I'll start with the American election and I must say I'm astounded by the amount of money the Presidential campaigns of both candidates are costing. If our newspapers are correct McCain as spent over $80million where Obama has spent an astonishing $281million. This is of course on top of what was spent on their campaigns to get the nomination of their party.
My big worry is where did this money come from considering the world is going into recession and surely it could be spent far more wisely. My other concern is where did the money come from and how many buisness men will have favours returned over the next four years. This election is going to cost the American Public a lot of tax money believe me.
The whole long drawn out system is a joke, everyone knows approximately 40% of the population will vote Republican, 40% Democrat & the money is actually spent trying to persuade the 20% Don't Knows or Couldn't care less types.
I'll also comment on another news item this week and that is the issue of Comedian Russel Brand & Jonathan Ross making offensive phone calls to respected actor Andrew Sachs about his grand daughter. Basically they were no better than play ground bullies trying to get cheap thrills at somebody elses expense.
Personally I don't like either of them, not my cup of tea, just consider them both lacking real talent. However the thing that shocked me most was to find out Ross has a 3 year contract with the BBC worth £18 million. This for a talk show host that can't talk properley, what a great way to spend my TV licence money.
5 comments:
The thing that astounds me with America is that voting is not compulsory.
I've been thinking about the US elections, and although I don't trust him as far as I could chuck a bag of spanners, I think Obama would be better for America right now. Where they have a problem world wide is lets face it, is a really bad image. Obama would help turn that around, which I guess is good. He does seem very left wing though. I quite agree with a lot of his points of view, but whether America is ready for it, Well, I dont know. Their idea of left wing seems to be David Cameron!
I thought Brand and Ross where daft prats. Considering the show was pre-recorded how come it wasn't thought it was a bit 'iffy' and cut. Then a quiet apology could have been made to Andrew Sachs and that would have been the end of it. But you have a couple of idiots on that much money they loose all sense of reality.
It astounded me that Ross will loose 1.8 million pounds for being suspended for only TWELVE weeks!! Bloody madness and its our money too!
(Sorry I've gone on again lol)
I'm with Celtic Girl. In Australia it's compulsory to vote. We get fined if we don't. If America made voting compulsory, they wouldn't need to spend that money [That belongs to the poor, sick, homeless or the single mothers.]
I have an issue with the amount that Obama spent because he had previously said that he would limit himself to the amount a candidate receives if he takes public funds. Once Obama knew that he could rake in the cash, he abandoned that promise. Even so, I have already voted for Obama.
I would prefer a briefer campaign, but don't think the current system is a "joke." I also don't think that those who can't be classified as either Republicans or Democrats are "Don't Knows or Couldn't care less types." I am one of them and think that the vast majority of such people care greatly and educate themselves about the differences between the candidates. I have serious misgivings about both Obama and McCain. I also think both of them have much to offer as potential presidents. I think most Americans are well aware of the seriousness of this election and that those who choose to vote, do so seriously. With regard to those who don't choose to vote, I most certainly would not make voting compulsory. In fact, I wish that there would be a fair and honest way to limit voting to those people who have an objective understanding of the issues and the positions, assets, and deficits of the candidates. I alsodon't believe that there is a fair and honest way to assess this.
I disagree that voting should be compulsory. I say, if I don't want to vote, that is my choice and then it means I have to live with what everyone else chooses.
I don't like that Obama was supposed to take matching funds (which creates a level playing field and removes special interests paying for candidates). I agree that campaigns are expensive, and it would have been nice to see Obama keep his promise (he initially said he would do matching funds).
That said--I am a republican, I will vote for McCain. There are never perfect candidates and there are things that I like and dislike about both. But I still feel very strongly about our system of government and that it works well for us. It wouldn't necessarily work in other countries, but it is geared towards what the people here want and who we are. Crazy and mixed up as it seems!
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