Race for the presidency political discussion thread

[Gulp]

McCain has a 25% chance of dying during his second term due to his age and past medical history (and that president doesn't include presidential stress). According to pretty much everyone, Palin isn't ready to be President. Does that mean that trusty ol' Democratic congress gets to run the place when she becomes even more of a lame duck than Bush? She won't have the sway to get a parking ticket overturned, much less Roe v. Wade.

At this point Obama is looking like a shoe-in.

[Onacara]

Originally Posted by Gulp

McCain has a 25% chance of dying during his second term due to his age and past medical history (and that president doesn't include presidential stress). According to pretty much everyone, Palin isn't ready to be President. Does that mean that trusty ol' Democratic congress gets to run the place when she becomes even more of a lame duck than Bush? She won't have the sway to get a parking ticket overturned, much less Roe v. Wade.

At this point Obama is looking like a shoe-in.

So Gulp you are automatically giving him a second term when he wins?

Sarah Palin is as ready to be VP as Barack Obama is to be President and noone has to die for him to get it.

[KingArthur1976]

Originally Posted by Onacara

So Gulp you are automatically giving him a second term when he wins?

Sarah Palin is as ready to be VP as Barack Obama is to be President and noone has to die for him to get it.

Noone has to die for Palin to get VP either

Well accept for maybe a few Russians. I mean she does have the chance of waking up to a "Red Dawn" sort of situation on any given day. Good thing she's got her expertise in foriegn relations to fall back on.

[Dennys]

Name any other state that borders 2 different countries?

[Onacara]

Originally Posted by KingArthur1976

Noone has to die for Palin to get VP either

Well accept for maybe a few Russians. I mean she does have the chance of waking up to a "Red Dawn" sort of situation on any given day. Good thing she's got her expertise in foriegn relations to fall back on.

VP is not President though.

[Ryougabot]

Originally Posted by Hahma

No one forced people to buy a house that they simply could not afford (for example: a single mother that is a nurse somehow qualifies for a $500K loan for a house. She's got to know that just because the banker says she can afford it doesn't mean that she can afford it. She should know what her budget is and look at a property in her price range).

That is the tragedy of our society right there, but it is not the bankers taking advantage that is the tragedy, it is the people who can not manage their own finances. I teach a personal finance class and have seen over 40 people go through my course. Of those 40, only 15% knew how to do a written budget. Only 5% of the students actually knew how to keep their budgets. If a majority of the population can not even grasp the concept that you do not spend more than you make, how is our legislature supposed to.

I ask the people in the class how they got in a mortgage they could not afford, and the response is that they did not know they could not afford it, this is the first time that they had put all of their bills on one piece of paper and added them up. Every semester I weep after the budget class. How can you get out of high school without knowing how to budget?

I would not take a Adjustable Rate Mortgage, that is asking for trouble because many people push their budget to the limits as it is when looking for their dream home. Add a couple more hundred dollars a month because the interest rate goes up and things really get tight. Also add the extra that your property taxes go up because your town needs a new $40million middle-school. Oh yeah, then utilities go up and if you live in a cold-weather region, you realize that it wasn't the smartest thing to buy the house with the 18 foot vaulted ceilings that a a pain to heat.

Of course there are many other reasons that people lose their homes that are out of their control. It's hard to predict when your company is going to lay off 3000 employees, or cut everyone's pay just to keep afloat. You can't predict medical procedures that are overwhelmingly expensive, even after the insurance covers it's share, though if you didn't have insurance then you're really in a pickle.

There is another phenomena that comes out every semester, nobody in the class has an emergency fund. The illustration that I use to check if emergencies will happen to you
1. Hold up your right fist with the palm facing you.
2. Wrap your left hand around your right wrist to where you can see your left fingernails.
3. If you can feel a deep beating, you will suffer a financial emergency.

Almost everyone in the class either thinks emergencies will not happen to them, or they believe a credit card will cover their emergencies (and it will, for 19% interest)

We can finger point all we want to Washington and Wall Street, and we should, but we also have to take some of the blame as well for not being smart consumers.

As a society, we have become ignorant of money. How can we expect our leaders to handle money well, if we do not?

[Onion Knight]

Gulp has a 100% chance of not having any idea in the world when anyone may die.

I don't know how you came up with that very scientific piece of data (death clock widget?) but I'll counter with the equally scientific, "McCain's mother is still alive."

I bet Barack Obama's chances of surviving his first term are probably equally as slim considering the amount of kooks out there who don't like the idea of him being 'black' and all. And Joe Biden is about as even tempered and thoughtful as a sillysaurus in a china shop. What difference does his experience matter if he's always wrong?


EDIT: This is nice, Gwen Ifill, who will be moderating the Veep debate, has an Obama book coming out soon. I wonder, should Obama win, if she might sell more books. The book will be released on inauguration day. Hmmm...

[DrRansom]

Originally Posted by Gulp

McCain has a 25% chance of dying during his second term due to his age and past medical history (and that president doesn't include presidential stress).

Cause history has prooven that McCain cannot handle stress? (who else on the ticket survived being a P.O.W?)

"Does that mean that trusty ol' Democratic congress gets to run the place when she becomes even more of a lame duck than Bush?"
A lame duck is someone who, in thier last term, isn't concerned about doing anything anymore for thier last few months. Palin doesn't strike me as the kind of person who gives up.

[ewabbie]

Originally Posted by MSNBC Yesterday

Former Vice President Al Gore urged young people to engage in "civil disobedience" to stop the creation and expansion of coal energy locally and abroad.

This is a very disturbing statement by Al Gore.

By the way, the greens are fighting a new Cliffside coal-fired power plant west of Charlotte that Duke Energy is trying to build. It will replace an old plant and reduce bad emissions output by 80%. But Gore says that is still not the correct direction and supports the groups apposing it.
What???

[holylink718]

Originally Posted by Onion Knight

Gulp has a 100% chance of not having any idea in the world when anyone may die.

I don't know how you came up with that very scientific piece of data (death clock widget?) but I'll counter with the equally scientific, "McCain's mother is still alive."

Thank you, Onion Knight. You saved me the trouble.

[ewabbie]

Originally Posted by Gulp

Does that mean that trusty ol' Democratic congress gets to run the place .....

You mean that congress that has an approval rating in single digits which is less than Bush. Oh that one. So since the Dems have controlled Congress what exactly have they gotten done? Anyone...Anyone... Bueller?

[SuperflyTNT]

GULP has a 100% chance of knowing when someone will die....if he's holding the gun.

Al Gore is a moron. His mind was broken after losing to Bush (arguably) and now he has only one thing to live for.

I am advocating Civil Disobedience until Wave 9 comes out. I am also advocating Civil Disobedience if my cereal sits too long and gets soggy....my point - anyone can say anything, but the speaker, not the words, are truly the context that decides whether or not someone is taken seriously or not.

McCain will live to a thousand. His mom is alive and she had class photos CARVED INTO STONE in High School with Rameses II and Moses, class of 1990 BC.

Palin will be a good VP. Here's my reasoning - who would you rather do international favors for - a grizzled old codger or a hot little number who warmed up the entire state of Alaska? NEVER underestimate the power of an attractive woman.