OK everyone, this is my first commentary so I will try to set the stage for my overall viewpoint on things politically with this article. I think/hope by the end of this article that you will get my drift.

Who am I? I am a life long friend of Mister Koppa's. I am 38, I am a white male. I have a degree in Economics and I would say I am upper class based on my income. That should tell you alot as I speak on things. Enough said.

I also want to mention that I flunked grammar and spelling so deal with it.

One of my favorite sayings might be "life is rough, get a helmet."

So we are down to two it looks like: "I am the Lord and Savior Obama" and "I am Liberal masking as a Republican McCain."

If you are conservative reading this blog, I am sure you will agree with me that there are no good choices for us this election but there is a clear choice which way you should go. If you are a follower, not a leader and like hugging trees like the owner of this site, there is a clear road for you as well. These candidates are a world apart.

Dont get me wrong, I am going to tell you who to vote for, whether you do it or not is up to you. Free Speech, that is what we have here in America.

First question I have is, "What is the craze with this Obama cat?" What has this man ever done to become President. McCain has been in Congress for a long time. Whether that is good or bad--arguable. McCain is a vet--noteworthy. McCain has experience in the political realms of the world, he has talked with foreign diplomats--has Obama done any of these things?

I think people hate Bush so much that they will take any candidate the Democrats put up there. Hillary would have been another story. Thank God no more banging of the interns in the White House again. It was funny and political news but we dont need that with the leader of the free world. I digress...

Obama is a cult in my opinion. He hasn't really told me anything and Yes I have listened. He speaks of hope and change etc... but what the hell does that have to do with running the United States of America?

Lets look at the ideas he does have ( not all but some for now):

1)Tax the rich: He will eliminate the tax cut for the "rich" that was given to ALL Americans and provide a tax credit of $500 per person or $1,000 per working family. First off --where is the rest of the money going that you are going to get from the rich? For Obama programs.... Second, is a $1,000 credit really going to do all that much? Third, what is middle class? Lets define these things before we get sweaty from jumping up and down in joy. The economy sucks right? Well any economist will tell you that if you want to grow the economy, you dont tax the people that provide the jobs, invest in this country and and already pay most of the taxes that fund everything. If you tax the rich some more, the economy will slow causing the opposite of what Obama thinks will happen. You can say all you want about Bush--the tax cut worked and will continue to work if you let it be.

2)Energy: Obama is a follower of Global warming. First problem. His whole policy is based on reducing emissions, investing in a new fuel source, putting more regulations on refineries, pushing ethanol, and increasing fuel standards. Problem with the policy is that it doesnt address the problem--supply. He wants to cause car companies to improve MPG with cars--will loose performance and the price will be higher. The cars right now are already pretty good. Its the old cars (like my 67 Mustang) that pump out the fumes. I am in agreement with the new fuel source but until then what do we do? Regulate refineries?--we need more of them. We havent built a new one for the past 30 years. We need to drill. We have more oil right underneath our own country than the rest of the world has. But we can't--we might kill a bird or something. Ethanol is not the answer--Ethanol is frickin corn. It has not reduced emission quality since we need to burn more to drive the same distance! Also it is sucking up our food source which is causing the price of food to go up. Wrong direction.

3) Foreign Policy: Obama wants to talk to everyone. Talking just doesnt work with some people. If a guy tells you he wants Americans to die and it is based on religion or God telling him to, do you think you can reason with that? Didnt we try and talk to Hitler? Same deal is happening right now. I am afraid of what is going to happen when the world gets wind of who we have in the White House. Someboby that wants to talk. Enough said.

4) Last One--Healthcare: My Lord this is a no brainer. Universal Healthcare?--c'mon. If it doesnt work anywhere else in the world, why is it going to work here? Because we are Americans and we can do it better --or do it right? AHH--say Medicare! Bankrupt. Dont fight me on this one--I do it for a living. I am not saying this because I would loose my job or something. I could get a new one. Free market will take care of this. Gov't could help with the problem but not by taking it over. It would be a diaster. How could they help? Demand transperency. Have all the doctors and hospitals tell us what something costs and let us shop like we do for anything else. Create competition and you will see the prices go down. But dont make it anther Gov't run program. Read more.

OK--this first one has been a long one and you might think I am picking on Obama--I am. What are McCains views:

Taxes--He will keep them low and target areas of concern like college tuition, middle class tax cut ( not at expense of the rich),business incentives, gax tax reduction etc....

Energy--not specifically addressed on his website but he is for the alternative fuel source, he is for drilling for oil in our own country and making sure we protect the environment within reason. He is a global warming follower as well which scares me but...cant be perfect.

Foreign Policy--again not specifically addressed but I would put it under Military Defense. He understands that terrorism is a real threat. Anyone who thinks it isnt should go line up in one state, we'll remove our military from the picture and we'll tell the terrorists that this state doesnt believe you. We'll see what happens. He is not looking for war but he wouldn't "talk to terrorists."

Healthcare--believes in the free market to take care of the problem. Put controls in the patient's hands via tax credits for all Americans of $2,500 for a single and $5,000 for a family to buy healthcare. That would do wonders for people that dont have healthcare. Follower of Health Savings Accounts. Best thing that Bush ever invented. He looks at what is causing cost--medical conditions. He targets those things as an area that we need to work on. Dealing in the healthcare industry, his approach is right on.

I didn't comment as much on McCain as Obama as you will notice but that is because I agree with McCain on most things so how can I argue. For more on McCain.

Either which way you look at this and I will comment more--be informed. Read about the candidates, know what you are voting for. Look past the speeches and read what they want to do. Just dont pull a lever or mark a box because he is a good speaker. Watch the debates. Be an American and learn about your civic duty.

Which ever way you stand, most of all--be able to argue the point. If you believe in something you should be able to debate their point and have a:

COUNTERPOINT