President-elect Obama Ready to Serve & Deliver Hope

Now that the elections have been won, in just one month, President, Barack Obama is on to the business of fixing our economy, dealing with home foreclosures, getting everyone affordable health care coverage and fixing the public education system. Charles Barkley thinks that our main problem lies in the lack of a good public education system. He expressed his sentiments in an interview with Campbell Brown at CNN just before the elections on October 27, 2008.

Rappers as well as rap and hip hop labels alike need to do their part by accepting their social responsibilities to the youth among us and seek to promote music that can be used as motivation or can inspire positive vibes. Rappers like Nas, Common, Jair Dynast can use new rap songs not only to influence but to convey hope and mobilize the local communities in our inner cities to organize for change.

President-elect Obama has been assembling an impressive team of rivals and power brokers to assist him with the gargantuan tasks that he's set to assume on January 20, 2009.

Congratulations President Elect Barack Obama

Congratulations to President elect, Barack Obama and his dear wife, Michelle as well as their two beautiful daughters and extended families. Yes we can, we did it and we have overcome.

The day after one of the most memorable and historic days in the history of our nation, it has suddenly materialized that we have been able to rise to the call of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s to judge a man by the content of his character and not by the color of his skin. We have a President for the people, by the people and from the people - this is the true meaning of government.

As Americans, it's good to see the overwhelming reaction to this momentous occasion and the pride that one's feels from being a witness to the reactions from people around the globe. Isn't this what we want to achieve as Americans, the admiration and respect of the world? Imagine that President elect, Obama has not yet assumed office but his election has already been able to bring many, many people together.

To draw from one of the many lines in his victory speech, if there is anyone who still doubts that anything is possible in America - you now have your answer. Everyone around the world has been watching us to see if we would have risen to the occasion. America can be the one to watch still and the one to lead the world by example. Perhaps, we can now look forward to the elevation of rappers with rap music that's thought-provoking as a balance to thug music.

All of us should now look to that unity of spirit that was created for the elections by using the same organizing strategy to mobilize in our local communities to implement some of the changes that are so desperately needed at the grassroots level. This is proof positive that the power to change lies amongst us and in each of us - yes we can so believe in yourself.

Obama Energy Plan Clean Coal Technology

As a friend like to say, today is decision day in America. McCain-Palin is still at it and they have solicited some help from like-minded people who have resurrected Rev. Jeremiah Wright and other supposed skeletons from Barack's closet to try to distract us, the voters.

We have been treated by McCain like battered women - mistreated constantly each time showing some fake remorse while re-offending often times with even more abuse than before. Take this issue of clean coal that's being misrepresented in the coal-mining communities and the states that Republicans need to claw back in order to win the elections.

Obama's position is clear: set out high standards for the coal mining companies with incentives to accelerate private sector investment in commercial scale zero‐carbon coal facilities.

To maximize the speed at which this critical technology is advanced an Obama administration will instruct the Dept of Energy to enter into joint partnerships with coal mining companies to develop five first-of-a-kind commercial scale coal-fired plants with carbon capture and sequestration.

Ensure that this goal would be met by setting annual demand reduction targets that utilities would need to meet. Unlike McCain-Bush, having a measure of accountability in order to have serious commitment from the companies involved. As we've learned the hard way, no regulation or accountability equals no results and everyone suffers.

Was Reagan Earned Income Tax Credit Marxist?

Are you getting stressed by these elections proceedings? It is one thing to be competitive and to want to win but it's another to be so dishonest as to start throwing all kinds of labels on your opponent. McCain-Palin is trying to make taxes the political football and they are playing on people's ignorance (lack of knowledge) to score political points.

McCain-Palin tried the paling around with terrorists but that didn't seem to have the desired effect. There is talk about everything except the problems we now face - record unemployment (750,000 lost jobs since January 2008), foreclosures, sub-prime mortgage crisis, public education, medicare, insurance premiums, college tuition and lack of leadership.

Now Obama is a Marxist, socialist because supposedly he wants to spread the wealth around. Wasn't it Ronald Reagan that implemented a tax policy that gave the working poor money back on their taxes? Wasn't this money taken from higher income earning Americans so that those at a lower income bracket could be given a piece of the American pie?

This was Reagan's trickle down economics, the Earned Income Tax Credit. Under Reagan and now Bush, the wealth has been re-distributed upwards towards the top 1% of the population. Does Palin-McCain have a label for this too? Here's one Robin Hood economic strategy or Cops and Robbers.

The Income Tax Act was enacted in 1862 and saw the establishment of the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue. Now known as the IRS, it was the body that administered the collection of taxes, power to assess, levy and enforce the tax laws through prosecution and property and income seizures.

The Income Tax Act was established to support the Civil War and was based on the basic principles of graduated or progressive taxation and withholding income tax at source. At the time of the Civil War, a person whose income was between $600 to $10,000 per year paid an income tax rate of 3%. Those with incomes higher than $10,000 paid a larger rate.

As far back as 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution made income tax a permanent feature of the U.S. tax system. This amendment gave Congress full legal authority to tax incomes of both individuals and corporations. What's more socialist than the State bailout of Wall Street to the tune of $750B, except that it is necessary to avoid a complete collapse of the entire banking system around the world?

With this legislation in place, there was a huge rise in annual internal revenue collections in the fiscal year 1918 which reached the billion-dollar threshold. By 1920, tax revenues had risen to well over $5.4 billion and by World War II with increased employment tax collections continued to rise even higher.

For McCain to grandstand on political platforms talking about spreading the wealth around is dishonest, deceitful or disingenuous because his tax plan is structured similar to Obama's Tax Plan, except who gets the tax breaks - examine the two proposals for yourself here.

McCain vs. Colin Powell and Leadership Factor

Colin Powell, soldier and statesman has condemned McCain's use of robo-calls as a means to divide the country by inference along racial lines. America is a land of opportunity, inclusion and we used to be proud of our status in the world. This is the main reason so many people from all walks of life flock to our shores.

Powell was born in Harlem, New York to two Jamaican immigrants said that Obama is a transformational figure that has earned his support over several months. Whereas McCain demonstrated poor judgment in his pick of Sarah Palin as Vice-President.

On MSNBC today, a Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski says among other things that McCain is unpredictable, veers, we waited for the British to act and we followed, and we waited for the French to suggest a summit and we're following so we are in deep crisis with no real leadership.

If we as a people are going to ignore some of the best brains in the country and act contrary to good judgment, we would be perpetrating an inexcusable injustice to our young children, the ones that now have no say in this process and we have to act on their behalf.

McCain may be erratic but his most dangerous quality is the one that Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski identified - he's unpredictable - this is one that we cannot afford or play roulette with at this point in our history.

McCain Misleads Self-employed Joe Plumbers

McCain is now brandishing around Joe the Plumber and other small business people as examples to demonstrate how Obama's Tax Plans would hurt small businesses. So here's some factual research from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) starting out with self-employed:

Self-employment tax rate is 15.3%. The rate consists of two parts: 12.4% for social security (old-age, survivors, and disability insurance) and 2.9% for Medicare (hospital insurance). McCain is now also misleading self-employed Joe the Plumbers but he's decided to drop Joe Six Packs.

Maximum earnings subject to SE tax. Only the first $94,200 of your combined wages, tips, and net earnings in 2006 is subject to any combination of the 12.4% social security part of SE tax, social security tax.

There are other forms of small businesses such as a partnership or S Corporation. According to the IRS, a partnership generally is not a taxable entity and an S Corporation does not pay tax on its income.

Therefore, it seems that if Joe the Plumber has $250,000 to buy a plumbing business he needs to speak to an Accountant, get the Profit & Loss Statement, client list for the business entity and decide what type of business he would set up in order to determine what taxes he would pay. The real Joe the Plumber, with a license #, runs his business in Amarillo, Texas - does he make $250,000 and if he does, he probably has an Accountant or at least a bookkeeper?

To run on the campaign trail and talk in these general terms as if he would be taxed as an individual on $250,000 while operating a business is not only ludicrous but misleading because no one in his right mind would approach something this important in this fashion.

McCain not everyone is erratic, quick to judge, lack the ability to conduct research on issues, cannot comprehend simple bookkeeping and lacks common sense. Whenever in doubt, seek the advice of an expert on small business such as the IRS and an Accountant not McCain-Palin or Obama.

Health Care Crisis Voices of Uninsured

As we prepare to vote on November 4th, we live in America (the greatest nation in the world) and there are 47 million people amongst us that are uninsured. This is a shame and don't say that you don't want another parent, the government, because you already have a pair.

How could McCain-Palin defend the unborn and the inherent rights of the unborn but ignore the rights of the living - these are real people with real stories? Who amongst us is willing to have these voices heard and who will speak for them? If the republicans and the right wing is so religious, do they believe what God has told us - that we are our brothers' keeper?

Are we so selfish that we can only care about ourselves? Are we not concerned about the under-privilege amongst us? Do you believe that 47 million people is just a statistic or are you like some of us and feel that this is a tragedy?

Some very special people amongst us, doctors of the American Medical Association (AMA) who have taken a Hippocratic Oath to care are forced to so with pre-conditions, insured patients come first. These good doctors have highlighted the plight of these desperate people:

1. They can't afford health insurance.
2. They have pre-existing conditions.
3. They have limited access to health plans and benefits.
4. Regardless, these people live sicker and die younger.
   

The AMA has put forward the broad solutions to this health care crisis as follows:

• To provide all Americans with a means to purchase health care coverage.
• To give individuals choices to select the appropriate coverage for themselves and their families especially, their children.
• To promote market reforms that enable this new approach.

If you are one of the 47 million people that are becoming this faceless statistic, come forward, get involved, learn more, stay connected to your plight by contacting Voice for the Uninsured and finally, get out and VOTE.