Here's a SIMPLE PLAN: Clearly define HOPE & CHANGE for your fence-sitting friends

[DrZeeLit]

For some like myself, words like "Hope" and "Change" aren't going to cut it. We want to know what, exactly, is the plan to get this country back on track. For those who missed Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention, he spelled out the plan in a very clear list of policies he would pursue. Lately, I've been feeling like all we are talking about anymore has been reduced to "lipstick", so I took some time to put it in an easy to read (and pass along) list in the hopes that we might actually get to some real talk about stuff that really matters (before we end up in four more years of shit just because our VP was a hockey mom.) Here is Barack Obama's plan, as laid out by him, at the DNC:


"let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President. I...

• will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas

• will start giving tax breaks to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

• will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

• will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. "Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class"

• will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

• will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power.

• will help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America... will make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars.

• will invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

• will invest in early childhood education.

• will recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability.

• will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

• If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And ... I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

• help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

• change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

• keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

• will pay for these plans by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow.

• will go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - ("because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.")

• will never hesitate to defend this nation

• will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

• will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

• will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts.

• will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression.

• will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease.

• will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain."