This will probably change during the coming months. Things may be added, or taken away.
Why I like Obama1. He’s young, fresh, hip.
2. He’s an excellent orator. He can really inspire people with his rhetoric.
3. He is willing to lift the embargo on Cuba. Honestly, all these years of refusal to deal with the communist regime in Cuba hasn’t done much other than keep the people of Cuba poor. The only thing that took down Castro was father Time.
4. He supports the death penalty in cases of egregious crimes.
5. He supports tax credits for college expenses if the person performs community service. Up to $4000 in tax credits (which is much better than a deduction) for 100 hours of service. People today just don’t seem to understand the importance of helping out their fellow man and their community.
6. Voted for a border fence. He recognizes that you have to first stop people from coming in to this country ILLEGALLY, before you can really adequately deal with the ones who are here. Supports English proficiency for people who want to stay here legally.
7. Wants to eliminate tax-filling requirements for older workers who make less than $50k/year. Depending on what he defines as “older”, I feel we should help out the elderly in this country in any way we can.
Why I dislike Obama1. He’s young, fresh, hip.
2. He’s an excellent orator. I’m not sure that being “young, fresh and hip” and a good speech maker are really important qualification for commander in chief.
3. He’s for abortion on demand. Criticized the Supreme Courts decision to allow a ban on partial birth abortion. Also known as a dilatation and extraction. As a physician, I can promise you that there is NEVER a situation where turning the baby around to the breech position, delivering everything but the baby’s head, and jamming a pair of scissors into its skull so you can later suck out its brains, is safer than a delivery. If you can deliver everything down to the head, you can deliver the head. Then work on saving the mothers life.
4. He has radically changed his stand on campaign financing. Last year when he was trailing in the polls, he pledged to only accept public financing and its spending limits. Now that he’s the Democrat front runner, he seems to want to accept the unlimited special interest money.
5. He wants to give teachers more pay, but not have it tied to standardized test scores. How else can you tell the difference between a good teacher and a worthless slug?
6. He supports law suits against gun manufacturers for crimes committed by violent criminals. You cannot hold the maker of a product liable for what a customer does with it. That leads us down the road to suing fast food places for making people fat or auto makers for making a car driven by a drunk driver.
7. Supports raising taxes on the “rich” to pay for his numerous plans. The problem here is that the amount of money it takes to be rich changes from day to day. At first it was $500k/year, then $250k, then $200k; before too long, you’ll be rich if you make minimum wage. He wants to raise taxes on capital gains. He apparently thinks only rich people have money in 401k’s, IRA’s, etc. He wants to raise corporate taxes. Who in the world does he think employs all those young people he is courting? If you raise their taxes, all they will do is pass on the increase to their customers, thus hurting the poor even more. They will probably eliminate jobs as well to make up for increased costs.
8. Supports the idea of socialized health care. Wants mandates for health insurance. Health coverage does not equate with access to health care. That headache that you have had for 2 weeks? Well, it’s caused by a tumor, but since you’ll have to wait 6 months to get the MRI (instead of the 2 or 3 days it takes now), you’ll probably die from it before we even know it’s there. The knee replacement that you can now get in 1 or 2 weeks? Try waiting 18 months for it like they do in Canada. Wants to add people up to age 25 to the SCHIP program (the “C” is supposed to stand for “children”. I don’t think 25 year olds should qualify for this program, even if they are still living at home with mommy).
9. Wants to bring home all our troops in the Middle East. Feels that we’ve been there too long fighting an illegal war. Yes, we’ve been there for what, 5 years? How long have our troops been in Japan? Korea? Germany? Kosovo?
10. Supports embryonic stem cell research. There is absolutely no need to destroy an embryo when we have ample access to stem cells from placentas, umbilical cords, fat cells, etc.
11. Opposed to drilling in ANWAR and costal waters. How are we really supposed to become energy independent if we can’t tap what resources we have? Yes, private industry will eventually perfect alternative sources of energy, but we need oil now.
12. Supports a mandatory carbon “cap-and-trade” system to reduce global warming. This will just be another bureaucratic mess with companies cooking their books in an effort to look good to the environmental whacko’s out there.
13. Wants to create a $10 billion dollar fund to bail out homeowners who are going in to foreclosure. Why should taxpayer money be spent to bail out people who bought more house than they could afford? I realize that some people may have been bamboozled, but the majority of people out there are smart enough to realize that they cannot have a 4000 square foot McMansion when they make less than $50,000 per year. Why stop there? Why not bail out all the morons who are driving around in Escalades they can’t afford. Or the idiot who gambled his way to the poorhouse. Or pay off my credit card bill after my European vacation? One of the things this country was founded on was the principle of honoring a contract. If you do “X” for me, I’ll do “Y” for you. If we start voiding contracts, there will be no trust between parties. The very fabric of our society will start to crumble.
Why I like McCain1. Opposes abortion on demand. Believes (rightly so) that nowhere in the Constitution is there a “right” to abortion. He would not, however, seek a constitutional amendment banning the procedure. He would leave it up to the states, as it should be.
2. He is for lifting the embargo on Cuba once U.S. is "confident that the transition to a free and open democracy is being made." Other than restricting our access to Cuban cigars, Castro didn’t feel a thing. Father Time is what took him out of office.
3. Supports the death penalty in cases of egregious crimes
4. Wants to lower corporate tax rates. That will allow more investment in business, creating more jobs, growing the economy, and ultimately increasing tax revenues due to increased capital gains.
5. Favors parental choice of schools in elementary and high school. Parents should have the right to take their kids out of failing schools and put them in ones that succeed.
6. Voted to shield gun manufactures from civil suits involving crimes committed by people using their product.
7. Wants to give a tax credit, up to $5000, to cover the cost of health insurance. Opposes governmental mandates for coverage. Believes the free market will control health costs.
8. He supports free trade and free market capitalism.
9. Supports strict constructionist judges to the federal court system. That means a judge who will follow the law, not make up her own to suite her political agenda. I loved John Roberts reply to the senators on the Supreme Court confirmation committee when he was asked if he would support the “little guy” over the “big guy” in court. The democrat (I believe it has Joe Biden, D-Del) was trying to see if John Roberts would let emotion and feeling guide his judgments. Now Chief Justice Roberts replied “if the Constitution says that the little guy should win, the little guy's going to win in court before me, ... But if the Constitution says that the big guy should win, well, then the big guy's going to win.”
10. Supports limits on government takings of private property (eminent domain). The Kelo decision by the Supreme Court was a travesty. Allowing the government to take private property purely for economic development is diametrically opposed to our Founding Fathers beliefs on the subject. The United States of America is supposed to be one of the few places on earth where your home is your castle. Private ownership of property is what defines our country. It’s why, to this day, people die trying to get here.
Why I dislike McCain1. McCain-Feingold. Pure and simple, this is an unconstitutional law that illegally restricts free speech. However, in a hypocritical fashion, he turned down federal matching funds so he could spend unlimited money during the primaries.
2. Wanted to give illegal immigrants amnesty. Then, when the public outcry was too much even for him to ignore, decided that maybe we should defend our borders first.
3. Supports embryonic stem cell research. There is absolutely no need to destroy an embryo when we have ample access to stem cells from placentas, umbilical cords, fat cells, etc.
4. Initially opposed the Bush tax cuts. Now that he needs the conservative base support, he says he wants to make them permanent. Maybe this shows his ability to see where he was wrong initially and to correct his mistake. Maybe he’s just pandering.
5. Opposed to drilling in ANWAR and costal waters. How are we really supposed to become energy independent if we can’t tap what resources we have? Yes, private industry will eventually perfect alternative sources of energy, but we need oil now.
6. Supports a mandatory carbon “cap-and-trade” system to reduce global warming. This will just be another bureaucratic mess with companies cooking their books in an effort to look good to the environmental whacko’s out there
Sources: 1. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-02-22-333536288_x.htm
2. http://www.2decide.com/table.htm
3. http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/index.html#/context=index/issue=economy
