Obama better for Seniors

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Oct 22, 2008 10:49 PM EDT

    As a retired senior citizen, I fear for my country as we approach the election. I worry about my children, grandchildren and all the children of coming generations. The economic greed, theft and mismanagement of this administration has plunged us into near ruin.  John McCain’s economic plan is more of the same. Can we survive four more years of that?

  Barack Obama proposes a very carefully crafted sound economic plan for America, which can be seen on his website.

   The Democratic Party created, implemented and, throughout the years, nurtured and protected the Social Security Program and the Medicare and Medicaid Programs over fierce and continuous opposition from the Republicans. Now the Republicans and John McCain want to slash them.

  The Wall Street Journal reported on 10/07/08 that “ John McCain plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid by over a trillion dollars.” He is also on record as supporting a partial privatization of Social Security (Wall Street is licking its chops)  and is open to cutting benefits and raising the retirement age to balance the program.

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Seniors better off with Obama

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Oct 22, 2008 12:49 AM EDT

  As a retired senior citizen, I fear for my country as we approach the election. I worry about my children, grandchildren and all the children of coming generations. The economic greed, theft and mismanagement of this administration has plunged us into near ruin.  John McCain’s economic plan is more of the same. Can we survive four more years of that?

  Barack Obama proposes a very carefully crafted sound economic plan for America, which can be seen on his website.

   The Democratic Party created, implemented and, throughout the years, nurtured and protected the Social Security Program and the Medicare and Medicaid Programs over fierce and continuous opposition from the Republicans. Now the Republicans and John McCain want to slash them.

  The Wall Street Journal reported on 10/07/08 that “ John McCain plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid by over a trillion dollars.” He is also on record as supporting a partial privatization of Social Security (Wall Street is licking its chops)  and is open to cutting benefits and raising the retirement age to balance the program.

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Seniors better off with Obama

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Oct 20, 2008 11:34 PM EDT

  As a retired senior citizen, I fear for my country as we approach the election. I worry about my children, grandchildren and all the children of coming generations. The economic greed, theft and mismanagement of this administration has plunged us into near ruin.  John McCain’s economic plan is more of the same. Can we survive four more years of that?

  Barack Obama proposes a very carefully crafted sound economic plan for America, which can be seen on his website.

   The Democratic Party created, implemented and, throughout the years, nurtured and protected the Social Security Program and the Medicare and Medicaid Programs over fierce and continuous opposition from the Republicans. Now the Republicans and John McCain want to slash them.

  The Wall Street Journal reported on 10/07/08 that “ John McCain plans to cut Medicare and Medicaid by over a trillion dollars.” He is also on record as supporting a partial privatization of Social Security (Wall Street is licking its chops)  and is open to cutting benefits and raising the retirement age to balance the program.

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John McCain's Mortality

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Sep 27, 2008 10:37 PM EDT

     Regarding John McCain’s mortality, polls show many Americans are wary of voting for someone his age. At 72, he would be the oldest first–term president in history. While many Americans in their 70’s and 80’s are thriving and vital, we should look very closely.

   To show off his strong family genes, McCain often appears with his 95 year old mother, Roberta. She is lively and spry. However, genes come from both sides of the family. McCain’s father, John S. McCain Jr., died at age 70 while his grandfather, John S. McCain Sr., died at age 61.

   Actuarial tables inform us that a man aged 72 has about a 15% chance of not surviving four years and about a 32% chance (about 1 in 3) of not surviving eight years. (Social Security Administration 2004 actuarial tables)

    These statistics do not take into account the fact that John McCain has battled melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, since 1993, when he had a melanoma removed from his arm. In 2000, two more melanomas were removed plus a lymph node. In 2002, a lesion removed from his nose was identified as a non-malignant form of melanoma.

     A recent study concluded that “those with skin cancer ran twice the risk of developing other forms of cancer.” (Medical University of South Carolina at Charleston)

   This should give us pause when we note that, if John McCain is elected President, just a heart-beat away from the presidency is Sarah Palin.

John McCain is out of touch with ordinary Americans.

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Sep 20, 2008 12:53 AM EDT

    John McCain is out of touch with ordinary Americans.

    The U.S. has lost 605,000 jobs in 2008, including 84,000 in August. The unemployment rate of 6.1%, is the highest in 5 years. Under Bush/McCain, the National Debt has ballooned by $3.8 trillion. McCain said “there’s been great Progress Economically” since Bush took office.  

     After the collapse and take over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the US Government, after the failures of Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros. and the insurance giant AIG, McCain said, “the fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.”  Treasury Sec. Paulson has sketched out what could be the biggest bailout in U.S history. Senate Banking Chairman Chris Dodd blamed failed Bush administration policies but said that if immediate action is not taken, the US economy would be in “meltdown” within days. McCain repeats, “the fundamentals of  America’s economy are strong.” 

   According to recent tax filings, McCain’s net worth rose by $18 million since 1999. He thinks the economy is great.

       McCain places the line between the rich and the middle class at an annual income of $5 million. He thinks anyone making just $4.9 million a year is not rich.

      When asked “when was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost”, McCain said, “Oh, I don’t remember… I don’t see how it matters”

     When asked by a reporter how many houses he and his wife own, McCain stumbled and said, “I think- I’ll have my staff get back to you” According to ProgressiveAccountability.org, they own 10 properties worth $13.8 million. Three of these properties alone have a total of 13 houses on them.    

    John McCain is dangerously out of touch with mainstream America.

Voter Suppression on College Campuses

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Sep 18, 2008 2:54 PM EDT

Beware college students, someone may be trying to suppress your right to vote. Last month, supporters of `Barack Obama were registering thousands of students at Virginia Tech. University.  The Montgomery County registrar of elections then issued two news releases incorrectly suggesting that students who registered to vote at their college might lose their right to be claimed as dependents on their parents’ tax returns or could lose scholarships or lose car and health insurance. All lies.

   According to an article titled “Warning  For College Student Voters,” published in Insider Higher Ed’s Web site on September 3, 2008, there is an “exemption in the U.S. tax code allowing dependents to live away from home while attending school.”  The article also states that in “calls to 10 top health insurance companies, none indicated that registering to vote at a college address would be grounds for dismissing students from coverage.

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Would John McCain start a war to win an election?

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Aug 27, 2008 7:26 PM EDT

   Would John McCain start a war to win an election? Maybe.

   Is it a coincidence or do these facts add up to just that?

   Randy Scheunemann is McCain’s chief foreign policy advisor and until recently, lobbyist for Republic of Georgia working for his close friend, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. In the last four years in that capacity he earned $800,000 and met 49 times with McCain’s staff. Scheunemann took a leave of absence on April 17, 2008 from that job to take over his full time role with the McCain campaign.

   Scheunemann is well know as a neoconservative who served as Director of the Project for the New American Century, a really scary group. While working on the 2000 McCain he headed the Committee for Liberation of Iraq and championed the invasion of  Iraq.

  Last month Karl Rove, Republican campaign strategist but not foreign policy advisor, attended a strategy meeting in Crimea, Ukraine  along with the Georgian President, Saakashvili.

    Two Georgian districts, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, have enjoyed defacto autonomy since the 1990’s and only Russia recognized their self-declared independence. Georgian military forces recently launched a military offensive to re-take control of these districts which was followed by a quick Russian military response in which the Georgian forces were thoroughly routed with Russian forces occupying much of Georgia.

    McCain, who has been demonizing Russia and Putin, used the opportunity to release a bellicose and ultimatum-like response to Russia. Then he called Obama’s response weak. Obama’s response was very much like the one coming from the White House. Later on the White House fell in line and picked up the language of McCain.

   Are we to believe that the President of Georgia ordered an invasion of a territory sure to produce an overwhelming counter reaction from Russia without assurance from influential Americans, like Scheunemann, that the U.S and NATO would rescue them. Georgia may never recover from this blunder.

     This raises certain questions. Are we to believe this confluence of  these people and events was just a coincidence?   I don’t.

  Are the neocons and McCain capable of such treachery? Would Karl Rove get involved in this kind of mischief? Would the right wing and McCain throw the Republic of Georgia under the bus and risk reentry into the cold war to gain political advantage for McCain? Probably.

Source: www.truthdig.com

Barack Obama is to this generation what John Kennedy was to mine.

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Aug 27, 2008 7:20 PM EDT

     Barack Obama is to this generation what John F. Kennedy was to mine. The youth and vitality, the charm and disarming smile, the sense of humor and powerful intellect are qualities shared by these men. One was white. One is biracial. We must get beyond our prejudices and vote our hearts and minds and the issues.

    We know when we hear Barack Obama speak that he is inspirational and perhaps destined for greatness.  His messages of hope and change come when we need them most with our critical economic woes and our endless

$10 billion a month war in Iraq.

    He is the kind of pragmatic leader needed to unite the country as we tackle the problems of: ending the war, energy independence using renewable resources, investing in American industry and American jobs , making college more affordable, healthcare for all, trade agreements that benefit American workers and sound economic and tax policies that reverse our country’s fall toward economic ruin.

      Unlike McCain, Obama is a unique candidate, not beholden to lobbyists and corporate America and the mega-rich.

   We must seize this once- in- a- lifetime opportunity to elect this special and gifted man to the presidency. For his positions on issues go to WWW.mybarackobama.com.

DeKalb Illinois 60115

815 758 0566 

McCain misleads with attack ads on Obama tax plan

Written by: Cliff Cleland on Aug 20, 2008 4:40 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Democracy for America-Quad Cities, Quad Cities Trained Activists

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

   To counter recent false and misleading attack ads by John McCain on Barack Obama’s tax proposals, here is the gist of Obama’s tax plan for America:

   Obama would reverse the Bush tax policy, which heavily favors the mega-rich. He would lower taxes for the poor and middle class families (below $150,000), increase taxes for the rich, those earning upwards of $250,000 a year, and simplify it so most Americans could file in five minutes.

   He would eliminate all taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 and they would not have to file.

   He would give 150 million working Americans up to a $500 tax credit.

   To help fix the Social Security System, he would apply a tax of 2-4% on all incomes above $250,000.    

   It’s clear from his proposals that Barack Obama is not beholden to the wealthy and powerful, the corporations or lobbyists. He is for the average American.

    On the other hand, John McCain would make the Bush tax cuts for the rich permanent. On August 16th, McCain defined the rich as those making more than $5 million a year and those making less as middle class. This elitist notion places him way out of the mainstream. Of course being married to a multi-millionaire beer heiress will do that to you.

    Whose tax plan is the best for you and the best for America?

Sources: www.FactCheck.org