AmyFOX

To be perfectly honest, I don't expect a lot from the debates. Keep in mind that the average bump for a candidate from a debate is usually less than 1 point in the polls. The only debate that really made any difference was Kennedy-Nixon in 1960, and that's only because it was the first one to be televised. Frankly, the debates are "I belive in this" and "my opponent doesn't". Unfortunately it gets old quickly.

They talk about plans to do this and this, but never give any detail. Each candidate gets what, 2 minutes to answer a question. In two minutes I can give a synopsis on multi-million dollar project I manage, but they can't give a synopsis of how they're going to turn the economy around so we don't have to keep borrowing from China to fund our knee-jerk reactions like the $700B bailout (with probably $100B in earmarks included).

I miss politics of the old days, where I'm the candidate, and I will do this, this and this in return for your vote. Now it's pure mudslinging, insults (even during the debates), and no details about what they're going to do or how they're going to do it.

Adoseoftruth

I agreed with you with everything but the healthcare. Here is where I part company with the conservative base.

People should never have to worry about if they're sick or need meds. If you lose your job tomorrow, you get a Cobra benefit, which will probably cost you $1200 per month. If you're making $1400 per month on unemployment, now you have to weigh in do I eat, pay the rent or get healthy? Governments all over the world have proven they can make the universal health coverage work. I've personally worked in Europe and seen it work first hand, but the government needs to work with the insurance companies to make it a reality.

I agree we don't need to continually raise the minimum wage. The last thing I need is my kids getting older and making $18 in high school, or allowing unions to continually negotiate wages that drive up consumer goods to the point we can't afford them.

I consider myself an average Joe, unfortunately I went to school and one of my two majors was Economics, so I have followed both candidates closely on monetary policy. So far neither candidate has an economic program that can resurrect our economy out of the abyss and put it back on track.

My two cents - you want someone that wants to relate to the average American, vote for an average American, not someone with $2 million in the bank (Obama) or owns a dozen properties (McCain). You need the guy who has been through hell and back with finances, healthcare, and offshoring of jobs.

Sorry didn't mean to go too far off the beaten path with this comment.

I know adose will hate this,
Kudos to McCain since we have to buy the bad mortgage anyway, It's better to give the savings to the homeowners then more CEO's.

McCain: I will veto earmarks and make them known.

Obama: it's only 18 billion dollars of they early budget.

"The bail - out not effecting the markets the election is."

That is an absurd comment. They both effect the market. That has been evident since the bailout was suggested.
Also, fines were never mentioned by Obama for those who don't have healthcare. We own a small business and like the idea of a tax credit for small businesses so they can afford health insurance for employees. What I'd like to hear is that they will go after insurance companies and healthcare businesses to more fairly price their services.
This debate was as close to a draw as you could get. Neither candidate made any new or strong points. As far as how they handled themselves, Obama was more willing to make eye contact and didn't seem as nervous. For a guy that demanded town hall meeting debates McCain seemed very out of place.

Rasguy, your right, when I heard McCain talk about the government intervening further into the housing market, I just about imploded.

Somethings I wish McCain would have pointed out: with Obama wanting to the Bush tax cuts to expire, everybodies taxes will go up. The top 5% who "don't need a tax break", already pay 60% of all Federal income tax.

From an economic point of view, who pays more or less in taxes is irrelevant. If the net change is an increase in taxes, it will negatively impact economic growth.

In effect, Obama was railing against choice and letting people shop around for health insurance as due to different state requirements, policies would be different depending upon the state in which the company is based.

He should have pointed out that in the case of N Korea, the only reason they are a nuclear threat is because of an agreement reached between the Clinton Administration, which the N Koreans promptly broke.

Overall, I was disappointed in the quality of the questions selected, and the general response of both McCain and Obama. Most of what they said seemed to be right out of their normal stump speeches.

Obama made more government sound SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOD. Didn't he?

I want to point out that Obama talked about an community service program that would make a nationwide organization that would be military trained and intergradeable.

My question, Why do we need military in our communities.

Contrys that have military in their communities are communist. and repressed.

what will the extra cost do to your prices? please explain.

Here's a fact check for you:

OBAMA: Said McCain's proposal to give people a tax credit in exchange for treating employers' health insurance contributions as taxable wages amounts to "what one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away."
THE FACTS: Obama's suggestion that McCain's health care plan is a wash for families is misleading. McCain offers families a $5,000 tax credit to help them buy health insurance. The corresponding increase in taxable wages would result in a much smaller cost than the value of the tax credit, at least at first. Over time, the value of the tax credit may diminish as premiums rise. However, the Tax Policy Center estimates that McCain's plan would increase the federal deficit by $1.3 trillion over 10 years - mainly because it would lead to less tax revenue coming in, meaning it is a true tax break overall.
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McCAIN: Said he would provide a $5,000 refundable tax credit for families to buy health insurance "rather than mandates or fines for small businesses as Sen. Obama's plan calls for."
THE FACTS: Obama's health care plan does not impose mandates or fines on small business. He would provide small businesses with a refundable tax credit of up to 50 percent on health premiums paid on behalf of their employees. Also, large employers that do not offer meaningful coverage or contribute to the cost of coverage would be required to pay a percentage of payroll toward the costs of a public insurance plan. But small businesses would be exempt from that requirement.

OBAMA: Blamed some of the problem of terrorism in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region on Bush administration policy in Pakistan, saying "We can't coddle, as we did, a dictator, give him billions of dollars and then he's making peace treaties with the Taliban and militants."
THE FACTS: Obama oversimplifies ex-President Pervez Musharraf's approach to making peace deals. In fact, the U.S.-backed Musharraf focused more heavily on military action, launching blistering attacks on the militants at times and negotiating peace deals with them at others. Obama also ignores the fact that Pakistan's newly elected civilian government, also U.S.-supported, is seeking the same kind of peace deals and has stepped back from heavy-handed tactics that were pursued by the Musharraf government.
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McCAIN: Said Obama had voted for tax increases "94 times."
THE FACTS: This inflated count, heard before, includes repetitive votes as well as votes to cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the rich. An analysis by factcheck.org found that 23 of the votes were for measures that would have produced no tax increase at all, seven were in favor of measures that would have lowered taxes for many, 11 would have increased taxes on only those making more than $1 million a year.