During his Presidency, Ronald Reagan raised taxes, did you know that?  So did Bush 41. Today Ronald Reagan is a Conservative icon - a yard stick by which all other conservatives are measured. Therefore, if Barack Obama is elected President, and raises taxes, will he become a Conservative icon as well?

I doubt it, but the point I am making is that taxes have been raised by Republicans themselves plenty of times. Raising anybody's taxes might not even been necessary now except for the fact that we are spending 10 BILLION dollars a month in Iraq in a war of choice that most Republicans gleefully supported. Who do Republicans think should pay for that - their children - their grand-children - their great grand-children?

Barack Obama has said repeatedly that he will not raise taxes on individuals who make less that 200,000 or couples that make less than 250,000. In fact, Obama's economic plan calls for 95% of all Americans to receive a tax cut. Any statements by Republicans to the contrary are simply false. Most of the claims by Republicans concerning Obama's tax plan are either out and out lies, half truths or misleading.

John Mc Cain's economic plan, on the other hand, is a carbon copy of those adopted by George W. Bush. In eight years Bush hasn't been able to get these same ideas to work. What makes anyone thing that Mc Cain will? Obama wants to give the working class a tax cut and roll back the tax cuts on the wealthy back to pre-Bush levels. In other words Obama wants to roll back taxes to Clinton-era levels on only those who can most afford it. The Clinton-era, remember those times - eight years of peace and tremendous prosperity?

How can anyone seriously think that former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker and billionaire investor Warren Buffet would agree to be advisors of Obama if they thought his economic ideas were not sound?  To top it off, the Economist magazine has endorsed Obama as well. The folks at the Economist must know a think or two about economics don't you think?  While we are on the topic of endorsements - would former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, endorse Obama if he thought Obama could not handle National Security or foreign affair issues?

It defies human reason that anyone could conceivably believe, as the Republicans would have you, that Obama wants to take money from hard working people and give to people who don't want to work or who don't pay taxes? That is not the case. If it were, even Michelle Obama and Alex Baldwin wouldn't vote for Obama.

You see Barack Obama realizes that tickle down economics, as Mc Cain is advocating, does not work very well, if at all. When John Mc Cain gives billionaire Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, a tax cut how many pairs of pants will Gates go out a buy? How many refrigerators? How many new cars? None, Gates has all of those things he needs already - the money just sits in an account.

Our economy is consumption based. Give that same tax cut to the middle class and we go out and spend it. The middle class spends their tax cut and that creates jobs. When the middle class are working and spending that creates opportunity for businesses, such as Microsoft or a Mom and Pop business, to expand production and introduce new products and make profits. It is a win/win situation for everyone. So the extra tax that Bill Gates pays under Obama's plan is really an investment, by Gates, in America. And in the past that investment has gotten him a pretty good return, don't you think?

Apparently the Republican Party hasn't grown tired of lying and trying to scare people into voting their way.  When you go to vote, don't let the Republican scare tactics fool you into voting for anybody but the best candidate for the job of President of the United States of American - Barack Obama.

Allan D. Pierson

Santa Rosa Beach, Florida

It was a warm and sunny day in early June. A laden barge is lumbering slowly across the blue-green water in the distance ushered on by a small tug. The tug seems to struggle and strain from its load; for the barge is most likely weighted down with freshly dredged sand. Large white puffy clouds tower in the distance, highlighted majestically against an otherwise clear blue sky.

 The air moves slowly by, occasionally kicking up a sudden gentle gust that sends the leaves rustling like a wind chime. The water adds its' own steady rhythm to the music of the leaves, slapping relentlessly against the rocks of the seawall. I imagine myself on the water.

 Nearby, a flag dangles lazily from a pole at the end of a pier. As the breeze stirs through the trees the lethargic flag takes a short break from its slumber to wave to me. It waves as if to call me to the water - flapping seductively - signaling its consent for me to abandon my labors and join with the water.

 Momentarily, it seems, the sounds and smells of man have been temporarily suspended, treating the spectator to a rare event. The air is quiet except for the sounds of nature in the water and in the wind. Even the F-15 jet fighters that fly almost daily overhead are silent for a moment. Eglin Air Force Base and its routine flight training exercises yield - albeit briefly - to the bay in respect.

 A rare pause indeed in the city, for nearby on a busy highway humanity darts and dashes to and fro. Where sirens and the roaring of a large truck engine, struggling to overcome the inertia that holds it back, filled the air only moments ago, the sounds of nature now fill the air. These gentle natural sounds fill my ears, my heart and my soul as if Mother Nature were offering me her Eucharist.

 There have been persistent rumors of an impending early-out offer from my employer. If true, I will have a decision to make. Regardless of my acceptance or rejection of any retirement offer, I have heard a calling from the Choctawhatchee Bay. Armed with my kayak and paddle, I am impassioned to explore her width and breath. All that is left to determine is just how much free time I will have on my hands to do so.

 Allan D. Pierson

June 2008