Top Reasons To Support Obama Over McCain

1- Tax Policy:

Don't buy the nonsense the McCain campaign is going to feed you about taxes. According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. While John McCain voted twice against Bush's tax-cuts for the super rich saying that they “disproportionately benefited the wealthy,” since starting to run for the Republican nomination, he has attacked Barack Obama for also opposing the Bush plan, a plan he now supports. Look at the chart made by the Washington Post to see your for yourself.



2 - The Supreme Court:

By the end of the second term of the next president the youngest of six of nine Supreme Court Justices will be 77 years old. The average age of those six judges will be 82. In other words, the next President will literally define the Supreme Court for a generation in a way that no other President has had an opportunity to do since Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he appointed 9 Justices during his 12 years in office. Global Warming, Abortion, Worker's Rights, Civil Rights, and a host of other issues will all be determined by that court. We MUST elect Barack Obama to ensure an outcome that sees us move forward.


3 - Energy Policy:

Obama aims to reduce oil consumption by at least 35 percent by 2030; among his ideas to curb demand is to increase the fleet average for cars and trucks to 49 miles per gallon in 18 years and increase it by 4 percent each year thereafter. McCain doesn't set specific goals for consumption or auto standards.

Also, Obama proposes taxing the record profits of oil companies like Exxon-Mobil so as to invest in alternative energy research and infrastructure projects. This would not only pave the way for American energy independence, but would result in 5 million new American jobs, and a $1000 tax rebate per American family. Considering that so many of our foreign policy problems have roots in the world’s limited supply of oil, these benefits should profoundly affect not only the growing climate change problem, but the economic hardships of average Americans, and allow for a profoundly new direction in our foreign policy. In the past 3 months, Exxon-Mobil alone has made record profits of 11.39 billion dollars. John McCain opposes taxing windfall profits of oil companies like Exxon.


4 - Ethics and Lobbyists:

Barack was a part of the most major ethics reform bill to have been passed in recent years in the Senate. The same efforts were central to his career as an Illinois State Senator. There he helped write one of the rare ethics laws in Illinois, which the Washington Post described as "the most ambitious campaign reform in nearly 25 years, making Illinois one of the best in the nation on campaign finance disclosure." He has since upped the ante and refused to take any money from Washington lobbyists. John McCain not only still raises money from lobbyists, but his campaign manager and top advisers are lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidate this year.

5 - Foreign Policy:

After 8 years of George Bush, it's about time that America had a leader that is willing to make diplomacy the central component of American foreign policy. Obama has said that he'd be willing to have dialogue with Iran during his Presidency while McCain has said that war with Iran is far more likely than people are willing to admit. Of course, given the fact that he's hired a slough of George Bush's foreign policy advisers this should come as no surprise. Obama has also showed his willingness to challenge the Washington status quo by proposing to engage post-Castro Cuba. The American embargo--which because of political interest groups has not been debated--has ravaged the Cuban economy and added to the plight of the already poor Cuban people. His courage in refusing to accept the mold among Washington insiders gives hope that we can change our standing in the world and regain the respect that we once had.

He's also broadened the scope about which we must think of terrorism. He did this by acknowledging that the threat of terrorism is, among other things, tied directly to the realities of global poverty. This, I believe is a fundamental change in discourse, from one in which the only solution for national security was based on our ability to find terrorists and kill them to one which demonstrates a more complete understanding of the problem. This again shows that he is someone who can think independently and outside the box. Says Obama: "In countries wracked by poverty and conflict, citizens long to enjoy freedom from want. And since extremely poor societies and weak states provide optimal breeding grounds for disease, terrorism, and conflict, the United States has a direct national security interest in dramatically reducing global poverty and joining with our allies in sharing more of our riches to help those most in need [...] As president, I will double our annual investment in meeting these challenges to $50 billion by 2012 and ensure that those new resources are directed toward worthwhile goals. For the last 20 years, U.S. foreign assistance funding has done little more than keep pace with inflation. It is in our national security interest to do better."

Finally, unlike John McCain, who until he was running for the Republican nomination opposed torture, Obama thinks it's never right for the America to torture.


6 - Iraq

Barack has called for ending the war in Iraq by using a comprehensive strategy that includes 1) a surge in diplomacy that involves including Iraq's neighbor's in the process; 2) setting a timetable for withdrawal of American combat troops; and, 3) sending a signal to Iraqi politicians that they must come to agreements because the American commitment is not open-ended . This has several important implications. It would mean respecting the sovereignty of the Iraqi people, saving billions of dollars to help the American economy, and show both region and the world that America is committed to leaving behind the neoconservative dreams of hegemonic American empire. In contrast, John McCain has openly expressed support for the idea of having permanent bases in the country. He also has been one of the most outspoken opponents of having a timetable for withdrawal. This despite the fact that 87% of Iraqi's polled support a withdrawal of American troops, thirty-one Iraqi legislators, representing a majority of the Iraq Parliament, have expressed "widespread disapproval of the proposed U.S.-Iraq security agreement if it does not include a specific timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. military troops," and also despite the fact that Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki has openly stated that he supports Obama's position.

7 - Social Security:

You've already seen how except for the supremely wealthy, Barack Obama cuts taxes more for the average American family than does John McCain. This is vital for understanding why John McCain made three campaign stops with George Bush when he was campaigning to privatize Social Security. John McCain supports George Bush's privatization plan because he supports the same irresponsible and unfair taxation policies which would result in doing away with retirement security for a whole generation of Americans. While low income workers pay Social Security taxes on their full income, billionaires only pay taxes on a fraction of a percentage of their income. Obama has proposed raising the rate 2 to 3% on the top 3% of the wealthiest Americans so that they pay a rate closer to that paid by the average American family. This modest adjustment would solve the so-called Social Security crisis.

8 - Health Care:

While the United States is the richest country in the world, there are close to 50 million people here who remain without health care. The Obama and McCain plans differ drastically. Obama would provide universal coverage to all Americans, making it illegal for insurance companies to turn away those with pre-existing conditions. McCain's plan does nothing to provide any form of regulation related to insurance company abuses. His only solution is to replace tax rebates that already exist for employers providing insurance with tax rebates for individuals who purchase insurance. Over a ten year period The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank has estimated that his plan would increase the number of insured by only 5%. The same institute estimates that Obama's plan would increase the number of insured by 47%. The cost for the two plans? Obama's plan would cost $1.6 trillion and McCain's $1.3 trillion. The cost for McCain's plan would come in the form of tax rebates which would have to be spent on private insurance companies which already make windfall profits. The problem is that the number of uninsured would only raise by 5%. The insurance companies who get the additional revenue with no checks on how much of it they pocket for profits would be the clear winners.

By contrast, Obama's plan costs $1.6 trillion. He would first force insurance companies to invest a fixed amount of their profits on care services. He would further reduce costs and increase competitiveness by allowing every American to choose to buy into a non-profit, government run program that currently covers sitting U.S. Senators. To remain competitive insurance companies would have to spend more of the yearly 6 to 8 billion dollars in profits they average on reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Obama would also make it law that everyone under the age 18 be insured. He would help do this by supporting legislation he's also supported in Congress which would subsidize costs for the poorest Americans. By increasing the number of insured, providing a non-profit government competitor, and regulating insurance industry abuses Obama's plan would drastically reduce costs for ALL Americans.

The records for the two politicians speak for themselves in this matter. While Obama supported over 100 bills for health services as a legislator in Illinois, John McCain just this past year voted against a bill (SCHIP) whose only objective was to provide health care for 9 million uninsured, low-income children.