Who is your choice for President?

[mf_dolphin]

No bullet-proof glass but I do have a boot when required Just kidding folks!!!! I would love to know how people can get behind Kerry when he's so hard to pin down on what he really stands for.

[southerngale]

Me too Marshall. Like Bush said in a speech yesterday.....something about for those who wondered where Kerry stood...pretty much on both sides of every issue!

[Firefighter16]

Done.

[BocaGirl]

Here's how I see the incumbent: If I ask myself is the country better off since he took office, I have to say NO. Oh, some of the the problems might have been inherited from the Clinton era, but not all of them. I realize that my views don't reflect the views the views of many on this board, but I see a war that isn't going anywhere (look at that debacle over the Iraqi constitution today as an example), gas and oil prices that are going higher and higher, and unemployment that is getting worse.

Just today I read a story about how White House economists were surprised that actual new job creation numbers didn't match their predictions. And the week before I heard a piece about how the same economists were planning to reclassify restaurant and dry cleaning jobs from the service to manufacturing sector to bolster the manufacturing numbers. After all, when someone puts together a Big Mac, he or she is technically manufacturing it, right?

At the same time, Mr. Cheney's company is reaping rich rewards in Iraq. And our Vice President is basically silent.

Sorry guys, but when I take out the emotion of the Dems vs Repubs, I don't see much to recommend another 4 years for the current administration.

Now, on to Kerry, I don't like him. Blecch. Period.

So, in the next 8 months, one or the other will have to do or say something that makes me decide. Because I have never missed voting in a Presidential election since I registered to vote.

BocaGirl

[southerngale]

I do think the country is better off than it was before he took office. When he took office, the worst terrorist attack on American soil was just a few months away. Without going into great detail, I think he handled the terrorist situation superbly. Who would have expected him to be thrown that in his first year as President, or at all? I have no complaints with how he has taken care of things. He said that day we would hunt down and punish those responsible. That's exactly what he's doing! I see a war with great progress. We've captured Saddam Hussein, the world's most evil dictator, and we've captured or killed many of those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. I believe Osama bin laden will be a goner soon and he is running scared......assuming he's even alive.

Despite what much of the liberal media would have you believe, unemployment is not high and it's not getting worse. It is improving. Look at the unemployment during Clinton's years when the media raved at how low it was.....hmmmm....same numbers.

[Guest]

I do think the country is better off than it was before he took office. When he took office, the worst terrorist attack on American soil was just a few months away. Without going into great detail, I think he handled the terrorist situation superbly. Who would have expected him to be thrown that in his first year as President, or at all? I have no complaints with how he has taken care of things. He said that day we would hunt down and punish those responsible. That's exactly what he's doing! I see a war with great progress. We've captured Saddam Hussein, the world's most evil dictator, and we've captured or killed many of those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. I believe Osama bin laden will be a goner soon and he is running scared......assuming he's even alive.

Despite what much of the liberal media would have you believe, unemployment is not high and it's not getting worse. It is improving. Look at the unemployment during Clinton's years when the media raved at how low it was.....hmmmm....same numbers.

Ok i do totally agree he has handled the terrorist just fine IMO. However the part about the unemployment is bull. Atleast that i am certain of here anyways. Last year alone lost almost 100,000 jobs just in this state. However can you really say that is Bushes fault and not the moron governor of this state?????Either way SG a ton of jobs has been lost in this country especially the high tech and higher paying manufactoring Jobs. That to me isnt a good thing at all. And this does go back to Clinton's years. Cant totally blame Bush for that either.

Same goes with the Gas prices which i mentioned in another thread here which btw if the demos would stop beeing pain in the rears then we could build more refineries which none have been built in about 20yrs thanks to the demos. Which i think is part of the problem with the shortages and higher prices. This imo will become the hottest issue if those gas prices go where some are projecting them to go.

But who will get the blame in the end???

Gotta love how things get twisted up with politics.

BTW boca brings up one good point about Cheney and his reaping of the rewards of Iraq and yet has not said a thing. Hmmmmmmm. That does kinda bother me a little.

[Rainband]

I don't like any of them. As for how good Bush has done. Yes he has done well with the terrorist situation and the aftermath of September 11th. I did like Boca girls post. I also have to disagree with him on other issues and most of you know why although his compromise was noted. I guess it just depends on how you look at the glass half full or half empty. I think all politicians are Liars. I am just being honest. Either he is doing a really good job protecting us or he is good with the politics of fear. At any rate. I don't like any of them

[mf_dolphin]

I would look again at the Cheney/Haliburton connection. If I'm not mistaken, he isn't associated with Haliburton anymore and therefore not profiting....

[rainstorm]

unfortuntely, the latest economic news is not good. i thnk kerry will win. the bad thing is, we will be forever at the mercy of the un.

[OtherHD]

unfortuntely, the latest economic news is not good. i thnk kerry will win. the bad thing is, we will be forever at the mercy of the un.

Perhaps you should just refrain from posting anything political until October. You are worse than Kerry. Just MINUTES ago on WWBB, you shrugged off the latest economic news and assured us that everything was fine.

[Rainband]

unfortuntely, the latest economic news is not good. i thnk kerry will win. the bad thing is, we will be forever at the mercy of the un.

Perhaps you should just refrain from posting anything political until October. You are worse than Kerry. Just MINUTES ago on WWBB, you shrugged off the latest economic news and assured us that everything was fine.

Sorry but But that was hilarious. *BUSTED* thanks OtherHD

[rainstorm]

unfortuntely, the latest economic news is not good. i thnk kerry will win. the bad thing is, we will be forever at the mercy of the un.

Perhaps you should just refrain from posting anything political until October. You are worse than Kerry. Just MINUTES ago on WWBB, you shrugged off the latest economic news and assured us that everything was fine.

the problem is the economy is fine. the other problem is bush is acting like a punching bag. 5.6 is not a high number, but bush is letting the liberal media and the dems control the debate. todays job report was bad news, but it is only one small piece of the puzzle, yet, bush remains silent.
he needs to do like me. attack like the dems do. kerry offers nothing to help the situation, but it doesnt matter, because bush isnt challenging anything he says.

[Stephanie]

Here's how I see the incumbent: If I ask myself is the country better off since he took office, I have to say NO. Oh, some of the the problems might have been inherited from the Clinton era, but not all of them. I realize that my views don't reflect the views the views of many on this board, but I see a war that isn't going anywhere (look at that debacle over the Iraqi constitution today as an example), gas and oil prices that are going higher and higher, and unemployment that is getting worse.

Just today I read a story about how White House economists were surprised that actual new job creation numbers didn't match their predictions. And the week before I heard a piece about how the same economists were planning to reclassify restaurant and dry cleaning jobs from the service to manufacturing sector to bolster the manufacturing numbers. After all, when someone puts together a Big Mac, he or she is technically manufacturing it, right?

At the same time, Mr. Cheney's company is reaping rich rewards in Iraq. And our Vice President is basically silent.

Sorry guys, but when I take out the emotion of the Dems vs Repubs, I don't see much to recommend another 4 years for the current administration.

Now, on to Kerry, I don't like him. Blecch. Period.

So, in the next 8 months, one or the other will have to do or say something that makes me decide. Because I have never missed voting in a Presidential election since I registered to vote.

BocaGirl

I agree 100%.

As far as Haliburton Marshall, - yes, Cheney stepped down, but that doesn't mean he still doesn't have any "influence" or a personal vested interest in it getting contracts.

[mf_dolphin]

At the same time, Mr. Cheney's company is reaping rich rewards in Iraq. And our Vice President is basically silent.

This is what I was commenting on. Mr. Chenry no longer has a financial or controlling interest interest in Haliburton so this statement is misleading and just plain wrong. The decision to hire Haliburton was made by the GSA not the Executive branch. As far as how much Vice President has said, how much did any recent Vice-President have to say? Gore took credit for creating the Internet but we won't count that lol

[streetsoldier]

If "Mr.Piggy" Kim Jong Il likes Kerry for President (as seen elsewhere), that's reason enough for me to strongly support BUSH...as if I needed another one.

[stormchazer]

What have we been through since 2001?

1. Dot.Com bubble burst. 77 of the 512 companies that went public in 1999 have been delisted or no longer trade. 21 of the 396 firms that went public in 2000 are gone. More than $5 trillion in market capitalization already had vanished, eliminating much of the money companies could invest in capital spending.
3 Nasdaq, heavily vested in technology, takes a beating.
4. Recession sets in.
5. Corporate scandal sends Wall Street plummeting.
6. 9/11 - 1 year after, 33 percent of executives and managers say the attacks and their aftermath are affecting their organizations significantly.
- Corporate insurance premiums have dramatically increased because of the attacks, upping pressure on earnings. Consolidated Freightways recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection partially attributed to increasing insurance costs. In a recorded message to employees, CEO John Brinko said that severe restrictions imposed on insurance, credit and real estate markets since Sept. 11 hurt the company.
- Thirty-three states extended mass layoffs related in some way to Sept. 11, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 408 extended mass layoffs involving 114,711 workers attributed to the attacks.
- US Airways is in bankruptcy and more than 130,000 airline employees have been laid off since Sept. 11.
7. NY Blackout
* 11 percent of firms say that the blackout will affect their decision-making with regards to either growth or relocation.
* As a consequence of the blackout, over one third of businesses surveyed (38 percent) said they'd be somewhat or very likely to invest in alternate energy systems.
* Over one-third of firms surveyed (34 percent) have no risk management or disaster recovery plans in place.
* Nearly half (46 percent) of the businesses surveyed will invest more in risk management, business continuity and/or disaster recovery in the future.
* More than a third of the businesses surveyed (35 percent) felt it was somewhat or very likely that the region's image would suffer as a result of the blackout.
* Two-thirds of the businesses surveyed (66 percent) lost at least a full business day due to the blackout.
* A quarter of the businesses surveyed (24 percent) lost more than $50,000 per hour of downtime-meaning at least $400,000 for an 8-hour day. And 4 percent of businesses lost more than $1 million for each hour of downtime.
* Nearly half of the businesses surveyed (46 percent) said that lost employee productivity was the largest contributor to losses suffered due to the blackout.
* Production/manufacturing and customer sales/service were the areas of business hardest hit by the blackout.
8. The War on Terror.
9. Massive California Fires.
10. Oil prices increasing slow ecenomic growth

Its a wonder we are in as good of shape as we are. We have had the greatest GDP growth in 20 years. We have near 0% Prime Lending Rate. Very little inflation. We have 94.4% employment, .1% better then in Clinton's reelection year of 1996. Manufacturing growth has risen past 3 months straight. Housing starts continue to increase. Productivity has had steady growth. I could go on....

I think Bush has done a fine job. You may now return to your doom and gloom.

[BEER980]

Wasn't there a $200 Billion surplus when he took over and now we are $500 billion in the hole?

[timNms]

Unemployment Rate -
Jan 2004: 5.6% (After GWBush's 1st three years)
Change in rate from prior year (Jan '03-'04): 0.3%, Decrease

Jan 1996: 5.6% (After Bill Clinton's 1st three years)
Change in rate from prior year (Jan '95-'96): 0.0%, No change

* The Unemployement Rate is the same after GWBush's 1st three years as it was after Bill Clinton's 1st three years.
* The Unemployment rate steadily declined in the third year with GWBush while it remained unchanged in Bill Clinton's third year.



Poverty Rate For Families (Two-Year Average) -
2001-2002: 9.40% (GWBush's 1st two years)
1993-1994: 12.95% (Clinton's 1st two years)
1993-2000: 10.50% (Average for Clinton's full eight years)

* The % of families living in poverty is lower after two years under GWBush than after two years under Bill Clinton - even lower than 7 out of 8 of Clinton's years in office.



Percent of People Below 50 Percent of Poverty Level (Two-Year Average) -
2001-2002: 4.95% (GWBush's 1st two years)
1993-1994: 6.05% (Clinton's 1st two years)
1993-2000: 5.31% (Average for Clinton's full eight years)

* The % of people living in deep poverty is lower after two years under GWBush than after two years under Bill Clinton - even lower than the average across Clinton's entire TWO terms of office... AND lower than ANY of Clinton's 1st six years in office.



Homeownership Rate -
GWBush's 1st three years:
4th Quarter 2000: 67.5% (before GWBush)
4th Quarter 2003: 68.6% (after 3 years of GWBush)
Difference: +1.1%

Bill Clinton's 1st three years:
4th Quarter 1992: 64.4% (before Clinton)
4th Quarter 1995: 65.1% (after 3 years of Clinton)
Difference: +0.7%

* The Homeownership Rate is higher under GWBush's 1st three years than under Bill Clinton's 1st three years.
* The Homeownership Rate grew MORE in the 1st three years with GWBush than in the 1st three years with Bill Clinton.



Inflation Rate -
GWBush's 1st three years:
Jan 2001: 3.73% (before GWBush)
Jan 2004: 1.93% (after 3 years of GWBush)
Difference: 1.8% Decrease

Bill Clinton's 1st three years:
Jan 1993: 3.26% (before Clinton)
Jan 1996: 2.73% (after 3 years of Clinton)
Difference: 0.53% Decrease

* The Inflation Rate is lower after three years of GWBush than it was after Bill Clinton's first three years.
* The Inflation Rate declined over three times greater under GWBush than under Bill Clinton.




* "2004 Will Be the U.S.'S Best Year Economically in Last 20 Years" ~ The Conference Board's revised forecast, December 2003.

* Manufacturing is at 20-year record highs.

* GDP for the second-half of 2003 grew an incredible 6 percent while inflation was held under 1 percent.

* Real private-sector GDP has expanded at a 5.3 percent annual rate since the Bush tax cuts were passed while in the prior six quarters private-sector GDP averaged only 2.5 percent.

* Foreign exports have been increasing and have actually doubled since six months ago.

* The Federal deficit is estimated to be $477 billion in 2004 but then drop to $362 billion for 2005. The current 2004 deficit is 4.2% of the GDP which makes it smaller, compared to the GDP, than what it was in the late '80s and early '90s.

* The stock markets (i.e. your pensions, IRAs, 401(k)s and college saving plans) have rebounded solidly and are approaching three-year highs.


Now if you want to do some research, data-digging and number-crunching you will find this information. Here's the specific links that you can start with:

http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm
http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/...v/hstpov13.html
http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/...v/hstpov22.html
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hous...s/q403tab5.html
http://inflationdata.com/Inflation/...lInflation.aspx
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/TaxF...=20&Topic3id=22
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031211/nyth120_1.html
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0104/012604cdpm1.htm

As you can see none of the above links are right wing websites or bias news agencies.

[rainstorm]

i officially cast my vote for libertarian. for a long time i felt doing that would help the dems, but after listening to the gloom late last night from republicans, and seeing the conservative wash times this morning, i think bush has no chance. i am worried that kerry being elected will be a disaster for us, as we will never again be able to defend ourselves without the approval of france. also, i think the republican party will cease to exist. thus, i might as well vote libertarian.

[Stephanie]

Wasn't there a $200 Billion surplus when he took over and now we are $500 billion in the hole?

Yep. To be fair though, we do have the war on terrorism and the disruption of business from 9/11. HOWEVER, the "rainy day" fund of $200 billion would've been available for use had Bush not elected to give tax cuts.