Wealth redistribution sound like socialism to me. If you work hard and make a good living why should they have to pay more in taxes. What's the incentive to make a good living. They already pay enough in taxes.

Obama has also promised to decrease taxes on people who make less than $75,000 (the middle class). This sounds much like candidate Bill Clinton in 1992. By the spring of 1993, after his victory, he claimed that he worked as hard as he could, harder than on anything he worked on before, to find a way to cut taxes on the middle class but he just couldn't do it. And he never did in all of his 8 years no matter how good things got, and we know he claimed things got pretty good thanks to him.
What a candidate promises and delivers is in direct proportion to the quality of his character.

whybesad: actually in the case, you're wrong. FROM CNBC'S WEBSITE:
Barack Obama Will Only Raise Taxes for Those Earning Over $250,000 Per Year: In an interview with CNBC, Barack Obama stated, “And I think that we have an economy that's been out of balance for too long, so the general principle of raising taxes on higher income Americans like myself, and providing relief to those who haven't benefited as much from this new global economy, I think is a sound one. And keep in mind on all of these proposals, what I've said is, let's make sure that we define the well-off so that we're not hitting the middle class, you know. I generally define well-off as people who are making 250,000 dollars a year or more. And that means, for example, if we raise the capital gains tax, I will exempt people who are essentially small investors, and really capture those who have done very, very well over the last two decades.” [CNBC, 06/09/08].

The point of drilling for new oil isn't so much that we will have more gasoline available as the point about refining capacity is well made, but that the crude oil we buy will be bought from Americans and sold to Americans, keeping more of our money here and reducing the trade deficit and our dependence on oil from unstable countries around the world. As the rest of the world economy grows, it will use more oil and they will compete to buy the oil we now depend on from those unstable suppliers. And when you factor in the fact that terrorists in some of those places would like nothing better than to destroy some of that supply then the reasons for drilling here ASAP become obvious.
Besides, a major argument for not drilling here is that we don’t want the pollution from potential oil spills. Yet we seem to have no problem with other countries taking that risk for us. We are in a better position to clean up those kinds of messed than other countries may be. People get rankled about Illinois communities dumping their garbage in Wisconsin landfills. Isn’t refusing to drill here in our county a lot like that?

It doesn't matter even if more oil gets drilled in the US or off the coast. Where are we going to get that oil refined? The oil refineries in this country are at about 98-99% capacity. And unfortunately most of them are in hurricane prone areas.

On person’s windbag is another’s gifted orator. Take Speaker Pelosi’s recent statement about wanting to “Save the Planet”. It seems she’s caught Senator Obama’s “Messiah Complex”, a common malady of self-righteous politicians.
I have to admit that NVgrf finally wrote something I agree with when he wrote “I am baffled”. Self awareness is the gateway to self improvement.

He wants to raise it to 25%, not 30%. He has claimed it was 25% during the Clinton years. I'll admit though, it's not something I'm thrilled about.
http://www.nysun.com/business/obama-capi...

I'm critical of Obama after the last 8 years because all I've heard from him are big word and promises of change without outline how he's going to make those changes. Just because he "promises" change doesn't mean he'll come through, and unless Obama can convince me he's any better than McCain, my vote it with the old guy. Either way, it appears very likely that either candidate will only be in office 4 years, McCain is too old and Obama is setting himself up for failure with all his lofty "change" promises. Ya know, the same "changes" the democratically controlled congress "promised" they would make when they took control of the house.

Capital gains taxes aren't just for people making over $250K that's totally not true he wants to raise it to 30% twice of what it is now. Doesn't matter what your income level is when it comes to capital gains taxes.

I have heard some reports saying that we could have oil on line in 4 years. That's nothing. I also think that if we even suggest that we are going to drill for oil the price would drop a bit. Just from pure speculation. We need to look more at nuclear power as another alternative. We new that the price of oil was going up years ago and the do nothing congress did their typical sit on the hands routine and wait for a crisis before they act on anything. I guess they would rather worry about steroids in baseball than the oil prices.

I am baffled that some people, in light of the past eight years, can be critical of the Democrats and Obama's desire for major changes. I am quite sure that when Senator Obama becomes President Obama that these same windbags will continue to be critical without giving him a chance to improve the condition of our nation. It is also humorous that these same people mention nothing of the attributes of John McCain.

It's true that niether route is a quick fix, but at least we have a candidate willing to stop perpetuating the current oil maddness. If we keep on the path we're on, we're never going to end our dependency on oil. Regarding the capital gains tax, Obama is proposing the increase to only those making $250,000 or more a year. Those making less than $150,000 a year would actually see a decrease in their taxes. The current administration has given the very wealthy all the breaks, look where our economy stands because of it. Obama suggests using those additional tax revenues to spread the wealth, for example using it to fund health care programs. In my opinion now more than ever we need to be looking out for eachother...what comes around goes around and i think now more than ever, the US could use a healthy dose of good karma.

McCain now says he is open to raising payroll taxes to fund Social Security. So much for not raising taxes.
http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2008/jul...

DRilling for oil in Alaska or off shore will not produce results for over 10 years. Lets blame Obama for the high cost of gasoline like the McCain ads say. It is like blaming McCain for the Vietnam war because he was a soldier and fought there. McCain promotes the same old rhetoric that our oil rich current President believes in. Same ole same ole McSame. Obama was very right in not eliminating the federal tax on gasoline this summer. Look what a reduction in demand has already done. It has reduced funding for our intrastructures by over $9 million alread in one month. Think what would have happened if McCain's idea (really Hillarys) would have happened. And for what, a simple savings of $28.00 per month for the average family. I want to hear what McCain has planned for this country and how he is going to help eliminate the largest deficit in American history. And yet Bush came into office with one of the largest surpluses in history. Already the negative ads and we have 99 days to go. I would also like to see McCain say something about what he is going to do instead of just finding fault with everything Obama is proposing. How many of you know McCain voted agains body armor for soldiers and against the GI Bill?

It's smart if you like paying $4.00 a gallon I guess. Why not drill for oil in our own country while the use of alternative sources can be developed better. I'm all for it but, alternative sources aren't real reliable now and are going to take time to develop and make it viable for the average joe. Last I knew jets could run on wind power or solar power or hydrogen. We need oil. Oil is is all kinds of products that we use. Obama wants to raise the capital gains taxes that isn't going to just affect the upper 1% of taxpayers that you quoted.

funny how an article about McCain turns into a discussion about Obama. Shutupandfish, Obama's stance on not drilling for oil is actually quite smart. Environmental consequences aside, Big Oil has plenty of local resources available to them that can be tapped without the government stepping in and handing them more free oil to profit from. Obama understands that the world is heading in a direction that needs to be less oil dependent and more reliant on renewable resources. Plus, it is recognized by both parties that tapping into new, local oil reserves will save us about 2 cents at the pump, perhaps at the end of the next decade. http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/30/news/eco.... Regarding Obama raising taxes. If you are a part of the top 1% of earners in the US, then i can understand why you would not support Obama, because his plan is to END a tax break given to that top 1% put in place by the current administration (who is responsible for the current state of our economy keep in mind) and give tax BREAKS to the middle class. For a non-partisan article, read: http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/07/news/eco.... Furthermore, McCain has stated that the 'economy is not his strong suit'. YIKES! do you honestly think that Obama is going to make the situation worse that McCain would? unlikely.

Thanks, but that brings up a mixed bag of links, many not very flattering to Obama. I also think that maybe "Economists against McCain" would be a more accurate description of the website that I think that you are referring to. I think that a better and more objective synopsis could be reached by searching "Political positions of Barack Obama" on Wikipedia. It lists actual policies based on what Obama has said and done.

Wouldn't "Economists for Obama" detail the plans that those "Economists" hope Obama would adopt? So far, Obama's campaign has limited itself to slogans such as, "the audacity of hope" and "change we can believe in". Beyond that, the devil, as they say, is in the details and candidates don't like to let those devils loose until after they are elected. (Yes, I know, NVgrf, I have once again disgraced myself with the stupidest thing you’ve ever read. Now you’ll have to write something more original than you’re used to.)

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/st...

Obama's plan will hurt the economy. Tax increases don't help anybody or anything. He won't drill for oil in his own country and wants to raise taxes while people are paying more money for food and gasoline to get to work.

This site allows only 3,000 characters per entry. Even a summation of Obama's economic plan encompasses far more than what is allowed. I would suggest that you Google "Economists for Obama". They list a pretty detailed outline of Senator Obama's economic plan. Obviously, you will find that a concern with the economic well being of middle class Americans has a high priority for Senator Obama.

What are Obama's plans to improve the economy? I am not asking a rhetorical question. Please do not refer me to a website, as I am sincerely interested in your personal assessment. I may kid around a lot of the time, but I respect your opinion.

McCain commenting on the economy, huh? Should be a series of very short answers.