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Today, a celebration like none before. Tonight, a good night’s sleep after eight anxious years. And then, tomorrow, the work begins anew for we the people.

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Whew! November 4th 2008 is now history. All the election rhetoric, prognostications, and promises are behind us, leaving hope and change plus some finger pointing and blame, depending on your perspective. As my previous posts show, I’m part of the hope and change crowd, but am also keenly interested in how my old party will pull itself together after straying from its principals over the past several years. Will it be able to right itself and return to its basic economic tenets, support its social conservative base, and yet appeal to those in the middle? Only time will tell.

I’ve taken grief from some of my friends and family about the whole hope and change campaign line. My initial support of Obama sprang from his positions on Iraq, foreign policy, taxes, social security, health insurance, and education. Once convinced on these issues, I let myself listen to the rhetoric. Is it really so terribly naïve to believe that it’s possible for each of us to positively impact the way our country is governed? I think not. This election has shown the power of individuals to find their voices. We must each continue to press our elected officials to find responsible solutions to the scores of problems our country faces. With renewed hope in our power as citizens, the change will be ours.

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Our flailing economy cries out for action, getting top billing by TV pundits, in campaign speeches, and in letters to the editor across the country. Plunging stock prices, bailout blues, lost jobs, and fading financial futures capture our attention like no other election-time topics. With just a few days left before Election Day, I feel compelled to speak out on one other important issue, which seems to be buried under our collective concentration on the economy. The Iraq War.

Iraq presents one of the clearest distinctions between the candidates in this election. Obama supports a plan to drawdown troops in Iraq, recognizing the need to do so without jeopardizing their safety. McCain takes an even stricter stance than Bush – remain in Iraq, no matter how long it takes to “win.”

For those whose first priority is the economy:
Our total cost so far in Iraq: ~$566,750,000,000
Cost per year: ~$140,000,000,000
Cost per month: ~$12,000,000,000
U.S. funds lost and unaccounted for in Iraq: $9,600,000,000

To put these costs in perspective, the 2008 Federal budget provides just $59B for the Department of Education and only $25B for the Department of Energy, which is in charge of, among other things, energy-related research and domestic energy production. To bring it down to a very personal level, this war has cost every family of four in the U.S. $16,500 so far. And the war goes on…

For those who never believed in starting this war:
Yes, Hussein was a despicable man, but our justification for invasion was faulty. The Bush administration exaggerated the threat he posed. Remember, there were no weapons of mass destruction found, and then no evidence found that Hussein was harboring or supporting Al-Qaeda. McCain followed the Bush lead into Iraq and continues to support this war, while downplaying Afghanistan where Al-Qaeda did and does thrive. If his judgment is flawed in Iraq, can we depend on him to lead us through difficult and potentially volatile relationships with Syria, Iran, and North Korea?

For those of us with loved ones in the military:
Amazingly, Bush has not asked all citizens to share the same burden of Iraq, providing tax cuts to the very richest among us during a time or war. McCain plans to continue these cuts for the same individuals and corporations who evade billions in taxes each year through loopholes and offshore tax havens. Instead, Bush and McCain place the largest burdens and sacrifices for this war on those who serve and on those who wait at home for them.

Our sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends are serving bravely and honorably in our armed services, just as those a generation ago did in Vietnam. Leaving Iraq will never tarnish the honor of those who have been lost or who are wounded, for they did what their country asked them to do. Leaving Iraq will honor those we’ve lost by not losing others to a situation where winning cannot be defined. Having the courage to change course by taking us out of Iraq shows great strength and honors the troops currently serving in Iraq and those prepared to go when called.

Remember and honor:
4,188 U.S. military dead
30,757 U.S. military wounded, many with lifelong devastating injuries
30% to 40% returning U.S. military with psychological problems

The men and women in our military join their units with the knowledge that they may be called to duty to serve and defend our country. We must ensure that they are only called to the most crucial battlegrounds at home and abroad. We must expect our government to be capable of recognizing a need for a changed policy. And, we must demand that it has the courage to act accordingly.

McCain would keep us in Iraq indefinitely. Obama will lead us to a responsible end to this war. He will call on Iraq’s leaders to take on the responsibility for running and funding their own future. He will return us to a position of respect in the world where our efforts toward peaceable solutions are at least as great as our willingness to exercise our military might. Please keep Iraq in mind on Election Day.

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Besides being a life-long registered Republican, I am also a mature, middle-class, small-town, white, married Christian mother of three, who hunts and eats deer meat. Add farming roots and thirty years of work in a non-union manufacturing company based in a conservative community, and the profile places me firmly in the pollsters’ McCain camp, especially after the addition of Palin to the ticket. Instead, for the first time in my life, I’m actively campaigning for the other side.

With rising costs for fuel, health care, food, and other necessities, more than half of all Americans struggle to achieve or to maintain a decent life. The American Dream, where anyone willing to work hard will prosper, is on hold. We need to rein in a system grown fat at the top with its bias for big business and big money at the expense of decent, hard-working people.

Compare tax plans of the two candidates. In McCain’s speeches and advertisements, he touts his plans to extend the Bush tax cuts. Saying that he is in favor of extending tax cuts sound good, but he never defines how the cuts are divided up across incomes. In his plan, the fortunate American families reporting more than $2.87 million in income per year see an average tax cut of 4.4%, which means tax cuts for each in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Contrast this to his tax relief for the 60% of American households at the other end of the income spectrum: those making up to $66 thousand per year. McCain’s plan provides these folks less than one percent in tax breaks, from $19 to $319 each. He offers millions to the richest and pennies to those hard-working people at the lowest pay levels.

Obama’s plan redistributes the tax burden, requiring more from the wealthiest households, while providing tax relief from those who earn the least. The highest income group, those making more than $2.87M, will not see tax cuts, but rather will see an average 11.5% tax increase. All households making less than $250K per year (98.1% of all households) will see a tax cut in Obama’s plan, including the 60% making the least, who will see tax cuts of 2.5% to 5.5%. Even with these broad cuts, Obama’s plan would add less to the national debt than McCain’s. (The Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, both nonpartisan and nonprofit organizations compared the two tax plans. See a summary at Tax Proposals).

McCain claims that Obama will tax middle class America, but this only rings true if he believes that most families are making more than $250K per year. This attitude puts him totally out of touch with typical middle class workers. I don’t normally begrudge the richest their multi-million dollar homes, yachts, and off-shore tax havens (some of them actually earned what they have), but the Bush/McCain tax cuts unfairly burden the majority of hard-working people whose salaries can’t keep pace with rising costs for food, medical, fuel, and other basics.

McCain’s other tax plans are also based on the belief that if you make the rich richer, they will invest and expand the economy, which will in turn be good for the rest of Americans. He would drastically slash all corporate tax rates (even as gas and oil companies rake in record profits and even for corporations with monstrous multi-million dollar executive pay), hold the line on tax rates on investment dividends and capital gains, increase the tax exemption on inherited properties from $3.5M to $5.0M, and greatly reduce taxes on inherited wealth above this exemption from 45% to 15%.

Again, in contrast, Obama would only slightly reduce corporate tax rates, raise the highest rate on investment dividends and capital gains, keep the inheritance exemption level at $3.5M, and apply the 45% rate to wealth inherited over the exemption.

I maintain enough of my Republican roots to believe in a certain level of healthy free market economics, but am not so naïve to believe that the rich will always act in my best interests. I choose not to depend on wealth trickling down to my level! I favor Obama’s plan, which recognizes the need for a measure of governmental controls in order to ensure that we maintain a viable, working middle class.

With the recent meltdown on Wall Street, both candidates may have to revise their tax plans, but the current stated plans reflect a critical distinction between the parties. Obama demonstrates a solid understanding of who Middle Americans really are and what challenges we face. His specific fiscal plans target the needs of the majority of workers. We can’t afford another four years of unbalanced tax policies.

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My friend Scott only half jokingly insists that the best solution to the world’s problems is a monster asteroid, a single spectacularly fiery collision with earth to wipe out most of mankind. Bad-news headlines from around the world remind us every day that peace on earth remains a distant hope. Unfortunately, much of mankind thrives on the misery rained down on others who are poorer, weaker, or less informed. Even many otherwise kind-hearted souls unknowingly or uncaringly contribute every day to the ongoing destruction of all things natural that this earth offers us: its trees, land, waterways, air, and all living creatures.

On the other hand, being a bit more of an optimist than my friend, I believe that each of us can positively impact the world. The question is, how? Quite often the biggest hurtle to overcome in beginning your own small crusade for the world is deciding what to do. I found Michael Norton’s book “365 Ways to Change the World” to be an excellent source of ideas and action plans. For each day of the year, he suggests ways to take positive actions for influencing change. Don’t feel overwhelmed by so many ideas; you can skim straight through the book, marking issues of interest or concern, returning later to narrow down your list. Or, search for your personal passion in twelve topic areas: community and neighborhood, culture and creativity, democracy and human rights, discrimination, employment and enterprise, environment, globalization and consumerism, health, international development, peace, volunteering and citizenship, or young people.

Mr. Norton’s book offers multiple possibilities for action, no matter which causes are closest to your heart. I’m starting with his entry for January 7, “Visit the HUNGER SITE.” Every time you visit the Hunger Site and click on the “Click Here to Give” button, a cup of food is donated to a hungry person somewhere in the world. Consider this statistic: every day 24,000 people die from hunger and three-quarters are children under the age of five. Clicking on the Hunger Site won’t solve the multiple causes of world hunger, but it’s one easy daily action that will positively impact a real person. Please join me in taking this one small step, one day at a time to change the world, to save the world.