Vote Your Conscience in November!

When I hear one of the candidates for President say, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong," I have to speak out. It is so important in this campaign for Americans, whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent, to think long and hard about the state our country is in.  Regardless of party, we should study the issues, and when we go into the booth to vote on November 4th, make our decision based on a good knowledge of the real facts and not campaign rhetoric. Too often, voters stubbornly vote along party lines instead of what is the best for America.   This year has to be different. We must be informed and vote our conscience. We must check out facts presented for the truth.  There are non-partisan websites like Snopes.com or Truthorfiction.com, that will tell you what is the truth and what is a rumor, lie, or misinformation.  

I researched the following information and it can be verified at the sites noted:The unemployment rate is up to 6.1%, a five-year high, this quarter and more than 10 percent of Americans are unemployed or underemployed, a nearly 25-percent increase from one year earlier (Wall Street Journal). More than a half million Americans (530,000) have been subject to mass layoffs in the last year.  Real estate foreclosures in the U.S. were up 75 percent in 2007.  The overall rate in the U.S. was 10.3 per 1,000 households. Eight states ended the year with foreclosure rates of more than 15 per 1,000 households (CBS News), yet Exxon-Mobil smashed the record for highest profits ever made by a public U.S. company by posting a net profit of $40.6 billion in 2007. To put these figures in perspective, Exxon made $77,245 per minute in 2007--that's more money generated per minute than 70 percent of Americans earned all year according to the Census Bureau (Center for American Progress).Over the past nine months, global food prices have soared 40 percent, while food reserves are at 30-year lows (CNN Money). Energy prices were up 6.6% in the month, led by a 10.1% jump in gas prices. That left gasoline prices up nearly a third from a year earlier.

Many people, tired of politics as usual, think nothing will be done any differently when one of our candidates becomes President in 2008.  I urge all of you to think carefully about how the past eight years have affected 95% of the American population, and that John McCain has the same economic policies that President Bush has had.  McCain thinks multimillionaires are members of the middle class, homeowners are to blame for the housing crisis, and Big Oil needs more tax breaks.  Barack Obama will put the middle class first. He'll pass a middle class tax cut which gives 95% of working Americans a tax cut of up to $1,000--and he'll give families an emergency energy rebate to help folks cope with rising gas prices. For example, in the $38 to $66 thousand salary bracket, McCain's plan gives a tax break of $31.  Obama's plan gives a break of $1042.  In the $603 thousand to 2.8 million brackets, McCain's plan gives a tax break of $45,361 while Obama's plan will tax them $119,574 more (Tax Policy Center.org)! He will tax the big oil companies on their record profits, and put that money to use for the middle class. He'll offer students a $4,000 tax break to pay for tuition in exchange for doing 100 hours of community service. And he'll raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. He will eliminate income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 per year.  He will eliminate oil and gas loopholes. And there is so much more.  Check out the Major Tax Revisions Chart at Tax Policy Center.org ( a non-partison research firm that reports factual, proven, information to the American consumer) where there is a comparison chart showing the two candidates economic policies (shown below).Barack Obama is the clear choice for American families. 

Barack Obama has been working for the poor and the middle class all of his adult life, and I hope that Americans will reach deep inside their conscience and have a spirit of love for ALL the people in our great country when they vote on November 4th.   When this candidate spoke on Labor Day,  I heard and will forever remember these words,   "If there's a poor child out there that's my child; If there's a man out there who lost his job, that's my brother.  If there's a senior out there in trouble, that's my grandparent; If there's a woman out there without health care, that's my sister."- 

 Vote your conscience for the largest majority of the American people.  You really can make a difference!