On November 4, 2008, the nation will be voting on a new President of the United States. This election has been very exciting from both sides of the parties. The Democratic side has Barack Obama running for President and Joe Biden as Vice President. The Republican side has John McCain running for President and Sarah Palin as Vice President. Both Parties are having major world alternating things happening inside them. Obama is the first black man that has a remarkably chance of winning and McCain now has Palin on his ballot and she would be the first woman Vice President. There are several different stances that each party stands for. Here is a look into each.
The Republican Party was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and quickly surpassed the Whig Party as the principle opposition to the Democratic Party. Back when Abraham Lincoln was President, the Republicans presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction and were harried by internal factions and scandals toward the end of the 19th century. The Republican Party freed the slaves and done a lot of things that the Democrats didn’t want to accept at the time. Now a lot of that has changed. Republicans support the military forces, big businesses and the economy.
The Democrat Party is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States of America. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and other influential opponents of the Federalists in 1792. In the 1800’s Democrats stood for limited government and the opposition to moralism in politics. They opposed republican projects such as building roads, freeing slaves, and prohibiting sales of alcoholic beverages. Woodrow Wilson caused the party’s economic policies to change. By the end of Franklin Delanor Roosevelt’s reign Democrats stood for positive government action to help the economy. Democrats were referred to as the “common man”.
Republicans and Democrats are two separate groups that are almost opposite on their beliefs. Right now, we have a supposedly Muslim man running for President of the United States for the Democrats. The Constitution was founded on Christian Beliefs. Do you believe that is wrong? Some people believe that a Muslim man can not be in charge of a Christian country. Religion has always played a major role for both parties, however, in the course of a century; the parties' religious compositions have changed. Before the 1960’s, Religion was a major dividing line between the parties with Catholics, Jews, and Southern Protestants heavily Democratic, and Northeastern Protestants heavily Republican. After the New Deal Coalation in the late 1960’s, most of the old differences faded away. In my mind, we shouldn’t all be judged on our religion. We basically need to look for the person that is going to take care of our country no matter skin color or religion.
Healthcare is a big issue with the country right now. A lot of people that need health care can’t get it due to lower income. Per the RNC website, here is what the republican President wants to do:
• The President's plan will help more Americans afford health insurance by reforming the tax code with a standard deduction for health insurance - like the standard deduction for dependants.
• The Affordable Choices Initiative will help make basic private health insurance available and will provide additional help to Americans who cannot afford insurance.
• These two policies will work together to help more Americans afford basic private coverage...
• The President's proposal will lower taxes for millions of Americans who now purchase health insurance on their own, making their insurance more affordable.
John McCain wants to reform Health Care making it easier for individuals and families to obtain insurance also to be able to purchase insurance across state lines. He wants to reform the tax code to give us the choice of which we pick and give us a refund check to offset the differences in insurance costs. This, to me, will cause a dramatic increase in our taxes. Many companies don’t offer insurance for their employees because it will cost too much, if they can help out the business, this may help us a little better. John McCain also wants to make insurance more portable, so that if we leave a job we can take insurance with us. Some companies offer that now, however the cost is outrageous and way too much for people to pay.
In Iowa, Barack Obama spoke about health care. He stated: “We now face an opportunity — and an obligation — to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates… My plan begins by covering every American. If you already have health insurance, the only thing that will change for you under this plan is the amount of money you will spend on premiums. That will be less. If you are one of the 45 million Americans who don't have health insurance, you will have it after this plan becomes law. No one will be turned away because of a preexisting condition or illness.”
Barack Obama’s Plan seems to be more reasonable as far as health care goes. He speaks about how he wants to make health care available to everyone and even if you have a pre-existing condition, you won’t be turned away. He is also going for affordable deductibles and co-pay. He also says, “Individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will receive an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or purchase a private health care plan.”
Out of the two plans, I believe that Obama’s plan is a better and more reasonable plan. The people that can’t afford insurance are the ones of a lower income. Last year, my mother was shot in the head. She lost her eye and the right side of her face is still shattered and broken. She had no insurance when this happened. She has over $200,000 dollars in medical bills and she still needs several more surgeries, however, no place will take her in because she has no insurance. The plastic surgeon supposedly reconstructed her face only to find out a few months ago that her face is still shattered and the eye doctor can’t do anything to her eye socket until that is fixed. She can’t go get it fixed because she has no insurance and can’t get any assistance through the state. She can’t even get disability. With Obama’s plan, my mother would be able to have the surgeries she needs to go on living before the infection in her eye seeps to her brain.
The education plan is something I feel very strong about. In this country, we are seeing some of the lowest scores ever. The drop out rate is tremendously high. We have all the education in the world at our fingertips; we need to have the children understand that. You are more powerful of a person having a stronger knowledge base. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was started originally with the right ideas. However, with inadequate funds and teaching has only held back students and caused more harm. The students are just getting pushed through the system without actually helping them. If there were more teachers that would reach out and help these students, the plan would be wonderful. Barack Obama wants to do this. He wants to reform the No Child Left Behind Act by starting with funding the law. He will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college and the workplace and improve student learning in an individualized manner. Obama is also focusing his efforts on early child hood development. He wants to implement a “Zero to Five” plan that provides support to the young child and parents. The plan places key emphasis at early care and education for infants as well as the pre-kindergarten ages. Barack Obama has a plan to modernize and strengthen our education system by ensuring children have the skills to compete in our economy. Obama will do this even if it means breaching our current tradition in education. They’ll insist on more reform and accountability, increase resources, and recruit an army of new teachers.
John McCain seems to be in agreement with Osama in regards to the No Child Left Behind Act. However, McCain doesn’t seem to go into detail the way that Osama does. McCain says that he wants to educate the teacher more and reward them. He believes our schools can and should compete to be the most innovative, flexible and student-centered - not safe havens for the uninspired and unaccountable. He wants to give student and their parents the choice to change school if that is what they want. He also wants to fund more of the ‘Head Start’ programs. He wants to focus on funding for the children that is most in need of the programs.
Out of the two, Obama has a better Education Plan. It seems he wants to actively fight for our kids and their futures. In my opinion, McCain doesn’t have enough to support his plan. Fixing the No Child Left Behind Act won’t fix the problems we are having in education. We all need to act as Parents and Teachers for our children of the next generation to succeed in life and be better people of the future.
