Ok, so the Pres race is getting pretty close to coming to an end and I am sure that you are all sad. I also noticed that no one really wants to talk about it on their blogs, but I am truly interested. So, if you dare, (and you don't have to, this is why we have a secret ballot in the US), tell us who you will be voting for and more importantly, WHY? The rules are simple...this is a civilized conversation...we all love each other so there will be no name calling and no rude comments. If you can't express your opinion nicely, then don't express it. I want this to be a way for us to talk about it and understand other points of view without being rude or condescending. I am one of the most middle of the road people you will ever meet when it comes to politics and I just like to hear other opinions (inspired by Terah :-))
Here I go:
I will be voting for Obama, and here are my reasons.
Abortion: While this is something that I find morally wrong, and something that I could never do, I don't feel like it is right to tell other people that they can't do it. They are the ones who will have to live with it, not me. I do think that it is sad that babies will die because of it and I do wish that they would seek alternatives but I don't think that I should be able to tell them what to do. I do find it odd that for the Republican party they are very big on staying out of people's lives except when it comes to this, but I imagine that is because of the moral side of this. I also believe that it would be bad to make abortion illegal because I think that people would do it anyway and in an unsafe way, harming both themselves and killing the baby. I also read in Freakonomics that the crime rate dropped approximately 18 years after Roe vs Wade because the majority of parents who abort babies are parents who didn't want them (so they didn't raise them wall) or couldn't afford them (so they didn't raise them well). Once these parents were able to legally abort the babies the crime rate dropped because there were less unwanted kids roaming the streets committing crimes. Another good point for this is rape and incest cases. I do not in any way agree with partial birth abortions! Again, wouldn't do it personally so please don't call me a baby killer (read rules above), just don't think that I should tell others they can't.
Healthcare:
I don't think that either candidate has a good healthcare plan so let me just say that upfront. But, I am not sure which one is worse. They both rely on trusting people to make good decisions...something that I don't think will happen as often as us educated people would assume. McCain's plan (from what I understand and if it is wrong, blame the media and remember that I have heard what the average voter has heard so if this is what I think then it is probably what a lot of other voters think, right or wrong) is to give a $2500 credit to Americans to help pay for healthcare in form of a tax credit but would make the amount you pay each paycheck taxable. If you didn't get it through an employer then you could get it otherwise. That would be a great plan if healthcare cost around that much and if people actually bought it. Here is my concern, how do you ensure that people buy healthcare? They lose nothing by just going to the doctor and not paying (public hospitals can't refuse them) so why would the voluntarily buy healthcare? Why wouldn't they use that credit (which might in turn give them a refund) for something like a car or a trip? Why would they elect to get healthcare from their employer when it is now taxable to them...are you relying on them to understand tax law and the fact that just because it is taxable now doesn't mean that it will be taxable after the credit is applied?
Obama's plan is to have people who don't have healthcare buy into a universal "pool" of healthcare at lower rates then they could get on there own. Again, how do you make sure that they buy into it? Same point as above. Ok, both these plans suck!
Taxes: This seems to be the hot button issue for a lot of people. McCain wants to keep the lower tax rates that Bush enacted, cut the capital gains rate in half, give Corporations deductions for capital equipment investments, and allow businesses to deduct up to $15K in losses instead of $3K. Obama wants to give an income tax cut ($500 for individuals, $1000 married) to people making under $250K, eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups, give a $3K credit to businesses for every employee they hire in addition to their current staff, and raise the taxes on people making over $250K. Not sure what to say about this one since they both have some good ideas, but I think that I just agree with Obama more on the immediate tax cuts and taxing people who make over $250K. I know it is not a popular opinion (especially in the south) but I don't mind paying more if I make more. I grew up without much and I am proud of where I am but I don't mind some of my dollars going to help someone else if I were to make over $250K. You can comfortbly live off of that a year and if someone told you that you could give $2,500 a year and completely change someone's life forever, would you do it (assuming you made $250K a year)? I would. I am also going on the assumption that the new taxes would be used for the types of government programs that help people. I know that our welfare system and a lot of the government programs are really abused by a lot of people. In my life I have met more than a couple that abused the system but there are people out there who truly do need that help to get themselves back on the right track. Those are the people that I want to help and they are out there. I do wish that we could get a better system in place and my personal favorite idea is to have the people who are on welfare to work in other parts of the government (at medicare or something). It trains them with skills, gives them jobs, pride, and it reduces the costs of the administrative aspect of those programs. A lot of people don't get off of welfare because they never really learn how to do a skilled job because they aren't forced to and the road to that skilled job is scary because once you start making money you are kicked off of welfare, so why not have a program that will accomplish that and get people into jobs? Maybe I am silly in thinking that it would work but that is why I don't run for public office.
Housing: This one annoys me, and here is the basics that I got out of the plans. McCain wants to buy the mortgages and then renegotiate the terms based on the fact that he is assuming that if my neighbor is not paying his mortgage and his house gets foreclosed on then my house will be less valuable. Ok, I sort of see his point here, but at the same time, I don't feel like people who made shady deals should be completely bailed out while the rest of us who paid every month like we were supposed to get nothing but the potential for our market value not to fall on the house we own in an economy where all housing prices are falling. There should be some sort of consequence for buying more than you could afford and then defaulting on it and that consequence should not be for the government (which Republicans typically hate to have involved in anything) to bail you out.
Obama wants to give lienency to homeowners who are actually paying their mortgages even if it isn't the whole amount. While this still seems like crap that I could pay you $200 when I owe $2K, I think that it makes me feel a little better that they are still being held accountable and still have to make some sort of effort to keep their house. Maybe it is just me, but I like to see people making an effort. He also wants to give bankruptcy courts the ability to change mortgages and I still don't like that but I guess I like the part about trying to let people dig themselves out...I guess because I am the type of person who couldn't sleep at night if I couldn't pay my mortgage so I like to see people give a chance. His long term plan is to give a tax credit to people who can't itemize for their mortgage interest...this would be people who live in areas where the housing prices are so cheap that they don't throw them above the standardized deduction. Part of owning a house is for the deduction and chances are that if these people live in an area where housing prices are that low, they probably don't make a lot. I am all for giving them a tax credit to help them out.
Iraq: I sincerely apologize to those of you that have served and to those of you who have loved ones that have served, but this whole Iraq war confuses the bejesus out of me. I don't know whether we are helping over, wasting our money over there, or if we even should be over there. I have not used this as a basis for deciding my candidate because I don't know enough about it. It sounds bad when I hear that there have been trillions of dollars spent over there and now we are in a financial crisis, but I know statistics are misleading and I am not up on it all enough so I bow out.
Ok, it is almost time for me to leave work, this is long and I didn't even get to half of the issues. As you can see, I see good qualities in some plans from both side and I truly believe that working together will be best. I will admit that while looking up a couple things for this I realized that some of their plans (on both sides) were not what I thought they were. It didn't change my mind on who I was going to vote for but it was sort of a fun thing to do. I would love for you guys to do the same. I will never critize anyone for who they vote for because we need all kinds of ideas in order to have the best ones, but I do want everyone to know why they are voting the way they are. So, counter opinions to mine? Issues I didn't have time to type? Do you feel strongly about one thing or another? Do you have another point of view that I should consider? Did you agree with anything I said? Was anything new to you? Let's discuss (please don't let this be one of those 0 comment entries). I genuinely want to hear your opinions!
7 months ago
5 comments:
So, I won't go into my political views. But, I do agree with you that neither candidate has a good healthcare plan. I don't understand why this seems so difficult for the US. It's very frustrating b/c I do not see how either plan would cover every American. And since you mentioned Iraq, you should know that I know nothing about the war. I need to google it to even find out what they're calling it these day (I have to put it in the girls' baby books). And, on the Today show they keep talking about how we are in 2 wars. What? Am I the only one who fast forwards international news? Truthfully, I even skipped reading your entire section on Iraq. But, as you said, I do truly appreciate all service men and women who fight for our country. I'll do better to keep informed. . .
Ha, I think that most people just don't have the time to keep up with all that is going on with the war and honestly I find it hard to even get real information....for anything for that matter...it seems like there is almost too much information and it all contradicts itself. Thanks for responding though...I knew people would be a little shy but I just find it interesting (and you never know what you will learn).
Abortion: Gosh, starting off with a tough one…I always felt that abortion was wrong but sat on the fence when it came to deciding whether it was our government’s place to tell women they could not have an abortion. If Roe v. Wade was ever overturned (and I don’t think it will be), we would be putting a lot of responsibilities on doctors to make the decision about terminating “potentially harmful” pregnancies. Where do you draw the line? If a pregnancy had a “chance” of hurting the mother, would that be grounds for termination? Or would abortions only be allowed when harm/death to the mother was a certainty? Would some doctors develop reputations as being lenient and other being stringent? Will abortions still go on if it becomes illegal…only unregulated and in some dark alley? So it doesn’t seem like overturning Roe v. Wade is a good idea for the above reasons…even though I am morally opposed to abortions.
However, my biggest beef with abortion is the fact that it is wrongfully used as a form of birth control. People are not taking responsibility for their actions. I have several friends and family members that have had great difficulty getting pregnant. If less abortions took place and more adoptions, these loved ones would not have to go through such an emotional rollercoaster. I was having this very discussion with a friend of mine the other day. She and her husband are getting ready to start a family. They are a little older and worry about their chances. She told me that if they weren’t able to have kids naturally they would probably not look into alternatives. We were discussing how difficult it is becoming to adopt – especially in the US and getting harder to do overseas…but yet babies are “terminated” every day. Maybe the best solution would be to provide more education and encourage mothers with unwanted pregnancies to look toward adoption as an alternative to abortion.
The ultra conservative view of abortion is that it is murder. So you have to ask the question…when do you consider an unborn fetus a human being? Is it from the moment of conception? Not until birth? Or is it some magical date in which our government will decide for us? All I know is that at my 12 week appointment my little guy was doing flips inside my belly – very much alive. This changed my view forever!! It was amazing.
Lastly, I really don’t think Roe v. Wade will ever be overturned. That being said, pro-choice advocates’ claim that a women’s right to choose is a constitutional right. Where exactly is that in the constitution? And if it truly is in there somewhere…why are you so worried that it will be overturned? See my point…????
Anyone notice how little attention the subject of abortion is getting in this election as opposed to 04?
Healthcare: I am getting into something here that I don’t know a ton about…so I am going to just claim ignorance and anyone can feel welcome to critique. As I understand it, McCain’s tax credit (5,000 for family or 2,500 individual) can be used by an individual/family to buy healthcare from any provider. In theory, this would create competition between providers and thus drive down heath care costs for all of us. Sounds good to me. The left-over money would be applied to a health saving fund. I could be mis-understanding, but this money would have to be used for healthcare, right?
Obama’s plan “strongly encourages” companies to either provide health benefits or they will be taxed. The argument here is that companies will decide it is cheaper to have their employees on the government’s plan rather than provide their own policy. I actually heard some individuals being interviewed by the media about a year ago when Massachusetts (I think) made it mandatory for companies to provide medical insurance to all employees. These individuals were arguing that they didn’t want the coverage and were being forced to take it. (I can’t imagine why you would deny coverage if offered to you through your job???) I guess Democrats are saying we are never going to tell you that you can’t have an abortion but we are going to mandate that you have health insurance. Interesting, huh?
We are basically one of the last industrialized countries not to have nationalized healthcare. But we also provide the best coverage and have tons of research and development going on in our country. I have to wonder what a nationalized type system would do to advancements in medicine and research??? If you look at other countries, their healthcare costs drain their economy. If Obama isn’t going to raise my taxes how does he plan to pay for a government health care program? Just curious…???
Iraq: This one really hits home. It doesn’t matter if you voted for the war or not. I want to know how you are going to clean up the mess. We can spend the next 50 years discussing if it was the right decision for the US to go to war in Iraq. Only time will tell. I want the candidates to tell me exactly how they are going to bring security and peace to Iraq. When in the history of the world has a country given its enemy a timeline for withdrawal? We can not tuck our tails and run and leave a mess for the Iraqi people to clean up. We have to listen to the military leaders on the ground. It will be better for all if Iraq is a stable country.
Taxes: Now we have come to the issue of the century….TAXES. Again, I’m not an economic guru…but let’s not raise taxes on anyone. Why don’t we get rid of wasteful spending in Washington and then there would be plenty of money to fund the important and essential government programs. I know…I’m living in a fantasy world. However, John McCain does say he will clean up Washington??? I sure hope so.
One thing I find interesting about the tax issue is that currently the US has a corporate tax rate of 35%. This is the second highest in the world. Obviously, that doesn’t encourage companies to set up shop in the US. McCain says he will lower the corporate tax rate. More businesses = more jobs. Sounds good to me???
Education: I really like Obama’s plan to help college students with tuition in return for military time or community service. I don’t know what the argument against this would be? I also like McCain’s plan for school vouchers because it would create competition and reward successful teachers. Education should never be a partisan issue. We can all benefit from a better education system.
So there you have it....
Terah
Terah, you make good points and it is late and I just got home from the NKOTB concert, but just wanted to say something really quick and thanks for responding...the Corporate tax rate is 35% but I would ask to see what the effective tax rate is...meaning, what rate are they paying after all their deductions. I am not sure what it would be but I would bet a lot lower than 35% and if you cut the Corporate rate, where will you make it up? I don't believe cutting it will trickle down to the people of the country...just don't. It should all work in theory but I just don't see it happening in reality. I do wish that we could just cut the unnecessary spending or at least look at it but where? I don't know that answer.
I don't know that much about McCain's healthcare plan but from what I understood it was just a credit where you got healthcare through work (let's say that it is $200 a pay period for 26 pay periods =$5200) and then you would get a credit of either $2500 or $5000 to offset the $5200 that would be taxable (but it isn't now). I guess I have the same concern as you have about Obama's plan as to why wouldn't people just elect to not get it from their employer so it wasn't taxed (even though they would get the credit) and does everyone get the credit or do you have to prove that you got healthcare? That is another problem. I wasn't aware that you could use the credit to buy from anyone. I agree that I don't understand why people would deny coverage if it is affordable. My main guess would be that they wanted a different plan that their doctor was in (sort of like what we talked about the other night) and I like to think that if we nationalized healthcare or at least reduced the options and made it more competitive then doctors would participate in all the plans and you wouldn't have to worry about that aspect....again, maybe a dream world...guess we can live in it together :-) Other countries are a lot healthier than our country though because they get free preventative medicine...we are the fattest, most unhealthy country on the planet. I wasn't aware of how much it drained the economy though because most things I have read on it didn't mention anything about that.
Amen on education...Craig looked at the national budget last night when I told him I wrote this post and education was the thing that they budget the least for...the biggest items were defense, social security and medicare...of course, who knows if they actually spend what they say they are (actually we do know, and they don't at all..they overspend...ALL of them or we wouldn't have a huge deficit....well, unless Clinton comes back to at least help with the budget part :-) Just kidding, he is creepy)
Ok, going to bed....thanks again for your point of view.
Wow...miss a few days and now I have so much to read and catch up!
I haven't read all the responses or even all of this post (or others related to this) but I will tell you my main reasons for voting for Obama.
1- The president appoints the judges for the supreme court. I believe the court needs to be one that not only has their personal religious beliefs but also believes in science and logic. We just completed 8 years under republican leadership so I think we need a democrat in office to keep our court balanced.
2- I want the rest of the world to respect the US again and I feel they will with Obama as President. I feel like Bush has not been respected and we have become a bit of a joke. Obama is an excellent speaker and one that I would be proud to have respresent our country. The number 1 graduate of Harvard provides me with peace of mind that he isn't going to make an ass of himself easily.
3- I am naturally more liberal and I can't deny that. I am pro environment, abortion, stem cell research, etc.
4- No one hates paying taxes more than I do since it is usually big chunks of money at one time for me and often hard to swallow. I do understand that you can't have your cake and eat it too. If I want roads, programs to help poor and old people, etc. than someone has to pay for them. I try to remember this when I am writing my checks, but that still doesn't make it fun. I find I agree with parts of Obama's plan and other parts of McCain's. I hate that the govt is more than likely inefficient and that there are people that take advantage of the welfare system. I also hate all the legislation that gets added to our insurance policies that jack up the premiums. However, I will always be stronger on social agenda items than money issues so I have just tried to find peace in educating myself for the deductions I am entitled to and then knowing that I pay the rest as a priviledge for living in the US. And remember that if I'm paying money than I made money which is good.
5- I do not feel comfortable with the thought that Sarah Palin could ever potentially be president if something happened to John McCain and I think his age should be a factor for consideration. I am not trying to be rude, but I feel she is very unqualified to be a VP candidate.
6- I want the troops to come home and I feel the amount of money we spend there daily is outrageous. Nobody knows why we are there or what we are doing so I think we should stop putting our men and women in harms way and stop the financial bleeding. I don't think it is our job to police the world.
Again, just the reasons for why I am voting the way I am and not meant to discredit others opinions. Opinions are like buttholes....we all have them! Thx for sharing yours! (aren't you glad I'm home and can share these awesome sayings???)
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