Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes to me and my family - Tracy and I are grateful. Tracy's grandfather had a heart attack and endured a long and arduous surgery on November 4th. He is resting and doing well, but the danger of an infection or the onset of pneumonia or some other setback is always present, especially during the first thirty days after the surgery.
Thanks also to everyone who read my blog during the last few months leading up to the election. I appreciate the time you took out of your busy schedule to let me hit you with my opinions. I plan on continuing to post short essays about an array of subjects in the future and I hope that you will continue to check back occasionally and read my posts. As always, my posts will be subject to your commentary.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, November 03, 2008
Why I Voted for "That One"
I have left the battleground state of Colorado for Iowa due to a family emergency, but I thought that I would leave one final post before the election. Here are the reasons that I voted for "that one":
- Energy Plan - For as long as I can remember, I have been told that the planet would eventually run out of fossil fuels. The United States has done very little to research and use alternative fuels, but Obama has a thorough hand comprehensive energy plan with the caveat that it will create jobs and bolster the economy.
- Foreign Policy - The war in Iraq was a trumped up debacle and continues to be. The Iraq government has been asking us to leave for a long time, but the Bush administration has insisted that we stay so that we can mold Iraq into the country that we want it to be. We need to leave in a responsible manner and Barack Obama wants to initiate this withdrawal. Furthermore, we should join our allies to solve conflicts diplomatically. John McCain has the direct opposite philosophy.
- Health Care - I believe that everyone should have health care. We are the only industrialized nation in the world that does not provide this for its citizens. Currently, the government already pays for approximately 45% of health care costs, so a compromise should be reached to help those in need.
- Farms - Barack Obama supported the 2008 Farm Bill. John McCain said that he would veto that bill as president and wants to abolish most farm subsidies because he considers them pork barrel spending.
While I agree with Barack Obama on a lot of issues, I certainly don't agree with him on everything. I understand why some of my friends and family are voting for John McCain, and although I don't agree with them, I do believe that John McCain will work hard to do what he believes is best for the country. But that is the beauty of democracy - we aren't supposed to agree on everything. We are supposed to work for the greater good for the greatest number of people. So, get out and vote tomorrow if you have not participated in the early voting process. You'll feel a whole lot better that you exercised your right.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
In a Country Well Governed, Poverty Is Something to Be Ashamed Of. In a Country Badly Governed, Wealth Is Something to Be Ashamed Of.
Senator McCain's lead pollster, Bill McInturff, said "We're going to get a downscale, less well-eduacted, rural, older, white voter that, I believe, is going to vote and break towards John McCain and make the race closer." That may be the most honest thing ever said by a McCain aide, but it just highlights the division that the McCain campaign has been running on since Barack Obama proved to be an admirable challenger.
Since an overwhelming majority of people rank the econmy as the number one issue in this campaign, McInturff's assertion that these voters will break McCain's way can be seen in two different ways. One, these less well-educated, rural, older, white voters are racist and will vote for McCain by default. Two, these less well-educated, rural, older, white voters believe that the Republican platform of less regulation and benefits to the corporate class help the economy. Neither of these lines of thought are particularly flattering to these voters.
McCain's contention is that America has the second highest corporate tax rate among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries at 39.3% is true, but is only half the picture. The United States has so many tax benefits and special preferences for businesses that two-thirds of the corporations doing business here paid no taxes from 1998 to 2005, while collectively reporting $2.5 trillion dollars in sales according to the United States Government Accountability Office in a July 2008 report.
McCain wants to reduce the corporate tax from 35% to 25% and permananetly slash the capital gains tax from 15% to 7.5%. He says that both of these measures will help the U.S. economy by creating jobs. But two-thirds of corporations already don't pay taxes and two-thirds of people who pay capital gains taxes are millionaires. In addition, McCain's personal tax cuts are just a retread of the Bush tax cuts. The last eight years should demonstrate clearly that these did not create jobs, they only created wealth.
The middle class does not benefit from the generation of wealth. The OECD released a report on October 21, 2008 showing that the United States has the highest inequality and poverty in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000. The Internal Revenue Service data from tax returns filed between 2002 and 2006 show that household income grew by $863 billion during the period. The 15,000 families at the top of the income scale saw their annual incomes go from about $15 million a year to nearly $30 million. They alone accounted for more than 25 percent of all of the growth in income for the entire country. The remaining 1.7 million families in the top 1 percent of households accounted for nearly another 50 percent.
According to the Economic Mobility Project, only 7% of children born to parents in the bottom wealth quintile make it to the top quintile in adulthood and 36% of children born to parents in the bottom wealth quintile remain in the bottom as adults. If McCain believes in "spreading the opportunity around," then why doesn't he have a proposal that will?
As George W. Bush said, "This is an impressive crowd: the Have's and Have-more's. Some people call you the elites. I call you my base.” Isn't this McCain's base too?
Since an overwhelming majority of people rank the econmy as the number one issue in this campaign, McInturff's assertion that these voters will break McCain's way can be seen in two different ways. One, these less well-educated, rural, older, white voters are racist and will vote for McCain by default. Two, these less well-educated, rural, older, white voters believe that the Republican platform of less regulation and benefits to the corporate class help the economy. Neither of these lines of thought are particularly flattering to these voters.
McCain's contention is that America has the second highest corporate tax rate among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries at 39.3% is true, but is only half the picture. The United States has so many tax benefits and special preferences for businesses that two-thirds of the corporations doing business here paid no taxes from 1998 to 2005, while collectively reporting $2.5 trillion dollars in sales according to the United States Government Accountability Office in a July 2008 report.
McCain wants to reduce the corporate tax from 35% to 25% and permananetly slash the capital gains tax from 15% to 7.5%. He says that both of these measures will help the U.S. economy by creating jobs. But two-thirds of corporations already don't pay taxes and two-thirds of people who pay capital gains taxes are millionaires. In addition, McCain's personal tax cuts are just a retread of the Bush tax cuts. The last eight years should demonstrate clearly that these did not create jobs, they only created wealth.
The middle class does not benefit from the generation of wealth. The OECD released a report on October 21, 2008 showing that the United States has the highest inequality and poverty in the OECD after Mexico and Turkey, and the gap has increased rapidly since 2000. The Internal Revenue Service data from tax returns filed between 2002 and 2006 show that household income grew by $863 billion during the period. The 15,000 families at the top of the income scale saw their annual incomes go from about $15 million a year to nearly $30 million. They alone accounted for more than 25 percent of all of the growth in income for the entire country. The remaining 1.7 million families in the top 1 percent of households accounted for nearly another 50 percent.
According to the Economic Mobility Project, only 7% of children born to parents in the bottom wealth quintile make it to the top quintile in adulthood and 36% of children born to parents in the bottom wealth quintile remain in the bottom as adults. If McCain believes in "spreading the opportunity around," then why doesn't he have a proposal that will?
As George W. Bush said, "This is an impressive crowd: the Have's and Have-more's. Some people call you the elites. I call you my base.” Isn't this McCain's base too?
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