Romney and Guiliani both talk about tax cuts.
I make under $100k a year and have yet to see any real change in taxes regardless who has been president. So who is really reaping the benefits, the wealthy. This is taking place when spending is at an all time high, creating a deficit. Rather than paying off the deficit legitamately, Bush decides to print more money, devaluing the dollar world wide, making gas and other products more expensive, we might not see it until after the elections, but these numbers are going to sky rocket.
They both talk about the famous trickle down theory of tax cuts or at least imply that new jobs will be created–wrong. Just look at the structure of Walmart, controlled by a family with the largest wealth in the country.
Walmart pays it employees crap. Gives pathetic benefits. So with the tax cuts, the Walton family is able to increase its personal wealth to record highs, help the Chinese economy and let 1/4 million employees scrape by for another year.
So much for trickle down

Sadly this country is unaware of the impact that centralized wealth will play in our future.
In 50 years, using current trends, .005% of our countries population will control over 50% of its wealth. We will see our countries first trillionaire. Elections will be bought and sold by these people. They will control the value of the dollar and will be more powerful than Congress and the President. They will make or destroy other countries economies. Chinas standard of living will have surpased ours. Basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing will be given freely to all citizens, much like maintaining cattle.
A revolution will not occur because of basic needs being met.
Sickness will be at an all time high due to reliance on pharmaceutical drugs and our environment and food supply
The average person will have to take over 50 pills just to go about there daily lives.
The worlds food supply will be controlled by 1 corporation who will dole out seed stock at a ridiculous rate because the produce does not reproduce seed anymore. (Monsanto)
Most people will not own real estate, because it will be too expensive.

Currently Pres. Bush thinks our country is doing well because the standard of living is good, although personal wealth accumulation of most of our citizens does not exceed infation rates, a few amass unbelivable wealth.

The only thing that will truly save our country would be to restructure the way corporations are allow to distribute profits. If a company looses money, why should the ones at the top continue to receive outrageous salaries and stock options. This insures the rich will continue to grow there wealth at an alarming rate.

The answer to your question is very simple. I dont just identify myself as a Christian. I believe very strongly in the Christian faith as it is written in the Bible.

Taking the time to read, study, and understand the Bible will lead to the knowledge that eternal life comes from faith in Jesus. So yes, I am sure I have a ticket to heaven because it is written in the Bible, and that is my belief.

I hope this helps to clarify. Take care.

You are a very sad person. My prayers are with you bother! You really need them!

How correct you are. People believe that our country was founded on Judeo Christian principles, but there is no evidence of this and much evidence to support our founding fathers as made up many atheists and agnostics and separatists. I wish people would actually read history instead of simply believing what they were told to believe.

To Chris in Kalamazoo -

You premise is false. Atheist don't begin with faith. Faith is a belief that is not based on proof. Atheists don't believe what cannot be proven. According to the Bible, Faith is the essence of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. I don't peg truth on what i hope is true. I don't use mythological literature to fill in the gaps of what is not yet understood. It's ludicrous to do so. Christians are no different than Muslims, Jews, or the ancient pantheistic Romans. All believed they owned the truth because they were told they did by someone else.

It's funny that if someone wrote or told us that the earth were a cube, we'd probably laugh and ask them to prove it. When someone tells us about god/jesus/mohammed/etc. we shy away of questioning because we give religion some type of radical immunity from the scrutiny that we place on other subjects. It's time to strip away that immunity. If someone is going to make radical assertions, they have the burden of proof upon THEM, not the other way around. The inability to disprove there is a god also does not make it likely that there IS a god. I can no more disprove the invisible flying unicorn in the clouds than I could disprove god. If I believed there were an invisible flying unicorn in the sky, the burden would be upon ME to prove it, especially if I wanted everyone to live their lives by its teachings.

People like to label Atheists as arrogant because they require proof and don't blindly accept popular religious dogma. What I believe is arrogant is to believe there is some god who is YOUR own personal savior, listens to YOUR prayers, and is taking YOU to heaven. This is the height of arrogance. It's divisive and delusional. Delusional is what a Christian would call a Muslim, or an ancient Roman, or even someone who believed in the Harry Potter books in present day. What makes them any different?

Anthony

One difference is that Obama doesn't wear it on his sleeve and push it onto others, and make it part of his platform. That's how it's supposed to be.

Agree with the poster that it's odd we haven't seen anything about this.............. yet. I'm sure it will come out though, when the going gets tougher.

Looks like you need to read THE book...THE BIBLE!

If the after life that Christians believe in is real, then we have EVERYTHING to gain...eternal life.

If it is not real, then we have NOTHING to lose.

Your choice not to believe seems to be the risk. So go ahead and keep living with your views......eternal life will march on with out you!

You will lie all through the primaries. Wake up America, Hickupbee has got to go, the republican party doesn't even like him! they want him out!

Bill g. salem IN, your just a Hickupbee goon who doesn't know what your talking about, stay in your state and watch t.v. huh.

Go Mitt!

" January 13, 2008 2:02 am ET

If you don't vote for Huckabee, you don't love Jesus. A vote for Huckabee is a vote for the son of god. You don't want to vote against god, do you?"

I LOVE IT!!!!! It is this exact mentality that scares the liver out of me. With people like Dale Davis behind Huckabee, we ought to be shaking in our boots. Dale – go back to your TV evangelist, put your hands on the TV and "FEEEEEEEEL the love, brotha...."

Guess what Dale. I DO love Jesus. And Huckabee would be the LAST person on earth I'd vote for. He is the most scary of all the candidates across the board.... He would use his great sword of 'religion' to divide asunder our country – like he's done to the Republican Party. Just say no to the Huckabigot......

dear god in heaven thanks for letting me president, ill try and keep the earmarks to the church to a reasonable amount, and with your help ill show these muslims that there is only one god and your it, amen president huck

Let us put Romney and the "Limbaugh Liberals" behind us and unite the real Republican party!

It's true, America is not a Theocracy. If that's what you're afraid it would be come if Huckabee became president, then please think a little harder. America is not an Atheocracy either. The founding fathers put in a seperation of church and state so that the government would not establish a state faith. It is not so that faith did not play apart in government. Because faith is the starting point of everything you know. Christian, Morman, Atheists....they all start their worldviews with faith, it's just a question of 'faith in what?'

Huckabee should be seeking support from people that want him to follow the constitution. See how you've been duped into the class/group mindset. Race, religion,creed or sex need not be addressed at all. See?

Pay attention now, lest you get completely brainwashed.

Where are the political issues being discussed when it comes to Huckabee, as I think Ike pointed out?

However, if Huckabee were to address a large group of people that included ministers who were not there in their "minister" capacity, then I think it's a different story. He can seek the support of anyone, as Aaron points out.

So I'll repeat my point. Get religion out of politics.

I'm with Bob, though. Women should be worried about this guy–and Romney too.
I think John Irving's "Cider House Rules" should be required reading for everyone.

Using church lists to contact people for polictical reasons is unethical. Talking to church members in other social settings about politics is not and being appreciative of the support of good Christians is not.

I have no problem with people who want to gather in churches and profess their faith in a god.....much like I have no problem with people talking about vampires or leprechauns or unicorns. However, I do have a problem when those people leave the churches and begin to push their beliefs onto other people and attempt to include their beliefs in the laws and policies of my country.

The people who support Huckabee are the same who support the teaching of creation science and intelligent design in schools. They are the same who want to overturn Rowe Vs. Wade, who want to prevent our children from learning about safe sex, who think homosexuality is a sin and who fear anything outside of their narrow realm of understanding.

I cannot in good conscience allow this country to be further degredated by such and anachronistic and unreasonable way of thinking. The evangelical populous is truly behind the times and as intolerant as they come. Furthermore, they do nothing to abolish their ignorance and continue to revel in the indoctrination they have received. Is it any wonder that this way of thinking has the highest occurances in the poor and undereducated communities?

Huckabee is a step backwards. His supporters will watch this country march on without them. They can only resist truth and reason for so long before the very fire feeding their myths is extinguished forever.

Wow, that was painfully one of the least informed statements ever. Look up a scripture in the Bible if you are going to use it. I don't mind Huckabee using it, because it is a perfectly acceptable statement if one understands it. It doesn't tell men to submit to their wives, at least not in those words. It states that women should sumbit to their husbands AS(great big conditional) husbands submit themselves to the Lord.

That aside, his wasn't a case of Huckabee talking to his friends who happened to be pastors. This was a case of Huckabee talking to ministers in order to get them to use their influence as ministers over their congregations to vote for him. That is the issue.

Aaron,

You are partially right. If anyone thinks that a President has the power to enforce his or her religion on the populous then they don't understand what powers the President does and doesn't have.
As for your comments about seeking the Christian vote, ALL of the candidates are Christian. And yes, people would be up in arms if Obama met with many prominent African Americans and asked them to use all of their influence to get votes for Obama because he was BLACK. Hillary has never said, though she might believe, I don't know, that women should vote for her because she is a woman. Obama has never done the same because he is African-American. The usually say vote for me because blah, blah, blah. Huckabee is different. He is asking ministers to tell their congegrations to vote for him because he is "one who has come from us". If he said vote for someone who is pro-life and anti-gay marriage (I substituted anti-gay marriage for anti-gay, because i hope people on the blog really don't Hate gay people) and I hope the person YOU personally choose is me, that would have been fine.

Good job proving your ignorance. Mitt didn't inherit his dad's money. His dad worked his way to the top of American motors. Mitt went to college and his dad helped him out. That never happens in america. What a silver spoon? He graduated in the top of his class. When he went to grad school, he didn't have any financial support from his parents. He graduated in the top of both Harvard business and Harvard Law. After grad school he moved on to Bain & Company, which is one of the most prestigeous consulting businesses in the US. He left Bain & Company and started Bain Capital, still no help from dad. Bain Capital was an enourmously successful venture capital group. Then, Bain & Company was doing poorly and asked him back so he turned it around and it became a great company again. So his dad gave hime a few thousand for school and then he made hundreds of millions on his own. Yep sounds to me it all happened because his dad set it up and he did nothing. Good think you support Huckabee who has what PROFESSIONAL expertice?

In the event that Mitt Romney does not win the nomination, then history will show that Mike Huckabee pulled off the political crime of the century. It was Mike Huckabee that raised religious issues among Iowa evangelicals by comments toward Romney's religion. As Huckabee's tactics started to show in the Iowa polls, Mitt responded with his "Faith in America" speech. Romney was then forced to work on damage control. Romney's efforts in Iowa paid off and he continued to rise back in the polls but the damage gave him a second in a state he held firmly until Huckabee's misuse of the public forum.

McCain saw his window and concentrated on New Hampshire while Romney was being unduly "occupied" in Iowa. Romney was forced to aggressively address things detracting from what his positive messaging had been and did so famously. Romney then relied on comparison ads to contrast differences. These ads were constantly referred to as "attack ads" by Huckabee, who continually portrayed him as "desperate", and "attacking". Now Huckabee is able to capitalize on such tactics. Because of his use of the majority evangelical state of Iowa and with the ignorance/bias of the mainstream media toward the Mormon religion, he flew under the radar of a nation that has worked since Lincoln to erase such bigotry.

A majority of the nation now sees only that Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucus and that John McCain won New Hampshire but knows little of this back story. I think it is important to present it. Observe for yourself and pass these perspectives along. We need a TRUE man for change and a proven record of turning things around in the oval office.

Mike Huckabee is truly tearing the Reagan coalition apart. Please endorse Mitt Romney.

Right?

I mean, all he's doing is reaching out to business leaders.

Right?

The Real McCain Record
Obstacles in the way of conservative support.

By Mark R. Levin (National Review)

There’s a reason some of John McCain's conservative supporters avoid discussing his record. They want to talk about his personal story, his position on the surge, his supposed electability. But whenever the rest of his career comes up, the knee-jerk reply is to characterize the inquiries as attacks.

The McCain domestic record is a disaster. To say he fought spending, most particularly earmarks, is to nibble around the edges and miss the heart of the matter. For starters, consider:

McCain-Feingold — the most brazen frontal assault on political speech since Buckley v. Valeo.

McCain-Kennedy — the most far-reaching amnesty program in American history.

McCain-Lieberman — the most onerous and intrusive attack on American industry — through reporting, regulating, and taxing authority of greenhouse gases — in American history.

McCain-Kennedy-Edwards — the biggest boon to the trial bar since the tobacco settlement, under the rubric of a patients’ bill of rights.

McCain-Reimportantion of Drugs — a significant blow to pharmaceutical research and development, not to mention consumer safety (hey Rudy, pay attention, see link).

And McCain’s stated opposition to the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts was largely based on socialist, class-warfare rhetoric — tax cuts for the rich, not for the middle class. The public record is full of these statements. Today, he recalls only his insistence on accompanying spending cuts.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, McCain was consistently hostile to American enterprise, from media and pharmaceutical companies to technology and energy companies.

McCain also led the Gang of 14, which prevented the Republican leadership in the Senate from mounting a rule change that would have ended the systematic use (actual and threatened) of the filibuster to prevent majority approval of judicial nominees.

Until you folks repeal that...I'd say Huckabee is within our God-Given rights!

The only candidates with the smarts and capacity to take this country in the right direction are

Romney/Thompson '08 !!! Unbeatable!!

For the record, this will never happen for Romney because the LDS church puts out a statement during every single major election that (1) the church does not endorse any particular candidate or party and (2) that meeting houses and member directories are not to be used in any way for political purposes. No candidate or party is ever discussed from the pulpit. Sure, you may find a couple of people here and there talking in between meetings, but discussing politics at a church meeting is practically taboo.

Huck knows his record is extremely liberal and full of poor judgment so he goes back to his tried and true methods of pandering to religious folk to vote for him simply because he's religious. Weak, very weak. I can only pray that Michigan can see past this garbage and truly vote for the candidate with the best record, the candidate most capable of really solving some of the larger problems facing this country. Based on records, there is without question no better candidate than Mitt Romney to take on and actually solve the major problems facing this country–strengthening the economy, addressing the falling dollar, balancing the budget, addressing the trade imbalance, providing access to affordable health insurance, and improving education.

Michigan, please, vote the issues not who is most likeable. This isn't a race for senior class president. It's also not a time to payback McCain for his service to his country. We tried that once already with Bob Dole and it got us Bill Clinton. Remember? McCain has served his country. Yes, but when the man can only point to one or two accomplishments in 24 years, 24 years!!!, that's far too little. Mitt accomplished far more in 4 years as governor of MA that McCain has ever done in 24 years.

Let's elect a *proven* leader with a real resume of results. VOTE ROMNEY

Club growth tax attack: http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=TruthSquad.ClubGrow
In short Huckabee inherited a hurting school system, desroyed roads, and a budget shortfall when he took office as a Lt Gov replaing a Gov that was on his way to jail. Since Arkansas is a state where deficits cannot exist and the budget must be balanced taxation was not exactly a choice to avoid. Huckabee manaed to fix the problems, maintain a balanced budget, and cut costs in other areas to create a surplus that could be returned to the voters. He cut 94 taxes. The taxes he did instate had support from the republican members of the legislature. Every tax was for a specific beneficial purpose rather than pork spending like the club for growth likes to have vi their earmarks and lobbying.

Fred's immigration attacks:
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=TruthSquad.Thompson
In short he didn't give in sate tuition to illegals. There is a scholarship program in Arkansas that rewards students who have been in the Arkansas school systems and excelled. Huckabee had this also cover kids that were children of illegal immigrants ONLY if they were in the process of becoming a citizen and met all of the requirements of the scholarship. Being that these kids were on the path to becoming citizens and they have proven they have the intelligence and drive to be successful isn't it better they can become successful productive members of society? Would you rather turn them out to the street. Look illegal immigration needs to be stopped, but it was the parents in this case that violated the law (and they should be punished), but we have never in this country punished children for their parent's wrongdoings. Why is this situation any different?

The Wayne Dumond case:
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=TruthSquad.DumondRes
In short he was paroled not pardoned. Parole bords parole people not Govs. The arole board that paroled Dumond was not appointed by Huckabee. Dumond was not even commuted to the parole board by Huckabee, he was commuted by Jim Guy Tucker. Huckabee denied the commutation for pardon. The parole board members that now claim Huckabee pressured them to release him only took that stance 6 years after the fact during an eection year and after they had lost their $75,000 a year jobs due to Huckabee appointing new parole board members.

This has been just a sampling of the responses to attacks, for the rest please go to http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=TruthSquad.Home. As you can see Huckabee has responded to all of these issues. Fred recently took advantage of spewing these attacks in a debate knowing there was not suffician time to explain the ludicrous of it all. He also took advantage of the fact that people won't go look to verify these accusations, and will simply believe they are true because "he didn't defend every attack in his 30 second rebuttal." Don't let yourself be taken advantage of.

P.S. I implore you to watch the responses to this, they'll probably resemble a 3rd graders shallow perspectives.

Imagine if Mitt Romney approached the leadership of the LDS church and asked them to "mobilize in every way possible every single friend you know". This would be huge news and guaranteed the media would use it in a negative manner towards Romney. Mitt doesn't have the liberty of gathering 100 of the leadership of his church to get them to help him win the election. Why? Because as is claimed on the official LDS website (LDS.org) "The Church’s mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, not to elect politicians." The LDS church is also very clear on policy with regards to separation of church and state.

The LDS Church does not:

***Endorse, promote or oppose political parties, candidates or platforms.
***Allow its church buildings, membership lists or other resources to be used for partisan political purposes.
***Attempt to direct its members as to which candidate or party they should give their votes to. This policy applies whether or not a candidate for office is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
***Attempt to direct or dictate to a government leader.

That's why I respect this Romney guy. He doesn't have his church trying to get him votes. And he doesn't have anyone famous endorsing him. I believe him to be a man of integrity, someone who can stand on his own merrits, and if given the chance will prove himself worthy as President of the United States.

As for Huckabee, He can meet with 1000 pastors, it still will not get him elected.