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Make Your Vote Count
Election '08
Jessica Roberts (Staff Writer)
The 2008 election is coming up on November 4 and it saddens me to say that many of my fellow classmates have little clue as to either of the candidates views on certain issues. Most of the seniors able to vote will just go and cast their vote without any knowledge, but by doing this you might as well just throw your vote away. For those of you reading this, I am hoping to give you some knowledge about the candidates, at least enough so you won’t be totally clueless as to what the candidate you are voting for represents.
As you all know there are two candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain. If you didn’t know this, please don’t vote. Obama is the democrat nominee from Illinois. Obama is 47 years of age and has received a degree in law from Harvard. He has served on the Illinois State Senate for eight years. McCain is 72 years of age and has attended college at the United States Naval Academy. After graduation he was a naval aviator for 22 years. McCain was a prisoner of war for five and half years. McCain has served two terms in the House of Representatives and has been a member of the United States Senate for 32 years. His naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Now that we have the basics out of the way, on to the main points, I can’t cover all of the issues so we’ll cover a few of the most important. On the subject of taxes McCain states that he is committed to lowering of taxes. Along with lower fiscal responsibility and he will put and end to wasteful spending in Washington, D.C. Where does Obama Stand on this issue? He would raise taxes on the entire population of the United States. On the subject of federal tax cuts Obama said, “People didn’t need them, and they weren’t even asking for them, and that’s why they need to be less.”
The war on Iraq is a widely discussed issue in America. Everyone has their own opinion. Some people think we should pull out, some think we should never have started it, others think we need to stay until it finished, and some think we should just bomb them and get it over with. Obama has said that no matter what, if elected, he will retreat from Iraq no matter what the situation is on the ground or the advice that he receives from the military leaders. McCain was one of the members of the Senate who voted on a change of strategy to go about the war in Iraq, a change in strategy that is now helping us to gain ground in the war. A downside to staying in Iraq is that the war is costing us, American taxpayers, more than $10.3 billion per month. This, unfortunately, is more than twice what we spend on education.
Next we move to the issue of energy in America. McCain has said he is for the suspension of the federal gas tax and he supports off-shore exploration/drilling. He is also in favor of a conservation idea that will help to decrease our dependence on foreign oil until it is obsolete. On the other hand McCain has taken more than two million dollars in campaign contributions from oil companies. With whom do his loyalties lay with, Big Oil companies or the American public? Obama is in favor of the federal gas tax and is against off-shore drilling. On the topic of gas being four dollar a gallon Obama said, “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment.”
Yes, I only covered three issues if you want to find out more, which I recommend you do, you can visit the campaign sites for the candidates. John McCain’s website is http://www.johnmccain.com/ and Barack Obama’s is http://www.barackobama.com/.
Hopefully you will do more research and cast a knowledgeable vote this coming election day
