Obama and McCain clash?

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George Bernard Shaw wrote that "England and America are two countries separated by a common language."

In my working career I found that what appeared to be disagreements over an issue almost always ended up sourced in the definition of terms. I would joke that I failed to understand how anyone understood anyone else because we were separated by a common language.

Yesterday Sen. John McCain spoke out against the Obama administration stimulus, arguing for tax incentives to stimulate the economy, Obama, on the other hand, dissed Republican criticism of his plan being nothing more than spending by arguing that spending was the definition of stimulus.

So there we go again -- using the same terms to describe different things.

To conservatives, the less intrusive government is - especially in terms of taxation - the more business, notably small business which is the largest employer in aggregate, flourishes.

To liberals, nothing but the right the spend taxpayers money - in today's case wealth that the government does not have - will stimulate "the economy."

The discussion will no doubt continue ad nauseum. When you listen to it, remember that each side is defining terms differently.