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Name: Mike Dixon
Location: Edmonds, WA
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First Presidential Debate

Posted by Mike Dixon on Saturday, September 27, 2008 3:31:44 AM

Wow!  What a barn stormer!  As an unabashed McCain fan, I must say I haven't had this much fun since Spider Man beat the Abomination!  McCain pummeled Obama mercilessly for 90 minutes with a lock-jawed determination that was inspirational.  I came away convinced that McCain is running not only because he knows he is fully prepared for this role: he is also fully aware of how dangerously ill prepared Barack Obama truly is.  On issue after issue, McCain hammered away.

I'll recap a few of my favorite moments:
 
1.  McCain flogged him over his foolish comment regarding meeting without precondition rogue dictators and legitimizing them with a Presidential meeting.  This comment has dogged him from the day he foolishly uttered it on July 23, 2007 in the SC Primary Debate.  Listed below is the transcript of that infamous moment from the CNN transcript archives. 
 
Democratic Primary, South Carolina, July 23, 2007, CNN Transcript    

QUESTION: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since.

In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?

Senator Obama?

OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous.

CLINTON: Well, I will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year. I will promise a very vigorous diplomatic effort because I think it is not that you promise a meeting at that high a level before you know what the intentions are.

And I will use a lot of high-level presidential envoys to test the waters, to feel the way. But certainly, we're not going to just have our president meet with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and, you know, the president of North Korea, Iran and Syria until we know better what the way forward would be.

2.  McCain, the statesman, explains to Obama, the freshman Senator, the fallacies of prematurely announcing military strikes against a soveriegn country.

 
First Presidential Debate, MI, September 26, 2008, CNN Transcript
 
OBAMA: And that is a strategic mistake, because every intelligence agency will acknowledge that al Qaeda is the greatest threat against the United States and that Secretary of Defense Gates acknowledged the central front -- that the place where we have to deal with these folks is going to be in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.
 
MCCAIN: Now, on this issue of aiding Pakistan, if you're going to aim a gun at somebody, George Shultz, our great secretary of state, told me once, you'd better be prepared to pull the trigger.

I'm not prepared at this time to cut off aid to Pakistan. So I'm not prepared to threaten it, as Senator Obama apparently wants to do, as he has said that he would announce military strikes into Pakistan.

We've got to get the support of the people of -- of Pakistan. He said that he would launch military strikes into Pakistan.

Now, you don't do that. You don't say that out loud. If you have to do things, you have to do things, and you work with the Pakistani government.
 
3. McCain movingly relates a personal account of a mother asking him to fight on for her recently fallen soldier son. 
 
OBAMA: Jim, let me just make a point. I've got a bracelet, too ...
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I debated a liberal on economics and NObama ... and convincingly won!

Posted by Mike Dixon on Saturday, September 27, 2008 2:38:27 AM
I recently debated a relative of one of my wife's friends.  I found this exchange to be an excellent forum to clarify common misconceptions about our economy and the general tone of the Democrat party.  Specifically, the Democrat party has steered a populist course for some time, to the financial ruin of our great country.  Anyone remember Dick Gephardt and his famous isolationist policies?  The reality is that we have a truly global economy, where dislocations and inefficiencies will be outrooted.  Read on and enjoy!
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I was pleased to see your faulty logic on “windfall profits”.  The argument of demonizing corporations is indeed prevalent in the media and the left wing.  Merely citing a number of incorrect opinions does not equate to a convincing argument.  Rather, I will attempt to illustrate actual facts instead of reciting the opinions of others or of union lobbyists rebutting policy.  Do you understand the impact of corporate tax rates on business?  Evidently  not.  The US now has the second highest corporate tax rate amongst industrialized countries. 

(http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1466.html )

You attempt to have it both ways on this point by patronizing middle America with protectionist, absurd policies and threats to “cut out evil tax loop holes so big bad corporations won’t send your job overseas”.  Let me explain what will happen if you increase taxes on corporations, or as you describe it – cut out evil tax loop holes.  Corporations will employ tax accountants and divert revenues overseas.  Diverting revenues overseas means the products must be made overseas, which means the jobs will indeed go overseas.  So, please do explain to me the mystery of taxing the heck out of corporations and how that will create jobs here in the US.  By the way, since most of us have money in our 401K’s managed by mutual funds that invest in these evil corporations, reducing the earnings on our investments reduces our retirement benefits.  In fact, we need desperately to CUT corporate taxes, not increase them! 

(http://www.taxfoundation.org/files/corporate_income_taxes_cost_families-20080818.pdf  )(http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/23473.html )
 
On education, please explain to me what is wrong with providing vouchers so that parents can choose to either send their child to a private school or to the local public school.  I am looking forward to your response on this.  The AFT position here is indefensible and reprehensible.  Further, those disproportionately affected (poor blacks) should stop voting 90% for the Democrats.  Good parochial private college prep schools exist.  Vouchers are good. 

(http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/economic_surveys/006685.html )

$9000 per student per year seems like a lot of money to me.  Most private school tuitions are far below that.  How can the private schools do what the public schools awash in money fail to do? 
 
Barack and Hillary campaigned on platforms of providing healthcare to every person.  If that’s not nationalizing, I’m not sure what is.  Canada does not have an excellent system.  Have you ever spoken to a Canadian about that?  Do you know that their marginal tax rate is 80% for a worker earning $30K?

(http://economics.about.com/b/2008/02/10/marginal-tax-rates-of-over-100.htm )
 
In spite of all the blather from the left on the “record profits” of oil companies, what is not considered or reported is the actual profit percentage.  In reality, if you bother to check a 10K, you will see that:
   Exxon reported 10% Net Income in 2007. 
   Microsoft reported 28% Net Income on revenues of $51B in 2007. 
  Similarly, Pfizer reported 17% Net Income in 2007. 

(http://www.pfizer.com/investors/financial_reports/financial_report_2007.jsp  )(http://www.microsoft.com/msft/reports/ar07/staticversion/10k_fh_fin.html  )
(http://sec.edgar-online.com/2008/02/28/0001193125-08-041781/Section29.asp )

Will you propose a windfall profit on them too?  I am for all forms of energy, which includes the forms we have available today.  (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives2/2008/07/021099.php)  So, drill baby DRILL!!!  I suspect environmentalists really want gas to hit $10 a gallon so we will all have to live in a yert and ride a bike to work.  I’m not ready for that lifestyle.  I really like my SUV!!!
 
(http://www.nber.org/cycles.html)  In spite of what you read in the paper or hear on CNN, the recession on record ended in 2002.  We are NOT in recession.  Have we had sluggish growth of late, yes.  However, a lot has happened in the financial markets, which I think you would do well to consider.  Do you remember Glass-Steagall?  Don’t you think that removing the barrier between investment and commercial banking had some impact on the consolidation into ever larger financial behemoths with massive balance sheets?  If assets increase your balance sheet, then leveraging through sophisticated derivative instruments that were poorly understood by the regulators would have been to your advantage.  Loans fueled that engine, as they were securitized into CMO’s and CDO’s – the assets that these behemoths needed.
 
McCain is Pro-Life.  Obama is not.  Isn’t Life a Choice?  Why is Life demonized by the Left? 
 
Last, Obama has NO substantive national experience, LITTLE at best foreign policy experience and NO executive experience.  Even Hillary Clinton and John Biden made this argument during their primaries.  The Left is in love with a charismatic man who gave one speech in 2004.  That was Obama's signature political achievement.  Obama declared his run for presidency within 2 years of being sworn in as a US Senator.  I don’t think you can include your time in office since then you have been busy running.  OBama therefore is a US Senator with 2 years of experience, often criticized by your peers for not actively engaging in his role as a sitting Senator but having the hubris to run for President upon arriving in Washington.  To paraphrase John McCain, for Obama to assert that he is qualified to be president because he has been running for president is desperate circular logic. 

(http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/02/obama-i-have-more-executive-experience-than-palin/ )
 
Let me add something on this notion of middle class tax cuts and increasing taxes on the wealthy.  Much has been made of Obama's plan to rescind SSI contribution maximums.  Allow me to focus on a different topic.  Attached please find a download from the IRS.  You have to pay taxes to receive a tax cut.  If you pay no tax but receive money from the government, that’s called welfare.  If that money comes from someone else, that’s called redistribution.  It has been steadily increasing, but the top 50 percent of income earners now pay 97% of all Federal tax.  The top 25% pay 86%.  The top 10% pay 70%.  The top 5% pay 60%.  The top 1% pay 40%.  How much more should the top PAY?  When is enough going to be enough?  Hell, let’s pay all the taxes.  Maybe when we die and stop paying any taxes, someone will realize that taxing the life out of the producers is not a good way to maintain a society.  Did you know that the income rate for the top 50 percent is $30,881?  So when you hear the notion that somehow the bottom 50% never get a tax cut, think hard about that.   How much tax do you think they are paying?  Don’t you think the progression in this progressive tax is far too steep?  I think it is grossly unfair!
 
As for your More of the Same argument, McCain has differed substantively from Bush in a number of areas.  To attempt to tie McCain to Bush and simply run against Bush because of Bush’s low popularity is simply a political tactic.  You have a paper thin resume’ and you’re running on a platform built on demonizing George Bush.  So, yes, let’s Change for the sake of Change, because we are the Change that we’ve been waiting for...enough IS enough.  Let’s vote to make the most powerful man in the free world someone with more than 1-1/2 years of actual relevant experience.  I’m voting for John McCain, the only credible choice in this election.
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