10 Areas of Contention: Barack Obama
Ten Issues I Can’t Agree with Obama On
Since I still haven’t decided who I will vote for on Election Day, I decided to sit down and take a look at all of the major candidates. I have issues with all of them of course, but was trying to focus mainly on the positive. Why would I vote FOR one over the other? What has prompted this primarily is the fact that I seem to be answering the same questions in every conversation with a friend of late. “Why would you not vote for so and so?” So I came up with this list and a corresponding list for John McCain. A list of why I wouldn’t vote for Ralph Nader would be too long. The one for Bob Barr is shorter, I simply don’t like him, period. Some of these issues are broad because I don’t like a candidates overall package on an issue. On these I try to pinpoint at least one specific issue to highlight why I disagree with a candidate. Some issues will show up on both lists and some are issues that are just off the table in American politics. Before anyone reads this list and starts to type that the other guys is “the same” or “worse” on some issues know that some of the issues listed on this list WILL appear on the other list as well. I have done my best to research the candidates’ policy on the following issues. My takes of course are my own and you are more than welcome to take issue with them. Since they are my views though you might not hold a difference against the candidate.
1. Same Sex Marriage: I was very surprised to find out that Obama’s position on this issue is virtually the same as McCain’s. Obama feels that the issue should be left up to the states, and he opposes California’s Prop 8 which defines marriage as between 1 man and 1 woman. He voted against a Federal ban on SSM, but like McCain will not come out in favor of it at the Federal level. Instead he supports “stronger civil union” legislation and lists marriage as “less important” that equal rights for homosexuals. Sorry Senator, civil unions do not provide equal rights and like you opponent you are headed in the right direction, but come up well short on this issue.
2. War on Drugs: Obama has supported more treatment programs and at times leaned towards reducing sentencing, but he still wants to continue a ridiculous war on “drugs” just like McCain. He specifically stated that he wanted to rid our neighborhoods of meth while simultaneously questioning harsher sentences for drug dealers. Given his own admitted cocaine use, the Senator’s push to have coke and crack be punishable equally seems a little odd. To my knowledge no one has asked him if he feels that he should be put in jail for smoking weed and doing coke. (Wasn’t coke use a big deal to the Bush haters?)
3. Redeployment of Troops: Senator Obama’s band wagon picked up early steam thanks to his promise to get the troops out of Iraq “now.” He has changed his tune on that in a big way and now has a puzzling new plan. He continuously pounds home the talking point that since the “job” is not finished in Afghanistan, that we should redeploy our resources to that nation and ramp up that war. I haven’t heard much from his anti-war supporters on this idea, but I can’t imagine they are thrilled. I have two problems with this new plan. The first is with his logic and the second is strategic. Obama is fond of saying that the war in Iraq was wrong in large part because we didn’t finish the job in Afghanistan. Let’s give him that point, but follow his logic. Since we didn’t finish the job in Afghanistan, Iraq was a bad idea. So naturally we should leave Iraq before the job is done to return to Afghanistan. Isn’t that just doing exactly what you said was a bad idea in the first place? If I follow the logic Obama says that one unfinished war is bad so the way to correct it is to create another unfinished war. Compounding the issue is his use of the deficit in his argument. The Senator correctly points out that a HUGE part of our deficit problem is the war in Iraq. Totally true and most of us hope that when that war is over we will have that money back in the budget. Obama talks about how much money we are wasting and how we need that money at home. Good point, but wouldn’t the answer be to end that war as soon as possible and NOT simply transfer that “wasted” spending in Afghanistan? Senator, you had me with the idea that we should end the war and bring the troops and the money HOME. The second point is tactical. His recent statements about wiping out the Taliban have me very scared. How does he intend to this? By fighting a prolonged war in a nation where the majority of people seem to want to be ruled by the Taliban? Is Obama really suggesting we force our will onto the Afghan people? Does he not remember how the Soviets fought for a decade and lost countless lives in their war in Afghanistan? I can only hope that this is just saber rattling to remind everyone that he was wrong about the surge and that he has fled from his original war position. If Obama really intends to get us bogged down in an endless war in Afghanistan then we are in big trouble.
4. Tax Plan: For all of his talk about “no tax hike” for 95% of Americans, Obama’s numbers simply do not add up. His plan includes a massive increase for working and lower class Americans through the illumination of the child credit, reductions in the per-child tax deduction (Both key components of the “Bush Tax Cuts” he promises to illuminate as well as increases in small business tax, the estate tax and capitol gains tax increases. In addition he has promised to bring back the marriage penalty tax. All of these tax increases are across the board and have nothing to do with some imaginary 250K line in the sand. $500+ X% of $3500 in taxable income is a significant increase for any family. For a family of four making 70K a year this would be at least $3500 a year (Plus whatever the MPT turns out to be.) This is a bad idea in the best of economic times and with the economy slowing, it is a tragic mistake. I can not support this kind of massive tax increase on working families.
5. Immigration Reform: Just like McCain, Obama comes up way short on this issue. There is no plan to fix any of the problems caused by illegal immigration, offers no relief to states overburdened by a Federal problem and even offers up policy that will make things worse. Obama has called immigration raids on employers hiring illegal immigrants “ineffective” as method of combating the problem. He favors amnesty through a “path to citizenship” while saying that they shouldn’t “be working.” How exactly is that supposed to work? Back in 1998 he said that Medicaid and welfare benefits should be extended to immigrants without ever differentiating between legal and illegal immigrants. In his defense, Obama has not repeated this wish though he has not backtracked on it either. More recently he has supported providing drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. This idea is so bad that it could spawn a separate top ten list of it’s own. How about the simple fact that having a drivers license makes it virtually trouble free for any illegal immigrant to vote? Does that not worry the Senator? It sure as shit worries me.
6. Pornography: Like McCain, Obama has been largely silent on the issue of pornography as it relates to our freedom to view adult materials in the privacy of our own home. So silent in fact that both candidates have drawn the ire of Morality in Media. Given the fact that a recent Harris poll showed that 75% of Americans would support a Presidential candidate who promised to “vigorously” enforce obscenity laws I can’t blame either of them too much for promising to do just the opposite. But that is exactly what I want from a candidate. I want someone who is going to come out defend our freedom without expanding 2257 or putting people in jail for making movies. As I said in the McCain piece, anything less is a loss.
7. Campaign Finance Reform: Obama has a mixed record on this, but supports spending caps for TV ads and government requirements limiting ad costs. He also promised a publicly financed campaign only to reverse his position later. Since both McCain and Obama support freedom-limiting ‘reforms’ they both get failing grades.
8. Iran: Much has been made of Obama’s promise to sit down with Iran without pre-conditions. He has had a number of opportunities to fix this gaffe and refuses to do so. He continually repeats his claim that he supports Israel 100% and his campaign rightly ran away from the stupid remarks made by Jesse Jackson, but he still insists that he can deal with a nation whose leaders have made public their desire to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth. Maybe I’m being too tough, but I think that a US President should make dropping such rhetoric a pre-condition for any meeting.
9. Voter Reform: After the mess of the 2000 election everyone agreed that something had to be done to fix the problem. Since that time no one has done a thing to fix it. Instead of spending time and money fixing a broken system, both parties are spending money on organizations like ACORN who seem intent on bending, breaking and pissing all over any laws in place to prevent voter fraud. There is no commitment from the Obama camp (or the McCain camp) to preventing voter fraud. No ID requirements, no investigations into the groups that are registering hundreds of thousands of people fraudulently, no assistance to the states trying to purge convicted felons from their voter rolls, nothing. The Obama camp can’t even seem to keep their own people from illegally registering and voting in states where they don’t live. If this isn’t an indication that something needs to be done, then we’re all lost.
10. Three-Strikes: Obama opposes three-strike laws for violent felons, opting for a “second chance” approach and more money on ‘rehabilitation’ programs. Sorry Senator, but California’s three-strikes law has reduced crime, saved lives and put a whole lot of violent douche bags away for life. I’m all for second chances, but some things should land someone behind bars for life. A three-time rapist doesn’t deserve a fourth chance to victimize someone.
11. Fairness Doctrine: Consider this a bonus half-issue. The Obama camp has said that the Senator opposes bringing back the ‘Fairness’ Doctrine though he has yet to speak out against it. This is something that Pelosi, Reid and other top Dems have promised to bring back as soon as possible. If Obama oppose it I would think he should come out right now and promise to keep that from happening. The FD is an outright rape of the First Amendment that should be opposed by all right thinking Americans. It is censorship based on content and is exactly the sort of government control of speech that the FA is designed to prevent. Hopefully Obama is true to his word on this one, otherwise we are all in a world of shit.
