Why You HAVE to Vote for Obama

Okay, for those former Hillary supporters who say they will vote for John McCain…have you not been paying attention for the past decade? Do you know what this man stands for? Look, I have some issues with Obama, too. But my disagreements with him pale by comparison with McCain. Here are just a few reasons why I refuse to let John McCain occupy the Oval Office:

Civil/Human/Workers' Rights

• McCain: He didn't like the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would allow employees who have been discriminated against take their cases to court...because he said it would "open us up for lawsuits...." You think? He's also against raising the minimum wage. The man's misogyny is legendary. He is in favor of adding legislation to the Constitution that discriminates—that is, to take away the civil rights of a minority. He has been outspoken about his views on same-sex marriage. "As president [John McCain] would nominate judges who understand that the role of the Court is not to subvert the rights of the people by legislating from the bench." Why not? Bush did. According to McCain, if I want to marry my girlfriend, I am endangering "the foundation of Western Civilization." Riiiiiiight. I should have such power.
  
  
• Obama: He intends to enforce civil rights and combat employment discrimination. He would extend the Family and Medical Leave Act, and raise the minimum wage. Now here's one place I think I may have a bone to pick with the kid: marriage equality. I think I looked over every inch of Obama's website, and could not find a single mention of the issue. But a little research shows that while he is against adding discriminatory language to the Constitution, he opposes same-sex marriage. We will just have to work harder to change his mind.

Safe, Legal Abortion

• McCain: He wants Roe v. Wade overturned (and will stack every court possible to get that moving). He also voted to ban late-term (read: life threatening) abortions. Obviously a pre-term fetus (that is, a fetus not yet viable), is "worth" more than a living woman. More misogyny from the crotchety old man.
• Obama: Believes in a woman's right to choose.

Climate Change

• McCain: At least he doesn't pooh-pooh global climate change, and both candidates support a cap-and-trade system on emissions. But McCain thinks that "market forces" will clean things up. Hello? Isn't that how we got here in the first place. Oh, and he wants a "global effort that would include developing countries to reduce greenhouse gases." Yes, I'm sure that those countries will make the difference between 30 years and 300... He did not vote for the Energy Policy Act of 2003, which would have mandated 40mpg by 2015. What's with the "market forces" that they can't engineer something better in 7 years? The League of Conservation Voters gave McCain a score of zero (24% lifetime) in its 0-100-point scale for those voting in favor of 15 different environmental votes during 2008. Why? Because he missed every vote. That's right. All 15.
  
  
• Obama: He voted FOR the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (35mpg "between 2011 and 2020," whatever THAT means). The League of Conservation Voters gave Obama a score of 67% (86% lifetime); it may have been higher had he not been absent for 4 of the 15 votes.

Taxes

• McCain: Wants to make the reward-the-rich Bush tax cuts permanent.
• Obama: repeal Bush tax cuts for those over $250,000. Note: the average American earns about $75,00. (That's not per person, but per family.).

Health Care

• McCain: Ah, more "market-based" solutions. Again, isn't that what we have now? It's clearly not working. He thinks we should pay doctors based on their performance, which sounds good until you really start thinking about it. It sounds to me like it will keep doctors from disclosing information to their patients, cause a rise in unnecessary (and expensive) tests "just to cover all the bases," and lead to a lot of bribery and corruption. Who will rate the performance? If one doctor has 2 out of 3 patients die, and another has only 1 out of 3 patients die, do we really know that the second doc is better? Maybe the second doc's patients were not as sick, had a less virulent form of whatever, or responded better to treatment.
  
  
• Obama: He would require coverage for all children (the money will come from the repealed Bush tax cuts), though he would subsidize health insurance for low-income families. He would also prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to or charging extra for people with health problems (in other words, the people who really NEED health insurance).

Iran

• McCain: He says we should "form a European alliance" that would put economic and political pressure on Iran. In other words, if you are afraid of a bully, send in your big brother to beat him up. He also wants to "bolster [our] regional military posture to make clear to Iran our determination to protect our forces in Iraq and deter Iranian intervention in that country." That's rich. You see, bin Laden is a bad, bad guy. But the origin of his complaints with the U.S.—the sliver in his foot that infected his brain—was the fact that the U.S. built a military base in holy land, and despite promises that it was only temporary, continues to maintain a presence there. Now, if someone from another country built a military base in the middle of Arlington Cemetery or on the lawn of the National Cathedral, don't you think people here might get a little upset? Especially if that base was supposed to be a jumping off spot for attacks on neighboring countries? And I guess I don't see how engaging the military against Iran to protect the military engaged in Iraq makes much sense.
  
  
• Obama: He would engage in direct diplomacy. You know, talk to him face-to-face. Hear that? How many times do we say to our kids when they're pitching a fit and turning purple (as McCain often does), "Use your words"? Maybe McCain is just a victim of bad parenting. Hitting the mean kid just because you don't like what he says is not a good family value.
  

Iraq

• McCain: He is perhaps the one person in the country who still believes absolutely that we were right to attack a sovereign nation without provocation, that things are going great, and that we should stay there for 100 years if necessary. Voted to send more troops over there, and says there should be no timetable for bringing them home...although they "should" all be home by 2013. Unless, of course, they are in Iran. Or North Korea. Or Venezuela. Or Afghanistan. Or...

• Obama: He opposed the war from the very start, but of course he couldn't vote for or against it because he wasn't even in office then. He IS what's called a "junior Senator," which is another way of saying newbie. He voted against sending more troops, and says we should bring them home one or two brigades per month, which would have everyone home in 16 months. If he started on Day One, that sounds like the summer of 2010 to me.

How are you spending YOUR stimulus check?

Recently the government mailed taxpayers a so-called "stimulus" check (these didn't go to the people who need them most, of course, namely those who didn't earn enough to have to pay taxes in the first place). The idea was that grateful Americans would rush out and spend their $600 windfall (actually, more like a rebate on the taxes they DID pay) on wide-screen televisions and investment broker fees, all in the name of shoring up our sagging economy. Realistically, it probably went into the tanks of all those 15-20 mpg SUVs.

It cost me $52 to fill up my Subaru last week. I can't even fathom the cost of filling the cars I see most often in my area: Navigators (12c/17h mpg), Land Cruisers (12c/15h mpg), Caravans (12c/24h mpg), Odysseys (12c/24h mpg), Escalades (12c/18h mpg), Suburbans (13c/17h mpg), and Hummers (12c/17h mpg). Makes my Subaru (20c/26h mpg) seem like an engineering marvel.

The Hummer has to be the prime example of the American Dream gone horribly wrong. It's a bad joke: an urban assault vehicle (almost none of them go off-road) that's exempt from federal fuel economy standards—because it weighs too much!—AND the gas guzzler tax (because it's a "truck"). At today's prices it costs about $120 to fill the tank, and given the average commute (and 85% of people drive to and from work by themselves), at 15 mpg...let's just say that the "stimulus" check would probably go towards a tank of gas and a cartful of groceries. (BTW: I'm not alone in my disdain. At least all I wield is vitriolic prose, unlike these guys.) See also this BBC story on the Hummer v. Prius twaddle.

This paragraph is an intentional digression. We will return to our regular programming following this message from our sponsor (me). There has been a Rush Limbaugh-fueled hoax burning its way through the Internet blogosphere to the effect that "the Hummer is ultimately more environmentally friendly than the Toyota Prius." Like most of what Limbaugh spews, this is patently ridiculous. While there are many posts that try to put this lie to rest, the best, most-reasoned, point-by-point discussion of why this statement is horse doo-doo is this article by Brenden I. Koerner in Slate.

Recently I read an article that tried to explain to me (mathematically challenged) why not cashing a $600 stimulus check actually made better financial sense than cashing it. The bottom line, as I understand it, is that thanks to Bush's $3.5-billion-a-week boondoggle, the government had to borrow the $168 billion it cost for the stimulus package. Now, if I fully understand it, this is about like charging those $300 and $600 checks against a big old VISA card. Speaking as one who cringes whenever she hears the words "Capital One," I can say that this is a very bad idea. The author, former stock broker Max Keiser, can explain it better than I, but I like his idea of holding onto the checks as mementos, and maybe even trading them on eBay. Now there's some creating financing.

I'd love to hear where you spent YOUR stimulus check (if you got one). Add your comments here. Maybe I'll set up a poll, too. I know if I HAD received a check it would have gone to Capital One...though it probably wouldn't even cover the interest on that debt given the exorbitant rates/fees credit card companies are allowed to charge. But that's a rant for another time...


Gas pump © Robert Mizerek | Dreamstime.com
(That's his typo, too.)