{"id":208,"date":"2004-10-15T23:52:39","date_gmt":"2004-10-15T23:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/10\/bush_or_kerry.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:48:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:48:40","slug":"bush_or_kerry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/10\/bush_or_kerry.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Bush or Kerry?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve said I plan to stay away from politics, but I’d like some thoughts on our vote. I’m having an honest difficulty on my vote. To be honest, I’m leaning towards Bush, but there’s one big thing that’s standing in my way. More on that in a minute.
\nLet me start with what attracts me to Bush.
\nHe had a plan for Social Security.<\/b> Not only that, but it’s a plan that helps people plan for their own retirement. Of course, he didn’t say how he was going to pay for it, but he has a plan. Kerry has nothing because he doesn’t think there’s a problem. We’ll deal with it later, he says.
\nHis health care plan.<\/b> I like the medical savings account idea coupled with catastrophic coverage. One of the roots of our health care problem, I think, is the mentality that we shouldn’t have to pay anything for healthcare. Pushing the actual paying onto a third party drives costs up. Kerry’s huge plan and the arrogance that his plan will be so superior no one will want to keep their current one scares me.
\nHere’s what bugs me about Kerry:
\nLot’s of new spending, little new revenue.<\/b> He’s said that he’s going to cut middle class taxes, give us all great healthcare but he hasn’t provided new revenue except a tax increase on the wealthy ($200K +). It doesn’t add up.
\nAbortion.<\/b> It’s wrong, and he thinks so, but he refuses to get involved. It’s murder<\/i> John, isn’t that worth taking a stand?
\nFlip flop.<\/b> I understand that much of this is exaggerated by the Bush campaign, but I can’t completely shake the idea that I’m not really sure where Kerry will stand once he’s in office and the political winds change. You know where Bush stands.
\nHere’s what bugs me about Bush:
\nPatriot act.<\/b> The idea that we can take away rights because people scare us or we are threatened is troublesome. That we can hold ‘enemy combatants’ or other threatening people (in our view) without charge or access to a defense is frightening.
\nArrogance.<\/b> This is the biggie mentioned earlier. Bush’s idea that we are the savior of the world, that we know better, that the US is somehow blessed by God to go free the world, is very troublesome. Didymus<\/a> has posted some interesting articles on this idea. As much as I like Mr. Bush in other areas, when I think about this arrogance, I have a hard time staying positive about voting for him.
\nNotice that I didn’t share anything that I like about Kerry. There’s nothing that stands out. He plan for Iraq (from here forward) is much the same as Bush’s. I suspect, however, that his attitude (less pride and condescension) may make him more successful in bringing allies to the table.
\nSo what say you? Any advice?
\nFor what it’s worth, I took the quiz<\/a> and got the following results:
\n– Dead on with Bush on Economics.
\n– Dead on with Kerry on Foreign Policy.
\n– Dead on with Bush on Culture.
\n(I couldn’t include the results like Aaron <\/a>and Justin <\/a>at RC. How’d you do that guys?)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve said I plan to stay away from politics, but I’d like some thoughts on our vote. I’m having an honest difficulty on my vote. To be honest, I’m leaningRead More Bush or Kerry?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBush or Kerry? - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/10\/bush_or_kerry.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bush or Kerry? - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve said I plan to stay away from politics, but I’d like some thoughts on our vote. I’m having an honest difficulty on my vote. 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Or Democrat","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"August 16, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Ok, this might be considered political too, so I guess my staying away from the political didn't last long. I got this link from this post at Radical Congruency. Go read this and then finish here. Do you think, as I do, that the title is bit misleading? It's not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News & Current Events"","block_context":{"text":"News & Current Events","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/news-current-events"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":219,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/11\/i_went_to_a_bus.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":1},"title":"I went to a Bush Rally","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"November 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"You read that right. Me, the guy who dislikes politics and tries to avoid it, went to a political rally on Friday. Actually it was kind of fun and I'm glad I went. 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God was with them, clearly, for they couldn't do the things that they'd seen done.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":342,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2005\/06\/now_how_much_wi.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":208,"position":4},"title":"Now How Much Will You Pay?","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"June 8, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Some time ago I came to the realization that the really small lapses of integrity are in some ways the most serious. 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