One European I think has it Right!

I am interested to what changes occur ed in the EU following recent economic downturns. There is an interesting development on the continent. The position of EU president rotates between different countries that are members of the union (for a more detailed explanation you would need to ask someone who knows more about the EU infrastructure). Currently a Czech, Vaclav Klaus is preparing to fill the position. Mr. Klaus is a horse of a different color in Europe. He advocates for strong free markets, and blames the response to fictitious global warming for aiding in the financial demise.

He has called Al Gore an "apostle of arrogance" for his positions and recent actions with global warming. On this point I agree with Mr. Klaus. Other then inventing the Internet, what did Al Gore ever do to qualify himself as an environmental leader? His home uses ridiculous amounts of energy and he flies around the world on a private jet while criticizing other Americans for driving SUV's.

Anyhow, I am interested in what appears to be an unreported shift in some international political venues. Why did we not hear about Mr. Klaus on our evening news sooner? I thought all European heads of state agreed that global warming was bad. I believe it is the same media bias that downplayed the election of Pres. Scharkozy, a Pro-American French President. This election came at a time when the entire media was bashing Pres. Bush for his terrible international policies. It is obvious that we will never please everyone, but the idea that international consensus that the US is deplorable is false. It is a media over exaggeration.

There is excitement at work today. This story is being ran by ABC 4 News here in Utah. It is about our department. James Anderson the owner of the property tried to establish an illegal Duplex. He tried to give the city the run around about what was really going on at the property. However, when he was finally taken to court he plead "No Contest" to all charges.

After court he evidentally went to the news who agreed to pick up his story. Unfortunately he wasn't completely honest with the news. He claims that he tenants don't pay, but his tenants claim that Mr. Anderson had them pay up front. The story suggests that Provo City kicked out a family that was hard up and homeless. If they are hard up, maybe it is because Mr. Anderson took all that money up front for a unit they couldn't live in.

Iran Test Fires New Missles

Do you think they would be doing this is McCain had been elected President? Why or why not?

Can You Keep a Secret?

The Obama camp can't. Shortly after meeting with Pres. Bush, the Obama camp began releasing details concerning the discussion. Who wouldn't think that those conversations are supposed to be kept confidential? Of course the New York Times published a story only quoting a anonymous source. Now I wonder what would happen if a Republican close to Pres. Bush were to give information on a sensitive subject to the media. Would the media name names? Oh wait that has already happened.

Anyhow, I digress.

There a few possible reasons why the Obama camp would release the details. Here are a couple of thoughts.

1. The Obama campaign isn't used to being in the presidential spotlight so they didn't know they weren't supposed to talk about it. If this is the situation then why did the aide wish to be left anonymous? Even better if this explanation is the correct explanation, then that means in the first two public events that Barack Obama has taken part in since the election, he has trample etique and rules. Is this that the change we were hearing about; that change we can believe in? or is he really that inexperienced?

2. It was a malicious attempt by Pres. Elect Obama to take control of the White House two months early. The discussions between Bush and Obama turned out to be negotiations where Obama was asking for Pres. Bush to throw more money at an economic bail for the car manufacturers before the end of the year. Pres. Bush evidentally made a counter offer telling Obama to get the Democrats to approve free trade with Columbia and he would consider it. So in an attempt to push the matter, Obama starts leaking that Pres. Bush is responsible for the car manufacturers going under. Heck they have used him for a scapegoat for everything else.

3. It was the status quo for the type of people Obama has sought to surround himself with. I am NOT talking about Rev. Wright, Father Flager or William Ayers. I am talking about people like Rahm Emanuel. Let's see what did Mr. Emmanuel do... oh yes, he sent dead fish to people while working for the Clinton Administration. That's right. Someone who is supposed to be representing our country sent a dead fish to a pollster because he didn't like his numbers. Then there was that time that he told the opposition to F*** themselves in Hebrew. Evidentally that is acceptable social behavior if you do it in another language. Obama's judgement is flawed beyond all possible belief when it to comes to the people he chooses to associate with.

Anyhow, take your pick of the possible scenerios I have presented, or even better propose one of your own and I will post. As far as I can see right now, none of the scenerios are encouraging, or inspiring any HOPE for the future.

Proposition 8

So if your gay and the people vote twice not to allow gay marriages what do you do?

Evidently you somehow get "The Governor" to switch sides of the sames sex marriage issue. Then you get him to issue a statement calling on the California Supreme Court to fail to uphold a Constitutional Amendment passed by the citizens through a referendum vote just a week ago. Now don't think that this is just part of the strategy for victory in California. Let's look at what is really going on here.

If the gay rights advocates get the California Supreme Court to shoot down Proposition 8, whether legal or not, the only way to overturn the decision is to file suit against the state of California which would inevitably take the issue to the US Supreme Court. My guess is that in light of the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, the gay rights advocates have decided that they can force a decision in their favor in the US Supreme Court. This is nothing more then the same forced social change of abortion.

Understand they are not looking for gay marriage to be legal in California, but in every place in the world. Think about it. Right now 30 states have Constitutional Amendments banning same sex marriage. If the gay rights advocates were to get the US Supreme Court approval, then they would override the preferences of all these states.

What kind of bigots are some of the gay rights groups? How about groups who put out a false and misleading commercial like this one. Who made that commercial? The Courage Campaign Issues Committee. Who supports the Courage Campaign Issues Committee? Oh just a couple of groups like ActBlue. ActBlue was an avid supporter of NO to Proposition 8 and Barack Obama. In fact according to their own website 15, 428 supporters donated $1,067,535 to his campaign. Imagine that.

Why wasn't this in the news when he was running for President? It seems pretty relevant to me! Now they are talking about making a holiday for a person who has yet to even take the oath of office. The same individual who is going to rescind executive orders that allow for current drilling in the US for natural gas and oil. The same individual who supports condoms over abstinence. Great job America. Some of you voted him because you thought it would be historic. Well it is historic; it will be historically catastrophic. Great job.

I highly doubt anyone who knows will be surprised to find that I am disappointed with the events of this campaign. My blog is a place to rant, and so I will rant.

I blame John McCain and his personal hypocrisy for the loss in this election. He attempted to stand up to what his campaign called "politics as usual" while at the same time using the same cheap political tricks to win the Republican nomination. Lies, vicious lies were the center of his primary campaign. You cannot invigorate a base that puts morals and ethics first and be a liar. Two thirds of the party never fully sealed themselves to the campaign because they could see that John McCain was not the man he claimed to be.

John McCain was unable to pick a truly strong Vice Presidential candidate, because he would be overshadowed. Instead he picked an obscure Governor from Alaska with very little experience and plenty of ammunition for a liberal media to pick up on. When economic crisis hit the nation, he abandoned some simple conservative principles and spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. His economic plan was never well detailed.

In the primaries McCain attacked Mitt Romney's religion. In various push pulls in Iowa and Florida John McCain flooded the public with false images of Romney's religion. Then when something truly frightening came along, Jeremiah Wright and Father Flager, the public didn't want to listen.

He just didn't have it and two thirds of his party didn't want him, as could be said for all the Republican candidates. Tonight in John McCain's speech there was something he said that on which I will completely agree with him; this loss was John McCain's loss.

Well what now, what enough concerning the losses of this election what about the gains.

We definitely have the first black American president. Thankfully, that means no one who is under qualified will be able to pull that card out in the future. Be prepared because there is no affirmative action once in the presidency. There is no time for a president who isn't ready to take a couple years and learn how to really lead anything. If Obama follows through on his campaign promises there are a few things we can definitely expect.

1. American international influence to dwindle.

That's right if you thought that by electing Obama the US would increase in favor in the international arena you are wrong. The world in a large part doesn't want to see the US with as much sovereignty as we currently have. They expect us to pay for all the international assemblies. They want us subject ourselves to their own International Courts where they would be able to put citizens and members of our military on trial without fair representation in the courts themselves. They expect us to rescue anyone who cries for help without fair and proper personal contribution. If the US increases in favor in the international world it will be because Obama has made these concessions. If you think that Obama will in the international opinion of the US I ask you, "Are you really ready for him to make these concessions?"

Perhaps you felt that if we just talked with Iran, Cuba and Venezuela that everything would work out. What exactly do you think that Obama will say to these people? To make these countries happy we must cease to be America. They want nothing less than to destroy the very ideals America was founded on.

Without a strong leader who can stand up and tell the international community to stick it, no one will take us seriously. We will be walked all over.

2. America's economic strengthen will decrease.

Here is a thought experiment a friend recently related to me. This experiment was first introduced by Ronald Regan. Say the government instituted a flat tax for all business transactions and that the tax varied from day to day in the following manner. All transactions on Monday were taxed 10%, Tuesday 20%, Wednesday 30%, Thursday 60% and Friday 80%. Tell me, how many days of the week would you do business on? By Tuesday or Wednesday at the very latest I would close shop. As my friend suggested all the really big business would be done on Monday.

In that connection why do you think that the stocks are starting to rise again? Why do you think that fell when Obama had his biggest lead and why did they climb when McCain surged back up? I would suggest the stocks surged when it looked more like Monday was coming and fell when CEOs saw Friday around the bend. I predict that stocks will rise for the next few months. Barring an immense tragedy, they will probably rise into next year, though at a much slower pace then they have in the past. However, with Obama as president, if he fulfills his promise to spread the wealth and legislation is passed to enforce those ideals, we will also see years of Fridays.

What incentive is there for me to go to Law school, get incredibly in debt and then have the government force to give them a large percentage of my money if I make it? The only incentive that looms in the Monday four years from now when perhaps we won't have to deal with Obama and his policies. I already give well more then 10% of my income to charities and causes as well as individuals who need help that I can help. Who is Mr. Obama to decide I haven't given enough? I grew up in Kansas also. My parents did have the money to travel the world and my grandparents didn't have the money to move to Hawaii. Perhaps Pres. Obama's plan will help me pay for college, but if I was a minority he would give me more money. Why? If a black man can be elected president then there is nothing stopping any person, or any race from accomplishing what they set out to do. In America, ultimately if you do not become what you want to be it is your own fault. Quit blaming everyone else. Get up and take responsibility for yourself.

3. American will lose the fight against radicals groups and individuals. They will infiltrate our communities in an attempt to subjugate all that is so right about America.

Perhaps they will try a different tactic. There may not be another visually horrifying bombing, but there will be friendships with unrepentant terrorist, both foreign and domestic. The US will sit down with idealistic dictators and talk. We will turn against Israel and claim they are the cause for unrest in the Middle East.

Without the safeguards that have protected us from attack for the last seven years, we will see more danger on our own soil if we do attempted to stand up to a now emboldened enemy who will seek to destroy us in anyway possible.

4. Moral Corruption will increase.

I don't want the government telling me when they will educate my children about sex. It is not the government's job to instruct my kindergartner concerning reproductive organs. It is not the government's place to hand out condoms to my teenager. It is not the government's place to tell my children that disgusting behaviors such as homosexual relationships are okay.

The government never was suited for spreading morality. It was never intended to be the mechanism to insure the morality that the Founding Fathers felt necessary to enable the country to continue to function. That mechanism was religion. No radical idealism, but true religion based upon traditional Judeo-Christian values, whether you think that is discriminatory or not. Government was supposed to keep its nasty talons out of religion. Instead every time religion tries to teach the values and principles needed to maintain society, factions of government attempt to control what is taught. The result is the indoctrination of an entire generation with absolute lies concerning what is or is not moral.

5. Domestic Poverty will increase.

Why work when someone has promised you someone else's money? Why earn above the minimum amount before you taxes increase if you will get to spend less of the money according to your personal desires?

6. Charitable donations will decrease.

The government will have more of the rich populations money so why should they continue to give to private charities. The number of individuals free riding the system will increase so they won't have money to give.

Conclusion:

There are many more specific predictions I have, but it is too late and I have work in the morning. perhaps I will finish this then. In the meantime, I am disappointed with the position I find myself in this evening. The day will dawn again, politics are cyclical.

Vote Today!!!

Today is the day to vote. If you haven't voted yet, and still can then vote. Wait in line for however long it takes. Vote Now!!!!!!!!

Palin Still a Poor Choice

I have recently been asked if I still think that picking Gov. Palin as a Vice Presidential candidate was a poor choice. Yes, yes I do.

I do not believe she is the worst choice that John McCain could have made, but she is definately not the best. I credit the media with creating such a fiasco the first few weeks after her nomination that the American public decided to overlook her flaws. The flaws still exist. It is still true that John McCain chose a running mate who was under investigation for misuse of power. I do not like her. Dishonesty is obvious in both of McCain and Palin. McCain produced lies about the other politicians in the primaries. Palin is at best accused of dishonesty. The ridiculous way in which the media chose to lash out at Palin actually restored some for of confidence in the honesty of the ticket.

Unknowingly the media created a victim and Palin supporteres took Liberal tactics and turned them against the left. Claim to be a victim and then every time anyone attacks play the role of the bigger man, the under dog who is fighting a biased system,

In any other campaign she would be a terribly weak VP. Today she is still weaker then other people who could be chosen.

Wrapping it Up

Well the election is coming to a close. We have one week left and we will see what comes of the last two years of fanangling. Who will win? I am astounded at this point that I still do not think the American public knows the candidates very well. There is a list of surprising developments that shouldn't have taken this long for media coverage to produce. My most recent favorite is Barack Obama's past.

For example:

Did you know that in 2001 he expressed his sorrow that the Supreme Court didn't use it's position to force wealth redistribution? Wow that one would have been important to know sooner! If he hadn't slipped while talking to Joe the Plumber, the media never would have investigated it. Aren't they supposed to do independent investigative research?

This media in this election has left an unsavory flavor in my mouth. During the primaries why were there not more stories on John McCain's flaws? I think the media dropped the ball. I feel the same about thier current handling of Barack Obama's campaign. Biased media. I amazed that with an election that has been going on for more then a year and a half, that bombshells can somehow be coming out one week from the election.

Polls Can be Decieving

When you are listening to poll numbers braodcast through the media, make sure you find out more about the particular poll. What is the margin or error? What is the confidence level within that margin of error? How was the poll conducted? What kind of sample did they use? What is the poll really telling you?

For example:

Real Clear Politics Average shows Obama up by an average of 7.3% with one poll show Obama up nationally by 14% and another showing Obama only up by 1%. If you look closer at the polls you see they are all sampling the entire US population, though they are using different methods with different margins of error and confidence levels. What does that really tell you? It says if you were ask everyone in the US who they support that the research company is confident at whatever level they express (usually expressed in terms like 95% confidence level, if it is under 85% confidence the poll sucks) you will find that the real numbers are within the margin of error (usually expressed as something like +/- 3%).

IBD/TIPP Polls show Obama ahead by only 3.7%* with a margin of error of . Why the big difference? Well for one IBD/TIPP polls different people. They only poll likely voters, or people who are statistically likely to vote this year. In other words, they are confident that if you ask all likely voters that you will find that Obama's lead will be 3.5% above or 3.5% be the declared 3.7% lead.

* New IBD/TIPP Poll shows the lead for Obama down to 1.1% with the same 3.5% margin or error.

So what do these polls mean as to who will win the election? Well not a whole lot since even IBD/TIPP polls show that with a week and a half to go until election day somewhere between 9%-15% of likely voters still don't know who they will vote for.

The latest in Iraq

Onward to victory in Iraq. Lately on the news we have heard either nothing about what is happening in Iraq, or only focussed discussion on the expiration of the UN mandate on Dec. 31st of this year. So what has been happening in Iraq?

This week the US turned over control of another Iraqi province; Babil. This region was once known as "Death's Triangle" because of the insurgent attacks, road side bombs, and suicide bombs. In the last year and a half the number of attacks and deaths have dropped 80%. Strange doesn't that coincide with the troop surge? The coalition plan has always been to turn control of provinces over to the Iraqi government as quickly as possible. Now 12 of the 18 Iraqi provinces have returned to Iraqi control.

So what is happening with the UN mandate? Are the Iraqi's going to just ask us to leave? Would you be surprised if I told you NO? The current negotiations between the Iraqi government and the US government concerning our future relationship with Iraq do not hinge around whether we remain close. They do not even hinge around whether we keep troops there. The negotiations right now are encountering the heaviest resistance regarding whether or not the Iraqi government will have the authority to prosecute US military personnel, or whether those trials will be handle by military tribunals.

The current agreement states that as of June 2009 all US military personnel will be stationed in bases in Iraq, instead of deployed throughout the country in the streets. Evidently the notions that the Iraqis want us to leave are wrong. I'm sure they do not want our tanks driving up and down thier streets. I do not want our tanks driving up and down my streets! I would like to point out that we already have an agreement with Iraq for continued support.

Of those provinces now left under the control of US troops, excluding Iraq, they are all part of a desert region bordering Iran. In other words, Iraq seems very content to let us sit between them and there arch nemesis. We ought to be grateful for this development. It allows us the ability to stop insurgents from recieving weapons from Iran, which has happened with ridiculous abandon. It also gives us cites for bases to spy on Iran. We now have ability to help isolate Iraq as it grows and strengthens.

How are things in Iraq? They seem to be going fairly well to me. That's probably why we haven't heard much about it on the news.

Voter Fraud

The one question we don't want to be asking right now we all need to consider. "How will we know who was elected President?" The polls are really too close to call a clear winner in most of the battleground states, and once again John McCain is closing the gap in the battleground and national polls. Tight races like this one have recently been fraught with bad feelings and difficulty in declaring a winner. One thing that will definately make this one more difficult is a group called ACORN. ACORN is already under investigation in 5 states for voter fraud. In Ohio a teenager declared that ACORN gave him money and cigarettes to illegally register 73 times. It is estimated that nearly 30,000 fraudulent voters have been registered and possibly have already voted in Ohio alone.

In Nevada, Ohio, Missouri and Florida the group has been entering downtown areas and registering homeless people to vote. With recent elections being decided by a few votes this is very disturbing information, at least for Republicans. ACORN is so far left it nearly leaves the scales. It rubs shoulders with Moveon.org and the likes. Acorn actually registered Mickey Mouse to vote. This is not the first election ACORN has attempted to through. In 2006 the group was instrumental in possibly throwing elections in Missouri and Nevada in the Senate race. With investigation looming in all five states and others concerning ACORN's illegal actions I am confused with a couple of things.

1. The Media isn't covering the story completely. In 2006 moved to force Attorney General Gonsalez out of his position. The Democrats alleged that Mr. Gonsalez fired state attorney generals because they wouldn't prosecute voter fraud. The Democrats declared there wasn't sufficient evidence that a group called ACORN had anything to do with voter fraud. The Bush adminstration and Attorney General Gonsalez both acknowledged firing state attorney generals who would no longer prosecute voter fraud effectively. The case that received the most attention was that of David Iglesias of New Mexico.

The adminstration acused Mr. Iglesias of looking the other way while a little group called ACORN committed voter fraud by registering imaginery voters, felons, illegal immigrants and homeless people in New Mexico. The Democrats called the firing illegal and partisan. They alleged that it was focused merely on hurting Democrats. It definately hurt the Democrats more then the Republicans. Have you ever heard of a Far Right group committing national voter fraud? I personally think it is about time that the Congress apologize to Mr. Gonsalez for partisan bull crap.

2. Who was it that was heavily involved with ACORN, spoke at thier conventions and pledged to call them in to help shape the countries agenda? Oh, that's right, community organizer Barack Obama. At least this part of the ridiculousness is starting to appear in the national spotlight. However, it is almost always followed up with, oh McCain talked to ACORN once also. Really, is that the best there is? McCain gave a speech to ACORN that is the defense for ACORN's ridiculous actions and Obama's involvement with the organization? Come on! There is an obvious difference between speaking at a couple of events and promising the organization that they can help shape your administration. Obviously all of these illegal votes will be going to Barack Obama.

Is the election thrown? I don't know for certain but it appears so in at least Ohio. What can we do about it? Well maybe in the future the US public won't throw such a fit when the US Attorney General fires people who are prosecuting voter fraud.

Socialism

The US government, along with many governments in Europe, is looking to nationalize, to differing extents, the banking systems. How did we get here? In reality we are talking about an institution which required financial institutions like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to make loans to people that couldn't afford them. The same institution through corruption, mostly in the Democratic Party, ignored false earning numbers coming out of the financial institutions. Now we are saying, "Why don't we give them control over more financial institutions?"

I can think of a couple of great reasons.

First, where exactly do you think that are going to get the money to pay for these purchases? Your pocket book and mine. Taxes, taxes, taxes. It is impossible to cut taxes to the extent both candidates claim they want to, and then increase the budget so drastically. Wealth redistribution NEVER works. It NEVER has been successful anywhere, at any time. It has ALWAYS led to the eventual extinction of any society dumb enough to try it on a national basis. The same people who argue this is a good way to go will argue that the US military is corrupt enough that they need to be held accountable by a court comprised of people from other countries. Oh, I get it. The US military is corrupt, but the Congress isn't that bad.

Second, isn't the US already in debt? This doesn't make sense. Why would we give control of a financial market to a government entity that cannot balance it's own books? Most times they don't even know where they are at?

Illegal immigrant loans

Here is just a very short article about illegal immigrant who stole identities and then took out mortgages under the social security numbers. HUD estimates there are 5,000,000, such loans at least in the US.

Scary International Events

There are two events I will write more on later.

First, Iran forced a Hungarian plane to land and there are problems breeding in the region.

Second, Kenya has detained a US citizen Jerome Corsi, who is an openly anti-Obama figure. He was scheduled to announce today his findings from research into Barack Obama's past and connections. He was detained shortly before he could make the announcement.

UPDATE

Jerome Corsi was deported from Kenya for "not having a work permit". More later.

Beware of Falling Stocks

A three ring circus and an approval for 700 billion dollars and today the DOW Jones falls below 10,000 points for the first time in 5 years. Do I still think we are over reacting? Yes. First it rebounded over 10,000 points.

Lets look at the chart from before but with more current data. In January of 2002 the stocks also fell well below the 10,000 mark after being well over. Between January and April the market seemed to be on a course for serious depression or recession. However, it pulled out. The recent lemming reaction of the US people to pull their money out of the market is actually leading the American people on a straight course for the cliffs ahead.

Irresponsible individuals including NBC's Jim Cramer appear to refuse to be satisfied until the entire market crashes. It is irresponsible to stand up as an investment individual and tell everyone to take their money out of the markets if they will need it in the next five years because there is no way it will recover. The 2002 market slump lasted almost a year before the market began to climb again. When it finally stopped, the US had hit the highest point ever in the history of the market.

Self-fulfilling prophets and irresponsible individuals need a straight jacket until this is over. The stock market never was meant for individuals with weak constitutions. At a time when so much seems uncertain, there is one thing is stable; it is better to be in the American markets right now then in the other markets in the world. The US dollar hit a 13 month high on the markets. While people here at home at freaking out, the world is saying, the US has a better chance of making it through this well then anybody else.

Senate Bill

Here is a copy of the bill that the Senate passed yesterday, actually this is a summary of the different sections, the real bill is 475 pages long.

The speech that killed the bill!

Bipartisanship helped to kill the bailout bill on Monday. Listen here to Rep. Pelosi's speech that was meant to gather support just before the House voted. This linked contains a little exerpt. Is it any wonder people weren't jumping across the isle. Instead of rallying everyone in a crisis, she just blames Bush.

The Economy

Well who isn't a little worried about the current economy? Today things seem even more shaky then usual. News agencies are quick to point towards doomsday as the Dow drops 775 points today. This leaves a lingering question, How much is 775 points in realtion to the market as a whole? What do these numbers look like on a long term scale? Perhaps I can helpt with that.

Let's start with a chart for the Dow for the last year. Using the previous link you can see that for the year the market is definately headed in a downward direction. If you look at this year alone, the market drop in the market by 28%. Now 28% is a alot. How do these numbers relate to Dow in the Last five years?

Here is the chart for the last five years. As you can see we are still up by nearly 1000 points from where we were in 2003. How does that relate in the market since the Great Depression?

Here is the chart for the last 80 years. At the bottom of the Great Depression the Dow was 42, now it is 10,403. It appears to me that the consumer inconfidence prodded by the media is about the only think that can make our current situation lead us into a new Depression. All previous quaters this year have show positive growth rate in the economy, yet the media continued to cry Depression or Recession. Irresponsible Congress people stood in front of the media and labelled institutions as failing. Amazingly they fell. The way to save an entity with a falling value is to support it and label it as hopeless. These instances were self fulfilling prophecies. We run the risk of the media creating another self fulfilling prophecy, a true long term Recession or Depression because of lost consumer confidence.

In a final attempt to put it in perspective according to the previous chart, between 1929 and 1932 the Dow fell 3058 points or about 98.6%. If you refer to the chart from before for the last five years, since 2003 the Dow is still up 1000 points or so, or a gain in the five years of nearly 11%.

Presidential Debate

I was impressed by the debate last evening. I believe that it may have been the most civil debate I have seen so far. I will try and provide some of the highlights. For the entire transcript you can go here.

Economy
Barack Obama: He stated that he would help the economy by bringing home US troops in Iraq, but then stated in foriegn policy debate that he would send more troops to Afganistan. He also stated that he wanted a tax increase to everyone who makes over $250, 000. This he says he will need for the additional $800 billion he plans to add to the national budget. He plans to help make the life of US citizens better by nationalizing health care. When asked what he would need to cut in order to maintain his budget he stated that may have to cut some portions of the renewable energy plan. He stated that he has stopped asking for earmarks, though John McCain pointed out that was only after he started running for President. Obama concluded that with the economy the way it is, he may not be able to do all the things he wants to.

John McCain: He stated that he needed to cut economic spending and veto all earmarks. He through out a statistic that Barack Obama has spent for then $1 million dollars a day in earmarks as a Senator totaling more the $930 million dollars in his first year. McCain also advocated cutting the business tax stating that the US has one of the hieghest business taxes in the world at 35%. He also stated that he would raise the child tax credit from $3000 to $7000. McCain positted that by giving US companies more money and decreasing taxes for everyone, he could help ensure that US jobs don't leave the country. He stated the with the slowing economy spending would need to be cut everywhere. He specifically pointed to military cost plus spending where developers often charge much more then anticipated. He also stated that he wanted to give a $5000 tax credit for all individuals with health insurance. He also stated that he would cut the amount of money we are sending to countries who don't like us, which right now is nearly $700 billion a year, this statistic was not argued by Obama.

Winner on Economy: Tie. Neither candidate had a wow moment. The extreme differences were pointed out between a liberal and a conservative.

Foriegn Policy:

McCain: On Iraq John McCain stated that his surge had worked, which was not disputed by Obama. He stated that the new strategy of clear and hold had worked and would shortly free up troops to do the same in Afganistan. He refused to talk about the decision to go into Iraq focussing on where to go from here. On Iran McCain posited that tougher sanctions a from a league of democracies was imperative. He stated the a president must be prudent with what he says and that Obama's comments about blowing up Pakistan were irresponsible. He also defended sending monetary aid to Pakistan because they have delivered multiple Al Queda opperatives and are a recovering recently failed stated with nuclear weapons.

Obama: Stated he only voted against troops funding that didn't include a timeline. He stated that he would pull troops out of Iraq, all troops within the next 16 months. he focussed more on the decision to go to Iraq then what we do now with Iraq. He stated that he wanted to put more troops in Afganistan, which John McCain agreed with. He stated that he would have diplomatic dicussions with Iran without preconditions. He stated that he would not act on greater sanctions without the help of nations such as Russia and China. He said he would bomb Pakistan if Pakistan was unwilling to kill people he wanted killed. At point he attempted to defend a universal soveriegnty of every government and then stated that US was more important then Pakistan soveriegnty.

Good Jabs: McCain pounded Obama for saying he would blow up Pakistan. Obama pounded McCain for stating that the war in Iraq would be a quick victory. McCain pounded Obama for setting a timeline to leave Iraq without making sure the job was done, comparing the idea to the US leaving Afganistan once the Russians were defeated without ensuring a stable government.

Bad Wording: McCain stumbled on Achmenemijads name before getting it right. Obama said McCain was right several times and deferred some public policy decisions, including what to do in Afghanistan to his Vice Presidential Pick.

Winner on War and Foreign relations: McCain. He came out looking experienced and prepared to lead.

Winner of the Debate: I will go with John McCain because I believe that they tied in the economic debate. McCain needed to go more into why the US fundamentals are sound and why capitalism is good. Obama needed to tell people how in the midst of a shrinking economy he was going to be able to provide even a majority of his proposals on a smaller budget without incurring even more debt. In the two thirds related to foriegn policy and war John McCain was more convincing. He came off more experienced then Obama. Obama also multipled times stated that John McCain was right on many of the issues. John McCain was able to inspire a little with his stories of fallen solidiers, reenlistment cerimonies and personal experiences. He ended saying that he knew how to heal a country after war. Obama's stories were to illustrate someones mistaeks rather then peoples achievements. They came off as bitter counterpoints to McCain's story. Although not a blow out. I think McCain edged past Obama in this one. If people call this one a tie I wouldn't disagree a whole lot. I just McCain ended slightly better then Obama.