Obama '08?

Come on Foxy. This is A2K.

Nobody is going to wade through that lot.

At least I hope so.

Former U.S. Senators Sam Nunn, David Boren Endorse Barack Obama
Chicago, IL | April 18, 2008
Former Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committee Chairmen Cite Obama's Ability to Lead on National Security Issues

Chicago, IL - Today, Former Senators Sam Nunn and David L. Boren endorsed Barack Obama for president, citing his judgment and vision to be Commander and Chief and his ability to strengthen our national security.

Nunn and Boren have accepted Senator Obama's invitation to serve as advisers to his National Security Foreign Policy Team. Senator Nunn served for 25 years (1972-1997) in the United States Senate and was Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1987 through 1995. Senator Boren served in the United States Senate from 1979 to 1994 and is the longest-serving Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Between them, the two senators bring nearly 60 years of service and experience in elective office.

Former Senator Sam Nunn said, "America remains the strongest nation in the world, but we can only be successful in tackling our toughest problems if we gain cooperation at home and abroad. Our next president - working across party and economic lines - must restore and strengthen our national purpose, our credibility, our competence and our spirit.

"We need a president who has the temperament of a leader - a sharp, incisive, strategic mind, a rare capacity for self criticism, and a willingness to hear contrary points of view.

"Based on my conversations with Senator Obama, reading his book and his speeches and seeing the kind of campaign he has run, I believe that he is our best choice to lead our nation. Senator Obama, as evidenced by his words and his deeds, recognizes that:

· We have developed a habit of avoiding the tough decisions and seemingly lost our ability to build consensus to tackle head-on our biggest challenges.

· Demonizing the opposition, oversimplifying the issues, and dumbing down the political debate prevent our country from coming together to make tough decisions and tackle our biggest challenges.

· Solving America's problems will require difficult choices and sacrifices and leaders capable of considering new ideas from both political parties.

· On foreign policy and security policy, we must recognize that we are not limited to a choice between belligerency and isolation and that we must listen to lead successfully on the key issues facing America and the world.

· Our next president must also recognize that the battle against violent terrorists, while requiring a prudent use of military power, is also a long-term contest of psychology and ideas.


"I believe that Senator Obama has a rare ability to restore America's credibility and moral authority and to get others to join us in tackling serious global problems that will determine our own well being and security. I believe that he will bring to the White House, high principles, clear vision and sound judgment. I believe that he will inspire people to put aside extreme partisanship for the common good. I believe that he will awaken the energy and idealism of people who have never been active in public affairs, particularly our young people. I believe that he will also attract skilled, experienced and energetic people to government and will have the sound judgment to put together an outstanding governing team, bringing people together across old boundaries.

"I believe that Barack Obama is the right choice for our nation. My own role in this campaign will be as an advisor - particularly in the field of national security and foreign policy."

Former Senator David L. Boren said, "I am joining Senator Barack Obama's advisory team on foreign policy and national security because I believe it is my duty as a citizen to do all I can to help our country at this critical moment. Our strength is declining. Eighty-one percent of Americans believe we are headed in the wrong direction. We must act quickly to meet and overcome the challenges we face.

"Our most urgent task is to end the divisions in our country, to stop the political bickering, and to unite our talents and efforts. Americans of all persuasions are pleading with our political leaders to bring us together. I believe Senator Obama is sincerely committed to that effort. He has made a non-partisan approach to all issues a top priority.

"Senator Obama is also a person of sound and good judgment. He had the good judgment more than five years ago to warn against our involvement in this tragic and costly war. He also understands the need to repair our partnerships with other nations and to more effectively use diplomacy to serve our national interests.

"It is my hope that in sharing what I have learned during my time in public service, I will be helping my country."


Senator Barack Obama said, "I am honored to have the support and counsel of two of our nation's leading voices on national security, and two of our most respected advocates for national unity. Few public servants have done more than Sam Nunn to keep America safe, and I look forward to drawing on his counsel as we work to combat nuclear proliferation and other threats to America's national security. David Boren is one of our nation's foremost experts on intelligence, and he has been a powerful and passionate advocate for bipartisanship in Washington. Both of these men will be important sources of advice and counsel for our campaign in the months ahead."

PHILADELPHIA -- It wasn't so much that Barack Obama had real fight in him tonight, or that more people attended his rally in front of Indendence Hall than any other event since he announced his candidacy. It was the spontaneous demonstration of support that happened when it ended.

5,000 people (at least) had nowhere to go but up Market Street. Obama's charge of the night: "Declare independence!" was with them. They started with the familiar "O-Bam-A." By 7th and Market, they had graduated to "Yes we can!" By 10th and Market, with hundreds streaming in between cars on the road, they were just cheering. At first, a few Philly cops, killjoys, tried to rough the crowd to the sidewalks. It didn't work. The cops retreated to the sidewalks. By the time I ducked into my hotel, a full mile away from Independence Park, the Obama crowd was still marching.

Foxfyre wrote:

If he kicks the capital gains tax back up to where it used to be, that will be a massive tax increase.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but from the top of my head the increase of capital gains tax would apply to those earning over $200,000.

Do you know how many Americans earn over $200,000? Three point six per cent. That is: just one in twentyeight Americans would be affected.

That's a "massive tax increase"?

Foxfyre wrote:

In the most recent debate, I think it was Brian Williams (?) who questioned Obama on his propose raise in the capital gains tax as revenues went up sharply when Clinton cut the tax and went up sharply again when Bush cut it. Obama's deer-caught-in-the-headlights response was that it wasn't a matter money or revenues but a matter of fairness ...

It was not his best moment in the debate.

It was Charlie Gibson, and he was flat out wrong. His brainfart on this has been ridiculed enough since the debate...

Story Highlights
Sen. Barack Obama says present tax code rewards wealth instead of work

Plan would nix taxes for most senior citizens, give homeowners universal credit

Proposal also includes breaks of $500 to $1,000 for 150 million Americans

Obama: IRS should be sending pre-filled tax forms to most Americans

If we kept the payroll tax rate exactly the same but applied it to all earnings and not just the first $97,500, we could virtually eliminate the entire Social Security shortfall.

Obama's idea, which he described on the op-ed page of Friday's Quad City Times as being "one possible option" and not a formal plan, would raise more than $1 trillion over 10 years by subjecting income of more than $97,000 to a 12.4 percent tax. Half of the tax would be paid by employees and half would be paid by employers.

Barack said:


It was over two hundred years ago that a group of patriots gathered in this city to do something that no one in the world believed they could do. After years of a government that didn't listen to them, or speak for them, or represent their hopes and their dreams, a few humble colonists came to Philadelphia to declare their independence from the tyranny of the British throne.

The union they created has endured for two centuries not because we're perfect, but because we've always been perfectible - because each generation of Americans has been willing to stand up and sacrifice and do what's necessary to inch us closer to the ideals at the core of our founding promise - equality, and liberty, and opportunity for all who seek it. That's how we survived a civil war and two world wars; a Great Depression and great struggles for civil rights and women's rights and worker's rights, and now Philadelphia it's our turn.

...

The challenges we face are not just the fault of one man or one party. How many years - how many decades - have we been talking about solving our health care crisis? How many Presidents have promised to end our dependence on foreign oil? How many jobs have gone overseas in the 70s, and the 80s, and the 90s? And we still don't have a strategy for American workers to succeed in a global economy. We're still talking about it in 2008. And everyone here knows why.

Because in every election, politicians come to your cities and your towns, and they tell you what you want to hear, and they make big promises, and they lay out all these plans and policies. But then they go back to Washington when the campaign's over, and nothing changes. Lobbyists spend millions of dollars to get their way. Folks would rather score political points than solve real problems. Instead of fighting for health care or jobs, Washington ends up fighting over the latest distraction of the week. It happens year after year after year.

But not this year. Not this time. This year we can't afford the same old politics. This year we can declare our independence from this kind of politics. That's change we need right now. And that's the choice you'll face on Tuesday.

...

In four days, you get the chance to help bring about the change that we need right now. Here in the city and the state that gave birth to our democracy, we can declare our independence from the politics that has shut us out, and let us down, and told us to settle.

We can declare our independence from the politics that's put the oil companies, and the drug companies, and the insurance companies in charge of the decisions that impact our lives and our children's lives.

We can declare independence from the say-anything, do-anything politics that's all about how to win and not why we should; that politics that exploits our differences instead of speaking to our common concerns and our common destinies as Americans.

We can do all these things, but only if we declare our independence from the cynicism and the doubt that tells us that change can't happen.

Posted on Tue, Apr. 08, 2008
Obama campaign opens second Ky. office
The Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. --Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign has opened its second office in Kentucky.

The campaign on Monday held a rally for supporters at its new Lexington headquarters that drew around 400 people.

Obama's statewide director Carolyn Tandy says plans are being made for Obama and his wife to return to Kentucky for campaign events, but no dates have been set.

The campaign opened an office in Louisville last month and is slated to open other offices later this month across the state, Tandy said.

...

Despite her campaign's relentless attacks on Barack Obama's qualifications and electability, Hillary Clinton has lost a lot of ground with Democratic voters nationwide going into Tuesday's critical primary in Pennsylvania, a new NEWSWEEK poll shows.

The survey of 1,209 registered voters found that Obama now leads Clinton by nearly 20 points, or 54 percent to 35 percent, among registered Democrats and those who lean Democratic nationwide. The previous Newsweek poll, conducted in March after Clinton's big primary wins in Ohio and Texas, showed the two Democrats locked in a statistical tie (45 percent for Obama to 44 percent for Clinton). The new poll puts Obama ahead among women as well as men, and voters aged 60 and older as well as younger voters.

There were a few bright spots in the new poll for the Clinton campaign. Among all registered voters, including Republicans, she did about as well as Obama against McCain. Obama bests McCain by 4 points (48 percent to 44 percent), and Clinton also wins by 4 points (47 to 43 percent).

Didn't Obama suggest eliminating the payroll tax cap?

I think there will be a lot of joy, celebration, humility and many tears.

real life wrote:

Didn't Obama suggest eliminating the payroll tax cap?

I don't know, but if he did, it's about time. That someone who makes 200K/yr pays a lower percentage of overall tax than someone making $95k/yr has always rubbed me the wrong way.

Butrflynet wrote:

I think there will be a lot of joy, celebration, humility and many tears.

I will personally shyt a brick. and smile, smile, smile.......

nimh wrote:

Foxfyre wrote:

If he kicks the capital gains tax back up to where it used to be, that will be a massive tax increase.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but from the top of my head the increase of capital gains tax would apply to those earning over $200,000.

Do you know how many Americans earn over $200,000? Three point six per cent. That is: just one in twentyeight Americans would be affected.

That's a "massive tax increase"?

Foxfyre wrote:

In the most recent debate, I think it was Brian Williams (?) who questioned Obama on his propose raise in the capital gains tax as revenues went up sharply when Clinton cut the tax and went up sharply again when Bush cut it. Obama's deer-caught-in-the-headlights response was that it wasn't a matter money or revenues but a matter of fairness ...

It was not his best moment in the debate.

It was Charlie Gibson, and he was flat out wrong. His brainfart on this has been ridiculed enough since the debate...

Didn't Obama suggest eliminating the payroll tax cap?

"Obama's tax increase would saddle the United States with the highest marginal tax rate in the world -- higher even than countries like Sweden. Studies based on the WEFA macroeconomic model, a metric developed by economists at the Wharton School of Business and employed widely by Fortune 500 companies, suggest that they would cost the United States as much as $136 billion in lost economic growth over the next 10 years, and as many as 1.1 million lost jobs. In exchange for this economic catastrophe, we would gain surprisingly little in terms of Social Security's finances. Even completely eliminating the cap, without allowing any additional credit toward benefits, would result in only eight additional years of cash-flow solvency. Rather than beginning to run a deficit in 2017, Social Security would continue to run a surplus until 2025. That's very little gain for so much pain."

In his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama appeals strongly to young people. His message to college students and graduates has been one of "hope" and "change," but in the long run, he offers them remarkably little of either.