2013: John McCain's Vision

A futuristic new ad from John McCain (below). Like it or not, McCain actually has a track record of working in a bipartisan way. This may well be the change the American people seek this year. And in his speech yesterday Sen. McCain reassures on strengthening our security and has the right idea in offering new initiatives, especially on taxes and health care. The McCain vision for 2013:

Congress has just passed by a single up or down vote a tax reform proposal that offers Americans a choice of continuing to file under the rules of the current complicated and burdensome tax code or use a new, simpler, fairer and flatter tax, with two rates and a generous deduction. Millions of taxpayers are expected to file under the flat tax, and save billions in the cost of preparing their returns.

Wouldn't that be a relief, in time and money!

Health care has become more accessible to more Americans than at any other time in history. Reforms of the insurance market; putting the choice of health care into the hands of American families rather than exclusively with the government or employers; walk in clinics as alternatives to emergency room care; paying for outcome in the treatment of disease rather than individual procedures; and competition in the prescription drug market have begun to wring out the runaway inflation once endemic in our health care system. More small businesses offer their employees health plans. Schools have greatly improved their emphasis on physical education and nutritional content of meals offered in school cafeterias. Obesity rates among the young and the disease they engender are stabilized and beginning to decline. The federal government and states have cooperated in establishing backstop insurance pools that provide coverage to people hard pressed to find insurance elsewhere because of pre-existing illness.

And this:

I intend to prove myself worthy of the office; of our country; and of your respect. I won't judge myself by how many elections I've won. I won't spend one hour of my presidency worrying more about my re-election than keeping my promises to the American people. There is a time to campaign, and a time to govern. If I'm elected President, the era of the permanent campaign will end. The era of problem solving will begin.

Video clips of the speech here. Rather terse coverage from the Trib. According to Sneed, Sen. McCain is in Chicago. Competing in Barack's backyard--working for every vote. Here's the ad: UPDATE: Great column by Steve Huntley in the Sun Times.