VP Debate

[Jeannieb43]

But the top 1% get off scot-free. Most of them get by with no taxes at all because they work the loopholes. Those loopholes will be canceled under Obama's plan.

Also, everybody earning between $150,000 and $250,000 will see a decrease in his taxes.

Taxes are a necessary part of government. But Bushy has made it so unfair by favoring the rich. This will stop under Obama. And nobody in the middle class will be hurt a bit -- in fact, they'll all end up with more after-tax income.

[lazarus]

I've listened to Sarah (she is my governor) and I heard a lot more substance from her than I have heard from Obama.

I haven't heard that even from Palin's most ardent supporters. Can you give some examples?

[Tom Wetmore]

Poll results...

How about those polls now, Shane!

It appears that that single poll with a 1 point gain for McCain was an aberration, don't you think?

[Dr. Shane]

How about those polls now, Shane!

It appears that that single poll with a 1 point gain for McCain was an aberration, don't you think?

No, I trust the polls. I had to sweat through business statistics in college and have a pretty good appreciation for polls. The daily tracking polls immediately following the debate indicated a slight, although very slight, gain for the McCain/Palin ticket. Neither candidate made any errors, both performed well. I am content to consider it a draw.

Rasmussen's VP debate poll gave the victory to Biden but notice the internals of the poll:

"Middle class earners, those making between $40,000 and $100,000 annually, narrowly favored Palin as the victor. Those who earn less than $40,000 or more than $100,000 thought leaned strongly in Biden’s direction."

The AOL VP poll with 308,807 participants had it a tie with 46% saying Palin won, 46% saying Biden won and 8% saying it was a draw.

Of course neither those in the AOL or Rasmussen polls were all lawyers which had argued successfully in front of the Supreme Court so some may not want to consider their opinions valid.

[Dr. Shane]

But the top 1% get off scot-free. Most of them get by with no taxes at all because they work the loopholes. Those loopholes will be canceled under Obama's plan.

Also, everybody earning between $150,000 and $250,000 will see a decrease in his taxes.

One of the big loopholes for those in the top 1% are charitable donations. The Adventist church literally receives millions of dollars from wealthy individuals taking advantage of those loopholes. Let's hope Obama doesn't get rid of too many of those loopholes.

When Bill Clinton ran for President in 1992 he promised a middle-class tax cut. After elected he increased taxes for everyone making more than $30K and it was retroactive going back to before he even took office.

I would not suggest anyone making between $150k and $250k to vote for Obama if they are only doing so in hopes of getting a tax cut. If people in the income bracket are looking for a tax cut they ought to make sure their vote is for McCain.

[Dr. Shane]

CBS Poll: Presidential Race Tightens

In a sign that the race for president has returned to about where it was before the first presidential debate, the Obama-Biden ticket leads the McCain-Palin ticket 47 percent to 43 percent among registered voters in a new CBS News poll.

The Obama-Biden ticket led by a wider margin, nine percentage points, in a CBS News poll released last Wednesday, before Joe Biden and Sarah Palin faced off in the vice presidential debate. Obama-Biden led by five percentage points on Sept. 25.

In the new poll, the Democratic ticket leads by 3 percentage points, 48 percent to 45 percent, among likely voters.

[text taken from link]

[carolaa]

I just heard that despite the bailouts ... that Obama wants to add trillions of dollars of extra programs. How do we afford all of his plans?

I'm sure if Bush can come up with trillions for a questionable war, Obama should have no problem coming up with trillions for programs that help people instead of killing them and making enemies around the world. Not to worry.

[Woody]

Thanks for easing my mind Carolaa. I will rest well tonight.

[missionlady]

Quote:

Originally Posted By: missionlady

I've listened to Sarah (she is my governor) and I heard a lot more substance from her than I have heard from Obama.

/quote/

I haven't heard that even from Palin's most ardent supporters. Can you give some examples?

Sorry I hadn't answered yet. I've been sick. Forgive me if I'm still not quite coherent. Here are a couple of things that Sarah said:

Quote:

Our state budget is under control.

We have a surplus.

And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes.

I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress....And despite fierce opposition from oil company lobbyists, who kind of liked things the way they were, we broke their monopoly on power and resources.

As governor, I insisted on competition and basic fairness to end their control of our state and return it to the people.

I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history.

And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence.

That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.

The stakes for our nation could not be higher....

With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.

To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of world energy supplies ... or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia ... or that Venezuela might shut off its oil deliveries ... we Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas.

And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/Speeches/c1af6c79-f5bf-42ed-9fb9-9e83b0c580e1.htm

Happy Sabbath and God Bless

[Neil D]

ALASKA is like NO OTHER STATE, COUNTRY OR CITY - It has NO state Income Tax and NO state sales tax and it sends cash money to its citizens each year. The state is primarily funded by Oil and Gas related revenues and money from the Federal Government.

In 2007 85.76% of Alaska state total tax revenue (TTT) came from the oil industry. (in the form of 4 different taxes). See - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080830143510AAZHidJ

By Comparison the University of California budget is $19.5 billion. See: http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/StateAgencyBudgets/6013/6440/department.html

Bottom line- The lower 48 states funds Alaska, and manages to give every citizen a tax refund. You have been bought and paid for.... The question is who is your alligence to...the US or to Alaska...

[Dr. Shane]

Mexico is much like Alaska in that their government gets a large share of its revenue from oil and gas. In fact, Mexico gets so much money from oil and gas, that its government should be able to run completely off oil and gas revenue and refund each of its citizens money. However the government corruption is so that the oil and gas revenue is not enough and Mexico levies both corporate and income taxes on its people.

The point is clear. While Alaska has a lot of oil and gas revenues, without popper leadership it would still fail to run within its budget. Being able to stay within a budget is a challenge regardless is revenues come from taxes or from a state's natural resources.