Never in my life have I been more excited about the changing of the Presidential guard. “Out with the old, in with the new!” I hear myself chanting in my head.

In reality I wonder if “new” is ever obtainable in American Presidential elections? I’d like to believe that it is, but the fact of the matter is that the entrenched machinery of the government and the special interest groups have a tendency to grind away political idealism and such the fervor of change right out of the Presidency.

Or like in the case of George W. Bush, political and social pressures ripped away the thin veneer of sanity to reveal something darker and more frightening underneath.

Whatever the case, whomever is elected President in 2008 has a monumental task of repairing public opinion at home and abroad of the Unites States, and in particular in its government. Between the war and the economy, we have to consolidate and refocus on our own problems and our own borders before we implode.

Have a look at this site when you have some time, it offers a pretty decent way to compare the candidates and see their relative information.

I really have no respect for our President any more. His latest antics over the $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) was the last straw in a long line antics on his part that made me utter — “What a fucking asshole.”

He huffed, he puffed, he said he would veto it, but in the end it was all just one man’s attempt to bully the Congress into backing down. And why?

What is $35 billion when compared to a pending $189 billion request for Iraq & Afghanistan in 2008? And how was this $35 billion to be paid for? Increase in my taxes? No.

By an increase in the federal tobacco tax from 39 cents to $1 a pack. What better way to have something that kills people pay for health care for children. As a Father I know how important being able to get medical treatment for my son is.

I can only imagine the panic that I would feel if I found myself in that grey zone of income where I made too much to qualify for public aid, but not enough to afford insurance. Hell a simple trip to the ER could end up costing $5-6k for something simple. What will a parent say? No son, we can’t afford to take you to a doctor.

Its insane, this president is out of control. In the end he signed it. He had to, his pet project (the war) forced him to. The sad thing is that he will have a legacy, the world will remember him, just not in the way that he thinks it will.