our new president

Obama...He will bring the change in this world because his ideas which he expressed will be very fruitful to the whole world. He wants to tackle the economic crisis as soon as he joins office next year - that's really a very good idea because economic crisis affects the whole world in some way, it affects trade. Apart from this, he want to establish peace between countries and this is a wonderful initiative. I am happy that Obama got elected. Being a dark president of a white country does not creates anything, we must not have discriminatory views. Instead, we must encourage Obama in his good decisions and support his initiatives. Long Live the World.

Silky, I hear and feel you on this; You want to keep what money you do have here and try as best as you can to give the man the benefit of the doubt. I respect you for that. To be honest, As an African American woman, I was shocked and truly suprised to see it happen. Even when they showed the sign that Obama was elected, I thought I was dreaming. To be honest with you, I'm still a bit shocked and surprised. I have seen Presidents come and go in my time. I have, and when I saw this historical moment happen, I was in awe, and I'm still in awe to this time. I feel he has a lot of stuff to deal with down the road. He might or might not get the support he needs to get it done. I don't make 40 grand a year myself, but I applaud you for it and for the fact that your trying to hold on to what you make. The times we are running into are going to be real uncertain times, and the best thing that we can do is to hold on and see how it will turn out. and prepare for the worst.

Obama is not going to raise everyones taxes dramatically. He is raising the taxes of the upper income levels....the very wealthy and only by 3%. As far as helping those on welfare...not true at all. It will be helping those of us who work really hard but do not earn enough to barely get by. His tax hike is to help the average working joe...not hurt them. i sincerely think you misunderstood it all.

President Elect Obama does not say the thing that you have outlined. Everyone has to contribute to improve back the economy of America. The factories and business opportunities that has lost for the past years is what Obama would like to re-create. Opportunities for the down trodden, is it that something is wrong with that. Did Obama say that the illegal people will get amnesty under his Government or that the people who does not want to work should not have to because he will be giving them money same way. I think that people tends to fear what they don't understand. If you don't understand what Obama want for the citizens of America, it is best you go to the Democratic website and stop spurting foolishness. Information is power especially when it is the right one.

Well, as far as it goes, I like him better than McCain, in terms of where he stands on abortion and all that. I don't think either of them really supported gay marriage, which is truly a shame. I mean, there really has been no perfect candidate, but I agree with Obama on more things because I am just truly liberal. I'm also glad that he's about separating church and state, because I'm not religious and I think it's unfair that Christianity is almost like an unofficial national religion, when all of our opinions count, regardless of religion.

Spreading the wealth is what taxes have always been about. collect more taxes from middle class and less from the rich threw loop hole tax laws. those taxes are taken and used for SPECIAL interests of those that have more money and finance there ideas to make them more money. Iraq is a great example. who has monetarily benefited the most from this war. how is the new oil pipeline infrastructure going to ship all that oil. the plans were in place before the war, now that is freaky. Who pocket was Mc Cain in? Did you know we have inventions that could replace every gas running engine with free energy? Will we ever get to use them when oil companies make 15 billion a month profit? who was the big business/oil candidate? ask your self some questions about how scary it is that McCain could have been president. And i'm a republican, christian! Obama is smarter, less controlled, very driven to help those less fortunate but not by creating a well fare country. Providing an infrastructure to better enable Americans prosper and overcome the mighty power of the corrupt greedy suppressive powers of the global elite that work skillfully at keeping the commoners down. I for one am shocked they let him get this far and pray that he can change the paradigm of the world. i believe the paradigm shift of earth is at hand!lol

It still dosn't affect me. The most I have made in my entire life was $28,000, and I will never make even $40,000 and if by chance I did, that would be so much more than I have ever made, I wouldn't mind paying a little more in taxes. What I would like to see as far as "spreading the wealth" what I would like to see is everyone has to pay taxes. People who come into this country and buy party stores and not pay taxes for 7 years, those days are over. Just live your life the best you can. whoever gets into office may tweek things a little, but no one's life is going to change dramatically. I voted for Mcain too, but Obama is our president and er have to support him.

I believe that you are wrong about what Obama has said about the middle class as he doesn't intend to raise our taxes. He is working for the working class people. I have read his website and I am for the things that he is wanting to do in the next four years. Do you realize that he is a family man who feels that working people should have flex time for school activities and that everyone should have insurance and that employers should offer 7 days sick leave each year. That would make such a wonderful change in my life. I believe that people who feel that he is the wrong person for this position will see that he is going to make a good change to the US and we need that right now. He has a long hard road ahead of him,but I think that he can do it if he tries.

I am hoping that he will be a good president. I've said for years that I'm sick and tired of old men running the White House and now I've gotten my wish. He's not the one I would have picked, but there he is and I will give him my respect, good wishes and my blessing. However, he scares me! His policies and politics are close to communism, wanting to redistribute the wealth and tax the ones who make over a certain amount more than anyone else. If they would just tax everyone the same and enforce it, we wouldn't have so much trouble. Or abolish income tax and institute a sales tax on everything but food, maybe. Something has to be fairer than penalizing a person for working hard and being successful. I'm very proud that we have a president of color. I didn't vote for him but it wasn't because of his race. We have someone in there that is half black and half white, a representative of everyone. He's known some hardship and also success. I believe he is a good man but as I said, he scares me. I hope he puts my fears to rest and we don't lose any more of our rights and freedoms.

For starters, your discussion title is incorrect. Or did I miss something and he already took the oath of office? He is president-elect, and is slated to take the oath in January 2009 and at that time I will refer to him as such, and not a second before.

At first, I was not an Obama supporter, I wanted Hilary, actually I wanted Ron Paul but his chances were nill to nothing. But as I learned more about the man, I was convinced he was my choice. You can never agree 100% with any candidate but, other than when Al Gore ran, there has never been a candidate whom I wanted more. You wrote, "no that he has been elected my taxes will go up dramatically to "spread the wealth" so that illegals and peoepl who have no desire to work can stay at home.. we in no way make more the 250 thousand a year but thats not who is going to be taxed it will be all of the average working joe at his last speech it was peoepl who make over 40 thousand a year are able to spread the wealth." In order to pay for the necessary government programs, taxes are a necessary evil. Just like any other cost raise, how is a government expected to pay for the increased costs of these programs if they are not allowed to raise their income (taxes) to pay for them? Two things for certain, that he wants to do is... ...he plans to give the Treasury Department the tools it needs to stop the abuse of tax shelters and offshore tax havens and help close the $350 billion tax gap between taxes owed and taxes paid. ...Obama and Biden plan to level the playing field for all businesses by eliminating special-interest loopholes and deductions, such as those for the oil and gas industry. In 2006, Obama voted against misguided Republican efforts to raise the statutory debt limit at the same time the Republicans were pushing through massive debt-financed tax cuts for the wealthy. I am not one hundred percent sure of what the salary cut-off is for who is taxed higher, and I am searching, but I have found that people with higher salaries, over a certain amount, tend to find more tax loopholes than those with lower salaries, and find a way to pay the same or less than you or me. I am going to search to see if the amount that you stated, 40k, is correct. I would be interested in that, too.

I think that this is history in the making and many say it will be good and you can only hope really . will it be a good part or a bad part time will tell . Noone knows what he can bring until he is office and I wish him well , and I hope he brings much good to the people and can help keep us safe . I respect him and will support him until if he does give me reason not too . spreading the weatlth did scare me that line and i thought on the far end of it , and i dont think it means the start of what many people are thinking . The line that i keep thinking of is:Hope is everything ! Us Americans are awaiting the change . we need change and this hope , but more important we need it to stay alive and happen =) Yes, need it to happen ! Bless Obama and his family and may he help keep us safe too . I respect and support him . This is history in the making . Oh , please let it be good ! One people ;)

Hi, There are many discussions around this subject of President Elect Obama. I will like to give a view from outside the United States. Obama for the American people is the best thing to happen since sliced bread! Regardless of race, if the American foreign policy did not galvanise so much discredit to the US and George Bush, the democrats would not have won by such a large margin. You must remember, FOX, CNN america, and other domestic media in the US are very popularist and propogandist broadcasters. They jump on bandwagons which may have slight elements of truth and go with it because people will watch, listen and read. We were sold lies about the Iraq war, 'freedom fries' were around in the US, body bags of American soldiers have a media blackout. The only reason why the American public went from for to against the war, was because time did not sustain the lies involved by the republicans. Truth penetrated much of the ill-informed media and the mass public. Yet we are still in Iraq. Iraq is costing the American taxpayer dearly, and the sub-prime collapse and injection of billions of dollars into the American banks is in part a result of the vast amounts of money spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. Someone has to pay. In Gulf War I most of the Arab countries footed the bill. This time it is the American taxpayer as well as some revenues from the oil reserves. This is one of the reasons, American arrogance to the rest of the world - 'my way or the highway', finishes with George W Bush. In terms of Foreign policy the democrats had to come to power to restore some kind of credibility. Having said that, Obama has little experience. But neither did Sarah Palin or even George Bush for that matter. But what impressed me about Obama is how calm and collected he was during the financial crisis, a true personification of a leader. But this alone does not give licence to govern. You mention the 'spreading the wealth' and the fear people have of taking money from rich to poor. I personally think this is an opportunity for America to live the dream for all Americans allowing it to give equal opportunity to all who work to make their lives better. Obama has never advocated, (at least to my knowledge) taking money earnt from the rich and giving it to the poor in a draconian fashion. He has merely stated a redistribution of opportunity and the idea that encourage the wealthy to give something back to those in need. When I saw the devastation that Katrina left and then saw what was rebuilt first and areas which were never rebuilt something struck me about America. The poor and the helpless are the forgotten souls of America. Noone is willing to give a dime to help rebuild their homes. Yet wealthy suburbs got out and cameback as if not much has affected them. What Americans need to realise is that the welfare state is not a tool for those who will not work to gain funds but a desperate means of living for those who cant find work or are really low paid. Once a nation's population is out of poverty and their is more of an equal footing of income, vices such as greed, arrogance, bullying class and others tend to fade, and society becomes more collective rather than individualistic and selfish. So what Obama proposes is a good thing. But as always only time will tell if Obama delivers, but rest assured he will be greater than George Bush.

Don not worry. He will absolutely do better job than bush. No question about it. So you dont have an reason to worry about

i think obama will do well--this is an opinion from a non-us citizen

i am very happy to win obama