My Vote
I voted around 11:30 this morning.
For state and federal offices I went straight GOP, but I voted for Democrats in a couple of local contests (the Drain Commisioner's and the Road Commisioner's stand on the GWOT has nothing to do with their jobs, it's a question of simple competence for those offices.)
I do agree with the Donks on one issue (and only one issue), and that is fair trade vs free trade, but when our country is in moral collapse and we are threatened by murderous barbarians who want to kill us in the name of a false prophet who totally misrepresented God, I say first things first, and trade policies are not even near the top. When there are dozens of issues, the bad guys are bound to accidentally be right on one or two of them, and the good guys bound to be wrong on a couple. (Besides, if you look at the Senate votes on NAFTA and PMFN for China, you see that the same Democrats who scream about these things actually voted for them; they only care about fair trade when they are publishing phamplets for the unions to pass out, and quietly forget about it when the workers are looking elsewhere. In terms of trade, there is no meaningful difference between the parties.)
On the other issues that I care about the Donks are wrong, wrong, wrong.
GWOT, I have been informed by a union fanatic, is nothing but a Rovian distraction from the economic mess.
Family Issues: I believe that parents have the right to raise their children according to their own traditions and values, and while the Donks pay lip service to this ideal, they refuse to clip the wings of unelected bureaucrats that are deciding what parents can and can't do; in fact they appoint the bureaucrats.
We need new energy sources and in the mean time we depend on oil. We need to develop domestic oil sources and nuclear power. The screams against both of these come from the Donks. Without energy independence we are at risk and the Left's solution, nothing but using less energy, will not work even in the short run. Bush hasn't done all he can, but in fairness, the left won't let him and Congress lacks the political will to stand up to the chattering class.
Michigan needs jobs and jobs are created by employers. (Duh!) We need to be more friendly toward employers and less friendly toward anti-business groups and individuals.
Some will ask what the GOP has done about these things and I answer not alot, but it's a question. Do you vote for those who agree with you but are restrained by either cowardice or political reality or do you vote for those who disagree with you and are going to oppose everything you believe in? What Michigan needs is a GOP controlled government who will tell the radical environmentalists, the UAW, the MEA, and others who are responsible for the collapse of this state to "Shove off!" and fearlessly vote to clip their wings.
Update: My choice of words "good guys" and "bad guys" was not the best choice of words. Those who know me personally would have seen that I meant it with a bit of jocularity, but that doesn't always come through when one writes and I tend to forget that.
For state and federal offices I went straight GOP, but I voted for Democrats in a couple of local contests (the Drain Commisioner's and the Road Commisioner's stand on the GWOT has nothing to do with their jobs, it's a question of simple competence for those offices.)
I do agree with the Donks on one issue (and only one issue), and that is fair trade vs free trade, but when our country is in moral collapse and we are threatened by murderous barbarians who want to kill us in the name of a false prophet who totally misrepresented God, I say first things first, and trade policies are not even near the top. When there are dozens of issues, the bad guys are bound to accidentally be right on one or two of them, and the good guys bound to be wrong on a couple. (Besides, if you look at the Senate votes on NAFTA and PMFN for China, you see that the same Democrats who scream about these things actually voted for them; they only care about fair trade when they are publishing phamplets for the unions to pass out, and quietly forget about it when the workers are looking elsewhere. In terms of trade, there is no meaningful difference between the parties.)
On the other issues that I care about the Donks are wrong, wrong, wrong.
GWOT, I have been informed by a union fanatic, is nothing but a Rovian distraction from the economic mess.
Family Issues: I believe that parents have the right to raise their children according to their own traditions and values, and while the Donks pay lip service to this ideal, they refuse to clip the wings of unelected bureaucrats that are deciding what parents can and can't do; in fact they appoint the bureaucrats.
We need new energy sources and in the mean time we depend on oil. We need to develop domestic oil sources and nuclear power. The screams against both of these come from the Donks. Without energy independence we are at risk and the Left's solution, nothing but using less energy, will not work even in the short run. Bush hasn't done all he can, but in fairness, the left won't let him and Congress lacks the political will to stand up to the chattering class.
Michigan needs jobs and jobs are created by employers. (Duh!) We need to be more friendly toward employers and less friendly toward anti-business groups and individuals.
Some will ask what the GOP has done about these things and I answer not alot, but it's a question. Do you vote for those who agree with you but are restrained by either cowardice or political reality or do you vote for those who disagree with you and are going to oppose everything you believe in? What Michigan needs is a GOP controlled government who will tell the radical environmentalists, the UAW, the MEA, and others who are responsible for the collapse of this state to "Shove off!" and fearlessly vote to clip their wings.
Update: My choice of words "good guys" and "bad guys" was not the best choice of words. Those who know me personally would have seen that I meant it with a bit of jocularity, but that doesn't always come through when one writes and I tend to forget that.
posted by shoprat at 4:12 PM
4 Comments:
What about Affirmative Action?? You never mentioned Michigans Proposal 2
Skip That one is so big it goes without saying ;-)
A&C I appreciate your position but feel that the Libertarians go too far in some areas for my taste.
A&C hit the nail on the head! SR, the Republican'ts are not restrained by the Democrats from doing anything. Last time I looked, they controlled everything. What do you think of the Navy Times calling for Rumsfeld's resignation. GWOT is a back burner issue for the Republican'ts. They are more interested in maintaining their power and manipulating the masses with the fear machine than seriously winning in Iraq. How can we be talking tax cuts if, as the Decider maintains "we are in an epic battle for our very way of life"? Are you really trying to convince me that they take this war seriously when we are letting things get worse there by the minute? And if they really are doing the utmost to win, well then they are just incompetant. I will grant you that the Dems are the lesser of two evils, but the monumental incompetance of the current governing party should give an educated person like you pause. I am sorry, and don't take this the wrong way, but you are mired in your own preconcieved biases and are not looking at the current situation objectively. Personally, I would love to see the Libs, Greens, or Natural Law party kick out the GOP and the Donks. But let's face it, the Republican'ts are lying thru their teeth about everything, and the Dems are as well. But, knowing that there is only one viable alternative to this endless stupidity that is currently in charge, I did something that I have never done before. I voted a straight Democratic ticket.
Before you start the namecalling, I voted Yes on ending affirmative action, using hunting/fishing revenues only for the DNR, dove hunting, limiting the state goebrnment's ability to take private property, and no on the automatic increases to school funding. In other words, I voted with the Republicans on every state proposal, but against every one of their lying, incompetant, religious extremist candidates.
I read a letter to the editor by someone who said we need to tax more and pay more to employees and full speed ahead on every kooky enviro plan and basically take the big corporations down.
She works at GM.
Curiouser and curiouser...
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