"There are many forms of socialism. The version practiced in the US is the most deceitful one I know. An honest, courageous socialist government would say: this is a worthwhile social purpose (financing home ownership, helping my friends on Wall Street); therefore I am going to subsidize it; and here are the additional taxes (or cuts in other public spending) to finance it.

Instead the dishonest, spineless socialist policy makers in successive Democratic and Republican admininstrations have systematically tried to hide both the subsidies and size and distribution of the incremental fiscal burden associated with the provision of these subsidies, behind an endless array of opaque arrangements and institutions. Off-balance-sheet vehicles and off-budget financing were the bread and butter of the US federal government long before they became popular in Wall Street and the City of London.

I find it amusing that when anyone takes a swing at the GOP, they are assumed to be in favor of the Dems. I am no fan of either party for alot of the reasons mentioned above; have been a registered Independent for over 15 years.

And the theory that the Dems will give away the country to foreign interests is just more fear mongering.

While a strong conservative by choice, I find no joy in McCain. But he is the 'lesser' of the two entrenched DC politicos, (funny that that is how we have had to vote since Reagan... the lesser of the 2!) more experienced, and IMHO will get more done for the vets, of which I have a strong affinity.

This is not the first time McCain, who has a proud history of opposing what he views as excessive government spending, has found himself at odds with his fellow veterans on legislation. He’s voted for veterans funding bills only 30% of the time, according to a scorecard of roll-call votes put out by the nonpartisan Disabled Americans for America. Under the same system Obama has a 90% rating — though, of course, he has spent a much shorter time in Washington. “Senator McCain clearly needs to be recognized for his military service and in some respects that will play to his advantage, but when it actually comes to delivering health care and benefits during war, Senator McCain’s going to have some explaining to do,” said Paul Sullivan, director of the nonpartisan Veterans for Common Sense.

John McCain does not know the troops. John McCain was a Navy aviator. It was not like he was an Army or Marine Corps platoon leader or company commander.

He was born into the hierarchy of the Navy and has the attitude of a hierarchical, holier-than-thou officer. He seems totally unaware of the military dictum that if you support the troops, the troops will support you.

Not only was he 894th in his class, he was just an average officer until his stint in the Hanoi Hilton. We praise him for that. He was courageous and an inspiration to others there. That does not qualify him to be President.

McCain is proving he is devisive on issues just for ideology sake. Like % deferment Cheny “the war monger Hawk” and GW ” the AWOL guardsman” who during the Vietnam War chose to cut and run from his military obligation then, only now reflects 'romantically' of fighting in a war.

More Endless “words”. Cheap "words" from the GOP, NOT backed by action. Photo opts and cliches, that his goons and sheep applaud. Watching this rambling, foolish, head in the sand speech was really painful. As far as this particular bill is concerned, it is a two-headed monster, sponsored by the two most prominent VN vets of both political parties — and this fact makes McCain’s shame even greater.

A common mistake is to confuse Socialism, the economic system, with Communism, the political system. Communists are "socialist" in the same way that many Republicans are "compassionate conservatives". That is, they give lip service to ideals they have no intention of practicing.

Socialism is liberal. More people (preferably everyone) have some say in how the economy works. Democracy is liberal. More people (preferably everyone) have some say in how the government works. "Democracy," said Marx, "is the road to socialism." He was wrong about how economics and politics interact, just look at the mess we are in today, but he did see their similar underpinnings.

Communism is conservative. Fewer and fewer people (just the Party Secretary) have any say in how the economy works. Republicans are conservative. Fewer and fewer people (mostly the money people controlling the Party figurehead) have any say in how the government works. The conservatives in the US are in the same position as the communists in the 30s, and for the same reason: Their 'revolutions' (Reganism) failed spectacularly but they refuse to admit what went wrong.

Whereas Marx saw industrialized workers rising up to take over control of their means of production, the exact opposite happened. Most countries that have gone Communist have been agrarian underdeveloped nations. The prime example is the Soviet Union. The best thing to be said about the October Revolution in 1917 is that the new government was better than the Tsars. The worst thing is that they trusted the wrong people, notably Lenin, to lead this upheaval. Same thing happened in Cuba with Castro. The Soviet Union officially abandoned socialism in 1921 when Lenin instituted the New Economic Policy allowing for taxation, local trade, some state capitalism... and extreme profiteering (hmmmmmmmm). Later that year, he purged 300,000 from the party membership and therefore purged them from voting (shades of the US election of 2000 ) and fewer and fewer people were involved in making decisions. We might be getting there.

Wikipedia's quote: "Stalinism is a state in which exploitation is controlled by a ruling caste.... at the expense of the working class." This is the exact opposite of what Marx and Engels were trying to accomplish, and is precisely what George W. Bush and the Republicans are working so hard for.

Most of the Republicans/conservatives I know are basically good people, but they're gullible individuals IMHO who have spent more than 20 years burying themselves in lies needed to resolve the cognitive dissonance created by Reagan's betrayal. Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire", but as we've seen it wasn't much of an empire and most of the people in it aren't particularly evil. Khrushchev repudiated Stalin after he died in 1953, but wasn't strong enough to change the system or the cult worship that kept the dictatorship alive. Republicans need to repudiate Reagan, but there is no one out there who has the guts to tell the truth. The GOP has been reduced to whining, flag-waving, lapel flag wearing and outright lying. The shame of being a conservative has never been greater.

Despite the protestations and doubts of many, Obama and the Democrats might represent a return to American values. It took the Soviet Union 40 years to rot from within before democracy took hold. Let us not wait 40 years before the Republican-controlled US rots from within. The choice is clear. To complete the circle, let me quote the last line of Reagan's 1964 speech, which has greater meaning when talking about the need to vote Democrat in 2008: "You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done."

As FLB said, if we are to go down, let's go down swinging. Off my soapbox, and yes I was a 60's liberal, let the barbs fly......

This is getting too political, but I will just say that the vitrolic towards President Bush is wrong.