The Top Ten Reasons to Elect John McCain: As you consider your choice for president, here are ten reasons to elect Senator John McCain.

1. He is a man you can trust; his ‘Straight Talk Express” is more than a slogan. When you’ve been tortured as a POW for refusing to comply, you know you have a leader who will not succumb to pressure. He will do what he feels is right. As he’s said many times, “I’d rather lose an election than lose a war!” He has the integrity and proven character needed to take the tough stands presidents must take.

2. His energy independence plan is an “all of the above” plan—Drill and Diversify Now!  He’d free states to allow off-shore exploration and drilling, encourage more clean-coal, speed processing and approval for more nuclear energy plants and refineries, and incentivize without subsidizing alternative energy innovation.

3. The U.S. has the second-highest corporate tax rate of all industrialized societies. McCain’s plan to reduce corporate taxes will keep more companies here and will encourage growth and more American jobs during these difficult economic times. McCain will keep the Bush tax cuts but wants more. In addition to promising a simplified tax code, McCain pledges to work to cut taxes on all and raise them on none.

4. McCain admits, “Government has grown by 60 percent in the last eight years. That is simply inexcusable.” He promises to reclaim “our good name as the party of spending restraint.” He’s promised a “top-to-bottom” review of federal spending and promised to veto any bill that earmarks money to pet projects of members of Congress. In addition to eliminating government waste, he wants government to shrink, not grow.

5. In a dangerous world where we finally have the extremists on the run in Iraq and the Iraqi leaders beginning to make progress, John McCain’s vision for peace through victory makes room for a strong, necessary commitment and the flexibility to adjust strategy as needed! McCain remains the president Americans would want called at 3 AM to deal with an international crisis!

6. McCain is a proven maverick “outsider” working from the inside of Washington; he has put America first in taking on his own party leadership. He may have voted with Bush as much as 95% in 2007, but Americans know he has what it takes to make waves and stand alone. McCain is a proven reformer committed to taking on corruption wherever it appears. In 2005, he called for more scrutiny and controls at Freddie and Fannie. McCain has no love for big business executives who profit while citizens and investors take the fall. McCain does more than talk about being a “uniter;” he has repeatedly reached across the isle to produce results.

7. McCain believes more in Americans than in our government. He’s committed to preserving the “American Dream” based on personal freedom and individual responsibility no matter what a person’s race, gender or age. Instead of glamorizing victimhood, he supports enabling, celebrating and learning from true achievement! He believes in you; he calls on Americans to trust his proven leadership in these difficult times!

8. To McCain, Americans don’t need renegotiated trade agreements or protection from competition; they just need freedom to compete in a free-trade, global economy! Americans can out-invent and out-perform anyone in a fair global competition. Obama’s plan to renegotiate NAFTA and increase tariffs will only increase our economic difficulties; McCain supports our longstanding commitment to free enterprise!

9. If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it is provided by the government. McCain’s plan for healthcare takes the responsibility and choices away from the government and employers and gives it to every American adding portable policies, tax credits and saving account options. 

10. He’s promised to pick Supreme Court Justices in line with Roberts and Alito. That same wisdom is shown in his bold selection of his kindred spirit, Governor Sarah Palin as VP. Palin brings her dynamic presence, her passion for reform, and her energy and executive experience onto his administrative team! This could be the most important election in decades. Take a stand for America and vote McCain/Palin!

The Top Ten Reasons to Reject Barack Obama: Here are ten reasons to reject Senator Barack Obama as your next president.

1. In these difficult times, Obama’s lack of a record and relevant experience that prepares him for making presidential decisions is frightening—the President of the United States should not be an entry-level position! Experience matters! It’s not a sufficient qualification, but is certainly a necessary one. Obama is not ready!

2. No experience fully prepares a candidate for the challenges a President will face. As a result, voters must consider a candidate’s judgment. Obama’s brief and uneventful political record makes his judgment in choice of friends and advisors even more important. His close associations with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the political rainmaker Tony Rezko, and Weather Underground leader William Ayers invite concern.

3. At a time when a troop surge has reduced violence, damaged al Qaeda and allowed the Iraqi government to make progress on key milestones, Obama promises to “bring the war to an end in 2009!” He promises to save $9 billion a month by pulling out of Iraq, to cut investments in unproven missile defense systems and slow our development of future combat systems. Finally, he will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons, promising to develop no new nuclear weapons. Such judgments project weakness as Commander in Chief; weakness is provocative!

4. He says that he is a “uniter,” but where’s the evidence? He voted with the Democrats 97 percent of the time. He’s a proven tax-and-spend Democrat with the most liberal voting record in the Senate. He’s only a “uniter” if you’ll unite with his partisan position.

5. Obama calls for “Change You Can Believe In,” but where’s the evidence of him championing positive change? There’s no record of reform in Cook County, in the Illinois legislature or in the US Senate. In the Senate, he’s authored no important legislation and hasn’t even convened a hearing on the one subcommittee he chairs. To this point, he’s devoted his many gifts to chronicling and selling his own life’s story and running his presidential campaign. Obama fits the Indian saying, "High wind, big thunder, no rain."

6. Obama doesn’t sell hope; he sells doom and gloom. He’s built his need for change on losing in Iraq and reframing our economic downturn as a recession or worse. When Obama asks if you are better off under Bush, he ought to look at the numbers from Investor’s Business Daily: “Americans are better off than when Bill Clinton was president.” Reporting data from the IRS showed that the average U.S. income had increased five straight years through 2006. Obama talks hope but sells pessimism.

7. His unrealistic and restrictive plan for energy independence is limited to investing in new, unproven sources of energy that are not ready to carry the load for our energy independence. His partial plan does not provide the reliable source of power that our economy and citizens require now.

8. For all his talk on self-reliance, Obama treats citizens as victims incapable of rising to the challenges they face. Obama’s “hope” rests in what government can do for you, not on what you can do for yourself or our country. At a time we are struggling to pay for the entitlements we already have, Obama calls for substantial government subsidies for healthcare, college, foreclosure relief, pension plans and alternative energies. Milton Friedman said, “There are no free lunches.” We can’t afford an Obama Presidency’s “free” programs!

9. Obama wants to raise corporate taxes, inheritance taxes, income taxes on the top 5% of wage earners, and social security payments. Most candidates avoid promising to raise taxes. Americans are wise enough to know that appealing to class warfare never works. Taking from the “rich” to give to “middle class” just results in those taxed charging more! You want Obama’s “Hope”—I hope you enjoy your change in taxes!

10. He chose Washington insider Joe Biden for his foreign policy experience. This man of experience voted against the first Gulf War, against the surge and wanted to break Iraq into three entities. Even Biden isn’t sure he was the best choice that Obama could have made! We agree; vote McCain/Palin!

Byline: Dr. Terry Paulson is a psychologist, speaker, author and host to the PaulsonOnPolitics.com blog. Contact him at terry@terrypaulson.com.