Why I won't vote for (fill in the blank)
By soccermom
@soccermom (3198)
United States
September 6, 2008 3:36pm CST
The last few weeks I have been seeing a lot of back and forth and bickering between people over the presidential candidates. Then it hit me that everyone is so consumed with making it clear why they will vote for their candidate, that they don't give specifics on why they won't vote for the other.
Here's why I won't vote for John McCain. Veterans. He's an absolute hypocrit when it comes to our veterans. He is the first in line to tout his POW experience, wave the flag and yell "Country First". But his voting record tells a blatantly different story. He has consistently voted agaist our troops, when he's bothered to show up to vote for anything to do with them at all.
September 2007: McCain voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments. At the time, nearly 65% of people polled in a CNN poll indicted that "things are going either moderately badly or very badly in Iraq.
July 2007: McCain voted against a plan to drawdown troop levels in Iraq. At the time, an ABC poll found that 63% thought the invasion was not worth it, and a CBS News poll found that 72% of respondents wanted troops out within 2 years.
March 2007: McCain was too busy to vote on a bill that would require the start of a drawdown in troop levels within 120 days with a goal of withdrawing nearly all combat troops within one year. Around this time, an NBC News poll found that 55% of respondents indicated that the US goal of achieving victory in Iraq is not possible. This number has not moved significantly since then.
February 2007: For such a strong supporter of the escalation, McCain didn’t even bother to show up and vote against a resolution condemning it. However, at the time a CNN poll found that only 16% of respondents wanted to send more troops to Iraq (that number has since declined to around 10%), while 60% said that some or all should be withdrawn. This number has since gone up to around 70%.
June 2006: McCain voted against a resolution that Bush start withdrawing troops but with no timeline to do so.
May 2006: McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.
April 2006: McCain was one of only 13 Senators to vote against $430,000,000 for the Department of Veteran Affairs for Medical Services for outpatient care and treatment for veterans.
March 2006: McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.
March 2004: McCain once again voted for abusive tax loopholes over veterans when he voted against creating a reserve fund to allow for an increase in Veterans' medical care by $1.8 billion by eliminating abusive tax loopholes. Jeez, McCain really loves those tax loopholes for corporations, since he voted for them over our veterans' needs.
October 2003: McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq and to reduce the amount provided for reconstruction in Iraq by $322,000,000.
April 2003: McCain urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.
August 2001: McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans by $650,000,000. To his credit, he also voted against the 2001 Bush tax cuts, which he now supports making permanent, despite the dire financial condition this country is in, and despite the fact that he indicated in 2001 that these tax cuts unfairly benefited the very wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
How can somebody who proposes to be so patriotic and have our troops best interests at heart have a voting record like this? Why should we make him commander in chief? I want to hear from everybody, whether you support Obama or McCain, and let's try to keep it reasonable.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@magnolia17 (39)
•
14 Sep 08
I am for Obama. The Pew Research polls show that 80% of Americans think the country is going the wrong way. If that is so, I can't figure out why anyone would give the folks who took us the wrong way another four years. Specifically, though, I believe very firmly in some of Obama's positions. As an American who lives overseas, I've seen Europeans already be way ahead of us in solving the energy crisis. The Mini Coopers for sale in Europe get around 64 mpg. Ours get around 30. That is just one example. The European SMART Car gets around 70 mpg. The one that is going on sale in the U.S. does not. Even though gasoline is easily double the price in Europe that it is in the states, the net result is almost the same since they get better mileage. Europe encourages alternative energies, and we are still saying oil, oil, oil.
We have folks in the U.S. who work two jobs (neither of which gives the person 40 hours a week) so that they don't get benefits such as health insurance, paid leave, etc. That is wrong, period. When the Republicans care about the quality of life people live, they are worth listening to. Until then, I prefer that we have a president who cares about people and what is happening to them. The Republicans so far are into scaring people and making you think that anyone who does not agree 100% with what is happening in the U.S. is unpatriotic. How can you make a country better if you agree with everything currently happening?
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
14 Sep 08
quote "We have folks in the U.S. who work two jobs " What is with the "we" bit???? You are in the UK ...thank God. At least you have no say in our election or killing babies because their mother may not have a job with benefits!!!!!
1 person likes this
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
15 Sep 08
Whiteheather, she is an American living overseas, which means she still retains her right to vote. I had quite the conversation with one of my policyholders the other day, he is European, and was just as confused as a lot of citizens in this country on why European cars are built by the same companies but yet get twice the gas mileage. He said gas over there is outrageously expensive, but it is offset by the fact that there is wonderful public transportation, and their cars are way more fuel efficient. They don't face the energy problem like we do.
As far as the heath care system in this country, I don't have the solution. However magnolia makes an excellent point about employers hiring part time only, usually at lower wages, and avoiding paying for medical benefits.
@4magoo (396)
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6 Sep 08
Soccermom ... I think I love you.
Well maybe that is going a bit far since I am almost double your age and we are both married, but you have put it all together so well. Thank you - thank you - thank you. I am going to copy all of that and send it to my parents and siblings and start WWIII.
1 person likes this
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
6 Sep 08
Awww, I love you too, but if you see lloydanthony don't tell him. I asked him to marry me the other day should I ever find myself single and he said yes! LOL!
So am I correct in assuming you come from a Republican family? I do to, so Republican that my FIL had a pic of Bush in his den and elephant figurines all over the house. His mother was secretary for the Republican committee in IL for 30 years. But I have spoken to him earnestly and from the heart and shown him the facts on McCain. I am proud to say I have brought him to our side. He's a vietnam vet who lost most of a lung and he was shocked at McCains voting record.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24403)
• United States
6 Sep 08
My reason for not voting for O-no-bama is I don't like him he is a glib phony, double talking puppet.I would not trust him an inch!
@magnet (2087)
• United States
10 Sep 08
This is an interesting discussion. I see really good reasons why I should not vote for Mccain, but whenever people give reasons why they will not vote for Obama it's usually that they don't like him or they want him to be a Muslim so bad that even though he said he is a christian people still want to believe otherwise. Half the hypocrites pretending to be all so religious worrying about Obama's religion probaly don't live like a chrisitian anyway, but who am I to judge? Prayer is not allowed in the schools, some want to take under God out the pledge of allegiance but all in a sudden some hypocritical Americans are so religious worrying about Obama's religion. It would take me too long to post why I would vote for Obama. Obama outlined it for me in the convention speech. That's why I want to vote for him.
@magnolia17 (39)
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14 Sep 08
I agree. Can you imagine the Republicans responding as Obama did to an announcement, if he had a 17 year old daughter, that she was pregnant? They'd be talking about irresponsible, dysfunctional black families, and they definitely would not be clapping for a 17 year old on stage with her boyfriend in the middle of a Republican convention.
The fact that Bristol is pregnant is of no consequence, but the truth is that the religious right would not have responded the same way to such an announcement about any Democratic politican's daughter.
I also have questions about religious beliefs. How religious is it to demand that a child be born, but to not worry about whether the mother can afford to take care of the child, has a job that allows her to protect her own and her child's health, has no sick days to take off when her child is ill, etc. I don't call that remotelly "pro family."
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@magnolia17 (39)
•
14 Sep 08
Funny. I have a hard time trusting a woman who says she opposed a bridge, but really lobbied hard for it and only gave up when it was clear she would not get it. I have trouble trusting a woman who talks about how proud she is that her daughter chose to have her baby, but she vetoed funding for mothers in need in Alaska. She says the scientists have said that polar bears are not in trouble in Alaska, but actually that is not what they said. She does not know what the Bush doctrine is, and, if she becomes President, which I hope will not occur, she will be putty in the hands of others who will make her decisions for her since she knows little on her own.
1 person likes this