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October 30, 2004

Why I Support John Kerry

By Rodney Taylor

I will cast my vote Tuesday for John Kerry and John Edwards. I strongly believe that our great country is falling short of her potential. We need a change and a positive vision for the future. John Kerry and John Edwards will chart a new course in both domestic and foreign policy. We must have new leadership to correct the mistakes of the past four years and again get America moving forward towards economic prosperity at home and successful resolution of the difficult issues we face abroad.

Let me be very clear that the fact I support John Kerry does not mean that I hate George Bush. I have never met President Bush but if he and Laura are ever in Amherst, Anne and I would be honored to have them over for dinner and they would be welcomed to spend the evening. I would proudly show him the framed letter from his parents congratulating us on the birth of our first daughter that hangs in a place of honor in our library. We both enjoy clearing brush and I have an extra bush ax if he needs to relieve some stress. We
would get along just fine, but I still would not vote for him.

On the most important issues, John Kerry's positions are superior to those of George Bush. On the critical issue of the war in Iraq only John Kerry can lead us out of the quagmire into which George Bush has sunk us. We need a new beginning, and George Bush is hopelessly committed to the failed policies of the past.

By every measure, including his own, the economic policies of George Bush have failed. In the past 70 years our country has survived the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and
the massive unrest of the Civil Rights struggle. Through all of these difficult times every President has seen more jobs at the end of his first term than there were at the beginning. The fact that George Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs in his first term should be enough in and of itself to disqualify him for reelection. It is a record of failure for which he bears the responsibility.

His father coined the term "voodoo economics" to describe a policy of providing massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while increasing government spending. The first President Bush was right then and he is right today. George W. Bush is no fiscal conservative. He has turned a budget surplus into the largest deficit in the history of the United States. He has approved profligate government spending increases in areas that have nothing to do with homeland security or the war. The economic policies of George W. Bush
have disproportionately hurt our neediest citizens and it is a record that he should be embarrassed to run on.

John Kerry will restore fiscal sanity to Washington. He will return the tax rates for those earning more than $200,000 a year to where they were four years ago, curtail unnecessary spending and reduce the deficit.

The education proposals made by President Bush received broad support from Democrats and Republicans.

The No Child Left Behind bill was passed by a wide margin and there was great hope that true reform of our public education system could be achieved. President Bush has failed to implement his own policy. He has not funded many of the programs crucial to its success and the test results show that we continue to lose ground. John Kerry will make sure that No Child Left Behind lives up to its name. We are all stronger when our children are inspired to learn for the sake of learning. For our society to be strong a good education must be valued in every socioeconomic group.

I own a small business. We pay 100 percent of the health care coverage for our employees. My business partner and I do so because we believe that it is good for our employees, good for the company and the right thing to do. In the past years we have seen double digit increases in our health care premiums. We can not continue to absorb these increases. We live in the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. Every citizen should have access to basic health care. Under George Bush's watch we have seen a growth in the number of uninsured people in our country. John Kerry's health care plan will move us towards the goal of a nation where every citizen has access to basic health care.

Senior care is closely related to health care. We are a graying nation and we have an obligation to take care of those who can not take care of themselves. To provide adequate services nursing homes must make a profit. John Kerry understands that the current system will lead to disaster while George Bush inexplicably clings to the failed policies of the past four years. John Kerry will fix the Social Security system.

We are blessed to live in one of the most beautiful places on this planet. We have no greater obligation to future generations than to be good stewards of our environment. George Bush has failed to meet this obligation. A good steward seeks ways in which to protect our environment without crippling our economy. The environmental policies of George Bush have been shaped by the next quarter's corporate profits instead of a long-term vision for the future. I want my children and their children to have the same opportunities I have had to grow up in a clean and safe environment. John Kerry will protect our environment and be a good steward of our natural resources.

The ban on assault weapons was a good law and it should have been renewed. George Bush said he supported renewal but then failed to support renewal. He was afraid to put his principals in front of the
position of the assault weapon lobby. It was a cowardly act and he should be ashamed of his failure to provide leadership on this issue.

Our society is struggling with acceptance of those whose lifestyle is outside of the traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Homosexuality has existed since the earliest recorded history of mankind and it will exist until the end of time. To deny that individuals are born with a predisposition to homosexuality
is to deny the obvious. Some people are born gay. As a society we are not yet ready to recognize same sex unions as marriage. I do believe however that we should be able to reach a consensus that there are basic rights that should not be denied gay couples. Our constitution should only be amended when there is a need to clarify protection of rights; George Bush would amend the constitution for the first time to restrict rights. On this issue John Kerry has the moderate and correct view.

Abortion is an issue on which we may never reach a consensus. I will never be pregnant and I will never have an abortion. Neither will George Bush nor John Kerry. That fact does not preclude us from having opinions but we must understand that our opinions are formed from a different perspective than that of those who have a womb. I do not know when our children were imbued with a spirit but I believe it
occurred before they were born. I do believe that this transformation occurs only in the womb and most likely near the age of viability outside the womb. I am certain that it does not occur in a petri dish. Human life is precious and should be protected but the anti-abortion movement has gone too far. Indeed lawmakers have proposed bans on commonly used methods of contraception. We are only one step away from laws that would seek to protect the seeds of Onan. Stem cell research offers the hope for cures to diseases that have afflicted mankind for centuries. Science should be able to move forward with government assistance not government restriction. On this issue George Bush has taken a strict ideological position that is pleasing to the far right wing of his party. John Kerry has sought to strike a balance that respects deeply held religious views with the hope for a better future through medical research.

Perhaps the most important issue our country faces today is the war in Iraq. It is ironic that without the war in Iraq the dismal failure of the Bush administration on other important issues would guarantee the election of John Kerry. George Bush told us we were going to war with Saddam Hussein because he posed an immediate threat to the United States and because he possessed weapons of mass destruction. George Bush was wrong on this most crucial of issues. Is the world better off without Saddam Hussein in power? Yes. Is the freedom of millions of people in Iraq a good thing? Yes. But when the President of the United States addressed the nation those were not the reasons he gave for going to war. I believe George Bush was right to go into Afghanistan and I support that effort completely. The nation and the world were united in a common cause to bring to justice those responsible for the horror of September 11, 2001. George Bush had an opportunity to inspire America and the world and to defeat those who seek destroy us with fear and terror. George Bush squandered that opportunity. American soldiers are being killed at the rate of 100 per month and thousands more are being maimed and injured. George Bush tells us that the only answer is to
stay the course. It is the wrong course and only with the election of John Kerry can we begin the process of uniting our country around the common goal of leaving a free and stable Iraq in the hands of a popularly elected Iraqi government.

I will vote for John Kerry and I believe that our nation will be better off if he wins. I also believe that our republic is stronger than any one man and would survive if George Bush were re-elected. Whoever emerges victorious on November 2 must work to bring our country back together. A strong debate over which course we should chart is a healthy thing. We must however be able to agree on where it is we want those divergent courses to take us.

We all want a prosperous economy where every citizen has an opportunity to work and reach his or her greatest potential. We want to have the best public education system in the world.

We want to live in a country where everyone has access to basic health care and where the contributions of our senior citizens are honored by providing them with adequate care in their twilight years.

We want to protect the environment and ensure a healthy planet for future generations. We want the United States of America to be safe and secure and we want freedom for those around the world that live under the yoke of tyranny. These are common goals and the next President must bring us together to achieve them.

That is why I will vote for John Kerry and John Edwards.

Posted by laura at October 30, 2004 01:15 PM

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