My Vote- Part 1

So, I usually try to stay away from politics on my blog- but I’m not really sure why. I am always up for an intelligent conversation about politics. The hardest part about voting is that it is so personal. And there will never be a candidate that is 100% how you want them to be. In some ways it is like choosing the lesser of two evils. Which makes me want to run for office some day, how bout you? Just kidding! What I am trying to say is that I see great reasons to vote for either candidate depending on where you are at personally and what is important to you. Here are my thought processes for the upcoming election. I have organized them by policies that are important to me. I am going to break up this post since it is incredibly long. So here are my first three policies and what I think. What’s your thoughts on the upcoming election?

Small Business Policy- 

This is an issue that has never really played into my thought processes before when deciding on my vote. This year it is HUGE for me. Probably my second most important thing. Being a small business owner (www.VisionAirLLC.com) has changed my views on this subject completely. We rely on our business to pay all of our bills, our health insurance, etc. we are making it because of our business. Being apart of the accounting side for our business I see each month how much goes towards health care and taxes, and these two things combined are our biggest expense, more than payroll! And that is frustrating! We would be able to hire more employees, advertise more, and therefore grow more if these costs weren’t so high. Therefore after looking at each candidates policy in this issue I wold vote for: MCCAIN

Obama:

McCain claims that Obama would raise the tax rate for small business owners, when in reality the tax rate he is proposing would not effect us. In fact, Obama would issue us a $1,000 family tax credit under his “Making Work Pay”, if he is in office for more than four years, we would be hit by his raising of the tax rates at the top- and therefore loose the $1,000 credit. (That is a hopeful statement, because we are believing that our business is growing and prospering in four years time, and that we would be at one of the top levels of the tax bracket- couples making over $250,000/year). (Information from www.FactCheck.org) 

Obama would also offer a tax credit to small business who provide health care for employees- that’s us! 

McCain

McCain wants to lower tax rates for small businesses in general. COnsidering the amount of taxes we pay each year, even if he cut them by less than 10% we would still save more than if were given the credit that Obama proposes. 

He is also for keeping investment tax rates low for businesses, that again would be something that really helps us in the next four years. 

He wants to simplify taxes in general, McCain hopes to introduce a new, opt-in tax system with two rates and a "generous" standard deduction. Individuals would have the choice of filing under either the old or new system."What we need is a simpler, flatter and fairer tax code," McCain said. (Information from CNNMoney.com)

Home Ownership- 

This one is hard for me. We are in a personal crunch in this one. We have a 5 year arm loan that will be coming up in may. Therefore it would be in our personal interest to vote for someone who would help us get out of it conveniently- or so you’d think. But I honestly agree with McCain when he said, “it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers.” A good friend of David and I’s said something like this; “Let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go under. Let’s start over. Let 80% of the houses out there become rentals. In the 70s that’s how it was. You rented and saved until you had 20-30 percent to put down. You couldn’t buy a house any other way. And guess what, no one ever lost their home!”

That really got me thinking. We have become a society of people who want what they want when they want it. I’ve heard it put this way, we are a microwave generation. And it’s true. A few months ago I heard Dave Ramsey put it this way, “You are  a generation who left your parents homes, got married and wanted to move in next door to your parents, and drive the cars your parents were driving. You don’t realize that it took your parents 25 years to get where they’re at!” And it’s true. I think the best thing for us personally would be to figure this mess out on our own. It would be real easy and real nice for the government to bail us out. But we’re the ones who got ourselves into this mess. So I think we should have to figure it out on our own and let our government spend the money else where, like health care, our environment, foreign aid, etc. With all that being said: MCCAIN

Life-

So here are my opinions when it comes to life- this is a bit controversial! 

I believe in contraception, i believe that it should be available to anyone. I do not believe in the “Morning After” pill as a contraceptive device that should be available to anyone at any time. I do believe that stem cell research is important. I do not believe that we should be extracting stem cells from frozen embryos. I do believe that we should be funding research on stem cells that have already been extracted. I do believe in education and contraception in the schools. I do not believe in abortion. And I definitely believe in parents notification if an abortion is being sought by a minor. 

With all that said: MCCAIN

I wish that McCain supported education and contraception, but I simply cannot waiver on the rights of the unborn child in this case. Like I said in the beginning, I wish there was a candidate that voted how I would vote! But there’s not. 

Barack Obamas voting record:

• Ok for state to restrict late-term partial birth abortion. (Apr 2008)

• We can find common ground between pro-choice and pro-life. (Apr 2008)

• Undecided on whether life begins at conception. (Apr 2008)

• Teach teens about abstinence and also about contraception. (Apr 2008)

• GovWatch: Obama's "present" votes were a requested strategy. (Feb 2008)

• Expand access to contraception; reduce unintended pregnancy. (Feb 2008)

• Rated 100% by NARAL on pro-choice votes in 2005, 2006 & 2007. (Jan 2008)

• Voted against banning partial birth abortion. (Oct 2007)

• Stem cells hold promise to cure 70 major diseases. (Aug 2007)

• Trust women to make own decisions on partial-birth abortion. (Apr 2007)

• Extend presumption of good faith to abortion protesters. (Oct 2006)

• Constitution is a living document; no strict constructionism. (Oct 2006)

• Moral accusations from pro-lifers are counterproductive. (Oct 2004)

• Pass the Stem Cell Research Bill. (Jun 2004)

• Protect a woman's right to choose. (May 2004)

• Supports Roe v. Wade. (Jul 1998)

• Voted NO on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP. (Mar 2008)

• Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion. (Mar 2008)

• Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Apr 2007)

• Voted NO on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. (Jul 2006)

• Voted YES on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives. (Mar 2005)

• Sponsored bill providing contraceptives for low-income women. (May 2006)

• Rated 0% by the NRLC, indicating a pro-choice stance. (Dec 2006)

Ensure access to and funding for contraception. (Feb 2007)

McCains Voting Record:

• Supports repealing Roe v. Wade. (May 2007)

• Voted YES on defining unborn child as eligible for SCHIP. (Mar 2008)

• Voted YES on barring HHS grants to organizations that perform abortions. (Oct 2007)

• Voted YES on expanding research to more embryonic stem cell lines. (Apr 2007)

• Voted YES on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions. (Jul 2006)

• Voted NO on $100M to reduce teen pregnancy by education & contraceptives. (Mar 2005)

• Voted YES on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime. (Mar 2004)

• Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life. (Mar 2003)

• Voted YES on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)

• Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)

• Voted YES on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)

• Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)

• Expand embryonic stem cell research. (Jun 2004)

• Rated 75% by the NRLC, indicating a mixed record on abortion. (Dec 2006)

• Prohibit transporting minors across state lines for abortion. (Jan 2008)

all information from www.ontheissues.org