Let's get serious

Clockface, Selfridges, London, with reflection of Oxford Street.

Just a little over six weeks until the election. SIX WEEKS! So we have to stop worrying about what despicable lies the right-wingers are spreading and help get out the vote. We have to focus  on the real issues of the campaign, not the stupid distractions pushed by the McCain-Palin Ticket to Nowhere. We cannot afford four more years of failed Republican policies.

We have to remind our friends and family and colleagues and acquaintances that Barack Obama's tax plan is the only one we can bear.  As the New York Times (and McClatchey and numerous media outlets) has reported, John McCain's ads on taxes are just plain false.

"THERE IS a serious debate to be had in this presidential campaign about the fundamentally different tax policies of Barack Obama and John McCain. Then there is the phony, misleading and at times outright dishonest debate that the McCain campaign has been waging..."

"The two candidates have very different positions on taxes. Mr. Obama wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and cut them substantially for low-and middle-income taxpayers. He would cut taxes for more households and by a larger amount, than Mr. McCain, who would give the greatest benefits to wealthy households and corporations."

That's pretty simple - McCain's tax plan favors the rich; Obama's tax plan helps the middle class and the poor. Many non-partisan economists have evaluated the two plans and agreed that Obama's makes the most economic sense for America. McCain even wants to tax our employment-based health insurance.

To learn more about Obama's positions on important issues that affect us all, visit his website.

To register to vote, go here. Like most Americans abroad, I will vote via absentee ballot.

To donate money - or your time and energy - to the campaign, go here.

Yes, we can.

It's up to each and every one of us. What kind of a future do we want for our children and our grandchildren? We can't sit idly by while our country falls apart. We must take action! It's our responsibility, as citizens (even if we happen to live abroad). I believe with all my heart that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the only candidates who offer any hope of our country getting back on track.

As Anne Lamott writes in Salon:

"Figure out one thing you can do every single day to be a part of the solution, concentrating on swing states. Money, walking precincts, registering voters, whatever. This is the only way miracles ever happen -- left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe. Right foot, left foot, right foot, breathe. The great novelist E.L. Doctorow once said that writing a novel is like driving at night with the headlights on: You can only see a little ways in front of you, but you can make the whole journey this way. It is the truest of all things; the only way to write a book, raise a child, save the world."

Comments

[stephanie]

Thanks for keeping it front and center Tara...

[Di Overton]

I really really hope you can. By the way I could do with that clock do you think it would work???

[My Mélange]

Yes we can!!!!

The Obama campaign is also looking for foot soldiers to go to swing states, especially Pennsylvania to work hard for him. If I could afford to take a few weeks off from work, I would gladly do it.

You can also sign up to make phone calls for the campaign. They give you a script and everything!!

I shudder to think of this county under a McCain/Palin RULE!!!!! AND I DO MEAN RULE!!!!

It won't take me long to explore living in Canada!!

[Nihal]

Hi Tara,
I would like to give you my award. It would be my pleasure if you would accept it! Your site really exceeded the high standards. A unique style, wit and wisdom meet here.
Please stop by my page to receive it.

Congratulations!

~N

[Allegra Smith]

I told my husband today that after reading some of McCain's comments I thought the appropriate byline should be: Dispatches from Oz. His reality, if one could call it that, is tinted by an ambition fueled by a disconnect that were it to be written in a book most of us would consider a suspend disbelief kind of fantasy. Unfortunately for our country it shows truly little respect for women and all our efforts toward establishing our rights and promoting equality.

History will judge us not by what we build but by what we destroy and one cannot help but to wonder how this election campaign will be judged by History. Tara, you are right, we must move on and work to erase this poison from the spirit of the country. Yes we can, and we will.

[Liz]

Thanks so much Tara for the positive words, for the get out there message and for the all around cut through the rubbish, cut through the fear and get out and vote, and think positively. I have found myself getting so mired in sadness and the blahs, listening to the liars lie, and the crazy-ness with all the Palin stuff... I have found I can't even speak about any of it, never mind watch or listen to the lame "news" this countries news agencies seem only to willing to embrace and stand behind. Thanks you Tara, for your sane voice in all of this crazi-ness.

[Rosa]

I am patiently waiting for the debates (and my OBAMA car magnets--I love to stir things up here in Republican country). I am hoping the debates will convince voters who is the best candidate for the job ahead. Let's see if the lies continue then.

[Wonders Never Cease]

Tara, thanks so much for this post and for the quote from Anne Lamott. I went to read the rest of her article, and it's fabulous. And so are you!
Becky

[rochambeau]

I'm praying!!!!!
For more on Mc Cain's deceptive ad campains and how out of hand it has become go here: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09122008/watch.html

thinking of YOU!!
xox
Constance

Thank you for this post!

[tangobaby]

One thing that strikes me about this piece is the writing on the clock: Turning back the hands of time. Don't we wish we could turn back the hands of time and erase the last 8 years of disasterous manipulation? And thank you for the quote from Anne Lamott. I'm glad to see that she's writing for Salon again.

The part about McCain wanting to tax our employer-provided healthcare almost leaves me speechless, but sadly, not surprised.

[sarah]

hi,

I believe your native country would be all round "better off" under the Democrats.

But, i just wondered what you thought about the controversy surrounding the BAIPA, not abortion not pro life/pro choice issues, the BAIPA?

[JanePoet ~ JP/deb]

You're so right. Other than staying on focused on the issues, the Obama campaign (and others like MoveOn.org) need to stay focused on igniting current voters & enrolling new voters. Each of us can do our part.

YES WE CAN!

xx,
JP/deb

[Sharon]

Those who receive health care insurance through their employer will also want to check out the Monday post at http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/ regarding The McCain health care plan to treat the employer share of your health insurance premium as income on which you would pay taxes. The McCain plan gives a $5,000 rebate to offset this, but for us it would still mean paying A LOT more in taxes. We would then have to search for insurance on the open market, IF IT IS AVAILABLE, since we have pre-existing conditions (and who doesn't by the time you reach middle age!) This represents a huge tax increase.

Tara responds:
And I wonder where McCain thinks the funds for those rebates will come from - thin air? More proof he is clueless about economic issues.