RE: Presidential Decision
 

This is why I don't want that job. After all you do for your country, the pay is lousy for the hours and headaches and you hardly ever are shown any appreciation by the people.

RE: Presidential Decision
 

You do get a bodyguard tho [sm=smiley16.gif] [sm=shades.gif]. But the presidency is a job that is for people who love their country and want to do what best for it or at least it should be.

I too may have to vote third party for this election.

RE: Presidential Decision
 

Or they have an unquenchable lust for power which I fear is becoming a bigger and bigger issue currently.

RE: Presidential Decision
 

Just looking at Hillary gives me the creepy crawlies.[:'(]

RE: Presidential Decision
 

Does this mean if you run your drag car while your president you'll always win. Kind of like company golf?

RE: Presidential Decision
 

Frankly, Mirada, the only trouble I would have with voting with an outsider was the example laid down by Ross Perot in 1992. My voting record was such: Held my nose and voted for Gerald Ford in 1976. Voted proudly for Dutch Reagan, 1980. Voted Even more proudly for Dutch again in 1984. Held my nose and voted for the original George Bush in 1988. Intended to vote for Perot in 1992 until he pulled his strange crap of being in the race then dropping out then getting back in. Hence, I haven't voted for president to this day (so don't blame ME for the country getting into this apparently never-ending Bush-Clinton-Bush... cycle) because I haven't considered anyone worth taking the time to go to the polls for. What sort of guarantees would YOU make that you wouldn't mimic Perot (assuming you'd even get as far as he did)?

RE: Presidential Decision
 

Ok.. personally, I vote for the person who I think will make my life better for me and my family. I'm a military man through and through so what are your plans for ensuring I keep getting a decent pay raise every year?

I'm also a big fan of the philosophy that "the bigger the party the better"; but what are you going to do about the "illegal" immigrants?

And for goodness sake, I got a kid that I have to put through college one day in oh, about 13 years or so, what are your thoughts/plans for ensuring that I can afford to send her.. I know, I could get a higher paying job, but I like mine just fine.

RE: Presidential Decision
 

honestly, having paid my own way through college, I understand 100% that it sucks, and I face the same concern that you do. this government spends a fortune trying to promote education in other countries, while the kids of this country sit in class reading out of date books, progressively falling behind more and more. the reply of 'get a better job' can apply to anything, but its rarely a valid comment. we need to focus OUR tax dollars on improving OUR country. our foreign policies are a fine example of poor decisions on spending, and we are talking what now, trillions of dollars spent on the bush versus the middle east war? i support the troops, and at first, i supported the efforts, but at this point, we shouldnt have to babysit other countries.

say that we took 1 million dollars worth of "war money". my education cost me around 10,000 a year...and at that rate, the money that is being spent to babysit the middle east, even that "small" fraction of what the government is spending, would send 25 kids through 4-year degrees.

now, at the same time, i am opposed to "Free education". nothing is free, and in the end, tax dollars pay for things like government grants and such, but not every student makes good use of those grants. i made the most of mine, but i will still be paying on those bills practically forever. 1 in 3 high school seniors entering a 4 year program finishes, and something like half of all freshmen fail out in the first year, so if the govt was to hand those kids the money to go to school, they wouldnt be losing anything to blow the money and fail out, so there needs to be some sort of plan set up where kids can afford to go to school, but still have a future obligation, so that they take the money that is being spent seriously.

as for the pay of the military..that is a tough call. i dont think that you guys should be sent overseas to babysit other people. your job is to protect this country, but say that we pulled out of these places like iraq or kosovo...how would that impact the active military guys? do you get 'laid off'? I will admit, im not sure what would happen if there were no skermishes around the world for you guys to go crush...

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10G a year! Holy smokes! But, you did work for everybit of though and thats what counts.. I saw a bumper sticker one time that went like this I think.. "maybe we should let the military have bake sales for their bombs and weapons and actually give the money to the kids at school for their out-dated books"... or something like that. Pat, I feel what your saying (I think), secondary education is a privelage and should be treated as such.

I can only go by what I feel that I want. I don't know if I'll be out of a job or not, but I doubt it.. as long as we have homo sapiens I think we will have some type of war going on. I just don't want it going on in our back yard if you know what I mean.

RE: Presidential Decision
 

There is an example of why your campaign can’t succeed; the country would find you are not ready for the office. There are places around the world where US Troop can be brought home, Germany can defend it self. South Korea could defend it self with US support based in Japan. As for being laid off congress mandates the number of troops in the armed forces, one thing Iraq showed Washington was that we need a larger standing military force. I doubt congress would cut Army and Marine troop levels. Did you know as we fight in two major theatres the Air Force is cutting troop levels so it can afford to replace its aging aircraft?

Your intention that a regular guy needs to win the office is admirable, you just aren’t the guy at the moment. A third party candidate that could win sounds great but it’s much harder in real world practice.