I'm not saying that I agree with everything that Bob Barr has done in the past but I agree with him now more than I do McCain or Obama. And what is so wrong with a government so small that it could fit in a bedroom? That is the way the government is supposed to be if you go back and look at what the founding fathers wanted when they created our government. Our government is supposed to provide some basic services which include (but are not limited to) national security, infrastructure, immigration, law enforcement.

What programs would I cut? I would start with cutting back on all of the foreign aid that we send out while our national debt is ever increasing. Why are we sending billions of dollars worth of military aid to Israel, Saudia Arabia, etc while our roads and bridges are crumbling? It just doesn't make sense.

And yes we should cut back on many of our social programs as they are horribly bloated. We have become a nation that lacks personal responsibility. Granted you can't cut back too much too soon because that would be too much of a shock to the system but there needs to be serious reforms put in place to cut spending. We need to kill government funded education, it doesn't work, and instead go to privately funded institutions like charter schools. To start this could be done by providing government vouchers that parents could then choose which schools to send their children to. The better schools would get more money. Obviously I don't have enough space or time to put in all the details here but use your imagination.

The bottom line is that our government has become bloated and cumbersome, it really needs to be shrunk down to a more managable size.

And as for your comment on the government bailouts of the banking industry, I couldn't agree more. The bailouts were horrible ideas. The banks that took the risky loans on should have been allowed to collapse. They took the risk and they should pay the consequence not the American Taxpayer. Also to that end the borrowers who entered into loans that they couldn't afford should be foreclosed on. While I have some sympathy for the ones who were conned by the banks a little common sense should have told them not to enter into risky loans like that. Bailouts funded by the government are a horrible idea and should never have happened.

I watch Obama and I see a man who has stated that he would talk with terrorists without making demands, but won't talk with US troops.  I see a man who won't pledge allegience to the US without ulterior motives, but openly and emphatically pledges allegience to Africa (for those who still deny this, try reading his church's website).  I see a man who brags about his "experience" in the senate, but actually has actually logged fewer working days for the federal government than a private who has completed basic training and AIT.

In other words, I see a man who wants to be president of the United States for no other reason than to remake us all into something of whom his wife can finally be proud.

Change isn't always good.  Changing to higher taxes for one isn't good.

The best way to raise tax money is for more people to work and earn more cash. More people paying a little instead of a few paying a lot. More businesses and wealthier people = more jobs, why kill the cash cows? It makes no sense to me. Stop the bail-outs on every level, as a few have mentioned this country has no personal responsibility anymore. But there seems no shortage of hyper-sensitivity.

ParaTed2k has hit the nail on the head, if McCain (or anyone else) took that short paragraph and made it into an ad, it would kick ass.

I am curious about one thing. I have not seen Brad around in a while but a while back he said clearly that he would rather vote Obama than McCain simply because they had similar policies and he figured if we were gonna get stuck with Democratic polices regardless which one of the 2 wins, he would rather let Obama win, that way we can let the Democrats be fully responsible for the complete destruction of this countries economy. Although considering things have been going pretty bad for the economy under Bush the past few years, it seems that we are not as bad as once predicted and in fact things seem to be turning for the better, very slowly but surely.

I am curious if Brad still feels this way and do any others here agree with him?

I hear this one all the time. Please define change. What does it mean in Obama's sense? Many supporters of Obama constantly say how he will bring about change yet I haven't heard of one person being able to actually define what that means, so please enlighten me.

Need I remind you that when Bush was running for election in 2000 he ran on a platform of "change" as well. In fact if you look up his speech at the 2000 republican convention when he was accepting the nomination he threw the word change around almost as much as Obama does.

And to be completely honest if you really want to "change" the way things are done in Washington then we should be voting for a third party candidate rather than one of the same parties that have driven this country into the ground over the years.

I still am holding a grudge since the primary.  I think he treated Hillary horribly.  I think he is sexist.  It offended me that he tried to block re-votes in Florida and Michigan.  (Yep, he really wants every vote to count if he thinks it will be for him - anyone in Florida and Michigan that votes for him is an idiot).  I have a problem with his numerous present votes instead of actually representing his constituents.  I DO not think he even comes close to having the experience to be President.  His pandering is legendary.  I think he changes positions more than he changes his underwear.  ex. surge, FISA, Israel, troop withdrawal, accepting public funds etc. etc. etc.  I also cannot stand how condescending he is.  How he wants to explain away others ignorance because he is so much above it all.  I am talking about he bitter, clinging to their guns and religion, I am talking about he is embarassed that Americans who travel can only say "merci beaucoup".  I'm not so much for McCain as I am against Obama.

 

You're not?

Most of your points are perfectly valid, except for the first one about Obama being sexist and blocking re-votes. I haven't seen any evidence to support the notion that Obama is a sexist other than he beat Hillary in the primary which doesn't cut it in my book.

As for your comments on the Florida and Michigan primaries, had Hillary been in the lead she would have done the exact same thing that Obama did. When you're winning you certainly don't want to allow anything to happen to take away from your lead if you can help it. And that said I think the DNC caved by making the deal with Florida. Both Florida and Michigan knew the consequences of their actions for moving the primaries up yet they did it anyway. The DNC should have stuck to their guns and not allowed any delegates from Florida or Michigan to be seated at the convention. The people in those states shouldn't be upset with the DNC, Hillary or Obama for what happened to them. They should be pissed off at their state governments for them moving the primaries up, they should vote each of those officials out of office the next time they are up for re-election because of this mess.

No, are you?

I am upset with the DNC about this issue.  They needed to show some leadership but instead handed the nomination and four bonus delegates to Obama.  In my opinion, he is not a valid nominee.  He was not elected by the people but chosen by the party and the stupid superdelegate system and bogus caucuses.  A popular vote, all I want is a popular vote. 

How about when he called a reporter "sweety"?  I think that's sexist.  I believe his campaign had an organized effort to use sexist attacks against Hillary.  He is responsible what comes out of his campaign even if it doesn't come out of his mouth. 

  Obama doesn't speak any foreign languages in spite of his well-traveled youth.  I have a problem with a presidential candidate always pointing out the flaws of the people he supposedly wants to lead.  I think he should just go and be President of Germany. 

Quite.

Actually he speaks fluent Indonesian. He spent a few years there as a child and went to school there for a while. I'm not saying that qualifies him for president just that he does speak a foreign language.

I have news for you, no matter what the outcome of Florida and Michigan was going to be neither Obama or Clinton had enough pledged delegates to get the nomination. It was bound to come down to super delegates one way or another. I think the idea of super delegates is idiotic but those were the accepted rules prior to the primary race starting and have been for many, many years.

As for the caucuses, they are based on popular vote for the most part. Yes they're a little confusing but it is essentially a popular vote. And the whole caucus thing is a state issue. If your state has caucuses instead of primaries you need to find a way to convince your state leadership to change to a primary secret ballot system.



I think calling a reporter "sweety" was an idiotic move but it doesn't make him sexist. And I don't recall his campaign ever making sexist attacks on Hillary during the primary, but then I wasn't in every state so I didn't read, hear or see all of his campaign adds. I live in WV so I only saw a couple of adds of his and they weren't sexist in any way shape or form.