Well, I guess I got my answer!!! Only G.W. fans here. However, I still don't/won't buy "the sky is falling" attitude. Is it that bad in the States right now? The reason I ask is that I have not consistently lived in the U.S. for a few years now. Am serving overseas. At least I get to legally smoke ISOMs whenever I want! Anyway, I have traveled overseas and most of the Western European countries are somewhat "socialist." I suppose socialism equates more closely to the Democratic philosophy than Republican. Of course you can also equate the word Socialism with the U.S. military system (i.e. free medical care, reduced groceries, etc, etc). Not that it is really that great - don't want any of you to quit your job and sign up. But this you can believe or you can choose not to, but the bottom line is that it is not really that bad in many of these "socialist" countries. For example, I currently live in Germany and the people do pay a lot of taxes (of course they make more money as well), however, it gets back to them, albeit indirectly via medical care, beautiful community swimming pools, well maintained highways and residential streets. Also, I can take a walk during the wee hours of the morning and smoke my cigar and am not threatened by anyone wanting money, although some Serbians jumped an American last year, but that was politically motivated. Point is, it seems the people here are okay and maybe fairly well off. Am I, or all others who personally don't vote conservative, in favor of higher taxes in the U.S. Most definitely not!!! At least not in our country, because we all know the benefits are not equally distributed (see I have a little bit of conservatism in me). But let me get this straight from the comments posted. DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE BUSH WILL GIVE GOVERNMENT BACK TO THE PEOPLE. How many times have we heard that buzz phrase from politicians? Yes, from what I have seen, I feel conservative polices do not work. Not sure Democrat policies will ever work either. But I have just seen conservatism in full swing and feel it leaves out too many people. It was posted, "have I ever traveled to other nations and seen how they live." Yes I have. I have been to Bosnia and other assorted countries within the past three years. And for that reason, I disagree with G.W. about wanting to pull out of Bosnia. Remember Desert Storm. President Bush sent us in and we still have a contingent there and its probably better we do. What will we do, leave it to the Russians to start making/leading foreign policy in the Balkan region? In the Middle East? How long will that last. We have got that lead right now in world politics and we had better hold on to it. Oh well, the differences go on and on. In closing, just wanted to say that Gore is no magic bullet, neither is Bush. From my perspective, Gore seems to have more experience in Federal government policies and that could be in our countrie's favor. Also, from a distance, it appears that things have gotten better in the U.S. during the past eight years. And I am talking about normal day to day life (i.e. reduced crime rate, people generally better off, etc), not Clinton's escapades. But you ghys tell me. Is it that bad????
Out here.
WCP