If I Had To Vote Today

[Troy Spiral (13)]

I try not to pick who i would vote for (if i voted) based on how i "feel" about their speeches or their attitude, but based on actual statements/stances on positions.

The situation right now kinda irritates me. Since my number 1 issue... The Economy, pretty much clearly would be a vote for McCain. Or at least the old McCain, the new McCain almost sounds like a liberal socialist in terms of economics , which i think is more just rethoric to distance himself from bush than what he'd actually do in office.

But almost all my other social issues would be Obama Or Hillary. McCain wants to repeal abortion except for cases of rape or health which scares me. I'm not sure how serious he is about that though, since I've been quasi-following him for a long time and he used to be against overturning Roe Vs Wade (for at least 10 years) , now hes for it.

I also don't want to vote for someone that might tend toward more unification of church & state... which unfortunately of the 3, that'd have to be McCain.

Obama seems to be much better suited to actually get shit DONE than Hillary would be, i get the impression she has a lot of enemies in congress , making her actual running-of-the-country more difficult. (similar to the situation bush is in now)

According To This Issues Grid

http://www.ontheissues.org/Issue_Grid.htm

Basically I'm to vote for McCain for Economic issues and Hillary or Obama for social issues. Looking at it, Edwards or Guliani would probably have been my guys, but neither has a chance now.

(been searching for various different ones, this one seems to be the best i've found at the moment)

[torn asunder]

take a look here for all candidates...

go here for my personal choice - nader!!

[Troy Spiral (13)]

Yeah thats the same website, just that the list i linked to is by-issue with the candidates listed under the issue heading that way you can compare them side-by-side rather than having to click on a candidate.. then read their stances , then click on another candidate... etc. (have to scroll down slightly)

[creatureofthenyte]

I would vote for Obama. I am surprised that I would actually vote for a democrat. Alot of democrats have been flip floppers that couldn't lead us out of a wet paper bag because they don't know what they stand for. But Obama definitely sounds like someone who will make things happen and get things done. John McCain, Ive heard him described as the most liberal Republican ever. I listen to him and he wants to ramble on and on about stuff that he did in the past. McCain insists on rambling on about the past. Did I mention that he is OLD???

Obama talks about the future and his ideas for the future and I like that. However, Obama talks about talking to leaders of countries that hate us. He better get a damn clue and fast, that some of these leaders would kill him when and if they got the chance. Why would we want to talk to someone who wants us dead ? So yeah, I will probably vote for Obama if he is the nominee, even though I am a registered independant voter.

[SuZQZ]

Troy, I feel exactly the same way you do. Every sentence. The economy is a crucial point, but the social issues are so important to me as well. When I think about it for too long I get a migraine or have to fight the urge to bang my head repeatedly into a wall. I don't think I'll have made a final decision until right before I vote. I have much more research to do in the meantime.

[amalthea23]

Hillary is only ahead a tiny bit for me because of the situation with health care in this country. I'm chronically ill, going into my 15th surgery in a week or two, and the idea of ever being without insurance terrifies me. However, if she or Obama win, it'll be fine. I honestly don't think McCain has a chance. He's gone from a reasonable and intelligent man to someone who will say anything you pay him to say, without thinking too hard about it. Granted, he was a POW, so he's likely a little batshit crazy (and if he's not, that worries me even more) so as a person, I can cut him slack, but that doesn't mean he should lead the country.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

At the current rate of epic fail that Hillary is going through at the ballet box... and the fact that polls show her loosing to McCain in the general election... I don;t have to worry about voting for Hillary... that leaves Obama and McCain.

I'm not confortable with McCain. He too freely signed on to legislation to limit free speech and he supported amnisty of illegal aliens.

Obama is for Hope and Change. If pressed on what kinda change and what exactly is he hoping for... things get very vague. His staff has been directed to always deflect questions about details. He has said he would never garnish my wages to pay for health care... thats one detail I like.

I don't know.

[amalthea23]

At the current rate of epic fail that Hillary is going through at the ballet box... and the fact that polls show her loosing to McCain in the general election... I don;t have to worry about voting for Hillary... that leaves Obama and McCain.

I'm not confortable with McCain. He too freely signed on to legislation to limit free speech and he supported amnisty of illegal aliens.

Obama is for Hope and Change. If pressed on what kinda change and what exactly is he hoping for... things get very vague. His staff has been directed to always deflect questions about details. He has said he would never garnish my wages to pay for health care... thats one detail I like.

I don't know.

I hear a lot about people not wanting their wages garnished for health care. However, when you do get sick, and no one escapes it, you often end up paying more than everything you make (particularly when long term care gets involved,) so I can't see why it's worse to garnish some up front than lose it all in the end.

[uggae]

where are all the green voters? i'm a little surprised about that none of you mentioned them. i know most say that voting green is throwing your vote away, but as i see its the party to vote for if you want real chance to the good:)(plus they don't say "god bless America" which is a huuuge yay for me:D)

[know_buddy_kares]

Well with the aparent choices that seem to be emerging from this circus, I'm putting my money on obama. The only thing that I'm not happy with is his health care stand. Yes I think health care should be socialist/universal. Either by gov't tax OR insurance payments, you're still loosing your pay check to health care. At least this way Everyone has a fair shot at health care, wich is something I believe EVERYONE has a basic right to, not just those who can afford it.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

I hear a lot about people not wanting their wages garnished for health care. However, when you do get sick, and no one escapes it, you often end up paying more than everything you make (particularly when long term care gets involved,) so I can't see why it's worse to garnish some up front than lose it all in the end.

What if you would rather die than burden your family? What if that 20-30% taken out of your paycheck, because thats the amount that they would take if not more, was the difference between eating or not? If you have a family, this would mean going on Food Stamps and other aide. Another drain on the tax pool.

How do you live if your paying around 45% Income Tax for Nationalized Health Care that because your base income is too high for, you can't get. Then the Government Garnishes your wages to pay for Private Health Insurance in the amount of another 20-30% of your base income.

What is the point of being healthy if you are living on the street and starving?

Really read Hillary's nationalized health care. Think about what it's going to do to everyone and not just how it will benefit yourself.

I would love Universal health care, but I am unwilling to fuck the country to get it.

[know_buddy_kares]

with universal health care, health INSURANCE can go suck a fat one... either way, you're paying the same gaf, at least this way everyone can get treated. I find it so hard to respect someone's opinion when they think it's ok that there's shitloads of americans who can't get their health taken care of because they can't afford health insurance.

[amalthea23]

What if you would rather die than burden your family?

Unless you live in Oregon, you're not given that choice anyway. I think we should get it, but that's not an option for most.

[amalthea23]

with universal health care, health INSURANCE can go suck a fat one... either way, you're paying the same gaf, at least this way everyone can get treated. I find it so hard to respect someone's opinion when they think it's ok that there's shitloads of americans who can't get their health taken care of because they can't afford health insurance.

I have to agree. You're still paying no matter what. Every day you're in the ICU costs well over 10k. Every single day. That's just to exist there. We're not talking about getting medications or treatment. You can be healthy your whole life and get hit by a car and be utterly f'd for LIFE if you don't have insurance. I'd rather have a system where we all have access to care. It would end up costing less anyway. We now have people using the ER as their own personal clinic because they have no insurance. You know who pays for that? YOU! The hospitals don't give that care away for free. They just charge the people who "can afford" it. At least with socialized medicine, the playing field is leveled. It sounds like a lot to pay up front, but that's only because most don't consider what they're going to end up paying anyway. Socialized medicine is a bit like buying a mac in that sense. Costs more upfront, but mostly because it comes with everything.

[torn asunder]

let's try to get back on topic a bit regarding who we'd vote for...

the "national health care" issue is interesting, but if we want to get into it, a new topic should be started!!

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Read the proposed plans for National Health Care. Private Insurance will still exist. The poor pay nothing, those above the poverty line pay extra income tax to pay for healh care for the poor.. under Hillary, they don;t qualify for the national Plan so must get Private insurance.. Hillary would force them to buy it with a garnishment to thier wages. That fucks the Middle class with about a 60% cut in take home wages.

OK, I'm done.

[know_buddy_kares]

well yeah that plan sucks. Ideally, I'd like to see socialized health care with no insurance, ie middle man. I can't stand insurance companies period, i think they're the biggest rip off ever.. but that's a whole nother can of worms. I won't go into a rant about insurance agencies in general here

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Then why the hell do you want to turn the Gorvernment into an insurance company?

[amalthea23]

The one that they do run (namely SS) runs a hell of a lot more efficiently than any privatized company out there. So at the very least, it would be a lot cheaper.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

OMG, no it doesn't. There is not enough over-site. There are far too many people who are on it that do not need to be.

[amalthea23]

and even with that, it's STILL more efficient than the current, for profit systems. The amount of waste is about 1/3 of that with private companies, even with freeloaders.

[nilhil_glory]

im not voting for McCain simply becouse i believe hes a war monger.... i think he caters too much to lobbyist demands altho id rather him get the nomination than huckabee

as for clinton or obama...

im going for obama

some issues i think that need to be brought up tho

i think something that has to be done, is a cap needs to be placed on credit card interest rates and it should be less than thirty percent, some laws and guidelines need to be established, too many people are becoming slaves to credit cards becouse they cant afford to buy weekly grocieries any other way due to the fact of how high the cost of living is... and if their personal rates are hiked beyond 25 percent their going to be paying a long ass time for one time shopping of groceries...its ridiculous ... a credit card company can hike up your interest rate the first second after the payment is late... not only will the one card go up, that particular company can and will usually contact your other credit cards via your credit report and tell them you were late in payments and then they hike up your interest rates even if its set at a fixed rate just becouse you were late in payment. something needs to be done about that too many people are becoming slaves to the credit card industry

instead of healthcare reform

i think we need major major insurance reform

someone needs to look at why its up to the insurance companies to pick whom lives and dies via proper medical treatment. they seem to be milking what they can out of people by choosing what doctors you can or cannot go to, and what kind of services that doctor can or cannot provide you with.. insurance should not dictate that especially when they milk both the patients and the doctors

one of the major reasons healthcare costs us so much isnt neccisarily the doctors raking in mass profits...

its a complement to the payments the doctors are making for malpractice insurance and contrary to what the insurance companies are saying... malpractice is down and they are pretty much raping doctors with the rates that they want to charge them

also i want someone to reform the electoral process, i feel the collegate system we have now is extremely outdated due to the fact that we are in an age where information is abound and plentiful and its disenfranchising many voters whom think they are actually voting for the president instead of voting to get a tally and then having the collegate members deciding wether or not they feel they want to vote based on the peoples opinion. thats why i dont particularily like voting in november for president... however i will vote for my congress member when the time comes

I think our economy will be much better off if the first two problems are addressed properly

Edited February 24, 2008 by nilhil_glory