Rhetoric and politics

This list of talking points was posted to my comments section today.  I think it’s supposed to be a witty and satirical list of why a person should vote Democrat.  Evidently, this person has this list ready for cutting and pasting into people’s blogs.  Here are my responses.

Top ten reasons I’m Voting Democrat…

10. I’m voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a
better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

Actually, I do think the government does a better job of spending money than I would.  Let’s see… what do I spend my money on?  I go out to dinner, get DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket, and take dance lessons, amongst many other things.  The government fixes roads, educates children, and provides a military that protects our country.  Since I don’t have kids, I’d probably not volunteer to pony up a lot of money to educate kids without the government asking me to. 

But, the real discussion should be what programs do we really need, how much do we need to spend on them, and how effective that spending is.  The Republicans want to spend your money too.  Just on different things.

9. I’m voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as
nobody is offended by it.

Is pornography freedom of speech?  Is burning the flag freedom of speech?  Not sure that this is a solely a Democratic issue.  Freedom of Speech is a powerful thing, and you don’t realize what you miss when you don’t have it like in China.  But, with any freedom, there questions whether or not there are or should be limits.

8. I’m voting Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that
the bad guys will stop what they’re doing because they now think we’re
good people.

This is interesting.  Who are the “bad guys” involved in 9/11?  Were they in Iraq?  I don’t think so.  Instead of actually capturing the mastermind of 9/11 Osama Bin Laden, we’ve gotten ourselves involved in a war in Iraq. 

7. I’m voting Democrat because I believe that people who can’t tell us
if it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt
away in ten years if I don’t start driving a Prius.

Are there people besides Palin who doesn’t think that humans are affecting the environment? EDIT: Evidently, Palin has backtracked on this now.  I think both Democrats and Republicans can see the use for energy conservation and more efficient use of energy resources.  I think most scientists agree that the northern ice cap is at its thinnest in years and may melt BEFORE 10 years are up.

6. I’m voting Democrat because I’m not concerned about the slaughter of
millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

The pro-choice/pro-life debate is a serious one and tying it in with the Death penalty trivializes the issue since each issue is complex and has their own arguments.

There is definitely one thing that we all should agree upon is that more needs to be done to reduce unwanted pregnancies.  Even if abortion is legal, it should be by far the last possible choice. Does it make sense to ban abortions but preach abstinence as the way to prevent pregnancies.  Didn’t really work for Sarah Palin’s daughter.

5. I’m voting Democrat because I believe that business should not be
allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and
give the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see
fit.

I think both Democrats and Republicans believe that businesses should make a profit.  The question remains whether or not there too many loopholes in the system where some businesses are not paying their fair share.

Taxation of businesses plays a large part in determining where money is invested and can be used to promote or hinder certain activities.  Giving tax breaks or raising taxes on certain things can guide businesses to act in a certain way.

4. I’m voting Democrat because I believe three or four liberals need to
rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some people who would
NEVER get their agendas past the voters.

Hmmm, the last time the Constitution was “rewritten” was in 1992 when the 27th Amendment was added- “No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”

Pretty exciting stuff there.  I’m not sure what agenda in the “talking points” are being referred to specifically.  I do know that everyone is trying to push things that are difficult to get past voters.  That’s why we have things called Executive orders. And this is not exclusive to Democrats or Republicans.

3. I’m voting Democrat because I believe that when the terrorists don’t
have to hide from us over there, when they come over here I don’t want
to have any guns in the house to fight them off with.

Guns were real handy in fending off 9/11.  Or is this person seriously advocating that every person boarding a plane should be allowed to carry a gun.  Plus, terrorists are known as such because they attack you in a way that causes terror, when you least expect it.  That’s why people won’t be ready, even if they have a gun. 

2. I’m voting Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry
whatever I want. I’ve decided to marry my horse.

If marriage is so sacred, make divorce illegal.  This issue really, isn’t that big a deal to me.  I don’t have a horse.

1. I’m voting Democrat because I believe oil companies’ profits of 4%
on a gallon of gas are insane, but the government taxing the same
gallon of gas at 15% isn’t.

Let’s all defend the oil companies and their billion dollar profits!  Exxon Mobil made 40.6 billion dollars in 2007, Chevron, 18.7 billion.  I’m not sure Republicans would really want to go to battle with this one.  The gasoline tax goes towards paying for infrastructure- roads, bridges, and highways.   Removing the gas tax would have reduced gas prices by 18.4 cents.  In April in Cincinnati, that would have brought our gas down from $3.20 to $3.00.  Less than a month later gas was at $3.60/gallon.  So, we’d have no savings and no money for roads.

The thing about this election is that there are serious issues that our country needs to deal with.  This rhetoric is getting us closer to “nowhere”.  People need to understand the issues and realize that it’s not going to be an all or nothing solution.  Compromises will have to be made, but if people are willing to discuss things in an intelligent matter, perhaps solutions can be found.