Not too long ago, John McCain proposed a gas tax “holiday”. Essentially, the 18¢ federal gas tax will be lifted for a period of time to, in theory, save Americans money. The only problem with this is that most economists don’t think this will work. Decreased price will increase demand, thus raising the price of gas. That’s how capitalism works. Then, once the gas tax is over, it will end up higher than when it started. On top of that, if it does save the average American any money, it will only be about $25. Not much. So this isn’t really the best idea, but that’s what can be expected when it comes to Republicans and taxes.
What makes this all interesting is that now Hillary is following suit (insert pantsuit joke here). She has already taken campaign strategies straight out of the republican playbook, so why not borrow McCain’s tax proposals? I am failing to see how exactly she is the “more electable candidate”, as her supporters would like me to think, if she just copies what the Republican candidate proposes. What baffles me even more than her recent republican tendencies, is that fact that the media is acting as if she came up with it. The very second she opened her mouth in favor of McCain’s gas tax suspension, mainstream media somehow developed selective amnesia about who had actually proposed it and declared it Hillary’s Gas Tax Holiday.
Thankfully, Barack Obama has the chutzpah call a gas tax holiday exactly what it is, a “classic Washington gimmick”. Plenty of his opposition will come back and say he voted for a suspended gas tax in Illinois when he was a state senator. What’s his response to this? “I voted for it. Then six months later we took a look and consumers had not benefited at all. I learned from a mistake.” A politician who is willing to admit his mistakes and subsequently demonstrate he has learned from them by taking the risky step of opposing a tax cut (no matter how fool heartedly it may be) is exactly what this country needs in our next President.
A tie or a loss for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania this past Tuesday would have more or less forced her out of the race, allowing Barack Obama to finally mount a national campaign, with the support of the DNC and other pro-Democratic groups, against John McCain and the Republican Party. Alas, this did not happen. Everyone (even the media!) knows that Barack Obama is going to walk out of the convention with his name on the ticket. He has won more states, he has more of the popular vote, he is leading her in pledged delegates, and none of the remaining primaries are going to change that. By winning Pennsylvania with a 10 point lead, Clinton has gotten the ego boost that she so desperately needed to convince herself and her supporters that it is worthwhile to stay in the race through the convention. No one quite knows what this will mean, as there hasn’t been a brokered democratic convention since the 50s, so this should be interesting.
I forsee an Obama/Clinton ticket to reunite an increasingly divided party and defeat McCain.
Fearmongering is, for those that might not be familiar with the term, the use of fear to advance one’s own opinions and agenda towards some end. Most recently, it has been used in election campaigns and as a tool to enter an unjust war. It was long ago perfected by McCarthy-era politicians playing on America’s fear of communism. Since this time, the Republican party has embraced the strategy, and all of America should fully expect this as an ongoing campaign tactic of the Republican party. Fear of terrorism was essentially George W. Bush’s campaign strategy in 2004. Sadly, however, history shows time and time again that the masses buy in to it. Sure, it’s sickening to watch, but it’s become a mainstay of partisan Republican politics. Until now. One presidential candidate, who I would have hoped was morally above using one of my most loathed political tactics decided to make the use of fearmongering bi-partisan.
Hillary Clinton’s newest campaign advertisement that has been airing in the upcoming primary states (Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont) explicitly uses fearmongering to scare up some extra votes. Don’t believe me? Watch it for yourself.
Whoever the final nominee of the Democratic Party ends up being, it sure would be tough to support someone who uses the same dirty tactics that helped elect George W Bush.
I consider myself rather politically conscious. I watch and read the news, I’ve watched many of the debates of both parties. I do not, however, see any of the candidates seriously talking about any issues that I feel would truly benefit the United States. Sure, healthcare and the war in Iraq are important, but there are more than just two issues. So, because no one else seems to be talking about them, here are a few campaign issues that I would like to see debated and discussed.
Solar Power - This is pretty much the only energy source we have on this planet that is completely inexhaustible and it is, by far, the environmentally cleanest option. Even if we do somehow manage to exhaust the Sun as an energy source, we’ve got bigger problems, because we’ll all be dead. There are two things that the government should absolutely be doing to encourage the use of solar energy. First and foremost, there should be tax breaks for those willing to install solar paneling on their home or office building. It’s clean, it reduces the requirements for coal or nuclear power, and excess energy can even be sold back to the grid for others to use. The government should also be funding research towards improved efficiency. Instead of blowing billions of dollars in a quagmire, spend some money on research that will actually help our country and, in the long run, improve our country’s image in the world. If enough money is put towards the research, I have no doubt that solar paneling could become even more efficient and potentially lest costly to produce.
Cellolosic Ethanol - If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you already know I’ve talked about this before. Before I continue, I have to point out that there is only one declared candidate that I am aware of who has mentioned this publicly and talks about it on his web site: John Edwards. For that, I applaud him. Current ethanol products that fuel cars are exclusively sugar-based ethanol. This means that it is created using plants high in sugar, such as corn or sugarcane. It is inefficient and raises the prices of these crops when used as food. Cellulose, however, is found in high levels in all plants. Because of this, even the parts of the plants that were previously disposed of, such as corn stalks and leaves, could instead be used to produce fuel and the corn and sugarcane could go back to being grown for food. Not only would this hugely benefit America’s farmers, but we could rapidly become a fuel-independent country and potentially even an exporter of fuels. With government funding, cellulosic ethanol would completely replace the less efficient sugar ethanol and America could wean itself off of oil within a generation.
National Infrastructure - If you watch the news, read the news paper, or listen to the radio, you’re aware that the I-35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis recently. I no longer live in Minneapolis, but this was a bridge that for many years I lived only a few blocks away from and drove over to get to work several times a week. The state of this country’s interstate highways and railways is an embarrassment. I am completely failing to understand why a country the size of the US does not have a high speed rail infrastructure to rival that sprawling across Europe. Money of course needs to be invested not only in the upkeep of the existing infrastructure, but the serious funding should go towards the planning and construction of an improved national highway system and a brand new state of the art high speed rail line connecting the major cities and regions of the country.
Election Reform - No, not campaign reform, that’s horse has already been beaten to death. I’m talking about true election reform. The electoral college is outdated and, as clearly seen in the 2000 presidential election, flawed. The current election type highly favors only a two party system, limiting the spectrum of views of a large portion of the united states. I will readily admit that I do not know enough about the different types of elections used throughout the world, so I cannot form an intelligent suggestion for how it should be fixed, but it does need to be fixed. In 2000, America voted Al Gore in to the white house. Flawed ballots, corruption, and a lazy Florida supreme court stole this honor away from him and instead gave the Presidency to the man who has done more harm to this country’s international image and wracked up more national debt than any previous president. This should not and cannot be allowed to happen again.
There are plenty of other issues I can talk about here, but in my eyes, the above are among the most important. Hopefully, some of the trailing candidates can realize that talking solely about healthcare and Iraq isn’t going to get them anywhere and that these issues deserve their voice.
As you might already know, I’m fully in support of Al Gore getting reelected for President in 2008. I frequent a few differentwebsites to keep tabs on my ideal presidential candidate in hopes that news will arise of his candidacy. Sadly, however, he has not (yet?) declared himself as a candidate. In defiance of this, the America for Gore Coalition has decided to take matters in to their own hands and started a “My Two Cents” campaign. I think its a pretty neat idea, so I’ve decided to promote it here as well, in hopes that anyone that may read this does what I’m about to suggest.
America for Gore is asking anyone in support of Al Gore to mail him two pennies along with a letter urging him to run, while also stating that the real financial support will come when he accepts that challenge. The hope is that the mountain of pennies that will soon pile up in his office will be a constant reminder to him that America needs him and is ready to support him. Sound like a good idea? Then go dig through your couch or car seats for two pennies, get an envelope and a stamp, type up a quick letter urging him to run, and send your two cents to the following address:
Office of the Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Avenue, Suite 620
Nashville, TN 37203
I haven’t blogged about the upcoming 2008 presidential election yet, so here’s the first of what will likely be many posts building up to the next election. I was looking through a ton of polls taken in the last month and a half regarding the democratic candidates for 2008 and one thing consistently stood out at me: Al Gore hasn’t declared himself as running – he’s even said he won’t – and yet he’s still named by about 10-15% of the people polled as their first choice of the current candidates, with Hillary in the lead at about 40-45%. For someone who has not even declared a bid for the presidency, 15% is damn good. That being said, I would love to see him officially toss his hat in to the ring. I think an outspoken environmentalist is what this country needs, and he certainly has the experience. He’s was the VP for 8 years, spent the 8 years before that as a Senator, and another 8 years before that as congressman. That’s more experience as an elected official (on a National level, none the less) than Barack Obama and Hillary Clintoncombined. If that’s not enough, he’s been touring internationally for a few years to help combat global warming (Or do they call it “climate change” now? I lost track..) in such an effective manner that it earned him the honor of a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I’m clearly not anywhere close to the first person to say this, but I’m going to say it anyways: I would like to see Al Gore on the ballot in 2008.
