Ok, I hear the MSM talking about the working class.

 Ah yes - I am going to bring it up.

 Why is it that so much value is extended the working class voter and what they want in a president? Not to say - our vote has no value and our issues should be minimized, but what is at the heart of some working class voters expections?

 It almost seems as though the voice of one part of the working class vote is more of an emotional decision than one based on issues.

 Just pick one issue - and let's compare candidates and use that as our baseline.

Why would a "working class" voter - pick a republican president time and time again - when that party stands against everything the working family believes in?

 Mistake of the republicans is that they don't believe in the anxiety issues of the working class.

 How do they intend to hold accountable corporations for their decisions made when choosing our healthcare benefits?

 How do they intend to address the economic crisis so that the working class feels some relief? By offering us the solution of off shore drilling to lower gas prices?

 I think McCain and the rest of the repubs are in a tight spot.

I want my working class friends to be open to change that the democratic party offers in our candidate - Barack Obama.

Think about the housing crisis, the cost of healthcare premiums, the rise in food costs, the gas prices, the civil unions issues, the right to choose issues, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and how those war fronts will affect our sons and daughters.

 I want to trust that my working class friends (like me) are not just voting out of emotion and voting based on the true issues that affect us day to day.

Can I trust you?

Can I count on your judgement to make the right decision for POTUS?

 The stakes are too high - we can't afford to keep making the same mistakes.

McCain: "I Always Favored [The] Closing Of Guantanamo Bay." During a press conference in Boston, Massachusetts, John McCain said, "As you know I always favored [the] closing of Guantanamo Bay and I still think that we ought to do that." [McCain Press Availability in Boston, Massachusetts, 6/12/08]

 FACT: McCain Said He "Doesn't Think Necessarily" That The U.S. Should Close Guantanamo. During an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked John McCain about the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and said directly, "Should we close it?" McCain replied, "I don't think necessarily. But I think the important thing is it's not the facility at Guantanamo, it's the adjudication of the cases of the prisoners who have been held there without trial or without any adjudication of their cases." [NBC, "Meet the Press," 6/19/05]

 FACT: McCain Voted For A Sense Of The Senate To Keep Detainees At Guantanamo Bay Prison. McCain voted in favor of a McConnell amendment would "express the sense of the Senate that detainees housed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including senior members of al Qaeda, should not be released into the United States, or transferred to facilities in the United States." [Senate Vote # 259, 7/19/07] McCain Said "I Would Declare That We Would Close Guantanamo Bay And Move Those Prisoners To Fort Leavenworth." The Florida Times-Union reported that McCain said, "I would, as president of the United States, declare we will never torture another person who is in our custody. I would declare that we would close Guantanamo Bay and move those prisoners to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas." [Florida Times-Union, 5/16/08]

 FACT: McCain Voted for the Graham Amendment to Deny Habeas Corpus to Non-Citizens Held at Guantanamo Bay. John McCain voted for the Graham substitute amendment to the Graham amendment that would deny non-citizens held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, habeas corpus access to U.S. civilian courts to contest their detention or conviction. It required the Defense secretary to submit a report to Congress detailing security procedures at Guantanamo Bay, particularly Combatant Status Review Tribunals and Administrative Review Boards. [Vote #319, 11/10/2005, Adopted 49-42: R 44-4; D 5-37]

http://mccainsource.com/security?id=0008

S- Y - K - E!!!!

 I will not give up on doing everything I can to help Senator Barack Obama become the next POTUS.

(with a fist bump)

The Federal Marriage Amendment is back — with Vitter’s and Craig’s support.

 Just this week, a group of Republican senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, which, as we know, would ban gay marriage. And once again, the language is pretty straightforward:

Section 1. This article may be cited as the `Marriage Protection Amendment’.

 Section 2. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.’.

 COSPONSORS(9), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date) Sen Allard, Wayne [CO] - 6/25/2008 Sen Brownback, Sam [KS] - 6/25/2008 Sen Craig, Larry E. [ID] - 6/25/2008 Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY] - 6/26/2008 Sen Inhofe, James M. [OK] - 6/25/2008 Sen Roberts, Pat [KS] - 6/25/2008 Sen Shelby, Richard C. [AL] - 6/25/2008 Sen Thune, John [SD] - 6/25/2008 Sen Vitter, David [LA] - 6/25/2008

 http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16020.html

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.j.res.00043:

I hope that Hillary Clinton is listening.

I've heard her stand up and ask for unity in the party and that all of her supporters get behind Barack and make him the next POTUS.

 All the while - as she expresses her support of Barack - her supporters say things such as "i make up my own mind" or "she doesn't tell me what to do". Where is the end? Or is even such a thing?

I said, time and time again, that we would be divided, not because of the Barack camp, but because of the ardent and often times rigid HRC supporters.

I am personally tired of trying to help them figure out what to do, and can't see where spending energy and focus on what they need in order to satisfy their unhappiness is going to get anyone anywhere.

 Sure, someone will hit me with a poor post (1 star) or not comment at all, because it's not the appeasing rhetoric they want to hear.

But I am sorry - and truly am.

 I am not changing my mind about Barack and some of HRC supporters are not changing theirs either.

 There is no way to even begin the conversation that leads to togetherness as some are not willing to give.

 Me included.

Someone posted a comment that they wanted to help me understand the mistake I was making by voting for Barack and only offered the solution that I petition for HRC instead.

 I guess it boils down to what one idiot once said on C-Span - that "their are some that will never leave the democratic plantation" so there is no need to worry about that one demographics vote.

 It's a sad thing to hear but it obviously is strongly felt by a silent majority.

I've read back through the posts between last night and this afternoon.

Just checking out the different blogs and comments. Searching for a shred of anything that will satisfy HRC's supporters.

 Something that will open their eyes or any evidence that they are willing to meet half way on any issue.

 I've tried to find valid issues that they bring up to support their argument and they all track back to one thing: they just don't like him.

To be fare, some do bring up concerns that are policy related, but those that do are pretty much moderate democrats and not progressive democrats. Similar to the blue dogs. Them I get.

The blue dogs are probably not in the majority of the 18 million, but I find they lean more independant than democratic. Again, I get that.

 Now, these say - 5.5 million - these are the ones that are definetly not republican and hardly independant, they are ardent supporters of HRC the person. Most have even admitted there is very little in policy differences between HRC and Barack. However, they still - willfully refuse to accept the democratic party's nominee - because they "just don't like him".

 "Life perfect

 Ain't perfect

If you don't know what the struggle's for

 Falling down ain't falling down

 If you don't cry when you hit the floor

 It's called the past cause I'm getting past

And I ain't nothing like I was before

You ought to see me now"       Alicia Keys

Why would he give a fortune 500 corporation a tax cut, with out requiring the same corporations make amends to its employees?  Shouldn't we feel the relief as well?  After all - we are the front line.......

 The federal government does have some "weight" and can use that collateral to pressure them into making some changes that we all need at this time.

 1) wages 2) healthcare

 Those are two common concerns we all have.

Look, universal healthcare can not be realistically federally mandated. Not without affecting the entire healthcare industry and the scores of folks employed by them.

You are looking at 100's of thousands of people that the market just could not absorb on a state level or national level. 

BUT - to place pressure on the corporations (via mandates) to adjust premiums and benefits based on salary and hold them accountable for the plans they purchase through the insurance industry to be in the best interest of their employees - is where we have to start.

"A new report from the Center For American Progress Action Fund finds that a key piece of John McCain’s tax plan — cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% — would cut taxes by almost $45 billion every year for America’s 200 largest corporations as identified by Fortune Magazine. Eight companies — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Bank ƒƒof America Corp., AT&T, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Microsoft Corp. — would each receive over $1 billion a year.

These giveaways are just one part of McCain’s doubling of the Bush tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy which would create the largest deficits in 25 years and drive the United States into the deepest deficits since World War II.

 A recent analysis by the Public Campaign Action Fund found that John McCain’s campaign has received $5.6 million from the PACs and executives of the Fortune 200."

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/fortune_200.pdf