I say ENOUGH to funding these un-ending wars, and you know these wars under a McCain presidency will go on and on and on.  Even Pat Buchanan, who is a conservative I respect, said of McCain, “There is no doubt that John McCain is going to be a war president...Can anyone see him as sort of a peace-time Calvin Coolidge president?  It's preposterous...His whole career is wrapped up in the military, national security, he is in Putin's face, he is threatening the Iranians, we're going to be in Iraq for a hundred years." All of these wars and any others he starts will siphon money from the middle class should McCain get his way.

And speaking of stupidity coming from the Bush administration, they are pushing through an arms deal which will supply weapons to both the Iraqis and Afghanis in order to contain both Iran and North Korea.

According to Reuters, "The deals range from tanks, helicopters and fighter jets to missiles, remotely piloted aircraft and warships." We have not even begun to stabilize these countries, yet Bush wants to arm them. Who is to say whether or not these arms will fall into the hands of those we are fighting?  With both missions in Iraq and Afghanistan years away from truly being "mission accomplished," not only is Bush setting his sights on another war, so is McCain.

The sale of these weapons will cost the tax payers “$32 billion this year, compared with $12 billion in 2005.” While While Bruce Lemkin, the Air Force deputy undersecretary has opined that this sale is "not about gun running," but building a "more secure world," CNN reported last year, "Nearly 200,000 U.S.-supplied rifles and pistols meant for Iraqi security forces are unaccounted for in Iraq, according to a report to Congress." The report goes onto say, "Loose record-keeping caused the Pentagon and the U.S. command in Iraq to lose track of about 110,000 AK-47 rifles and 80,000 pistols provided to the new Iraqi national police and army, the Government Accountability Office told Congress." Do we really trust another Republican administration to "keep us safe?"

Many have called into question McCain’s temper, and Republican senator, Thad Cochran, said of John McCain, "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine.  He is erratic, he is hotheaded, he loses his temper and he worries me." Can we truly afford a trigger-happy president?

The other day, Buzzflash.com ran a video, McCain needs war, that also sent chills down my spine where Scott Ritter said if we confront Iran, that we should “pick a city” in the U.S. that we would like to see destroyed by angered Iranians.  Why only single them out?  Who is to say this retaliation will not come from somewhere else?  In this video, McCain directly states there will be “more wars,” and said to a group of young people, “You’ll be called upon to serve.” To the young people in this country, run as fast as you can away from McCain.  Your lives mean nothing to him.

In our country great reverence is paid to generals, and retired General Wesley Clark had to say of John McCain, “The truth is that, in national security terms, he's largely untested and untried.  He's never been responsible for policy formulation.  He's never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own element on an aircraft carrier or in managing his own congressional staff….It's not clear that this is going to be the strong suit that he thinks it is...McCain's weakness is that he's always been for the use of force, force and more force.  In my experience, the only time to use force is as a last resort…When he talks of throwing Russia out of the G-8 and makes ditties about bombing Iran, he betrays a disrespect for the office of the presidency.”

I do believe that the only people who will prosper in a McCain/Palin administration are those that sell bomb shelters.  In a McCain/Palin administration, all I will say is that duct tape and plastic will not suffice in order to keep you safe.  You say you cannot afford such a shelter…Go to your nearest bomb shelter.  In this dangerous world, how many communities still actually have them?

I really despise thinking of how war affects us all in monetary terms especially when so many lives have been lost due to this heinous war.  But if most folks are voting their pocket books and wallets, this is the best way to drive home the message.

I find prosperity an interesting choice of terms since the middle class was mortally wounded during the Bush years. The middle class have seen stagnant wages as well as millions of jobs being lost.

John McCain says he wants to give you yet another tax cut, but the former chair of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, who is still listened to by many said of the McCain tax cuts, "I'm not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money." He further opined, "I always have tied tax cuts to spending." McCain's tax cuts are pegged at costing the American tax payer $3.3 trillion dollars. Please remember when I cited in a previous article that our national debt presently stands at $9.5 trillion dollars and our trade deficit stands at $6.5 trillion dollars.  I would like to know where the ‘C’ is in conservative when it comes to McCain’s spending.

I found it interesting when I read that, “McCain has said that he would offset his proposed cuts — including reducing the corporate tax rate and eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax that has plagued middle-class families — by ending congressional pork-barrel spending, unnecessary government programs and overhauling entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security." Notice what is left out? Just how much will John McCain wish to spend on defense if he foresees many wars to come?  You can bet your bottom dollar that those in the defense industry are salivating now and licking their chops.

While he may wish to overhaul Medicare and Social Security (and please pay attention, seniors, McCain is not looking out for your best interests), only the heads of these defense companies will make out like bandits.

Then again, if McCain and Palin are elected, and they go ahead in confronting both Iran and Russia, Medicare and Social Security will not mean that much to the American people who are living in their private bomb shelters or public ones.

Putting national security aside for a moment, Mark Mellman wrote in an eye-opening piece for The Hill, titled McCain's middle-class squeeze, it will only be more of the same. And do not let McCain sell you on "change" because, as Mellman wrote, “By adopting President Bush’s plan, Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) offers incontrovertible evidence that he represents a third Bush term here at home, as well as in Iraq.”

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