Take a Right(Part 1)

Elections are won by men and women because people vote against a candidate rather than for one. The Presidential Election in 2008 promises to be no different. Americans have registered to vote in record numbers, just to be a part of this historic race. We have two candidates, Senators Obama and McCain, who propose policies that are polar opposites of each other. Senator McCain has the leadership, record, right policies, and the character that should be expected of the next President of the United States.

John McCain’s leadership abilities can be traced back to his experiences in the United States Navy. His naval career began when he graduated from Naval Academy in Annapolis and became a naval aviator. He flew 22 bombing missions in Vietnam before he was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese. For 6 years he was held at Hanoi Hilton where they would break almost every bone in his body in an attempt to gain U.S Military secrets. McCain could have been released early in an effort to gain positive propaganda, but he refused. The military has a “first in, first out” policy and John McCain honored it. McCain received his first taste of Washington while serving in the Naval Liaison Office. This position allowed him to meet congressmen and senators from both sides of the aisle. McCain retired from the Navy in 1981 and decided to run for a congressional seat in the 1982 election. As a congressman he took on fellow Republicans on issues such as the U.S Marine deployments to Lebanon and on Indian Affair bills. John McCain was elected as a United States senator in 1987 and began to earn the “maverick” title he has been given. He opposed the 1993 military conflict in Somalia which upset many of his Republican colleagues. He showed his willingness to put partisanship aside and began to work with Democratic Senator Russ Feingold to reform campaign finance laws. He co-sponsored the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 to help fight the increasing pork barrel projects. In 2001, he fought against his own party’s tax cuts saying, “I can’t in good conscience support a tax cut, that doesn’t cut spending as well.” In 2003, he stepped across the aisle again, and co-sponsored a bill with Senator Joe Lieberman that introduced a cap and trade system for greenhouse gasses. Republicans opposed this bill 49-6, and Democrats supported it 37-10. We are currently in the mist of what many would call a financial disaster. The collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sent our economy in a downward spiral. In 2006, Senator McCain and 19 other Senators, none of which were Democrats, sent a letter to the Senate Majority Leader stating, “If effective regulatory reform legislation for the housing-finance government sponsored enterprises [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] is not enacted this year, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to this enormous risk”.

Barrack Obama has never shown any form of leadership, let alone one that would remotely compare to McCain’s. While an Illinois state senator, he continually voted “present” on many controversial bills (MSNBC.com). Rather than take a stand and possibly alienate some constituents, he simply bowed his head and decided not to vote. In the U.S. Senate, we simply have an absence of votes. He only had the seat for 143 days before he announced his candidacy for President. After all, many contribute his success to the fact he has never been made to take a stance. Of the votes Obama casted, he voted along his party lines 96% of the time .

John McCain also has the right policies to turn this country around. He promises to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, which would keep the highest tax bracket from jumping from 35% to 39.6%. He also proposes lowering the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 25% and keeping the capital gains tax cap at 15%. The Center for Data Analysis (CDA) believes that under the McCain plan total employment would grow an average of 2,126,000 jobs in the next 10 years. They also say that the gross domestic product (GDP) would increase nearly 3 times as much as it would under the Obama plan. Their analysis shows that a family of four will have an average of $5,138 more in disposable income under McCain's plan . Obama promises to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010, which would raise the highest tax bracket to 39.6%. He would also enact a new tax on individuals who make over $250,000, but hasn’t released the details yet. He promises to cut taxes for the “middle class”, but simply doesn’t have the record to support such a claim. In fact, he voted twice on a budget resolution that would increase taxes on individuals making $42,000. He proposes making the corporate income tax rate 35% and increasing the capital gains tax cap to 20%. These tax increases will inhibit investment and cause the stock market to continue to drop. The CDA said that under the Obama plan we would see total employment rise an average of 915,800 jobs and a family of four would have an average of $3,631 in disposable income.