Why I am voting for Obama

This November, I will be voting in the Presidential Election for the 4th time in my life. When I was younger, I voted only for whom I had a good "gut feel." In fact, I think most American's vote this way, but even though I usually vote Democrat, I always try to keep an open mind. In the race for Governor of Missouri, I'm actually considering the Republican Candidate, since I agree with his energy policy for the State of Missouri. The Democratic candidate, Jay Nixon also has a good resume. He helped create the National No-Call list, which I think everyone appreciates.

In the case for the President, I think there is no clearer choice than Obama. I'll bullet point my reasons here:

1. Energy:
Although Obama has backed away from his original stance on "no more drilling," Obama instead proposes that oil companies "use or lose" the drilling leases they already hold BEFORE new locations are drilled. Many of the oil companies already have leases to drill on lands here in the US and are NOT DRILLING in places where they are already allowed to do so. I can only guess that the oil companies just want to control the supply MORE so that they can hike up the price and keep it high. In addition, there is no doubt that out oil supplies are finite. We WILL run out some day. And even if it's not in our lifetime, prices will continue to rise, and make it more difficult to travel. What's more, fossil fuels pollute our atmosphere. It's time to find a resource that is renewable AND environmentally friendly. It is time to encourage the smart people here in the US to come up with something other than oil to power our transportation. I believe that if America can invent the technology to create clean and renewable energy for tomorrow, that other countries will begin to buy products and services from the US, and we will continue to be the world's economic superpower.

2. Taxes.
Obama's tax plan would decrease taxes for 80% of Americans, and cut taxes 3 times more than McCain's plan. McCain's plan would only really benefit the wealthiest Americans and Corporations. Although I am not in favor of higher taxes for anyone, it would seem that it's time to give the average American a break. These 80% of Americans would see an average of a $1100 tax break under Obama and only $325 under McCain (Source: NBC News)


3. The War.
We've heard from John McCain that he would be willing to stay in Iraq for "100 years," and joked about bombing Iran by replacing the lyrics from the Beach Boy's song "Barbara Ann" with "Bomb Iran."

I don't know that I agree that bombing another nation is a laughing or joking matter. I am not in favor of the Iraq war, because it was waged on false pretenses (where are the weapons of mass destruction?) and was against a country that was a not a clear and present danger to the United States. 92,000 Iraqi civilians have died from our actions in Iraqi, and more importantly, 4,300 Young American Soldiers have perished in this war. In addition, we've stretched our service men and women so tight, that they are serving far longer than they should, and not in Afghanistan, where the actual terrorists are. I think it's very clear that we are in Iraq for one thing: Oil. Clearly, invading and occupying a country is not a successful way to stabilize a region. Obama wants to responsibly end the war in Iraq, and bring our troops home to their families. As for Iran, I think Obama's approach of talking to, rather than ignoring Iran might be a good first course of action.

4. Gun Control
McCain is in favor of lifting the ban on assault Rifles, armor-piercing bullets, and the waiting period on hand guns. (Source: johnmccain.com) I can't see how assault rifles or armor-piercing bullets could be used for anything other than committing crimes. Frankly, this would only serve to increase the risk to our Police Officers, who already risk their lives for us everyday.

5. Corporate Tax Loopholes
One of the problems with our economy today (and one of the reasons gas is expensive) is that the value of our dollar is weak against other foreign currencies. One of things that has contributed to this problem is that we have enormous trade deficits with other countries, like China. Although I would oppose any tariffs or restrictions that would put a strain on the American consumer, but we should not encourage companies to move jobs away from the US with tax breaks for doing so. Obama wants to close these loopholes so that fewer jobs are lost to overseas manufacturing. In addition, closing the Bermuda offshore tax shelter loophole would also benefit this country greatly.

6. Wrong Advisors

It is the opinion of many that our economic crisis has been created by people from large financial institutions lobbying for less regulation of the financial industry. I think part of the reason we are in so much hot water today is because loose lending practices awarded loans to people or businesses who shouldn't have had them. Many of the people in McCain's campaign are from companies who either provided funds for these questionable loans, or insured these questionable loans:

AIG – Wayne Berman, National Finance Committee Co-Chair
Merrill Lynch – Charlie Black, McCain Campaign Senior Adviser
Merrill Lynch – Daniel Crippen, Senior Policy Adviser
Fannie Mae – Arthur Culvahouse, head of McCain V-P search
Fannie Mae – Aquiles Suarez, Economic Adviser
Freddie Mac – Juleanna Glover Weiss, Women for McCain Steering Committee

Meanwhile, Obama said this:

"We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACS - we're going to change how Washington works. They will not fund my party, they will not run our White House, and they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I am president of the United States of America." (Sunlen Miller, "Obama Commends DNC For Cutting Lobbyist
Contributions," ABC News' "Political Radar" Blog, 6/5/08)

To sum up, McCain's proposed policies would continue giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans, discourage development of Green technologies, continue the war in Iraq, potentially start a war in Iran, continue giving tax breaks and incentives to those companies who move American jobs offshore, and practice predatory and unethical lending practices. Obama would cut taxes for the middle class, encourage the development of green technology, close tax loopholes that encourage moving jobs offshore, and responsibly end the war in Iraq.