MY OBJECTIVE POLITICAL POST
Feel free to copy any of this text and search Google to verify anything here. If I get motivated I’ll dig more, but this took a long time to gather. I was sick of hearing blah blah blah about McCain or Obama but not seeing any facts to back it up. Here are the facts. Comments welcome, but don't expect a lengthy reply ;)
POLITICAL BACKGROUND
Obama: 46-year-old Barack Obama is a Democrat and has been a member of the United States Senate since 2005. Prior, he served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997-2004.
McCain: 71-year-old John McCain is a Republican and has been a member of the United States Senate since 1987. He is also a Vietnam veteran, having served in the Navy from 1958-1981 as a pilot with the rank of Captain.
TAX REFORM
Obama: Supports tax incentives for employers who keep labor stateside, and proposes to leave corporate taxes at 35%. Promises tax cuts for middle class citizens making less than $75,000 annually and higher taxes for wealthier individuals with incomes over $250,000 (5% of the American population). Promises no social security tax for individuals with incomes between $102,000 and $250,000, and suggests senior citizens earning less than $50,000 a year will pay no income tax at all.
McCain: Doesn’t plan on deviating from many of Bush’s tax laws, but will give corporations an even bigger break, as he believes lowering corporate taxes by 10% will help stimulate the economy. Also wants to give tax breaks to companies who invest in the advancement of technology, and wants to create a new tax credit for companies who engage in research and development.
Eric: I side with Obama on the issue of Tax Reform. Sadly the Republican Party tends to side with the wealthy, causes that will directly benefit them (Bush, McCain, and Palin are excellent examples of benefiting by working with Big Oil). McCain’s idea to lower taxes for corporations won’t boost the economy - it will simply give them higher profit margins. Obama’s tax incentives to keep your labor state-side will bring jobs back to America.
WAR ON TERRORISM
Obama: Believes keeping American soldiers in Iraq will not be beneficial unless the Iraqi government steps up to help govern their own people, therefore he wants to end the war in Iraq and withdraw American troops within 16 months of taking office.
McCain: Believes pulling troops out of Iraq before Al-Qaeda has been defeated will prove to be catastrophic for America and our safety, and wants to continue the fight.
Eric: I side with Obama on the issue of War on Terrorism. The Iraq government needs to either step up to the plate or prepare to be overrun by lawless gangs when we pull out. The only people benefiting from the war is Big Oil, the Bush Administration (because Bush owns an Oil Company), and
RETIREMENT
Obama: Wants taxes from the rich to fully fund social security, and wants to automatically enroll Americans in a retirement savings account to boost their savings.
McCain: Would like to see the retirement age rise from 65 to 68, and proposes private retirement accounts for individuals.
Eric: I disagree with both candidates on the issue of Retirement. First and foremost, the government should be forced to repay what it has STOLEN from its people. Borrowing it would imply they are paying it back - which they haven’t. Where it comes to Obama: Just because you are rich doesn’t mean you should have to give all your money away. You worked for it and shouldn’t now be the solution for everyone else’s problems. And where it comes to McCain - Raising the retirement age is a transparent goal. You are hoping more people will DIE before they ever get to take advantage of social security. The retirement age keeps climbing making it difficult, if not impossible, for the poor to get by who need that money. Of course someone filthy rich like McCain wouldn’t understand that. In my opinion, the best course of action would be to get the government to repay what it owes, lower the retirement age, but only give social security to people who make under $50,000 per year when they reach the retirement age (and actually retire). You should be able to continue to work PAST your retirement age and retire when you want. When you retire, your social security paycheck is based off your overall earnings over the years (or the highest earning year(s)).
HEALTHCARE
Obama: Promises health insurance similar to that given to federal employees which will be funded by employers who do not offer coverage to their staff, complete with affordable deductibles, premiums, and co-payments for all Americans, regardless of pre-existing illnesses. Also proposes lower costs for prescriptions, by allowing citizens to buy them cheaper overseas.
McCain: Believes insurance should follow individuals from job-to-job, and proposes a tax credit that will refund $2,500 to singles and $5,000 to families to help them pay for their own healthcare.
Eric: I side with Obama on the issue of Healthcare. It doesn’t mean everyone get’s healthcare - just those who could not get it normally. I am not sure how I feel about buying prescriptions from overseas based on what I have seen of the illegal prescription drug market on television. Scary stuff. As far as McCain goes - giving people a tax credit is useless when you don’t have the money to pay for insurance to begin with. And when you get a $50,000 bill for CAT scans a piddly tax credit isn’t going to make a dent in it. Again - the rich wouldn’t understand this.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Obama: Pro-Choice and for Roe vs. Wade. Believes abortion should be left up to the woman, without interference of the government.
McCain: Pro-Life and against Roe vs. Wade. Believes abortion should only be legal if pregnancy is a direct result of rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is endangered by the impending birth. Voted against a $100 million funding proposal to help educate girls on teen pregnancy and contraceptives.
Eric: I believe women should have a free choice, but abortion shouldn’t be a form of birth control. It should be used in instances of rape or incest or when the life of the mother is endangered by the impending birth. Banning abortion will be as effective as prohibition was. It simply means we’re going to go back to the days of coat hangers and finding dead women who tried to perform their own abortion. We don’t need that again.
OTHER THINGS - LOBBYISTS
Both McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden have lobbyists or have received some sort of benefit from British Petroleum. Obama claims his cabinet has no currently active lobbyists. Three of Obama’s Campaign managers were previously lobbyists. Seven out of ten of McCain’s Top Campaign Managers are active lobbyists.
A lobbyist is a lobbyist whether or not they are currently working or not in my opinion. Lobbyists chose their path and if you don’t want to be associated with them - don’t associate with them. But you can’t claim you don’t have lobbyists when you do.
VOTING WITH BUSH
Obama voted for Bush on 40% of the issues. McCain voted with Bush on 90% of the issues. If Bush’s approval rating were higher than 26% (Nixon left office with a 24% approval rating) this might be a good thing for McCain. There are some who says President Bush has done an outstanding job in office and some Republicans stand behind him. Here is what Bush failed in office:
· Big Oil:TheBush Administration Has Repeatedly Slashed Funding for Renewable Energy and Protected Big Oil’s Profits. FYI: McCain is on this same path almost verbatim having received more than twice the donation of Clinton or Obama.
o 2002 and 2003: Bush’s budget proposal for fiscal
o 2003 and 2004 slashed funding for renewable energy programs.
o 2005: Bush’s budget reduced funding for renewable energy programs by 5.6 percent, and he signed an energy bill giving $4.3 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil.
o 2006: Bush requested no new funding for energy efficiency or renewable energy and eliminated funding for geothermal and hydropower.
o 2007: Bush proposed cutting renewable energy research funding and, to save tax breaks for Big Oil, threatened to veto efforts to encourage energy conservation and independence.
o 2008: “President Bush proposes a 27 percent cut for ‘Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs.’ This includes zeroing out the Renewable Energy Production Incentive program, and cutting solar energy programs.
o 2008: Bush opposed tax incentives for producers and homeowners to use renewable energy technologies, helping to defeat the bill.
· Economy: After the exhausting Clinton presidency, Bush had a strong economy and Americans' good will. The past eight years have been tumultuous, marked by arrogance, Bush's refusal to listen to the oldest and wisest in his own party and staggering incompetence. He espoused the philosophy of "compassionate conservatism" but then abandoned it, leaving a few desultory "faith-based initiatives" and a larger gap between rich and poor. With the nation fighting to stave off recession as food and energy prices soar and home foreclosures mount, he didn't have his own stimulus plan but endorsed a too-little-too-late plan devised in the House to give taxpayers rebate checks and incentives to businesses. He vowed to veto one-time checks for seniors dependent on Social Security or extension of unemployment assistance for the jobless. And how did his administration miss the signs that financial institutions were in crisis over sub-prime mortgages?
· Education: Bush's contribution to education (aside from mangled syntax) has been the “No Child Left Behind” Act. But it has amounted to an unfunded mandate on the states and embroiled thousands in angry confrontation by making teachers teach only what children need to pass tests and forcing cutbacks in such subjects as art and music.
· Environment: With evidence indisputable that the world faces a serious challenge in global warming, Bush abrogated what should have been U.S. leadership to deflect tomorrow's catastrophe. As for pursuing energy independence, for years he gave little but lip service. Federal agencies are in disarray. Those supposed to guard the public's health, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Administration and Food and Drug Administration, are widely conceded to be broken.
· Health Care: Not a thing has been done to help people with no health insurance, but he vetoed a plan to expand children's access to health care. He vows to cut out 151 popular programs to save $18 billion but has spent $609 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan.
· Nation Debt: Bush leaves the country with a $9.2 trillion debt, largely because of the war in Iraq, which he defends against all criticism. In an infuriating gesture, he waited to declare war on earmarks, the congressional practice of quietly tucking money away in the budget for special home-state projects.
· Physical Infrastructure: Hurricane Katrina and the bridge collapse in Minneapolis were stark testimony to the nation's crumbling infrastructure. But Bush had no plan to prepare the country to face fixing its roads, bridges and levees or care for its victims.
· Social Security: He demanded that Social Security be privatized, but when the country vigorously protested, he gave up trying to keep entitlements from eventual meltdown.
· Torture: His administration says that the torture at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere has been the work of a few bad apples in the military, whereas in fact abuses were sanctioned at the highest levels of the executive branch in secret memos.
· Treachery: His administration lambastes leakers, but its own officials illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame, in order to politically discredit her husband.
· Violation of the Constitution #1: He flatly stated to the public that all wiretaps of Americans were ordered pursuant to court warrants, whereas in fact he was authorizing and repeatedly reauthorizing warrantless wiretaps. These wiretaps violated a specific law of Congress forbidding them.
· Violation of the Constitution #2: His administration has asserted a right to imprison Americans as well as foreigners indefinitely without the habeas corpus hearings required by law. Wars of aggression, torture, domestic spying and arbitrary arrest are the hallmarks of dictatorship, yet Congress, run by the President's party, has refused to conduct full investigations into either the false WMD claims, or the abuses and torture, or the warrantless wiretaps, or the imprisonment without habeas corpus. When Congress passed a bill forbidding torture and the President signed it, he added a "signing statement" implying a right to disregard its provisions when they conflicted with his interpretation of his powers. The President's secret legal memos justifying the abuses and torture are based on a conception of the powers of the executive that gives him carte blanche to disregard specific statutes as well as international law in the exercise of self-granted powers to the Commander in Chief nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. If accepted, these claims would fundamentally alter the structure of the American government, upsetting the system of checks and balances and nullifying fundamental liberties, including Fourth Amendment guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures and guarantees of due process. As such, they embody apparent failures of the President to carry out his oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
· War in Iraq: After 9/11, Bush could have become a great leader. But the very day that hell spewed from the sky, Bush did not know whether to return from Florida to Washington. His eventual leadership in those terrible weeks was steadfast but he used up the good will of most of the world by pushing his doctrine of pre-emption. Invading Iraq on false pretenses, he has overseen a war that has lasted longer than our participation in World War II with far less to show for it. He said that Saddam Hussein's regime had given help to Al Qaeda, but it had not. He therefore took the nation to war on the basis of falsehoods.
· Gas Prices: President Bush and John McCain both have Big Oil’s interests at heart. Despite record profits and executive pay in the oil industry, neither Bush nor McCain is willing to cut back on Big Oil’s windfall profits and tax breaks. McCain already has proposed giving $3.8 billion more in tax breaks to Big Oil and has voted to protect their profits.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND
Obama: 46-year-old Barack Obama is a Democrat and has been a member of the United States Senate since 2005. Prior, he served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997-2004.
McCain: 71-year-old John McCain is a Republican and has been a member of the United States Senate since 1987. He is also a Vietnam veteran, having served in the Navy from 1958-1981 as a pilot with the rank of Captain.
TAX REFORM
Obama: Supports tax incentives for employers who keep labor stateside, and proposes to leave corporate taxes at 35%. Promises tax cuts for middle class citizens making less than $75,000 annually and higher taxes for wealthier individuals with incomes over $250,000 (5% of the American population). Promises no social security tax for individuals with incomes between $102,000 and $250,000, and suggests senior citizens earning less than $50,000 a year will pay no income tax at all.
McCain: Doesn’t plan on deviating from many of Bush’s tax laws, but will give corporations an even bigger break, as he believes lowering corporate taxes by 10% will help stimulate the economy. Also wants to give tax breaks to companies who invest in the advancement of technology, and wants to create a new tax credit for companies who engage in research and development.
Eric: I side with Obama on the issue of Tax Reform. Sadly the Republican Party tends to side with the wealthy, causes that will directly benefit them (Bush, McCain, and Palin are excellent examples of benefiting by working with Big Oil). McCain’s idea to lower taxes for corporations won’t boost the economy - it will simply give them higher profit margins. Obama’s tax incentives to keep your labor state-side will bring jobs back to America.
WAR ON TERRORISM
Obama: Believes keeping American soldiers in Iraq will not be beneficial unless the Iraqi government steps up to help govern their own people, therefore he wants to end the war in Iraq and withdraw American troops within 16 months of taking office.
McCain: Believes pulling troops out of Iraq before Al-Qaeda has been defeated will prove to be catastrophic for America and our safety, and wants to continue the fight.
Eric: I side with Obama on the issue of War on Terrorism. The Iraq government needs to either step up to the plate or prepare to be overrun by lawless gangs when we pull out. The only people benefiting from the war is Big Oil, the Bush Administration (because Bush owns an Oil Company), and
RETIREMENT
Obama: Wants taxes from the rich to fully fund social security, and wants to automatically enroll Americans in a retirement savings account to boost their savings.
McCain: Would like to see the retirement age rise from 65 to 68, and proposes private retirement accounts for individuals.
Eric: I disagree with both candidates on the issue of Retirement. First and foremost, the government should be forced to repay what it has STOLEN from its people. Borrowing it would imply they are paying it back - which they haven’t. Where it comes to Obama: Just because you are rich doesn’t mean you should have to give all your money away. You worked for it and shouldn’t now be the solution for everyone else’s problems. And where it comes to McCain - Raising the retirement age is a transparent goal. You are hoping more people will DIE before they ever get to take advantage of social security. The retirement age keeps climbing making it difficult, if not impossible, for the poor to get by who need that money. Of course someone filthy rich like McCain wouldn’t understand that. In my opinion, the best course of action would be to get the government to repay what it owes, lower the retirement age, but only give social security to people who make under $50,000 per year when they reach the retirement age (and actually retire). You should be able to continue to work PAST your retirement age and retire when you want. When you retire, your social security paycheck is based off your overall earnings over the years (or the highest earning year(s)).
HEALTHCARE
Obama: Promises health insurance similar to that given to federal employees which will be funded by employers who do not offer coverage to their staff, complete with affordable deductibles, premiums, and co-payments for all Americans, regardless of pre-existing illnesses. Also proposes lower costs for prescriptions, by allowing citizens to buy them cheaper overseas.
McCain: Believes insurance should follow individuals from job-to-job, and proposes a tax credit that will refund $2,500 to singles and $5,000 to families to help them pay for their own healthcare.
Eric: I side with Obama on the issue of Healthcare. It doesn’t mean everyone get’s healthcare - just those who could not get it normally. I am not sure how I feel about buying prescriptions from overseas based on what I have seen of the illegal prescription drug market on television. Scary stuff. As far as McCain goes - giving people a tax credit is useless when you don’t have the money to pay for insurance to begin with. And when you get a $50,000 bill for CAT scans a piddly tax credit isn’t going to make a dent in it. Again - the rich wouldn’t understand this.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Obama: Pro-Choice and for Roe vs. Wade. Believes abortion should be left up to the woman, without interference of the government.
McCain: Pro-Life and against Roe vs. Wade. Believes abortion should only be legal if pregnancy is a direct result of rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is endangered by the impending birth. Voted against a $100 million funding proposal to help educate girls on teen pregnancy and contraceptives.
Eric: I believe women should have a free choice, but abortion shouldn’t be a form of birth control. It should be used in instances of rape or incest or when the life of the mother is endangered by the impending birth. Banning abortion will be as effective as prohibition was. It simply means we’re going to go back to the days of coat hangers and finding dead women who tried to perform their own abortion. We don’t need that again.
OTHER THINGS - LOBBYISTS
Both McCain/Palin and Obama/Biden have lobbyists or have received some sort of benefit from British Petroleum. Obama claims his cabinet has no currently active lobbyists. Three of Obama’s Campaign managers were previously lobbyists. Seven out of ten of McCain’s Top Campaign Managers are active lobbyists.
A lobbyist is a lobbyist whether or not they are currently working or not in my opinion. Lobbyists chose their path and if you don’t want to be associated with them - don’t associate with them. But you can’t claim you don’t have lobbyists when you do.
VOTING WITH BUSH
Obama voted for Bush on 40% of the issues. McCain voted with Bush on 90% of the issues. If Bush’s approval rating were higher than 26% (Nixon left office with a 24% approval rating) this might be a good thing for McCain. There are some who says President Bush has done an outstanding job in office and some Republicans stand behind him. Here is what Bush failed in office:
· Big Oil:TheBush Administration Has Repeatedly Slashed Funding for Renewable Energy and Protected Big Oil’s Profits. FYI: McCain is on this same path almost verbatim having received more than twice the donation of Clinton or Obama.
o 2002 and 2003: Bush’s budget proposal for fiscal
o 2003 and 2004 slashed funding for renewable energy programs.
o 2005: Bush’s budget reduced funding for renewable energy programs by 5.6 percent, and he signed an energy bill giving $4.3 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil.
o 2006: Bush requested no new funding for energy efficiency or renewable energy and eliminated funding for geothermal and hydropower.
o 2007: Bush proposed cutting renewable energy research funding and, to save tax breaks for Big Oil, threatened to veto efforts to encourage energy conservation and independence.
o 2008: “President Bush proposes a 27 percent cut for ‘Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs.’ This includes zeroing out the Renewable Energy Production Incentive program, and cutting solar energy programs.
o 2008: Bush opposed tax incentives for producers and homeowners to use renewable energy technologies, helping to defeat the bill.
· Economy: After the exhausting Clinton presidency, Bush had a strong economy and Americans' good will. The past eight years have been tumultuous, marked by arrogance, Bush's refusal to listen to the oldest and wisest in his own party and staggering incompetence. He espoused the philosophy of "compassionate conservatism" but then abandoned it, leaving a few desultory "faith-based initiatives" and a larger gap between rich and poor. With the nation fighting to stave off recession as food and energy prices soar and home foreclosures mount, he didn't have his own stimulus plan but endorsed a too-little-too-late plan devised in the House to give taxpayers rebate checks and incentives to businesses. He vowed to veto one-time checks for seniors dependent on Social Security or extension of unemployment assistance for the jobless. And how did his administration miss the signs that financial institutions were in crisis over sub-prime mortgages?
· Education: Bush's contribution to education (aside from mangled syntax) has been the “No Child Left Behind” Act. But it has amounted to an unfunded mandate on the states and embroiled thousands in angry confrontation by making teachers teach only what children need to pass tests and forcing cutbacks in such subjects as art and music.
· Environment: With evidence indisputable that the world faces a serious challenge in global warming, Bush abrogated what should have been U.S. leadership to deflect tomorrow's catastrophe. As for pursuing energy independence, for years he gave little but lip service. Federal agencies are in disarray. Those supposed to guard the public's health, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Administration and Food and Drug Administration, are widely conceded to be broken.
· Health Care: Not a thing has been done to help people with no health insurance, but he vetoed a plan to expand children's access to health care. He vows to cut out 151 popular programs to save $18 billion but has spent $609 billion on Iraq and Afghanistan.
· Nation Debt: Bush leaves the country with a $9.2 trillion debt, largely because of the war in Iraq, which he defends against all criticism. In an infuriating gesture, he waited to declare war on earmarks, the congressional practice of quietly tucking money away in the budget for special home-state projects.
· Physical Infrastructure: Hurricane Katrina and the bridge collapse in Minneapolis were stark testimony to the nation's crumbling infrastructure. But Bush had no plan to prepare the country to face fixing its roads, bridges and levees or care for its victims.
· Social Security: He demanded that Social Security be privatized, but when the country vigorously protested, he gave up trying to keep entitlements from eventual meltdown.
· Torture: His administration says that the torture at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere has been the work of a few bad apples in the military, whereas in fact abuses were sanctioned at the highest levels of the executive branch in secret memos.
· Treachery: His administration lambastes leakers, but its own officials illegally leaked the name of a CIA operative, Valerie Plame, in order to politically discredit her husband.
· Violation of the Constitution #1: He flatly stated to the public that all wiretaps of Americans were ordered pursuant to court warrants, whereas in fact he was authorizing and repeatedly reauthorizing warrantless wiretaps. These wiretaps violated a specific law of Congress forbidding them.
· Violation of the Constitution #2: His administration has asserted a right to imprison Americans as well as foreigners indefinitely without the habeas corpus hearings required by law. Wars of aggression, torture, domestic spying and arbitrary arrest are the hallmarks of dictatorship, yet Congress, run by the President's party, has refused to conduct full investigations into either the false WMD claims, or the abuses and torture, or the warrantless wiretaps, or the imprisonment without habeas corpus. When Congress passed a bill forbidding torture and the President signed it, he added a "signing statement" implying a right to disregard its provisions when they conflicted with his interpretation of his powers. The President's secret legal memos justifying the abuses and torture are based on a conception of the powers of the executive that gives him carte blanche to disregard specific statutes as well as international law in the exercise of self-granted powers to the Commander in Chief nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. If accepted, these claims would fundamentally alter the structure of the American government, upsetting the system of checks and balances and nullifying fundamental liberties, including Fourth Amendment guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures and guarantees of due process. As such, they embody apparent failures of the President to carry out his oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
· War in Iraq: After 9/11, Bush could have become a great leader. But the very day that hell spewed from the sky, Bush did not know whether to return from Florida to Washington. His eventual leadership in those terrible weeks was steadfast but he used up the good will of most of the world by pushing his doctrine of pre-emption. Invading Iraq on false pretenses, he has overseen a war that has lasted longer than our participation in World War II with far less to show for it. He said that Saddam Hussein's regime had given help to Al Qaeda, but it had not. He therefore took the nation to war on the basis of falsehoods.
· Gas Prices: President Bush and John McCain both have Big Oil’s interests at heart. Despite record profits and executive pay in the oil industry, neither Bush nor McCain is willing to cut back on Big Oil’s windfall profits and tax breaks. McCain already has proposed giving $3.8 billion more in tax breaks to Big Oil and has voted to protect their profits.