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Election 2008, United States

Who would you vote for if the presidential race is held now?

  • Barack Obama

    Votes: 415 72.4%
  • John McCain

    Votes: 130 22.7%
  • Other (Please specify)

    Votes: 28 4.9%

  • Total voters
    573
I think the Iraq war counts as a pretty fair mass killing. Brilliant, we've spread the ridiculous capitalist democracy to Iraq and have killed far more than Saddam ever did.
Please please give me some statistics on that. You know nothing of the issue. Saddam killed atleast a million of his own people.
http://www.iraqfoundation.org/news/2003/ajan/27_saddam.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EFDC1439F935A15752C0A9659C8B63
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239897,00.html
Please do some research before making a comment like that. Did you not know that he was executed for his crimes, and there certainly were not little crimes. And um, yeah a lot of the people that are getting killed are killed by the suicide bombers! The bombers are killing their own people because tehy dont care. You know nothing of the situation at all and Im tired of all these people making these stupid statements and everyone beleives them. The news is avaiable onliny for anyone to read.
 
In what logical universe would McCain back out from a debate where he basically stones Obama?

Lincoln was able to run his election and the Civil War at the same time. I don't see why McCain can't multitask.

Friday's debate is supposed to be on foreign policy, McCain's strong point.
Instead, he's turning his back on Ole Miss (who spent a long time planning for this)

McCain was supposed to be on Letterman tonight. Instead he canceled and wants to run to Washington and fix the mess he's made from pushing for so much deregulation.

Turns out he went over to be interviewed with Katie Couric.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjkCrfylq-E

Speaking of Katie, here's her interview with Palin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbg6hF0nShQ

COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?

PALIN: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you.
Heck of a job Sarah
 
Yeah...... That's not gonna cut it Palin. This is the presidency, not some assignment in school. You are supposed to know your shit.
 
McCain was supposed to be on Letterman tonight. Instead he canceled and wants to run to Washington and fix the mess he's made from pushing for so much deregulation.

okay can we shut up about regulation v.s. deregulation and understand that it's a little bit more than a campaign talking point

The fact is, some regulations are unfortunately neccesary (unfortunately because all government action is a distortion of the market) to prevent fraudulent banking practices, misrepresentation of goods and services, and so forth. However, a great deal of regulation is actually detrimental to business - increasing the costs of doing business as more time/resources must be devoted to satisfying often confusing, contradictory, expansive and oftentimes unneccesary regulations. Ideally, deregulation streamlines the process, opening up business to more people and expanding small business.

Deregulation works absolutely great for certain industries - commodities for example. Notice that the most deregulated industries - food and electronics are incredibly efficient, to the point that we can literally put the most high-end software of 2001 on a handheld or a cell phone by 2006, and that a decent meal (in terms of nourishment, not being "healthy") really costs 5 dollars - in an era of high inflation.

The problem is that while certain "deregulation" has made it easier for greedy/stupid bankers and bank institutions to do stupid things with other people's money, certain *regulations* (like the CRA) have promoted fiscal stupidity.

So don't say "regulation/deregulation is evil", be smart with what you regulate. (which is an entirely new discussion in itself)
 
Oh, and for just one example Luduan, your first link on your references points to an article basically saying the 600,000 is an extrapolation based on sparse, basically unprovable estimates gathered from major metropolitan areas It also factors in deaths from natural causes and domestic violence. In short, 600,000 is just a BSN: Big Scary Number. It has no basis in reality other than it sounds nice. It is an inflation of a estimation using poor methodology. It'd be like saying the total deaths in New York City were 100,000 since September 11th. Such a number would take the deaths that occurred that particular day and then add the natural deaths and murders over the following seven years. It doesn't grasp what it is supposed to grasp, but it makes for a great public service announcement.

I suppose you would rather I cite the study showing 1.2 million dead? The numbers of the Lancet survey may, indeed, be somewhat inflated, however this seems tangential. Whether you accept the lower estimate of 151 000 deaths or a higher number, my only point was that the Iraqis have suffered badly from the invasion, contrary to Peanut-Lover's claim that they have not.

The methodology of the Lancet survey does seem to be valid though, judging from the expert opinions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancet_surveys_of_Iraq_War_casualties#The_second_study_.282006.29

In other news, Palin is crazy and Obama is pushing for votes in the UK.
 
uh yeah

anyway, the debate. From what I can tell, there really proved to be no memorable moments here. Strangely, the people who watched it seem to actually believe that OBAMA won. This applies majorly for undecided voters as well. While this may prove to be false after the debate has had some media penetration and people have thought about it more, it still shows that Obama had a great outing and may have just put McCain away - barring some new development in the second or third debate.
 
According to the fox news text message poll McCain beat Obama 84% to 14% =/

Anyway... yea, more legitimate sources say that independents sided more strongly with Obama than McCain (by like 10%). I think it was more a draw, possibly slight edge to Obama. McCain came off as an arrogant and condescending ass-hole, but spoke well most of the time. Obama proved he knows enough to be Commander in Chief, which is what mattered most in this debate. McCain's poll stats are sliding and he needed a strong performance last night. He didn't get it, even on the topic that's supposed to be his strongest. In that sense Obama was the winner last night.
 
McCain seemed like he did a good job in trying to make Obama seem naive, but Obama stood his ground pretty well. Neither really left a good impression on me sadly, and they didn't really go into how they were going to adjust their plans to the economic crisis, even though they were asked about it. I hope the Biden/Palin debate isn't as fruitless, I could see Biden coming out as the victor but who knows, I hope Sarah surprises people. Still disappointed that the debate that mattered the most didn't help me in making my decision.
 
McCain seemed like he did a good job in trying to make Obama seem naive, but Obama stood his ground pretty well. Neither really left a good impression on me sadly, and they didn't really go into how they were going to adjust their plans to the economic crisis, even though they were asked about it.

Well, overall though, they can't 'do' anything without the consent/approval of the congress, so on that question i felt when Obama gave points or guidelines it was more an actual answer.
 
You're right, and Obama did lay out a lot of economic guidelines, but as I recall he didn't say anything on how he was going to change plans based on recent events, he simply agreed that spending had to be reduced, as did McCain. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

EDIT: I have a question to ask for anyone, maybe a discussion could sprout from this, but what do you think is more important for our next president, foreign issues or domestic issues? Keep in mind that though we have a big economic crisis on our hands, the executive branch has more direct power over international affairs, as far as I have learned.
 
Both candidates will probably claim credit for negotiating the bailout to $250bn + $100bn if(!) needed.

My concern now is that if any bailout was to work, it would be better to overdo it than underdo it. The worst case scenario for spending too much public money is the banks laughing all the way to the... bank, but at least they would have a clean slate and the economy can start moving again.

However, the worst case scenario for spending too little is that it will have no effect whatsoever. Therefore, $350bn would have just been wasted and the system may collapse anyway. I am not convinced having oversight is automatically better either, because it will slow down any potential action by the authorities...

I hated the "big number" hysteria generated when people heard about the $700bn bailout. I blame the stigma associated with "toxic assets"; I guess "overvalued assets" is just not memorable enough. Good mortgages were packaged with bad mortgages to create these assets. Though the bad mortgages will likely default, the good mortgages will probably not. These "toxic assets" may return $0.65 (or more) to the dollar if held to maturity.

I think people misunderstood the bailout in any case. The media talked about a "blank cheque" which is probably the only two words (other than $700bn) that registered with the dopey American public. In short; banks do not trust each other's books. Nobody knows the value of collateral, so they are finding it impossible to borrow, and are reluctant to lend. Therefore, the state is buying all assets that are "difficult to value" to inject liquidity into the system. In my judgement, this is probably the least evil out of any realistic plans.

Edit: my other gripe is the term "taxpayers'" money, which is a complete misnomer. Once you pay your taxes, that money does not belong to you and the state is free to spend it as it pleases.

Edit2: expecting the private sector to step in to generate capital of its own (like some people suggest) when they know the authorities will buckle sooner or later (under pressure from the public to act) is plain naive and unrealistic.
 
Time for an election update! Most of this reflects the pre-debate state of affairs.

Safe Republican - Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska (1, 3), Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona

Standard set of solid states. Obama pulled out of North Dakota and Georgia, and I don't see much opportunity in these states anymore. Even if Palin's approval rating nosedives I doubt Obama carries Alaska. Obama would have to be winning by about 15% to carry even something like Arkansas.

Likely Republican - Montana, Nebraska-2, West Virginia

Obama would have to be winning by about 7-8% to carry these states (and congressional district). Montana would require a nosedive in Palin's numbers as well.

Leans Republican - Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina

At Obama's current 4-6% victory range, these states are within reach. Indiana might be a tough nut to crack, but Missouri has history going for it and NC has demographics going for it.

Toss-up - Virginia, Nevada, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire

In a close election, these states could go either way. All of these states are fairly polarized so don't expect major victories for either side.

Leans Democratic - New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania

If McCain is winning by 4%, he'll pick these up for sure. The likelihood of that? I'd say about 4%.

Likely Democratic/Safe Democratic - Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine (1, 2)

The difference between Likely Democratic and Safe Democratic is purely theoretical; unless Obama collapses, he'll win all of these without much effort.
 
To add to Misty's post...
politicalmap.jpg


Funny Michigan was in between not long ago, well considering all those leaning one way will go that way, McCain is going to have to win those toss up states, Ohio and Virginia the most important if I'm not mistaken
 
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