

dont want to have issues, i mean its not my country and my little post wont mean a single penny.. however...

and because I asked, I will tell you what I think the largest issues are for me. (I feel there are many truths, for many people)

#1 for me is security v.s. liberty.

#2 energy.

#3 Jobs, economy, deregulation, business crime.

well have you seen "I robot", now i dont think security is > than liberty..

would you like that some "tie"-dressed guy tells you hey its 7 pm, go to you home you cant go out? hell no! i better die on my foot, than live on my knees

really..

probably in mexico we dont have terrorist ( well we do have on the 15 september which is mexican independence day a group of guys trow grenades many children die... but nothing like 11 september in U.S) the point is this...yes i apreciate the security, takin in count that i live in a very insecure state (just google drugdealers chihuahua or soldiers in chihuahua [chihuahua is my state]. you will figurate)
i rather live my life and be free than be in my home and never live

quote of the week..life is a risk....

Perhaps I shouldn't do this but here's a plug for McCain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmKgITJejfg

What disturbs me about the recent elections is that it has turned into a big football game. Everybody cheers for their own team no matter how bad they are. While this is a nice sentiment in high school or college where these things don't matter so much, it tends to cause major problems when it puts somebody unqualified in the white house. Worse yet, the media seems to encourage this mentality, even if they don't openly state it.

I encourage anybody who is planning to vote to do some research before voting. Most importantly, don't just listen to what the candidates are saying. Listen to the analysts whose jobs are to evaluate their statements for accuracy. Too many past presidents have made major promises only to immediately abandon them the moment they entered the oval office.

I like that Obama is trying to avoid building his campaign on mud slinging. It's nice to hear somebody talk about what they're planning instead of just focusing on what the other guy is doing wrong.

I like McCain, but I think it was a mistake for him to let lobbyists into his campaign. Worse yet, I really don't like that he allows them to make decisions. Too many of the ads I've seen have looked like they were written by lobbyists. They don't really reflect what he's been about over the years. Choosing Palin didn't seem very wise either.

I wish this country would stop encouraging a two party approach to politics. The choices they have been offering have too often been crap and I want more options put in front of me.

In my perfect election system, there would be no primaries. Anybody who can get on the ballots in at least 30 states would be welcome to the debates, regardless of party affiliation or if there's others from the same party there. Then we'd see the use of buzzwords like 'liberal' or 'conservative' get thrown out the window and the lamer candidates would be revealed for who they are. Sadly, this sort of thing probably couldn't happen without getting at least 10 third party/independents into the senate first and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

how was the second debate? i didnt see it. i was doing some house keeping ( that goes for rippley belive it or not!),
but for what i hear is that obama crushed McCain's enonomy plan. was it?

Just voted... I'm glad it's going to be over, it's been a long process. I'll be eagerly anticipating the results tonight! Did anyone have difficulty with huge lines that I keep reading about?

Hey! I just got home from voting as well... amazingly, there was like NO line... maybe 4 or 5 people ahead of me already at the voting boxes, so all I had to do was wait for 1 person to leave. Will be watching along with everyone else I'm sure!

I voted 3 weeks ago via mail................so no lines or crowds.

oh boy, i wish that in mexico we could vote via email, i mean we have the most expensive vote/people.... .. so i wish you (USA) luck, and let the better candidate win

Thè-Hättêr wrote:

oh boy, i wish that in mexico we could vote via email, i mean we have the most expensive vote/people.... .. so i wish you (USA) luck, and let the better candidate win

snailmail, my friend, snailmail