Beth's First Post - A Payne Family Underdog

I am so excited that Julie has extended an open invitation to discuss our upcoming presidential election! I happen to be a proud Obama supporter and I would love to tell you why. To be honest, I viewed a comment or two in the past (on our family’s blog) when Governor Palin was announced as Senator McCain’s VP candidate and I wanted to post something then. But let’s be honest – 99% of our family is Republican and I was concerned it would start a war. So, before I begin I want everyone to know that I respect each and every one of your personal opinions on the matter.

First, my differentiating views on Julie’s concerns.

Higher Taxes? This is simply not true, at least for 95% of the American people. The typical middle class family (making less than $250,000 per year) will receive tax CUTS under the Obama plan. Obama’s plan includes a “Making Work Pay” tax credit as well as additional tax cuts specifically designed to help families afford health care, college and save for retirement. Under Obama’s plan, total federal taxes for typical families (95% of the USA) would be 19 percent lower than they were under President Reagan. Now to be fair, McCain’s direct tax cut for the middle class is an increase in the dependent exemption. While it would benefit many families (with children), it obviously will not help me, as well as an additional 101 million American families without children.

Obama Has The Right Plan For Iraq. First of all, I agree with Julie that yes, Saddam Hussein was an atrocity and yes, he needed to be dealt with. However, the way in which we justified starting the war (WMD’s ring a bell?) and have handled the war (no post-invasion plan) are disgraceful - my opinion folks, you can have yours too. The Iraqi government has not kept up their end of the bargain and we are not holding them accountable – we need to. The Iraq war has diverted resources from the Afghanistan war, making it harder for us to capture Osama Bin Laden and others involved in 9/11 (Why have we forgotten about these terrorists?) Nearly seven years later, the Taliban has reemerged in Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda has regrouped and strengthened. 2007 was the most violent year in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. The Iraq war has consumed the resources we need to finish the fight in Afghanistan. Obama’s plan to remove our troops from Iraq will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government. It will take approximately two years. After which, a residual force will remain in Iraq to conduct targeted counter-terrorism missions against Al Qaeda and to protect American diplomatic and civilian personnel. They will also continue efforts to train and support the Iraqi security forces. There is so much more to tell you, but this section is getting too long. To sum it up, Obama’s plan takes into consideration the facts and evidence from the Iraq Study Group Report – the same report that the Bush administration ignored.

Shopping Is Part Of The Reason Why We Are In This Economic Mess. If anyone watched Oprah today, you will understand what I mean. But here is the truth about our economy: It all started with the housing market crash, which then trickled on to Wall Street and then our U.S. Banks and now affects you and me, the average American citizen. How in the world can we go shopping, in order to turn up the economic engine if we are broke, poor, in excessive dept, suffering from home foreclosures, medical bankruptcies, etc.? The truth… the average American family spends significantly more than they actually earn – we live on credit and we shouldn’t. We accepted unstable, variable mortgages that we simply could not afford, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approved our loans because they were greedy, irresponsible and were no longer regulated by the Federal Government. Under the last 8 years of the Bush administration, de-regulation on Wall Street and the housing sector has proven to be a HUGE mistake. May I mention that McCain wants to de-regulate the health care system in the same manner that Wall Street was de-regulated, and look where that got us! Again, because this section is simply getting too long, I will summarize by letting you know that Obama’s economic turn-around plan includes: jumpstarting the economy, provides middle class tax relief, reforms foreign market trade, includes job creation, supports small businesses, increases minimum wage, protects homeownership, cracks down on mortgage fraud, addresses predatory credit card practices, reforms bankruptcy laws, and supports a more dynamic work / family balance. If anyone would like more information on these subjects, please just let me know.

An added thought or two...

Maverick, Huh? How in the world can you call yourself a maverick if you have voted in support of Bush’s policies 90% of the time over the last 8 years? It just doesn’t make sense to me. While yes, I do not doubt that Senator McCain has argued certain issues against his party’s line, but they are not issues that affect the average American family like you and I, and certainly not that often if he is in agreement with Bush 90% of the time! I do not want another four years of Bush’s policies, plain and simple!

Ok, I’ve rambled on quite a bit too long, but there is SO MUCH MORE I would love to post, such as why I am opposed to off-shore drilling, our need for clean energy and how green collar jobs would significantly boost our economy, Roe v. Wade, the needs of our education system in general, not to mention – I didn’t even get started on my issues with Palin. I’ll stop here though. If anyone would like to continue this discussion, simply let me know.

Oh, and this is one is for Tatia – Elisabeth Hasselbeck still drives me absolutely nuts! She always has and probably always will. Only now, it’s on a whole new level. I actually dream of jumping through my television onto her set just to get my two cents in with her – Argh.

Just one more time… I respect all of your beliefs and opinions, these are just mine.