POLITICO

A harmless blog such as this may be no place for politics, but I have to vent about a phenomenon sweeping our country, the uninformed voter. Let me preface by saying that I am a registered Independent because I dislike the two-party system. I believe it hinders progress, action and harmony. That said, anyone who has gone toe-to-toe with me in a political debate knows where I stand.

Now, I have friends on both the right and left, and I respect anyone with deep political convictions, as long as they actually know what they are. The trouble lies with those who preach about, glorify or criticize candidates without knowing the issues/facts.

For example, and in my opinion,

-Voting for someone because they remind you of your grandpa is ridiculous
-Voting for someone because Oprah and Leonardo Dicaprio tell you to is ridiculous
-Voting for someone because you think their running mate is cute is ridiculous
-Voting for someone because of a trendy slogan is ridiculous

You get the idea.

So, in the spirit of this political season, I’ve included a cheatsheet of some prominent issues/facts and each candidate’s stance. (A friend recently sent this to a few weeks ago. I have tried to strip it of any bias. Forgive me if some still lingers.) Enjoy:

ISSUE: Favors new US drilling offshore
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Served in the US Armed Forces
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Time served in the US Senate
John McCain: 22 years
Barak Obama: 3 years

ISSUE: Will institute a socialized national health-care plan
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Would pull troops out of Iraq
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Supports gun ownership rights
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Supports homosexual marriage
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: Voted to make English the official language of USA
John McCain: Yes
Barak Obama: No

ISSUE: Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants
John McCain: No
Barak Obama: Yes

ISSUE: CAPITAL GAINS TAX
John McCain: 0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). Does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
Barak Obama: 28% tax on profit from all home sales.

ISSUE: DIVIDEND TAX
John McCain: 15% (no change)
Barak Obama: 39.6% dividend tax

ISSUE: INCOME TAX
John McCain:
Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Barak Obama:
Single making 30K - tax $8,400
Single making 50K - tax $14,000
Single making 75K - tax $23,250
Married making 60K - tax $16,800
Married making 75K - tax $21,000
Married making 125K - tax $38,750

ISSUE: ESTATE TAX
John McCain: 0% (No change, Bush repealed this tax)
Barak Obama: Restore the inheritance tax - New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet - New gasoline taxes - New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) - New taxes on retirement accounts - New taxes to pay for socialized medicine

Please refer to the following sites for verification:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+taxes
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/