Thank you Ryan.

And now we await John McCain's plans.

For those who asked, here are some specifics from Obama's speech. Specifics that he laid out during his speech. Obama laid out more than 29 plans he has for America, and I echo Jay when I say if you want to know what his plans are, you can listen to the speech. But to make things a little easier, here is are some of his plans.

Economy

Obama has pledged to attack the weak economy with another stimulus plan to follow the $168 billion package of tax rebates for individuals and tax breaks for businesses that Congress passed last February. Obama's stimulus would include tax rebates, aid to state and local governments and increased spending for infrastructure projects. He would also increase spending in other areas such as alternative energy programs.

Taxes

Retain President Bush's tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year and provide more relief to the squeezed middle class by creating new tax breaks for lower-income families; extend the current "patch" that keeps the Alternative Minimum Tax, designed to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, from hitting more middle-class families; exempt seniors making less than $50,000 per year from paying income taxes, expand the tax credit for college and provide incentives to encourage savings, and help pay for child care and pay mortgage expenses.

Energy

A short-term rebate of $1,000 per couple to help with rising energy costs; release of up to 70 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and investment of $15 billion a year over the next decade to encourage renewable energy, clean-coal technology and electric cars.

Health Care

Obama would increase the number of people with health insurance by having the government subsidize the cost of coverage for low- and middle-income families. To help pay for that expense, Obama would increase taxes for those families earning more than $250,000. He also would require employers not offering health coverage to pay a percentage of their payroll toward a national health plan. And he would mandate that children have health insurance, and expand who can participate in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Foriegn Policy

Obama says he would engage both allies and adversaries to repair the U.S. image abroad and regain leverage and leadership that he says Bush squandered. He says he will marshal international pressure against Iran, boost U.S. efforts against extremists along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and get a faster and firmer start on Middle East peacemaking.

Defense

Pull all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq within 16 months, send more combat troops to Afghanistan and provide better care for wounded troops and veterans.

Education

An $18 billion plan that would encourage, but not mandate, universal pre-kindergarten; teacher pay raises tied to, although not based solely on, test scores; an overhaul of President Bush's No Child Left Behind law to better measure student progress, make room for non-core subjects like music and art and be less punitive toward failing schools, and a tax credit to pay up to $4,000 of college costs for students who perform 100 hours of community service a year. Obama would pay for his plan by ending corporate tax deductions for CEO pay and delaying NASA's moon and Mars missions.

My question of HOW still remains. It just doesnt add up for me. I am hearing a reduction of taxes and an increase in spending. Logically, it doesnt make sense.

But it does ALL sound GREAT. Just not feasable. Bush failed with similar plans. He reduced taxes and not spending. McCain vows to keep tax cuts, but REDUCE spending. His plan makes more sense to me.

I have also heard the argument that Sarah Palin has more excutive experience than Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Which then made me conclude that she ahs more executive experience than John McCain......seeing as he's never been a Governor either.

So, McCain DID choose someone with more executive experience than him.

McCain's plan (as follows) logically makes more sense to me. With our current deficits a reduction in spending is KEY. I hear no plans of this from Obama!

Reforming Washington to Regain the Trust of Taxpayers

Bring The Budget

To Balance By 2013

John McCain will balance the budget by the end of his first term. The near-term path to balance is built on three principles:

Reasonable economic growth. Growth is an imperative - historically the greatest success in reducing deficits (late 1980s; late 1990s) took place in the context of economic growth.

Comprehensive spending controls. Bringing the budget to balance will require across-the-board scrutiny of spending and making tough choices on new spending proposals.

Bi-partisanship in budget efforts. Much as the late 1990s witnessed bipartisan efforts to put the fiscal house in order, bi-partisan efforts will be the key to undoing the recent spending binge.

In the long-term, the only way to keep the budget balanced is successful reform of the large spending pressures in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

McCain Policies Will Support Reasonable Economic Growth: Small business is the key to job growth. Small business will benefit from:

Low individual tax rates - sole-proprietorships, partnerships, landlords and others are taxed under the individual income tax.

Access to capital from low tax rates on dividends and capital gains.

Minimizing expensive mandates - such as those for health insurance and pro-union initiatives like card check.

Enhancing international competitiveness to keep jobs here; not abroad.

A lower corporate tax rate.

Improved investment and research incentives to ensure that workers have the most modern technology.

Bringing the budget to balance, reducing federal borrowing, and controlling spending to reduce the burden on the economy.

Comprehensive Spending Controls: John McCain will institute broad reforms to control spending:

The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction.

A one-year spending pause. Freeze non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending for a year and use those savings for deficit reduction. A one-year pause in the growth of discretionary spending will be imposed to allow for a comprehensive review of all spending programs. After the completion of a comprehensive review of all programs, projects and activities of the federal government, we will propose a plan to modernize, streamline, consolidate, reprioritize and, where needed, terminate individual programs.

Take back earmark funds. The McCain Administration will reclaim billions of add-on spending from earmarks and add-ons in FY 2007 and 2008.

Bi-partisan Fiscal Discipline: A McCain Administration will provide the leadership to achieve bipartisan spending restraint equivalent to that in the 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement between a GOP Congress and a Democratic President. In 1997, President Clinton and the GOP Congress agreed to balance the budget by restraining the growth in spending and cutting taxes over a ten-year period.

With the same bipartisan effort today, with the federal budget that is now 70 percent larger, we could keep taxes low and still balance the budget by holding overall spending growth to 2.4 percent. Unlike Congress and the Executive branch in recent years, a McCain Administration will enforce the spending restraint to balance the budget and keep it balanced.

A McCain Administration would perform a comprehensive review of all programs, projects and activities of the federal government, and then propose a plan to modernize, streamline, consolidate, reprioritize and, where needed, terminate individual programs. McCain could use the bi-partisan commission structure used for the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). Such a commission could be required to report to the President who would then submit the recommendations to the Congress for a straight up or down vote.

A McCain Administration will review all special spending provisions to end subsidies to high-income individuals and corporations

Eliminating Wasteful Spending

Stop Earmarks, Pork-Barrel Spending, And Waste: John McCain will veto every pork-laden spending bill and make their authors famous. As President, he will seek the line-item veto to reduce waste and eliminate earmarks that have led to corruption. Earmarks restrict America's ability to address genuine national priorities and interfere with fair, competitive markets.

Leadership, Courage And Choices: Reducing spending means making choices. John McCain will provide the courageous leadership necessary to control spending, including:

Eliminate broken government programs. The federal government itself admits that one in five programs do not perform.

Reform our civil service system to promote accountability and good performance in our federal workforce.

Reform procurement programs and cut wasteful spending in defense and non-defense programs.

Reforming Entitlement Programs For The 21st Century

Reform Social Security: John McCain will fight to save the future of Social Security, and he believes that we may meet our obligations to the retirees of today and the future without raising taxes. John McCain supports supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts - but not as a substitute for addressing benefit promises that cannot be kept. John McCain will reach across the aisle to address these challenges, but if the Democrats do not act, he will. No problem is in more need of honesty than the looming financial challenges of entitlement programs. Americans have the right to know the truth and John McCain will not leave office without fixing the problems that threatens our future prosperity and power.

Control Medicare Growth: The growth of spending on Medicare threatens our fiscal future. John McCain has proposed comprehensive health care reforms that will reduce the growth in Medicare spending, improve the quality of care, protect seniors against rising Medicare premium payments, and preserve the advancements in medical science central to providing quality care.

oops I posted twice.

Edited August 30, 200817 yr by Casey008

Reductions in spending.

From another Republican. After the one we have in office now promised the very same thing....befor driving our deficit through the roof.

Just doesn't sound........feasible to me.

Edited August 30, 200817 yr by Roman

I have also heard the argument that Sarah Palin has more excutive experience than Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Which then made me conclude that she ahs more executive experience than John McCain......seeing as he's never been a Governor either.

So, McCain DID choose someone with more executive experience than him.

I replied to this earlier. Yes, now the republicans are the only ticket with executive experience. This along with her "non-washington" background strengthens the ticket.

Reductions in spending.

From another Republican. After the one we have in office now promised the very same thing....befor driving our deficit through the roof.

Just doesn't sound........feasible to me.

I just said that (above). Bush's tax cuts and no reductions have failed. Remember John McCain is running this year. Not Bush.

McCain vows to keep tax cuts, but REDUCE spending. His plan makes more sense to me.

Oh yes privatizing everything from the treament of vets to social security (that if John won't do away with it). That's saving money.

I see it this way...

This Sarah woman is against some of the issues that are core to the woman's movement.

John McCain seems to be against the vets in Iraq, I mean why would he had opposed the GI bill?

I replied to this earlier. Yes, now the republicans are the only ticket with executive experience. This along with her "non-washington" background strengthens the ticket.

I just said that (above). Bush's tax cuts and no reductions have failed. Remember John McCain is running this year. Not Bush.

But you also said earlier that the man(or woman) on the top of the ticket is what really matters. It's convenient now that she(the VP) has the Executive experience, huh? Dont try using that now.

Don't you love entitlement programs?

I love them......especially when I'm entitled to my tax dollars helping out those who can't help themselves.

Sounds like the "On Your Own" plan Obama talked about.

Protecting seniors from paying higher Medicaid costs....how? By dropping them from it, or keeping healthcare private so the healthcare companies can continue to drive up costs?

I just said that (above). Bush's tax cuts and no reductions have failed. Remember John McCain is running this year. Not Bush.

Some have been saying that..

I replied to this earlier. Yes, now the republicans are the only ticket with executive experience. This along with her "non-washington" background strengthens the ticket.

I just said that (above). Bush's tax cuts and no reductions have failed. Remember John McCain is running this year. Not Bush.

Yes. John Bush is running this year....sicne he has voted with this president 90-95% of the time.

But you also said earlier that the man(or woman) on the top of the ticket is what really matters. It's convenient now that she(the VP) has the Executive experience, huh? Dont try using that now.

I still hold to that statement. John McCain has more experience that Obama. Palin has more experience than Obama. Palin executive experience doesnt take away from the TOP of the republican ticket it adds to it.

The TOP still is IMO the most important factor.

Again, if you watch Obama's speech, he tells you that he will reduce spending.

Now many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every time - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones who do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

You keep asking for specifics on Obama's plans, yet when people ask you for McCain's you don't give them. McCain vows to keep the tax cuts but reduce spending? My question is HOW?

Yes. John Bush is running this year....sicne he has voted with this president 90-95% of the time.

The Obama campaign is dedicated to the idea of chaining John McCain to George Bush. Once again last night we heard that bit about McCain voting with Bush 90% of the time. That line works because the uninformed public doesnt know any better. Has it occurred to you that George Bush doesn't have a vote in the Senate? So just how do you measure the percentage of times that McCain is voting "with" the president? Well, perhaps you could measure the number of times that a Senator votes with the Republican members. Ahhh ... but remember, as our Washington correspondent Jamie Dupree has told us many times, most Senate votes are unanimous. This would mean that the only way not to "vote with the president" would be not to vote at all. As Dick Morris wrote: "The fact that McCain backs commending a basketball team on its victory doesn't mean that he is in lockstep ideologically with the president."

Edited August 30, 200817 yr by Casey008