RECOMMENDED READ: Clark Bunch at The Master’s Table makes the case for taking the opportunity to vote as a Christian’s duty.
UPDATE: Those of you planning to stop reading anyone who doesn’t praise your candidate PLEASE don’t read this. I want to keep you as a friend.
I am NOT looking forward to Election Day on Tuesday.
I was raised by a Roosevelt Democrat who taught me all the old time Democrat orthodoxy. College and seminary sealed the deal, and when I went to my first post-seminary church in 1984 I actually voted for Jesse Jackson in a primary and Dukakis in the general. I teared up hearing Dukakis speak on the Belvedere in Louisville.
Oh shut up.
I joined the GOP-post Reagan and voted for Bush in ’92 and every Republican since. I’ve been perfectly comfortable as a libertarian-leaning Republican, and I never dreaded going to the polls to vote, even for Bob Dole.
Sure, there were Republicans I would have preferred to see nominated, but it’s a process. You deal with the result.
Along the way, I became one of those angry Republicans. By the time George Bush ran the second time, I suspected that voters like me- loyal conservative evangelicals in favor of smaller government, strong defense and lower taxes- were getting screwed and thrown to the trash.
When Tuesday rolls around, this will not be a happy Republican heading to cast his vote.
I was a Ron Paul supporter and donor, but Paul lost my supporter when he didn’t own up to what had happened with the offensive racial rhetoric in his newsletter. For all his principled articulation of libertarian Republicanism, he was more loyal to some of his racially-regressive staff than to people like me.
Watching the GOP primary unfold was like watching a slow train wreck. I, like a lot of other voters, short-changed Mitt Romney. I didn’t like Mike Huckabee’s excessive religious rhetoric. And I didn’t want to support John McCain.
As I said. It’s a process, and this one gave us a “Republican” candidate who is a Democrat at heart, a man clearly not comfortable with Republican principles and a person without a clue how to talk authentically to libertarians and/or evangelicals.
Listening to John McCain try to give a Reagan-esque stump speech is painful. He simply doesn’t believe what he’s saying.
McCain’s idea of evangelical credibility? John Haggee. Good grief.
The Republicans thinkers and writers that I respect have been dragged into supporting McCain at gunpoint. They have made their choice and they have defended it, but you can feel the hollowness and sense the absence of authenticity. John McCain’s domestic and economic policies don’t give conservatives anything to be excited about. Mainly because most of us don’t believe he has the principles to enact those policies.
McCain’s POW story was his best card. And he played it. Over. And over. And over. No one disrespects that story and the sacrifice represented. But by the time you’ve heard it referred to 500 times at the convention, you began to suspect things weren’t going well. (How many Americans in 2008 know anything about the Vietnam war?)
McCain promoted himself as a fighter. A lot of us just can’t buy it. It hardly looks like McCain even expects or wants to win. Bob Dole had more fire.
McCain wanted America to elect him to lead the War on Terror. Bad idea. It’s a different electorate in 2008.
McCain’s choice of Sara Palin initially got many conservatives excited. Maybe McCain understood conservatives after all. But then came the debate, the interviews and the deeper impressions of Palin’s intellect and skill set. Support for Palin among conservatives is still strong, but it has weakened for many of us. Palin now looks like a quite cynical move by McCain, and one that ultimately won’t win any states he wouldn’t have won anyway.
I’m not alone in saying this is not a woman I want in the Oval Office or #2 in the chain of command. She’s simply not ready to lead and no amount of talking points or Madison Avenue makeovers will make her ready. America isn’t Alaska.
What was left was negative campaigning. Attack Obama, Biden, Democrats, liberals, radicals and the possibility the sky will fall and the earth will open up and swallow us all. Up to this moment, McCain and Palin have deserted appeals to conservatives and are trading in Obama-fright.
It’s not working.
The stock market crashed. McCain voted for a bailout and then came back telling us he was a “maverick.”
No. A maverick would have voted no to this welfare check to the rich.
McCain’s support for the war in Iraq splits conservatives. Some like what they hear. Others are deeply frightened by what they hear. Others- like me- don’t believe anything they hear.
I honestly don’t know what John McCain is all about. Is he really pro-life enough to nominate strong pro-life judges and stick with them through the storm? I don’t know if he is. I see David Souter and Anthony Kennedy in my dreams.
As an evangelical, I’m interested in a lot of issues. But I also want someone who will simply run the country as a conservative with conservative principles.
I just don’t buy John McCain as a conservative. I don’t trust him to run his presidency from conservative principles.
So is Obama so bad, so potentially radical, so secretly corrupt, so inexperienced and so ambitious that I should vote for McCain anyway?
Maybe. The Chosen One frightens me. All the signals I look for are deeply negative. I don’t see personal integrity. I hear manipulative rhetoric. I hear a lot of lies about personal associations. I see little respect for individualism. I hear a lot of serious flirtation with socialism and Marxism. I hear rookie arrogance on foreign policy. I hear promises we can’t afford and a complete dedication to the use of racial politics to accumulate and use power. I feel a distressing lack of seriousness about the presidency and nothing that impresses me as statesmanship.
I see charisma, intellect, opportunism, a lack of candor and a vast ocean of manipulative rhetoric.
Bob Barr? No, no, no.
Not voting? Not an option.
Write in Van Til, the BHT’s Magic Tail Chasing Dog? Possible.
I’m not looking forward to Tuesday. I’ll make a choice, but I’ll be walking home praying for God to have mercy on the United States.
Thanks, Michael, from a fellow traveler! Exactly what I’ve been trying to articulate to folks who would listen!
What about Chuck Baldwin/Constitution Party?
There’s no way I can know anything about a third party candidate except some statement of principles. That was what was different about Ron Paul. The MAN made an impression.
Most of the super conservative third parties have positions on some issues that I can’t support.
Yes, yes, yes. I’m torn between voting Republican for a candidate that has no appeal to me or the values that I hold (“loyal conservative evangelical in favor of smaller government, strong defense and lower taxes”) and voting Democrat to send a message to the Republicans to find a new direction and/or to maintain marital unity with my wife…
Sometimes I wish that we could all vote for a “None of the above” option and force something new.
Michael:
Where are you getting your information about Obama? Have you actually watched any extended interviews with him?
What in particular do you have in mind when you “don’t see personal integrity”? What are the lies about “personal associations”? And the flirtation with socialism? Have mercy! McCain believes the same things Obama does on progressive taxation (if that’s what you mean when you toss out socialism and Marxism–do you even understand what those systems entail?) and there’s video from 2000 to prove it. No less a president than McCain’s hero, Teddy Roosevelt, implemented the progressive income tax and McCain has supported it and will continue to support it. If progressive taxation is socialism, do you think McCain intends to get rid of it and replace it with a flat tax? Of course not. He just wants the wealthiest Americans to keep getting the ill-advised cuts that Bush implemented. There will be still plenty of “socialism” to go around. Obama’s no more a socialist than you’re Phil Johnson.
Any even if he were, what’s that to a Christian? Remember the first marxist Peter, telling all those new believers to sell everything they had and bring at all to him so that the needs of all the faithful could be met? We’ve come a long way, baby! You have a voice in our political system. Why not demand that your taxes go to provide for the guy beaten and left for dead on the side of the road in need of health care? Why not have a government that cannot and should not be all things to all people but in targeted ways, provides a solution to systemic evil. Too many folks lose there homes, their jobs, their marriages when catastrophic illness or injury occurs and they can’t afford medical care. What says the Christian to that? Oh, the churches will take care of them. You know that’s not true. So what’s the response. Socialism! Even your Lord an Savior supported it, and not just for other Christians.
rookie arrogance on foreign policy? Please watch obama’s interview with Rachel maddow this week and tell me what is arrogant about what he says about afghansistan or pakistan or iraq. There is nothing at all arrogant about his foreign policy. If anything, the policies he’s advocated now have the imprimatur of Gen. Patreus. Please, watch the interview.
I obviously couldn’t disagree with you more about your impressions of obama. I’ve never been more excited about a candidate who actually cares about good government, who is actually a fairly cautious politician who is not proposing any radical programs (if you actually bothered to check the facts–I hope you aren’t relying only on fair and balanced to get your information).
Anyway. I enjoy your blog, and you seem to really care about truth. But I think you’re really missing the boat on obama. If it’s about abortion, I understand your sentiments. But this other stuff? No way.
You have covered the whole spectrum and can’t find a color to match. I registered dem in college and voted for Al harris in the primary. I think I was 50% of his voter base. I trained as an Alinsky community organizer in Peace corp./Vista and turned into a conservative republican soon after. I too am now lonely as a voter.
The choice for me is easy, Obama never said anyrhing I could attach to. Nothing. And at least McCain can see the right, if not lean that way. I found myself missing Hillary, and that thought shook me up for weeks.
The country is divided the church is divided and I think I found a common thread. We all forgot our first Love. The republicans forgot to be conservative, the democrats forgot the working man, and the church got so tied up with theology we forget Jesus and His cross.
We all need to get back to basics.
We need democrats who remember that most of their people are Believers, Republicans who stick to core conservative beliefs and Churches who care more about the salvation of sinners thru the Gospel of Jesus and less about denominational distinctives and attendance numbers.
You nor I can fix the world, but we all better pray for a healing in this country. Jesus warned us about a house divided and that is us. We are not only 50 /50 we are worlds apart. So pray for whoever wins, the poor guy is gonna need God’s help big time.
Thanks for putting my feelings into words. Spot on.
“I hear…I see…I feel.” Those are my personal impressions. I don’t vote on what other people tell me they feel and think. I have to have confidence in the man myself. I don’t think he uses hypnisis or is a Muslim or the anti-Christ. But his first bill signing will be a major attack on the pro-life movement, and after that all I hear is spend spend spend class warfare and racial rhetoric. Not a good senator, and not going to be Presidential in my book for a long time.
But I hope I’m wrong. I hope he’s successful. I’ll support him if he wins. And trust me in Ky any vote for him is wasted anyway.
I hear you concerns about Ron Paul. Why the “No, no, no” to Barr?
Barr is just more wallpaper. A frustrated conservative that even the libertarians don’t like. There are libertarian positions I reject, and I wouldn’t vote for the party for a lot of reasons. Paul was inspiring, pro-life, visionary, etc.
Mr. Whipple, are you familiar with Chicago politics? What did Sen Obama do there to clean it up? Nothing.
Please name the place on earth where socialism has worked, or is working.
And please, Peter was no Marxist. the quote “Jesus is the opiate of the people” is not in any translation.
You just know that if Mitt Romney got the nod somebody would find a video of him on a bike with black pants and a white shirt.
OK.
Keep it VERY civil and straightforward.
I don’t want to have to moderate a political brawl.
Peace
MS
The last sentence was the best! May the Lord have mercy on us all.
Since the economy has eclipsed the war I’m sure a lot of evangelicals who wouldn’t support Romney when he needed it feel foolish. I saw a piece interviewing him when the crash was at its worst and he was the picture of knowledge and confidence. Not a skilled politician, but the idea that evangelicals wouldn’t support a Mormon is almost as bad as their ridiculous racial/religious fears of Obama.
Right now, Romney would look pretty good. Republicans are getting the mess they made and deserved.
I still like Sarah Palin. I just like her as a person. I’ll bet some people in Alaska doubted her too, but now she has a high approval rating and has actually done some good. God will guide her, I trust her to listen to Him. I am in favor of inexperienced people in power. Look at the mess made by the experienced!
Why do you say God will guide her? I don’t understand that.
willoh: I know a thing or two about chicago politics but i don’t see the election as a referendum on that subject or obama’s alleged failure to do something about it.
I’m not advocating socialism. My point is that the charge that obama is a “socialist” is nonsense. In fact, McCain will say he doesn’t believe Obama is a socialist on a talk show but will then go out on the campaign trail and say just about exactly that, or let his surrogates do it for him.
The supposedly “socialist” program obama advocates will raise taxes on people whose adjusted gross income (that’s income after allowable deductions) is $250k or more. That’s a very small percentage of Americans that will never affect Joe the Plumber. It’s an odd thing to watch ole Joe And if your AGI is less than $200k, you’ll actually get a tax cut under obama. Those are the facts; but the impression McCain has been able to create means that a majority of people think obama will raise their taxes and mccain will reduce them. But that’s the power of an impression.
So when Michael talks about socialism and marxism, it concerns me. I imagine Michael will readily admit that he knows little about either theory. And if he took the time to investigate the claims that obama is a socialist, he’d find that they are baseless.
In any event, as I pointed out earlier, McCain supports the same scheme of progressive taxation that obama does, which is the basis of this nonsense about obama the redistributor.
Finally, Marxism is not “religion is the opiate of the people,” but something much different. Give it a google.
Good post. You have Obama pegged, iMonk. I have my doubts about McCain, but not about Palin. There’s a lot more to her than one bad interview. On top of her many other good qualities, she understands brokenness, a rare thing in a political leader.
Why do so many people think the country being divided is a bad thing, and that Obama can change this? Its a big country and there are big issues- people are bound to have honorable disagreements on any number of things. Plus, if Obama does tone down the “culture war,” it will only be by institutionalizing and attempting to end debate on issues that serious Christians are right to be suspicious of (abortion being the obvious example). The country is always going to be divided, and its foolish to think that this changing would be a good thing.
To quote one third party candidate the two major parties have left us “the evil of two lessers.”
As much as I dislike McCain (andfear Obama’s draconian stances on abortion, the 2nd Ammendment, and redistributionism) I will vote for McCain. Why? Because Obama’s appointments to the Supreme Court will, by their decisions,make
felons out of many of us,who will have done nothing but fallen outside the bounds of their radical re-interpretation of the Costitution. (And he will tax and regulate the crap out of us.)
As for Ron Paul, I have a hard time believing the charges against him. This is the same guy that while being interviewed (read that attacked by)a host of a Fox news show had the words “Brothel Owner Supports Paul Candidacy” underneath his video feed, while he fended off their bogus charges for five minutes. ( Oh yeah, I’ll never watch that BS propagandistic network again.)Furthermore, every candidate has donors and supporters that they would rather not have. Some are more or less protected by the media, others just ignore it. Can you imagine what we would find if we went through McCain’s supporters and donors with a fine toothed comb? Just look at the “rogue’s gallery”of Hillary and Obama donors.
Putting the best construction on things, I think RP probably thought that addressing the issue of the news letter would only lend credence to those making the charges. (Hey, its way more believable than Barney Frank saying he had no idea his boyfriend was running a prostitution ring out of Mr.Franks condo.)
Mr. Whipple said…
“the first marxist Peter…”
With all due respect, sir, there is no connection/comparison whatsoever between monolithic, atheistic, amoral, authoritarian State marxism/socialism and early Christian sharing/generosity. The early believers voluntarily shared what they had in response to the call of Jesus in their lives and out of gratitude and love. No one was ever forcibly required to give up their stuff. A prime example would be Barnabas…obviously a property owner, who voluntarily gave some of his own property to help meet the needs in the community.
Quite a difference in that and modern, tried-and-failed State socialism that seeks to equalize people by bringing them all down to the same level, rather than inspiring them to be better.
But then I guess “Jesus was a poor homeless kid” or something like that. He and his family were temporarily displaced…by an oppressive State taxation burden!
Thanks for your insights…
Vote Librarian
I’m a pro-life Democrat. That said, I don’t trust politics. I trust Jesus.
And I think much too much is made about the president in these elections. For some reason, every four years, we tend to totally forget what the president actually does, and pay attention to what the candidates claim they’ll do. McCain and Obama, fr’instance, have health care programs. Big deal. Will either of them get passed? Not unless they can get Congress to play ball. Because Congress has that power.
What about their economic programs? That’s handled by Congress too. Funding the war? Congress. Funding (or not funding) abortion? Congress. McCain’s favorite plan to get rid of earmarks? Congress. Without Congress, neither of these guys have the power to do most of the stuff they want to.
You wanna stop abortion? Congress could a constitutional amendment. The statehouses could vote on it. Get it done within a year. Neither the President nor the Supreme Court could veto it. But what strategy do we usually discuss? “Let’s vote for a pro-life President who will pick pro-life justices for the Supreme Court.” It’s like trying to stop a rapist by, instead of calling the police, calling the fire department because they could spray him with the hose.
The entire House and a third of the Senate is up for re-election; it makes more sense to me to be concerned about them. Instead, we ignore them in favor of the distraction of the presidential candidates, and usually allow the same power-addled fools to go back to Washington and pretend they’re busy, and in the meanwhile throw some expensive government projects our way so that we remember them fondly.
And, instead of loving our neighbor, we irrationally expect the politicians to do something other than what they’ve done ever since we started electing our leaders: We expect them to love our neighbors so that we don’t have to, and cut our taxes so that we don’t have to pay for it. And, in the case of libertarians: Eliminate as many laws as they can so that we can return to our natural state of goodness—despite the obvious sinfulness of humanity. And (to be balanced) in the case of socialists: Create moral laws—despite refusing to accept or admit any one moral code.
I’m really looking forward to King Jesus’s monarchy.
Mitt Romney’s Mormon beliefs had little to do with why Evangelicals didn’t support him (though I’m certain it didn’t help him any). I think the following video explains it a little better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_w9pquznG4&feature=related
Michael,
As usual, the colors you are painting with fill in the gaps for me. I totally understand where you are coming from. Unlike Mr Whipple, I have not swallowed the koolaid of either candidate. Not necessarily because I am so smart, but mainly out of frustration. For too many years I have been partnering conservatism with the gospel. I have believed that it provided the best vehicle for the advancement of the gospel (whatever that means). While I will always prefer freedom, lower taxes, more choices about everything, this election has taught me a lesson. The lesson? As much as I love Ronald Reagan, as much as I believe that Bush was the right man at the right time for 911, there is a but. And that is, at least for me, that I have been practicing a form of idolatry in believing more in politics and certain politicians than in God and Jesus. I still hope McCain wins, but I have to admit, he is only a stop gap while we wait for the next conservative messiah, (sarcasm intended). For those of you who think that Obama is going to be your Ronald Reagan, I have a message for you. You will be disappointed. You might want to make sure you keep one eye on Jesus and not make the mistake of putting all your faith in Obama.
maybe this is too late to be relevant, but nevertheless:
the book of acts does not justify socialism as a political system.
1. the church is not a state.
2. they voluntarily sold their belongings (peter didn’t “command” them to).
3. “all who believed were together and had all things in common.”
4. they gave to those in need; they didn’t redistribute everything equally.
5. the passage itself is merely descriptive, not prescriptive.
6. a canonical perspective on government will reveal it is not intended to be a distributor of wealth.
i’m sure there are more, but that’s all that come to mind at the moment.
I quite agree w/ your assessment, iMonk. I’ve been severely disappointed w/ the direction this election has gone. I finally cast my ballot in CA for McCain (wasted, I know), but it was tough. I’m 100% convinced that if Obama’s past were put under the same scrutiny as McCain’s he’d never win a state (except maybe CA–my home state–or somewhere in the Northeast).
I’ve wanted to vote libertarian, but there are also some there I don’t agree w/. What impresses me about the libertarians is that many of them, in particular Mr. Paul, are the only ones that even mention the Constitution in any way other than one that validates their own political beliefs. They seem to be the only ones that try to conform their beliefs to the Constitution instead of vice versa.
Mr. Whipple:
>So when Michael talks about socialism and marxism, it concerns me. I imagine Michael will readily admit that he knows little about either theory. And if he took the time to investigate the claims that obama is a socialist, he’d find that they are baseless.
You are skirting pretty close to being banned in this thread. You apparently want the irony award, because you don’t know what I know about anything. I’m one thesis short of a Doctorate, I’ve taught many units on both Socialism and Marxism, and I’m quite aware of what they are all about.
I said “flirtation” with socialism and Marxism. I’m not the one who said in his autobiography that I intentionally hung out with Marxist professors. I’m not the one who glibly talks about “redistributing” wealth.
You can say what you want on here about the topic, but you need to be a little less sure of what I know and don’t know.
Patrick:
Ron Paul knows exactly who wrote the racist rhetoric in his newsletters. He’s not a racist. Not at all. But he was too loyal to friends who said things that misrepresented him.
peace
MS
All taxation is a redistribution of wealth. We’re just so used to OUR wealth going to the top that we’ve forgotten to ask why.
Obama’s socialism: Asking people who make over 200K (individuals) 250k (families) to go back to paying the tax-rate they were before Bush’s tax cuts. Raising taxes on companies that export American jobs overseas. Giving tax breaks to companies that create American jobs. He’s a real SOB that Obama.
But, the #1 reason Obama will get my vote on Tuesday is mostly his gift for oration. Tough times are coming. I don’t think any of us have even begun to think of how bad in our dizziest worst nightmares, and there’s not a dag-gone thing Obama or McCain can do to stop it. Heck I’ve even said Obama say THAT! What Obama can do that McCain either can’t or won’t is keep our eyes focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, keep us reminding that if we work together we’ll be better than ever when we come out on the other side. He can make us feel like we’re standing tall when we’re going through hell. Whereas McCain would be up there saying, “Quit whining you babies! You’re not real Americans!”
Plus, the recent Repubican mudslinging that there’s a real America and a fake America just makes me sick. Nobody is more American than anyone else. If you live here and can vote here, you’re an American. Period. They Republicans are trying to devide the country, and a house devided against itself cannot stand! That is another reason Obama will get my vote on Tuesday. As I heard the man himself say: There’s no red America or Blue America. There is only the United States of America.
Plus, about Obama being, “spend, spend, spend.” At least Democrats don’t try to spend money they haven’t got. As Republicans are so fond of saying, “They’re tax and spend.” We had a surplus when Bill Clinton left office – for all his faults. He didn’t spend money he didn’t have! Republicans spend, spend, spend. Look how in debt George Bush has gotten us! The difference is that Republicans spend now, and let our grandchildren worry about how to pay for it.
I’ve always voted for people and not parties. And lately that’s been mostly R but since 80 I’ve not voted R 3 times just because I thought the R wasn’t qualified or would be a patsy to Congress.
My problem is that with the presidential candidates for the last 20+ years I’ve never rated anyone at 5 or above on a scale of 1 to 10. So I’ve voted based on how I think the country will turn out 5 or 10 or 15 years from now based on who gets elected. Not what they’ll do day on 1 or 100. Which leads me to choices my evangelical friend don’t understand at all. I want to remember reading somewhere that Luther said something to the effect of “I’d rather live under the rule of a brilliant atheist than a Christian fool.” (Does anyone else know about this statement?)
“glibly talks about “redistributing†wealth.” Yes I know that all taxes are a redistribution scheme of one kind or another but taking my taxes to build roads is somewhat different than using them to insure beach houses at below costs or bringing the income of a family of 4 from $40K up to $60K. And the tone of O’s campaign might come back to bite us all. Or not. Some kids in the local high schools are talking about how they don’t have to worry about college and a “good” job because O will take care of them. I have no idea how widespread this feeling is but it is a scary comment on what at least a few people are thinking.
As to “Remember the first marxist Peter, telling all those new believers to sell everything they had and bring at all to him so that the needs of all the faithful could be met?” ….
I’ve got to feel this is a case of applying logic to the local situation of the day, not an economic policy for how to run a country in the 21st century. Unless we want to revert back to Amish as our model. Remember that at the time of Christ 99.9% of the personal economy was withing an hours walk. And if we do adopt the Amish or a similar model then we basically will be living under a totally secular government in a few years. Not sure this is the way we should proceed. But maybe I’m all wet and God really intended us to live oppressed (physically) lives under empires and dictators.
If I look to the candidates to see who believes as I do, and belief is the key to understanding the heart, I see a guy who led ecumenical services in prison running with a woman who would sit next to me in church vs. a ticket made of a guy who sat for 20 years in a church I would walk out of running with a guy whose church discusses forbidding him of Communion.
Faith and church are important to me. The candidate does not have to be of my faith to gain my support, but he needs to have a faith , and believe it.
So I who feel Christ can enable me to do all things, will enable my sister Sarah to do whatever she needs to do. I feel Sarah Palin will be led by God because she really believes and will pray and ask God for guidance. I feel from what she has said , that she is humble enough to listen. Thus I feel Sarah Palin will be led by God.
well said Michael. I agree that this is a truly frustrating election and have had some of the same thoughts myself about the whole thing.
Not voting — not an option. Tough choices.
“We had a surplus when Bill Clinton left office – for all his faults. He didn’t spend money he didn’t have!”
I have to point out that there were three things going on during this time which may not happen again for 50 or more years.
Newt and Armey were much more frugal with the purse than anyone for many years before or since. (They had their faults, some of them big but compared to other Congresses they were down right skin flints.) When there was a big battle over the budget they basically stonewalled Clinton. And while in the end Clinton won the PR battle the end result was that budgets where much smaller than the D’s would have liked.
The capital gains tax was greatly reduced. And a lot of folks who’d been waiting for this to happen cashed out of many investments with large gains and put the money elsewhere. This created a lot of short term revenue for the capital sales which came in a rush as folks had held out waiting for this cut.
Then at the same time as the capitol gain tax cuts the Internet boom took off. And for several years you had all the money just mentioned being invested into Internet companies. Some smart, some really really really stupid. So for a while you had a large amount of economic activity going on that was not sustainable. (How many online actions houses, groceries, pet supplies, etc… are still standing?) But for a while Clinton enjoyed a time of increasing tax revenues from all the activity. And when the steam ran out in late 99 and early 00 the revenues dried up and Bush came in and acted as if it would restart. It never did and he never quit acting.
So, yes Clinton and Congress left a balanced budget at the end of their terms in January 2001 but it was built on temporary supports and not meant to be for the long term. Plus this was the gang that passed AND signed the law allowing much of the unregulated activity in the financial markets that we are all paying for now. On the last days I might add.
Michael spoke my thoughts exactly.
If anyone is wondering why I don’t trust Obama you should watch the PBS Frontline documentary on the two candidates: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/choice2008/view/
It is stated several times that his political handlers had him fast tracked for the White House. To accomplish this, they put him in position to give speeches, but deliberately told him to cast votes as little as possible. Thus the many “present” votes. The idea being that a voting record could be held against him. Not my words, theirs. If that isn’t grounds for mistrust, I don’t know what is.
For record, I’m not a McCain guy either, and Michael covered all my reasons.
I pray for the president every day, regardless of my personal feelings, and will continue to do so for either Senator McCain or Senator Obama.
In regard to character issues, of which there are plenty, I’m amazed that Senator McCain’s notorious womanizing hasn’t come up as an issue. I know that it happened a number of years ago, but it still bothers me. I never bought President Bush’s idea that everything that happened before his conversion was off limits, but he seemingly got by with it.
Michael said:
“Why do you say God will guide her? I don’t understand that.”
I concur. Regardless of the candidates, I question the growing trend, even evidenced here, where it is better to vote for a lesser politician who is an evangelical Christian than a better politician because God will guide the one and not the other. I understand the argument that a Christian candidate has (assumed) integrity, morality, and humility, but I don’t buy it.
Let’s see, Barrack’s tax plan wouldn’t increase your taxes if you made over 300k then 250 then 200 and most recently Biden is saying $150k. Since most small businesses file taxes under the owners name that means if Joe does buy a plumbing company with over 250K in revenues Barrack WILL be taxing him. Eight employees making $30k a year plus benefits puts a company well over even the now abandoned $250k mark.
For those that believe that Obama is for “the little guy” why did he mock Joe the Plumber and all plumbers? Why did his campaign use State of Ohio computers and databases to see if he had ever gotten welfare, owed taxes etc…things ILLEGAL to do? Why did the try to smear a man who disagreed with them? Get used to it.
Raising taxes on thos evil rich folks will LOWER revenue tot he government. Bush lowered the rate and instead of growing to 55 billion (GAO estimate of revenues without a tax break) to 103 billion. Why? If it costs you less each time you buy something, you’ll buy more of it which equals less tax on each item but more items. Jobs will be lost as well. The rich will just invest less to compensate for the taxes which means more companies will have to cut back.
Barack is a millionaire and yet has given less than 3% to charity and a good portion of that only in the last 3 years. Biden, another millionaire, has given less than $5k to charity. If they really cared about the poor and downtrodden, why aren’t they giving money to help them? If, as Barry says, he is willing to pay more taxes to help folks, why won’t he just donate to the countless charities out there? Because it’s about power to the central government.
He’s hung out for 20 years with people who hate America; people who have BOMBED America. He is married to a women who thinks America is “mean” and that she was never proud of America until it nominated her husband. He wants to change huge swaths of what makes America different from the rest of the world. When, exactly, do we get to say that he doesn’t like America? Just wonderin’.
Obama is a socialist and a race monger.
McCain is just slightly to the right of Obama, maybe not even as much as Bill Clinton is.
Remember, supporting the lesser of two evils is STILL supporting evil.
DD
Vote Green in 08′
Seriously, Some third party group needs to step up and show they mean business. I respect my vote for a third party is a waste to the big picture. To me though, it is a vote of none of the above. If enough people take this approach maybe some brilliant politician will see the rising tide of frustration with the present two party system and try to unite us non-conformists. There may be quite a few of us to unite.
I used a few of the many websites to show how votes were made in the past, how special interest groups were supported by each candidate, and how the fruits of their labor (votes) has effected us all.
Then I remembered that God has a wonderful way of calling us to him. Whether it’s the economy, a war, terrible destruction by weather systems, traffic, my sore back, my child’s innocent smile… They all point me back to how I need Jesus.
I agree with much of what you say, though I wish you could have kept it buttoned up until after election day, because when the choice is between bad and worse, I want the bad to win.
One thing to think about:
I’m not alone in saying this is not a woman I want in the Oval Office or #2 in the chain of command. She’s simply not ready to lead and no amount of talking points or Madison Avenue makeovers will make her ready. America isn’t Alaska.
Yes, but I’ll roll the dice on her before I will roll the dice on the alternatives. (And, yes, folks, we are rolling the dice either way!) And before I make up my mind that she really is bad, I have to remember how much she sounds like Reagan did back in the seventies and eighties, and how everyone is lambasting her in all the same ways they did Reagan: “She panders to the right. She’s an extremist. She’s behind the times. She has no Washington experience. She’s dumb as a post.”
You’re killin me!!! I thought Bob Barr was all that was left, now you say no, no, no. Why, Why, Why?
My state doesn’t allow write-ins, but if they did, I’d vote for Fred Thompson.
DaveD,
Obviously you’ve made up your mind for other reasons, but let’s clear up the $250k tax thing. If you own a business, you bring the revenue AFTER expenses onto page 1 of your 1040, right below your personal income. If my business makes $1.5 million in revenue, yet I spend $1.4 million employing people, paying their insurance, renting office space, buying printers, leasing a car, etc., etc., I am reporting $100k ($1.5mm revenue minus $1.4mm expenses) plus my personal income, if any. So while my business has well over $250k in revenue, I would not be affected by Obama’s proposed tax increases, because my actual income is less.
In fact, I would only get taxed more if I didn’t use my business revenue to employ more people, and instead kept the revenue as more personal profit.
So when McCain says Obama’s tax at $250k will hurt small business job creation, it’s extremely misleading. If that money is being taxed, it is because it was kept as profit for the owner and not used to employ someone, or else it would be deducted as a business expense.
You can be against increasing taxes on the rich, but at least take the time to understand the reality of what is being proposed instead of repeating campaign talking points.
It seems to me as folowers of Christ we have not been put here on this planet to fix it up politically or in any other way. Our mission should we choose to accept it is to display a new system of operation called the Kingdom of God. The two are opposed and will not be displayed as one. The kingdoms of this world will not be “fixed”. If only we spent as much time, energy and resourses trying to display the kingdom of God as we do to promote the kingdoms of this world we would see real change. The kingdom of God is a display of unconditional love which will cost us everything.
So why is NOT voting a bad thing?
I have a King and a Kingdom….and HE is neither McCain OR Obama and it is not the U.S.A.
I understand your plight completely.
I went through all of the same thoughts, and eventually found that I had to pull the lever for….McCain.
I seriously don’t trust Obama.
“Not voting. Not an option.”
I’d like to suggest that not voting is very much an option. And not just because there isn’t a candidate you are happy about. The Bible never addressed appropriate Christian responsibilities in a republic, but Jesus did say not to lord it over other people like the Gentiles do. He was offered the kingdoms of the world and he turned them down. He subverted political systems with something better and more powerful–the inbreaking of the kingdom of God.
Since God is our king, perhaps it would make sense to confine our methodology for effecting change to reliance on his power and his Spirit. I don’t trust princes or horses or chariots anyway. Shouldn’t we believe that God in his church can do more than any human being to bless this world, bring peace and care for the poor?
I’m nearer every day to deciding that I don’t want to be invested in this system at all. I don’t want worldly power, even the fairly minimal power of casting a ballot. I don’t want to be deluded into thinking that I’ve made a difference by checking a box besides someone’s name. I don’t want to be tempted to start believing that if we get just the right person into office, that suddenly it will make a difference.
A humble book recommendation: I would love to see your response to “Electing Not to Vote: Christian Reflections on Reasons for Not Voting,” edited by Ted Lewis. You might find it persuasive.
Rich Mullins once said something like “Democracy is the belief that a million people are less corrupt than one. That’s not bad theology; it’s bad math.”