Website Recommendation: RealClearPolitics.com

As we inch closer and closer to Super Tuesday, I find myself doing more 'digging' - looking around for good articles and analysis on the candidates and their campaigns. RealClearPolitics.com is a site that makes this really simple.

This site scours the net for you and brings all the analysis and information to one place. Relevant articles from all of the countries major newspapers (LA Times, NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.), media outlets, and major magazines are presented every morning and updates are made throughout the day as new articles are posted. Additionally, the site has information on the latest opinion polls, party-specific analysis, videos of the candidates (like when they do those guest spots on the late night shows), and transcripts of major speeches and debates.

I've seen a lot of political sites recently and this one is as comprehensive and easy to use as any I've seen. If you need or want more information than what you're getting or finding on your own, this is the site to use!

2008 Election - Alternatives

I've heard it from all over - people want change in 2009. If you're one of those people and you're not hearing what you want to hear from the Obamas or the Huckabees, you need to know that you have alternatives. There are literally dozens of additional candidates for you to choose from. You can see the list HERE. In the interest of your valuable time, I present to you some of your alternatives:

Steve Adams - lists his supporters by state and, if you hurry, you can probably be the first one from your state. Interests include paintball and motorcycle riding. Qualifications include having chaperoned several youth trips and outings at his local church.

Richard H. Clark - Spends two hours daily reading five newspapers and a science magazine (and has done so for 20 years). Admits to annoying flaw of being terrible with names and dates. Self-proclaimed 'friendly guy' except during work hours where's he's all business.

Don Cordell - Interesting positions on a variety of topics - really must be seen to understand (go HERE). Ideas include building an entirely new, alternative highway system for trucks (built with prison labor) and removing all toll roads (infuriated after once driving across Connecticut and having to pay tolls every 10 or 15 miles). Willing to speak to organizations and is fine with "economy lodging and fast food facilities"

James H. McCall - Biography includes paragraphs dealing with his television viewing habits during the 1950s, details on his marble shooting and tap dancing hobbies, and has placeholders for additional information on his ancestry and primary school years. As President, plans to devote 30 minutes several times each week toward "briefly mentoring five young students of colonial history" . Sessions will allow each child to ask one question and make one comment. Plans to eat lunch with students as he travels because it would be a shame to eat alone. Also plans to "create a sub-department somehow" to work with youth from 16-24. Plans to establish a new "Youngsters Department".

So...there you have it...four alternatives for your consideration. And there are more! Don't feel like you don't have choices - you DO!

The Significance of Iowa

As I'm sure you're aware, the 2008 Iowa Caucuses were held yesterday and the results are in. On the Democratic side, Senator Barack Obama won by 8 points over John Edwards and, on the Republican side, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee won by 9 points over Mitt Romney. I watched the coverage on CNN and MSNBC last night and went to bed with one major question - SO WHAT!?

I suppose Iowa is important for a number of reasons - not the least of which is that it's the first chance for candidates to really gauge public opinion of their candidacy. We've seen two candidates, Joe Biden and Christopher Dodd, already drop out after getting less-than-favorable results and rumors are already surfacing that at least two more candidates will drop out before next week's primary in New Hampshire. Historically, however, the Iowa Caucus has not been a great indicator of how the Presidential race will end.

The Iowa Caucus came to national prominence in 1972 when a series of articles ran in the New York Times detailing how states that did not hold primaries chose their delegates for the party conventions. Since then, the Caucus has been widely recognized as the first step in the Presidential nomination process. There have been 10 contested races in Iowa since '72 (some years candidates run unopposed - like Clinton in 1996) and only twice has a winner gone on to be elected President - Jimmy Carter in 1976 and George W. Bush in 2000. That said, it's also true that the future President has never finished worse than 3rd in Iowa. Clinton actually finished 4th in 1992 but the 2nd place vote getter was 'Uncommitted' (who I think decided to drop out of the race shortly thereafter after it was determined that 'Uncommitted' was not electable).

If you're interested in learning more about the history of the Iowa Caucus, there's an interesting article at NPR.org that details the results of every caucus held from 1972 to 2008.

More Politics: Find Out Who's Lying

I believe that, unfortunately, almost every politician on the national stage is willing to lie to get elected. Sometimes it's well intentioned lies and other times it's flat out smear tactics - but a lie is a lie. Fortunately for us, there are people out there that dedicate more time than you or I have to tracking down who's doing the lying and what the truth is.

PolitiFact.com is a site sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times and it stays on top of the lies being told by the candidates. It covers lies told in speeches (like the one Tom Tancredo told about the cost of illegal immigration), lies told by one candidate about another (like the one about John Edwards not being a populist told by Obama), and also breaks down all the questionable statements made by the candidates by category (immigration, abortion, etc.).

So - the next time you hear one candidate accuse another of something or you hear a candidate make some random statement about the cost of this or that, head over to Politifact.com and see if they're telling the truth or not!

More Help Deciding on a Candidate

I came across another pretty cool site today that's aimed at helping people decide on a candidate to support in the Presidential race. Glassbooth.org asks you to rank which issues are most important to you and then asks you how strong your opinions are on certain issues (strongly agree, agree, disagree, etc.). Based on your responses, the site tells you which 3 candidates align most closely with your views and gives you a breakdown of which, if any, issues you and the top candidate disagree on.

Pretty cool and pretty enlightening. Without telling you exactly who ranked out as my top 3, I will tell you that none of them were in my top 3 prior to taking this little quiz. I probably need to get more informed!

Healthcare - Are We Getting What We're Paying For?

I recently went through my company's annual benefits enrollment process and, much to my chagrin, was blasted with another sizable increase in my healthcare costs. Every year the costs of health insurance, my out of pocket deductables, my prescription deductables, etc. keep going up and it's starting to really get under my skin. This past year, in addition to having a baby, we've had a couple of hard to diagnose conditions in my family and the care we've gotten on some of the issues has been, to be frank, marginal at best. I'm starting to wonder if we're getting what we pay for here?

I've read varying reports on how much health care costs are rising, but the general consensus seems to be that they're rising about 3 times faster than inflation. Given that most of us get raises that, at best, are double the rate of inflation, we're looking at more and more of our money going towards health care in the future. That's problematic. Here's what's more problematic to me: According to the World Health Care Organization's latest quality rankings, we're paying huge prices for, get this, the 37th best health care in the world. We're sitting behind countries like Oman, Colombia, Cyprus, Morocco, Dominica, and Costa Rica. Seriously.

That brings me to the concept that's starting to pop-up more and more in the news - Medical Tourism. If these countries that I just mentioned have BETTER health care systems than we do, would you be willing to travel to one of them to have surgery? What if, by going to another country, you could cut your costs by 75%? Currently, this probably only makes sense for elective type surgeries/procedures that your insurance doesn't cover. But - given that it seems like insurance is getting more and more restrictive, we might be looking at a future that defines more and more procedures as elective. Consider these costs:

Carpal Tunnel Surgery (both hands) - Avg. US Cost = $20,000, Avg. Colombian Cost = $2,000
Hip Replacement - Avg. US Cost = $45,000, Avg. Colombian Cost = $8,000

This isn't chump change and this is only a sample from one country. A lot depends on what our currency is doing against the other country's currency - but the dollar's not going to fluctuate enough to make up this kind of cost difference. Something to consider as we head into election season - does anybody have a plan that's going to improve our quality of care without breaking the bank in the process?!

2008 Presidential Election - What's Your Issue?

You've seen them already and you'll be seeing more of them in the days ahead. The candidates for President are already slinging mud and spending money like crazy trying to ensure that he or she gets his/her party's nomination. I've already seen a couple of friends pick their chosen candidates and Britney & I have already started discussing our options. But how do you decide who to vote for? How do you know what these people are truly about given the fact that all you get in debates is 1-2 minute snippets and commercials are, well, commercials. Here are my recommendations for sizing up the candidates:

If your primary concern is where the candidates stand on the environment, climate change, eco-issues, etc., head over to Grist.org to find out "How Green is Your Candidate?".

If you choose candidates based on religious leanings, where he or she stands on the separation of church and state, etc., head over to The Pew Forum to read each candidates relgious profile and find out their leanings on relgion-related issues.

If the war in Iraq is really what you care about and you want to know how each candidate voted (if applicable) and where they stand on the continuation or ending of our initiatives in Iraq, you can find that information in the profiles in the New York Times.

If you just want a general overview of the candidates and want to know, at a high level, what they're all about, find that type of profile at the Washington Post.

Finally, if you are the type of person that really does their homework and wants to know where each candidate stands on every issue under the sun, you can find that information too - head over to OnTheIssues.org and get your fill.

Now - go get informed!