Agreed DBO - nothing pi@@es me off more than people who don't vote but b!tch & moan about what's going on in this country!

I have more than a few friends who NEVER vote but are the first to complain!

And I'm the first to tune them OUT!

If you DON'T vote you have no right to whine!

Amen Feisty...you don't vote, you lose the right to whine about the result. I'm voting first thing tomorrow morning, so I fully reserve the right to whine about the results. ;-)

FYI: From the other thread...I was Maverick from Top Gun. Nothing to crazy, but I managed to stay in character by yelling Splash 4 after my fourth drink! ;-)

LOL! You know I'd be your wing man Goose anyday!

Thanks for sharing (and here I was thinking you was all scared and didn't want to tell ;0)

I'm voting after work... not that it will change who I'm gonna vote for! lol

I will be Tickled to death when tomorrow is Over!

America will be Free again from Election Ad's!

Vote Tomorrow America, it's your Civic Duty!

You Betcha!

Perhaps we could achieve a 75% voter turnout if all States took Oregon's lead and implemented Vote by Mail for all elections?

Just found this Bill that never made it out of committee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Right_to_Vote_by_Mail_Act

Its Funny,

I wonder if Meg Whitman will show up to Vote???

LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!

I will vote for any party except an incumbent

The polls have been predicting a disaster for Democrats (The Country), for over a year... have long since tired of it......

The one measurement that I haven't seen is the one that pits Right Handed folk vs Left Handed folk, vs the Ambidextrious..

Lets measure.....if you are Right Handed, you vote for the Left?

If you are Left Handed, you vote for the Right?

Ambidextrious, vote Independent!

Isn't that the way the brain works? Poll that!...betcha Right Handed wins!

VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

bozombo the clown said, "Now I'm voting again to whack the balls off of the POTUS".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sounds like your faith after the Republicans/Teabaggers privatize Social Security, eliminate Medicaid and rise the retirement age to 70.

Wow Clown.....at 19 years old, you had health insurance coverage working in the circus?

Good for you!

In this country, we have the right to complain whether we vote or not. That right was endowed by our Creator and doesn't have to be earned by any action taken on our part. Not to say that it isn't a civic duty to vote because it is. But to say that people who don't vote sacrifice a right is wrong. I voted weeks ago by absentee ballot. I expect all I voted for to win tomorrow.

America is/has been one of the greatest countrys in mankind's history but it's really sad when 20%/25% of eligible voters are the ones who elect our officals. (40% voter turnout, a candidate winning 50% to 55% of those votes). I guess we get our just due.

nothing pi@@es me off more than people who don't vote but b!tch & moan about what's going on in this country---------------I agree with you 100%.

GoUSA----you are wrong. There is no right in the Constitution to complain (free speech?). Don't vote, accept what you were given. We, as a nation, through our apathy, have allowed business and special interest to take over both our electorial process and our government. Only we can take both back again.

Free speech is indeed mentioned in the Constitution. You might want to read it again. I will give you hint. It's in the First Amendment.

You're never going to take it back with your vote.

High voter turnout or low, democrats lose the house and possibly the senate. Most of them are too busy to get involved and the most this time who fail to get involved will be dems. Even those dems who votes in 2008 will sit it out or vote for a different change.

It is a repeat of 1994 when the tide turned and toasted the left. The best Obama could do was stay out of it, but his narcissism prevents him from thinking as it always has.

Cya Harry, you still have your pay and golden parachute for life. Visit Tip O'neil. Pelosi, smaller office, coach flights, broom grounded. Just retire witch. You know you are toast.

adidas,

Washington is too with the exception of Pierce county (Tacoma). My wife and I mailed our ballots in over a week ago (the day after we received them).

@ Elle: Well said, but you can't convince the Clown with facts. You'll only confuse him.

Finally.

It should be an interesting evening.

How's that "Change we can believe in" working out for you? Let's see now, with a huge majority in the House and a filibuster proof Senate, let's see what Obama accomplished;

Closing GITMO - NOPE.

Getting rid of DADT for gays in service - NOPE Obama even appealed a ruling favoring gays.

Winding down the war in Afghanistan - NOPE - Obama 'doubled down'.

Enacting a 'Public Option' for health care - NOPE

Trying terrorists in Federal Court - NOPE

Eliminating 'illegal eavesdropping' - NOPE

'Comprehensive Immigration Reform' - NOPE

Keeping unemployment 'under 8%' - NOPE

It must be frustrating now that the liberal "Once in a lifetime" control was squandered.

What's that old saying "You can fool SOME of the people ALL of the time".

Bob Randall: " Cya Harry, you still have your pay and golden parachute for life. Visit Tip O'neil. Pelosi, smaller office, coach flights, broom grounded. Just retire witch. You know you are toast." Just a suggestion. look at former president Fords retirement package:-) . That is a truly golden parachute. I know you guys like to be fair and balanced.

Row Wilson: Obama promised to concentrate the war effort on Afghanistan and bring down involvement in Iraq. Your post is inaccurate in that lone instance.

Ellie, Im very happy that I'm one of the uneducated racists white guys that happens to be in the top 2%. Thank you for your kind words and support.

Not to say that it isn't a civic duty to vote because it is.

A civic duty? Not complying with civic duties can result in being jailed. And there are judges who will do just that. When was the last time somebody was jailed for failing to vote?

Scar-414733 "Row Wilson: Obama promised to concentrate the war effort on Afghanistan and bring down involvement in Iraq. Your post is inaccurate in that lone instance."

You are correct - he called it "the good war", but now he's looking for an exit plan.

PS - I forgot another of Obama's "Wish List" priorities - Cap & Trade - NOPE.

Actually the way I see it if someone doesn't vote they have more right to complain. If I don't vote because none of the candidates were worthy of my vote then I have every right to say how worthless they are. I also get to point the finger at all of you who voted these idiots into office. My right to complain is not contingent on voting for "the lesser of two evils". I choose freedom not mob rule and I say all politicians are scum and unworthy of my vote.

Roy and Bozamba - There's an old saying in PA Dutch country...something about when it is, and when it is not advisable to count chickens...

What did Obama (and the majorities) do Roy? How about HCR (but I know - you're one of those people that doesn't use the healthcare system, so you don't see it as the government's right to make everyone pay for it.) Equal pay for equal work, (but heck, being an old, white male, that doesn't affect you either huh?) Repairing our relationships with our allies, that your guys screwed for 8 years (but who cares what those fer-ners think anyway, right?) Ended combat in a war that your guys lied us into, ahead of schedule (but again, your mother wasn't one of the 50,000 Iraqi civilians killed in a needless war, so who cares!) All while saving the WORLD economy (Dem dilema: "Unemployment WOULD HAVE UNQUESTIONABLY BEEN 18-20%" sucks as an election-season bumper sticker). Said it before and I'll say it again - Dems keep both majorities (222Hs, 54Sen) and we keep them all the way thru to 2016, when we keep the same family in the White House! Michelle for America 2016!

Partisan silliness aside, (for another year and a half!) here's to a fun election day, and whatever the outcome, here's to that being our government for the next two years. I'm out (Goin' to Bennet's victory party in Denver tomorrow!)

"Midterm turnout could shatter records"

Understatement by msnbc, as usual. Local rag said who to vote for so the logical thing was to vote the opposite, because it is lib rag that wants the same bs forever.

Should we interpret a persons lack of a vote as acceptance and approval of the status quo?

I am always amazed at the comments of the political know it alls on needing 100% voter turnout to make a difference. If one would use logic, it would seem that only taking 40% of US voter population, the educated and wise political experts would be a stronger decision-making system than having the other uneducated 60% help choose the leaders of our system.

The problem is the so called educated 40 - 55% have chosen the scumbags, liars, cheats, and crooks that have gotten us into this problem .... because no matter whom is chosen (someone has to be elected) the system is corrupt and NO VOTER can change the system. Anyone who thinks voters make the laws needs serious help.

It seems the 45-60% that stay out of it are smarter and the 40% educated "know it all fools" are wrong and in denial about the sham of it all. Oh, the blaming of the other % that didn't follow in their misguided and deluded thinking that voting someone into office makes a difference .... now that's the essence of our system. :-)

I heard the democratic party installed valium salt licks at all polling stations...its gonna be a tough night for them.

Elie,

It is Obama that has done a song and dance and sold a lie. He said unemployment would not get over 8% if his stimulus was put in place. You are suffereing from what is called learned helplessness. You want the government to take care of you. For the moment, it is Papa obama you look to. He is just sitting in a closet in the White House smoking cigarettes blaming everybody else. He is a socialist who when he is of of office would do well to go to work in Cuba for Castro. They like his thinking there. I know you are not so much angry as afraid of not being taken care of by Papa. Don't worry, you will find out you are capable of much more than the democrats ever gave you credit for.

When's the last time a US President called Americans that disagree on a political policy "enemies"? We need balance in this country and hopefully it begins today!

JonboGreen..... "(Goin' to Bennet's victory party in Denver tomorrow!)"

Make sure you bring a sock puppet so you have someone to talk to.....you'll be the only one there...well, maybe Bennet will show up to pop all the balloons...

Gunny-2582712 said: "When's the last time a US President called Americans that disagree on a political policy "enemies"? We need balance in this country and hopefully it begins today!"

Sir, When do you ever recall a time when the office of the President deserved no respect at all from Congress or the Surpreme Court? The things I read and seen with my own eyes in the last 2yrs has appalled me. I am just as patriotic as the next American. Heck, most of this great country of ours was built on the backs of my ancestors going back to when we were still colonies of England. It breaks my heart to see the actions of the people we elected into office behave like children, just because don't believe in the ideas of the others. Whether agree with the person or not, doesn't give anyone the right to disrespect the office itself. George Washington built the respect for the office, and I have watched as we as a people destroyed it. As of this morning I voted to try and put a stop to it.

Gee, where have you been for the last 8 years????

NO president has EVER been disrespected more than Bush!

If you can dish it out....you better sure learn to TAKE IT!!

Obama makes Bush look like a SAINT!

Hey Mike, I live in Delray too....do you know where Marco's victory party is??

Fed,

Trust me, I can take it...and make no mistake, I am no bleeding-heart Liberal. I didn't vote in 2000, so I had no right to complain, and I gave the man 4yrs. But after that, I sure tried to make my vote heard in 2004. Obama may not be perfect, and I wasn't expecting perfection, hey we're all human. We all have weaknesses. However, I do not believe that the Republicans will do right by this country, and I am not sure if the Democrats will do better either, but I gotta vote my concsience. Mind you, I work for a living and do not take any handouts, so Government Assistance means nothing to me. For those that need it, more power to them. I just want the bickering to stop so that maybe we can get something noteworthy accomplished for everyone (not just for the rich, or just the middle class, or the poor) at lease once this decade. No argument, no name calling, just how I feel.

I work 2 jobs and dont need a 3rd to support the entitlement program that Obama pushes!

Some people have a work ethic....others have no ethics and think everyone else should support them.

Say, who here bets that Meg Whitman finally decides to cast a ballot?

Higher turnout helps Democrats this year. Generally there's good weather around the country. Here in central Florida, the skies are overcast, temps in mid-70's, occasional drizzle and possibly real rain later this afternoon.

Surprising turns of events, too - several moderate Republicans I know are voting for Alex Sink and Chrlie Crist. Anecdotes overheard on the street are encouraging that way, too. More people than I realized are unhappy with the rhetoric of the ultra-right.

So here and there, a ray of sunshine peeks through the clouds.

Mike - Watch the national coverage of the returns; you'll see me and my sock puppet, (along with a standing-room-only crowd of thousands), at the Senator Bennet / Governor Hickenlooper / 4 of 7 US House seats / Control of the state legislature (and thus re-districting) / NO on ALL the Tea-bagger Amendments to our state constitution / We-Get-To-Say-"Screw-Tom-Tancredo"-One-More-Time...party!

Fed-up: NO president has EVER been disrespected more than Bush!

You're right...worst in US history...

Feisty...

I have less of a problem with folks who don't vote and later complain than I do with people who pay zero attention with the way things are run in this country and then get hustled to the polls to cast their 'valuable' vote.

Those are the folks Mr. Obama has been targeting over the past month. His handlers call it "getting out the base".

What a crock !

Gunny....

Before that the president told gave a speech at a rally in an urban location and said "They don't want black folks voting".

He is a devisive punk and has gotten worse by the day. Remember after the election in 2008 he was called "post-racial".

He has proven himself to be nothing of the sort.

Tony - Really? The word "vaulable" in quotes, in front of the word "vote". Yeah, guess it really burns some people that one vote counts as much as any other! Welcome to America baby!

And just so you know, if you had your way, it'd work much more against your side, than for it. (ie...if there were a "litmus test" for being informed, before being allowed to vote, the Republican party would've gone extinct even sooner than it will, we'd always elect a former Harvard Constitutional Law professor as President, etc.!)

Jonbo...

Always get a kick out of folks supposedly "in the know" regarding the intelligence levels of Republican voters.

Please advise on the makeup of President Obama's three strongest voting blocs from the '08 election and let us know about their high levels of educational accomplishment.

Those are the same votes that will, in large part, be absent this year. What a pity.

John forget it, Rubio wins with double digits. quit your Disney fantasies

dontgive...

I wonder if Mr. Obama considers Senator-to-be Rubio an "enemy' of hispanics...even thou he is hispanic ???

Well tony, that would depend on whether Rubio is engaging in the same voter suppression tactics that Republican groups in other parts of the country are using. Like telling Latinos that the best way for them to participate in the electoral process is by NOT voting, for example.

tony, give it a rest. Obama meant to say "opponent" of Hispanics who want immigration reform. Many of said hispanics are from Mexico.

Rubio is CUBAN so he may want to address the trade embargo but the plight of the Mexican migratory workforce... not so much a priority.

Tony, of course he does . the CiC is a racist. Rubio has already stated that he opposes his health reform and will try to repeal it.

John, Latinos should not have voted if they were not registered to vote and I hope the polling officials verified credentials thoroughly before anyone was allowed to vote.. That goes for all white, black, purple, pink, green, and any other skin color.

OF COURSE no one who isn't registered should be allowed to vote. Spin it however you want, the ads promoted Latinos withholding their votes in protest. They didn't. Majority Leader Reid still has a job. Sometimes despicable campaign tactics fail after all.

F M Marsh

"Nancy Pelosi...The answer:

Sarah Palin. You folks have short memories. Shame on you!"

Better to have a shortmemory than no memory at all. VOte for drugs loser.

100% correct Ramboet!

I didn't read far enough down before I commented above! ;0)

Many are just so disillusioned. Can you imagine your choice being Angle or Reid ? Bad enough in Illinois with Kirk or Giannulious (sorry about the spelling, just don't care) or Brady vs. Quinn. Many people just feel that no matter who they vote for, they get a crooked politician. They don't vote and can honestly say "I didn't vote for him."

Hi. I live in Las Vegas: Nevada that is. Listen folks--

You really have to get over the Reid thing.

If you're afraid of regulations, or big tent, or safe drinking water, or your own shadow...

And if your all for an imminent Corporate Conservative Movement Politics takeover, then by all means, vote for Sharron Angle.

If you are a Democrat, or a Liberal or a Moderate, or just want the Smarter More Experienced Person (and sane), then vote like one. A vote for Harry Reid is a good vote and he has earned it.

If you disagree with him on a national level, then save your fight for another day.

If you live in Nevada and have a job, or see the Recovery Act money on the roads we drive, or can still drive anywhere near Yucca Mountain and not completely shudder with the heebee jeebees, then you can thank--

Harry Reid. If you have anything at all invested in the City Center and slowly recovering economy then--

You can at least appreciate Harry Reid.

sorry to inform: but a lot of us "fat duffs" have already voted. and won't you

be surprised at the result????

You are 100% right, Ramboet, Feisty and Duh. Generations have fought and died for this precious right. Those who choose not to exercise their right should not complain about their elected officials.

It is discouraging to have to cast our precious vote for the lesser of two evils many times. It would be nice if both parties respected our votes as much as we cherish our votes and run politicians worthy of receiving our votes.

Happy voting to you all.

problem is, Candice....

Politics and government work do not attract the best and brightest among us. Even though govmnt pay is better, most people don't view it as an honorable profession.

No Stress - very true.

problem is, no stress....

Is that young high school students who have dreams of becoming a "Marine Biologist" and working with dolphins or a case worker helping the disadvantaged are at some point told they should go into "business" or something more "lucrative".

Is it their parents, teachers, or friends who are "indoctrinating" them?

Working for NOAA or the State Fisheries Agency saving Salmon, Trout, and Steelhead should be just as attractive a profession as working in Marketing or Advertising.

As for Govt pay versus Private Pay, one must consider all benefits provided to get a feel for the actual compensation one receives as a condition of employment (including Short Term Disability, etc.)

Many of the concessions acquired by UNIONS have made a life working a blue collar job and raising a family a noble existence. Rolling back benefits and wages would turn many occupations into DEAD END Jobs.

Carl,

I live in North Idaho, an area owned by the rethuglicant party. You know the lower taxes, less govetrnment, less government spending stuff....well it seems our wonderful rethugs don't have a clue as to the financial mess we're in. Instead of doing things needed to balance the budget, they've decided not to layoff any employees (we have a street sweeper---gotta keep the roads clean for the tourists). They went out and bought this God aweful statue of a tree for the city park. So in their enlightenment they RAISED city property taxes. Not only will they be reelected but the same voters are the ones crying about the mess this country is in and how unwisely the Dems are spending the money.

As for Harry Reid.....I'll bet he has brought alot of federal funding into the state of NV. Like it or not, not all earmarks are wasted. Some service very legit purposes. If I lived in NV I'd be very thankful that Yucca Mtn isn't glowing nuclear red. Last but not least.....for every Harry Reid, you have a Mitch McConnell.

If you live in Nevada and have a job.... you're lucky. Harry's got to go. He's bad for Nevada. He's bad for America.

Vote LEGALLY tomorrow!

Liberal, I live in Henderson NV. I guess that things in Las Vegas are much better according to your post. But 2 miles away in Henderson things are for shttttt. If you want to make claims about everything that Reid has done better start looking up some facts.

A vote for Harry Reid is a good vote and he has earned it.

Because he can bring home more pork than other politicians?

What has he done for your housing market - one of the worst in the country? What has he done about the high unemployment in the state - one of the highest rates in the country?

You're right. Harry is successful at many things - bad things.

Funny how the Libs continue to ignore one of Kennedy's most famous quotes.

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

I don't think this meant that now over half of the population receives food stamps from the other half.

I don't think this meant that the Feds would pay for your doctor visits.

I don't think this meant that you now get 99 weeks of unemployment just because the job you could take pays a little less that your "Benefit" does.

Get out there and vote! Before we all ask what is the country going to do for me everyday!

Those that the Dems put on food stamps are fufilling the Kennedy philosophy.

They are contributing to the welfare of the US. Now, isn't that nice. Dems love

that. Their two much loved legislations. Welfare and Food Stamps. A pity I did

not collect Food Stamps. I would have opened an album for my collection.

J.F. Kennedy was a rabid right wing extremist compared to BO.

Touch...

It is quite funny how the Democrat Party has forgotten those words from one of their biggest icons.

Mr. Obama would say that JFK had things backwards.

Mr. Obama would say that JFK had things backwards.

Your claim that Obama wants Americans on Welfare is such BS. Remember this QUOTE its my current fav.

• It's called Camouflage Propaganda. Paint yourself to look like your opponent and paint your opponent to look like you. You know like Joe the Plumber, Joe the Six Pack, Regular Old Hockey Mom, then they say Obama is an elitist, he doesn't understand middle class (he was middle class). - 4RealLyn

Obama and Congress (Dem Controlled according to Tories) support expansion of the Peace Corp and AmeriCorps. Although it requires federal funding to run the program, the experience helps the growth of young people as a person and also gives back to the community.

Below is a PolitiFact Check that, no doubt will be to tony's satisfaction, is rated "Promise Broken".

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to double the size of the Peace Corps to 16,000 by its 50th anniversary in 2011. But while the president's proposed fiscal year 2011 budget would increase the amount of money devoted to the Peace Corps, the amount envisioned is too low to reach Obama's original goal by 2011.

That's not to say that Obama has forsaken the Peace Corps in his proposed budget. His 2011 budget would allocate $446 million for the Peace Corps -- up more than 10 percent from the $400 million the corps had in fiscal year 2010 and up by about one-third from the $340 million it had in fiscal year 2009.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/221/double-the-peace-corps/

adidas....

Your time may have better applied if you had actually read the two or three short sentences I wrote before giving a dissertation in reply....don't see where I wrote or even hinted about "welfare".

If I didn't put that in what I wrote...why did you ?

I was taught to always listen before I speak and read before I reply. I think John Kennedy would have agreed.

Really?

No Lib is going to rip me for quoting Kennedy. It surprises me when I hear old recordings of John F Kennedy how he sounds very much like what the media today calls extreme.

I guess that's because I agree with alot of what he said. Not all but alot.

Some Lib needs to set me straight. If not concede the point.

I don't disagree with you very often Clara, but having grown up in a rural county I don't think fraud is an issue there more than any other location. People just vote in those places, they feel a real duty to do so. Now, they may be people who think Steve King and Michelle Bachman are the only really smart and honest people in Congress, but at least they feel a civic duty to vote.

Of course it is harm and foul! There are 730 days (17,520 hours) between elections and spending a maximum of 2 hours to do your duty to America is not asking them to give up the farm! Many have fought and died for our freedoms...it is the very least a person can do to repay for that service and sacrifice.

Conspiracy becomes you, Clara. It means you aren't taking things so seriously.

Clara, I do not know about you, but when I registered, on my 18th birthday, I had to bring my birth certificate, and my mother, to the clerk's office to prove my eligibility, and to sign a witness statement that I was who I said I was.

I have never missed a vote. Not one.

Perhaps those rural voters are like me.

Just saying. . .

Jeez, it was so long ago for me that the voting age might still have been the same as the legal drinking age, 21 in this state. I don't even remember what it took to get registered. I just know that I drank several times before I ever voted.

I have voted every election since, both local and national. It's just the "right", heh heh, thing to do!

With all this talk about voting, how many people are voting for somebody as opposed to voting against another? Voting out incumbents is a vote against but not necessarily for. But at least it is a vote despite its effectiveness or intent.

Actually a combination of both. I just voted for Pat Toomey because he is a fiscal Conservative on the right side of the issues. I voted against Sestak because, although I appreciate his military service, he voted with Nancy Pelosi and the DEms Socialist agenda every time.

I am also voting for candidates who I believe will restore the country back to following the Constitution and limiting government. Reagan Conservative principles are always the right way to go.

I will especially toast the nation tonight if Barney Frank, the one most responsible for the Housing meltdown in spite of what you heard, and Harry Reid go down in defeat.

This is the first cycle in a long time where I can say without a doubt I am voting FOR a candidate in the major races. Most of the local group runs unopposed but when it comes to our governor, our lt. governor and our state senator, I am actually thrilled to have candidates I want to see win for a change.

I was there early today and one of my friends was there with her "just turned 18" son. We were all congratulating him on his first election! I didn't notice any enthusiasm gap there.

I was so proud of my 1984 vote for Ronald Reagan! Boy do I wish I had a 'do over' on that one!

Richard, did they really use rock tablets and chisels? he he

I'm sure you have several good points, but I got lost with the lack of punctuation and spelling. Slow down and try to put some coherance to your rant and you might say something better.

Funny,

Thats was put WELL - Get off their Fatt Duffes and Vote...

Heard of Meg Whitman...and the I don't Vote crowd...LOL LOL LOL

We are in the time of the Bullies ,I am a Lady ho my first language It is not English and I do speech two more one of them better than Cervantes but i do not care to express my self in this country where I work of many years and I feel like my own where the communist still Is many years back e very nice Lady teacher of mine told me you now Cori you will make It because you do not care what others think and I am a very good Fine artist,and at the same time have to work as a makeup Artists with the best lines french and American ,I am 62 and never live out of the government and after my family send me to this country they never cut lived and stay along heart never had not even a ticked and respect every one respect to beside the most important cities never had good grammardo not be so Elite,I am not rude and in my Romance language I cut bee real good.now what have you have done with your live where you went to college ,Ha I was born 90 miles from here and I am Roman Catholic and independent A blond green eyes Cuban -American Hispanic so you want to bully me com on like you have done to many others minorities learn son decorand respect in life and you cut see my picture in facebook or you cut goo a by one of my painting wist respect Mrs Corie Gladys It is not what you read or wright is if you understand what is going on and I do gentleman's

Yup!...been predicting all polls off by 3 - 5% from what I've seen. They underestimate the youth actually getting out to vote and are never reflected in the polls. Not to mention the fact that 25% of Americans are now cell phone only households...no polling there.

BTW...most cell only households tend to be on the progressive side of the aisle...;)

Agree SoCal John, my 19 year old can't wait to vote tomorrow ( besides he loves the I VOTED sticker!) and my 30 year old never misses an election! Raised 'em right!

(besides he loves the I VOTED sticker!)

Now that's some real motivation. Stand in line for hours for a 2 cent sticker.

the thinker - its a joke. lighten up! If you raised a child in the last 30 years, you know that good behavior was always rewarded with sticker! And here in So Cal, there's no waiting to vote since more and more are voting by mail!

But Joe, if you follow the rants of the "true conservatives" there can be NO compromise. That leaves the Congress in stalemate. Nothing gets done. Unless the elected learn to govern, we will have 2 years wasted and no improvement to our economy. You think business did not act for the last year, waiting for the election, wait and see what happens if no budget gets passed for months. Voting Republican now is like voting for failure.

The rants of the some conservatives that there can be no compromise is just unfortunate. I believe they are promising to listen to the people and the people are speaking. Isn't everyone so tired of fighting all the time? After all the campaign hostility and rhetoric is finally done tomorrow, I'm hoping the current and newly elected all do what the majority of the people want --- work to right our wayward country -- in a reasoned, cooperative, citizen focused way. Well, a girl can dream.

Even after the election is over, keep in touch with your representatives, senators and President and tell them to get it together for the good of all of us out here.

The Republicans have been practicing no-compromise for 2 years now. This is now becoming more pronounced, since that is the Tea Party mandate. The question is, how you govern without compromise in a democracy? As long as the other side has the ability to filibuster or to veto, you have to come together or just be paralyzed. Maybe the GOP thinks they are the Communist Party in the Soviet Union and can just dictate everything?

Bullsh$t obama With closed doors and his as$ kissing congress voted in health care against the will of the american people.

Hey Joe, the health care bill was against the will of the conservatives, but both liberals and moderates wanted a health care bill. The one we got was originally a Republican plan. Liberals think it's better than nothing, but not as good as single payer. Was the plan we got against the will of the American people when the majority (everyone except conservatives) wanted it? According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office it will save money....except it won't increase the bottom line for insurance industry. For some reason, the anti-trust legislation had an exception for the insurance industry, resulting in sky-rocketing costs to consumers. Most Americans don't want total financial ruin for their family if a loved one needs an operation. Closed doors?? When everybody knew what was in the bill??

Granny -

Everyone wanted health CARE reform, not health INSURANCE reform. 90% of the real issues with health care were never even addressed. This is why so many want the legislation that was passed repealed - we know that it will bankrupt the US the way it is written. I say, repeal it and start over. We would have been better off doing nothing at all.

You couldn't get to health care reform without doing health insurance reform.

It won't be repealed any sooner than three years from now, and by then it will be popular with the electorate.

Joe: It's posts like yours that floor me.

The imbalance of power in this country started when disaffected white southerners ran kicking and screaming from the "party of the people" (Democrats) into the arms of the rich corporatists (Republicans) in 1964 (Civil Rights), swelling their ranks and giving them election-winning majorities (which they would not have without them). For the last four decades, Republicans have used that power to weaken Federal gov oversight (our only protection from corporate greed), ship jobs overseas and give themselves and their rich constituents tax breaks (and convince them they shouldn't have to pay taxes either). Your buddy Reagan really heralded the age of the corporatist, when middle-class money began to be redistributed – up – not down (to the lazy ‘po folk) like they’d lie like rugs about, hoping you never put two-and-two together and figure out the truth.

I'm PO'ed at Obama myself; he's been far too timid (trying to please un-pleasable Repbublicans) but Tarp (Bush's baby) is turning a profit, the stimulus DID work, the economy's grown every quarter Obama's been in office and private sector jobs have been created every quarter. Americans DON'T won't smaller ineffective government; that's what corporations want (the better to rob or poison you). The corporatists are siphoning off middle-class wealth at a record pace -- and apparently have no plans of stopping until we and the country are bankrupt -- all the while paying Fox News, Beck, Limbaugh (the list goes on) humongous sums to lie and distort and keep you from knowing the truth and wising up to their game and spoiling their plans for their eighth summer home.

They have no ideology FOR THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. They're bankrupt "tickle-down" and de-regulate the financial industry - their greed -- is what cost this country six million jobs and people's 401K's. The top 2% of the population - the rich, Repubublican corporatists - now control 98% of the nation's wealth. They are so desperate to keep their good thing going, they've got Fox and a whole gang of conservative media types PAID to lie and distort and keep you from knowing what's really going on in this country.

Boehner and McConnell have not articulated ONE SINGLE VALID IDEA for turning this country around. They're solution to everything is to give themselves and the country's millionaires and billions MORE borrowed money (that they won't use to create jobs; the Republican Party and the COC are in a conspiracy to farm American jobs out to cheap labor), increasing the deficit, all the while squealing about Obama's deficit spending for real, working Americans. Our deficit is Bush’s two wars, two tax breaks and government expansion (Medicare Modernzation). Obama’s measiley little stimulus spending is a drop in the bucket in comparison. Where was the “spending” and “government expansion’ outrage when Bush was in office?

The mess we’re in was caused by bankrupt Republican ideology, and now they’ve got half of this country pointing a gun at their own heads and about to pull the trigger tomorrow. Please enlighten me on just what you people think a greedy Republican “do” and “know” nothing is going to do for YOU?

I see our future, Joe. And if people in this country don’t get there heads out of Fox and the Republican's lap and start thinking for themselves, come home to the "people's party" where they belong, and stop voting to give corporations the power to crush us, our Democracy is doomed.

@ ellie.........your history of the two parties is so far off. democraps for the people? are you freakin kidding? your talking about the party that fought every civil rights movement, and started the kkk......that democrat party? here go to this site written by a black man and read up on the democrat party... there is even a video if you cant read

http://blackquillandink.com/

Elle I'm sorry you feel that way about conservatives. We are not all bad and I'm sure you will agree that not all Liberals are as good as you think.

I don't agree with mandated health care, or a government run anything. The way I see it laid out in the Constitution is very simple. The Federal Government has a guild line of what they can and can not do and everything else is passed on to the individual States. Now if you think the Federal Government should have the power to do what ever they want then run for office. When you get elected propose an amendment to have it change. Get a majority in the House and Senate. Then go to the States and get a majority. That is the way to change the Constitution of the United States. If you include term limits to all elected offices I'll vote for your amendment.

By the way both parties are to blame for the situation we are in right now. The only ones who should be taken all the blame are the voters for letting it happen.

Obama has always governed from the center.

Jim: I know complex concepts are difficult for you to grasp, but political power in the US (as it is in most cultures) is broken down between the “haves” and the “have nots.” Two other adjectives that illuminate the dichotomy (draw you a picture) is “management” and “labor.” Are you catching on yet?

The operative dynamic between those two ends of the spectrum is greed: “management” (rich oligarch) wants to maximize his wealth/profits by paying “labor” very little) and “labor” fights for a decent wage (since, after all, he does the actual work).

That’s how “Labor Unions” evolved, and that’s how America got a prosperous middle-class in the first place. If Labor had not organized (consolidated power under the “Democrat” umbrella) you’d still be working for management (consolidated power as “Republicans”) for 25 cents an hour.

The Republican Party in the US is the one with ALL the money (the rich oligarchs/corporations) and they use it to buy mass media to lie to you stupid southern whites and make you even MORE stupid than you normally are. Look it up (if you can read) under “The Southern Strategy.”

Now, you CAN continue to make up your own “facts” and deny the reality that this IS how the power breaks down in the US (and why our Congressmen and political system is completely corrupted by money), and continue to keep voting in the wrong column (with the rich guys and against your own interests) and then grouse about your high insurance premiums, your polluted air, water, tainted eggs, high credit card rates, and any other of the countless ways the rich are making our laws work for them and helping them suck even more money out of the middle-class, but please spare the people who actually “get it” your whining. You only sound like a dumb dolt.

nlouisianacitz

I didn’t say I thought conservatives were “bad” and “liberals” good. That is something Limbaugh made up and Beck, et al (Fox News) cultivates (stoking the prejudice/hate - making it a culture war).

This isn’t about right/left or conservatives/liberal – it’s about “we the people” and “corporations” - about the people’s power in this country being obliterated by corporations. (I’m sure you’ve heard the “conservative” (i.e., Republican) wing of the SC just made corporations “people” – how ridiculous is that?) That’s the WAR going on in this election. And I can surely understand people being upset the economy is not recovering faster – but to vote for Republicans NOW – is to give the power of our Congress BACK to the folks that got us in this mess in the first place. It is really sad how successful they’ve been at getting people to believe their lies.

You don’t have to believe me. This is a problem that’s been coming to a head, and things are getting so dire for the middle-class the truth behind all the lies are finally being exposed. You will be hearing much more about it.

The Republicans will be exposed because they have NO PLAN to get us out of this mess – only tax breaks for the top 2% of the rich in America – who already control 98% of the nation’s wealth. (That’s right: 2% of the people in this country have MORE money than the entire rest of the 97 %.) And that why they’re fighting so hard to keep you voting in “their” column: it’s pretty easy to fool the people they’ve got hooked, and the alternative is to have some of their money be rolled-back to the middle-class (and the poor, who they’d prefer just die). It’s the corporations stoking the fires of hate in America, and keeping the “culture war” alive. They figure if they keep us fighting each other (and keep our children un-educated) we’ll never wake up to the real problem. Them.

BTW: The healthcare bill’s mandate is actually a Republican idea that was just fine until they needed to be “against it.” That reform effort was FOR the people – to slow down those runaway increases in “for profit” health insurance. I personally hate what they passed (they’re still raising rates), but not because of the mandate. What we need is what every other industrialized country has – single payer (like Medicare), which we will eventually get when insurance premiums are finally so out of sight those who are squealing “socialism” will realize socialism isn’t the bugaboo they think it is (we have lots of socialism already in our country…Medicare, highways, armed forces, parks. Capitalism w/o a little socialism results in a barbaric country – America’s better than that).

The American people don’t WANT smaller government. It’s corporations that want weak ineffective fed government, because it means less rules and regulations for them, less pesky oversight, less having to keep our air breathable and water drinkable and producing quality consumer products that won’t kill or maim us…lol. YOU are the Federal Government. Strong Federal Government is our only protection from corporate excess.

The idea that the Federal Government wants to “take over our lives” is just more lying scare-mongering, made-up crap from corporations.

Americans need to stop fighting each other and work together to get corporate money – influence -- out of Congress – period.

Elle, thank you for your contributions here on First Read. Regarding health insurance reform, check out this fact check about new HCR provisions to help STATES crack down on unjustified rate hikes by Health Insurance companies.

We have empowered state insurance commissioners to review the rate hikes that are taking place in states. And in some states like North Carolina, they have already used it and rolled back premium increases by 25 percent

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/oct/28/barack-obama/obama-said-states-have-new-power-review-insurance-/

As Democratic Rep. Pelosi stated and Republican Rep Michael Burgess confirmed, it's often true that the ins and outs of legislation aren't widely known until after a measure passes into law

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2010/mar/15/republican-party-texas/texas-gop-says-speaker-nancy-pelosi-said-people-wi/

Obviously the DEMS need a new bullet point list of Healthcare Reforms besides the tired list of no liftetime limits, no policy rescission, high risk exchanges/allow pre-existing conditions, Children on Policy until 27 yrs of age.

I wonder what would happen if all that money gets spent promoting conservatives and the Dems pull an upset and win anyway? Will they think twice about wasting that much money next time? Where would we be if all that money was put into creating jobs instead of buying politicians?

That would be sweet Heartlight3. However I am resigned to Democrats losing some seats in the House and Senate. I think it will be much less than most are predicting but some will most likely be lost.

IMO, if the House goes Republican, it will be a very tough 2 years on anyone not in the top 2% of income. However, it will also mean that the Republicans will lose, and lose big in 2012. It might even set up a filibuster proof Senate for 2013 and beyond.

If the Republicans win either or both houses, brace yourselves, folks, for a very hard 3 years (the 2 they are in the majority and the 1 it will take just to get us back to where we are now).

Number of zeros
U.S. & scientific community
Other countries

3
thousand
thousand

6
million
million

9
billion
1000 million (1 milliard)

12
trillion
billion

15
quadrillion
1000 billion

18
quintillion
trillion

21
sextillion
1000 trillion

24
septillion
quadrillion

27
octillion
1000 quadrillion

30
nonillion
quintillion

33
decillion
1000 quintillion

36
undecillion
sextillion

39
duodecillion
1000 sextillion

42
tredecillion
septillion

45
quattuordecillion
1000 septillion

48
quindecillion
octillion

51
sexdecillion
1000 octillion

54
septendecillion
nonillion

57
octodecillion
1000 nonillion

60
novemdecillion
decillion

63
vigintillion
1000 decillion

66 - 120

undecillion - vigintillion

303
centillion

600

centillion

Help!? Help the President take this country into Socialism? The President surely isn't leading us into a more sound and secure Democracy. The Government takeover of health-care, a larger unsustainable bureaucracy, suing the State of Arizona for trying to secure the boarder, and another five trillion in debt are the reason that Democrats and some Republicans must be removed from office.

Wakuep.... only some Republicans need to be removed from office... yes, just 3 republican senators... and leave the Democrats alone... that way we can get the country moving without the party of NO.

You better be careful what you wish for..., because you may find that you are fighting for something that could end the Democracy as we know it.

What are you talking about? Whenever a Democratic administration and Congress has used their power and our money to pull us out of a bad situation, it has always led to more prosperous times for America as a whole. This time is no different.

We have a President of NO to the people of America. That has been well demonstrated. If Barack is allowed to have another term, you can count on the fact that Democracy will come to an end. And, if by chance, you people who vote him in in 2012.......just remember you will have participated in that tragedy. If that occurs, you have no reason whatsoever to whine about the downfall of America. You helped create it, and the decent people who really are patriots and love and believe in this great country will have to endure it also.

Gov't takeover of healthcare haha! Pray tell Wakeup2840 what solutions do you propose to reduce the amount per dollar America spends on Healthcare compared to other developed nations?

http://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=cpr

Any large organization is inherently bureaucratic. See Private Corps like HP and EDS. We can only work to de-dupe (consolidate) State/Federal agencies, subcommittees, responsibilities, roles, authority and data.

Discussions become more internal, rather than externally focused on the customer. Individual success becomes more reliant on internal political skills, rather than business skills such as increasing revenues, decreasing costs or creating great new products. In the extreme, this leads to "empire-building", which happens when success is defined by the size of your domain, rather than its performance. At HP, Bill and Dave (Hewlett & Packard) instituted early on a policy of holding annual staffing growth to a set fraction of revenue and profit growth. I believe that this policy was one of the keys to holding off the inevitable bureaucratization of the company for a very long time.

Once started, the Bureaucracy is a self-sustaining organism. Because you have so many people and so much overlapping of responsibilities, the lines of communication grow ever more long and complex. So you need to add more people, to make sure that all of the busy work that is created in the process is done. It's the ultimate vicious circle, and causes huge inefficiencies that permeate throughout the company.

5 Trillion? Its 3 Trillion.

http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2010/sep/01/chip-rogers/rogers-blames-president-obama-3-trillion-debt/

Inflating statistics, making misleading claims confirms that the favorite game of Obama haters is... Political Telephone lol.

http://wondertime.go.com/create-and-play/article/telephone-game.html

Now or never, we don't have a democracy anymore. We let corporate america take over, and then it was sealed by the supreme court. Democracy is over in this country.

they dont agree with his agenda

How can you say "they" dont agree when you had Democrats gaining almost the same amount of votes as their GOP opponents. Why were there so many "too close to call" and "nail biters" if "they" dont agree with Obama's vision for America?

cobb chooses to marginalize the half of America he doesn't agree with. Boehner and McConnell will NEVER speak for me. EVER. But if it helps their lies and distortion to CLAIM they speak for all Americans,...I will be here to call them on their BS. I am not alone, I have many friends and we all have voices. To coin Glen Close in Fatal Attraction,..."We will NOT be ignored!" (psycho biatch intentional!)

I'm with Psycho Biatch. People who have the numbers they have based on winning close races all over the country are claiming no one has the right to disagree with their positions. This is the same group who claimed GW Bush had a "madate" without winning a majority of the vote, and Barack Obama didn't based on an electoral landslide. If they speak for you, fine. They have no intention of even considering my position, therefore I have no intention of supporting anything they do.

Please, if you live in Nevada--look at the options. You have an Extreme Radical Right Wing Sharron Angle who has stated her agenda and you have Harry Reid, whether you like him or not, he is rooted in reality and he has done all he can and will continue to try to Benefit Nevada.

Please tell all your friends who live there to vote sanely.

I voted. My family voted. I love this country and I think Nevada can be an awesome leader as a state-- and I do not want to see it fall to the Corporations.

Is that coherent enough for everyone?

People PLEASE!!!!

Businesses of all sizes can not grow at all now; No idea on future costs of Taxes, Health Care or direction on which lier will be in office!

My advice; get off "Party Lines" & Get REAL!

It's proven itself time & again; tax less & the State & Fed Gov't take in more volume revenue; tax more & they take in less! DUGH!

BTW - Who is paying for all this Big Gov't Misery! "We the People..."

We need a government By, For & Of THE PEOPLE! Not just the Rich Ba$tards who influence everything with their wallet! You think its by accident we are not even in the Top 25 in many categories of Education our Youth in this world! HELL NO!

I'll take My FREEDOM, My GUNS & MY MONEY TOO! YOU keep the "CHANGE"! (& the communist "Leftist Freaks" that go with it!)

NY Jay OUT!

NY Jay,

Here are the real facts:

1) Clinton raised taxes; the tax revenues increased, the deficit shrank and the economy boomed.

2) Bush reduced taxes, tax revenues dropped, the deficit exploded and the economy went off the cliff.

3) The reason business is not hiring is because of reduced consumer demand, plus the fact that they can always add jobs cheaper in China and India. That's not the Communist lefty freaks doing that; it's the capitalist righty freaks who control the big companies. Somehow, they've succeeded in getting people like you to ignore the facts and vote out the people who are trying to save you.

I would be happy if tea was the drink you're taking in. I really think it's Kool Aid, though...

Your #1 Clintons congress and senate was controlled by repulicans. Your #2 Bushes congress and senate was controlled by democrates. # Fact LOL

My sister has never voted in her life. She is voting Republican this time.

Well, since its her first time. We'll let it slide and not tell her what a dumbass she is. Just this time though. We're all entitalled to one mistake. Hell, after all, Repubes re-elected Bush. :)

Way to go Skeptic!

I read your entire post aloud all in one breath. I think I'll go pass out now.

But rest assured, I will forward your message to as many people as possible.

And I live in Nevada...

Already voted....(i'm fading...)

WOW!!!... I just have to Say...You have Done said it ALL!!!

If I want Fear, I will go to scary Movie... If I want to be robbed, I will go to a Bank... If I want to go to Gamble, I will go to Las Vegas... If I want Truth, I will read the Bible...

VOTE = Its does NOT BITE!!!

Hey Skeptic - many solid points in your domination of this discussion but...

Socialism is not the answer either! Talk about deficit do you?

My Great, Great, Great Grandchildren's Granchildren will be paying for this idiot at 1600 Pa. Ave; & you think that's cool? Can you say 30 Trillion?????????? Unfathomable & this lunatic wants to spen more!

Hell NO! & I will fight for the future wellbeing of my family & the right to a QUALITY Education! Not this Reverse Policy of you ain't black & you ain't rich then PAY Middle Class Loser crap currently going on!

Get a Grip Dude! You sound of an older sort & I can appreciate you want your Medicad & SS too as you are rightly "entitled" to but I'm 38 with a family of 5 & barely making it with a whole hell of a lot more financially coming in my future that you have; my kids deserve as much opportunity as anyone else but we all need to earn our way & the policies of the current admin significantly threaten ourt abilities to do so! I don't want a hand out or a hand up, just a fair shot to do for my family & give freely to other if I'm fortunate enough to be in the position to do so!

Do for yourself first & give what you can as you see fit & are able to do so for others; not "Wellfare" "workfare" earn your way!

Skeptic I agree 100%.

NY Jay for Uncommon Sense

Why is it, when someone talks about fair play and equal access to opportunity, somebody else goes straight to the 'socialist', 'welfare', 'get a job' false assumptions? Why?

Fair play and equal access aren't about socialism at all. These are about those so-called American values and ideals that we all heard about growing up. I want that. I'll accept nothing less. Nor will I apologize for my stand or bow out or shut up because someone, either deliberately, or because they don't know any better, tries to shut me up with what? a label? Naaah.

It's your family and your kids I am thinking about too, believe it or not. Knowing what it is to work for most of one's life and have little or nothing to show for it - I don't wish that on anybody (well, except maybe those who advantaged themselves at everyone else's expense around them). And there are too many in this country who have busted their hinies for an entire lifetime at honest, hard work, who now have little or nothing to show for it. Some of them have degrees and decades of work experience. They lost it all in the last two recessions - both which occurred under Republican leadership. BOTH.

The debt doesn't have to be $30 trillion, as you claim, if employers (read that 'corporations') put people back to work and finally pay their fair share of taxes. That means those companies offshoring jobs need to lose their tax breaks and pay taxes that help pay for the loss of those jobs to the economy.

And another thing - your boy, Bush, and the Republicans handed most of that deficit to Obama on January 20, 2009, along with an economy that was hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs A MONTH. The Republicans had control of Congress from 1994 to 2006. It took 16 years for the Republicans to dig the hole we are all trying to climb out of. To expect Congress (in 4 years) and the President (in only 2 of those years) to fix what took 16 years to break is pretty UNfair, especially when Republicans for the last two years have done nothing but deflect, distract, deny, and obstruct every single attempt to fix what THEY broke. Their behavior in these last two years, and during this campaign season, is nothing short of insulting to all Americans. It is actually, anti-American - because none of it has done one thing to move us forward or fix any of the problems we all face. None of it.

Did the Dems do everything right? No. Not at all. But they are sure working on trying to get things done. They aren't holding up 420 bills; they aren't filibustering if someone looks at them the wrong way; they aren't out there shouting that their only goal (McConnell) is to make this a one-term President; they aren't shutting down Congress or the country. IF taking back the White House is their only goal, what, exactly, are they doing for the AMERICAN PEOPLE? And what are they going to do with the White House once they do get it? (Let's hope it's not mortgaged and 'underwater.) The last time they had it, we ended up in the second-worst economic disaster in this country's history. If history is an indicator of future performance (a mantra from the business world), then we're in one heck of a lot of trouble if they take over ANY of the houses in Washington, white or otherwise.

On Social Security and Medicare (Medicaid is for the poor and does not cover the poor between ages 19-64 who do not have minor children in their homes or a disability) you can damm well bet that every one of these 'abolish taxes', 'abolish minimum wage', 'Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment are unConstitutional' hacks are going to see to it that THEY GET THEIR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS. Don't forget, every Congressman's RETIREMENT is PAID FOR BY TAXES AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. Have you heard any of them say they are going to cut THOSE from discretionary spending? I sure haven't.

As for these guys talking about 'taking back THEIR country', cutting budgets, deficits, and taxes, I haven't heard a peep about them talking about cutting the regular $174,000/year they each get in salaries. Times that by 530. The Speaker of the House is paid $223,500; the House and Senate Majority and Minority leaders are paid $193,400 EACH. Then there's staff and other allowances - for the ones currently working. See the following link for the math. What cuts to THEIR lifestyles are they going to make in the interest of the country and cutting the deficit?

http://www.bankruptingamerica.org/tag/government-salaries/

Oct. 26th, a Reuters article ran on Yahoo (haven't seen it on MSN).

“U.S. companies hoarding almost $1 trillion cash: Moody's”, Tue Oct 26, 8:02 pm ET, Reporting by Karen Brettell; Editing by James Dalgleish

U.S. companies are hoarding almost $1 trillion in cash but are unlikely to spend on expanding their business and hiring new employees due to continuing uncertainty about the strength of the economy, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

So I did the math. $1 TRILLION equals over 23,809,523 jobs paying $42,000/year. 23.8 million jobs @ $42,000/yr represents a HUGE amount of revenue. It also represents self-sufficiency where pressure on social programs would be greatly reduced (read that "part of a deficit reduction") when people can afford to pay for their own necessities and bills THEMSELVES. $42,000 ain't rich, but it's not exactly poor, either. It's "doable", in most cases. Think about it: 23.8 MILLION, NOT-minimum wage jobs. Last time we had job growth like that, well, a Democrat was President; wages peaked; and he handed a BUDGET SURPLUS to the incoming Republican.

That's the private sector, not the public - in other words, not the government - which is hoarding 7% of the current GDP. That 7% needs to be circulated; people need jobs - jobs paying enough to live on. It's the private sector, you know, those 'small businesses' that do most of the hiring. So where are they?

And this fact is why so much of the diatribe and hot air flowing from the right is wrong.

No one can earn his or her way if no one out there hires them (unless they engage in illegal activities).

I don't want a hand out or a hand up, just a fair shot to do for my family

That is exactly what I am talking about, too. A fair shot. For everyone. And when you said it, I didn't write on here implying that you are somehow expecting something for nothing. So please don't twist my words to make it sound like that's what I said or say that about anyone expecting a 'fair shot'.

Republicans talk a big game, but they don't deliver - at least not to the People.

The summer before I turned 16, I wanted a star sapphire ring. The old man wouldn't buy it for me. So I trotted down to the local Ben Franklin and basically guilted the owner into giving me a job. He paid me $1.25/hour to sell penny candy to the local kids. (It was then I began to think long and hard about EVER having children.) When I proudly announced to the old man I'd gotten a JOB, he went off. I didn't ask his permission. It never occurred to me - not after all those years of hearing him spout off about "if you want something, you have to work for it." He increased my chores. He increased the verbal abuse. But I still went to work. At one point, he even told me to get out of the house. My boyfriend at the time, a gymnast on the school's team, couldn't understand any of this. And I couldn't explain it. At the end of that summer, I got that star sapphire ring - and a 2-piece wool suit that I just couldn't 'live without'. Not a word of congrats. Not a single acknowledgment of what I'd accomplished.

Years later, as I studied poverty, salaries, inequalities, policies, and politics, I came across a chart of minimum wages back to 1955. The minimum wage the year I got my first job was $1.60/hour. Another business owner who undercut an employee's pay, this time, against federal rates.

Yeah, I want a fair shot without some grumpy old (and possibly over-tanned) white guy (or woman) telling me that my expectation of fair and equal wage, fair consideration for a job, and fair access to advancement are somehow, "socialism" or "welfare". The assertion is patently absurd.

By the way, that's 'dudette'.

Thanks, Skeptic, for saying so well the words that I was choking on. I find my voice gone in shock and frustration over the mindless rage and malicious lies paid for with, previously unimaginable, corporate wealth.

How sad that so many voters' opinions are being formed by the highest bidders. And how sad that so many of us are just dumbfounded. Thanks for being my voice.

Thanks to those who responded, even NY. If what I wrote motivates one more person to vote, then that's all good.

The most important words we will speak tomorrow (Liberal beat us to it) are these:

May I have a ballot please? My name is: and my address is:

you forgot to say, and here is my identification

Skeptic thanks so much for the straight case for sanity.

I voted For hearts and minds, I voted progressive last Friday!!!!

I got a phone poll that asked about how I felt about health care that would put me in jail if I didn't buy insurance....geez who is that totally stupid?

Health care for all? Oh course, we all pay the bill for the uninsured or just let them die? Health insurance is cheaper than emergency room.

I haven't had the patience to read a lot of the health care bill but I have read all the portions in the original documents that the teabaggers freak out about and found they are flat out lying.

And you go Reid. I was in Nevada for 18 years and owned several businesses during the 1970s and we almost went under because when the economy is bad, it hurts Nevada..........

And Yucca Mountain, you really want that?????????

Great post, skeptic!

I agree with DM7741, great post skeptic!

skeptic,

congrats.... you voted.

i am not going to bag on your vote, but one thing i am going to bag on is your sence of socializm.

in one of your post you put something to the effect that everybody should be equal, all on the same field, not verbatim but close.

HUMMMMMMMMM.......

No.

by your logic, there is no such thing as a champion, both texas and san fran were world series champions last night.

there cant be an even playing field cause then there is no competition, there is no strive to get better, your stoic. you get fat and happy and sit around expecting your meal to come to YOU.

America is the land of oppertunity, why do you think thousands, if not millions of people, die to get in here every year? cause of the oppertunity to get the white picket fence.

its obvious that different regions of the country raise a different person. i live in texas where a hard days work is appreciated and not condemned, where a vote for a democrat would mean losing you personal freedom.

the run for governer here is a night and day difference. the republican canindate met with the president in HOPES of securing the border, the democratic canindate bags on the governer for not securing the border, but then has said publicly that he wouldnt create laws to stop the illegals coming over.!!!

last week 100's of people died on the texas mexico border, look it up if you dont believe me, and he doesnt want to keep that contained on their side of the fence?

gotta shake my head and wonder when accepting another countries violence became acceptable.

now i am a fair man and this comment is... well wild to say the least.

"Unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, equal opportunity regardless of race, creed, country of origin, gender, or age, are ALL Constitutional. The discussions have been had. The questions were asked and answered."

the race creed and gender thing i will agree with is in the constitution.

but what part of the constitution calls out for the government to provide Unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid?

cause i am sure that all of those were a product of the early 20th century. WAY AFTER THE CONSTITUTION WAS SIGNED!!! now you might say they are implied in the constution, but then i will say its not and then it become a he said she said thing.

was it under the seperation between church and state segment of the constitution?

was regulating health insurance and "taxing" a person that doesnt have it in the constitution.

if your going to smear the constitution for what you want then you really are a lefty.

the constitution was a document to say this is what we are and what we are going to do, cause we JUST got done opening a can of red white and blue whooop a$$ on the british red coats and we didnt liike the way they were enforcing their taxes, their laws, and their way of living on us.

HMMMMMMMM....... sound familar?

cause you know what they did to protest the british laws and constant taxing being levied on them?

all together now......

TEA PARTY!!!!!!

Yup the founding fathers were racist biggots, according to the NAACP, cause they didnt like the way they were being governed so they took matters into their own hands and....... well created the country we are destroying today.

the founding fathers lived thru intrusive government and were tired of it, so they kicked their a$$ out the door and asked them to keep it over there.

i dont want an even playing field, gives me no drive, no motivation to do better. the govenment is an evil entity and handing them MY life to play with is not what i wanted.

Passionate about your vote you are, but misguided in your views of the constitution.

hey but i voted also, and if you cant tell.... i used my right hand to press the button, for thoes not smart enough to get it i voted republican, straight ticket.

but i dont like the way this election cycle turned out. for being in a recission there was a TON of money spent on ads this year. and the attacks, from both sides, were nausating.

to say one party is better is a complete joke, neither one can tell you the truth.

it boils down to what you, the voter, believes in.

persionally i like my guns and freedom and republicans share that view with me, better than the democrats.

if a democrat came out and hunted and could prove that they like their personal freedom as much as i do, they could get my vote, but i still havent seen it, and i dont think i ever will.

Dear OMG

Here's the power that allowed for Social Security, its Article 1 of the Constitution.

Article I, Section 1, reads, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." This provision gives Congress more than simply the responsibility to establish the rules governing its proceedings and for the punishment of its members; it places the power of the government primarily in Congress.

Article I Section 8 enumerates the legislative powers. The powers listed and all other powers are made the exclusive responsibility of the legislative branch:

The Congress shall have power... To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer therein

OMG

I said equal opportunity and equal access. Once again, my words and those of others are parsed to turn in a direction they weren't intended to go. And that's my problem with many of the candidates on ballots today. America may be a land of some opportunity, but not equal opportunity. This has been proven. If two people are doing the same type of job, or equivalent work, it is not socialism for both of them to be paid equally for that work. It appears that the current use of the word 'socialism' is an epithet used to quiet those who expect equal treatment.

While you say 'race (sic) creed and gender thing" is in the Constitution, you forgot religion, national origin, and age. Each of these specifically protected classes were developed as the result of case law brought before the Supreme Court - the highest law of the land. It took a while for them to get there, too.

As for Social Security, et.al., Steve C addressed these. Basically, Congress makes laws, someone challenges the law or some aspect of it, and if the question gets before the Supreme Court as a question of law (get to that in a minute), then SCOTUS teases out, examines, analyzes, and compares, with the rest of the bodies of law, uses stare decisis, history, social background, anticipated future impact based on Constitutional rights, and the Constitution, to determine what the answer is. Sometimes, SCOTUS decides that an issue is a political, not a legal one, in which case, it does not rule. Its job is to decide law, not politics.

So we get to the Declaration. All men are created equal. But there's more. And interestingly, while the "tea partiers" talk about 'taking back their country' (I'm not sure when I signed anything that said this was no longer my country, too), the fact is, the rest of us who voted in the current administration and Congressmen in 2008 did just exactly the same thing. Read the words carefully and you will understand what I'm referring to:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,^[72] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

In the first sentence, I get my idea that equal playing field and equal access to opportunity are my expectations as an American. Add in subsequent SCOTUS decisions on protected (that really means previously discriminated against) classes on race, religion, creed, gender, age, national origin.

Then comes the part I referred to prior to the quote:

whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,

This government isn't destructive (because we are all still here and in basically one piece) - it's parties and their ideologies are divisive.

The American solution is to hold a vote to institute a new Government (representation). Yes, I am aware that the founders used revolution - we all get that. But when I hear some Republican talkin' about using 'second amendment remedies', as she stands before a microphone and a crowd asking for a VOTE, I got a problem with that little slice of cognitive dissonance.

One thing I agree with you on entirely is that too much money was spent on this election cycle - it's heading toward $4 million. That would have put a lot of people to work and a lot of that money came from corporations that were in a position to hire those people. Instead, those corporations spent money on their own interests and one party was greatly advantaged by that attitude of self-interest. I don't like the attitude at all - or its implications. Apparently you don't, either.

When I talk about level playing fields, I am talking about considering the candidate based on skills, knowledge, experience - not who they know, their color, gender, religion, or accent. Everyone has to work to make any headway, but jobs are being used as a form of status symbol and status/class creation. That doesn't necessarily mean the job itself is getting done right.

Motivation to do better is an internal, not external, function.

Level playing field simply means having an equal shot at being able to show what you know and what you can do. The cash register at the grocery store doesn't care if you drive a Mercedes or a beater, whether you are a CEO or a minimum wage worker. That cash register just wants the ticket total put in its drawer. Anybody can walk up to a cash register - if they have the money. Can't get the money unless you got the job - or, for lack of a job or decent-paying job, you might have to use some state issued plastic.

I could go into the events that led me to advocating so strongly for a level playing field, but I won't. I know it isn't level. It should be. (And I've worked in Texas, among other states. In fact, I was born there. ) "America is the land of opportunity"; that phrase has no qualifiers, no if/thens, no caveats. But in practice, opportunity is relative.

If we are going to dig ourselves out of the hole we're in, more people have to be hired at wages that will pay all the bills, not keep them eligible for social programs. It's that simple.

As to your last statement, two men have put guns in my hands at two times in my life. Both ordered me to hit specific targets. I did. Both took the guns gingerly out of my hands and I didn't see them again. ROFL. I was pretty good with a bow and arrow, at one point, too.

Shooting a gun doesn't qualify anyone to hold a political office. It just means their trigger finger works.

So, if we know who they are and where they live and how much they got fraudulently, it would seem to me that we can easily recover that money over time.

And let's put the "hard earned" taxpayer rhetoric to bed. If the top 10% pay 70% of all the federal taxes then seventy percent of any tax bill is paid by people who do no hard work at all.

Nice to know....so it's the folks who pay no taxes or few taxes that are the only ones working hard....while our wealthiest 10% are sitting on their hands and laughing as they count their nickels. I'll make sure to tell that to the wealthy guy I work for, who works about 75 hours per week.

tony: Nobody who's in the top 10% does anything approaching work for 75 hours a week. And even if they did it wouldn't be hard work or hard earned, so give it a rest.

depends on what your meaning of hard is. Is entertaining clients on a boat hard work? How hard will it be for me to earn money to pay for the gas? The upkeep? The crew wages? The beverages? The food?