What the World thinks

This morning, I overheard some conversation between a Taiwanese girl and a Hungarian guy about Bush’s probable victory,

“It’s a sad day for America.”
“Yes, but an even sadder day for the rest of the world.”

True true. We Americans don’t fully appreciate that American is not the world.

America Deserves Better

These are all quotes from a Slashdot thread. Please, please share these facts with everyone you know.

Kerry thinks Bush is dishonest

To hear Kerry talk, he seems to believe that Bush is dishonest and incompetent and has accomplished nothing of note either domestically or in his foreign policy.

Well, MOST people who follow the situation in Iraq closely believe that the Bush administration is incompetent. Where do we begin? Letting looters run wild? Not securing the arms depots (not just the high explosives, all kinds of stuff was left unguarded- hell they stood by and watched as insurgents carried weapons off)? Disbanding the army? Going into Fallujah? “Flip-flopping” and getting out of Fallujah when it got a little too messy? Total cockup start to finish.

Afghanistan has been done better but there is still more of the country under the control of the Taliban and warlords than Karzai. Half-assed, but not a total cockup.

Bush on the economy has been something of a failure. Sure, we’re coming out a recession, and I’m sure the tax cuts helped that- they could hardly hurt. But instead of directing the money where it would do the most good (the middle class) it went to where it did much less good (the wealthiest people in America) and created a massive budget deficit that will take years to pay off. This didn’t help the economy so much as it helped the rich. The recovery has been far from amazing.

Socially? Most people feel he did a good job post 9-11. But it’s amazing to see how much that has been messed up. He said he’d be a uniter, and he hasn’t been- he’s divided this nation. America is now more divided than it has been since the Viet Nam War. For some people he’s been a good leader. If you’re rich, right wing, and/or Christian he’s great. But he seems to think that everyone else can go fuck themselves.

Finally, how about those American values like freedom and our rights that he is supposed to be protecting? Under the Bush administration we have seen people locked up without trial for years at a time. Four years ago if you said that America would do that I’d never have believed it. Sure, governments do that. But just the bad guys- the USSR, China, Nazi Germany- right? Those kinds of governments lock up people without trial. Not the good old freedom-loving USA.

I could go on forever. As for mandates, let’s not get started on that. Bush lost the popular vote, so he has no mandate.

Economics for the Middleclass

From a purely economic standpoint, anyone who works for a living and votes republican is an idiot. They’ve been duped into voting “what’s good for the country” instead voting based on their own situation.

For 2003 a single man making 28,400 dollars, and living in WA state (8% sales tax) he will pay 27% of his wages in tax. This assumes that 50% of what he makes will be spent on taxable goods, and that he takes the standard deduction. It should be noted that this same table gives the U.S. tax rate at 35% because it only displays the highest rate for countries with a variable tax.

According to www.worldwide-tax.com, if the same man lived in Germany he would pay 25% of his wages in tax. In Norway, 28%, in the UK, 30%.

The way I see it, the big difference here is not how much we pay vs. European countries, but what we get for those taxes vs. what people in European countries get for thos taxes. Free medical, free University level education, real Social Security. We get give two billion dollars to Halliburton.

Kerry will raise taxes on the middleclass

Question 11: Sen. Kerry, will you pledge not to raise taxes on families making less than $200,000 during your first term?

GIBSON: Sen. Kerry, the next question will be for you, and it comes from James Varner, who I believe is in this section.

Mr. Varner? You need a microphone.

QUESTIONER: Thank you.

Sen. Kerry, would you be willing to look directly into the camera and, using simple and unequivocal language, give the American people your solemn pledge not to sign any legislation that will increase the tax burden on families earning less than $200,000 a year during your first term?

KERRY: Absolutely. Yes. Right into the camera. Yes. I am not going to raise taxes.

I have a tax cut. And here’s my tax cut.

I raise the child-care credit by $1,000 for families to help them be able to take care of their kids.

I have a $4,000 tuition tax credit that goes to parents — and kids, if they’re earning for themselves — to be able to pay for college.

And I lower the cost of health care in the way that I described to you.

Every part of my program I’ve shown how I’m going to pay for it.

And I’ve gotten good people, like former Secretary of the Treasury Bob Rubin, for instance, who showed how to balance budgets and give you a good economy, to help me crunch these numbers and make them work. I’ve even scaled back some of my favorite programs already, like the child-care program I wanted to fund and the national service program, because the president’s deficit keeps growing and I’ve said as a pledge, I’m going to cut the deficit in half in four years.

Now, I’m going to restore what we did in the 1990s, ladies and gentlemen: pay as you go. We’re going to do it like you do it. The president broke the pay-as-you-go rule.

Somebody here asked the question about, Why haven’t you vetoed something? It’s a good question. If you care about it, why don’t you veto it?

I think John McCain called the energy bill the No Lobbyist Left Behind bill.

I mean, you’ve got to stand up and fight somewhere, folks.

I’m pledging I will not raise taxes; I’m giving a tax cut to the people earning less than $200,000 a year.

Now, for the people earning more than $200,000 a year, you’re going to see a rollback to the level we were at with Bill Clinton, when people made a lot of money. And looking around here, at this group here, I suspect there are only three people here who are going to be affected: the president, me, and, Charlie, I’m sorry, you too.

(LAUGHTER)

GIBSON: Mr. President, 90 seconds.

BUSH: He’s just not credible when he talks about being fiscally conservative. He’s just not credible. If you look at his record in the Senate, he voted to break the caps — the spending caps — over 200 times.

And here he says he’s going to be a fiscal conservative, all of a sudden. It’s just not credible. You cannot believe it.

And of course he’s going to raise your taxes. You see, he’s proposed $2.2 trillion of new spending. And you say: Well, how are you going to pay for it? He says, well, he’s going to raise the taxes on the rich — that’s what he said — the top two brackets. That raises, he says $800 billion; we say $600 billion. We’ve got battling green eye shades.

Somewhere in between those numbers — and so there’s a difference, what he’s promised and what he can raise.

Now, either he’s going to break all these wonderful promises he’s told you about or he’s going to raise taxes. And I suspect, given his record, he’s going to raise taxes.

Is my time up yet?

GIBSON: No, you can keep going.

(LAUGHTER)

BUSH …

How to make a difference in the presidential election

1) Get out the vote, and overwhelm any cheating the bad guys can do. That kind of cheating works great if the candidates are tied (which every wishful poll in the country would have you believe). The more people get out to vote for Kerry, the less chance cheating can throw the election. So don’t go to those polls alone: bring your friends, family, and anyone else you can (without forcing, kidnapping, or bribing them, of course). Give Kerry a landslide from the people those polls don’t count.

2) Join the efforts by various rights groups to help monitor and protect voting polls and voters.

Personally, I think Eminem delivered the true October surprise. He’s right too, the coming of the King of Terror began in a schoolroom, it’s reign should end there too, with the only real swing state that matters: the youth of America.

There is hope Kerry can win, and not only from sports omens. Leading Hindu astrologers [newindpress.com] and a noted Hindu mystic believe that Kerry is going to win, Bush will never again be president, and Kerry will end terrorism and bring world peace! The sun and the moon have even endorsed Kerry.

“The last hope is to fight by ourselves.”
Belebera, “Mothra 3: King Ghidora Attacks”

We deserve someone better.