HopefulFuture

There are several players in the Q that would beg to differ with your assesment on no competition. This should build his confidence, allow him to hone his skills with success and build leadership for him.

I would hardly consider a pastor in ones life as someone he "once knew". The fact of the matter is that in most cases, spiritual mentors in ones life has an impact to a larger extent than say, an acquaintance you meet out at the local Marriot for drinks on Wed. and Thur. after work. As for your other comments, very much true, I do not deny, but then, these are men and women in positions of leadership at a national level we are speaking on, and It would be re-miss of myself as a citizen, as a voter, not to discover as much information as possible about those individuals seeking those leadership roles.

This is true in the fact that Obama was shaped by many, but the fact remains those groups or individuals on the extreme left combined with the thousands of others shaped his environment, and in turn, his views/opinions/thought process. As for Obama being Secular, if he was so, why the exposure to those groups? A good example on the opposite end of the spectrum is the Bush family, being so exposed to the oil industry, take a look at the friends and companies that made out like bandits during their tenure's in the oval office, both senior and G.W. Haliburton, Dick Cheney and so on........ There is direct evidence to link both parites figure heads to this type of environment exposure and subsequently, the policies they champion. Not all of it bad from both sides either, but it's exactly this type individual we don't need in the White House at this time in my humble opinion, from either party.

The Catholic analogy doesn't fit the situation in this case. Cover-ups in the Catholic Church on child abuse are apples, Jeremiah Wright and the weather underground are oranges. 1 hides it's activities as to where the other openly puts them in the open. And you only fool yourself if you truly believe Obama is not a product of his environment, or those types of situations. The fact is, Obama willingly put himself and his family for that matter, in direct contact with these types of groups, surely your not attempting to suggest he did so by mistake or to attempt to write some thesis paper on the extreme left political landscape in this nation, do you?

I tend to agree on this as well. The sad part for me is that Obama is actually academically sound. To me in any event, it's the forces that shaped him on the left, such extreme individuals and groups that have me concerned about this guy. As someone else posted (maybe you, not sure K-9), the weather underground and Jheremia Wright don't exactly exude confidence from a middle voter such as myself when looking at the rhetoric they represent, and Obama put himself in that position, very telling to me in any event.

I agree, to an extent. The choice is about Obama. He'll get his 4 more years for sure, the Bush years will see to that. And I wasn't all that against Bush, but in the end, starting what is generally known as a resource war (Iraq and oil links, there is plenty of circumstantial and direct evidence to point to in that case) combined with the massively failed leadership to stop the impending disaster in 08' and actually contributing to it are merely a couple of examples. The Republican's will pay dearly for a bit, and rightfully so, not that I'm an Obama fan, I'd perfer neither major party have any role in government since a majority from both sides are corrupt in my view.

yea, the ramps, I was born in 70, 1 month after the team played their first game, but my mum and dad had season tickets up to 95, when dad passed away. I went to games from a baby on up, idolizing Perreault all the way. Our seats were up, so as the smoke rose, it filled the air. I can remember as a 5 year old watching the finals against Philly, I fell asleep both games :(, but it did have a huge impact on me watching Gil and the boys move the puck.

Got to love local politics, where the same armpit stained shirts keep getting put back into the wash :(

My idle. The very heart and soul of the logo on the jersey, everything the Sabres were, are and will be. I can remember the Aud in the 70's, the smokey smell, especially the cigars.

And BOOM, the shoe drops, rather loudly at this time. This is the bottom line truth.

I'd rather not have Romney as president. Ron Paul, yes, but that ship has sailed. Obama, the lesser of 2 evils, atleast from a 99%'ers point of view, and even then, the guy is a huge disappointment. The lack of true overall leadership from both the executive and legislative side of the government is more than discouraging, especially in these times we live.

Interesting Poll numbers. I received a call and responded to Gallup at 10:30am this morning. Does anyone have information from past elections as to just how accurate the polls are? I'd be interested to see. Thanks.

Also excellent points made here LastPommerFan. The only exception I take is with regard to the dollar. The debt to GDP ratio is irrevelant without a balanced budget amendment combined with the set established revenue streams that have a basement, or foundation if you will. With out these 2 functionary indexes incorporated into an established plan, I see no way the United States can set "true" or "definitive" numbers on what can and cannot be alloted as debt. And that would be at all levels of government here. As populations locally, statewide and federally continue to sway in numbers, that is a great deal of risk to be putting in place without an established "line in the sand" on borrowing, especially when looking at the actual historic context of the 50's to the 70's and trying to apply those economic models to such a changing financial environment. Of course, in full disclosure, I don't have an answer to that one either, the current system worked as it did with a great deal of "projected" numbers. A prime example, and one that many should already know, is the baby boomer conundrum. In essence, the greatest generation had the golden years of America, where as the baby boomers had a mix of that combined with what gen x and beyond are facing, financial nightmares. The underlaying issues of which can be put in simple paint by numbers type charts. Picture the baby boomers as a head of a mushroom, all of those generations underneath that giant head are the stem. The stem cannot support the large head any longer. I know, I know, it's a rather simplistic analogy, but one that holds water none the less. Is there a one paint brush stroke solution? Not that I can see, but I can't see a debt and deficit solution that allows both the expected as well as projected growth when the real time numbers tell quite a different story.

K-9, are one of us clones of the other? :)Yes, the S&L scandals are the real indicators on the potential for disaster and yes, the only single reason the dollar remains an even viable currency is it's direct tie to oil commodities. Yea, that is correct, green shoots.

wjag, each one of these you listed were directly affected by government programs. Car Sales Up = cash for clunkers, bailing out several auto manufacturers and giving them time to stabilize. although a noble program, and necessary on some level for national defense and other reasons, it still doesn't make it right, nor does it make it a just cause. Unemployment Down/Job Creation trickling in = government money infused in infrastructure projects at all levels and a combination of incentives for private job growth, a majority of which are temp jobs, not sustainable long term jobs. Stock Market Up = without the bailouts of the big financial institutions, this doesn't happen point blank. the failure needed to run it's course, it wasn't allowed to, no criminal pursecution of those that created this most recent bubble with their illegal loan practices combined with the stripping of Glass–Steagal and several other securities laws that opened the flood gates on this most recent problem. It was actually at the beginning of the Reagan administration that banks were able to operate outside of laws set in place in the late '20's on up to the mid '50's. the McFadden-Pepper Act of 1927 and the Douglas Amendment to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. These two federal statutes, which made it illegal for a bank holding company to own and operate banks in more than one state, were effectively designed to prevent exactly the Too Big to Fail problem we now find ourselves faced with. The goal, as Sen. Paul Douglas explained at the time, was "to prevent an undue concentration of banking and financial power, and instead keep the private control of credit diffused as much as possible." Greed, dishonesty, curroption and power grabs have destroyed the very mechanism's put in place to prevent a disaster such as the most recent one from happening. At the end of the day, with the accumulated debt and current defecits running as they are, we are through the looking glass now. It's merely a matter of time before the complete collapse of the US dollar, right now, they are just trying to buy more time, not to solve this problem, but to maintain the current status quo and that includes Obama.

K-9, you and I are on the same page in many ways. The only small difference is what I see as the start time on the current policy in place. Following WW2 for me. The overthrow of the Iranian government by the CIA in '53 pretty much is the indicator of a policy shift in the Middle East as one example. Mosaddegh, an elected leader through a constitutional monarchy was removed by our intellegence (the CIA) arm in order to give then AIOC (now known as BP oil) control of Iran's oil industry. And Eisenhower warned of issues such as these in his farewell speech in '61, and he was a Republican. All of this being known and much more, and sadly, the American people still blindly allow these types of individuals in roles of leadership and responsibility at the top levels. I happen to agree with you, the genie is not going back in the bottle. I disagree however, that it can't be put back in. To me, in any event, it's a matter of will power, a collective will power of the people in this nation. And I can't see that happening since so many of the populace here are swayed so easily by side issues and petty differences.

I can speak to the broader US global policy, of which the Middle East is a part I realize. For far too long the world has been able to hitch a ride on US taxpayers backs, and in many ways. It's time to take care of our own now, world war 2 and the subsequent drum beat of communism is over and those are subjects for different debates, but in the end, no where in the constitution of the united states does it direct our citizens nor our government to play the role we are playing now.

In essence we are already feeling that impact. Take a look a global currency markets. The only thread the US dollar has to hang on to is oil at this time. But for the most part, the dollar is taking a beating overall. Take a good look at this chart. Common sense dictates that following WW2, a majority of the manufactured goods sold globally were produced in the United States, as a large portion of the civilized world, mainly population centers, were destroyed by the war. The United States was able to pay down it's war debt and then some with a 20 year booming economy. Now I ask you, where does anyone see the need for massive US goods in a global market that is pretty much self-sustaining outside of the US? You don't, and there in lay the real issue. As I've stated before, people need to be aware, we aren't coming out of this one, and it was self inflicted, which is the real sad fact here.

Yes, you are correct in the first paragraph in every sense. And therein lay the problem. It's all a temp house of cards. And I emphasize temp. As for foreign policy, it's such a simple solution, shutdown all the bases world wide, bring the troops home, downsize the military by 1/3'rd it's current size, seal the borders, let global oil markets untether from the dollar and slap tarrifs on everything imported. Short term it would hurt, long term though, it would more than stabilize the situation internally.

Indeed, it was. As for your list of special interests, Sick people = hospitals, which in turn = doctors and nurses, which in turn = "public money given to those entities to sustain a business". National Health Care is feared by many, but in the end, it is the soundest way to go, with control mechanism's in place to control pricing of course. Obama Care does little in the price control area, all it really does is pool resources. In the end, prices will continue to grow beyond a majority of the populations ability to afford it. Schools = administrators and teachers, which in turn = unions, which in turn = collective resource usage (i.e. campaign contributions), which in turn = hefty salaries and benefits packages. As a majority of schools in the nation are public, that falls on the local residents backs, but of course, that isn't reality since just about %100 of local school systems look like Oliver Twist with hands held out stating: "Please Sir, may I have some more". In effect, taking state funds, which is garnered by various means, including but not limited to state income tax. Roads = infrastructure material and human resources to keep the flow of goods going, which = low bid contracts and patronage jobs, locally, state and federal level. A bloated system that can actually be controlled, but is often neglected, partly due to the patronage system, partly because of inept leadership at various governmental levels. Green Energy = good, but not private by any means. Tax payer dollars to subsidize this industry is unneccessary. When the demand is great the supply side will pick up. Bailouts = bad, and that is why when I hear people speak on free market economics I laugh. If you think it's free, I want what your smokin, if you think your free for that matter, I want 2 of em please. The reality is quite different in contrast to what the pundits and main stream media spew. A great example that truly exposed this was Lehman Brothers. Picking and choosing winners, not based on any methodology other than the fact that Goldman Sacks is the entry point to the Sec. of Tres. and of course, the big bad Federal Reserve. Once you get beyond the disbelief that America is actually an Oligarchy, then, and only then will you have the ability to truly understand the position your really in.

Actually, I'm neither a left, nor right leaner. I consider myself a common senser, and with that I use a great deal of logic. Understand, math and science are merely sub-routines of logic, nothing more, nothing less. There are a multitude of analogies that can be used I am sure, but in it's simplist form, if you do indeed, use logic, the US economic model is and has been cyclical in it's very nature for well over 100 years now. It's the root causes of those cycles which need to be focused in on and lessons taken from. And from what I am a witness to in my current lifetime, I don't see that taking place.

Dead on correct.

I normally stay out of political and religous discussions. Your opening remark on an improving economy is flat out false. Hate to be the bearer of bad news wrapped in reality but the factual truth of the matter is indisputable. And it's the following: Without the return of a massive manufacturing base the Oligarchy currently pulling strings is out of options to prep up a failed cyclical economic model. In it's simplest of forms, that is the truth, this fact is not disputable. Neither major political party in the US has the gumption to stand up and lay out a clear, simple plan to rectify the situation for fear of alienating the money base, note: not the voting base, but the money base. Were not coming back from the edge of the Abyss on this one, were continuing to go over it full steam ahead and until a majority of the American people pull their heads out of the thier collective ###### and realize this, that will continue. Fudging numbers from one source or another to make it appear as though there is some sway either good or bad, is simply a fallacy. Simply put, no single or collective groups of industries have made any significant dent in the loss of manufacturing jobs over the past 40+ years with any type of time frame that remotely resembles sustainability. Sorry, but reality bites. Edit: And I haven't voted Repub or Dem ever in my adult life.

Interesting reads on how people are tied very emotionally to the game itself. And yet, I can't help to notice that there is still hockey being played globally. And this to shall pass.

So, what your saying is that several of us need to do a Doan abduction, force him to sign the contract from Buffalo, then get to our respective banks to collect our million dollar paychecks? :)