Straight Talk Express Rewrites History in Nashua

His social security position is really out there (4.00 / 2)

He says "it's your money," which would make sense if he were talking about eliminating social security, but instead the government is still going to collect the tax, and limit your options in how you can use "your money." So, it's basically government coerced investment into riskier securities. I

f you watch the whole exchange between him and the guy asking the question, the questioner points out that social security checks have always been there and delivered on time, but stock investments are more variable and might not be there for you when you need them at retirement.

I think a big problem with McCain's social security position is that it sets itself up for so much abuse. On the one hand, if you have real control over where your investment goes, you could set up a company and dividend out your investment back to yourself, which kind of defeats the whole exercise of collecting the tax in the first place.

On the other hand, if where you can choose to invest your money is limited, we would basically be setting up a government subsidy for particular types of companies or industries that would probably begin to run afoul of trade rules. And if the money handlers are limited, basically big financial companies get an undeserved taxpayer subsidy for handling the government mandated investments.

If social security needs to be "fixed," the McCain plan is certainly not the way to do it.

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by: Alex Gallichon @ Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 20:44:12 PM CDT

SS ecolanguage: (0.00 / 0)

Even an engineer like John E. can understand it.

Wonder if Sununu's fired now.

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by: Dean Barker @ Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 21:23:55 PM CDT

I was there... (4.00 / 1)

The hall looked somewhere from 200-300, can't say exactly, of course, but I didn't get a great view of the room.  And the gym was very much like a HS gym.  Certainly not as big a turn as Obama's election night event.  Plus, there were about 100 of us out front protesting before the event so that would mean we made up to as much as a quarter of the attendees (if you count the 300 people who attended the event as supporters).

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by: Northwoods @ Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 21:39:03 PM CDT

Bush/Cheney/McCain Status of Forces Agreement with Iraq (4.00 / 1)

All emphasis mine

You ever wonder why Sen. McCain says thing like this:

From NBC's Today Show:

MATT LAUER: A lot of people now say the surge is working.

JOHN McCAIN: Anyone who knows the facts on the ground say that.

LAUER: If it's working, senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?

McCAIN: No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That's all fine.

Could it be he is planning on keeping the US in Iraq permanently? McCain: "Americans are in South Korea. Americans are in Japan. American troops are in Germany. That's all fine."

Revealed: Secret plan to keep Iraq under US control Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq's position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

U.S. Security Agreements and Iraq

Among the most contentious aspects of the agreements is the belief that either measure will lay the groundwork for an indefinite U.S. military presence. Senior Iraqi lawmakers have expressed concern over proposed U.S. military operations; legal immunities for troops and civilian contractors; and the continued detention of Iraqis by U.S. forces.

Who thinks this is about honor? Or might it be about:
The $300 Billion Betrayal

By  Nick Penniman on Jun 10, 2008
The Pentagon spends hundreds of billions of dollars on weapons systems, but our troops still aren't getting what they need. It's a scandal of enormous proportions that involves deceptive corporations and complacent government officials. But the biggest problem of all is that the people in Washington who could fix it continue to ignore it.

The groggy giant grapples

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 22:23:48 PM CDT

Iraq's PM al-Maliki, "We have reached a deadlock" (0.00 / 0)

Sen.McCain the surge is working! The Iraqi's are secure enough, based on "your surge", to tell Bush/Cheney's neocons to piss off.

When can we start bringing our troops home?

Iraq says talks with U.S. on pact deadlocked

By Waleed Ibrahim, Reuters
Fri Jun 13, 8:54 AM EDT
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday talks with the United States on a new long-term security pact were at a stalemate because of U.S. demands that encroached on Iraq's sovereignty.
-snip

"We have reached a deadlock, because when we started the talks, we found that the U.S. demands hugely infringe on the sovereignty of Iraq, and this we can never accept," Maliki said, speaking in Arabic to journalists during a visit to Jordan.
-snip

In his first detailed comments on the talks, Maliki said Iraq objected to Washington's insistence on giving its troops immunity from prosecution in Iraq and freedom to conduct operations independent of Iraqi control.

"We can't extend the U.S. forces permission to arrest Iraqis or to undertake the responsibility of fighting terrorism in an independent way, or to keep Iraqi skies and waters open for themselves whenever they want," he said.

"One of the important issues that the U.S. is asking for is immunity for its soldiers and those contracting with it. We reject this totally."

The groggy giant grapples

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by: Jack Mitchell @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 08:27:19 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Wow. (0.00 / 0)

I have never (never say never, h/t McSame) seen such clear-cut pandering before in my life.  While Social Security and YouTube are like oil and water, I think that the simple message of that video has the potential to guarantee his defeat.  Nice work, Nashua, and let's hope the tradmed picks up on this.

It's time we steer by the stars, and not the lights of every passing ship

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by: Andy Edwards @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 01:17:36 AM CDT

in fairness to McCain and as a warning to Dems... (0.00 / 0)

McCain will never be as big a draw as Barack, because his "fans" are older, more passive, more likely to sit at home and watch Fox. But that doesn't mean they won't drive to the polls in November.  

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by: michael57 @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 11:00:33 AM CDT