Milt Palacio

Here are my top 6 reasons why I support John Kerry for president along with some detailed and specific information about what his plans are on each issue. There is much more detailed information to be read on his website if you are interested as well:

1) The Economy: I want to see our economy thrive again like it did under Clinton. President Bush is the first president in history to lose jobs over his 4-year term (1.6 million private sector jobs). Real wages have decreased, thousands and thousands of jobs are being outsourced, the technology and computer sector are suffering, and 17% more families now live below the poverty line since George Bush took office. Healthcare costs, prescription drugs, and college costs are way up. Lowering taxes for the wealthy didn’t work for President Reagan and it hasn’t worked for Bush. The wealthy are doing better than they have since 1928 and the middle class is doing worse than it has since the 1928. The real minimum wage is the lowest it's been since the early 50's.

What John Kerry will do: Lower taxes on the middle class, lower the corporate tax rate, give companies tax credits for creating and keeping jobs in the United States, close the tax loophole that allows companies to defer taxes on foreign profits, work to lower heath care costs for employers, raise the minimum wage by $1.85, create a $4,000 annual College Opportunity Tax credit for college tuition costs, increase the child tax credit, increase the phaseout of the "marriage penalty", invest more money in technology to help create new jobs

2) Healthcare: It discourages me that so many people don’t have health insurance and the ones who do have seen their costs go way up. Health care premiums have gone up on an average of $3,512 per family under the Bush administration. In addition, 5.2 million American have lost their health insurance under the Bush administration. In total, 43 million people in American don’t have health insurance.

What John Kerry will do: Insure an additional 27 million Americans who don’t currently have health insurance. Provide small businesses and their workers with health insurance through a program modeled after the Federal Employees Benefits Health Plan, the same plan members of the U.S. Congress have. Allow low-cost prescription drugs to be imported from Canada (which George Bush has opposed). Provide various tax credits to low-income individuals for their out-of-pocket health care costs. Have the U.S. Government cover 75% of “catastrophic” medical bills over $30,000, thus driving down health care premiums. Cut down and eliminate unneccessary paperwork and processing costs, which currently at $350 billion annually amount to 25% of the cost of health care premiums.

Milt Palacio

3) Stem Cell Research: I believe we need to make scientific progress. Stem cell research has the potential to cure the diseases that affect so many of us and our families. President Bush has severely limited its use and is not allowing new stem cells to be used. Currently there are only 19 stem cell lines that are useable.

What John Kerry will do: Remove all restrictions on the use of stem cells, including the use of embryonic stem cells. Increase funding for stem cell research so we can help thousands of Americans overcome disease and disability. The potential for do great things here is limitless. We need to make scientific and medical progress, not stifle it. Stem cell research has broad bipartisan support.

4) Separation of Church and State/Women’s Rights: I believe we need a President who will uphold the country Constitutional ideals and protect women’s rights. President Bush has marred the line of religion and politics with his pushing of the Christian Conservative Agenda. This is a violation of the First Amendment of our Constitution. He will appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade, he has severely limited stem cell research because of his religious values, he has instituted federal funding for "faith-based initiatives" which try to convert people to Christianity, and has supported a federal ban on gay marriage. In addition, various media outlets during his presidency have been the victims of censorship by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission).

What John Kerry will do: He will keep religion separate from politics and make decisions with all citizens in mind, not just citizens of a certain religious faith. He will uphold women’s rights, will remove restrictions on stem cell research, and let the states decide for themselves on whether they want to allow gay marriage. He will uphold the First Amendment.

Milt Palacio

5) Fiscal Responsibility: Under George Bush, we have gone from a budget surplus of $236 billion when he came into office to a record national deficit of approximately $422 billion. We currently have the highest deficit in the nation’s history. This will hurt us in the future when we have to play much higher taxes and it hinders our economy now and going forward. Bush has spends billions of dollars with no way of paying for it. Of course, he doesn’t care because he’ll be out of office when we really have to deal with it.

What John Kerry will do: Raise taxes on the top 2% wealthiest in America. Close corporate tax loopholes that allow corporations to defer taxes on foreign profits. Create a commission that will close other corporate tax loopholes. Retain the estate tax. Use the “pay as you go” policy. This means for every dollar they spend, they will show where they will get the revenue to fund it. Refer to the 2nd to last page here for more detail on the "pay as you go" system: http://www.johnkerry.com/pdf/economic_plan.pdf

6) National Security and Respect from the World: George Bush lied and misled us into an unnceccessary war. He said we were going to war because of WMD's when there weren't any. As a result, we have lost 1,000+ American troops while hundreds more have been seriously injured. 21,000+ Iraqi civilians have been killed. There are more terrorists worldwide than before 9/11. The end to the war is nowhere in sight and many troops have been forced back into duty by the military even though their obligations have been met.

What John Kerry will do: He can't undo what Bush has done in Iraq but he can make it better. He will add troops by 40,000 to help win the peace and get our troops home as soon as possible. He will do his best to get our allies involved and sending in more troops. He will earn the United States respect around the world by displaying integrity and showing diplomany in foreign relations. He will make hunting terrorists his number one priority and will not lead his country into a hurtful and unneccessary war in the future.

Ambular

Voting for Kerry would be a complete contradiction of my moral values, and I could not possibly be convinced to do so because of that.

I don't think that there is any greater reason for not being in support of something than because of the fact that it would force me to compromise everything about my entire belief system. If I chose to elect him, I would be endorsing the policies that he supports which I feel are against my Christian morals.

So that is why I will not be voting for him.

Milt Palacio

I completely disagree and that's why I chose it as my #4 most important issue.

Ambular

Being that no other president has ever represented those of us who do value religious rights, I appreciate having someone who recognizes the importance of them.

Instead we are told that we cannot pray in school, mention God in the Pledge of Allegience, allow God to have any part in our government, and we must endure laws that greatly contradict where we stand morally. In the same way that some have said they feel as though they are being forced to integrate religious values into our society when they don't welcome them, I cannot help but take it personally.

LaraCroft01

This is great Milt Palacio do you mind if I put it in my LJ? I'll give you full credit and link back here.

I think Bush tries to push his Christian values on the nation, when not everyone follows it. He doesn't seem to know that there is a seperation of church and state. He can't keep religion and politics seperate. This is a big reason for me as to why I support John Kerry. I also believe stem cell research should be allowed, and don't understand why Bush would want to stop diseases from being cured.

oxymoron

Kerry is opposed to the death penalty, which Bush favors. Which is the more Christian position?

Kerry has a far greater commitment to social justice. Which is the more Christian position?

Kerry believes in respect and tolerance for other peoples and nations who hold different values than one's own. Bush thinks they should all be more like us. Which is the more Christian position?

While I don't know the basis for your claim regarding Christian morals, the one thing I will say is that those who focus only on the single issue of abortion may not be adequately considering the totality of consistency with a Christian position.

Of course, I do not claim that necessarily of you and accept that there may, in fact, be other reasons you believe Bush is more consistent with your "Christian morals." I would be curious as to what those were.

Milt Palacio

Of course not! That's fine.

AuburnGrad inspired me to put my thoughts down. If any Bush supporters continue to say that Kerry doesn't give specifics you can refer them here.

I actually could've made it a lot longer but I wanted people to be able to read the whole thing.

oxymoron

Prayer in school is not a question of morals. What moral action is represented by praying vs. not praying? If I can pray, I could pray to Satan. Is that moral?

God is mentioned in the pledge of allegiance. That is not a moral value either. It is an expression of fealty.

These questions are not "moral" issues. They are issues regarding the relationship of religious beliefs to the state and individuals to the state.

Abortion is a moral issue. The death penalty is a moral issue. Prayer in school is a political issue.

AuburnGrad

Will, not surprisingly, I agree with all of your points. Very well said.

I trimmed my letter from 5 pages to 3 1/2. It goes out in the mail tomorrow.

The Daywalker

The true question is, What would Brian Boitano do?

Milt Palacio

You'd have to ask Trey Parker and Matt Stone to find that out.

LittleMilkJug

Ambular

I'm opposed to the death penalty, too, so that is one aspect that I don't happen to agree with Bush on. I was more referring to stem-cell research and abortion in that respect.

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Kerry has a far greater commitment to social justice. Which is the more Christian position?

Other than capital punishment, of course, what other issues do you mean that fall into the category of social justice? I'm just wondering

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Kerry believes in respect and tolerance for other peoples and nations who hold different values than one's own. Bush thinks they should all be more like us. Which is the more Christian position?

The way I feel, when it comes to another human life (and I really don't mean to harp on these two issues alone), which is often disregarded in the scientific practices that he endorses, that kind of makes me question the "respect" for people that he may have. What I mean is, when someone claims to have the utmost respect and value for another human being, and then supports something like the murder of fetuses (which is what I feel it comes down to), it seems very contractory to me. I know you were talking about the bigger picture, meaning getting involved in wars with foreign countries, but to me the value of a human life equates in my mind in either scenario. And in the case of Iraq, I don't know if it simply comes down to "Bush says every country must be just like America", or if it's more along the lines of wanting to spread Democracy and a fair ruling government and personal freedom to the countries that have endured leaders like Saddam Hussein for so many years. In essence it may sound like the same thing, but now that we're already there (because I don't want to argue whether starting the war was appropriate or not), I think that it can ultimately only mean good things for the people there.

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While I don't know the basis for your claim regarding Christian morals, the one thing I will say is that those who focus only on the single issue of abortion may not be adequately considering the totality of consistency with a Christian position.

Yes, I agree with you on that. And I don't want you to think that the issues of homeland security or the economy or job opportunities in this country are not important or relevant to me. I don't want to come off as some "Bible-thumper" who only looks at these things. It's just that, these are very very personal issues to me, and they are the the ones that I am always ready to immediately defend because they are the ones that I am the most passionate about. My stance on those won't change, while the other ones I am sometimes back-and-forth with on how I feel about them. I hope that makes sense

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Of course, I do not claim that necessarily of you and accept that there may, in fact, be other reasons you believe Bush is more consistent with your "Christian morals." I would be curious as to what those were.

Of course, I understand And I appreciate you acknowledging that instead of assuming I think just like every other "religious" person does.

I guess I should explain that while, yes, I do support Bush, I was kind of expanding that previous comment I made in my other post to really any president who is going to consistently uphold the religious values that I and many others stand for. I do like Pres. Bush, but I do completely agree that someone else could be a better President than him. I am not one of those conservative supporters who thinks of him as a "savior" to which no one can be superior to. If someone else came along who, like I mentioned, had the same moral integrity but was better at dealing with foreign issues and didn't need to pick and choose with some others, I would be a lot more inclined to vote for that person. But I don't feel that Kerry is it, personally, so Bush is what I get

I hope I explained that well enough to make sense!