What thoughts, good or bad, do you have regarding John Edwards for President?

It appears every Democrat is imbedded with Party special interest groups, and Edwards is in with the trial lawyers and labor unions. My problem with Edwards and Democrats is that every solution starts with more government. But most of the problems the candidates talk about have resulted from government. The nicest thing I can say about Edwards is he seems to have a sunny disposition. But I don't want someone grinning in my face while sticking a knife in my back.

I have few good things to say about Edwards . He will succeed only if he can convince the majority of Americans that they too are victims. His populist rhetoric may have worked in the Depression era but today it is nothing if not divisive. He rightly argues that it is no sin to be wealthy as he is , but there is a disconnect between his reality, and that of the people he claims to represent.

His own hypocrisies are apparent and manifest themselves when he rails against Walmart as he sends his staffers there to cut in line to purchase PlayStation III . He says things about the exploiting by the greedy rich at the same time he was employed at a Hedge Fund. He blast special interest groups ;supports campaign funding control ,while working closely with them at the same time .Edwards Campaign May Have Expected Union Group Plan - New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/us/politics/27donate.html?ex=1356411600&en=9b8904ba844a2c1b&ei=5088&partner=msnbcpolitics&emc=rss)

Marc Ambinder (December 31, 2007) - Atlantic Umpire: Is Edwards A Campaign Finance Hypocrite? (http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/atlantic_umpire_is_edwards_a_c.php)

His own donors of course represent a who's who of " corporate greed ". He is joined at the hip with special interest money. He made his own personal fortune by being a slip and fall lawyer .

Pros? We'd have another president with a southern accent, a great smile and good hair. Cons? We'd have another president whose greatest accomplishment would be having a southern accent, a great smile and good hair.

He is ambitious, he will:


"create a Working Society and end poverty in America within 30 years"
"raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012"
"cut taxes on low income workers"
"create 1 million Stepping Stone jobs"
"strengthen workers' rights"
"create 1 million new housing vouchers over five years to help low-income families"
"create a universal system of Great Promise early childhood education centers"
"invest more in teacher pay and professional development"
"radically overall No Child Left Behind"
"create Second Chance schools to help high school dropouts"
"pay the public college tuition of everyone willing to take a part time job"
"subsidize bank accounts for the 28 million Americans without them"
"create new Work Bonds to help low-income workers build up savings accounts"
"protect families against abusive financial products"

Sounds expensive...

Hello One:

Here's what I like about him. He's gonna:

Create a Working Society and end poverty in America within 30 years,
Raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012,
Cut taxes on low income workers,
Create 1 million Stepping Stone jobs,
Strengthen workers' rights,
Create 1 million new housing vouchers over five years to help low-income families,
Create a universal system of Great Promise early childhood education centers,
Invest more in teacher pay and professional development,
Radically overhall No Child Left Behind,
Create Second Chance schools to help high school dropouts,
Pay the public college tuition of everyone willing to take a part time job,
Subsidize bank accounts for the 28 million Americans without them,
Create new Work Bonds to help low-income workers build up savings accounts,
Protect families against abusive financial products.

Plus, he has great hair.

Well, I get my hair cut at the same salon he and his family go to (really!). Therefore, he gets my vote (not really)! :)

As far as all the things he says he's going to do, remember at this point that's a list of things he (any candidate, really) WANTS to do. Wanting to do them and actually getting them done are two very, very different things. Accomplishing that list in four years is going to take more than great hair and a charming accent. The smile might help, though.

Sort of reminds me of high school elections - my class president promised all sorts of stuff, and never managed to do a damn thing. He had great hair and a nice smile too. No accent, maybe that was his fatal flaw...

Most high school elections, if anything, are popularity contests.

Most high school elections, if anything, are popularity contests.

By what I have seen on TV so is your presidential election process. :)

Just a few issues off the top of my head...


Pro- Edwards claims to make college more affordable for everyone. I assume in the end this means more grants and loans. I figure if a loan is slow paid or defaults at least it went toward educational purposes. I can think of worse wasted adventures, like welfare abuse.


Neutral- Edwards says the obvious trendy view of needing to gear America toward energy independence.


Con- While most candidates suggest health reform in some measure, Edwards is no different. He claims he will give us a truly Universal Health care system. So good that it will eventually become mandatory that every working family have insurance. I only suggest that his Utopian view and approach will be costly. We already have a system in place that requires expensive educated skilled surgeons, general physicians, nurses, using modern technology with overhead costs that someone has to pay for. He seems to think the slack will be picked up by businesses, but for some corporations that will go over like a led balloon.




Bobby

BABRAM writes: "We already have a system in place that requires expensive educated skilled surgeons, general physicians, nurses, using modern technology with overhead costs that someone has to pay for." Legal, doctor shortages by agreement of the US government and the AMA; if it weren't for immigrant doctors, we would really be in a huge mess.

By what i have seen on TV so is your presidential election process. :)
Actually, everyone should volunteer/participate in some aspect of the US electoral process at least once. There isn't much resemblance to a high school election, other than counting the votes. I attended a congressional district convention for a political party several years ago. You have to be informed about what is going on. What I am trying to say is that there is a lot going on that the TV viewer at home never sees, but without which our system couldn't function. The presidential election process is much more involved than what one sees on TV.

Skell agrees: Correction: You have no good things to say about Edwards! :)

I think he and his wife are courageously dealing with her cancer. There I said something good about him.

Legal, doctor shortages by agreement of the US government and the AMA; if it weren't for immigrant doctors, we would really be in a huge mess.

I think that legal immigrants that have occupations in medical fields, contribute greatly in various ways. Besides filling a need, mostly at starting wages for their expertise, they usually bring some alternative remedies into our society that help advance our overall knowledge. My father is retired now, but at one time was the president of a hospital board. That hospital actually turned a decent profit and did use legal immigrant doctors and some staff. Their pay was standard for the central Texas area. My brother-in-law, a registered nurse, is soon coming to the U.S. on a work visa. His contract will be standard pay for the Los Angeles area. Actually I made sure he would be getting a fair wage. I suspect though, that in many cases other clinics may run on lesser budgets. I can recall one of the few poorer neighborhoods in the Las Vegas area that had a facility that appeared to be a third world operation. Generally speaking though, when it comes to physicians, all I have to do is look at the parking lot to tell you who driving the newest Mercedes. In the end what I think happens under Edwards plan is that he forces the corps to contribute more than they desire. In retaliation to keep their precious executive bonuses and hit quarterly projected goals, the corps do more downsizing, cut a few jobs, slack on wage increases, and perhaps even contribute less to your 401k. In other words, eventually who actually pays for Edwards Utopia, one way or the other, is the public, you and I.



Bobby