The McCain Plan

In a speech during which he reached out and connected to the country's average citizens, GOP Presidential candidate John McCain tonight laid out his plan for America in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

The plan, like McCain, is bold but steady, daring but sensible, new and unique but mature and rational. McCain reached out to independents and disenfranchised Democrats by calmly presenting a plan that will:

*Lower taxes on average Americans and small business so that the economy can get rolling and jobs can be created...

*Retrain workers displaced by manufacturing jobs that have been lost, but grant them assistance in the meantime by supplementing their lower wages until they are ready to assume the jobs in the new, high-tech era...

*Insist on drilling for oil here at home offshore and launch a bold new adventure in developing natural gas, wind power, nuclear energy, clean coal, solar energy, electricity, hydrogen fuel cell, and sensible biofuels. This plan will create millions of new jobs.

*Increase the income tax deduction/credit from $3000 to $7000--a MAJOR financial boost to families...

*Make healthcare more accessible and affordable for more families while refraining from a massive government takeover which will result in gross inefficiency such as we find with all other government programs...

*Boost education in America by allowing parents to take more control, including allowing them school choice as a means of addressing failing schools by introducing competition from better schools...

*Reduce government spending and exercise budgetary restraint...

*Keep America strong militarily...

*Work toward a spirit of bipartisan cooperation with ANYONE who wishes to join us in addressing our problems with bold new directives...

*Provide competent leadership in the War on Terror, and working to keep winning in Iraq so that our troops can come home...

*Confront the Russian menace and the Iranian threat with steady, experienced leadership...

*Veto any and all bills that contain earmarks and pork barrel spending...

McCain highlighted the differences between the Obama plan and his own vision for America. While Obama relies on the old liberal mantra of 'new government programs made possible by increasing revenues (higher taxes), McCain relies on the resilient independent spirit of Americans who can make their own choices when they keep more of their own money.

Government, he said, can help citizens make their own choices but not make their choices for them as Obama and the Democrats wish to do.

The most moving part of the speech was when McCain told his own story of his capture and torture by Viet Cong Communists during the Viet Nam War. A clearly emotional McCain told of the great lessons he learned about service to his country and living for a higher purpose.

These lessons, he said, were learned only through the dark days of suffering.

If anyone can truly connect with suffering human beings in this country, it is surely John McCain.