Spiffnme, you really should go back and read this entire thread.

"I'm curious to know what issues you beleive John Kerry is "far left" on."

I didn't listen to his speech, but from the excerpts in the paper it sounds like he promised a federal health care program, federally funded class size reductions, and a federally funded preschool program, among other things. All of these new programs are possible without raising taxes on the middle class or the wealthy (he only proposes to "roll back" the tax cuts the wealthy received earlier)? How do you fund the ENORMOUS cost of those programs? You don't. None of those things will happen should Kerry get elected. It's all populist BS.

"It's been my experience that people who preach "personal responsibility" and don't believe in "government handouts", are usually people who've never needed assistance of any kind...Contributing to the common good and uplift of others isn't socialism."

It's been my experience that financially secure Liberals who live in nice areas far from the underclass for whom they feel pity are frequently out of touch with reality. As a teacher, I see the same scenario played out every year, hundreds of times over (it's like watching a depressing version of "Groundhog Day"). Kids making poor life decisions: doing drugs, having babies, failing classes, truancy, UNDERACHIEVING, etc... A few short years from now all those kids will probably join the DNC and clamor for gov't handouts, bemoan the lack of fairness in this world, scream "tax the rich", etc...

So half the kids work hard and succeed, the other half f***s around and has a good old time. Should they all receive the same grade? Should I "tax" the overachievers, take a percentage of their points and give them to the kids "who really need it" - the ones who are about to fail because they screwed around all semester? There is nothing noble in the efforts of populist politicians when they preach these big give-aways. All these gov't programs we have today enable people to make crappy decisions and get away with it, even be rewarded for it. All of us who get up and go to work each day are handed the bill.

Folks need to take care of themselves. Period.

And, FYI, my dad was a truck driver that never graduated from HS and my mom was a Mississippi farm girl who cleaned other peoples' houses. Hardly a silver spoon background.