Help me decide my vote .............

[Man Mountain]

Right now I'm undecided on whom to vote for. I'll admit that I haven't paid too much attention to the goings on before the debates. I went into the debates with an open mind and now I have more questions than I have answers. I see that this place has a nice varity of both democrats and republicans so I ask you this; whom should I vote for and why?

[SpursWoman]

Well.....you already saw Jim's thread. :wow :lol :lol









I don't know if that's the quite the answer you're looking for...but I doubt mine would be, either. I'm voting for Bush, 'cause well, I love my Bush. :nerd





Seriously though...I'm voting for Bush because he best represents what's important to me. He's a very strong leader and walks the talk. That is by far the most important quality to me. I think he will be far, far stronger in dealing with terrorists, as I don't believe in the "ignore it and it will go away" or "maybe we'll do something to them if they start it" philosophy of national defense.

I like how his administration and the conservative party in general encourages people to pull their own weight instead of looking for government handouts....which handouts result in higher taxes for me. While I have no problem contributing for the benefit of the elderly or sick, there are far too many who abuse the system and I do not support a socialistic, "big" form of government.

While I am pro-choice and I do think stem cell research should be expanded, those issues don't weigh as much in importance in my mind as the ones above.

Healthcare? Bill & Hillary ran for office with this huge plan for national, affordable healthcare for everyone and had 8 years to do something about it. Nada. I don't buy it. I am with the Bush philosophy 100% in that the way to make healthcare more affordable for everyone is to reduce the frivilous lawsuits, which drive malpractice insurance through the roof, so that doctors can't reduce their own charges to patients and still earn a living. Plus, there is absolute no way whatsoever that you can pull off a healthcare system on that scale and not raise taxes. Reducing spending isn't going to be enough...the Kerry plan alone is projected to cost between 1-2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

But these are 100% my opinions. :)


Good luck!

[Man Mountain]

Healthcare? Bill & Hillary ran for office with this huge plan for national, affordable healthcare for everyone and had 8 years to do something about it. Nada. I don't buy it. I am with the Bush philosophy 100% in that the way to make healthcare more affordable for everyone is to reduce the frivilous lawsuits, which drive malpractice insurance through the roof, so that doctors can't reduce their own charges to patients and still earn a living. Plus, there is absolute no way whatsoever that you can pull off a healthcare system on that scale and not raise taxes. Reducing spending isn't going to be enough...the Kerry plan alone is projected to cost between 1-2 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

In the debates Kerry denied that it was that much money. Does anyone have the figures of what KERRY SAYS it will be because he declined to mention that part. I think healthcare needs to be improved but having a socialist style system is not the answer. But Kerry DID say that you can keep your current plan. Anyone have the facts of the other side........

[Nbadan]

John Kerry’s Plan To Make Health Care Affordable To Every American
Stops Spiraling Costs, Provides Coverage for 95 Percent of Americans, Covers all Children, Allows Americans to Access the Same Health Care Plan As Members of Congress

Controlling The Spiraling Costs Of Health Care (http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/health_care/health_care.html)

[SpursWoman]

But Kerry DID say that you can keep your current plan. Anyone have the facts of the other side........

Since I'm assuming most people would switch to Kerry's plan, it would drive a considerable amount of smaller insurance carriers out of business...essentially forcing people into a national plan.

I'm trying to find this rather hefty article I read about it, that breaks it down....it was quite enlightening. :)

[CosmicCowboy]

The real problem with health care?

Health care has just gotten too damn good...but it comes at an extremely high cost...there is a procedure or a treatment regimen for virtually everything that ails us...there are obviously a few notable diseases that haven't been "cured" yet but the research continues for more and better ways to extend life...


which then creates a moral and ethical dilemma that neither party can talk about...is top quality "extend life at all cost" health care a constitutional right despite ability to pay? Should medicaid tax dollars really be spent on $60,000 procedures to put stents in 90 year old patients?...what is the definition of "adequate" health care?

Other countries that have socialized medicine simply have drawn societally accepted lines on what will and won't be paid for by tax dollars...and many of the thresholds are defined by age...(for example...certain procedures might be paid for in a 65 year old but not on a 70 year old...) is the US really ready for this?

Any REAL plan for 100% health care for the US population at current societally accepted definitions of what "quality" health care is is the electric "third rail" of American politics...touch the issue and define the REAL cost of it and you are politically dead...

In order for it to not bankrupt the American economy health care will have to be rationed and "extreme" health care must be based on ability to pay...and it's just not politically expedient to acknowledge that...

[spurster]

Vote for Bush if you want more of the same.

Vote for Kerry if you think Bush has done a sorry job.

Vote for a third-party candidate if you don't think it's much of a choice and you would like to see alternatives.

For myself, I will vote for Kerry. I would say the main accomplishments of Bush have been his tax cuts and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Don't kid yourself about tax cuts. The government is running a huge defiicit, which is effectively a tax increase in the future unless it boosts the economy to generate more taxes that cover the tax cut. This effect is something we have not seen yet. Also, we have huge costs in Social Security and Medicare (added onto by Bush) coming down the pike.

The Afghanistan war was done fairly well, and the voting a couple days ago also went well. Opium, the warlords, and us leaving there are still problems, but I would rate that a positive at this point, especially because we eliminated of the AQ training camps and are putting some effort (though I would like more) on hunting them out.

The Iraq war has turned out to be unnecessary. I know some think getting rid of Saddam makes it all worth it, but I don't. I think the Bush administration lied (or the next thing closest to it) on the massive stockpiles of WMDs and the soon-to-be-built nuclear weapons. We are either going to leave the place a mess or we will stay there a long time. So the rationales for war were made up and the exit strategy was horribly naive.

I really don't like Kerry all that much. His promises are pie-in-the-sky, but the good part is none of that will get through a GOP Congress. I think he will be a pragmatist rather than an ideologue. The war on terrorism will continue no matter who is President, but I think Kerry will work with the world better than Bush.

[Yonivore]

Vote for Bush if you want more of the same.

Vote for Kerry if you think Bush has done a sorry job.

Vote for a third-party candidate if you don't think it's much of a choice and you would like to see alternatives.

For myself, I will vote for Kerry.
I don't know who your gonna vote for but, spurster's response is a perfect illustration of why Kerry's going to lose this election.

Notice, he doesn't say why to vote for Kerry except to note you'd do so because you're unhappy with Bush.

President Bush's approval ratings are above 50%. People aren't that unhappy with him and Kerry's supporters, and Kerry himself, never realized that and they never gave the public a reason to vote FOR Kerry...except to portray him a war hero who would made a good commander-in-chief. And, on that count, he's been shot full of holes with a second round of assaults coming after the debates.

Seriously, he'll be lucky to get the die-hard liberal vote on election day.

[Man Mountain]

The thing that has me with Bush is when will the wars ever end? With what he preaches it sounds like my kids kids will be fighting some sand country in the middle east. So when would it end or it will just keep going and going and going ......

[Marcus Bryant]

How safe will we be if we simply wait until we are attacked again? The United States has taken the 'safe route' with Islamic fascism over the last 30 years. That worked, didn't it? Recall the response to the '93 WTC attack? A criminal investigation. Sure, some were arrested and imprisoned but their friends came back 8 years later and made sure the towers fell that time.

Lest we forget Somalia, Khobar Towers, the Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and the USS Cole. At some point enough is enough and this country goes on offense with all of its capabilities at its disposal.

Academic second guessing about Iraq is great in this political season but the reality of the matter is that you either deal with this threat now or you reap the whirlwind. Bush dealt responsibly with Iraq. Kerry and Edwards along with a host of other Democrats thought so as well, at least until it became time to run for the presidency.

Your conspiracy theories are great, but I saw close to 3,000 people murdered live on US soil. Innocent men, women, and children. That tends to focus the mind on the nature of the threat we are facing.