I thought I'd be very specific about why I am choosing Obama for President. We have to decide something so important on much more than the basis of political party or a single issue.
1. He supports an increase after-school programs for lower-income families and affordable child-care options. Anyone with a child in college would get a sizable tax credit. (The only McCain changes would be a possible credit that families could use to pay for private schools.)
2. He supports an expansion of family leave benefits especially for employees of small companies. (McCain sees no need to change current requirements for maternity leave or family leave)
3. In his health care plan, participants could change job while keeping their insurance plan. Insurance companies could no longer deny coverage to individuals who have pre-existing conditions. This would directly affect my mother. ALL children would have health care coverage. (McCain's plan covers none of these things. However, there MAY be slighter lower prices for insurance in his plan. McCain would also tax everyone's health care benefits which would only be offset by a $5000 credit. My plan is worth $1500 a month. $5000 wouldn't get me very far.)
4. Under Obama's plan, 95% of American would get a tax cut. However, if you earn OVER $250,000, there would be a tax increase. (Under McCain's plan, the more money you make, the LARGER your tax cut would be. We have already seen under Bush how "effective" tax cuts for the rich have been.)
5. The next President will be choosing several new Supreme Court justices. We can't afford to lose legislation such as Roe v. Wade because it would be giving license to the government to tell ALL of us what we can or cannot do with our bodies.
6. I have people that I care about in the military and I'm ready for them to come home. We need a CLEAR definition of what success in Iraq looks like and a plan/timeline to get our troops home so that we stop bleeding money and losing lives.
We have the opportunity in this election to effect some real positive change. I respect Senator McCain. He has served his country well and I admire his efforts at campagin finance reform. However, in spite of calling himself a Maverick, Senator McCain has voted with President Bush 90% of the time. Even Republicans can now see that the current Presidency has set us back. Do we really want to continue that? Also, what if something happens to McCain? Gov. Palin is not ready to lead. She doesn't even know what the Vice President does and can't name any Supreme Court decisions other than Roe v. Wade. That is really scary. If we are going to accomplish some good things over the next four years, it will take ALL of us. Not just liberals and not just conservatives. Any real change has to come from both sides. I hope we can do it. I believe we can.
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3 comments:
You make some very good points. I also think Palin in office is scary. Yeah, I know, she would only be VP, but she's scary. :)
Very nice recap on a lot of issues. You address some things that are critical to improving our social infrastructure, such as healthcare and child care, and after-school programs. So much could be done to improve those areas if so much wasn't wasted on the war(s), the bailout, etc. I'm an infrastructure kind of guy and I've been seeing a lot of it crumble for a while.
And yes, I hope some thoughtful decisions are made re the new SC justices (here's to a resounding "NO" on Colorado's Amendment 48 and California's Prop 8, by the way).
And I agree, I think life would be a lot happier if both sides could learn to work together a little more.
Here, here Gary!
(Down with Prop 8!---it's about time that people were treated as full citizens once and for all)
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