http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102 The two presidential candidates have been going back and forth with fruitless ideas to fix the economy for quite some time.  There is nothing the candidates can do about gas prices, Fannie and Freddie, or the GMC layoffs.  I know the economy is the number one issue, but long-term ideas are one thing, and short-term fixes are another, which only the market and Congress can straighten out. Today, only 16% of Americans think the Iraq war is a significant issue.  Personally, I think the surge has lulled them to sleep.  Yesterday, Barack Obama surprised me with his with his plan for Iraq and Afghanistan.  He does not have to go to Iraq to talk to General Petraeus because he has great resources right here home like Colin Powell, General Clark, and Senators Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed.  His upcoming foreign policy tour will include Iraq where he will speak and listen to Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, other commanders, and Iraqi officials.  He then is able to weigh the pros and cons on the positions he holds today. Barack Obams’s Plan ·         First he is making it perfectly clear.  Iraq is not the central front on fighting terrorism. Al Qaeda is based in the Northwest region of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan. ·         He will begin a reasonable withdrawl from Iraq and put the burden on the Iraqis to secure the country.  Up to two brigades, a month. ·         The withdrawn troops will redeploy to Afghanistan where they are desperately needed. ·         As president he will make nuclear proliferation a priority, taking the loose nukes off the market. ·         He will take the extra step to restore our relations with our former terror fighting allies. Recently, the numbers of casualties in Afghanistan have outnumbered the ones in Iraq.  This caused John McCain to see Obama's two brigades, and one up him, calling for three brigades to redeploy to Iraq.  Huge difference, John McCain has yet to say where he would get his troops from.  After all he does have a long-range commitment to Iraq. Barack Obama’s foreign policy trip is not without risk.  Pay close attention to see how well he has been briefed, and his delivery. Every word will be scrutinized. We are finally having the Iraq debate; we should've had before the invasion. The two presidential candidates have been going back and forth with fruitless ideas to fix the economy for quite some time.  There is nothing the candidates can do about gas prices, Fannie and Freddie, or the GMC layoffs.  I know the economy is the number one issue, but long-term ideas are one thing, and short-term fixes are another, which only the market and Congress can straighten out. Today, only 16% of Americans think the Iraq war is a significant issue.  Personally, I think the surge has lulled them to sleep.  Yesterday, Barack Obama surprised me with his with his plan for Iraq and Afghanistan.  He does not have to go to Iraq to talk to General Petraeus because he has great resources right here home like Colin Powell, General Clark, and Senators Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed.  His upcoming foreign policy tour will include Iraq where he will speak and listen to Ambassador Crocker, General Petraeus, other commanders, and Iraqi officials.  He then is able to weigh the pros and cons on the positions he holds today. Barack Obams’s Plan ·         First he is making it perfectly clear.  Iraq is not the central front on fighting terrorism. Al Qaeda is based in the Northwest region of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan. ·         He will begin a reasonable withdrawl from Iraq and put the burden on the Iraqis to secure the country.  Up to two brigades, a month. ·         The withdrawn troops will redeploy to Afghanistan where they are desperately needed. ·         As president he will make nuclear proliferation a priority, taking the loose nukes off the market. ·         He will take the extra step to restore our relations with our former terror fighting allies. Recently, the numbers of casualties in Afghanistan have outnumbered the ones in Iraq.  This caused John McCain to see Obama's two brigades, and one up him, calling for three brigades to redeploy to Iraq.  Huge difference, John McCain has yet to say where he would get his troops from.  After all he does have a long-range commitment to Iraq. Barack Obama’s foreign policy trip is not without risk.  Pay close attention to see how well he has been briefed, and his delivery. Every word will be scrutinized. We are finally having the Iraq debate; we should've had before the invasion. en-us LOL…. I don't think they're both losers I just don't think they can do anything about the current economic situation…. I can never get angry about someone switching parties or voting for a candidate I don’t like…Hell, my wife and daughters voted for Hillary in the Texas primary. I am an 80% man, because I am willing to concede, I am wrong, 20% of the time. No, I'm not that intelligent, I'm just a pack rat for boring, useless, and sometimes inaccurate political information.  We're we all fooled when Hillary won New Hampshire? I agree, I get so mad at the Democrats sometime (like I did my own children) when they cave in and do something stupid for political expediency…. They are not perfect, but they beat what's in second place. Hang in there, and be proud of your out-of-the-box thinking, because as I see someone taking your idea for bike paths to the city Council. You mentioned that several months ago. Have a good one. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102/#c_59109 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102/#c_59109 LOL…. I don't think they're both losers I just don't think they can do anything about the current economic situation…. I can never get angry about someone switching parties or voting for a candidate I don’t like…Hell, my wife and daughters voted for Hillary in the Texas primary. I am an 80% man, because I am willing to concede, I am wrong, 20% of the time. No, I'm not that intelligent, I'm just a pack rat for boring, useless, and sometimes inaccurate political information.  We're we all fooled when Hillary won New Hampshire? I agree, I get so mad at the Democrats sometime (like I did my own children) when they cave in and do something stupid for political expediency…. They are not perfect, but they beat what's in second place. Hang in there, and be proud of your out-of-the-box thinking, because as I see someone taking your idea for bike paths to the city Council. You mentioned that several months ago. Have a good one. Fear not, Mike.  McCain says he knows how to win a war.  As a matter of fact, he says we have succeeded in Iraq.  Too bad he didn't take up the NVA on his early release.  We could've won the Vietnam War. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102/#c_59119 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102/#c_59119 Fear not, Mike.  McCain says he knows how to win a war.  As a matter of fact, he says we have succeeded in Iraq.  Too bad he didn't take up the NVA on his early release.  We could've won the Vietnam War. Early release? They say he refused an early out to stay with his men. I think McCain is confusing the words "like" with 'win" when it comes to war.....Bush sure  has been dumping on the McCain campaign these days... The Defense Secretary is thinking withdrawal,McCain accused Obama  of waving a flag of surrender, the administration is talking about sending more troops to Afghanistan,Obama has been calling for that for 17 months ,McCain has been silent on this, until a couple days ago, and now the administration is sending a credible envoy to Iran,McCain mocked Obama for wanting to talk to our enemies.....Maybe when McCain learns how to use a computer,The WH could e-mail the talking points to him....Scratch that, I forgot the WH computer only deletes e-mail messages. http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102/#c_59126 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Mike/8102/#c_59126 Early release? They say he refused an early out to stay with his men. I think McCain is confusing the words "like" with 'win" when it comes to war.....Bush sure  has been dumping on the McCain campaign these days... The Defense Secretary is thinking withdrawal,McCain accused Obama  of waving a flag of surrender, the administration is talking about sending more troops to Afghanistan,Obama has been calling for that for 17 months ,McCain has been silent on this, until a couple days ago, and now the administration is sending a credible envoy to Iran,McCain mocked Obama for wanting to talk to our enemies.....Maybe when McCain learns how to use a computer,The WH could e-mail the talking points to him....Scratch that, I forgot the WH computer only deletes e-mail messages.