Absolutely unacceptable! That is how I would describe the inaction on Senator Obama's part when it come to the comments of his pastor. I fully agree with Obama on one point. He is not to blame for what Pastor Wright has and will say. However, attending a church for twenty years that is led by a pastor that says America is to blame for 9-11, uses GD America as if to say our country is in the wrong, and plays the race card to generate support from his congregation, for that Mr Obama is to blame. At any point, Obama could have gotten up and left the church, never to come back. At any point, Obama could have spoken up during the church service to reprimand pastor Wright for his outrageous comments. At any point, Mr. Obama could have had conversation with pastor Wright about his uncalled for comments. Mr. Obama, at any point during his attendance at this anti-American church, could have done any of these things to voice his displeasure with the services message. However, Mr. Obama decided to say or do nothing, which tells me that he did not disagree with anything the pastor was saying. If I was attending a church that spread a message I was uncomfortable with or disagreed with, I would do one of two things. I would either speak up during the service to voice my displeasure or I would never come back to that particular church. Listening to an anti American, racist speach one Sunday and then bringing your family back to that same church the very next Sunday says only one thing to the pastor of that church and it congregation; I agree with you message Mr. Pastor. I agree with your activities congregation. Mr. Obama has shown a great deal of immaturity and an inside glimpse into his appeasement ways. Say nothing, do nothing and anger nobody. This is the democratic party in its purest form. Do nothing, say nothing, and dont anger anybody. Even if it means agreeing with unjust, unfair and downright cruel behavior.

Taxes. Don't we all love them?? Every working American has to pay them, but where does our money go? The spending habits of our United States government is out of control, and there seems to be no accountability. Thousands of dollars paid to a social security system that likely will not be there when we retire. Millions of dollars of funding for a bridge to nowhere. I am serious, google it. The federal government needs to be held accountable when it comes to spending our tax dollars. The United States budget should be posted on the web, on a site that will let you search for spending by using keywords. For example, if you wanted to see how much the government was spending on cancer research, you could type cancer research into the keyword box. This would put the spending plans of OUR governemtn at the finger tips of nearly every American that is interested. The system that we have allowed to perpetuate itself is absolutely ridiculous. We should be ashamed of ourselves, as American citizens, that we have let it happen. That said, we must now demand that it stop! Spending should be made public knowledge, via the internet! Politicans that introduce outrageous spending bills should have to stand before the United States citizenry and explain to us why we need a bridge to nowhere. It seems to me that the United States government is the only one using that bridge, and they are driving our country on the only path available.....to nowhere!!!

One of the most pressing issues in the United States is the current condition of Social Security. The current system is outdated and in much need of reform. The current system was created in 1935. At that tme in our history, the average American lived to be only sixty - three years old. When the system was created, one could not begin collecting their Social Secutiry benefits until they were sixty-five. You do the math. Most people would not live to see retirement. Man have times changed. When the very first Social Secutiry checks were being sent out, there were 42 taxpayers that were funding every one retiree. Today, there are only three taxpayers for every one retiree and by the year 2030 there will only be two taxpayers per one retiree. The system is broken people, and we must demand that the leaders we vote into office fix it! It is not an option. Fix it now or future generations will retire with no Social Security or simply will not be able to retire at all! Every year, our political system borrows and borrows from the Social Secutiy fund. In return, the Social Security fund is given IOU'S for the money that has been borrowed, in the form of treasury bonds. However, ask yourself this. If the government is borrowing all of this money from the Social Security fund, which may I remind you, is money that you and I pay for retirement purposes, how does it plan on paying this money back? The answer is simple and is quite honestly disturbing! Higher taxes, that's how. This is disturbing for this very simple fact. The curreent system of Social Security will begin operating with a deficit in the year 2017. That's right, just nine years from now. The Social Security fund will have to cash in some of their treasury bonds from the government to pay the benifits it can no longer afford. The only problem is that the government does not have a surplus to pay those treasury bonds out. What does that mean you may ask? Higher taxes. It will be the average American worker that will have to pay these treasury bonds, in the form of higher taxes. When you think about this complex system, you can break it down into pretty simple terms. We currently pay a 12.4 percent payroll tax for Social Security. The governemnt borrows any surplus the Social Security system may have. The governemnt can not afford to pay that money back when the Social Security Fund needs it, so they make you and I pay for it. Not only will our Social Security tax go up to twenty percent, but the government will continue to borrow against this fund and will keep raising our Social Security tax to pay the loan back! It's absolutely crazy. It would be like working for a company that takes out a loan to buy new equipment. When it came time for your employer to pay the loan back, they could not afford to do so, so they reduce everyones wages by ten percent to pay back the loan. How is that fair? It's not!!! The government has borrowed our Social Security money, and they are going to make us pay it back!!! How stupid is that, and why in the world should we stand for it? We shouldn't, and that is why I urge all of you to voice your opinion. In Newt Gingrich's book REAL CHANGE, he has a chapter that deals with our need for Social Securty reform. He makes note that a worker who makes forty thousand dollars a year could end up accumulating over three hundred thousand dollars if the government would allow citizens to invest fifty percent of their current Social Security taxes into private accounts. This of course assumes that the investment would be netting returns of seven percent on stocks and 3.5 percent on bonds. Those numbers are very reasonable and would likely not decline. An increase is very possible, however. This amount of wealth accumulation is much greater than the amount of money a typical retiree will receive from Social Security. The private accounts would also be able to be passed down from parent to child, which the current system does not allow. The choice is simple. Change the system and retiree comfortably or be content with the status quo and retire poor, or worse, never retire at all!

One of the most common complaints about the Bush administration that I hear when arguing politics with friends is that America should only use war when diplomacy and simply talking to our enemies fails. Why is it that everyone is so quick to forget the years spent by the United States and the U.N to negotiate inspections with Saddam Hussein? We went above and beyond our responsibilities when it came to diplomacy with Saddam and Iraq!! Inspectors were continually kicked out of Iraq and the U.N continued to put generic timetables on Iraq to comply or face the consequences. However, Iraq continually failed to comply time after time and new timetables were then set for Iraq to comply. There comes a point when a person or country must face the consequences of their actions or inactions!! The Democrats want to rush to the aid of everybody and claim that for the United States to remain the super power of the world we must make other countires stronger as well. Why, then, oppose the war? We tried to talk to Saddam and he ignored our requests to negotiate. At some point, talking only prolongs the inevitable and gives too many opportunites for dictorial corruption to infest itself further into the situation. If the Democrats claim of making others stronger to further our role in the world is correct, why oppose the war? Is Iraq not a better country without Saddam at the top of the political pyramid? I, for one, think that they are!! Our country is too infatuated with quick, overnight results. However, turning a lifetime of dicatorial leadership into a democratic society will probalby take more years than I will be privledged to see. The point is that we can help the Iraqi people achieve this if we are diligant, patient and unrelenting when it comes to our goals and the goals of the Iraqi people! We must be patient, America, and put aside our own selfishness when it comes to this issue! I think of this war like this; If I can sacrafice some of my own desires and lifestyle for a greater cause, maybe my children and grandchildren can grow up in aworld that is free of dictatorship and terrorism. Isn't that the cause of each of our lives? To make the world better off when we leave it than  it was when we came into it? Most soldiers seem to realize this, as do many ordinary citizens of the world!!! Why don't the Democrats? Will they ever?

Rush Limbaugh was quoted yesterday as saying to John McCain......."Do not try to reach out to me." Hey Rush, news alert, he's not. Very few people care what your thoughts on the country are, and the ones that do blindly follow you do not have the backbone to make up their own minds!!! Until you are on the ballot as a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate, myself and many others could care less what you think the best path for the country is. This may come as a surprise to you, Mr. Limbaugh, but most of us Americans make up our own minds on what is best for the country, and this year John McCain is right on most of the issues. All of the issues? No, but who is? On the issue of the Iraq war, McCain is correct. On the issue of campaign finance reform, John McCain was and still is correct. On the issue of reaching out to the Democrat controlled side of the aisle, John McCain is correct. After all, one party cannot change the world. However, a team effort and shared views on the most important issues facing America can, indeed, change the world. John McCain is right. Not because I think he is or because he is a Republican, but because he understands that voting on a straight partisan agenda does not work. It did not work under either Bush, it did not work under Clinton, and it would not work under Hillary or Barrack!! The often overlooked shame in all of this is the fact that because of our parties (Republican) straight partisan ideas and views of the last thirty years, the public does not fully trust us anymore. They think that if John McCain is elected, we will be in for another four or eight years of straight partisan voting that will get nothing accomplished other than many fillabusters and many speaches by Senators to a completely empty Senate floor. This, Rush Limbaugh, is where you have failed our party. Most Americans do not view themselves as Republicans or Democrats. Everyone, however does view themselves as Americans. That said, John McCain is the candidate in this race that offers the nation a chance to transcend modern day politics. Forget voting straight Republican or straight Democrat on issues the affect the nation as a whole. Vote American in 2008. Vote John MCain and change the way not only America is percieved, but how the Republican party is percieved. As the party of the people!! Just like it was under Ronald Reagan!!

All of this anti-McCain rhetoric being spewed by "Republican" radio and t.v talking heads absolutley discusts me! Why, Rush Limbaugh, would John McCain "destroy" the Republican party? Is it, my friend, because he is more towards the middle on many issues? Is it because he has worked so passionately for campaign finance reform? Why all the negative attacks? John McCain represents many of us Republicans, and represents us quite well. You do not have to be on the far right side of every argument. That is a Republcan falsehood that is spread by people like Rush Limbaugh, in my view, because he is scared of losing his own far right power. Campaign finance reform is not a Democratic or Republcan issue, my friends. It is an American issue! Most Americans are sick and tired of this country being ran by corporate America, and John McCain was the only true Republican to speak out on the issue. Too many other Republicans, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are just two examples, are scared of losing the big financial contributions that the corporatrions pony up to the Republicans. For the first time in my lifetime, granted I am only twenty-six years old, a Repulican has said enough is enough. We will run a campaign based on issues, and not based on the selfish, self intrest corporations. John McCain, keep on campaigning the issues and ignore these power hungry, scared of change, far right wingers. They do not stand or speak for the majority of us Republicans. You do, however, and for that the Republican party thanks you. Just as a side note, Barrack Obama recieves much of the attention for running a campaign based on change. The Democrats support that. However, I would argue that in John McCain, we Republicans also have a candidate that can help change the way politics in this country are viewed. McCain in '08!!!!

Here's the deal people. I am sick of hearing "true conservatives" talk about sitting out the election if John McCain wins the Republican nomination. The only thing that is true about them is their fake, childish, whiny attitudes. Rush Limbaugh says he may not vote if John McCain is on the ticket and says that it will mark the end of the republican party. Hey Rush, I didn't see you on the ticket. John McCain may not think exactly the way I do, but at least I know, or knew where he stood on the issues. His recent change of positions due to conservative pressure is what has me the most upset by him. Granted, I don't agree with his stance on immigration but hey, we can debate that later. I know one thing for sure and that is the fact that our country would be better suited with him in the office instead of Hillary or Barrack. That is why, at the end of the day, I will be voting for John McCain!!!! Sorry Rush!!! Grow up and shut up!!!!!!