Military absentee ballots should be counted, state board says

To say that only a Republican president grants pay raises to military members is ridiculous. I served from 1994-2006 and until Bush took over, we saw our pay raises as high as 7 percent. While there was still a surplus, we received 2 pay raises in 2001. I also recall that military members were not going to get their 3.5% pay raise because the Republican CINC deemed it too generous. I also saw the pay raise post 2001 go down to less that 3%. Who was in charge during this? A Republican!!!

The military vote should not count??? what kind of idea is that? Military members are citizens of this country just like everyone else, and should have a say in the government just like everyone else. And who says that being stationed overseas means that you are in an information void? It seems to me that there are alot of people here that do not have an understanding of what is going on, and post like that prove it.

I have more to say but posting limits keeps me from doing it one post.

So, PENS, what you seem to be saying is military members are not citizens of this country and shouldn’t have a vote. How dare you. But then again, it’s your right to espouse ugly opinions. Very sad when convicted felons get that right yet you feel the military shouldn’t. Who do you think gave you the right to vote? Guess you’d be happier being under Japanese or Russian rule, because that’s where you’d be without us. You may now crawl back under the rock from which you came from.

I’m appalled at your posting. We in the military probably understand the world and the U.S. role in it more than most civilians. Being overseas does not mean we’re on a desert island with no form of communications (as I type this, I’m in Belgium!). While it’s true most of my votes have been for Republican presidents, I certainly don’t do that just for a pay raise! (By the way, it was Regan that brought the enlisted ranks out of the poverty basement with significant raises). Even as an E-6 stationed in California, my pay was so below the “norm” that my kids qualified for both free lunch and breakfast at school. I suggest you walk a mile in a soldier/sailor’s shoes before putting us down as deaf/dumb/blind morons that only vote Republican.

Submitted by my_view on Tue, 10/28/2008 at 1:10 pm.
Williamw grow up!!! Just because these are military votes, does not mean they are all for McCain!!! Oh and our next Presidents name is Barack Obama, you seem to have problems each time you post! Vets for Obama!

I'm a Vet and YOU don't speak for ME!!!

Submitted by usv on Tue, 10/28/2008 at 1:17 pm.
No, no, we can't count curious military ballots. Only homeless bums, incarcerated felons, mental patients, and illegal immigrant curious ballots should be counted, because those are the people we want deciding who will run our country.

Don't forget the deceased and the 3rd graders!

Should not count. You serve your country regardless of whom the commander in chief is. Besides, the majority of the military votes only for the ones that give them pay raises (Republicans) and they truly do not understand the real demographics of what is going on in America, nor do they understand the economy. We have starving Americans leaving in this country. Go to the streets corners and you will see it for yourself. Yep, that is your Republican party stealing from its own and lining their pockets and bank accounts. The same applies as to the ones stationed overseas. They are out of touch for many years and do not have a day to day understand of what is going on, less the propaganda papers such as stars and stripes. When you are finally discharged and out in the real world and understand what is really going on, then you should and will have a voice in the general election. The bottom line: We all have suffered enough under the bush regime. It is time NOW for a majority change. It is a darn shame that our dollar is not worth .2 cents.

Why do you waste your time bringing up the fact McCain was born in Panama. Everyone knows that children born to Military parents are automatic citizens regardless of where they are born. Non issue.

For all of you that think Senator Obama will either raise taxes or is a Socialist or will support a socialist government, give back and/or stop receiving Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. I mean it is government money being handed out yes?

And no you haven't earned Social Security, the generation before you did. Just like I'm paying for your benefits now. Chances are great I won't benefit a dime of MY money I put in your pockets today.

So before you call Obama a socialist, think about your parents and grandparents and where they are getting their monthly payments from.

;

do some of you get so much ridiculous misinformation & outright lies, on the Obamas? Mike C; Obama was in college, Columbia U. in Manhattan, in '81,'82,'83. Obama is a native born American, born to a native born American from Kansas. On the other hand, McCain was born in Panama, while his father was stationed there in the Canal Zone. Michele Obama is a brilliant attorney, great mother & a positive role model. McCain actually missed more votes in the Senate than Obama. Some of you really need to take a few minutes to do actual research prior to writing such outlandish comments.

Wow you just never know who is approving the comments at the pilot. You my friend get a thumbs up for approving freedom of speech after so many days of being oppressed by the VP. Posters knowwhat I am talking about. I hope you don't get fired.

I really find it hard to understand why so many so called Christian Conservatives spew so much hate.

If you can't convince others to believe as you do, you resort to name calling, insults, and downright lies.

This country will have to come together if it wants to get out of the current crisis. We will all have to work together or will all go down together.

There are some who post here that actually need the help of a mental professional. We would not want them acting out their fantasies.

Allen made the mistake of speaking in public. Twas a self-imploding act.

Until the northern Virginia votes came in late on election day 2006,George Allen had a slight lead over Jim(don't blame me for my aide carrying a gun illegally and another ending up dead beside the road)Webb.I wonder if the same registrar disallowed military votes and other absentee votes during that election?Since this law has been in place for 6 years,the possibility of undiscovered shenanigans makes the elections decided by northern Virginia democrat voters in 2005 and 2006 suspect.We know the history of altered chads in Florida nearly changing the results of an election in 2000,and of dead Chicago voters in 1960,and stolen ballot boxes in Lyndon Johnson's races giving democrats a close win when 'necessary'.Can anyone say it couldn't happen here when disreputable officials are in charge of a citizen's chance to influence the course of the government in a way they might not agree with?

And you have absolutely NO idea if your vote was counted or not. Many absentee ballots sent in by the military were simply thrown away, especially if the supposed total of those ballots was less than the difference in the vote count between the winners and losers. That went on until a law was written to FORCE election officials to count absentee ballots.

Do you mean to say that the Northern Virginia Liberal Bloc hasn't put a stop to the military absentee ballots? Was that an oversight, or do they figure that they have more than enough ACORN-registered votes (ten million and counting, isn't it?) to counter-act the military vote?

Republican ignorance is on display here with some "low information voters." Obama plans to lower taxes for the middle class and raise them for those making over $250,000 a year to bring tax codes back to where they were when Ronald Reagan was president. That is not "socialism," that is good sense. Socialism is when a Republican president bails out his buddies on Wall Street.

Elpi, I hope you realize that if, as you say, you are a long way from wealthy, then you will pay LESS in taxes under Obama's plan than under McCain's. Yes, Obama wants to take some of your money without your permission and spend it -- so does McCain! That's what taxation is! But if you make less than $200,000 a year, and it sounds like you do, then Obama wants to give you a tax *cut*. McCain's plan calls for more tax cuts for people who make a lot of money, and no tax cut for you. So yes, both of them want to take some of your money (that's what taxation is all about), but Obama wants you to pay LESS tax than McCain. So wake up!

Grow up. Quit reading those chain emails about either candidate. I suppose you believe the one about the little girl whose dying which is for you to forward her email. And so what if Senator Obama's middle name is Hussein. If you knew more than what you read in those chain emails and right-wing tabloids, you'd know that 'Hussein' is as common in Africa and the Middle East as 'Smith' is in the United states. Turn off MTV. Turn off Sports Center. Watch the news once in a while. Turn on CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, etc. Educate yourself by getting your information from multiple credible sources. And , no, a military vote is not always a republican vote. Why would it be, the budgets with the 2 biggest military pay increases in the last 30 years have come from Democratic White Houses.

McCain was AGAINST the GWB tax cut plan of '01. McCain stated "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class who need tax relief." His position in '01 is similar to Obama's of '08. And lets not forget McCain's plan to take our tax dollars & buy up failed mortgages at face value. Or Palin describing wealth sharing: "we’re set up, unlike other states in the union, where it’s collectively Alaskans own the resources. So we share in the wealth when the development of these resources occurs." Or these Republican free-market haters:

The Penn Central Railroad bailout of '70 (NIXON), Lockheed bailout of '71 (NIXON), Franklin Natl Bank '74 (FORD), NYC bailout '75 (FORD), Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Company bailout of '84 (REAGAN), the S&L bailout of '89 (HWBUSH), the airline industry in 2001 (BUSH), AIG bailout (BUSH), the just recent 25 billion to the auto industry (BUSH), Fannie + Freddie (BUSH), Bear Stearns (BUSH), the just-passed $700 bailout (BUSH).