My first hand report from Obama's Town Hall meeting in Springfield MO

usregimechange

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Thu Jul-31-08 12:05 AM
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My first hand report from Obama's Town Hall meeting in Springfield MO

Edited on Thu Jul-31-08 12:13 AM by usregimechange

As we approached the beginning of the line at Glendale High from the West.

Still walking east looking back west toward the beginning of the line. Little did we know that this was about the middle of the line.

We found the end of the line which winds around the parking lot like a snake. If you look closely you can see the front part of the line behind the parked cars.

We waited in line about 2.5 hours. It was a lively and large crowd for SWMO. The AP reported that "roughly 1,500 tickets for his appearance at Springfield�s Glendale High School gymnasium were snapped up in about an hour." However, a number of us, including myself, had tickets that we obtained at offices and from local staffers. Another thousand or so didn't have tickets. In short, the press missed counting I would say around 3,000 people.

Claire McCaskill introduced him saying that what "they say" about Obama has had a poor track record of resembling the truth. She also personally vouched for his integrity, patriotism, and humility.

Obama spoke for about an hour and answered questions. He demonstrated his firm grasp of the issues and went after McCain in one instance that should have made national headlines if the M$M had not been focused on trash politics.

"So if Senator McCain wants to debate taxes, then I'm ready. I was just reading, I was just reading that Wild Bill Hickok, he had the first duel in the town square here in Springfield. And I don't know if people are aware of the fact -- I have not done all the full research on this, but the family legend is that Wild Bill Hickok, he's a distant cousin of mine ... I'm serious... This is part of the family legend. I don't know if it's true, but that's the legend. So we're going to research that 'cause I'm ready to duel John McCain on taxes. Right now, right here."

He continued:

"These policies haven't worked for the past eight years and they won't work now. We need to leave these policies in the past where they belong. It's time for something new. It's time to restore balance and fairness to our economy so it works for all Americans, recognizing that we must grow together, Wall Street and Main Street, profits and wages.

That starts with giving immediate relief to families who are one illness or foreclosure or pink slip away from disaster. To help folks who are having trouble filling up their gas tank, I'll provide an energy rebate. To help hardworking Americans meet rising costs, I'll put a $1,000 tax cut in the pockets of 95% of workers and their families, including 3 million folks here in Missouri. To help end this housing crisis, I'll provide relief to struggling homeowners. And to protect retirement security, I'll eliminate taxes for seniors making under $50,000 a year.

If Senator McCain wants a debate about taxes in this campaign, that's a debate I'm happy to have. Because while we're both proposing tax cuts, the difference is who we're cutting taxes for. Senator McCain would cut taxes for those making over $3 million. I'll cut taxes for middle class families by three times as much as my opponent. Let me be clear: if you're a family making less than $250,000, my plan will not raise your taxes - not your income taxes, not your payroll taxes, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. And unlike my opponent, I'll pay for my plan - by cutting wasteful spending, shutting corporate loopholes and tax havens, and rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans" (prepared text but very close to what he said live).
http://ozarksfirst.com/content/fulltext/?cid=41491