Election Ready
Let me preface this article with a few facts simply because politics is such a perspective-ridden topic.
FACTS: I was raised Republican. I am currently registered as such. My last employer was a Democratic Congressman running for U.S. Senate- Tom Udall (D-NM).
Let’s cover some basics, after all, don’t both sides believe the other misses the basics on a lot of things? The United States will elect a new president. Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) are running for this position. The election is on november 4th. That is soon, and to be a good citizen and not fall in the fires of bad-citizenery, (I checked, and this is where some of the Harding tunnels lead to) you, as an American, should vote. “Mr. English, how do I know which one to choose?” you might ask. Well, friend, by the time you’re done reading, you’ll be “election ready”.
I’ve chosen two topics (for now) that are prevalent to many people, whether it be emotionally, intellectually or dogmatically. Some have previously been discussed here on the Cartel, so don’t be alarmed if your issue isn’t covered, simply read on, friend.
The Economy
Obama’s Plan- to impose a windfall tax on large industry that would be used to finance an economic stimulus check to working, middle-class families. Those same families would also experience a tax cut. Obama also would like to strengthen America’s involvement with international trade, by adjusting tariffs to benefit the American people. Raising the federal minimum wage to a “livable” wage for working class Americans with a family. (Current federal minimum wage is $6.55) All of these ideas sound initially excellent, and would not have any adverse effects that I can see. However, Obama also supports making homeownership a key goal for every American. In theory I completely agree with this concept, but the means for this do not justify the ends. NINJA loans are a large problem we are in such an economic crisis now. Obama voted for the bailout package, time will tell if it was a beneficial maneuver.
McCain’s Plan- John McCain would like to see a reduction in social programs (Social Security, [I would have thought he appreciated an agency that caters to his age-group], Medicare and Medicaid etc.) to balance the federal budget, as well as reform Washington. What does that mean? I don’t think anyone knows, because I’m fairly certain I’ve heard that from every politician who isn’t a presidential incumbent say that. Bureaucracy is about as hard to get rid of as the annoying kid from the playground who wants to sit at your lunch table. Another critique of McCain’s economic policy almost parallel’s Obama. He would like to make states guarantee student loans, which would promote higher education, help enrollment rates and generally be good, right? If someone can’t afford to borrow money, how are they expected to return borrowed money they don’t have? Its a tricky problem.
Education
Obama- Improve teacher quality through firing the bad ones and rewarding the good ones. Other methods would be promoting teacher conferences to improve a teachers knowledge on how to teach. Obama would also like to increase college accessibility to American high-schoolers, this means simplifying the FAFSA (Its about 15 pages of redundant information- but then again, it gets you money) and encouraging high schools to increase college awareness. Making math and science a priority so we can compete as a nation with the other industrialized nations is also on the tentative agenda.
McCain- I couldn’t find much on a McCain education policy, but what I could find looked like this. Equal access to education, not necessarily equal education. This is fair, some students/people are simply more intelligent and can handle/should handle a better education. Like Obama, McCain would like to improve teachers in virtually the same manner.
More issues will come, hopefully you can make a decision. Conservatives should feel comfortable voting for Barack Obama, just as much as Liberals should feel comfortable(ish) voting for John McCain… albeit they probably won’t. Looks like Obama’s gonna win this one.
Your post was helpful to me. I like how you just put the views on the table in an easy to understand way. Very much agree on our duty as Americans to vote. I did what you said Andrew and was the first to post!
“John McCain would like to see a reduction in social programs (Social Security, [I would have thought he appreciated an agency that caters to his age-group],…”
haha… oh Cronkite, that was funny.
You weren’t nearly biased enough on this, Cronkite. Let me give you my take on this…
Obama: Should be the next POTUS.
McCain: Should retire.
Any questions?
I think there are probably some more significant differences between the two candidates that reflect their underlying ideological differences. On the economy, these are mainly about regulation vs. free market and on education they are mainly about emphasizing public education vs. school choice (vouchers).
I don’t feel all that comfortable voting for McCain, but it’s a nice thought.
I will give McCain this – I used to like him before he decided to run for President in 08. I liked the Maverick Senator McCain, but he had to swing too far to the right to get the support of the base and win the primary. He isn’t the same McCain anymore at all.
…Did you recently change your last name to McCain, my “friend”?
Just kidding.
“…just as liberals should feel comfortable(ish)…”
Favourite.
And by that, I mean I absolutely am not comfortable voting for him, at all.
Jenna: thank you and thank you.
David: I definitely agree, I would be very surprised to see a follow up to the mccain-feingold from the mccain’ now, but it almost makes sense, obama has the dem. base covered well and mccain doesn’t have his base so he has to pander to people that should have already liked him in the primaries.
The notion that Obama’s economic plans “would not have any adverse effects” is simply naïve. I would respectfully disagree for several reasons, which a simple understanding of economic principles would bring to light. Increasing the minimum wage, taxing “large industry” and redistributing income to the middle class would result in higher unemployment of the middle class. Increasing tariffs to “benefit” the American people would mean more expensive goods for the consumer. And finally, the idea that home ownership is a right is absurd. American’s have the right to work for a home, not to home ownership itself.
Tristan, I second that.
“Conservatives should feel comfortable voting for Barack Obama, just as much as Liberals should feel comfortable(ish) voting for John McCain…”
and the difference between the two parties is?….exactly! not much.
Tristan: Thank you for commenting, Would you mind giving examples?
Mythology of the Minimum Wage
http://mises.org/story/2130
Repeal the Minimum Wage
http://mises.org/story/1991
“Improve teacher quality through firing the bad ones and rewarding the good ones. Other methods would be promoting teacher conferences to improve a teachers knowledge on how to teach.”
need i even comment on this?
Excellent examples regarding minimum wage Jesse. The case against minimum wage legislation is almost unanimous among economists; including Nobel Prize winners Milton Friedman and Joseph Stiglitz to name a few.
“Quite simply, to believe in the merit of minimum wage laws is to misconstrue the fundamental claims of economics. The exceptions are economists who are willing to throw out science in defense of the policy positions of political figures.” – Joseph Stiglitz
If you look at the list below, these are problems that are occurring within the schools.
- cafeteria food: money issues, better food
- not enough teachers: new teachers do not last long
- violence/safety: security issues (ways of preventing fights and guns in schools)
- the concerns from parents – what are students learning at school? (grades could be a factor)
- what are the problems school administrators are facing? how are they dealing with these problems?
- are there any awards or rewards given out to encourage excellence at schools?
- is there anything schools are missing? (books, supplies, lack of funding, a need of teachers) student involvement (clubs, organizations, SGA)
- if students are learning, they why do we not see better results? (reports, school based reports, state reports)
Kelvin, you bring up some legitimate points, but I think they are only the tip of the iceberg.
In regard to you last point, about seeing better results, how do you think we should measure students knowledge?
Stephanie, you have asked a good question. A question that needs an answers and a question that circulates around this time of presidential election. I say that I read the article “Assessment, Student Confidence, and School Success” by Richard Stiggins he states that their is a “relationship between school assessment and effective schooling.” Furthermore, the second sentence of the article states that “this reevaluation must not center on how we assess student achievement but on how we use assessment in pursuit of student success.”
My answer, Stephanie, is involved with the sentence that Stiggins made. I believe that we should measure student knowledge not on just two subjects as the No Child Left Behind features, but in most cases continue to use standardized testing and elimiate those that are not needed. With this said, we school be not teaching to the test, but teach the material according to the curriculum, allowing more teaching freedom and use the state tests at the end of the year to measure the student knowledge. If there is a gap, then fix it and see what the weaknesses are and adjust that among all other lessons that are taught in schools.
Education has tons of great ideal perspectives. The problem lies in implementation. THAT’S what we should be discussing, something without as much distance.
You have a point there, Andrew. If the problem lies in implementation and so much as people say that implement ideas and these standards, then when they do implement them, then why is there still problems?
i think its a question of goals. what are you trying to achieve?
there is a broad education system of one size-fits-all, top-down implementation. i think this can account for a large portion of scrutiny. ever heard of the separation of church and state? why not education?
Jesse, you think there should be a separation of education and state? Completely?
lol.
“No law shall be passed respecting the establishment of education or abridging the free exercise there-of.”
Why not allow parents sovereign control of their children?
I do think a free market in education makes sense.
De-worshipping Public Education
http://www.lewrockwell.com/decoster/decoster22.html
and of course there is always Rothbard!!
never heard about him in any publically funded school I bet! (maybe briefly in some college)
Education: Free and Compulsory
http://www.mises.org/story/2226
How about de-worshiping the infallibility of the free market?
lol. the free market isn’t infallible. it is a system of profits and loss
not just profit
not this has anything to do with the post, but in response…
What is the Free Market
http://mises.org/story/1973
What Economics is Not
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/economics-not.html
Why Rothbard Makes Sense
http://mises.org/story/2034
They are not long.
Tristan, you still around? Have any examples to give on the other topics mentioned in the post? I am getting negative responses to my posts and I am not so sure that is helping the cause.
But of course, if one doesn’t read the material, there can only be criticisms of me and not the subject matter.
I have noticed this trend, anyone else?
Sometimes the spam filter catches Jesse’s comments. Sometimes I wonder why we don’t just leave them in there.
Jesse, you’re comments have been well thought through and informative. If the simple minds of our left wing, anti-capitalist contributors to this site are unable to grasp the simple, but no less relevant and truthful comments then there is no need for worry on your part.
The condescending and arrogant quips injected into the discussion by Mr. Manes are based on nothing more than ill conceived personal opinion. The anti free market thinking espoused by Manes is nothing new, but rather reeks of the outdated mercantilist argument of the 16th century. The notion that trade takes part only at the expense of others is absurd. Anyone with normal psychological capacity would understand that the market, like you previously mentioned, is an entity of ups and downs, of bull and bear runs.
If Mr. Manes dislikes the capitalistic system which has provided his high standard of living unequaled in the world, I’m sure Cuba, North Korea or China would be more than glad to take him into their fold.
Here’s an idea for Jesse and co:
Stop relying on links to make your argument for you. Briefly summarize (or explain at length) whatever it is that you want to inject into the conversation. I’m sure there are plenty of people here who wouldn’t mind engaging that, but I (and, I imagine, most involved) don’t have the time or interest to read page upon page of someone else’s commentary.
You must be talking about a different Mr. Manes because I never presented anything that could remotely be viewed as anti-free market or mercantilist. Hahahaha. Good grief.
I just don’t like worshiping the free market, which is why I said that.
Free market solutions are extremely effective in tons of circumstances, there is no doubt about that. It is often the most efficient approach for optimizing a system. But it is not always the best, and it is not always perfect.
And this brings me to my major issue with Libertarianism. It is ideologically-driven and often taken to the unreasonable extreme. Any philosophy taken to the unreasonable extreme loses whatever value it had (communism is similar).
The real world rejects ideologically-driven, extremist positions in almost every context. The US system is built on a series of paradoxes, internal checks, and competing values that demand compromise over consistency. Individual freedom and societal stability; governmental effectiveness and limitation; free markets and control/oversight. The list goes on.
i don’t read your stupid articles, jesse, b/c i know exactly what they are going to say before i even click on the links. “let the market decide!” “let everyone do whatever they want!” “god bless libertarianism!”
you don’t make any real arguments, you just link to shit that i’ve read a thousand times before. the 20th century soundly defeated libertarianism on both its merits and influence level. so LET IT GO! it’s never going to happen. i know you’re frustrated w/ the current state of our political system, but shrugging off government and reality is hardly going to fix anything.
“I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Yeah, David, if you don’t like libertarian free-market capitalism, go to North Korea.
Or Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden… all of Western Europe. Nay, the rest of Western Civilization.
Or America. We don’t have that here, either.
I say the people who want pure free-market capitalism should leave instead of me. Where do they go, though?
(Of course I am just kidding with all of this)
Steven mate, you’re comment on Paul being a sexist homosexual strips you, and any comments you ever make, of any credibility what so ever.
Yeah Steven (mate). Why do you hate the gays?
Self-evident ignorance and other deficiencies (aka jesse),
what was your point with that post? to tell me that i hurt your feelings? well, i am not sorry.
you complain of being the only one who provides substance to these “discussions,” but what more do you provide than a simple google search on some tangentially related issue coupled with the phrase “free market”?
do you think you are some sort of novel thinker in concluding that the economy is a complex organism that i affected by numerous factors?
i think i know why you never add anything “substantive” outside of your ever-present “links”; you have nothing to say other than “the free market will fix it.” which, of course, should only be the mantra of wildly disconnected white people from maine.
whoa! steven! did i miss the gay bashing? who is paul? he better not be a gay!
Above two posts, jball.
You know what’s funny, the person who introduced me to the ideal that Paul may have been gay was a Deccan at a Church of Christ.
Of course I can’t prove it, but many have suggested that Paul’s intimacy with Timothy may have go beyond simple acquaintances. Both were relatively older, single men.
Just in case you’ve ever wanted another theory as to what Paul was talking about when he lamented to God about the “thorn in his flesh.”
But to say Paul isn’t even somewhat misogynist is ludicrous.
But, you’re right Tristan, mate. I’ve been completely debunked. Forever. I’ll never type again.
alright, alright….easy easy…
j_ball..please don’t take it personally…i was only making a point…if one does any research it is obvious what i was referring to. the context is what’s important here.
if you do want to attack me then i think you should refine your arguments, because if you have read anything about what i am writing about or link to, then you would know the representation you give it is almost completely off-base.
any comment from the author, andrew?…a little direction please…
steve. how do you think your conversation with God will be when you die?
im not judging or expecting any answer in particular. im just wondering from your own standpoint.
I guess he’ll tell me to go reside with Gandhi, the Dali Lama, all of the Jews, devout Muslims, all of India, most of China, and just about all of Eastern Europe.
Or maybe he won’t say anything at all. Do we have any recordings of God talking? If we do, was it in a deep, burly-like tone? Personally, I hope God’s a calming female, who presents herself as some sort of Athena-like person–soothing and comforting. But I imagine, like everyone else.
How do you think your conversation will go Michael? Talking about gays ripping people’s butt-holes open and all.
God has a sense of humour. and as everyone knows who read my comment, it was a joke. a crude one of course, but still a joke. and i dont know how mine will go but im just going to try and live a life that pleases him. and a butt hole is already open, if you didnt know. you dont rip it open.
Just a bit of light humour there, also.
Why do social conservatives always seem so concerned with buttholes?
and your friend coleman mentioned butt holes first, mate. youre so smart. i wish i was like you.
Well, then. Good day, mate. I still like you Brits.
I think he (Mr. Grant) is Australian…
and he (michael walker) is british.
please, jesse, explain to me why i am off base.
i’m wondering if you are just linking to all of these articles instead of providing your own thoughts or analysis because you really don’t understand what they are talking about?
I’m American, fyi everyone. I just think its interesting how we got from cultures AND buttholes without combining them.
and as far as the dispute, I’m going to side with david and say that balance is key for anything, particularly when Americans and the american system is inherently built for deciding balance. i’m not dissing the free market, i think its a great concept, but as history has proven (great depression etc) we do need governmental regulation.
andrew,
http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=4013
“Students today are often given a skewed account of the Great Depression of 1929-1941 that condemns free-market capitalism as the cause of, and promotes government intervention as the solution to, the economic hardships of the era. In this essay based on a popular lecture, Mackinac Center for Public Policy President Lawrence Reed debunks the conventional view and traces the central role that poor government policy played in fostering this legendary catastrophe.”
Now some may claim that I should rewrite history for them so that I may prove that I know what I am talking about. But ya know, that’s what’s so great! I don’t have to. I am listing my sources. Where are yours?
It is indeed true that it was the failure of government intervention/regulation (and subsequent over-regulation) that caused the severe money crunch and sharp decline in market liquidity during the latter half of the 1920s and the early 1930s. The “free-market” wasn’t at fault for the great depression, it was the failure of the Federal Reserve.
Uh oh. Did I start a huge debate or something? I said one thing and everyone else just stumbled and posted their ideas and beliefs.
HUGE!
lets break out the pitchforks and torches now.
i have a good free market quote for you…
“When we call a capitalist society a consumers’ democracy we mean that the power to dispose of the means of production, which belongs to the entrepreneurs and capitalists, can only be acquired by means of the consumers’ ballot, held daily in the marketplace.”
~ Ludwig von Mises”
now ask yourself…how much is a vote worth? can you measure it? you spend money everyday, yet how often do you vote? and what kind of impact does it have? do you understand the impact your vote has on your neighbors and yourself? are you held accountable for your vote?
will your vote matter?
andrew, you’re my favourite.
“I’m american, everyone! just sayin’.”
i don’t mean to give such a negative spin on voting as to show the methods we can/do use…as you said andrew, “implementation”
well, how do you implement your plan? how will obama or mccain?
its the foundation that the government rests on, the premises through which it exists or executes. and then the effect of its regulations that it imposes.
in other words…(and your last comment is sounding very prophetic now), the purpose of government should be obvious, but history shows that government tends to be abusive, tyrannical, and an arbiter of destruction.
therefore free markets and hence free people are essential as well.
how do we implement a peaceful society? what does it need to flourish?
I find voting important since it is an activity that involves us learning more about the important documents of the United States. I’m not engaged with all the politics and the educational influence of it; however, the person who becomes the next president does matter. The laws, bills, and amendments that will be set forth will matter to use in the long run. When the presidents make a law, I believe it will affect every citizen depending on whom it is being mandated towards a certain age group. If a person does not like what the outcome is like, then he or she should not get mad because their vote did not count since the person did not vote whether they agree or this agree with the new law or amendment. To support that some people do not because they do not, I think that not everyone remembers in American Government the process on how the president is elected or how the your votes get counted in the concept of the electoral college.
If we do not understand how important it is to vote or the voting process entirely, questions should be asked to someone that knows and could help us. Some people are registered to vote, but they do not take the time out to vote. Being this said, they should form an opinion and think twice based on what they know about a person before voting. Going along with the title, let’s not take out the vote, but keep the vote for someone who actually deserves the job and high rank of president or another position in other organizations. Everyone has a chance to vote. Our vote is our voice on paper.
Jesse: I did appreciate your Mises post.
and maybe its because i’m taking a public admin class now, but I think many of the problems with educational policies are in the implementation, they just “get lost in translation”. at least this is what a lot of my high school teachers said, particularly about NCLB and some local policies.
so, i am just curious….did anyone find the time to read
this article?
Great Myths of the Great Depression
http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=4013
No, the Mackinac center is a self-ascribed “nonpartisan” institution for promoting capitalism and how the government is bad.
so you believe the myths of the great depression then?
dn’t you think that is detrimental to the cause of good policy for yourself and everyone affected?
ok, jesse, i read your little austrian propaganda/revisionist piece. what of it?
do you not see the similarity of then and now?
it is not exact, but it is striking.
what lesson has been learned from that fiasco that is being applied today?
bernanke, helicopter ben, thinks that continued inflation is the answer. this is a man who thinks economic bubbles are a phenomenon!!
who endorses the actions that are being taken by the Fed and the Gov’t around the world and why?