The middle class is about to be destroyed and seniors who are on medicare are about to be dropped off the face of the earth, which by the way we each worked and earned it is not a gift.All Mitt wants is America to only have rich and ultra rich

All I ask anyone to do is do the homework. Stop living up to the hype that we are lazy Americans. Don't let talking heads tell you what is happening, we are in the 21st century with info at our fingertips. Use your fingertips and find out for yourself. If you don't understand something, ask someone who is smarter than you are. A start is factcheck.org , politicheck.org (or .com - ??)

If you know someone who hasn't signed up to vote. Get them over to gottavote.org or their nearest voter registration office. I don't care who you vote for, just DO it based on knowledge and facts that you know to be true.

If a person is too stupid to see the damage done from 3.5 years of Obama, I'd prefer that they not vote at all. It doesn't take a genius to understand the Marxist goals of Obama. He wrote all about it in his own books. He's living it now and America is suffering for it.

The average American, unfortunately, doesn't understand bacic economics or how business works. If they did, they'd see that Romney is exactly what we need. When you see those obama commercials about people losing their jobs, remember that it's smoke and mirrors to play on your emotion. Romney took businesses that were failing (100% loss of jobs) and reworked them so that over a thousand were able to get employment (low job loss). In business, in order to make a company succeed, you have to scrap the old one to build a new one. Those people are offered something to compensate. The man in the commercial whose wife died after he lost his job was offered to continue his insurance coverage. He refused. Obama's team didn't tell you that in the commercial, did they? I urge those who think older citizens will lose out, remember that Romney's plan in his state. Older citizens were taken care of. P. Reinhardt, I urge you to do some research instead of believing what commercials and Democrat talking points tell you. Those "rich" people are business owners who create jobs-millions of them. It's not Richie Rich comic book people, but job creators. Democrats, when in office, tax, tax, tax until people are fully reliant on government. If we let him go another 4 years, we'll all be close to it. You watch, mark my words, the middle class will be taxed more. It's already begun.

Wealth Envy is destroying this country. If you have a problem with the Rich and affluent, perhaps you need to work a little smarter and harder so that you can join them. Stop looking in other peoples wallets for solutions to your lack of effort.

Only time is going to fix the economy......Theres nothing obama or romney can do

Paul Ryan's enthusiasm for zombie-eyed granny starving reforms makes Reagan look like Henry Wallace.Ryan wants to ruin social security and medicare and turn both over to the wall street and the health insurance vultures.This should make those elderly Florida voters happy. Mr. President,you can start learning to hum that old democratic campaign song"Happy Days are Here Again".

What are you people smoking? Where do you get your interpretation of Ryan's proposal there George? If you can't understand, have someone who does explain it to you. Ryan's plan is not to affect the elderly one bit. Medicare cannot survive, nor SS on the path that they're on. Common sense man. Who's going to pay for it? You? The Chinese?

Craig? Go back to sleep. You too have no clue.

Thank you Republicans, you can all go home now.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce to you the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan! ~ Mitt Romney

Ted, you are correct. I never read either of Obama's books. You got me. I do however have them both on audio and managed to stomach them both just to know how he feels. He doesn't talk much these days like he does in his books.

"The proposal of any new law or regulation which comes from [businessmen],
ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be
adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the
most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order
of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who
have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who
accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it."
-- Adam Smith

But there are things Obama is doing and will do to make it worse.

The United States and Freedom will not survive a second term of Obama.

This will be real hope. Fiscal Responsibility, Fiscally Conservative, Equal Opportunities without Government Intervention of [bs] Equal Outcome. Unlike the Buffoons that post their ignorant, DNC Talking Points, this is the chance to finally put America Back On Track the right way. Had Obama really wanted to Help American, he would have done so by opening up every avenue of national energy production this country has to offer. How many of you blind fools in the DNC do not understand that when BO took office gas shot up to over $3.50 a gallon. DOUBLE...and has stayed there. No, I'm not blaming BO for that (...blame other folks is what BO does best...although BO did specially want $8 gln. gas) my point is the what this did was effectively took approx.$260billion dollars of the everyday American citizens discretionary spending and moved it to one entity; Big Oil. Do the math and your own research...that equates to about 7.5million jobs at about 35k a year. But...what did Obama do. Bail out his union buddies at GM, ram down the Americans Throat this new freaking Healthcare Tax that no one wants. BO has done everything in his power to tare down the very fabric of our capitalist society. No more of the most divisive and opaque President in History. Obama....you're Fired!

Ed said: Sorry George, but the Republicans don't control the Senate.

Exactly. In fact, many democrats are standing with Republicans at this time. In fact, there were many democrats that stood against obamacare, but you won't hear that from the partisan groups. Now that the partisan crap (translation: Don't let facts get in the way of my opinion) has started, I guess I'll bow out. Won't find an intelligent conversation at this point.
And to the person that said the rich aren't small businesses, you are right, they make very little after the gov't guts them and double taxes them. But mr. obama sees them as "rich". You forgot that. In order to produce a million jobs, you need big corporations like Staples and other such big business people. They are necessary to our economy. Seeyou guys at the beginning of the next discussion. The thread has been hijacked. :(
CK- fantastic post. Look at Nebraska and their 3.6% unemployment rate. Imagine what it would be like if the gov't would watch what they are doing right and follow suit. BHO won't allow us to open up these areas (NW, and Alaska) b/c of being beholden to environmental groups. Funny thing is, if we don't China will (oh, it already is looking at it).

Brian - that may be so, but they are incredibly silent on it, aren't they? If they believed it to be low blows, they should say so. Of course, they don't, because it will benefit BHO.

OK. After today. LOL I just won't respond to stupid argumentative remarks. But I do want to report what I find out. Here is a response from Paul Ryan concerning Medicare:
A debate about the future of Medicare is overdue. Unfortunately President Obama frightens seniors with false charges about our plan, while staying silent about how he has already changed Medicare forever. His health care law put a board of 15 unelected bureaucrats in charge of cutting Medicare.
Senior citizens should be greatly concerned about Democrats’ efforts to stop true Medicare reform, because this will result in painful benefit cuts for current recipients. Our budget makes no changes for those in or near retirement and keeps the protections that have made Medicare a guaranteed promise for seniors over the years. President Obama will push us further in the wrong direction on taxes. He is committed to taking more from the paychecks of hard-working Americans – not to pay down the debt, but to chase ever-higher government spending.
Only with the right leadership in place can we move forward with ideas that renew the American promise of leaving our children a stronger nation than the one our parents left us.

What kills me is the uninformed liberals posting here TRYING to sound like logical. It's the biggest hoot of the century! Delve into their "logic" or question them further in an effort to get any specifics out of them and their argument falls apart like a wet paper bag. It's rhetoric and talking points vomited out by a contingent of desperate, utopia-minded ideologues with no clue about what makes a society work, economically or socially. But THEY know what's best for the rest of us. Heck, just LISTEN to them and they'll tell you! It's as if they just want to hear themselves saying things that make them FEEL good. One word: asinine. Time for the cretins and entitlement takers and enablers to get OUT OF THE WAY.

I think my post challenged YOU and your ilk about providing specifics. You haven't done that. It's in YOUR court, pal. You lay out for ME how Obama has done ONE thing that has helped this country. It's obvious his agenda is to back gov't workers and unions above all else. Tell me how THAT isn't true to start with and we'll go from there, bright boy. I don't need show transcripts, as you put it. I gather facts and figures without all the other gobbledy goop you spit out.

He plugged an oil spill? With what, his finger? Please Brian, you insult us with your list.

@Brian,
Well said and all true.I would also add that he has increased our influence and prestige abroad.I mention this only because Romney made such a mess of his trip overseas.

Saved the auto industry? Ford didn't need help. GM should have filed bankruptcy.as per law. Rescued the economy? No, not yet. Jobs? Give me a break! JOBS? REALLY? Laughable at best. Democrat talking points. Always the same ole garbage. This country is heading in the direction of Greece and you guys claim success. WOW!!!

I'm in and out. I don't have time to sit here all day. My life cannot revolve around arguing with libs. I enjoy the debunking process, but alas, life intercedes. I can't wait to sit down and address BC's "list" though. It's laughable at best. I have a rebuttal for each and every "credit" he gives Obama (or better said... that Obama gives himself and is just parroted by BC and others). I'll be back....

Obama's accomplishments ~ ~ ~
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/march_april_2012/features/obamas_top_50_accomplishments035755.php

~OR~

http://pleasecutthecrap.typepad.com/main/what-has-obama-done-since-january-20-2009.html

Just trying to save our freedom there Brian. You folks think unemployment and welfare payments create jobs. Spending Spending Spending. Conservitives understand where spending has gotten us and where it is taking us.

Two Solid years in the white house, both houses of congress and an 850 Billion dollar stimulus filure and you blame republicans for blocking job creation?
I don't remeber the republicans blocking the Keystone Pipeline. I do however remember Obama's moratorium on drilling in the Gulf and elsewhere. Meanwhile sending taxpaid dollars to Brazil and telling them that we want to be their customer. HUH? Lot's of jobs lost with all of those genius moves.

Unemployment?? You want to blame unemployment on Obama? Hate to say it, but it isn't just the GOP's complete lack of support for any job creation bills that have kept the unemployment rate high - I used to work as a supervisor in staffing - it's also all the veterans who have come back from serving our country that contribute to the unemployment lines. There's an unhappy end to all the wars we started on billions of credit - and these veterans can't get adequate mental health care, medical care, and they definitely aren't being well received by those who have jobs available. Their experiences in Afganistan and Iraq don't qualify as viable work experience. No one wants to hire them! They gave years of their life in what they thought was service to our country and come back to crap. I worked with one young man, 24 years old, who had supervised over 80 people. He came to me with a resume that reflected his experience working at Subway before his tour of duty with the Army. I asked him why in the world he did not list his supervisory experiences in the Army. He said that so many employers had told him that he was "overqualified" that he had dumbed down his resume just to try to get a minimum wage job. Why in the heck do you think Scott Olsen was injured out at Occupy Wall Street in Oakland, CA, or why John Ahearn, Jr. was out at Occupy Wall Street right here in Athens, GA? They see that they have been duped!!

And another thing - you economic genius conservatives say cut welfare, food stamps, and other "entitlement" programs? What they heck do you think is going to happen when you take the poorest of the poor in a sluggish economy and take the food from their Mamas? The crime rate all over the nation is going to skyrocket. You are going to piss of an already volatile, vulnerable, distrusting population of people. Your tax bills are going to freak you out more than I can adequately convey in this post when you get the local law enforcement and Armed National Guard bills that are going to be added to the taxpayer debts. You think things are going to get better in the already disabled public schools if you cut free lunch? You think the general ed kids of the working class and middle class who can't afford to send their kids to private schools are going to get smarter as you turn up the heat on those living in poverty? I'm not saying there aren't problems with those living in the welfare cycle, but cutting the funds without a plan to put those people to work is effing crazy. What do you think happened to Eve Carson? One of our city's finest young graduates, off at college - the victim of violent crime. All of you who have daughters and sons out there on the streets better think before you yank social programs that mollify the poverty stricken.

And another thing, we genius conservatives think you guys should quit providing FREE cell phones to crack heads.

Let's not forget the private sharks that are more than happy to charge the taxpayers to lock up the drug dealers, drug users, and violent criminals who end up on the wrong paths when they can't make it in our society. All of you will be more than happy to smile from ear to ear as your taxpayer debt increases with the cost of feeding, housing, and providing free medical care to those incarcerated. Heck, we're building a new jail right here in sunny Athens, GA as we speak. All this kvetching about your taxpayer dollars that go to public schools, but I don't hear a freaking peep out of the conservatives about what is costs to house criminals that we consider the throwaways of society. All of you, so busy counting your after tax dollars, the gas costs for your SUVs, buying your shiny new shoes for church on Sundays, praising Jesus, and yet you spit at the poor, wish they were shoveling your dog's crap or getting their thumbs cut off in poultry plants instead of accepting a food stamp card. All the while, voting for the best tax deal for the wealthy, while the billionaire banks protect their own interest, the manufacturers all move their jobs overseas, and people like your hero Romney invest in overseas countries. Your postergirl, Michelle Bachman, who revives McCarthyism with her racist accusations against Huma Abedein, all while she quietly works toward expatriatism, applying for Swiss citizenship. I'm sure you believe that there's a fine place in heaven for yourselves.

I agree - I have a personal faith with a belief in heaven - but I'm not going to make it there without considering the needs of the poor and the elderly.

I'm wrong if I try to generalize all conservatives. I'm also a liberal and DO believe in personal responsibility. As a single female parent, I have moved furniture, stayed up late working a second job writing articles for online companies while also going to school. As a college student, delivered pizza and washed piles of oil drenched cast iron skillets and wrenched my back waiting tables for five years while going to college. I rented one bedroom in a nice house for 4 months right after my ex left - sharing it with both kids and my dog. I have seen some rough times and I have ALWAYS sought work. I think people feel better about themselves when they work their way out of poverty. However, I think some people are less hireable for desirable work than others. You've got to learn how to present yourself and you've got to have some skills and education. Some people don't know how to gain these skills or don't come from an environment that values education. My 91-year old Grandfather likes to talk about what it was like to be a farmer after the welfare programs were put in place. "We just couldn't get anybody to pick the cotton anymore." he said. Well, can you really blame people for not wanting to do the worst work historically designated them?

I think we have people in America who have stopped loving themselves enough to care about pride in society. Self love and self respect come from deep within yourself - if you're like my friend who was a foster kid for all of his childhood after age 4 and is now a successful professional.....but more consistently, self love and self respect come from others who instill those values within yourself. Your caregivers have got to have that kind of self love, self respect, and TIME to be able to instill those values. And now, my online friends, I come full circle with the last 2 days of posted opinions - THAT IS WHY IT IS SO CRUCIAL THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT LOVE CHILDREN - AND ONLY PEOPLE WHO LOVE CHILDREN - WORKING IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS - PARTICULARLY IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

I agree. That's why first we must start by getting rid of the Department Of Education and parents need to stand up aganst the Teachers Unions.

Obama and the democrats protect the unions and they are purposely failing to provide our youth with quality education.

I disagree with Obama and I disagree with many liberals on Education - I want more choice schools and I wholly support the charter school movement in GA. I believe that competition would create a better market for education if parents had more choices about where to send their kids to schools. The sad part of it will be that those with the lowest incomes who value Education the least will likely have children suffering in what remains of the public school systems.

Okay, so let's get rid of the Board Of Education and fix the public school systems. Unions are a very big problem.

...or circumvent the Board of Education and use a state agency to approve charter schools in our area so parents have at least one other public choice when it comes to their kids' educations.....CHARTER SCHOOLS........

My mistake. I meant to say the Department Of Education. We both agree that it needs to be fixed. Unfortunately, there is too much apathy umong American citizens. Too many movies to watch, too much TV and video games.

This pick seems like an attempt to satisfy and excite the tea party and perhaps some of the traditional base. There's nothing wrong with rallying the troops - that's part of the process with both major parties. For the most part, Gov. Romney had them at "Hello." It would have been wise to pick a moderate to capture the independents in the swing states. The ticket will have a challenging time selling their vision to the center. It will be an interesting election indeed. Hopefully, we will witness debates dealing in specific economic plans. The Romney/Ryan ticket will have a good chance if they stick with economics instead of social issues. Stay tuned.

WOW! Great debates! The bottom line the problems in this country want be solve, we have been debating the same issues since the beginning of the 20th century. The leaders in our country don't have solutions they have suggestions and ideas and nothing has solve the problems they just put band-aids on a bleeding wound that needs surgery. If we stop looking at individuals to solve the problems and start looking at local cities, state , and federal governments working together to make changes and solving issues instead of patching them up for a couple years! Obama or Romney want solve these problems. Our country base is greed, power, dishonesty, and self empowerment! Until we learn that chaos and years of bad legislating takes years to solve our basic economics problems the debate will continue with NO true solutions.

Government is the only truly greedy organization we come into contact with. No matter how many stores they open or how much advertising they do, Walmart cannot make a person shop there. No matter how low an interest rate they offer or how many ATMs they have, Bank of America cannot make us bank there. No matter how many billions he has or how cute his Geico commercials may be Warren Buffet can't make us buy from his Berkshire-Hathaway companies.

We, as individuals, choose what businesses to spend our money with, what people to interact with, where to go to work, how to decorate our homes, and what hobbies to enjoy. The government is the only entity which can force our interaction with their agents, can force our money into their coffers, and can force us to accept what is in our “best interest” whether we have any interest in it or not.

Government needs and desires must be suppressed - taking a backseat to the desires and needs of private citizens in their homes and in their businesses. Government should not impose its wants and needs, its desires and sensibilities, or its aesthetic on the community, its citizens, or its businesses.

Although I am skeptical of all members of the government, Mr. Ryan seems most in line with my philosophy of small, unobtrusive government.

@ North Georgia Weather: "How is AYP a crock?" Ask any Educator and they'll tell you. Just one small example: Have you ever seen a non-verbal 9-year old child being fed skittles for 15 minutes straight every time he correctly identifies the region of the country where the Appalachian Mountains exist? Have you ever watched that same 9-year old being photographed exhibiting that skill for 25 minutes? That's just one ridiculous example of an AYP requirement. Teachers can't work more with students who have special needs on the actual things that they need to learn - instead, they must focus on training them to learn information they will most likely never use. They can't spend more time on remediating prior standards that didn't get absorbed, because we've got to meet AYP. If you take a group of 6-year olds, or 10-year olds, and treat them like prison inmates all year, but they all pass the CRCTs at the end of the year - that's not a school I want my child attending. Ask any Educator you know.

North Georgia Weather - so you believe that the AYP measurements adequately measure the level of learning going on in a school?

It was Federal law, another example of the long arm of the government.

Now, with the Common Core, we'll have a much more rigorous curriculum. We will now be using the PARCC Assessment (http://www.parcconline.org/)
instead of the old CRCT.

One thing about charter schools. Charter schools on average spend $3000 more per child than a public school and but don't score any higher than public school students. If you want the best education you can buy, you need to choose a private school.

And talking about Georgia ranking low when compared to other states, check out the test they use to get their scores. I've been told by administrators that many of the test used by various states are "dumbed down" and not anywhere close to being as difficult as our CRCT. And when you compare the US to other countries, we are the only country that test every child. One example is England, by a certain age (15 I believe) a student will choose either a technical or college path. Only the college path kids get tested.

Be very cautious when presented with testing numbers and make sure you're comparing apples to apples, more often than not, you aren't.

I've heard that before about comparing apples to apples - that makes sense. The thing about private schools is that they cost money - hence the belief that only elitists attend them. Charter schools will not cost the public money, so people who are doing their jobs with their children will have an opportunity for a better Education if their neighborhood public school is not a good choice. I think it would be wise to emphasize more vocational ed - it's working in other parts of the world, like Finland. Then you don't lose 33% of the students because they feel like they're not making the grades to be college material.

The thing is - I'm not just concerned with the testing numbers! If the charter school is on the same level with the public school as far as test scores - well, it would be nice if the test scores were better, but as a parent, that's not all I'm looking for in a school. I'm looking for school culture, for elements that engage my child in the learning process and get him excited about going to school. Arts Integrated schools are like this. This is an example of a charter school I would LOVE to see in our area. I don't really care if my kid grows up to go to MIT - I hope he goes to a good college - but maybe he'd rather be an auto mechanic. It's his choice. I just want him to grow up with a curiosity toward the world, an appreciation for his potential, and an attitude with standards of kindness for others and expectations of the same for himself.

I think there needs to be a vocational path, not every kid is college material. GCPS has slowly reduced the number of vocational classes. My daughter went through the cosmetology program and has gone on to become a hair dresser. I think in a lot of cases that path is better than the college route.

it isn't about Charter schools, public schools or private schools. What matters most for students doing well is parent involvement. A child that has a parent that gets involved and cares how they do in school will generally do better vs a child with parents who don't care.

Greg Williams - agree. I have 2 kids - both who have been through public schools. With the first - we were in one elementary school for 6 years. Then we were re-zoned. I visited the new school, met with the new Principal, observed classes in session. I felt ok about the change. Then things did not seem right as the first grade year progressed. When I came in for meet your teacher day, neither the teacher nor the parapro said a WORD to us after hello, and we were the only ones in the classroom. Then, if I visited the school, I was barred from the classroom. When I visited, months into the year, there was nothing on the teacher's bulletin board outside this teacher's room, and the walls inside were nearly bare. At birthday parties, I heard parents complaining that the teacher was too hard on their kids, that this teacher yelled at them a lot. I defended this teacher, said that my child had not had any negative reports, but that he really refused to tell me much at all. My child always got 4's in "Respects Authority," so I thought that my child was with a stern teacher, but that he was learning to be respectful and orderly. When I visited the classroom at the end of the year, I observed behavior toward another student that was very unbecoming of an Educator. I did not want to report it; I had hoped to get a job in the school. Another parent at a sports event reported disturbing observations toward treatment of the same child.

At that point I felt obliged to report. I did so, in a long letter to the Principal. The following year, in a wonderful Educator's room, my child began to report disturbing treatment of the children the previous year, including being yelled at for giving the wrong answer. He was 6 years old at that time. That same year, I was denied access to the room once, for an understandable reason, but denied access all the same. At the end of that year, I requested SPECIFICALLY that my child not be placed in one teacher's room the following year, due to HORRIBLE unsolicited recommendations from other parents. After my child's first grade year, I did not have to be told twice. Despite my request, my child was put into that teacher's room. I tried to work on a different classroom assignment with the Principal, but none would be forthcoming. I refused to leave my child with a person I wouldn't trust to watch my child for an hour, based on the references. We moved, 2 days before school started...and people wonder why so many good families move to Oconee County. I VOTE FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS. If I had owned my home, I would have had to work and I wouldn't have been able to put my child in private school. I WANT MORE CHOICES FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND.

What I think of the Ryan pick . . . :D He'll show the hard heart of the Republican Party even better than Mitt. That won't play well with independents. I do understand all the Republican anger and angst. I would feel the same way if Mitt were my candidate. Too bad you guys passed over Huntsman . . . but since he served his country under a Democratic admin he was off limits. Buddy Roemer would have been better than Mitt, or even Pawlenty. There were better choices.

Taxpayers also get the health care benefts from the ACA.

That's right, Greg. Woodall's motto---I've got mine and I'm going to keep mine while I make sure you lose yours....

I saw Obama yesterday claiming the new job numbers are proof that his policies are working and that we are in an economic recovery... Fact is, that is not the truth, or even close to the truth...
First, the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9% and the year-to-date monthly average of 157,000 payroll jobs is barely enough to keep up with population growth -- much less make up for the 8 million jobs lost during the Great Recession.
Second, the so-called real unemployment rate (U6) remains elevated at 14.6%, albeit down from 14.7% the prior month. Similarly, the labor participation rate is at 63.8%, up from its multi-decade low but still incredibly weak.
Third, average hourly earnings fell a penny in October and average hours worked fell to 34.4 from 34.5 in September.
Stagnant wages means "we're not generating income," Reinhart says. "That's a problem in terms of the durability of an economic expansion, which is usually fueled by consumption. To get consumption you've got to generate income."
Also, just look at your checkbook. We are paying a lot more for everything now than we did in 2008. The price of gas has doubled. At the same time, wages have gone down, and that's if you're lucky to have a job.
In 2008, 25 banks went out of business. In 2012, 48 banks have gone out of business. Almost double the amount. Does that sound like recovery to you? Don't believe the Obama lies!!

Romney/Ryan 2012

Please don't let Obama sweep Benghazi under the rug...
Lets not forget those four who were left to be slaughtered in Benghazi... Do not reward Obama for this epic failure…

Every voter needs to read this excellent article... Very well worth your time...

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/11/01/benghazi-obamas-core-deceit/

These are pretty good as well:

http://www.gazette.com/opinion/romney-146793-obama-benghazi.html

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/dgreenfield/benghazigate-obamas-many-lies-about-libya/

http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50657

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/10/25/CBS-Busts-Obama--and-Itself-Hidden-60-Minutes-Clip-Proves-White-House-Lied-About-Benghazi

Romney/Ryan 2012