And from the "It Even Trickles Down To The Children" department:

I had a class of First Graders yesterday and we were chit-chatting at the beginning of class, as we often do.  Out of nowhere, this one girl says, "Obama is in a secret society.  That's what my daddy says."

"What?" I asked.  "That's not true.  Obama's not in some secret society."

"That's what my daddy says."

So I told her to go home and ask her daddy what secret society our president belongs to -- and if he doesn't know, say "Skull & Bones"

Okay, that part in italics isn't true... but there it is, my friends.  From the mouths of First Graders.

Christopher is correct - thanks to shitty minimum wage jobs like WalMart, tons of Americans have jobs - they just don't have jobs that, you know, pay the bills.

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My sister, who is a single mother with 2 kids, works at Wal-Mart and pays all her bills quite nicely. It's called living within your means.

No government assistance of any kind and 120.00 a month from the father in child support.

Most jobs at Wal-Mart are above minimum wage and raises are given every 6 months to employees who deserve them.

Certain jobs have a capped salary so an employee can't make over a certain amount. But it is significantly above minimum wage.

I am mystified by people whose order of preference is Clinton, McCain, Obama.  If you are voting based on anything other than personality, it does not make sense. 

Obama makes poor (or no) choices and has poor judgement.  The thing that turned me completely against Obama, to the point of prefering a 3rd Bush term, was the whole Rev. Wright thing.  Obama was caught in lies when he said he had no idea that Wright had ever said those things and then when it was proven that he did he changed it to he didn't agree with those things.  I have explained, to death, exactly why it has zero to do with religion and everything to do with Obama fully endorsing and supporting everything Rev. Wright believes in.

It's a case of actions (or lack of actions) speak louder than words.  The fact that he would stay a member of that organization, allow his children to be members and remain close to Rev. Wright for 20 frickin' years and only back away when it helps him politically proves that.  Obama's words don't matter.  His actions do.  A man who takes 20 years to see the error of his ways is not a man who can be depended on to make quick, sound judgements as the most powerful man on the planet.

But what about this or what about that?  It doesn't matter.  He's a proven liar (like all politicians) who has also been proven to have extremely poor judgement and decision making skills.  No amount of discussion will change my mind on that. 

Obama has a few "abstains" on his record back in Ill, but the majority of votes, he can be counted for - I get where you're coming from, but despite what some in the media are saying, he does have a researchable voting record in both the US Senate and from his time in Ill.

Mike, yes he does.  He obstained 447 times out of 1,178 votes.  That's 37.95% of the time.  That's a whole lot more than a "few"

http://www.opencongress.org/people/voting_history/400629_bar ack_obama/1

to the point of prefering a 3rd Bush term

This isn't directed to Scott -- it just a general statement.  I get tired of seeing that statement because I think its unfair.  I think its really just politicized bullshit.  McCain's first term will not be Bush's third term.  That is political spin.  Some policies of the Bush administration will continue if McCain is elected, but I do not believe that the executive branch will have the same players that are there now.  An argument that George H. W. Bush's term was a continuation of Reagan's is somewhat (though not entirely) fair because many of the same players from the Reagan-Bush administration remained.  McCain and Bush have differed significantly from each other on many issues -- including how Iraq should have been handled, tax cuts (without the appropriate cuts in spending) and torture (I still can't believe I have to write that last one).

John McCain will (obviously) implement republican policies but if his history is correct he will also work across the aisle to accomplish what he wants -- meaning he listens to the otherside and is not strictly bound to partisan politics.  Thats something Bush has never done.  Saying that a McCain presidency would be the 3rd Bush term is like saying Obama will bring Wright's politics to the White House -- its simply spin that is not supported by the candidate's public record.

How could there be a 'literal 3rd Bush term'?

I agree with Scott. Since the GOP derided a possible Gore presidency as 'Clinton's 3rd term', both parties are guilty of using that phrase. This seems to have become shorthand for any situation where a two-term President could be succeeded by the candidate of the same party. It really is nothing more than another one of those mindlessly-repeated  'talking point' phrases that we all get sick of hearing.