Here is why Chris chose this…

I chose this article because I thought it was interesting that McCain would even go on this show. SNL has roasted both candidates but mostly Sarah Palin and McCain. There is also a different approach to this year’s campaign. I feel candidates are choosing new ways to reach the public. Obama paid for a 30 minute commercial, McCain goes on a comedy show that has been ripping him the whole election. Each candidate is scheduled to talk during halftime of this Monday night football game, which will be the last big audience before the election.  Hopefully by now everyone knows who their voting for, so these last opportunities for the candidates to speak shouldn’t have an effect on the election.

Even as the U.S. confronts two long wars, neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack Obama believes the country should take the politically perilous step of reviving the military draft.

But the two presidential candidates disagree on a key foundation of any future draft: Mr. Obama supports a requirement for both men and women to register with the Selective Service, while Mr. McCain doesn’t think women should have to register.

Also, Mr. Obama would consider officially opening combat positions to women. Mr. McCain would not.

“Women are already serving in combat [in Iraq and Afghanistan] and the current policy should be updated to reflect realities on the ground,” said Wendy Morigi, Mr. Obama’s national security spokeswoman. “Barack Obama would consult with military commanders to review the constraints that remain.”

According to his campaign, Mr. McCain supports the current Department of Defense restrictions on women in combat units, including armor, field artillery and special forces.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter revived the Selective Service system, which compiles a list of nearly all men in the U.S. between 18 and 25 in case a crisis forces the government to undertake a massive expansion of the military.

Both Congress and the Supreme Court have exempted women from registration because of the combat rules.

For years, that position has rankled some women’s rights groups and men who face penalties for not registering — including loss of employment with the federal government — at a time when female soldiers regularly find themselves in dangerous situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, both conflicts without defined battlefields.

Mr. McCain, a decorated former Navy pilot who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, speaks often of how his military service has helped prepare him for the role of commander in chief and how his time as a captive in Hanoi reinforced his love of country.

Yet he doesn’t want to see a return to mandatory service, for men or women, according to his presidential campaign.

“Sen. McCain strongly believes that an all-volunteer force is preferable to a conscripted force,” said Paul Lindsay, a spokesman for the campaign. “The tools available to recruiters have historically enabled the all-volunteer force to attract sufficient numbers of qualified recruits.”

His views are echoed by many high-ranking officers in the military, who prefer a force of motivated volunteers. But some of the same officers have also expressed concerns about the strains of more than six years of sustained combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, especially if the U.S. commitment in both countries doesn’t end in the near future.

Mr. Obama has said repeatedly that he will draw down the U.S. military presence in Iraq if he becomes president, but he has also said he would increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, where Taliban forces have seen a resurgence in recent years.

During a CNN/YouTube debate for Democratic presidential candidates last year, he said he doesn’t “agree” with the draft.

But he did say women should be expected to register with the Selective Service, comparing the role of women to black soldiers and airmen who served during World War II, when the armed forces were still segregated.

“There was a time when African-Americans weren’t allowed to serve in combat,” Mr. Obama said. “And yet, when they did, not only did they perform brilliantly, but what also happened is they helped to change America, and they helped to underscore that we’re equal.

“And I think that if women are registered for service — not necessarily in combat roles, and I don’t agree with the draft — I think it will help to send a message to my two daughters that they’ve got obligations to this great country as well as boys do.”

Elaine Donnelly, a former member of President Bill Clinton’s Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces, dismissed Mr. Obama’s comparison of the roles of women and black soldiers, arguing that males and females, in general, aren’t equal on the battlefield.

“There are differences between men and women where physical strength is an issue,” said Ms. Donnelly, who heads the nonpartisan Center for Military Readiness. “There are a lot of civilian feminists who are making unreasonable demands on the military.”

Nancy Duff Campbell, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, argues that women should have a chance to compete for any position in the armed forces.

“I hope a new president will revisit the restrictions,” she said.

****************************************

Here is why Allison picked this…

I think that this article is an important one to share because it explains both candidates views on drafting woman into the war. It doesn’t side with either candidate, just simply states the facts. I think this is an important topic especially for girls to be aware of the candidates view before they vote!

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Latest Presidential Polls

Election 2008	Obama	McCain	RCP Average
National	50.7	44.3	Obama +6.4
Battlegrounds	Obama	McCain	RCP Average
Florida	50.0	45.8	Obama +4.2
Pennsylvania	51.2	44.2	Obama +7.0
Ohio	48.8	44.6	Obama +4.2
North Carolina	47.8	47.5	Obama +0.3
Virginia	49.8	46.0	Obama +3.8
Indiana	46.8	47.3	McCain +0.5
Minnesota	52.3	40.8	Obama +11.5
Colorado	50.5	45.0	Obama +5.5
Iowa	54.0	38.7	Obama +15.3
Nevada	49.3	43.5	Obama +5.8
New Mexico	50.3	43.0	Obama +7.3
New Hampshire	52.7	42.0	Obama +10.7

Battleground States | Latest Polls | RCP Electoral Map
RealClearPolitics produces a comprehensive average of recent presidential election polls.

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Here is why Phil wants us to see this…

I think this was worth reading because it Obama just might think he has this election in control. Regardless of all the polls that have come out, we have no idea who is going to vote for who. If Obama does rule out the other candidate, it could turn out to be a crucial mistake in the end. We won’t know until the votes are counted who wins and how big the gap was.

In the final days of the election, many Republicans seem to have given up the fight for power. But that doesn’t mean they are relaxing. If you want to see real Republican elbow grease, check out the energy going into chucking great chunks of the $700 billion bailout out the door. At a recent Senate Banking Committee hearing, Republican Senator Bob Corker was fixated on this task, and with a clear deadline in mind: inauguration. “How much of it do you think may be actually spent by January 20 or so?” Corker asked Neel Kashkari, the 35-year-old former banker in charge of the bailout.

When European colonialists realized that they had no choice but to hand over power to the indigenous citizens, they would often turn their attention to stripping the local treasury of its gold and grabbing valuable livestock. If they were really nasty, like the Portuguese in Mozambique in the mid-1970s, they poured concrete down the elevator shafts.

The Bush gang prefers bureaucratic instruments: “distressed asset” auctions and the “equity purchase program.” But make no mistake: the goal is the same as it was for the defeated Portuguese–a final frantic looting of the public wealth before they hand over the keys to the safe.

How else to make sense of the bizarre decisions that have governed the allocation of the bailout money? When the Bush administration announced it would be injecting $250 billion into America’s banks in exchange for equity, the plan was widely referred to as “partial nationalization”–a radical measure required to get the banks lending again. In fact, there has been no nationalization, partial or otherwise. Taxpayers have gained no meaningful control, which is why the banks can spend their windfall as they wish (on bonuses, mergers, savings…) and the government is reduced to pleading that they use a portion of it for loans.

What, then, is the real purpose of the bailout? I fear it is something much more ambitious than a one-off gift to big business–that this bailout has been designed to keep pillaging the Treasury for years to come. Remember, the main concern among big market players, particularly banks, is not the lack of credit but their battered share prices. Investors have lost confidence in the banks’ honesty, and with good reason. This is where Treasury’s equity pays off big time.

By purchasing stakes in these institutions, Treasury is sending a signal to the market that they are a safe bet. Why safe? Because the government won’t be able to afford to let them fail. If these companies get themselves into trouble, investors can assume that the government will keep finding more cash, since allowing them to go down would mean losing its initial equity investments (just look at AIG). That tethering of the public interest to private companies is the real purpose of the bailout plan: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is handing all the companies that are admitted to the program–a number potentially in the thousands–an implicit Treasury Department guarantee. To skittish investors looking for safe places to park their money, these equity deals will be even more comforting than a Triple-A rating from Moody’s.

Insurance like that is priceless. But for the banks, the best part is that the government is paying them–in some cases billions of dollars–to accept its seal of approval. For taxpayers, on the other hand, this entire plan is extremely risky, and may well cost significantly more than Paulson’s original idea of buying up $700 billion in toxic debts. Now taxpayers aren’t just on the hook for the debts but, arguably, for the fate of every corporation that sells them equity.

Interestingly, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both enjoyed this kind of unspoken guarantee. For decades the market understood that, since these private players were enmeshed with the government, Uncle Sam would always save the day. It was the worst of all worlds. Not only were profits privatized while risks were socialized but the implicit government backing created powerful incentives for reckless investments.

Now, with the new equity purchase program, Paulson has taken the discredited Fannie and Freddie model and applied it to a huge swath of the private banking industry. And once again, there is no reason to shy away from risky bets–especially since Treasury has not required the banks to give up high-risk financial instruments in exchange for taxpayer dollars.

To further boost confidence, the federal government has also unveiled unlimited public guarantees for many bank deposit accounts. Oh, and as if this wasn’t enough, Treasury has been encouraging the banks to merge with one another, ensuring that the only institutions left standing will be “too big to fail.” In three different ways, the market is being told loud and clear that Washington will not allow the country’s financial institutions to bear the consequences of their behavior. This may well be Bush’s most creative innovation: no-risk capitalism.

There is a glimmer of hope. In answer to Senator Corker’s question, Treasury is indeed having trouble dispersing the bailout funds. It has requested about $350 billion of the $700 billion, but most of this hasn’t yet made it out the door. Meanwhile, every day it becomes clearer that the bailout was sold on false pretenses. It was never about getting loans flowing. It was always about turning the state into a giant insurance agency for Wall Street–a safety net for the people who need it least, subsidized by the people who need it most.

This grotesque duplicity is an opportunity. Whoever wins the election on November 4 will have enormous moral authority. It can be used to call for a freeze on the dispersal of bailout funds–not after the inauguration, but right away. All deals should be renegotiated immediately, this time with the public getting the guarantees.

It is risky, of course, to interrupt the bailout. The market won’t like it. Nothing could be riskier, however, than allowing the Bush gang their parting gift to big business–the gift that will keep on taking.

**************************

Here is why Adam wants us to see this…

This is a very important topic, because no matter who is elected, the bailout will be shaping all of our lives in the future. It seems fitting that Bush put fear in all of our homes and minds, and not to mention the Senate, describing this issue as a serious emergency. Which it was not, considering, the plan passed, has been lazily put into effect. The plan: the Government scrounging money from us, tax payers, and using it to buy equity in these giant businesses and banks. Will this be the trend? Whenever Wall Street is in trouble, the government takes from the citizens, but yet we find no profit from it all? So far it has been. The banks and business continue to make their profit, because they have capital, and the government will never lose because they have taken all our money and put it in equity? So even if this fails, and all of the sudden, the dollar is worth nothing and we switch to, lets say…the Euro, the government makes out because the banks and business’ will still be existent, therefore, the government continues to benefit because their profit is just called the Euro rather than the Dollar. This whole government is making me ill right now, I can’t think about this any more or I just might throw up. Can we please get this election over with and hopefully Obama will start to fix this mess!

CNN) — The Republican Party of Pennsylvania launched a last-minute television ad that calls attention to Barack Obama’s relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

A new ad from Republicans in Pennsylvania highlights Barack Obama’s relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

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“If you think you could ever vote for Barack Obama, consider this: Obama chose as his spiritual leader this man,” the ad’s narrator says before clips of Wright’s controversial statements are shown.

“Does that sound like someone who should be president?” the ad asks.

The retired pastor’s ties to Obama became an issue during the primary season after controversial clips of Wright’s sermons were circulated and widely discussed on the Internet and on television.

Obama later condemned Wright’s remarks and said he would have left his church if his pastor had not retired and had not acknowledged making comments that “deeply offended people.”

Sen. John McCain has repeatedly said he does not believe Obama’s relationship to Wright should be an issue — to the ire of some Republicans who feel it raises questions about the Illinois senator’s judgment.

Gov. Sarah Palin appeared to suggest last month that Wright is a fair issue to raise, but said ultimately it is McCain’s decision.

“[Obama] sat in the pews for 20 years and heard Rev. Wright say some things that most people would find a bit concerning. But again that is John McCain’s call,” Palin told reporters.

The state GOP did not release the extent of the ad buy, but defended airing it

“We feel that it is necessary that the American people remember that Obama sat in a church and listened to this man preach hate for many, many years,” said a statement on its Web site. “What does that say about his judgment? Do we want the next president of the United States to have spent years listening to hateful rhetoric without having the good judgment to walk out?”

The ad was paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of Pennsylvania and was not authorized by the McCain campaign.

McCain and Palin have barnstormed Pennsylvania in recent weeks as they try to win the state’s 21 electoral votes. Obama leads McCain by 7 points in Pennsylvania, 51 to 44 percent, according to CNN’s latest poll of state polls.

Earlier Sunday, Democratic VP candidate Sen. Joe Biden condemned the “politics of division” at a rally interrupted by protesters.

“We can’t move past the politics of division unless after this election is over, if God willing we win, we reach out to the very people out in the outer parking lot,” he said, calling out the protesters at the Tallahassee, Florida, event.

“We’ve got to reach out, we’ve got to end this. Somebody’s got to be big enough to stand up and end this,” he said.

With two days left until the election, Obama holds a 6-point lead over McCain, 50 to 44 percent, according to CNN’s average of national polls.

Six percent of respondents said they are still undecided.

McCain on Sunday told supporters that he and his running mate would “shake up Washington” with a win in Tuesday’s presidential election.

“I want to repeat to you one more time, my friends — we’re going to win, and we’re going to bring real change to Washington,” he said at a rally in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.

“Two days, two days to victory,” he said to roaring applause.

Obama has maintained a steady lead over the last month, but CNN Polling Director Keating Holland cautioned against assuming the election is over.

“Keep in mind that this is not a prediction of the final outcome,” Holland said. “That’s not an easy task with two full days of campaigning to go, in a country in which roughly one in 10 voters tend to make up their minds in the last few days.” Watch more on the final days of campaigning »

Obama on Sunday told voters that their future depends on the final days of the campaign.

“Don’t believe for a second this election is over. Don’t think for a minute that power will concede without a fight. We have to work like our future depends on it in these last two days, because it does,” he said in Columbus, Ohio.

Obama also continued his push to tie McCain to the current administration, calling attention to Vice President Dick Cheney’s endorsement of the McCain-Palin ticket.

“I’d like to congratulate Sen. McCain on this endorsement, because he really earned it. That endorsement didn’t come easy,” Obama said.

“Do you think Dick Cheney is ‘delighted’ to support John McCain because he thinks John McCain’s going to bring change? Because he thinks that somehow John McCain is really going to shake things up?”

Obama’s campaign on Sunday released a 30-second ad that highlights Cheney’s endorsement, which came Saturday.

“And boy, did McCain earn it. He voted with Bush and Cheney 90 percent of the time,” the announcer says of the endorsement. “And that’s not the change we need.”

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded Saturday in a statement: “Barack Obama and Dick Cheney aren’t just cousins; they’ve shared support for the Bush energy policy and the out-of-control spending that John McCain has fought to oppose.”

Bounds was referring to research done by the vice president’s wife showing that Cheney and Obama are distant cousins.

CNN’s national poll of polls is an average of six surveys: Fox/Opinion Dynamics (October 28-29); ABC/Washington Post (October 28-31); Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby (October 29-31); Gallup (October 29-31); Diageo/Hotline (October 29-31); and IBD/TIPP (October 27-31). There is no sampling error.

****************

Here is why Jolene picked this…

I think this article is worth sharing because it shows that the next two days are very important and election time is right around the corner. McCain is very confident that he is going to win the election when already it shows that Obama is ahead in the polls. The article also shows that McCain agress with most of what Bush and Cheny have said. Obama disagrees with that and thinks that it is not the change we need. This election is going to be very exciting and I really cant wait to see what is going to happen.

McCain, Obama Dash Through States In Final Days

Scott Horsley

NPR

The candidates are stumping to the wire in this final weekend of the presidential campaign. Days start early and end late on Barack Obama’s campaign as he encroaches on wavering red states. Meanwhile, John McCain is poised for a whirlwind tour of seven key states on the eve of the election.
McCain’s two-day bus tour through Ohio on Friday was a red, white and blue salute to small-town America — with the help of former big-city Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani told supporters in Hanoverton that McCain would keep taxes and government spending down. More importantly, he said, McCain would protect the nation’s security.
“He’s fought for us all of his life,” Giuliani told the crowd. “Now it’s our time to fight for him. To prove all those people in Hollywood — all those people in the media — wrong.”
Republicans love to bash Hollywood, but they make an exception for Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie star-turned-California-governor helped pump up the crowd at a McCain rally Friday night in Columbus.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I only play an action hero in my movies,” he said to applause. “But John McCain, he is a real action hero.”
Polls show McCain is still trailing Obama in Ohio and nationally, but aides insist he’s mounting a comeback. Campaign manager Rick Davis says McCain has “shaken off” the damaging effects of the financial crisis and has been gaining momentum in the last 10 days. He’s also been doing more advertising after being heavily outspent on ads in recent weeks.
McCain’s basic message, in ads and on the campaign trail, has not changed. He keeps trying to tag Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal, while fending off Obama’s charge that he’d simply follow in the footsteps of President Bush.
“You know we both disagree with President Bush on economic policy,” he tells audiences. “The difference is Sen. Obama thinks taxes have been too low, and I think that spending has been too high.”
McCain still leads in Arizona, although most polls show the race has gotten closer. In a strategic move, the Obama campaign announced Friday that for the first time it will begin running TV ads in his rival’s home state.
Obama campaign officials aren’t talking like they expect to capture the state, but the ads do send a message that they have the resources and nerve to go after Republicans anywhere, even on McCain’s home turf.
Also Friday, Obama flew to Des Moines, Iowa, for a downtown rally. He was there to ensure a big voter turnout and to say thanks. The state’s January caucuses gave him his first victory of this long election year.
“What you started here in Iowa has swept the nation,” he told the cheering crowd. “We’re seeing the same turnout. We’re seeing the same people going and getting in line — volunteers, people participating. A whole new way of democracy started right here in Iowa, and it’s all across the country now.”
Friday included an evening rally in Gary, Ind., and a few hours back home in Chicago to spend some of Halloween night with his two young daughters, Sasha and Malia. One dressed up as an evil fairy. The other was a corpse’s bride. They didn’t go trick-or-treating, opting instead for a party at a friend’s home.
At one point, Obama was seen walking down the street with one daughter. When a Polish TV crew approached him with camera rolling, the usually unflappable Obama was visibly perturbed as he pleaded for some privacy, saying, “That’s enough. You’ve got your shot. Leave us alone.”
McCain campaigns this weekend in two red states, Florida and Virginia, and two blue states, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Obama heads to Nevada and Missouri.

*****************

Here’s What Kevin Thinks:
Finally the election campaigns are coming to an end, the two candidates are still working vigorously, trying to capture extra voters in the most challenging areas. I thought this article was interesting because it addresses the two candidates differences on the current taxing issue. McCain wants to cut taxes and slow down the governmental spending while Obama wants to raise taxes. Personally I think that we do need to raise taxes, if we don’t, how will we ever pull out of the current economic crisis. How will the country’s debt ever be paid off? Cutting taxes has never been beneficial to this country; it just results in economic downfall. Obama wants to raise taxes on the extremely wealthy, for the reason that they pay such a small proportion now, he wants to lower the taxes for middle class for the reason that they are the economic engine of this country. Obama wants to raise taxes on the huge profit organizations like oil companies, who are given such huge tax breaks. Does it seem right to you that companies pulling in yearly revenue of 371 billion dollars such as Exxon Mobil get a tax cut? I think not! What other way are we going to pay down the big deficit Bush is leaving us with?

Voters Allege E-voting Machines Switching Votes

Grant Gross, IDG News Service

Here is why Miguel wants us to see this…

I though this article was worth mentioning because it brings out why you can’t always rely on technology. Sure technology is great but there are always some bugs or glitches that aren’t worked out. I just found it funny that these machines had a political preference but I’ve also read that some machines were having this kind of problem and were switching votes no matter whom you selected.

New York Times

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending

In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Corporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.

The action, which will begin as a pilot program involving 24 banks in 15 markets — including the New York metropolitan region — will encourage those banks to extend home mortgages to individuals whose credit is generally not good enough to qualify for conventional loans. Fannie Mae officials say they hope to make it a nationwide program by next spring.

Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.

In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers. These borrowers whose incomes, credit ratings and savings are not good enough to qualify for conventional loans, can only get loans from finance companies that charge much higher interest rates — anywhere from three to four percentage points higher than conventional loans.

”Fannie Mae has expanded home ownership for millions of families in the 1990’s by reducing down payment requirements,” said Franklin D. Raines, Fannie Mae’s chairman and chief executive officer. ”Yet there remain too many borrowers whose credit is just a notch below what our underwriting has required who have been relegated to paying significantly higher mortgage rates in the so-called subprime market.”

Demographic information on these borrowers is sketchy. But at least one study indicates that 18 percent of the loans in the subprime market went to black borrowers, compared to 5 per cent of loans in the conventional loan market.

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980’s.

”From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,” said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ”If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.”

Under Fannie Mae’s pilot program, consumers who qualify can secure a mortgage with an interest rate one percentage point above that of a conventional, 30-year fixed rate mortgage of less than $240,000 — a rate that currently averages about 7.76 per cent. If the borrower makes his or her monthly payments on time for two years, the one percentage point premium is dropped.

Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, does not lend money directly to consumers. Instead, it purchases loans that banks make on what is called the secondary market. By expanding the type of loans that it will buy, Fannie Mae is hoping to spur banks to make more loans to people with less-than-stellar credit ratings.

Fannie Mae officials stress that the new mortgages will be extended to all potential borrowers who can qualify for a mortgage. But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.

Home ownership has, in fact, exploded among minorities during the economic boom of the 1990’s. The number of mortgages extended to Hispanic applicants jumped by 87.2 per cent from 1993 to 1998, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. During that same period the number of African Americans who got mortgages to buy a home increased by 71.9 per cent and the number of Asian Americans by 46.3 per cent.

In contrast, the number of non-Hispanic whites who received loans for homes increased by 31.2 per cent.

Despite these gains, home ownership rates for minorities continue to lag behind non-Hispanic whites, in part because blacks and Hispanics in particular tend to have on average worse credit ratings.

In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.

The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.

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 Here is why Tirzah picked this…

Who, today, does the media declare as responsible for the economic crisis– President George W. Bush! The media has the people of America convinced that since President Bush took office, he has been the downfall of the nation’s economic recession.  This is not true; Steven A Holmes in his article, “Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending” proves that the financial catastrophe does not all belong on the shoulders of one man. President Bush was inaugurated into office January 20 2001; this article was written in September 30, 1999 during Clinton’s term of office, so in fact the media’s accusation against President Bush should also include Former President Clinton. This article even predicts a government bail-out if this new program were to fail. Just recently, John McCain and Barack Obama postponed their campaigns to vote for a rescue of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae confirming Steven’s prophetic words. However, Obama insists placing the blame on the Bush Administration. It is clear some blame must be placed squarely on affirmative action programs, liberal philosophy, and leftwing democrats. If President Bush bears blame, it is because he was unable to rally his Republican party to vote down these measures. The question is, as a nation, as a legislative representative, or as a candidate for president, have we learned anything? Or are we going to continue to rescue failing programs that weaken our economy, the American dollar, and our world status?

Work Cited

Holmes, Steven. “Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending.” New York Times. 30 Sept. 1999  

<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink>.

OCTOBER 26, 2008

Obama vs. McCain: It’s About Your Money

By SHELLY BANJO

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As the financial crisis has worsened and the economy has deteriorated, basic pocketbook issues — taxes, jobs, retirement — have taken center stage in the presidential race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

Scott Pollack

When the new president “comes to town in January, he’ll have to work on the short-term stimulus to the economy, and the longer-term plans may get deferred,” says Clint Stretch, managing principal of tax policy at Deloitte Tax. “But the issue isn’t the economic-recovery package and what the budget looks like in 2009, but what it will look like come 2012.”

With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, Sunday Journal takes a look at the candidates’ positions on the issues that will most affect your family’s finances. We culled information from party position papers on Web sites, speeches and nonpartisan third-party reports.

Short-Term Economic Relief

To respond to voters who want immediate economic help, both candidates have proposed specific plans on how to jump-start the economy in 2008 and 2009.

Sen. Obama proposes a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to families ($500 for individuals) and penalty-free withdrawals of 15% from 401(k)s and IRAs up to $10,000. He also wants to temporarily suspend minimum distribution requirements for retirement accounts.

Sen. McCain proposes cutting the capital-gains rate on stock held for more than a year to 7.5%. He also would increase the amount of stock loss that is deductible against ordinary income from $3,000 to $15,000, and would tax withdrawals by seniors from IRAs and 401(k)s no more than 10%.

Income Taxes

Both candidates pledge to lower taxes overall, but the key point to the debate is who will be paying the bills.

Sen. Obama favors tax cuts for middle-class workers and tax increases for top earners — families that make more than $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000 a year. He wants to extend most of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, but raise the top two marginal rates to 36% and 39.6%.

Sen. Obama wants to eliminate taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 a year and to provide a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of 6.2% of the first $8,100 in wages (about $500) for individuals earning less than $75,000 a year. Outside analysts estimate that the top 1% of wage earners would see an average tax increase of $19,000.

Sen. McCain wants to permanently extend all 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, raise the personal exemption for each dependent from $3,500 gradually over several years to $7,000 and keep the top tax rate at 35%, leaving “upper-income taxpayers” with “the most to gain under McCain’s plan,” according to a report by Deloitte Tax. The nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center estimates that the top 1% would see a tax cut of more than $125,000.

Estate Taxes and AMT

Both candidates support extending the Alternative Minimum Tax’s 2007 “patch” exemption levels and index for inflation, and changing the federal estate-tax law to make the $2 million per-person exemption ($3.5 million next year) portable or transferable from one spouse to another.

Sen. Obama wants to freeze the 2009 estate-tax structure, which taxes roughly 0.3% of estates — those valued above $3.5 million per person — at a top rate of 45%. According to Deloitte Tax, a $5 million estate would pay a tax of $675,000 under this plan.

Sen. McCain has proposed a 15% estate tax (down from the current 45%) on roughly 0.2% of estates, those valued at more than $5 million per person. A $5 million estate would pay nothing under this plan, Deloitte Tax notes.

Health Care

According to a report by the nonpartisan health-policy analysis and consulting firm Lewin Group, a unit of insurer UnitedHealth Group, average spending on health care in 2010 will be $4,407 per family. Both candidates want to expand access to affordable health care.

Sen. Obama proposes income-related subsidies for health insurance through a new national exchange, along with expanded access to Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and mandatory care for children. He would require employers that don’t offer health coverage to contribute a percentage of payroll toward the national plan, with small businesses being exempt (and eligible for refundable tax credits on 50% of premiums).

Under this plan, premium payments for families would fall by about $185 and direct payments for health services by $253. The Lewin Group projects the Obama plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 26.6 million people in 2010, from 48.9 million.

Sen. McCain wants to replace the current income-tax exemption for health-insurance premiums paid by employers with a refundable tax credit of $5,000 per family ($2,500 for individuals). Any unused credit could be deposited into a Health Savings Account. His Guaranteed Access Plan (GAP) would allow people denied coverage to obtain insurance through state-run high-risk pools administered by private insurers, according to a report issued by the Joint Center for Political Economic Studies. Sen. McCain wants to allow people to purchase insurance across state lines, which could reduce the effectiveness of state regulations.

Under this plan, premium payments for families would increase by about $379 and direct payments for health services by about $105. “This would be more than offset by a net increase in tax subsidies of $1,570″ and wage gains resulting from employer savings, the Lewin Group says.

The Lewin Group projects that the McCain plan would reduce the number of uninsured by 21.1 million people.

Investments

Both candidates offer plans to support small businesses, but they offer different strategies for capital gains, dividends and retirement savings that will affect investors.

Sen. Obama wants to eliminate all capital-gains taxes on start-ups and small businesses but raise the top long-term capital-gains rate on securities and qualified dividends from 15% to 20% for families making more than $250,000 a year ($200,000 for individuals). He wants to tax carried interest as ordinary income.

Sen. McCain calls for maintaining the 15% top tax rate on dividends and long-term capital gains.

Retirement & Social Security

Both candidates have moved to temporarily suspend the requirement that people over age 70½ tap their retirement accounts, but neither candidate has offered a substantial long-term plan to overhaul the way Americans save for retirement.

Sen. Obama wants to institute a 2% to 4% payroll tax on incomes above $250,000, split between employer and employee. It would take effect in 10 years or more. He also proposes a retirement-security plan to automatically enroll workers in a workplace pension plan.

Employers that don’t offer a retirement plan would be required to enroll employees in a direct-deposit individual retirement account. Sen. Obama also proposes a saver’s credit to match 50% of the first $1,000 of savings for families earning less than $75,000.

Sen. McCain favors privatizing Social Security in programs that allow younger workers to place a portion of their payroll taxes into personal accounts invested in the market.

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Here is why Hannah picked this…

This article shows where each presidential nominee stands on five of the most important issues plaguing our country most. It gets right to the point of Short-Term Economic Relief, Income Taxes, Estate Taxes and AMT, Health Care, Investments, Retirement & Social Security. Each section tells the problem and where each person stands on that issue

(CNN) — Early voting is changing how Americans cast their ballots and how presidential campaigns woo voters.

Long lines of early voters have been reported in several states across the country.

Thanks to recent early voting laws in more than 30 states, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain are already scoring millions of votes well before Election Day.

In many states, voters have been willing to stand in line for hours while waiting to cast ballots. Election officials report significant increases in early voter turnout compared with past contests.

What’s changed? Voters say they enjoy the convenience of choosing when they cast their ballots, while campaigns are pressing supporters to get to the polls now instead of Election Day. See map with early voting statistics »

McCain supporters have set up centers where volunteers call voters to ask them to vote early, and workers canvass neighborhoods and knock on doors, campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said. “We have an aggressive early voting get-out-the-vote program,” he said. “But essentially, our strategy remains focused on Election Day, and we believe we’ll win more votes … on November fourth.”

The Obama camp sees the battle for early votes as a fight to win over the undecided — especially in states where the candidates are running nearly even in the polls such as North Carolina, Colorado and Nevada. “In the other states, we’re going to stay communicating with people,” campaign official David Plouffe said. Strategists plan to “make sure we hold on to the support we have and fight as hard as we can for these undecided voters.”

But the desire to win over residents of early voter states sometimes puts campaigns in states that don’t offer early voting at a disadvantage. “Look, we know that Sen. Obama went to the states that had early voting,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell. “We’re one of seven states that don’t have any early voting at all. We understand, and they are running a great campaign nationally.”

Both McCain and Obama are pushing early voting very hard, CNN political analyst Bill Schneider said. “They’re going to have to get to their closing message earlier, because a third of voters are voting early, they’re voting now.”

Typically, early voters are very committed to their chosen candidates. “They’re more often than not strong partisans who know exactly how they’re going to vote,” he said.

Because some states allow early voting several weeks before Election Day, it’s possible that a critical event that would influence voters’ opinions — such as a scandal or so-called October surprise — could occur after a large number of votes already have been cast.

Such a scenario probably wouldn’t matter much, analysts say, because so many early voters are committed supporters of their chosen candidates.

“Probably regardless of what happens in the intervening time between when early voters cast their ballots and Election Day, they probably would vote the same way anyway,” said Dan Seligson of electionline.org, a nonpartisan election reform Web site funded by the Pew Charitable Trust.

Election officials report large increases in the number of early voters this election year, compared with past years. “We’re expecting probably 15 percent turnout, at least, this year,” said Wisconsin election official Kyle Richmond. Turnout was 12 percent in 2004, he said. This year, “it seems very heavy, especially here in Madison.” Early voting reaching record levels

Early voting in Georgia has resulted in a turnout of 18 percent, according to a spokesman from the secretary of state’s office. “We’re expecting a record number of voting in Georgia,” spokesman Matt Carrothers said. “Early voting will ease the pressures on precincts on Election Day.”

Early voting is handled differently in every state. But in general, it allows voters to cast ballots in person before Election Day using either voting machines or so-called absentee ballots — without having to provide an excuse.

Early voting can help simplify each campaign’s “very complex and labor intensive end game,” Seligson said. “If candidates can figure out who has voted early, then campaigns can more readily target the remaining voters because they’re going to be a smaller population.”

Obama has been wooing early voters in Indiana, where a Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won in 44 years. “If your car breaks down on Election Day … if something happens … you have already cast your ballot — you’ll feel good about yourself,” Obama told supporters at a rally last week in Indianapolis. “You’ll walk a little taller having voted early.”

Online, Obama’s Web site lists early voting locations, while Gov. Mitch Daniels, the state’s Republican incumbent, is e-mailing a video link that shows how easy it is to vote early.

CNN iReporter Sue Klaus described her early voting experience in Markham, Illinois, as “not too bad” and “worth the time.”

“It took about an hour,” she said. “Now I don’t have to worry about it November 4th, I don’t have to go early or go late. I’m done.” iReport.com: Are you voting early?

The early voting trend is likely to continue expanding, Seligson said, for no other reason than it eases the burden on state election officials.

“Every absentee ballot you send out is one fewer voter you have to process on Election Day,” Seligson said. “Election Day is traditionally the hardest day to get staffing and the hardest to train a one-day work force.”

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Here is why Stephen picked this…

I’ve submitted this as my article for this week because I believe that early voting should be the standard everywhere. While it wouldn’t be called “early voting” anymore, merely “voting”, being able to vote for entire weeks instead of all centering on one day would ease the logistic strain on every office involved. As well as make life convenient for voters nation-wide. Staggering the voting days like that would mean that the voting officials could deal with the stress and problems that arise during the voting process with more time to spare. All in all: a betterment of the system. Hence its use in over 30 states, I’d say.