Why I Will Not Vote This Year

danlefeb — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:35:00 +0000

I spent a lot of time struggling with a decision that I believe will be my final one for this election. For those that know me, I am usually not extremely political. I’m usually a pretty neutral guy when it comes to politics in general. The reason for that is mainly because there are no candidates or politicians that I have ever agreed with and I don’t think I should vote for someone that I really don’t think can do a good job.

I had procrastinated on the presidential elections this year, but lately I’ve done some research into the candidates and where they claim to stand, where they actually stand due to their past voting histories, etc. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I cannot in good conscience vote for either John McCain or Barack Obama.

Why?

Well, let’s put aside the fact that they are both typical modern-day politicians and as such have built their campaigns on lies, deceit and slander against their opponents. Although honestly, that right there is enough reason for me to not vote for them.

Here’s a brief rundown of the pros and cons that I see for each respective candidate. Starting with John McCain, because “M” comes before “O”.

Why I Am Not Voting For John McCain
	Abortion	John McCain supports a prohibition on publically-funded abortions, as well as a ban on partial birth abortions. While I believe that abortions would not be necessary if the nation as a whole turned to YHWH, I cannot imagine a situation where a partial birth abortion would be necessary. Nor do I think the tax payer should pay for something that a woman chooses to do, even if it is the result of something unwanted like a rape or such. Every situation varies and I’m sure in many cases the mother would gladly give her life for the life of her child — even if it was a child that came from unwanted or unexpected circumstances. It a decision that the mother and/or the mother’s family should make. The government has no right to control any aspect of this.
	Budget	McCain supports a numerous number of increases in spending by the government. This means a larger government. You can’t tell me that the government will shrink if it gets a bigger budget on anything – that’s just not how the government works. It doesn’t look for ways to shrink…it looks for ways to expand.
	Taxing	This is always a sensitive subject, because it is something that everyone in the nation will see an instant difference on as soon as their paycheck comes. While I’m all for lower taxes, I don’t see how McCain will lower taxes and yet increase spending in the government. Where does that money come from? Every politician knows that this subject will win votes if they promise lower taxes, but not every politician follows through with promises of lower taxes once they’re in office. I have a hard time believing that McCain will lower taxes overall.
	Education	Ideally, I think parents should teach their own children at home to get the best results but I also realize that in a time when a majority of both men and women want to (or have to) work to make ends meet, I think the only way that more time at home can be achieved is if the overall bottom line comes down. That’s not likely to happen in my lifetime. In my opinion the overall public school system when compared to other nations is lacking by far. Sure, there are good public schools just as there are bad public schools. There are good private schools and bad private schools. There are good homeschoolers, there are bad homeschoolers. Overall, I think our education system is below what it is in other nations and I don’t think the government should have any place in education. Setting more regulations will only increase the government presence in schools.
	Environment	For those that don’t know me, I think the whole “Go Green” movement is a joke. Global warming is a natural phenomenon that is no more affected by humans than earthquakes immediately cause hurricanes. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we should throw trash wherever and I do believe it’s good to be as clean as possible when it comes to pollution. But when jobs are lost, businesses are forced to close and people are forced to spend money that they don’t have to comply with government regulations then it needs to stop. It’s getting way out of hand. And McCain only supports more government regulations on this issue.
	Immigration & Foreign Policies	This country was founded on immigrants. As such, I think immigrants should be welcomed into the country – but they enter the country knowing that they must follow the laws of the country. If the country followed the laws of YHWH more closely, the consequences of breaking the law would be more severe and you wouldn’t have people wanting to come to the US to do illegal activities. If you find that criminals harbor themselves here anyway, then punish their crimes based on the Torah.Sending aid and financing anything for other countries is rather pointless when our own country has trillions of dollars in debt and is hurting. Shouldn’t we fix our own problems before doing anything overseas? And by “doing anything”, I mean ANYTHING. McCain supports a military with a strong presence overseas.

Why I Am Not Voting For Barack Obama
	Abortion	Barack Obama supports abortion. From what I could gather, he seems to support pretty much every aspect of abortion and most importantly he believes that the government should regulate everything. His view of “Pro Choice” means “You get to choose, as long as it’s in line with what I allow you to choose.” Is it really choice if someone creates a multiple choice for you? Here, choose “A” or “B”. I don’t care if you want “C” — you have to choose either “A” or “B”. You wanted “A” anyway? Well, you’re in luck. Oh wait, you wanted “a” and not “A”? Nevermind then – you only get my form of “A”. Take it or leave it…but you can’t complain because I gave you the choice.
	Budget	Everything about Obama implies government control over something. Unfortunately, the money for this has to come from somewhere. And as I’ve stated before, the government doesn’t shrink – it grows.
	Taxing	Despite Obama’s call for tax reform, all his money for his programs have to come from somewhere. And just like McCain, I doubt his “tax cuts” will result in much money in the pockets of Americans. The government will find ways to get it somehow — and other increased taxes that Obama supports such as an increase in the gas tax, will help make sure that the government gets its cut.
	Education	Just like McCain, Obama has a plan to increase the government regulation over education. This takes away control from the parents and gives it to where it doesn’t belong — the government.
	Environment	Like most democrats, Obama appears to be very much for the “Green” movement. As I stated before, this whole movement is a joke. It’s sort of like those holidays that people claim are made up by the greeting card companies in order to sell cards. Except in this case, the green movement was made up by people wanting to sell carbon credits.

As you can probably tell, I didn’t feel like repeating myself a lot when typing out the reasons not to vote for Obama. I feel as if there are a lot of the same reasons to not vote for Obama as to vote for McCain. They are both inherently evil men who will head up an even more powerful government that seeks to gain as much control as it can seize. Obama for change? I don’t think so. The same will ring true regardless of whether or not Obama or McCain wins — the government will grow even more powerful and larger and steal even more control from the people and parents in America.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma does not allow for a write-in vote. So I have only two choices to vote for in the upcoming election: Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama. I can’t vote for anyone else. That disappoints me. The more I looked up facts about McCain and Obama, the more I was disgusted with them. So my solution, as you may have guessed by now, is to simply not vote. But hopefully by not voting I can send a message (although, admittedly, a quiet one) that I am against both candidates. I have no illusions that my “message” will get through. In fact, living in Oklahoma, I am guessing that McCain will win the state and my position will not make a difference at all. But then again, regardless of who wins….regardless of who you, the reader, vote for….your position will not make a difference either. The winner of this election has their own agenda to follow and does not care about you as a person, no matter what they may say to get your vote. It’s only a coincidence if your beliefs happen to cross theirs.

Think I’m wrong? You’re welcome to try to convince me why your favorite candidate is the leader that will turn this nation back around. If you succeed, you may get one more vote for your candidate!

danlefeb.com » President

Why I Will Not Vote This Year