Is it time for our country to have an honest discussion about which direction they really want to go?

That "honest discussion" is continually going on all around you until Election Day. Why do you think people vote? Because they have ideas about how they want their country to be run. Whether the elected officials honor these ideas is a different matter. Dumb question!

OK so define Marxism...I'll wait while you fetch a dictionary.

You want an honest discussion? here's one for you

"Marxism" is the cult of personality that was built around the teachings of Karl Marx. Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara are all examples of individuals who used this cult of personality to hide their quest for tyranny and power. If you can find a single instance of any American politician admitting to loving Karl Marx, please show it to me

"Socialism" is an economic doctrine predicted by Marx where the bourgeoisie, the capital-owning class, dissolves, and capital is collectively owned by a new, classless society. Marx compared the Socialist revolution as being similar to the Capitalist revolution, when governments started investing political capital in the bourgeoisie at the expense of the landed aristocracy around the 16th century. Again, show me a politician in modern times who is advocating for the outright nationalization of all industry (bailing out the auto-manufacturers doesn't count. They did it back in the early 80's, and the auto-companies paid back all of those loans and went on being a private enterprise.)

"Capitalism" is an economic doctrine invented by Adam Smith, which states that individuals, when left to their own devices, invest their capital and create a society where the economy is self-sustaining despite the fact that every individual is acting in their own self-interest, where the value of goods is set by the price mechanism. Note that Adam Smith was a firm believer in the need to regulate the free markets, and so was Jefferson and Madison (who spoke of the dangers posed by banking institutions...) Again, show me a politician (not some random boob you found on the internet) who advocates anything but a free market that has been regulated to protect the people from coercion and fraud.

Is that honest enough for you?

EDIT: I have a hard time taking your website very seriously when it called Obamacare "socialist". You do realize that it's an almost carbon copy of the kind of reforms that Bob Dole campaigned for in the 1990's right? It's really not even that different from the kind of reforms that John McCain was proposing in 2008! No self-respecting Socialist would ever call Obamacare "socialist" unless he was calling for the outright nationalization of the entire industry, including the insurance industry.

I would be the first to point out that, when you do the math, universal health care is actually the cheapest option that we have, and would free up millions of Americans from paying a health insurance bill that usually compares to the cost of their mortgage. That's a lot of money that Americans would be free to put to more productive uses. I'm a centrist; I understand Marxist doctrine enough to know B.S. when I smell it, but I'm also a pragmatist and prefer to make judgements that are in the best fiscal interests of this country.

If anything, Obamacare is anti-socialism. He's forcing people to buy health insurance! The insurance companies are thrilled at the prospect that the government is forcing the entire country to become paying customers. If that's not a prime definition of a state-sponsored monopoly (a.k.a crony capitalism), then I don't know what is.

I believe that when socialism does come to this country, it won't be under the outdated banner of Marx. It will be an American innovation that does not compromise American principles (imagine a corporation where the employees are the majority shareholders, and you can see how a system can be both American AND a system where the workers control the means of production). I think the most disastrous mistake that Marx and his followers ever made was assuming that they could accelerate the process, because that's what created the tyrannical USSR and Communist China.

The majority of Americans want to see the fiscal mess created by bush & company fixed.

yeah, I mean that whole "lowest taxes in 70 years" thing... how Marxist... and that whole "record profits on Wall Street"... how Marxist... lol

maybe the question should be... are people in the nation aware enough to even hold a conversation?

you clearly have no clue what's going on...

Knock it off.

Nobody with half a brain believes that bullshit.