经济是美国选民首要关心的大事 这 不是什么秘密。但问题是，民主共和两党，谁更善于治理国家经济？你可能说，当然是共和党。从历史上来看，事实恰恰相反，在民主党总统任期内，美国经济发展 更快，股市上涨，工作机会增加，远远强过共和党总统。共和党人，其实就那么一张万能的狗皮膏药 - 减税。经济好坏，他们都使出这个法宝。里根时代，个人所得税的最高税率超过70%，把它们大幅度地降下来，能够刺激经济，我信。我感觉，克林顿时期的税率 就很好，既有利经济增长，又保证国家健康的财政收入。小布什已经减了很多了。现在罗姆尼还要在他的基础上在 大幅地减，刺激经济增长是假，给他和他的富豪朋友们谋福利是真。最近很多报纸都在报道这么一件事。九月份，非党派的国会研究中心（）出了一个报告，指出给 富人减税根本起不到把经济蛋糕做大的效果，只会使社会的贫富分化越来越严重。详见Congressional Research Service Report On Tax Cuts For Wealthy Suppressed By GOP。共和党的领袖们不高兴，施加压力，逼迫该研究中心把这份报告给撤下去了。
你那一票，到底有多重要？ 昨 天去图书馆，发现那里排着很长的队，周围插着很多写有候选人名字的牌子。原来大家在提前投票呢。很久没有见过这么长的队了，毕竟是总统大选，看来投票很踊 跃。全国一亿多选民，你那一票，到底有多重要？可能得看你住在哪，你如果住在纽约这样的铁杆民主党的州，或者是德克萨斯这样的共和党大本营，双方实力相差 悬殊，你投票与否，关系确实不大。如果你不满，把票投给第三党候选人，或者自家的小猫小狗，都无所谓。但如果你幸运（或者不幸），居住在佛罗里达，俄亥俄 等十来个摇摆州，你那张票，也许还很有价值。2000年，最高法院判决后，小布什就是在佛罗里达以400多票的优势胜出而坐上总统宝座的。在这些州，每一 票都很重要。据统计，2008年，在芝加哥、华盛顿等大都市，80%的亚裔都投了民主党的票，但华裔例外。用专家的话说，华裔投票是all over the spectrum，这跟我个人的观察比较吻合。我一直觉得，美国人的政治观点是很分裂对立的，也许只有美国华人之间的分歧可以与之媲美。
“If voting made any difference, they wouldn't let us do it”
马克●吐温真是高。你看，几十年前，少数族裔和妇女就没有投票权。所以当时有些人还是很明白，voting did make some difference。因为很多人流血牺牲，所以我们今天还有这个奢侈在这里纠结，要不要投，投了是否有用。我们搭了个顺风车，为了他（她）们的鲜血不白流，我一定要参与，而且要带领我的子孙后代去参与，就这样一直坚持下去。
FEMA的一些措施起了多大作用，我没有亲历，也看不见相关报道。但那篇报道提到“the FEMA-led pre-positioning of equipment and supplies and the “unprecedented” federal major disaster declaration before the storm hit”，我也经过一些自然灾害，深知提前准备设备和供应是至关重要的。而史无前例地在灾难来临前就宣布federal major disaster，能保证州和地方政府尽快拿到联邦的资金和物品援助。上星期，国防部后勤局都出动了，购买汽油运到灾区，用流动加油站的形式给灾民免费发放汽油。
Every now and again, the other side likes to claim President Obama doesn't have a record to run on. They're wrong. Here's a taste of why:
(Just a couple of) the Obama Administration's accomplishments:
1. The first bill President Obama signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to help women fight back when they don't get equal pay for equal work.
2. His Recovery Act supported millions of jobs and helped to stave off a second Great Depression.
3. He pushed for and won middle-class tax cuts that benefitted every American worker, and saved the typical family $3,600 in taxes over the last four years.
4. President Obama rescued the auto industry, and now GM and Chrysler are healthier than they've ever been. The American auto industry has added nearly a quarter of a million jobs since June 2009 -- and they most likely wouldn't exist right now without President Obama's leadership.
5. He doubled funding for Pell Grants, helping to make college more affordable for nearly 10 million families.
6. His student loan reform ended billions in subsidies to banks serving as middlemen and reinvested those savings directly into students.
7. The President established the American Opportunity Tax Credit, worth up to $10,000 over four years of college.
8. His Race to the Top Initiative helped spur nearly every state to raise academic standards.
9. His tax cuts, social-welfare programs, and economic policies lifted nearly 7 million Americans above the federal poverty line in 2010.
10. President Obama has signed 18 tax cuts for small businesses since taking office.
11. We've seen 5.2 million new private-sector jobs over the last 31 months.
12. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level since President Obama took office.
13. Health care reform -- passed after decades of failed attempts by every previous President -- provides affordable health coverage to every American and will lower premiums by an average of $2,000 per family by 2019.
14. Obamacare expanded access to lifesaving preventive care such as cancer screenings and immunizations with no out-of-pocket costs for 54 million Americans.
15. Obamacare ends insurance discrimination against the 129 million Americans with pre-existing conditions.
16. Because of Obamacare, over 3 million more young adults have health insurance today than would if the new law hadn't passed.
17. The parents of over 17 million children with pre-existing conditions no longer have to worry that their children will be denied coverage.
18. President Obama has ordered the overhaul of federal government regulations to make them smarter, practical, and more efficient. Just a fraction of these commonsense initiatives will help save businesses $10 billion in the next five years alone.
19. His historic investments in clean energy have helped more than double the amount of electricity we obtain from wind and solar sources and helped increase biofuel production to its highest level in history.
20. President Obama is doubling fuel efficiency standards, which will save drivers more than $8,000 at the gas pump, not to mention lessen the impact of automobiles on our environment.
21. President Obama has taken unprecedented action to address climate change, reaching historic international agreements to curb carbon emissions, and taking action here at home to reduce carbon pollution from our vehicles and promote clean energy production.
22. He has taken historic action to protect our environment -- signing one of the largest expansions of protected wilderness in a generation and putting in place standards to reduce toxic air pollution that will save thousands of lives.
23. President Obama fought for and won landmark Wall Street reform that reins in the abuses that led to the financial crisis and ends the era of taxpayer bailouts and "too big to fail."
24. Wall Street reform created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the nation's first federal agency focused solely on consumer financial protection -- and the Bureau is already protecting families from unfair and abusive financial practices from Wall Street banks and shadowy corners of the financial industry.
25. As part of President Obama's commitment to transparency, the White House has posted its visitor records online for the first time ever.
26. President Obama's all-of-the-above approach to energy has helped cut the United States' dependence on foreign oil to its lowest level in 20 years.
27. President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq.
28. He announced a plan to end the war in Afghanistan and transition security responsibility to the Afghan people.
29. President Obama sent the largest security assistance package to Israel in history and funded the Iron Dome system, which is protecting Israeli homes and schools from rocket attacks.
30. President Obama rallied the international community to implement the toughest sanctions on Iran in history.
31. Through the President's historic increases in Veterans Affairs funding, he has expanded and improved healthcare and job training access for our returning veterans.
32. President Obama negotiated the New START Treaty with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in both countries. At the same time, he also secured commitments from dozens of other countries to lock down nuclear materials.
33. His administration naturalized 11,146 military service members as U.S. citizens in 2010; more than in any year since 1955.
34. President Obama set a bold new plan for the future of NASA space exploration, using the skill and ability of the private sector for short trips to the International Space Station, while building a new vehicle for exploration of distant space, and doing everything in his power to support the economy on Florida's Space Coast.
35. President Obama recognizes that tourism is one of America's largest economic engines; he's worked to encourage international visitors to come here, maintaining our security while keeping millions of Americans in good, paying jobs.
36. He has affirmed his personal support of marriage equality, directed the Justice Department to stop defending DOMA in federal courts, and took the practical and compassionate step of extending hospital visitation rights to same-sex partners.
37. He fought for and won the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, allowing gay and lesbian members of the military to serve openly for the first time in history.
38. When Congress failed to fix our broken immigration system, his administration did everything in its power to improve it, streamlining the legal immigration process and announcing a policy that lifts the shadow of deportation from hard working young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
39. Oh, and he gave the order to send troops in after Osama Bin Laden -- and has decimated al-Qaeda's senior leadership.
