Some crucial items on the political campaign agenda should cover: 16) Raise the minimum wage rate one dollar each year for the next three years and legislate cost of living index thereafter. 17) Fund a public education overseas TV channel in foreign languages giving an objective account of democracy at work. 18) Develop a peace project for the western hemisphere stressing the need to replace dictatorships and oppression with democratic objectives. 19) Assist in mor...

Some crucial items on the political campaign agenda should cover: 1) A voluntary civilian defense corps made up of primarily school drop-outs, and high school students not college-bound and senior citizens for nominal stipend; this corps would be organized and supervised by local enforcement agencies and paid for by Homeland Security. 2) Incentives should target the national guard to recruit more for the express purpose of border patrol. 3) Appropriations should be increa...

Washington Post-ABC Poll shows that Kerry leads, however slim, in issues that matter to the people. Kerry leads 50% to Bush’s 44% if the election were now with 4% undecided and 2% for Nader. They trust Kerry 52% to 44% as commander in chief and only 2% undecided. In handling the economy Kerry leads by eleven points but with seven points undecided. In understanding the problems of ordinary people Kerry leads 51% to 37% but with 12% undecided. As a strong leader, however, he loses by six po...

It has been my experience that the award of the Purple Heart is as a rule honorable. I know that my marine outfit used to joke around that the best way to take a break from the front-line was to shoot yourself in the foot or cut your finger opening a C-ration and to boot maybe get a Purple Heart for the folks at home to brag about. Yet no one in our platoon ever seriously considered it, much less did it — Pride of the Marines, you know. To suggest that Kerry was awarded three Purple Hea...

It has been my experience that the award of the Purple Heart is as a rule honorable. I know that my marine outfit used to joke around that the best way to take a break from the front-line was to shoot yourself in the foot or cut your finger opening a C-ration and to boot maybe get a Purple Heart for the folks at home to brag about. Yet no one in our platoon ever seriously considered it, much less did it — Pride of the Marines, you know. To suggest that Kerry was awarded three Purple H...

When will the Republican Party cross over to the millennium on economic issues? The Party is extremely defensive by connoting labor rights with entitlements. This is in the face of no apology whatever in the hierarchy of the corporate world bestowing outrageous and unearned executive salaries, gauche perks and top of the line health plans. The word “unearned” is seldom used in the hierarchy — other than the internal revenue nomenclature — because of the symbiotic rise to power deemed as a wel...

Why is it whenever one — Kucinich in particular — mentions single payer universal health care the red flag goes up? Isn’t Medicare single payer health care? I don’t hear seniors objecting to it. In the good old days when Blue Cross-Blue Shield was predominant and the cost of health care was still reasonable, millions of workers were either generously covered by large companies, or through small businesses offered a group plan at a cost that would not take bread off the table. But that was in t...

With the amount of time, energy and big bucks spent on the battleground states, the rest of the nation is taken for granted and thus devalued. Had I remained a resident of New York my vote wouldn’t be worth two cents because of my loyalty to the Democratic party. Here in Florida it must be worth about five bucks because of the fifty dollar swing voters down here that will decide who is the majority. Voting has become the return of the prodigal son of politics. Politicians pander to the base on...

I think it is time to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq, but redeploying some of them to Afghanistan where they are needed to protect the women voters in their coming election and to rout the warlords. This move would send a dual message to Al Qaeda and the Iraqis. The latter will intuit that the U.S. is not going to babysit them much longer and the former will grow wary that the U.S. is intent on crushing its sanctuaries. Pakistan, as well, will be put on notice that they can no longer dilly...

In post 9/11 climate it is difficult to espouse a gentle strategy toward Islam. From the Attorney General’s profiling to the “bring it on” challenge the consensus seems that only through “bad cop” imagery and the leviathan of military prowess will the civilized world defends itself from the sinister ilk of Al Qaeda. Yet it is clear that a religious war-environment will not solve the terrorist threat, nor will theological warfare from either side do anything other than add fuel to the fire. Th...

Just as head start and after school programs should be prioritized throughout our land, so, too, should our foreign policy, together with a western alliance, be geared to the infusion of education aid to the Muslim world for the development of secular education to counteract the Madrassas and other Islamic schools indifferent to enculturating its children into the modern world. Exclusive, rote study of the Qur’an without modern curriculum serves as an obsessive continuum of fundamentalism that...

It appears that the number one voting issue is in choosing a commander in chief owing to terrorism and the projected manner in which Iraq is handled in a new presidential term — apparently being presidential doesn’t matter. A sizable number of voters are comfortable with Bush in the area of militancy because there have been no threats carried out by Al Qaeda, and Iraq, in a sense, is “winding down” and confidently a matter of history. On the other hand, there are old school voters who zero in o...

The concern over the voting integrity of electronic systems is totally misdirected by emphasizing a “paper trail” which is only going to mirror the glitches of the system. It is true, as anyone who uses a computer knows and continually badgered, backing up your input is imperative but it does not guarantee that the back up will be any different from the original. The same applies to printing out your data — if you don’t proof your input the errors remain. The solution to the problem is misdir...

  All issues considered what one stands out most in casting your vote? 1) Likable character in the candidate 2) Clear-cut winner of the debates 3) Stance taken on a constitutional amendment defining marriage 4) Pro-life or woman’s choice 5) Continuance of the ban on assault weapons or its termination 6) Vouchers as opposed to more funds for public education 7) The candidate who would be the better commander in chief 8) The better foreign policy offe...

The connotation of independent or undecided voter is that those who follow party lines or impulsively decide for one side or another lack independent thinking — lemmings, as it were — and incapable of confronting the monolithic beast. On the other hand, the independent or undecided voter could be perceived as arrogant or incapable of assimilating viewpoints. The arrogant assume all political parties are self-serving; thereby wading through conflicts of interests to arrive at a decision as to w...