Indecision 2008

I probably won't make many friends with this post, if anyone actually reads this. But since the election is coming up and it's the biggest election of our generation blah blah blah, I figured that I have to write a entry on the candidates. I wasn't going to post anything up on here either, but I saw an alarming article today that has me extremely worried about the future of this country.

First off, you should know that I am a Republican. No, I did not vote for Bush in 2004. I actually abstained from voting because I was in college and just didn't follow politics as closely as I should have. For the past 6-8 months, I have been very closely following the election coverage, on both liberal and conservative media outlets. I know the issues, and I have a pretty good idea what each candidate's stances are on those issues.

The thing with elections is, everyone has their pet issue that they are voting for. One person might vote for a candidate based on their stance on education, while others may vote for a candidate based on their military strategy. Others, including myself, favor voting for the candidate that would best be suited to get this country out of the economic mess it's in.

That being said, I will refer back to the article that I read today. The headline showed up on my Google Reader rss feed from Drudge Report and the article title was interesting, so I clicked it. The title was "OBAMA FIRES 'ROBIN HOOD' WARNING SHOT" from the New York Post. What I read was alarming. Last Sunday, Obama spoke in a town outside of Toledo. A small business owner whose company makes more than $250,000 per year approached Barack and asked him about his new tax plan. He asked if the plan would raise taxes for his small business. After Obama responded that it would, the man told him that he works hard, sometimes 10 to 12 hours a day and asks why he should be taxed higher to fulfill the American dream. Obama's response was (and I quote) "It's not that I want to punish your success. I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too." He continued, "my attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."

This comment should create concern with every American citizen. What Obama is basically saying here is that he wants to redistribute the wealth of this great country. He wants to tax the rich and give that money to the poor. The Robin Hood warning shot. For those of you who know something about government and politics, Obama's "trickle-up" economic theory is the main pillar of a Socialist economy. Redistribution of wealth. Now, I will say that I am not one of those radical right-wing conservatives that thinks all Democrats are the anti-Christ and the reason for all the world's problems. However, this is an alarming statement. Here is a breakdown of Obama's economic plan:

First off, he says he plans to cut taxes for 95% of all working Americans. This is a flat-out lie, because nearly half of all tax filers pay no income tax at all. So how can he cut their taxes if they don't pay any in the first place? His answer is "tax credits". Here is a list of tax credits that Obama will offer:

* A $1,000 "make work pay" credit.
* A $4,000 college-tuition credit.
* A $6,000 child-care credit.
* A $1,100 bump in the earned-income tax credit

These aren't to become income-tax deductions, which would be worthless to tax filers paying no income tax. Instead, they are checks straight from the government, with the subsidies set to grow to $1 trillion within 10 years. That's a pretty big transfer of wealth. Obama says that it's fair. But that's an interesting definition of the word "fair." Despite many of the wealthiest people in this country paying a lower tax rate than most middle-class workers due to a majority of their income coming from capital gains, the top 20% of earners still pay 69% of our country's federal taxes, and 88% of income taxes.

Obama wants to raise the capital gains tax, which means that these people will be shouldering an even heavier load of tax burden. Now, don't get me wrong; I don't feel sorry for these CEOs and corporate execs getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars. But in terms of doing your fair deed to this country, I believe they have. It's funny how all these Hollywood stars are coming out in support of Obama. Don't they realize they will be taxed to high heaven if he gains office?

On Monday, Obama promised a tax policy that would restore "a sense of fairness and balance that will give every American a fair shot at the American dream." But to the man he spoke with on Sunday, his American is going to become that much harder.

Let me take an aside here to say that I am also not a HUGE McCain supporter, but I do believe that his plans are more reasonable and fair to the majority of citizens in this country. That said, in contrast to Obama's plan, McCain calls for for real tax cuts - halving the capital-gains levy and scrapping taxes on unemployment benefits altogether.

What we have to realize here is that the economic situation cannot be solved in a day, or a year, or maybe even in the next four years. It's going to get worse before it gets better. We are suffering from policies put in place over 8 years ago (yes, I do mean Clinton) and it has put us in a hole. While Obama is so set on radical change for this country, McCain is proposing the level-headed policies that we need for these tough times. You may get roped in with Obama's rhetoric and his call for change, but when was the last time a radical change in this country made anything better?

However, this is where the McCain campaign is dropping the ball. I give Mr. McCain a lot of credit for resurrecting a dead campaign early in the primary season and winning the nomination. However, since then, his campaign team has not done a good job of breaking down Obama's policies and getting the facts out there. The numbers I wrote above are numbers you probably won't see anywhere else. McCain will probably not mention this in the debate tonight and probably will not be aggressive enough in defending his own policies, while pointing out the specifics that everyone is overlooking in Obama's. This is why McCain will lose and Obama will win the 2008 election.

I'll finish up with this. For those of you who were old enough to remember back to 1992 (I wasn't so I had to read about this on the Internet), remember Clinton's pre-election promises. He promised to lower taxes on the middle-class and raise taxes on those earning more than $200,000 per year (sound familiar?). Actually, that is the main thing that won him the election in '92.

After the election and as his inauguration drew nearer, he backed off of that stance. At a Jan. 14, 1993, press conference in New Hampshire, he claimed that it was the media that had played up a middle-class tax cut, not him. A month later, he announced his actual plan before a joint session of Congress. The plan called for increasing taxes of families making as little as $20,000/year. It wasn't until 1994, when a Republican-controlled Congress came into power, that he embraced welfare reform, signed a cut in the capital gains tax, and declared that the "era of Big Government is over." The economy was jump-started thereafter. Funny how McCain's economic plans are in line with those that helped stimulate the economy during the Clinton years. Makes you think, huh?

Mr. Obama is making the same promises that Clinton did, and I'll be interested to see how long it takes him to back down from those promises. To be fair, if he did raise taxes on the middle-class, it would be better than his "trickle-up" (aka redistribution of wealth) theory. At least this country would remain a Democracy and not fall into Socialism.

Sources:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10152008/news/politics/obama_fires_a_robin_hood_warning_shot_133685.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122333585431009523.html

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10142008/news/nationalnews/mccain_unveils_52b_economic_plan_133598.htm

Jersey Curse

I have this thing with sports superstitions. If you are even a halfway hardcore sports fan or if you play sports, you know what I mean. The rally towel, or the rally cap. Wearing certain clothes when your team is playing, or being in the room or not being in the room when they have the ball. It's the Madden Curse, or the Campbell's Chunky Soup Curse, or the Sports Illustrated Curse. Are they real? That's debatable. However, I have a personal curse that I bestow upon on my favorite athletes and teams and it deals with buying jerseys of players from those teams.

Just as background, I am a superstitious person when it comes to sports. I believe that the Madden curse is very real. When I play hockey (I'm a goalie) I don't touch any of the lines when I'm skating to my net at the beginning of the game or in between periods. I have lucky shirts, and unlucky shirts. I have noticed a certain trend develop over the last few years, though, that can unmistakably be categorized as a curse, of sorts. I love buying jerseys of my favorite players. It's something I've done since I was a kid. I used to own a Brett Favre jersey (before he was an jerk), Steve Young, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, etc. Only a few years ago did I start to see a trend of bad luck develop whenever I bought a new jersey. Let's start from the beginning:

The first I can remember me cursing athletes begins a long time ago. I have to go back about 10 years for this one. I got an Eric Lindros jersey for Christmas one year. I can't remember the exact year but I know it was around the time of the Flyers' last Stanley Cup Finals appearance, which was the 1996-'97 season. That following off-season, the drama between Lindros and the Flyers front office started heating up. He and Bobby Clarke feuded in the media, and during the 1998 season Lindros's string of concussions started. Then, during a game in April of 1999, Lindros suffered what was initially called a "rib injury." Later that night, his teammate Keith Jones found him in the tub of his hotel room, pale and cold. The trainer was told to send Lindros back to Philly on a plane with Mark Recchi, who was also injured at the time, and get treatment at home. Jones insisted he go straight to the hospital. They did rush him to the hospital and it was determined that Lindros had a collapsed lung caused by internal bleeding of his chest wall and had bled out about half his body's total volume of blood. If he had been put on that team plane, he would have been dead before he reached Philadelphia. More injuries and verbal disputes with Flyers management ensued between then and 2001, when he was finally traded to the New York Rangers. He played three seasons with the Rangers, then one with Toronto before finally retiring as a member of the Dallas Stars in 2006. In all, he suffered eight concussions in his career (all after I bought the damn jersey), a collapsed lung, and a torn ligament in his wrist that he re-injured shortly after returning from.

At this point, I didn't realize what I had done. But even so, I didn't wear jerseys much anymore so I didn't buy any for a few years. Then came my college years. My junior year was an exciting one. A young running back by the name of Austin Scott was turning heads at Penn State. He was a sophomore during my junior year and I swear he knew there was a curse on him the year before this. During my sophomore year (his freshman year), I bought his jersey, #22. The following year, he switched numbers, to #33, which just so happens to be one of my favorite numbers. So I bought a #33 jersey. That following season, he showed up to camp overweight, was hampered by ankle injuries, and apparently displayed a lack of focus and motivation. He lost his starting job to Tony Hunt, who ended up finishing third on the all-time rushing list at Penn State and now plays fullback for the Philadelphia Eagles. In the middle of his senior season in 2007, he was accused of rape after leaving a bar with a girl he met that night. He was acquitted of the charges, but it effectively ruined the rest of his college career. He had a tryout with the Cleveland Browns this past pre-season and got cut.

That same season, the Eagles signed an all-pro wide receiver named Terrell Owens. As you all know, Owens came into the league with the 49ers and exploded onto the scene, running his mouth along the way. When he signed with the Eagles, it felt like a new era was beginning. The Eagles looked like the best team in the league... until I bought his jersey. The Eagles started the season 13-1 and T.O. was on pace for 16 touchdown catches for the season until Roy Williams brought down T.O. with a now-famous "horse collar" tackle that sprained his ankle and fractured his fibula. The Eagles would lose their final two games of the season, but make a run to the Super Bowl, only to lose in a close game to the Patriots. Owens returned that game, catching 9 passes for 122 yards. The following offseason, Owens' agent Drew Rosenhaus demanded that the Eagles restructure his contract and when the Eagles refused, Owens's stay in Philly was done. He sat out the entire 2005 season and was eventually released by the Eagles in March of 2006. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys soon after, and you all know what has happened since then. Hey, at least I helped get a much-needed new rule passed in the NFL, and now NCAA.

The 2005 season was an exciting one for Penn Staters. Penn State had a great team assembled with lots of freshman talent. One of those key freshmen was wide receiver Derrick Williams. Williams was immediately my favorite player on that year's team. So, I went out and bought his jersey a few weeks into the season. The week after I bought the jersey, Williams broke his shoulder in the annual game against Michigan, and Penn State suffered their first and only loss of the season. Williams was forced to sit out the remainder of the 2005 season and never quite regained that magic he showed during his freshman year.

The following season was the big senior year for linebacker Paul Posluszny. Considered maybe the best linebacker in the storied history of Linebacker U, "Pos" had an outstanding season as he broke the all-time school record for tackles in a career at Penn State. I bought his jersey midway through that season. He fell to the 2nd round in the draft and ended up breaking his arm in his first NFL game, missing his entire rookie season.

That NFL season, I decided to try my hand at buying an Eagles jersey again. I was nervous, because I was now starting to realize the horrible trend that was occurring. Nevertheless, I went out and bought another jersey. This time it was Eagles tight end L.J. Smith. I really wanted a Westbrook jersey, but I decided to hold off because of the curse (no, seriously). He was a rising star after his 2005 season, when he caught 61 passes for 682 yards and 3 TDs. He had a strong start in 2006, despite criticism that he dropped too many passes. His final numbers dropped off that year, but that could be attributed to the loss of Donovan McNabb to a season-ending injury. In 2007, his production dropped even more and eventually suffered a season-ending injury. He has battled injuries and dropped passes ever since.

I figure, it has to be just a fluke right? There's no way that a single person can bestow these curses on so many outstanding athletes right? Wrong. In 2005, the NHL had resumed from a lockout that canceled the entire 2004-05 season. The Flyers returned with a bang and Simon Gagne was their leader, scoring 47 goals and recording 32 assists with a +31 rating. The Flyers were knocked out in the first round but who cares? Hockey is back! During the 2006-07 season, the Flyers suffered through the worst season in their storied history. Toward the end of the season, I went to a game and decided to buy a Simon Gagne jersey. Bad idea. When the 2007-08 season rolled around the Flyers were re-tooled and ready to bounce back. Gagne had been banged up during the entire off-season and true to form, suffered a season-ending concussion after playing only 25 games. It was believed that he suffered 3 concussions in 5 months, although doctors told him he only had one. He was originally injured on October 25, 2007 against the Florida Panthers. After sitting out 4 games, he returned on November 7 and was re-injured in that game. He sat out 26 more games before returning against the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 10, 2008, only to be re-injured on his first shift. He ended up sitting out the rest of the season.

So, I'm terrified to buy any more jerseys. There are a few that I want, namely Mike Richards or Danny Briere of the Flyers, Brian Westbrook of the Eagles, and Ryan Howard of the Phils. I just can't bring myself to do it though. I know, star athletes get hurt, but with a track records like mine, can you blame me?