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Archive for October, 2008

Smoking Bans

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Does the city you live in have smoking ordinances? Mine does, and while I am not a smoker, I am against smoking bans. I look at it this way, the government shouldn’t have the power to enforce such a law, whether it be local, state, or federal. Whether or not to allow smoking should be the decision of whoever owns a particular building or business, no one else.

Concerned that sitting in the same room as someone that is smoking a cigarette is a health hazard? If whoever owns the building or business where you are has decided to allow smoking in their establishment, you have the power to walk out and not come back. You even have the power to make a complaint to the management, but ultimately, it is their decision, no one elses.

I’ve even heard reports of smoking being banned in bars, which really shows how some people in this society are so selfish, that they feel the need to impose their will on everyone else by passing these useless laws. This is destroying businesses and hurting many others.

Smoking bans infringe on people’s right to make their own decisions, taking power from the people and giving it to government. That is not a good path to follow, because in the end, it only leads to absolute power for government, and severely limits the right of the individual, which is one of this country’s basic principles.

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A President Obama

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Sen. Obama’s rhetoric is uplifting and positive, but the Senator who showed genuine foresight and courage in opposing the Iraq war spent most of the primary season edging away from his initial tough stand. Will he order the troops to exit Iraq? Will he bring them all home, or simply shift them from Iraq to another foreign country?

Similarly, it would be hard for Sen. Obama not to be an improvement over the Bush administration on civil liberties. However, here, too, Sen. Obama has demonstrated his willingness to trim under pressure.

President George W. Bush violated the law when he ignored both the Constitution and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Congress should have held him and his appointees accountable for their law-breaking. Moreover, telephone companies that aided and abetted executive branch law-breaking should have been left liable in the courts.

Yet, Sen. Obama folded, backing a “compromise” that gave the administration most everything that it wanted. No individualized warrants or evidence of law-breaking is required to authorize government spying on U.S. citizens’ phone calls and emails. No administration officials paid the slightest cost for engaging in illegal conduct. No private firm suffered the slightest inconvenience for helping the government violate their customers’ constitutional rights. This was the moment for Sen. Obama to prove that he possessed a true dedication to civil liberties, and he failed.

Of course, we all hope that, as president, he will feel freer to stand up for American liberties. But there also will be voices advising him to use the executive powers so freely expanded by his predecessor. Will he be strong enough to resist this Siren’s Song? No one knows, but one thing is known: If freed from the limiting forces of public awareness and involvement, President Obama would follow a long line of presidents who talk of enhanced individual liberty, but practice a policy of increased government power.

In other words, the best way to encourage Sen. Obama, if he is elected president, to follow the straight and narrow is to actively and clearly demonstrate that we, the American people, are concerned both about our civil liberties and his commitment to protect them. The way to do that is to vote for Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party.

-Bob Barr

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A Third Party Debate

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

The City Club of Cleveland is hosting a debate between Libertarian Party Presidential Nominee Bob Barr, consumer activist Ralph Nader and Pastor Chuck Baldwin on Thursday, October 30 at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

  • When: Thursday, October 30, at 4:30 p.m. EDT.
  • Where: The City Club of Cleveland; 50 Euclid Ave, 2nd Floor, Cleveland, OH
  • Topic: The Economy: “Where do we go from here?”

This will be the first professionally organized debate to include both Bob Barr and Ralph Nader. The Thursday visit to Cleveland is former congressman Barr’s fourth visit to Ohio — a state that will play a crucial role in the presidential election.

Being as seating is limited and there will be questions from the audience, please BE SURE TO ARRIVE AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. Barr’s name will appear before 95 percent of Americans when they vote on Election Day – more than any other third-party or independent candidate.

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Double Standards

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

As some may have heard, there have been reports of people making dummies of both Sarah Palin and Barack Obama and then hanging them by the neck from ropes. These were all done separately, there isn’t a case of having both in the same place, just to clarify.

Cases of the Palin dummies are being dismissed as Halloween decoration, however cases of Obama dummies are being treated as possibly race related crimes. What the hell is our country coming to? Our country is so politically correct with every person standing ready to make race an issue, whether it is or not. These are double standards when people can hang a Sarah Palin dummy up by the neck and people say it is ok, and then make the Obama dummy into a hate crime.

When you get down to it all, its a matter of free speech anyways, not even considering any other factors. I support the right for anyone to hang any dummy in their yard that they want. I’m a great believer in the fact that society will police itself. I don’t mean vigilanty justice either, I’m talking about society as a whole accepting that people have the right to do what they want so long as it doesn’t harm another person and taking it upon themselves to act against such things, should they feel the need, in a peaceful manner that depicts the subject at hand, as being wrong.

Wake up America!

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Barr Press Release

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Sen. John McCain accuses Sen. Barack Obama of being a “socialist,” but it is President George W. Bush, supported by Sen. McCain, who has done the most to socialize the U.S. economy. Courtesy of the Republican Party, the federal government is set to own a sizeable chunk of the housing, auto, banking and insurance industries, as well as pieces of individual companies lining up to sell securities to Washington. Even individual homes, with Uncle Sam preparing to become the mortgage guarantor of last resort, are the targets of nationalization.

What will be left for the next president to socialize?

The Republican Party once campaigned against irresponsible federal spending and government red ink. Then George W. Bush became president. With a Republican Congress, he turned a budget surplus into a half trillion dollar deficit, added trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities with creation of the Medicare drug benefit, and expanded virtually every federal program, domestic as well as foreign.

How is this different from what the Democratic Party has been promising to do for years?

Only after the Democrats retook control of Congress did President Bush suddenly become concerned about fiscal responsibility. But that lasted only until the subprime mortgage crisis enveloped Washington. Taking its cue from Democratic tax and spend policies of the past, the administration then opened the Treasury doors to all comers.

So far, the Bush administration, Congress, and Federal Reserve have provided more than $2 trillion in bailouts. Congress got the ball rolling, with an assist from the administration, with a $300 billion bailout of the housing industry. The president even agreed to a multi-million dollar taxpayer pay-off to the left-wing activist group ACORN to grease the legislative wheels.

Then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson abandoned his contrary assurances and nationalized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a cost of $200 billion, though the price could go higher. Bailouts began sprouting like mushrooms after a heavy rain—$29 billion to cover Bear Stearns, hundreds of billions of dollars from the Federal Reserve to banks and investment banks, as well as to buy mortgage-backed securities, $85 billion to nationalize the big insurer AIG, followed by another $38 billion for AIG and $25 billion more in loans to the auto industry.

Then there was the grand pay-off to Wall Street. Secretary Paulson came up with the wholly arbitrary $700 billion bailout—his aides admitted that he just wanted a really big number. And the administration accepted an extra $150 billion in pork and special tax breaks to win over reluctant congressmen. The purpose, we were told, was to clear “toxic” paper off of corporate balance sheets.

It turns out this was nothing more than another Bush Administration bait-and-switch.

Now the $700 billion is being used to buy up the U.S. economy. First, the administration decided to “invest” in big banks, whether they wanted it or not. The Bush administration put pressure on even sound institutions and argued that bankers must accept Republican socialism as a matter of patriotism. Who knows when, if ever, the government will sell off its stake in America’s financial system.

Then the administration suggested a new $40 billion homeowners program. The federal government is going to start guaranteeing individual mortgages. A lender who makes a bad loan will be assured of repayment so long as he cuts the interest rate or principal. A homeowner who should never have bought the house will get bailed-out by responsible homeowners and renters.

But the administration isn’t finished. On Friday, October 24, the Treasury Department announced that it was going to buy ownership stakes in major insurance companies. After all, the insurers are in trouble too. So The Hartford, MetLife, and Prudential already are in line for a government hand-out.

Now the Financial Services Roundtable has asked the Treasury Department to buy into securities dealers, auto manufacturers, and even U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies. After all, they “play a vital role in the U.S. economy,” explained the Roundtable. By that criterion, what industry or company doesn’t qualify for a bail-out?

Is Sen. Obama “socialist?” Yes, he wants to “spread the wealth,” as he puts it. But that’s what the Republicans have been doing for the last eight years. We already have “big government,” “socialism,” or whatever else you want to call it—and it was Republicans who gave it to us.

Even if he was elected, Sen. McCain would continue to this drive to bigger and bigger government: He has proposed that the federal government spend $300 billion to buy every bad mortgage in America. But, he isn’t going to win.

The real alternative this election is Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party. Only a vote for Bob Barr will tell Washington that there are Americans who don’t want socialism, whether from the Democrats or the Republicans. Only Bob Barr represents real change in Washington.

- Bob Barr

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Interview With Bob Barr

Monday, October 27th, 2008

Bob’s interview with Dave Weigel of Reason is now available online. The interview was part of the magazine’s election issue released in stores earlier this month.

On deciding to run for the Libertarian Party’s nomination:

reason: In 2006, when you joined the Libertarian Party, you told reason that you were not interested in running for anything else. What changed?

Bob Barr: A couple of things. First of all, since 2006 civil liberties have continued to be under assault by this administration and by Washington generally. At the national level—in both the Congress, with very few exceptions, and in the administration, with no exception—the assault on the right to privacy and other civil liberties, the assault on the notion that we are a nation that lives by the rule of law, not by the rule of men, continues to move forward at an accelerating pace.

There’s a very interesting quote by Dante Alighieri: “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis remain neutral.” So even though continuing to work as a member of the Libertarian National Committee certainly provided an appropriate forum and an opportunity to work to restore liberty and freedom in America, the process has accelerated so greatly that it was absolutely essential to enter the fray.

On his philosophy:

reason: How would you characterize your philosophy? You’ve described yourself as a Randian. Unpack that.

Bob Barr: I don’t know that anybody is a perfect Randian. I have a very high regard for Ayn Rand, her philosophy, her writings, and the ideas that continue to resonate surprisingly well in our society more than 50 years after Atlas Shrugged and 65 years after The Fountainhead was published. To me the philosophy that is at the core of Ayn Rand, that is at the core of the Libertarian Party, and that is at the core of my philosophy of what government should be doing, is that the government should exercise those powers that are clearly delineated to it and, in addition to that, are essential to allow the citizens to operate with the maximum amount of freedom in our society. In other words, scaling back tremendously, for example, that scope of federal criminal laws.

Even if Bob Barr were president or another Libertarian were president, none of these changes would be accomplished dramatically and instantaneously. But if we don’t commit ourselves very consciously to the process, to start unraveling the power of the federal government in particular, I fear the notion that the federal government is able to and should be the supreme authority in a whole range of domestic behavior will be so entrenched, so established, so systematized, that it will from a practical standpoint be impossible to unravel. In that sense, I think this current cycle and the next few years are the sort of the last best hope, as Reagan said, to unravel the oppressive statism that has grown up in our society.

And it’s the result not just of these social issues. It’s the result, I think, also very much of the power of the government to regulate in the economic sphere. Government regulates so much of what goes on in business and in our economy at all levels, from the personal through the state to the federal level, that it has acclimated people to think of the federal government as not just the last but the first resort to solve problems that people perceive in this society. That is not the job of the federal government.

That’s all I’m going to give. Head over and check the rest of the interview out.

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Public Poll Surveys

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that many of  these national poll surveys are highly inaccurate? No matter how sophisticated our mathematical system becomes or the techniques that these companies use, they will never get the true opinion of the American people, especially by only surveying 1000 or so people, and in many cases, sampling more Democrats than Republicans while neglecting all other groups. Not to mention that every survey has its own way of determining and weighting their results, which is evident as currently just about every poll has a widely different result no matter what the subject may be.

Looking further, any survey can be manipulated, whether it be on the interviewer’s end, or the group of people being interviewed. Numbers can be skewed to fit a desired result, questions can be asked in a certain way to achieve certain results, these surveyors also neglect to mention every possible option. All of these can factor into how accurate or inaccurate a survey can be. If you really want to get into this deep, I could even venture to say, with good reason, that most surveys are probably fixed in one way or another, because they are sponsored by interest groups of all kinds. While I’m not one to point fingers without proof, I have to remain suspicious of any official survey that has the backing of a special interest group.

How do you justify surveying a small group of people in a single state and then pushing results that are supposed to represent an entire nation’s views? It is impossible, no matter how you look at it, that’s why I don’t often put much stock in what national surveys say.

All I can say is that you should keep an eye on the polls, but never put too much stock in them, and never let the outcome of a survey change your opinion of something.

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Bob Barr Press Release

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Urges Voters to Vote for Real, Principled Change
Atlanta, GA – Bob Barr says that Sen. John McCain is on his “farewell tour” across America, as it has become clear that Sen. McCain has no realistic chance of winning the presidential election.
“The wheels on the Straight Talk Express have come off,” says Barr, the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president. “Sen. McCain will be spending the last two weeks before the election on his ‘farewell tour’ across America. Sen McCain’s mixed and angry message, as well as his support of big-spending policies, have killed any chance McCain may have had to win this election.”Barr says this means Republican-leaning voters who are reluctant to vote for John McCain and his big government record, “can feel comfortable knowing that their vote for Bob Barr will be a vote for smaller government, less spending and lower taxes.”"Now, principled conservatives can vote their conscience instead of voting for a faux-conservative just because he carries the Republican label,” explains Barr. “Small ‘L’ libertarians don’t have to vote defensively for the lesser of two evils because it is clear that McCain no longer has any realistic chance to win the election.”"A vote for John McCain is a wasted vote,” says Barr.

Barr says Sen. McCain “never appealed to the fiscal conservatives because of his record of increasing the size and power of government. John McCain’s refusal to stand up against the bailout tore the wheels right off the so-called ‘Straight Talk Express’ bus!”

“If you want your vote to count, and go towards a leader dedicated to lowering taxes, cutting spending, and drastically reducing the size of government, then you still have a choice in 2008. That choice is Bob Barr,” says Barr.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.

I have written an article on the press release over at the Daily Monger. It’s a great read and I encourage everyone to check out the new and upcoming news coverage and opinion site.

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Spending Analysis

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

The National Tax Payer’s Union has come up with the figures for how much each candidate is planning to increase spending by, or in Bob Barr’s case, how much he will cut spending.

http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=141

According to their figures, John McCain will have a budget increase of $91 billion. So much for being on the side of the tax payers and reducing government spending. His recent actions indicate that he is also in step with Obama on the issue of government intervention.
Barack Obama is proposing almost $293 billion in new spending, though as I recall from the last debate, he claimed that his plan would be a net spending cut. Washington needs change, his version of change seems to indicate more government spending and intervention, is that the kind of change you are looking for?

Bob Barr is proposing to cut spending by about $201 billion, a mighty step towards reducing our debt and bringing government spending under control. Reducing our debt, balancing the budget, and running on a surplus is the best way to get ourselves out of the hole that the Democrats and Republicans have been digging for a while now. Our currency value will rise, there will be more confidence in our system, and we won’t have to see future generations struggling to pay a mounting debt to other countries.

If you’re voting this year, vote for the candidate that best represents you, not against another candidate and not for the lesser of 2 evils. I hope we see gold on the electoral map this November 4th, but we can’t do it without you.

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Equality and Fairness

Monday, October 13th, 2008

This isn’t mine, but I did find a lot of truth to it.

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Green.’ Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant’s house where the news stations film the group singing, ‘We shall overcome.’ Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper’s sake. Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

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We don’t have to do it

Monday, October 13th, 2008

Both have run nasty campaigns…. AGAINST the American people. Both of them want to convert this country to a socialist nation, whether they call it socialist or not. Both of them campaigned among their peers in Congress to work on the bailout bill and get it passed, which now means that the government (State) will now own parts of (in some cases entire) businesses in the Financial market, more in the Housing market will follow… who is next? Auto makers… Airlines… Aircraft manufacturers?

Neither candidate wants to decrease the size of the Government. McCain stated in their last debate in the first 5 minutes, that he will order the Treasury to buy all the bad mortgages… otherwise known as State-Owned Housing because you would be paying the govt for your house, not your loan company. We thought that we were being watched by the Patriot Act before.. wait till that happens.

Obama talks about taxing the rich more, to increase the government plans to help the poor… think back and remember the USSR. Everybody was equal.. EXCEPT the politicians. The only candidate that has repeatedly talked about reducing the size and scope of the Federal Government is Bob Barr. All this discussion about Obama is better.. McCain is better… is ridiculous. Both of them are going to drive this country further down the drain… the only question is…. Who will do it faster? The media coverage on Obama/McCain has poisoned freedom in this country. All that is said, is that ‘One of those 2 will become President…’ NEWS FLASH!!!! There are more political parties than just the Republicans and Democrats. They just have a stranglehold on the media and we as a Nation need to stand up and demand more for our country and stop bickering between the lesser of 2 evils. Choosing the lesser evil will only undermine the work of our Founding Fathers and our Military in every conflict that they have ever been involved with. I swore to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies… foreign AND domestic. The current situation has me trying to defend that Constitution from McCain and Obama. Both of them are going to tear it to shreds. The only difference is that they will tear apart different sections first.

I’m asking EVERYBODY that considers themselves to be a true Patriot to NOT vote for the lesser evil. I know that no one is perfect, but the only candidate that stands for Freedom and the Constitution is Bob Barr. Investigate the Issues tab on his web site, don’t take my word for it. Just research everything. If you have any questions about the site, I will be more than happy to point you to the answers.. on the site, not my personal position on it.

http://BobBarr2008.com

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The NRA Endorses John McCain

Thursday, October 9th, 2008

Earlier today, the National Rifle Association made their endorsement for president and chose John McCain. While generally the NRA supports the Republican candidates, this year is something different. This year’s presidential race is a whole new ballgame, with the big party candidates that a lot seem unsatisfied with, and the under dog challenger, Libertarian Bob Barr trying to get national exposure to get his campaign contending.

Barack Obama’s stances on the 2nd amendment are pretty flagrant, so there’s really no need to go into why the NRA wouldn’t endorse him. So most think, well that just leaves John McCain, why would the NRA endorse the small candidate “Bob Barr” when his chances of winning are slim? Well a lot of people had good reason for thinking the NRA would endorse Bob Barr instead of John McCain.

Bob Barr sits on the board of the NRA for starters, and has always been a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment. However back in 2004, the NRA issued voting grades for all members of congress. Let have a look at what they had to say for John McCain and Bob Barr.

John McCain received a C+ due to his poor past performances when voting on 2nd amendment issues.

Bob Barr received an A+, an excellent voting record on 2nd amendment issues.

I have to wonder why such an organization would betray it’s supporters in such a way. I have to say, I’m not sure I can be an NRA supporter any longer.

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Round 2 of the Debate

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Once again this evening Barack Obama and John McCain will take center stage. And, once again they will prove what Bob Barr has been saying for the past month. There isn’t a dime’s bit of difference between the two.

They will skirt around the issues of liberty and freedom and instead focus their attacks on each other in one round after another of finger pointing. Two weeks ago we were told that the Bush/Obama/McCain Bailout (BOMB) would save our economy and reassure investors. We were told that our retirement plans would recover.

Today the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down for the fifth straight day and losses during this period have been nearly 1,000 points – or 10%. From its peak, the Dow is now down 34%.

Housing values are similarly down. But I’m not trying to depress you!

There is hope. Every day that the BOMB “Bush, Obama, McCain Bailout” inflicts more damage, the more people realize that they’ve been bamboozled (again) by their government, and particularly, the Bush Administration.

If you want more of the status quo, more of the same old corrupt politics of the Democrats AND Republicans, you should do nothing. That’s exactly what you will get in return, nothing but more of the same.

If you want meaningful change and a return to fiscal sanity, then Bob Barr is ready to lead our nation out of it’s economic troubles and into a period of prosperity based on free market principles, less government intervention, lower taxes and more freedom.

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Insanity: To follow the herd or not?

Monday, October 6th, 2008

http://www.nolanchart.com/article5127.html

According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results. This is exactly what most Americans do when they go along with the mainstream media in manipulating us to think Obama and McCain are not only our only choices, but that they will fight for our best interests.
Obama and McCain are tools of runaway, corporate corruption task masters and be sure they behold their best interests and not ours.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of September 1st, top contributors to each campaign are from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Lehman Brothers and the list goes on and on.

For example, Goldman Sachs contributed to Obama $739,521 while they contributed to McCain $ 220,045. Citigroup Inc. contributed to Obama $ 492,548 while they contributed to McCain $287,801. JPMorgan Chase & Co. contributed to Obama $475,112 while they contributed to McCain $206,392. And Lehman Brothers, yes, Lehman Brothers, contributed to Obama $391,774 while they contributed to McCain $115,707.

It is no wonder that both McCain and Obama voted for the $700 billion dollar bailout. Both McCain and Obama literally owe it to these corporations to bail them out, never mind the interests of the American people. And they both have the audacity to talk about special interests.

The $700 billion dollar bailout actually became the $800 billion dollar bailout, as both Obama and McCain did not waste an opportunity to add in and support another $100 billion plus in pork barrel spending; earmarks that both Obama and McCain tell us through out their campaign stumps and in the presidential debates that they are so against.

In order to sell it to the American public, the mainstream media started calling it “the $700 Billion Dollar Rescue Plan”. Yes, that sounds more appealing, like they are rescuing us and something we can all get behind on; not. This is just another example of the media manipulating the American people.

They wouldn’t want you to know the truth, that it is actually an over $800 billion dollar bailout as both Obama and McCain voted for an additional $100 billion in tax breaks for wooden arrows , rum & wool fabric producers, corporations operating in American Samoa, film & TV productions, and the list goes on and on.

Despite that the overwhelming majority of Americans were against this bailout, both McCain & Obama and our elected officials disregarded our voices and sided with greed. When you are being blackmailed by Wall Street, there is no one that can stand in its way.

It is no wonder both McCain and Obama oppose adopting or even discussing a Wall Street Securities Speculation tax. Independent candidate for President Ralph Nader, who is of course ignored by the media, is the foremost expert on corporate corruption and has called for this “securities speculation tax” as it would reduce speculation in the markets and increase stability. In Ralph Nader’s web site he quotes economist Dean Baker as saying “Just as poor and moderate income people pay taxes when they gamble at a casino or buy a state lottery ticket, a financial transactions tax would simply be applying a comparable tax to gambling in financial markets”.

This is just one example in how including more voices and choices into the Presidential Debates would benefit all Americans. Of course the TV and Print media which is controlled by Two Party system would never allow you to hear any dissenting voices to the bailout or any other issues for that matter, as not expressed by Obama and McCain.

America deserves to hear other voices, such as Libertarian Candidate for President- Bob Barr, who says private market adjustments and not a bailout should be the starting point, and at the same time go after and prosecute fraud in private markets.

As Bob Barr explains in his web site “With the knowledge that an easy government bailout is no longer around the corner, the markets can get serious about working through the mountain of bad debt that imperils homeowners, banks and companies alike.”

Barr suggests we should repeal the Community Reinvestment Act, as he says “forces banks to lend to poorer communities irrespective of the creditworthiness of borrowers.”

Third Party Candidates face ridiculous roadblocks placed forth by both the Democrats and Republicans in earning a spot on state ballots. Yet, both Ralph Nader and Bob Barr managed to get on at least 45 state ballots each, quite an amazing feat, and both should be heard on equal footing.

As I have mentioned before, the exclusion of Ralph Nader and Bob Barr from the Presidential debates is unconscionable. Their inclusion would only push serious dialogue about our nation’s problems and push the agenda for solutions.

McCain and Obama are one and the same masquerading themselves as mavericks and change agents. “Neither candidate has offered detailed policy papers on how to bolster the flagging economy” ————Sun Sentinel, Sunday, October 05, 2008, Section 18A.

Furthermore, in an effort to monitor and control people in the spirit of George Orwell’s novel “1984″, Obama and McCain continue to tear away at our personal, hard fought freedoms, most recently by voting in favor of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is another way that our government can spy on us. Never mind, that they both continue to support the Patriot Act, and both are evidently much too weak to oppose cutting our wasteful military budget. Does this sound like they have our best interests at hand?

This election we must open our eyes, not make excuses, and vote Third Party for President. It is time to say enough is enough. The media has perfected their manipulation with cliches of “wasting your vote”. But it seems to me, if anyone is wasting a vote, it is a vote for Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Do you have the courage to say No to McBama?

Let me close in the manner I began, with a quote from Albert Einstein, who said “the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.”

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