Bucco's issues...

Actually not MY issues. I was simply frustrated by the posts on here that simply are aimed at personal slams, elitist comments or the woooo hoooo "s and threw out a few issues to actually discuss.
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Is McCains age an issue ?

Yeah, I think it is with enough voters that it is an issue. I think Sen McCain's one term pledge somewhat mutes the point but it will be an issue for some. Of course, with the selection of Sen Biden, only 7 years junior, the jokes about the white hair old man will subside a bit

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Are Obama's associates and mentors an issue

This is the most difficult item for me at this point in time. A man of Sen Obama's age has a litany of associations and mentors that are very questionable to me. He trained under a group of neighborhood groups who used the tactics of Saul Alinsky, the author of "Rules for Radicals" a known extreme left wing figure....he has associated with to some degree a number of folks like William Ayers (not sure of his connection here except they served together on an small board for a bit so they know each other) Ayers of course is of Weather man fame and another radical extreme on the left. His association and money transactions with Reznick. And despite the media shutdown on it, I still have a problem with a man attending a church for 20 years, saying the pastor was his mentor and then saying he did not know about the pastors deep black side. And there are others that may or may not surface as the campaign goes on.
Point is,for me anyway, is that at his age of 47 this is a lot of associations to simply throw out the window. These are folks that by his own admission trained him...all of those mentioned are of the marxist radical left wing ilk and that scares me.

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Tax breaks or Tax increases ?

This is a tough one. I like to allow our free enterprise system work and do not want government interference. I do not support the so called "windfall taxes"...to me they are simply a lot of political hocus pocus to get votes and in the long run will undermine future development. However, I like Sen Obama's structure on SOME of his income tax changes he proposes. This issue is probably the lynchpin of the difference in the two parties. One wants a lot of govenment interference and the other wants very limited !
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Do we need a military presence in the middle east ?

In my opinion, YES. I felt that one of the huge reasons to invade Iraq was this premise. We have never had any military presence in that area yet always are trying to bring peace to the mideast. I think in the long run, a military presence is in the best interests of this country. I also feel that not matter who wins this election, we will have that presence.
Does that mean I support the war ? Sortof...I whole heartedly supported the invasion, and agree with what I think Sen Biden said or felt.....good thing to invade but be careful about the ramifications and be prepared. There is where we screwed up....invasion good....oh lord did we screw up everything after that.
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Who should be paying for medical care in this country

I dont have the audacity to even suggest I have an answer on this. I do know...I want no part of any thing that even resembles socialized medicine. I just hope whomever is elected can find someway to either control costs or something to prevent the government from paying for folks health insurance. I guess you can see when it comes to economic issues, and this is one, I am purely conservative,

In any case, looking to read now others opinions....good way to learn I think !