Go ahead, list a socialist country that enjoys the lifestyle we enjoy here in America. Even the people who live under the poverty line here are doing pretty well. We have very few genuinely poor people in this country.

Only about a third of poor households – around 12.5 million in a country of over 105 million households – experience conditions most of us would classify as “poverty” including intermittent food shortages, difficulty paying bills, and less access to medical care. And the church can and should be caring for those 12.5 million families.

I find it sad that American Christianity is so tainted by American politics that some people just can’t thinking outside its confines.

With best regards,

Anwarul Islam Mukul
Adviser Bangladesh Muktijoddha SangshadSangshad US Command Council 2008
Ex-General Secretary Triangle Bangladesh Society of North Carolina 2007
5927 Farm Gate Road
Raleigh, NC 27606
Tel:919-308-7407
Email:Anwarul77@Aol.com

Ideally, “de-magnetization” would be the best solution. That means establishing a SSN-check network, and then clamping down severely on businesses that hire illegals, to the point where illegals deport themselves due to a lack of job opportunities. The whole “You can’t deport 12 million people” argument is vacuous.

But even though it’s non-ideal, I think most people could get behind a path to citizenship if they knew that the border had already been sealed shut.

My biggest gripe with McCain was his global warming commitment. Palin’s last ditch attack about Obama bankrupting the coal industry was fairly hypocritical, considering McCain supports a similar (although presumably less aggressive) cap-and-trade plan.

And McCain ignorance about economics was just frustrating. He put forth a lot of good proposals: Flattening the income tax somewhat, cutting business taxes, cutting stock trading taxes, and a government “spending freeze.” But he really couldn’t articulate any of it effectively. He couldn’t even explain the benefits of his own health insurance plan. He should’ve said, “You know that health plan you get from your job? Your boss gives it to you cheaply because it’s tax-free for him. But I know that YOU can choose a health plan that suits your needs better than your employer can, so I’m going to transfer that tax break from the big evil company…to YOU.”

Even Joe the Plumber did a better job of discussing economics, and all Joe really hit on was the morality of it — rather than the pragmatic explanation that tax hikes hurt everyone. But on his own, McCain could barely articulate the moral aspects or the mathematical facts. Honestly, I doubt McCain even understood his own tax plan. Some campaign manager probably just wrote it for him and forgot to educate him about it properly.

But do you really believe McCain changed his opinions? I think he was lying. For example, he embraced closing the borders to win the nomination, and then the “I’ll build the g-d fence” quote came out… then he said the first thing he’d do in office was pass shamnesty. Not that it matters now. But while I think he is a good man and had a lot going for him, he was still a pol trying to get elected and willing to lie to do it.

If Romney had run against Obama, he would have clearly articulated, “Look, my opponent wants to raise taxes on all corporations, all big businesses, and some small businesses by at least 10 percentage points. Taxes on businesses are essentially the same as a national sales tax. My opponent’s tax increase will harm all Americans, especially the poor.”

Heck, Fred Thompson did say that at the Convention. His speech was the best one that whole week.

But McCain speaks rather poorly, and understands economics even more poorly. For that reason, a lot of dense citizens went to the polls thinking they were voting themselves a tax cut. But like Obama said in his speech, all our fates are tied. It’s very hard to tax one group without it impacting everyone.