Okay everybody, could you please tell me what you think of John Kerry's and the Democratic stand on the issues?

[ManaMan]

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>I'm curious because I hear many people say "I don't like Bush, but I don't agree with Kerry's views"...

What in particular is it about Kerry that you don't like?

Is it his views on gay rights? Is it he fact that he isn't against current abortion laws? Is it the fact that he wants healthcare for 96% of Americans? Is it because he wants more controls on business corruption and globalization? Is it because he is against the Republicans' FCC policies? Is it because he wants to overturn many or Bush's tax-cuts (for the rich)? Is it because he wants to balance the Federal budget? Is it because he wants to make nice with our allies again? Is it because of the fact that he has one of the best congressional voting records on the environment in all of Congress? Is it the fact that he doesn't want to run away and leave Iraq as a failed state? Is it the fact that he doesn't want to pursue the war on terror as a "USA v. Rest of World" fiasco (like Bush is doing)?

...or is it because of Bush's negative ads / criticisms?

Would you think of the Kerry 04 campaign in a different light if John McCain were his running mate?</div>

[Ganath]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Of course, to be fair, I haven't really gone out of my way to listen to everything Kerry says. Mainly because even if he turned out to be Satan himself, he'd still get my vote simply because I figure the devil would run our country into the ground in a far more interesting and sophisticated manner.

As far as McCain goes, I'm not sure. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for McCain, however what'd he do as Vice-Pres? I think we can agree that's the most ineffectual position to hold in the US government. I think I might rather see McCain stay as a senator, where he can, you know, actually do something.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>He's already got my vote for <big><b>NOT BEING BUSH!</b></big> Really...that's all it takes. He could be another Clinton for all I care, and I would still vote for him. If it was Al Gore and Liberman AGAIN, I would vote for Al this time. (Bah, fuck Nader this year...it's just not the right climate.) This would be one of the few times that just being a Democrat is good enough for me. Shit, I would vote for Bob Dole over Bush. Hopefully, the moderates will realize that a vote for Bush is a vote for a ultra-conservative in action. (Kerry would actually fit their viewpoints more than Bush.)

So far, Kerry hasn't really done anything too stupid and the Bush ads show how badly they want to discredit him. Gee, Bush starts a war that the world doesn't agree with, and Kerry....uhhhh...votes for a gas tax. Nice! Kerry strikes me as a man who's not going to buckle to party lines, or what his image is, because of his "flip-flop" voting record. Voting for a bill, and then not voting for a bill is fine because bills go through changes. Too many idiots don't get this. <a href="http://www.johnkerryisadouchebagbutimvo ... uchebag</a> has a good example with the $87 billion War Bill. (First essay, and near the end of the essay.)

As far as McCain, he's already declined. Honestly, I don't know why Kerry is pursuing it. McCain's views are quite a bit opposite to Kerry's, even if they both agree that the war is a waste of money.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>...ties to big oil and Haliburton, probable involvement with Enron, attempts to drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Bush's staff (which composes of ghosts of the Reagan and Nixon eras), attempts to restart Star Wars, reversing provisions to disarm our nukes, etc., etc., etc. Again, <a href="http://www.johnkerryisadouchebagbutimvo ... uchebag</a> illustrates most of these points nicely in "How Fucked We are Right Now".

We need more NEGATIVE ads. This NEEDS to be a mud-slinging match, because Kerry has a shitload more mud to throw than Bush. Bush is a horrible president. I'd have to say that Bush is even worse than Reagan, and that's REALLY BAD.

Let's get MoveOn.org's ads up and on the air:

<b>New ads (in NYT and Washington Post) from MoveOn.org:</b>
<a href="http://www.moveon.org/front/images/ads/ ... ury.pdf</a>
<a href="http://www.moveon.org/images/ads/censur ... ure.pdf</a>

<b>TV ads:</b>
<a href="http://cdn.moveonpac.org/images/kerrybu ... ush.mpg</a>
<a href="http://cdn.moveonpac.org/images/clarkei ... raq.mpg</a>
<a href="http://labridge.com/zimark/mon1701_cens ... ure.mpg</a>
<a href="http://labridge.com/zimark/mon1602_merc ... sed.mpg</a>
<a href="http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view/01_ ... l</a></div>

[ManaMan]

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>The funny thing is that Kerry never actually even *voted* for the gasoline tax... It was a bill that he and others were *considering* pursuing in order to curb car pollution but decided against it.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>I practice Reaganomics. When I got my "larger than Democrat in the Office" tax return this year, I used the money to hire two people to install my carpet. Democrats suck. =8^D</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>The national debt, like a $10,000 credit card debt, will catch up with you eventually. Reagan's big pitch to the public during his second election was how good the US had it with his changes. Again, completely ignoring the debt. Eventually, it had to be taken care of.

Enter Bush Sr. The economy plunged into a recession, and Bush was forced to raise taxes. He basically took the blame for Reagan's obscene spending and horrible economic policies. It's on par with getting an American Express, and buying a mansion, five cars, a limo driver, throwing wild and expensive parties...while you're still working at McDonalds. The debt will crush you in the end.

Of course, the whole ploy was for Reagan to get elected for two terms and make himself look cool by giving away all of this money, and then when recession hits, he'll be long gone. Reagan probably didn't expect a Republican to get elected again, but that's how it worked, and Bush Sr got the shitstorm for his failures.

So, remember:

Democrats - tax and spend
Republicans - tax CUTS and spend

Which one sounds more logical? Getting a raise and upgrading your standard of living, or quiting your job and upgrading your standard of living? The latter model is just not good in business, real life, or in the government.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>Bush's ads have been some of the most deceptive I've seen. Of course, this is the same administration that created fake news propaganda to promote their Medicare plan.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>Nope. You don't have to borrow. It's tax less, more people will spend more money. Thus, it trickles down. Sine, if you want to pay a socialist's level of taxes, please go right ahead. Hope you enjoy your 25% take home pay.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>Kerry's the same way. However, it is true Kerry voted against giving troops more armor.</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Of course, he's a politician. But he's not in power right now, so there's no reason to slam him as much</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Wow, didn't realize economics was so simple! Man, you should be heading up the Econ department at the University of Chicago!</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>I'm going by MY experience. When I have money, I tend to spend it. Like most people do. So....yeah! It IS simple! And you suck at Economics.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>There's no reason? Please. They all do that.</div>

[Kupek]

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '><b>Link:</b> <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?d ... cid=155</a>

That was one part of an $87 billion bill.</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>I was just saying that because he's not in power, his actions don't have as big an effect, therefore, no AS MUCH reason to slam him....but at the end of the day, he is a politician</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>That's the problem with Econ, everyone THINKS they know it, just like Psychology. The thing is, your personal experiences and biasness are not necessarily the norm among the masses, which is what those two disciplines are all about. Unlike you, I actually studied them</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>You learned the theory, I practice it in real life.</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Yes, and the rest of us don't</div>

[Derithian]

<div style='font: italic bold 14pt ; text-align: center; '>hey do some research into what you believe don't just listen to bull shit commercials. Hell Bushys earlier comercials didn't even show sources for things.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>What do you mean "You don't have to borrow". We are borrowing money right now. That's why it's called a national debt. (BTW, 25% would be a kickass amount for take home pay, as long as everything was paid for. $1000/mo for disposable income? Hell yeah!)</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>You cannot practice macro-economics based on your singular experience with your own budget/income.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>Ahhh...caught it before I said it. Nice to know that FactCheck proves to be useful.</div>

[SineSwiper]

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>Actually, I'm glad Kupek brought up FactCheck again, because it is a great BIPARTISAN site for mythbusting. Expand your mind, and make an intelligent decision on who to vote for. If you vote for Bush, fine, but at least find some hard-hitting reasons for voting for the man.</div>

[ManaMan]

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Please, the politically correct term is "voodoo" economics.</div>

[ManaMan]

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>Well it's all fine and dandy now, but who's going to be footing the bill for the massive deficit that Bush has racked up? Democrats balance the budget and make the gov. more fiscally responsible, republicans seem to love debt on some strange fetish level...</div>

[ManaMan]

<div style='font: 12pt Arial; text-align: left; '>He voted for the Democrat version of the bill and against the Republican version (which won). All of the Republicans I believe did the exact opposite, it just so happens that there were more of them and their bill won... I find it funny how that's used against him.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>Becareful what you wish for. This country has nearly 300 million people and I doubt free quality healthcare is gonna work here.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>Just you. You're just as bad with business as your opinions are on movies.</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>Works for me.</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Which is exactly why you don't understand economics</div>

[G-man Joe]

<div style='font: 11pt "Fine Hand"; text-align: left; '>You mean....the big tax return and the money spent was all bunk? HOLY COW! Zoos! You are a great guru of business.......failures!</div>

[Zeus]

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>As long as you're fully aware of this fact, there's nothing I can do</div>