MikeT: A little correction to your statement regarding Canada..... "instead a country highly dependent on the U.S".

Sure we are dependent......and so are you on us. Where do you think a lot of your oil is coming from.....only from the second largest reserves of oil in the world. Northern Alberta. Dependent.....sure. Where was California receiving most of its hydro electric power from during the power crisis? British Columbia. We are ALL dependent on each other......you give a little, we give a little. Isn`t that nice!

Indie,
I agree with your comment about Clinton. I don't understand how people can be more embarrased by him than what Bush has done. Yes, it was embarrasing that the whole world knew about Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky & the fact that he lied about it. But starting a war that was absolutely not necessary is much worse than having an affair. I know someone who hates Clinton because of his affair but loves Bush!! It doesn't make sense! His actions have caused people to be killed, unnecessarily, and to be beheaded. Why aren't more Americans outraged by that!!

By the way, I find the postings about Canada very interesting. I don't know enough to add to them but I've learned some things I didn't know, such as the fact that California received hydroelectric power from British Columbia during the power crisis.

I was reading yesterday in the Globe and Mail that the US is contemplating a value added tax (ie Canadian GST or UK VAT).

The US has serious balance of payments
problem.

The lack of foriegn investor confidence in the US economy has driven down the price of the US dollar which for Americans, will serve as driver of inflation.

I thought the US have a balanced budget law.

The government debt problems which in part are the creation of one George Bush. Since Mr. Bush and the Republicans are in power, the only way I can see this problem rectifing itself in my opinion is through a crisis driven solution or take a do nothing approach until the next presidential election.

Cutting or redistribution government expenditures such as reducing the number of military bases will unlikely be a) politically possible and b) unable to rebalance the budget in the near term. The actions of the Bush government will be more of the same - reward the rich and punish the poor.

Canada and the UK under Mulroney and Thatcher went through a painful process of government debt reduction and tax increases. The incumbent governments are fixated on even further reductions. We are now over taxed in the sese that the governemnt turns out multibillion dollar tax surpluses which is used to pay down long term debt.

The way legislative bills work in the US, congressman and senators tack unnecessary items to these bills.

If I was still paying US taxes,
I'd join the taxpayers for Common Sense (http://www.taxpayer.net/) and write every newspaper, congressman and Senator on issues such as a 200M bridge in Alaska to nowhere covered in an article in the New York Times.

Jette-only 60% of the voting population did in fact vote and Bush received a little over one-half of 60% or 31 %.The moral of the story is that it pays to vote.I wonder who the other 40% of the public would have voted for.

If you've already seen the marryanamerican.ca site, then you've probably also seen the map that adds the blue states (who, when grouped together, all offer access to the border) to Canada for the creation of a new entity called "The United States of Canada", leaving behind the red states, known collectively as "Dumb F*ckistan".

I love Canada. I was lucky enough to live there for 3 years and still go back to visit. However, its not totally a paradise either. Its great that they have national health insurance for everyone, but it does come at a price in delays waiting for some treatment. Its not free either as taxes are much higher in Canada than the US. Housing is also expensive in Canada, but then I live in California where housing prices have gone nuts. Then there's the weather. There is that old joke that the four seasons in Canada are winter, winter, winter and construction. Its not that bad, but there is a reason that I run into so many canadians in Mexico during the winter months.

I think its kind of silly for people to worry about this or any other election. As the old saying goes, this to shall pass. Whenever the pendulum swings one way or the other in the US, it always ends up swinging back. The majority of people here are just to sensible to have it any other way.

LOL elle!!

Kwoo: Just for your info and a chuckle too........ http://www.icomm.ca/emily/facts.html

It's heartening to hear from Americans who are as baffled as I am as to why Bush got re-elected. From what I've seen on tv, the majority of Bush supporters are church-going, gun-owning white people. Assuming that most of those church-goers are Christian, how do they turn a blind eye to the Iraq issue? I don't get it.

I think Canada's health care system is not so great, and it's certainly not free (for me anyway). Does the average American pay as they go, or use private insurance and what would that cost?