I'll add my thoughts to this thread the same way I have to a couple others posted on one forum or another. Can't we have some meaningful discussion of the important issues facing us in making our voting decision? Personal attacks on one candidate or the other are non-productive and childish.

Here, try this one...

All would probably agree that U.S. dependence on imported oil has reached a critical point. The price of oil and gasoline will not likely decline very much and that alone will precipitate a change in the American way of life. Barack Obama presents an attractive and seemingly thoughtful multi-faceted program for reducing our dependence on imported oil. But he fails to explain how all the expenditures he delineates will be paid for without increasing the federal deficit and the national debt. He does not explain how some of his proposals which require approval by the states (new nuclear power plants) could be accomplished. His proposals sound nice, but are far from being executable plans.

John McCain's primary proposal is to permit more offshore drilling by the big oil companies, an action that most experts say will result in a reduction of gas prices at the pump of only pennies. And even then, it might take ten years to achieve. McCain's other campaign proposals on the issue are riddled with words like "change", "challenge", propose", "establish" and "encourage", but he presents few plans for resolving the issue that withstand even cursory scrutiny. Paying for McCain's proposals is not a big issue because he isn't proposing any significant federal investments for solving the problem.


Which candidate is more likely to take actions that will seriously reduce our dependence on imported oil? Why?