Can’t say we didn’t warn you, I do not want to be on the 6′ and 11 o’clock news after Nov. 4 and being a victim of “Joe and Sara Sixpack ‘s rage.

True. Pursuing your passion is a lot different than paying the bills.

McCain is trying to set the table — the same way that Hillary did. I strongly suggest that folks with high melanin content who live in them thar areas to muscle up and get steely.

Otherwise, they’ll be on the news. No one can say they had no warning. It’s as plain as day.

Here’s the difference…you are engaged in a highly specialized, licensed craft which, in and of itself, is stimulating to you. My associates were working in public policy and finance, respectively. Neither wanted to stay in those fields — but they could go back to those tomorrow if they wanted to. They could work for decades in those fields and establish themselves as leaders…but they don’t have to.

Some jobs are great opportunities to learn a trade or skill that you simply cannot enter without an apprenticeship. However, most folks of a certain age are no longer apprentices, and they lack the savings, equity contributions or skill or will to become independent in the very thing they’ve done for so long. When these same folks are living paycheck to paycheck, there is no satisfaction at merely doing a day’s work for a day’s pay.

It is precisely because the Federal Reserve Bank and private bankers (and Presidents) have collaborated to fuel inflation and devalue real dollars that this generation is getting far less than previous generations. People are rightly disgusted and fearful. What is sad is that many simply don’t reallize that they do not have a real choice. Both of these corporate candidates are going to ultimately serve the same interests.

Counterpunch has a few very good articles on the naked theft that is masquerading as a bailout.

– The fundamental truth is that if a system which is based on the proper functioning of so-called free markets requires public funding in order to operate, it ceases to be a free market system. It would be like the Soviet Union saying we’re going to privatize transportation, energy, communications and housing — but we’re still Communists. No you’re not. Capitalism is DEAD. Or shall I say, the veneer that was capitalism has been removed for those that have eyes.

Interesting discussion about freedom and money. I’ve thought about that issue often, particularly as bureaucratic concerns have infiltrated deeper and deeper into my practice of emergency medicine.

But ultimately, I would’t trade it for anything else and the thought of retirement, of not being able to do what I do on a nightly basis is simply unacceptible.

Ultimately, it’s nice to have the ability to tell anyone and everyone to fuck off, but it’s nice as well to have the ability to do something you consider extraordinary.

Are each of you tonight willing to sit at this table and say to each other’s face what your campaigns and the people in your campaigns have said about each other?

And, Senator McCain, you’re first.

MCCAIN: Well, this has been a tough campaign. It’s been a very tough campaign. And I know from my experience in many campaigns that, if Senator Obama had asked – responded to my urgent request to sit down, and do town hall meetings, and come before the American people, we could have done at least 10 of them by now.

When Senator Obama was first asked, he said, “Any place, any time,” the way Barry Goldwater and Jack Kennedy agreed to do, before the intervention of the tragedy at Dallas. So I think the tone of this campaign could have been very different.

I think it helps to look at the political system the same way you look at sports. The NFL is “AN” association. It’s not the only association. It is one association which has a national reach (now international) and membership is restricted based on 2 criteria (at a minimum). These two criteria are wealth (you have to be able to pay the minimum FEES for a franchise) AND acceptance (you must have approval of 75% of the owners). So, even if you are RICH, if you’re Nigger Rich, you can bank on not getting acceptance. These are two LEGAL criteria of a PRIVATE association which uses public space (stadiums), public wealth (tax concessions), and the like to generate profits, etc.

So it is with the Republican and Democratic political PARTIES. When you vote in a PRIMARY, you must meet two criteria…AGE and MEMBERSHIP in the Party. The PARTIES are private entities which require regulation on fundraising, expenditures and the like. The parties are not public any more than Citibank is public. You are FREE to buy shares or cast votes, but that’s not quite the same as being in the board room or in that “smoke-filled room” at the back of the convention hall.

Private parties fund raise to pay for the show. A party convention is actually a private event. These national committees operate essentially as private not-for-profit entities. The principal business is not profit making, but they’re very profitable lines of work — and as such, participation, leadership and the like is proscribed. You have to play the game.

Now, if Donna Brazile can chair the Democratic National Committee (effectively operating as the CEO for all Democrats), is it really implausible that Barack Obama would eventually win the nomination of that same party? Not at all.

So, if you’re a Democrat and you’ve been able to connect that the MOST PRESTIGIOUS ASSOCIATION in America (the NFL) and host your private party (with public invitations) at Invesco Field at Mile High, why would you actually have a debate with people from other private parties that are smaller and might upstage you?

Microsoft NEVER ran out and gave Google props. The NFL didn’t run out and give the USFL props. The simply used their size, revenues, and government connections to raid their rosters.

It’s all private enterprise. It just looks public. Obama is in the game to win and his bosses have already paid the tab.

Completely agree.

Something else about class labels is that people don’t understand the percentage of people in the classes. The wealth is truly ALL at the top. These numbers are from memory, so they may be off a bit, but the point still stands.

Ultra-wealthy – top 0.01% of population
Wealthy – top 1% of pop (holds something like 90% of nation’s wealth)
Upperclass – top 2% who make 250k as Obama mentions
Upper Middle Class – top 10% and you only need to make over 90k to get here
And we can just stop here.

This means that 90% of the population makes under 90k and controls only 10% of the country’s wealth. To me this number is staggering. It means we are all slaves. And it means the politicians are generally only talking to that top 10%. And it means labels like middle and low class don’t mean much because we are ALL in the same boat. Either you have it or you don’t.

So when Obama says 98% of you will not have taxes raised, people don’t understand: A) that is practically everyone in the country, B) chances are the “people” will never make 250k in their lives. The Republicans talk like we all make 250k or will soon, when it is just not true.

This is why I like Temple3′s conception. That freedom is a better measure. The chances of me becoming Warren Buffett are slim, but it is possible I could build up enough wealth to be independent and free.

I don’t know how important the designations are in the sense that many folks want to be considered “middle class” from a social perspective. It’s the most common response from folks when they’re polled about their economic status. It’s as much a social answer as anything.

Frankly, if you have FOUR categories, the MIDDLE can’t be #2. Maybe you want to add Upper Middle — so that Middle can be in the Middle and switch Lower Middle with “working” (which I don’t prefer because it confuses the issue).

I think it’s more simple and more complex at the same time. You have people who are owners and people who are laborers. You have owners who have capital (labor, financial instruments, etc.) that make money for them who do not actually “WORK” in the sense that other people do. For example, I have two friends who are in their 30s that are effectively retired. One owns several high value properties in NYC (with tenants locked into long-term leases); the other is a multiple franchise owner of a recession-proof good. They “work” but they don’t have to be anywhere from 9-5. They don’t have to be anywhere every day.

They saved. Built their net worth. They bought cheap and carefully watched their wealth grow. Both are Black men who grew up in the ‘hood and neither one is a bitch ass sellout like some folks who’ve chosen to take this path while proclaiming that being a sellout is the only route to riches.

I use their examples to illustrate that neither of them would consider themselves upper class. I think they’d consider themselves “middle class” without the connotation of “mediocre.” Still, they’re independently wealthy and can tell any man, woman or child on the planet to kiss their ass without it impacting their bottom line financially. That’s freedom.

Classes don’t mean as much to me as whether or not you have economic freedom. Most Americans who work for others get pimped by the government taking 28 cents or more off of every dollar. Owners don’t take those kinds of losses unless their ignorant of the tax code. So, if you own and are in the right type of business, you can have what matters economic freedom. You don’t have to work for someone else to have health insurance. You can pay for your own.

Lawyers and other professionals with big salaries can often have very little financial freedom because they have very high expenses and because they retain very high personal debts from the investment they made in education. One of the things that folks often miss about lawyers at big firms is that they may work 80 to 90 hours a week to make roughly $30-40/hr. Now, over the course of a year, that sounds like a lot of cream — but when your firm bills your time at $300/hr and you get 10 cents, you are no better than a corner drug dealer who is clocking the same percentage.

So, while I recognize the importance of putting numbers on “class,” I think the public would benefit from an honest discussion about economic freedom. I know tons of folks who’d rather be independent and run a small business or own a small farm or make some great product than work in corporate America. That may be one reason why small businesses continue to generate most of the jobs in the country. Either way, these class models are all dinosaurs because people have been reduced to economic slavery…every one is a compulsory creditor of a non-responsive government.

That makes most of us de facto slaves. It’s no wonder that people fight tooth and nail to avoid paying taxes. A FREE MAN cannot be compelled to do things beyond his will. If the church could only get 10%, what makes anyone think the government should be getting 3 or 4 times that amount — especially when that money is actually going to private bankers.

It’s all a huge game.

1. upper
2. middle
3. working
4. lower

class because I don’t know anybody in my social circle black, white or other who is making 90,000 together. Most people are struggling badly with no medical or health insurance while many other countries have better systems for both and where average workers have rights and benefits that Americans will never have unless they are in the exceutive suites.