Keep It Real

Keep it Real!

John McCain

Vs

Barack Obama

Welcome to Keep it Real! The thread that examines the candidates campaign promises and exposes the lies. A non partisan, no bull, no rhetoric look at the issues that each candidate addresses publicly on their own campaign websites. A detailed expose on each of the candidates promises to see if in fact they can actually keep the promises that they feed us on a daily basis.

As we all are well aware the candidates are vying for your vote, they will sell themselves as a brand to you in any way they can. To show you that they are the candidate that the people of the United States want as the leader of this nation. It is up to you to decide for yourself which one of them is most qualified for the position. I will do the homework for you in this thread, but it ultimately is you the American voter that must decide which candidate has done a better job to Keep it Real! and thus be more honest in their campaign promises and earn your vote this November.

Keep it Real! is not going to do this for you. I will not make the argument for each candidate. This thread is not here to show one way or another which candidate you should vote for, but to expose the lies that each candidate is feeding you and thus Keep it Real!

The Mass Media is already biased towards a certain candidate, depending on the media source you choose, they will push the agenda of their candidate and slander the other candidate’s position. This thread is not going to do that. I am going to expose both candidates for who they really are for the expressed purpose of showing you the American voter the hypocrisy and tripe both candidates want you to swallow.

As a source I am going to mainly rely on the candidates own congressional voting record. This record is publicly viewable. This will show you who these candidates are, and what they really stand for. I will also use sources that are reliable and credible.

I am going to examine each of the candidate’s points, point by point. In this thread I will Keep it Real! and be an independent voice in this election and show exactly why or why not the points these two candidates are valid and should or should not be believed.

Your candidates of course are;

John McCain (R)

The points I will be discussing in this thread stem from his campaign website johnmccain.com he is promising us Reform Prosperity and Peace. But can he deliver?

And

Barack Obama (D)

The points I will be discussing in this thread stem from his campaign website barackobama.com he is promising us Change. But can he deliver?

This thread Keep it Real! will discuss each of the candidates points and show the truth behind the rhetoric, show exactly what these candidates can and cannot do.

Don't forget to Flag & Star this thread.

[edit on 9/15/2008 by whatukno]

Keep it Real!

The Economy

First let us examine John McCain Republican Party Candidate. (As if you had been living on mars under a rock with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears)

So what does John McCain say about the issues that you the American voter are concerned with this election cycle? Can he deliver on his promises?

A pro-growth, pro-jobs strategy to get our economy back on track. John McCain's strategy includes taking the near-term actions needed to provide immediate help to American families while also taking the longer-term steps necessary to secure America's economic prosperity and leadership in the world.

Is this true? Let’s Keep it Real!

Workplace Flexibility in a Changing Economy

John McCain was proud to support the Family Medical Leave Act in 1993 that ensured men and women are able to take leave to care for a newborn child, adopt a child or care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition and return to a position that is substantially equal in pay, benefits, and responsibility. This was a needed minimum standard to ensure that parents were not penalized for making the important decision to raise a family.

Let’s see shall we, did he support that act? The fact is, that yes John McCain did vote yes for the original FMLA of 1993. Let’s Keep it Real! shall we? McCain did however reject and eventually help Gut the FMLA so in order to Keep it Real! we have to say that no McCain does not now support the FMLA.

McCain Voted to Gut the Family and Medical Leave Act. In 1993, before finally voting for the Family and Medical Leave Act, McCain voted to jeopardize leave for millions of workers by gutting the bill. He voted to suspend the Family and Medical Leave Act unless the federal government certified that compliance would not increase business expenses or provide financial assistance to businesses to cover any related costs. (S.Amdt. 16, S. 5, Vote 7, 2/4/93; H.R. 1, Vote 11, 2/4/93)

Also McCain has consistently been against any sort of help for working families.

Health Care Reforms: Better Care, At Lower Cost, for Every American

Really? John McCain? Healthcare reform? Let’s look at the record again shall we?

McCain voted yes 16 times, no 9 times and abstained from voting 22 times on a variety of health care issues that were presented to congress. Again Sen. McCain doesn’t seem to care about health care issues.


Taxes: Simpler, Fair, Pro-Growth and Competitive

McCain’s tax cut plans help out the Wealthy more than it does the middle or working class. His plan calls for the reduction of taxes on Corporations from 35% to 25%

He calls his plan a pro growth tax policy, the theory behind it is that the more that a company saves in taxes they will pass those savings on to the consumer and pay their employees better. Ask the oil companies about this idea, Record high gas prices coupled with posting record profits each quarter. Keep it Real!

Trade

Lower Barriers to Trade = NAFTA, and as those people that lost their jobs to overseas companies and companies moving to Mexico will tell you that lowering barriers to trade is a risky move.

Competitive American Workers I wonder how Mr. McCain’s congressional record would say about his idea of educating the next generation of competitive American workers?

McCain voted Yes for 9 Education programs including the No Child Left Behind Act. Voted No on 6 programs including, To Increase The Maximum Federal Pell Grant Amendment and abstained from voting on 9 Education bills that passed through the Senate. Doesn’t seem to me that Sen. McCain is too interested in the education of the next generation of competitive American workers.


Immediate Relief for American Families

Boy we love instant gratification in this country don’t we? John McCain knows this and has played on it in his instant gratification plan. Who knows what really he is able to accomplish with this plan. Most of it is dependent on congress and the states to make the necessary accommodations. McCain also believes that telling the Oil companies that we aren’t going to be dependent on foreign oil anymore is going to make them lower their gas prices. When all is said and done, the refineries are in this country and the oil companies would love cheaper oil to increase their profit margins.

Reforming Washington to Regain the Trust of Taxpayers

And we see here the sneaky republican head of Contract with America come back. This is also where we find McCain’s little tidbit of he will tell us the name of the congressman who put an earmarked proposal on the desk of the president, which he promises to veto. But, Senator? All congressional records of this type are available to the public, I have shown this through your own voting record. You don’t need to tell us, this is the information age, we can go and look it up ourselves.

Supporting Small Businesses

John McCain's Lexington Project will address the rising costs of energy that are hurting small businesses. He strongly supports increased domestic exploration of oil and natural gas. This will send a strong signal to oil markets that future supplies will be more plentiful, countering the rise in oil prices. The market for natural gas is less internationally integrated than that of oil - increased domestic production will lower the cost of this key energy source.

Drill Baby Drill, this is what John McCain is telling us. John McCain believes that we can curb our foreign oil dependence by exploiting our own domestic oil reserves. Cutting short our future oil security for a temporary immediate fix. But he does have a point as outlined here in a 2006 UDOR report. And the Bureau of Land Management in 2005 released a report about Shale Oil as another potential source for domestic oil production.

However to Keep it Real! we have to remember that Oil companies are not government agencies and even if they were flooded with new oil reserves and access to drill more oil, this does not mean they will drop gas prices. After all, why would Oil Companies willingly gut their own profit margins and stop their abilities to post record profits every quarter in order to pass savings on to the American consumer? Honestly that would be bad business and it would be counterproductive to the promise the oil CEOs make to their investors.

Cheap, Clean, Secure Energy for America

Nuclear Power: Nuclear power is a proven, reliable, zero-emission source of energy, and it is time to recommit to advancing our use of nuclear power.

Because Nuclear Power is of course Reliable, and Safe.

And of course we all know that Nuclear Power has Zero Emissions

The development of clean coal technology will revitalize coal mining and return jobs to some of America's most economically disadvantaged areas. The demonstration projects alone will employ over 30,000 Americans.

This is correct, this will bring new jobs to Americans. His plan for developing clean coal technology is also on par with creating more jobs and can invigorate a rather stagnant section of the energy sector.


This wraps it up for this Keep it Real! segment looking at John McCain’s position on the economy. Next up on the chopping block we will look at the Senator’s position on Energy and The Lexington Project.


[edit on 9/15/2008 by whatukno]

Keep it Real!

The Lexington Project

Our nation's future security and prosperity depends on the next President making the hard choices that will break our nation's strategic dependence on foreign sources of energy and will ensure our economic prosperity by meeting tomorrow's demands for a clean portfolio. John McCain has made the necessary choices - producing more power, pushing technology to help free our transportation sector from its use of foreign oil, cleaning up our air and addressing climate change, and ensuring that Americans have dependable energy sources. John McCain will lead the effort to develop advanced transportation technologies and alternative fuels to promote energy independence and cut off the flow of oil wealth to repressive dictatorships like Iran.

Keep it Real!

Expanding Domestic Oil And Natural Gas Exploration And Production

John McCain Will Commit Our Country To Expanding Domestic Oil Exploration.

In doing so John McCain is robbing this nation of the strategic value of our own oil reserves. The point in having a strategic oil reserve is far down the road when all reserves in other parts of the world have been depleted we can have the upper hand economically . A short sighted plan that cuts our own throat in the long term.

John McCain Believes In Promoting And Expanding The Use Of Our Domestic Supplies Of Natural Gas.

Again John McCain is short sighted in his efforts and promises something that is speculation than an actuality. This kind of campaign promise is simply blowing smoke and has no basis in fact.



Taking Action Now To Break Our Dependency On Foreign Oil By Reforming Our Transportation Sector

John McCain's Clean Car Challenge.

This is wasteful government spending, something that McCain himself apparently opposes. Plus the obvious fact that McCain if elected could not make this happen without the consent of the Legislative branch.

John McCain Will Propose A $300 Million Prize To Improve Battery Technology For Full Commercial Development Of Plug-In Hybrid And Fully Electric Automobiles.

This idea is funding automobile manufacturers to make vehicles that run more efficiently, in theory this is a cheap and great idea. I wonder if he can actually make this happen.

John McCain Supports Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) And Believes They Should Play A Greater Role In Our Transportation Sector.

Ever heard of the Model T Ford? That’s right, the Model T Ford was a flex fuel vehicle. We got away from engines that can run on a multitude of fuels.

Speaking of flex fuel vehicles, a personal favorite of mine is the Stanley Steamer A steam driven car. This design was so well thought out that one version of the vehicle still holds the land speed record for steam driven vehicles. Reaching a speed of 127 mph, this type of vehicle certainly has the speed and range to meet Mr. McCain’s Flex Fuel Challenge.

Why don’t we go back to these technologies? Oh that’s right, the auto makers are in bed with the Oil companies. I’m sorry I forgot.

Of course this wouldn’t be a problem for people in their own backyards if they were allowed to make moonshine. “What? Moonshine? What kind of Wukky Logic is going on here?” Yes Moonshine! Moonshine is actually Ethanol. I wonder if there will be retroactive lawsuits now for moonshine distillers with the argument, “Hey I was making biofuel!”

John McCain Believes Alcohol-Based Fuels Hold Great Promise As Both An Alternative To Gasoline And As A Means of Expanding Consumers' Choices.

Ethanol can be commercially viable if subsidies for not growing corn are eliminated. John McCain actually does support the idea of ending this wasteful government spending.

Fox News

Critics of Biofuels argue that this would increase corn prices and lower the amount of food corn, but the reality is, that the government today spends billions of dollars each year to farm corporations to not grow corn. This acreage is roughly equal to the state of Iowa. Eliminating these subsidies in fact will ensure a better free market, give farmers a better share of both economic interests and make ethanol a viable energy source for the next generation of vehicles that run on flex fuel technology.

Today, Isolationist Tariffs And Wasteful Special Interest Subsidies Are Not Moving Us Toward An Energy Solution.

And so is making moonshine as I have pointed out above. Heck we can cut the oil companies throats if we were allowed to make our own Biofuels at home.

John McCain Will Effectively Enforce Existing CAFE Standards.

If it is cheaper to pay the penalty for not complying with the CAFE Standards. Then why would auto makers care if they avoid the regulation? Mr. McCain, if an automobile manufacturer can just pass the cost of the penalty off to the consumer there is really nothing that you can do to force them to comply. They will continue to make inefficient automobiles that don’t comply to the CAFFE Standard, pay the penalty and continue to pass the cost onto the consumer. It really doesn’t matter how much of a penalty they are forced to pay, the end consumer pays the penalty anyway.


Investing In Clean, Alternative Sources Of Energy

John McCain Believes That The U.S. Must Become A Leader In A New International Green Economy.

Which is right, we do need to become a leader in green technology. If only we can harness the geothermic energy wasted every day in congress, I think that we could eliminate the need for any other energy source!

John McCain Will Commit $2 Billion Annually To Advancing Clean Coal Technologies.

Clean coal technology is something I believe in personally. This part of the McCain strategy makes a lot of sense. Creating jobs, and using a viable and available resource that just makes fiscal sense. Yes not everyone wants to work in a coal mine. But some would rather have a job in a coal mine than have no job at all.

John McCain Will Put His Administration On Track To Construct 45 New Nuclear Power Plants By 2030 With The Ultimate Goal Of Eventually Constructing 100 New Plants.

One thing I want to point out, a sitting president can only really make promises during his time in office, they cannot make promises that go outside of the limit of their term. I am sorry Mr. McCain but to make promises that affect 14 years after your potential 8 years in office is just absurd. The next president after you may eliminate your policy completely. This is Hype! Pure and simple.

John McCain Will Establish A Permanent Tax Credit Equal To 10 Percent Of Wages Spent On R&D.

Simply put more tax cuts for wealthy businesses. This is all this amounts to. A tax credit to wealthy businesses to work on projects that may never come to fruition, just means you’re giving money away.

John McCain Will Encourage The Market For Alternative, Low Carbon Fuels Such As Wind, Hydro And Solar Power.

Dam them, dam them all! I still say this is like blowing sunshine up your butt. (star this post if you get all the puns I just put in) Yes wind hydro and solar power does make for a cunning and good strategy for our energy needs. I used to live in a town that ran completely off of hydroelectricity. The winds in this town often exceeded 40mph with gusts up to 120mph. Although the hydroelectric plant provided all the energy the town needs, wind turbines could also help with the energy needs elsewhere on the grid.


Protecting Our Environment And Addressing Climate Change: A Sound Energy Strategy Must Include A Solid Environmental Foundation

John McCain Proposes A Cap-And-Trade System That Would Set Limits On Greenhouse Gas Emissions While Encouraging The Development Of Low-Cost Compliance Options.

Cool, make them pay to pump toxins in the air and pass the cost onto the consumer! Great idea Mr. McCain!

How Does A Cap-And-Trade System Work?

Or they can just pay the penalties and pass the cost onto the consumer!

Greenhouse Gas Emission Targets And Timetables:

2012: Return Emissions To 2005 Levels (18 Percent Above 1990 Levels)
2020: Return Emissions To 1990 Levels (15 Percent Below 2005 Levels)
2030: 22 Percent Below 1990 Levels (34 Percent Below 2005 Levels)
2050: 60 Percent Below 1990 Levels (66 Percent Below 2005 Levels)

Remember, you cannot make promises past the point that you will no longer be in office, it’s just not realistic. The next sitting president may just eliminate your administration’s policy.

The Cap-And-Trade System Would Allow For The Gradual Reduction Of Emissions.

Or more realistically raise the cost of these goods and services because the company would rather pay the cost and pass that cost onto the consumer.



Promoting Energy Efficiency

John McCain Will Make Greening The Federal Government A Priority Of His Administration.

Green Technology is one of those nifty buzz words that makes people feel good about themselves. This paragraph tells us really nothing. He wants to try and regulate how buildings are constructed,

[edit on 9/16/2008 by whatukno]

(continued from previous post) how older buildings are retrofitted, but in all reality he doesn’t tell us how or explain what he is going to do. This is more fluff than anything substantial.

John McCain Will Move The United States Toward Electricity Grid And Metering Improvements To Save Energy.

This paragraph talks about smart meter technology, a new device that lets consumers know exactly how much electricity they are using. However most electric companies already show you how to read your existing meter. Some electric companies even will come through and do an efficiency inspection on your home to show you where you can save money on energy costs with simple cost effective measures.

Addressing Speculative Pricing Of Oil

John McCain Believes We Must Understand The Role Speculation Is Playing In Our Soaring Energy Prices.

And government must understand that speculation is price gouging. Pure and simple, oil speculation is a prediction of future supply and demand. It’s a guess, a badly educated guess.

The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation of supply to demand. It’s controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60% of today’s crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price. How?

Mr. McCain wants to investigate the supposed wrongdoings by the oil companies except for the fact that in his entire carrier in Washington, he did little to nothing to curb or regulate oil speculation and the price gouging that goes along with it. He wants to do something about it NOW? And he wants us to believe that?

John McCain Does Not Support A Windfall Profits Tax.

Of course not, don’t tax the oil companies, let them keep their money and not pass any savings onto the consumer. What gets me is that none of these politicians see that the oil companies are price gouging us. Every hurricane in the gulf results in a massive jump in gas prices. EVEN THOUGH OIL RIGS IN THE GULF WERE REINFORCED FOR STRONG STORMS!

* Mooring systems, which anchor rigs to the sea floor, have been strengthened with more anchor lines. Noble, a major mooring owner, spent as much as $30 million apiece to strengthen moorings on five deep-water rigs. It also added new monitors to rigs that allow it to track, via the Internet, wind speed, wave heights and pitch and roll during a storm.
* Because pipelines were damaged by mooring lines that were dragged across the sea floor, natural gas provider El Paso buried some offshore pipelines more deeply and added breakaway joints that automatically shut off the flow of gas if the line is broken.
* Many refineries raised critical equipment to prevent flooding and beefed up plans to get backup power.
* Companies also are better prepared to take care of their workers.

What’s even funnier, is that we are expected to believe that it’s because also they are surprised by the storm and cannot deliver more fuel to ports. OMG We didn’t see that storm coming WEEKS IN ADVANCE and wow we couldn’t get more oil to port in time to meet demand! Better raise those gas prices so we don’t lose any profits!

Yes Mr. McCain, don’t penalize the oil companies for bending us over and sticking it to us. Oh no, can’t do that. Can’t possibly stick up for the average American consumer.


[edit on 9/16/2008 by whatukno]

Thanks for keeping it real whatukno. Nice work. Please continue

Keep it Real!

National Security

A Strong Military in a Dangerous World

For our own interests, McCain is correct in saying we in the USA need a strong military. Constitutionally its sound and it just makes sense. However this part of his agenda goes into such propaganda that it’s hard to even finish.

Fighting Against Violent Islamic Extremists and Terrorist Tactics

This simply put is more propaganda against our own people, using fear to say to vote for him. He is using 9/11® as a terror tool against the American voter. Suggesting that if he is not elected president then we will suffer at the hands of terrorists. I am sorry but please Senator McCain Keep it Real!

Here McCain uses 9/11® to address the need to fight Islamic terrorism. However on this website the jury is still out whether or not the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks were agents outside or inside our own government. Mr. McCain I urge you if you ever read this to look hard and honestly at the evidence of 9/11 and stop using the deaths of 3000 Americans as a terror tool against your own people.

Effective Missile Defense

Is there an effective missile defense? So where is it? Is it deployed? And does it work? If we are going to spend billions of dollars on a missile defense grid in our country doesn’t it make sense that we know that our tax dollars are justified?

Increasing the Size of the American Military

And this is going to help control wasteful spending in Washington how?

Modernizing the Armed Services

From what I understand our military is the most modern and advanced in the world. Are you suggesting that American tax dollars are not being spent wisely by the nation’s military industrial complex?

Smarter Defense Spending

McCain has repeatedly wanted to raise spending for our defense, often sighting 9/11® as a reason for the increase in spending on our nation’s military.

Taking Care of Our Military Personnel and their Families

Does he? Apparently Mr. McCain has either abstained from voting on a plethora of military and veteran issues or has voted no. Is this the actions of someone who wants to take care of our military personnel and their families?

Honoring our Nations Commitments to Veterans and Military Retirees

Absolutely, every serviceman and woman deserves the promises that this nation made to them to be honored. These brave men and women deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. John McCain does understand this completely. John McCain’s military experience and his experience as a POW gives him a unique insight into this topic. But does he really support vets? According to the AFLCIO Nope. Why is that Mr. McCain? Why would you turn your backs on our nations bravest men and women?

In my next two posts I am going to Keep it Real! by examining John McCain on Security in the Middle East and John McCain on Nuclear Security

[edit on 9/17/2008 by whatukno]

Wuk, this is why your the ATS Consierge! Always providing helpful, unbiased information.

This thread needs a bump And please, keep it going! Comparing in a rational, unbiased manner is what we need to be reading so that the voters can be making well-informed decisions.

- Carrot