Drew Dowdell

Men behind the curtain? Dick Cheney who? Karl Rove who? Donald Rumsfeld who? Bush couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag and he was re-elected despite 4 years of proof of that. Bush fiddled while Rome burned <played the guitar while New Orleans flooded>. More than executive experience <a good chief of staff will handle that part>, I'm looking for sound and reasoned judgment. Someone who can change direction in the face of new evidence. Someone who is willing to use diplomacy first and weapons only as a last resort. Someone who doesn't include cruise missiles and troop numbers in an energy policy. If being a Senator doesn't count for experience, then John McCain has none, Joe Biden has none, and Barak Obama has none.... the only person with "experience" on either ticket is Sarah Palin.... which is scary because she governed, for 2 years, a land area larger than California and Texas combined yet had a population smaller than that of Pittsburgh, PA. McCain can't even make up his own mind on his own policies. John Kerry gave a brilliant speech on John McCain during the DNC but the networks hardly covered it. I suggest you look it up on youtube.

You probably now know more about Sarah Palin than McCain did when he picked her. Not "selected", for that would imply a reasoned judgement. McCain decided a woman would get him Hillary's vote. Giuliani was willing to wear a dress, but it's not quite the same.

Instead we got "Noun, verb, POW"

How much is your healthcare contribution each month? How much does your employer kick in? You're being forced to take a 5% pay cut.... guess which way your premiums will be going in January. You're already paying for healthcare now.... all that would change is where the check is sent.

Actually the real enemy is the income disparity. Read my sig. It's not that the wealthy need to be taxed more, it's that they need to stop outsourcing jobs to the point that Americans can no longer afford to buy their products. Real income has been stagnent since the 70s. The only reason we seem wealthier these days is because of the massive expansion of credit. Credit is collapsing fast. While I don't think we'll enter another great depression, we are precariously close to the same situation in wage disparity, credit contraction, deflation, and unemployment as we were in 1929. It's not that I think that the wealthy need to be taxed more... its that cutting their taxes will do nothing to help the situation in this country. edit: cut the taxes on the people with the most propensity to spend.. the ones that have been hit most by the economic situation.... the middle class.

McCain is a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy who won't change his mind later even when presented with new evidence. McCain admits he knows nothing about economics. McCain's tax policies continue to favor the rich at the expense of the middle class.

What, exactly, did I post that was incorrect?

Bush has spent $600 billion dollars on the Iraq war. $600 Billion would build enough algae ethanol refineries to completely replace gasoline as a transportation fuel source in this country PLUS pay for enough wind generation to power every household in the U.S and there would still be a few billion left over to completely overhaul Amtrak.

Calculate your own Obama tax cut. Keep in mind that Bush raised your taxes and McCain will raise them again further. Oh the dollar amount of your taxes might be lower, but the value of your dollars is lower as well. Wonder why the price of oil is double what it was 4 years ago? There are twice as many dollars chasing it. Bush has <and McCain will> raised your taxes by the huge debts he has created, you just haven't gotten the bill yet. If you're against government spending, that's fine, but don't pretend that the Republicans are in any way, shape, or form, fiscally conservative. My opinion is, if you're going to spend trillions of dollars of tax payer money, at least spend it domestically on things like infrastructure, education, research, etc.

After 7 years of GOP tax cuts guaranteed to produce a rising tide of increasing wealth for all, the median income is lower than when Bush started making it better. More kids got left behind in poverty. The rich got richer. But this data was before the economy went to pot; maybe we need to cut taxes on the rich a bit more.

Whitman is too pro-Polar bear and anti-drilling. Ridge is too pro-choice. Romney makes McCain look poor by comparison.

Generally, that stuff happens BEFORE being offered the job of Vice President. This isn't about Palin at all. This is McCain's first Presidential decision. He needed to pick someone who was a suitable vice president for a 74 year old 5 time face cancer survivor. Palin is the Governor of a state with a total population equal to that of Nashville Tennessee; less than the population Allegheny County where Pittsburgh is located. In that one regard, Dan Onorato, Allegheny County's Executive is more qualified than Palin to be Vice President. Palin was mayor of a town of 6,000..... less than most small state colleges. Palin has fired or attempted to fire anyone who opposes her. Including a the well respected city librarian who refused to remove books from the library that Palin found offensive. Remind you of anyone?

Oil has slid to $109/bbl RBOB Gasoline is at $2.702 Dollar is up to .69 to the Euro and climbing

and it has teh pushrods!

That may still very well be "best" resale. "Best" is a relative term. Remember Fly posting about a 2 year old Excursion with 13k miles offered at $8,500 at auction and ending with zero bids?

Something else I suggest if your bank has online banking is signing up your checking account and all your credit cards at Mint.com. It's free and it will analyze your spending, giving you a better view of where your money is going. Once you see the charts and start to drill down, you find all sorts of places to save.

Lets see: $14,000 of engine technology that was obviously unnecessary. $4,000 of exchange rate $1,800 of badge snobbery $200 of multi-function seat technology

Things to look into cutting: 1. Cable? Do you really need the plan you're on? Are there lesser plans available? Would Dish be cheaper? 2. Credit cards? Do you carry any balances? Is your credit good where you can balance transfer to lower interest? DO NOT CANCEL ANY CARDS!!!! 3. Look at your heating and A/C usage? Would installing a timer thermostat help costs? 4. Do you eat out often? 5. Clothing/household goods? When you're at the store, ask yourself "Can I go another week without needing this item?" If the answer is yes, don't buy it. Clip coupons... it's like cutting out money. 6. Vehicle? Instead of going used, go really used. Enjoy the hobby of fixing up the car.

Out of production for North American vehicles since 2004.

I've never understood why a pushrod couldn't be a 4 valve per cylinder engine? Can't each pushrod actuate two valves?

CIB has better packaging so you can get more displacement for a given engine bay.... in performance cars, displacement matters. CIB has better weight to displacement ratio.... in performance cars, weight matters. CIB has an easier time with aftermarket support. CIB is more reliable, how many 200,000 mile BMW V10s do you think there are out there? How many pushrod V8s? What do you do when your "valvetronic" goes at 100,000 miles? Total the car? When are you going to start whining about Nissan's VQ being based on a nearly 20 year old design?

Oh you mean a REAL ricer engine mod.... ok.

Cut everything you can now.

Prius still won't be using Lithium Ion batteries which is the major stumbling point for any EV vehicle, so the Pruis may get here first, but the Volt is still more noteworthy.

ricer roots show through?