"Is the White House Worth Having?

Given all the problems the new President will face--two wars, the economy in the toilet, and 80% of the population thinking the country is going in the wrong direction--it is surprising anybody wants to be President. The new President will face an unprecendent number of challenges all at once. Some people have compared this election to 1980, when a fresh new face, Ronald Reagan, took over a country suffering from serious malaise and raised people's spirits. But more and more, people are starting to compare this election to 1932, when there were really industrial-strength problems. CQ Politics has a nice story about the mess the new President will have to deal with.

Obama Plans Transition; McCain Doesn't

It may or may not reflect the internal state of the campaigns' thinking, but Obama has a large, well-staffed operation going on to prepare for the presidency. Groups are working to select potential cabinet officers and plan policy agendas. McCain has no such operation. All his manpower is going into a final push to win the election. If McCain wins, Obama will look arrogant for planning his administration before winning the election. If he does win, however, he will look mature, wise, and knowledgeable about the process of actually governing."

The Votemaster

http://www.electoral-vote.com/

Ironically, Obama should be pleased with McCain's taxing of the health care benefits because they are being taxed out in away where the wealthier have to pay more in taxes than the poor.  If you don't have insurance and you don't make enough money to pay taxes you would be able to get $5,000 in health care benefits paid by the gov't.  You would pick up the $5,000 in income, but you would still either owe no taxes or possibly a minimum amount of a few hundred to $750.  That is quite a deal.  Under Obama's plan you would have to come up with $5,000 and then the government would give you a credit of $2,500 so it still costs you $2,500. 

NaturalScience wrote: I can't figure out McCain's health care plan.  He wants to tax my current health care benefits but then offers a $5k tax credit - which would go directly to the insurance company.  So I'm just stuck with the tax?  WTF?

This is really getting ugly, the rhetoric McCain and company are using are really getting the ugly Americans to show their asses off...

Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:01 PM on 07th October 2008

A man told today how he was shot three times in a London street for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt.

Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted him and glared at the top, which carries an image of the Democrat US presidential candidate underneath the legend 'Believe'.

The man then launched into a tirade of racist slurs, shouting 'I f***ing hate n*****s' and urging 36-year-old Mr Egwuatu to leave the shop with him.

Respect: Dube Egwuatu wearing the Obama T-shirt that provoked a racist attack

The man then left the shop but when Mr Egwuatu re-emerged, the attacker was waiting for him in broad daylight with a threatening-looking dog and holding a gun behind his back.

Realising what had sparked the increasingly violent assault, the terrified Mr Egwuatu zipped up his jacket to cover the image of Mr Obama and walked to his car.

But the shaven-headed man, who was white,  followed Mr Egwuatu and after pulling open the passenger door pointed the gun at him.

After pleading with the man to leave him alone, the married former street warden put the keys in the ignition and turned the engine on.

The attacker then fired the gas-powered ball-bearing pistol three times, hitting the civil servant in the face, hand and shoulder.

Fearing for his life and bleeding heavily, Mr Egwuatu raced away in his car and found somewhere safe to call for help.

He was taken to hospital and later sent to have a piece of metal removed from his jaw.

Mr Egwuatu, a data analyst with Croydon Council, said: 'The venom in his voice was frightening.

'He was telling me that he was going to kill me.

'I couldn't believe it was happening - and just because I was wearing an Obama T-shirt. He was trying to make me walk somewhere quieter, saying: 'I've got something for you,' and 'I'm going to kill you.'

He added: 'Obama inspires me, his educational track record alone is quite unbelievable - that is why I was wearing the T-shirt.

'I did not think for one minute it could stir up such powerful feelings of hatred and I never said a word to him.'

Mr Egwuatu's wife, Angela, 35, said neither of them had experienced anything like it during their childhood in Nigeria.

Mrs Egwuatu, an immigration officer, said: 'At first my feelings were pure horror and now it is pure anger.

'If he had been carrying a real gun I would have been a widow. It is just ridiculous.

'I don't know how a person's mentality works. Why would a T-shirt get you to the point where you want to shoot someone.'

To the untrained eye, ball-bearing guns like the one used in the attack look every bit like a real firearm.

The potentially lethal weapons are often converted by criminals to fire real bullets, and can be bought easily in high-street shops and on websites.

The Met said it was investigating the incident, which took place in South Norwood, and that police searched a nearby house which the attacker was seen going into.

No one has been arrested."

Point of clarification, the nationality of the assailant is not clear, could be a racist Brit.  Seems we all have more than our fair share of embarrassments in our respective countries.