Presidential Politics No. 1
This election has really had my stomach tied up in knots. I’m really not all that dissatisfied with George W. Bush’s accomplishments as president but the part that does have me dissatisfied is a doozy. I understand the importance of security these days and I’ll allow for a little closer policing of the populace these days than I would have five years ago but if you pick someone up they need to be charged. and at the very least they need access to an attorney and the courts because the wrong person could have been picked up. Citizens disappearing off the street for no known good reason is not something I can tolerate.
Now for some there probably appears to be a simple solution for someone like me, vote for Kerry. Well there have been a number of things about Kerry that just makes me very nervous about being responsible for putting that man in office. I am troubled by a man who appears to have taken every position possible on every issue. I am also troubled by a man whose only answer to our problems is to make me pay more taxes than I’m currently spending so he can spend more money. Of course, I’m also troubled by a man who just wants to spend money that isn’t coming in.
Now when it comes to the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan I’ve really no problem there. No, I don’t like everthing that has happened but I’m very pleased that both Mohammad Omar and Sadam Hussein are out of power. Unlike some people I find that the progress that has been made in both countries are remarkable considering all the circumstances. It seems that some people forget that sixty years after World War II and fifty yeas after the Korean Conflict we still have troops stationed in Frankfurt, Okinawa and Seoul.
So, basically the two issues that are driving my decision for the presidential election are civil liberties and the economy. I want a president who will protect my civil liberties and who will be a good steward of my tax money. I know from the last four years what I’m getting with Bush and I’m not too happy with his score in those two areas. The tax break was great but the excessive spending just didn’t get it and we have people disappering off the streets.
Tonight I decided to put my prejudice behind me and reexamine John Kerry. I went to John Kerry’s website and here’s what I came up with.
I was out of work for about nine months last year. During that time I drew unemployment, looked for employment and attempted to just find contract jobs and start my own business. Suddenly, my industry rebounded and I went back to work this past September. We are continuously hiring new people but I’m still concerned about the jobs moving offshore. This is one area that I think maybe Kerry and I think alike on:
Today, Kerry is detailing a key part of his overall jobs agenda - a proposal to undertake the most sweeping international corporate tax reform in over four decades. Kerry will eliminate all of the tax breaks that encourage companies to move jobs overseas and use the savings to encourage companies to create jobs in America. Kerry will help jumpstart job creation with a New Jobs Tax Credit paid for by a one-year tax holiday to encourage companies to reinvest their foreign earnings in America.1
Okay, this is something I can really appreciate. Giving tax breaks for moving offshore is something I’ve never understood. Reinvesting those foreign earnings in America means reinvesting in the industry that I make my living in. This satisfies me on two counts.
International tax reform is part of Kerry’s overall plan to regain America’s competitive edge, together with policies to lower the cost of health premiums for companies, modernize our information infrastructure, make energy more affordable, increase investments in education, and regain confidence in our fiscal future.2
I can find nothing I can disagree with Kerry on this page. I’ll be interested to keep up with the specifics here. Let me move on to see what else he plans to do with my money. Both how much of it he wants to take from me and how he intends to spend what he does take from me.
Next stop is education. Education is important to me because I have a son still in public schools. I’ve got my own ideas about education. I started reading the following:
As President, John Kerry will roll up his sleeves and get things done for America’s schools. It’s time to stop sending new mandates from Washington to school districts without providing the necessary resources needed to carry out those new rules. That’s why John Kerry is proposing a new ‘Education Trust Fund’ that means fully funding education, no questions asked.3
The federal unfunded mandates have always given me a problem. What they are telling me is that they aren’t going to take my money from me to pay for something, they are going to force my local politician to take money from me to pay for it. Either way the money comes out of my pockets and I’ve got to really do some looking to find the politician that is responsible for the mess. That last sentance there took me back though.
That’s why John Kerry is proposing a new ‘Education Trust Fund’ that means fully funding education, no questions asked.
The money going into that trust fund is going to come out of my pockets. The term “fully funded” always bothers me. Everyone puts fluff in their budget requests, that’s a given. Fully funding something means giving every dollar asked for. The “no questions asked” part bothers me to the extreme, especially when we are fully funding along with not asking questions. This is a dangerous way to go about funding any project.
So John Kerry is batting .500 with me right now. That’s considerably better than the .333 that George W. Bush has with me.
Let’s move on to my next tab, health care. It is my idea that one reason we have such high health care cost is because insurance companies demand way more record keeping and documentation than they really need to control fraud. I also believe that another reason is the high cost of malpractice insurance due to all the extremely high malpractice settlements against doctors.
Here’s John Kerry’s take on high rising health care costs.
First, we’re going to cut your family’s premiums by up to $1000. That’s $1000 in real savings you can use to buy groceries, pay the bills, and save for your future. And that will mean more jobs and more competitive American businesses.
Second, we’re going to make sure that government bureaucrats aren’t messing with your health care. We’re going to save money by cutting waste from the health care system – not adding it. The cost of health care today is $1.4 trillion. It would be one thing if all those dollars were being spent making Americans healthier. They’re not.
Our system simply has too much waste and too much fraud; there’s too much inefficiency and too much abuse, too much bureaucracy and too much greed. Doctors are drowning in paperwork instead of seeing patients. Families are sitting in emergency rooms wading through forms instead of being by the side of their loved ones. And industry insiders are cutting corners and making deals that all of us end up paying for. This is wrong, and when I am President, it will end.4
Okay, I’ve got to ask how is he planning on cutting my premiums by up to $1000 and if he’s talking about “up to” $1000 what’s the median amount going to be? Still, I’ve got to agree with everything else he’s said above but I’m not seeing enoug specifics here to feel real comfortable with him on healthcare… yet. I’ll give him a pass on this until I know more.
I’ll get into more of this this weekend but so far I’m neutral on Kerry. At the moment he has my vote. I’ll comment some more on this over the weekend. Tomorrow’s my 27the wedding anniversary so I will have my mind on other things until this weekend.
US | Larry D. Burton | 15 July 2004 |
