Randomize

Now that Obama’s site has an updated issue list, I decided to do a quick comparison of his issues and mine.

Civil Rights: I agree with most of his punch-list, except expanding “hate crimes.” All crimes are crimes of hate, and attaching more meaning to a crime because the driver was racism/sexism/etc. merely diminishes the crime itself. Hating is a sin, but it’s not a crime.

Disabilities: As someone with a somewhat-mild case of Asperger’s Syndrome, I’m excited to see Obama’s position on better research and education tools for autism-spectrum disorders. Research on this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the private sector because there is no miracle-drug that will result from it. I also agree with universal screening of children–catching problems early will save enough tax money down the road to justify federal funding.

Economy:

• ****I don’t like it when Democrats use the term “working families” to describe the poor. It smacks of pandering, and as a member of the middle class, I don’t like the insinuation that I don’t work for a living.
• His proposal to pre-fill the tax forms using the data already gathered from employers and banks is a damned good one. Not exactly the Fair Tax, but I always get frustrated filling out information on a form that someone already has.
• I’m with him on trade issues. Though I always wonder how useful “job transition training” programs actually are. Getting people to a normal school for a new Associate’s Degree or Certificate would be a better solution IMHO.
• Innovation/technology. Point for point, I’m in total agreement. I especially like that he is in favor of network neutrality.
• Labor. Agreed.
• Mortgages. I like the 10% Mortgage tax credit. Since we don’t itemize, we have the same tax burden as a renter, which I think is suboptimal. And I have to give the guy credit for being one of the few who saw the subprime mortgage crash coming and has some decent ideas on how to prevent it in the future.
• Credit cards. Again, I think he’s on-target. Credit card companies make way too much money from way too many poor people simply by making their system punitive and confusing at every turn.
• Bankruptcy. Again, 100% support.
• FLMA. As long as “academic” leave doesn’t include ball games, I’m in favor. I don’t like “after-school” programs, though, I’d rather just see a longer school day that involves more time for self-study and tutoring. Then get rid of homework (homework places children from poor homes at a disadvantage, since they have a crappy learning environment at home).

Education:

• I’ve heard mixed reviews of transitional vs. immersive ESL. My guess is that a near-immersive experience is best. So I’m not a fan of his emphasis on transitional learning.
• Overall, I like his plans. I’d like to see more privatization/vouchers and some studies into why colleges are so freaking expensive, but if the gubment is going to run the schools, they need funding and oversight.

Environment/Energy:

• I think I might prefer Gore’s system (replacing employment taxes with a carbon tax), but cap-and-trade is better than we’re doing now.
• I don’t think biofuel or “clean coal” are good long-term solutions, but I am resigned to the fact that my car isn’t going to be solar-powered in the next five years either.

Ethics: 100% in agreement. Part of the reason I was attracted to Obama was his not accepting money from lobbyists and PACs.

Faith: He’s a Christian, I’m a Christian. But more importantly, I agree with him about the nasty tone our country has right now on both sides w/r/t religion.

Family: Nothing I disagree with here, but it’s mostly a regurgitation of other issues.

Fiscal: The Democratic Party is officially now the party for fiscal conservatives. Weird. Does that mean fiscal conservatives are now liberal? *head explodes*

Foreign Policy: Obviously, 100% agreement.

Healthcare: I’ve heard his plan explained before and compared to the others, and I liked it (private insurance is not a “free market” system, so I’m not against universal coverage in principle, only in practice). But I need to read over it in detail.

Homeland Security: All of his proposals seem reasonable and tied to actual issues, rather than being scare tactics used to undermine civil liberties.

Immigration: Exactly what I’ve been saying for years. Fix the borders, fix the ridiculously-long waiting list, and maybe help Mexico become something other than a place people want to escape from.

Iraq: One of the issues that attracted me to Obama.

Poverty: Again, I’m a skeptic of “job training.” But the rest of his plan seems balanced, and the money is going into actual incentives for work, not more welfare. And compared to the cost of continuing to blow crap up in the Middle East, his programs are dirt cheap.

Rural: Everything here, again, seems measured and reasonable. Unlike the traditional approach of just increasing subsidies that get gobbled up by Big-Ag.

Service: Haven’t heard anything about these proposals before, but I like them. Time to convert some spears back into plowshares. Community service shouldn’t just be for criminals and church groups.

Social Security: Cutting taxes and waste, encouraging savings, and enabling free-market competition for drugs? Starting to think Obama should be running on the other ticket as well…

Technology:

• Since Time Warner locally is now using Beaumont as a shot across the bow at network neutrality (their “usage-based rate plan” that conveniently exempts their own VOIP and VOD services), this is near and dear to my heart.
• Current media ownership is ridiculously non-diverse.
• I certainly think that enabling parents to filter content is better than censorship and government control.
• His privacy initiatives are completely on-target. Unlike the current Administration, who believes that privacy is not even a Constitutional concept.
• Open government: YES! As someone who regularly has to deal with federal agency web sites, I’m in total agreement.
• Even the little things, like the current definition of broadband as a measly 200kbps, show this guy has some excellent advisors.
• His stance on copyright issues is more balanced than most–apparently he still believes in Fair Use.
• His idea for a “gold-plated” patent is what the tech industry has wanted for years.

Urban Policy: Not my area of expertise, but I like the idea of making sure the money is spent effectively. And we definitely need more of a focus on fixing our crumbling infrastructure.

Veterans: I won’t even get started on the crap McCain has said this week about Obama wanting to “cut funding” while McCain won’t even support Sen. Webb’s VA bill.

Women: I disagree with his position on abortion, it should be a state issue. But after hearing him speak about this issue, I can understand and respect his opinion on this issue. I can live with his position on stem cell research.

After carefully considering all of these points, I am more convinced than ever that I’m voting for the right guy.