Obama vs. Mccain - what difference does it make?

[Julius Seeker]

Alright, for someone like myself who has not been following the US election campaigns, can someone in a nutshell answer my question?

Would I be correct in stating:
Obama = Better, more peaceful, foreign policy; less terror techniques*; green policies.

Mccain = More war; more scare tactics; more pollution, because the world in the future is less important than big industrial dollars now.

*By terror techniques I mean the whole strategy that Bush used with an assault of tradition with homosexual marriages; Arabs who hate freedom, and will kill it with weapons of mass destruction; We can't afford to be environmentally friendly because it will mean too much sacrificing, etc.


EDIT:

Or is it similar to Canadian politics where the two main parties are essentially the same thing with squables over trivial issues.

[Blotus]

I just watched Zeitgeist and it's addendum recently so I shouldn't even comment on this.

[Imakeholesinu]

Or is it similar to Canadian politics where the two main parties are essentially the same thing with squables over trivial issues.

DING DING DING DING DING!!!

WE HAVE A WINNAR FOLKS!!!

[Louis]

Actually, the president has very little control over anything that you've mentioned. Most of that power is reserved for Congress and Executive offices with people that have prior appointments (All of these appointments have to be approved by Congress.). Sure, the president can veto congressional bills, but it can, in turn, be overturned by a 2/3 vote by Congress.

The only gray area is:

While the power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, the president commands and directs the military and is responsible for planning military strategy. Congress, pursuant the War Powers Act, must authorize any troop deployments more than 60 days in length. Military spending and regulations are also governed by Congress, providing a check to presidential power. Along with the armed forces, foreign policy is also directed by the president, including the ability to negotiate treaties, which are ratified with the consent by two-thirds of the Senate.

[Chris]

Spider Jerusalem explains voting

[SineSwiper]

Actually, the president has very little control over anything that you've mentioned. Most of that power is reserved for Congress and Executive offices with people that have prior appointments (All of these appointments have to be approved by Congress.). Sure, the president can veto congressional bills, but it can, in turn, be overturned by a 2/3 vote by Congress.

That single power to veto matters a great deal. It's extremely hard to get a 2/3rd vote on many things, especially if it's a bipartisan issue (and most of them are). A legislative branch with a different majority than the executive branch can be stuck in gridlock, or will have to trend carefully with every bill they write. On the flip side, both with the same parties can pass mostly any bill they want, as long as the party generally agrees with it.

Just compare the Republican-controlled 6 years with the last two. The Republican Party was passing whatever the fuck they wanted and the Democrats seemed to have lost their backbone in the process. Now, in the last two, the Democrats gain their momentum again and, while not able to completely do the same thing as the Republicans, can curb the bill passing habits that Republicans had. Sure, nearly absolute power like that is bad for any party, but I wouldn't mind 4-8 years of Democrats trying to fix some of the bullshit that the Republican party passed.

Also, don't forget that we are voting on congressmen and women, too. Your vote is for both branches of the government, and those two branches will GREATLY impact the third (our SCotUS).

[Julius Seeker]

In Canada, the problem with politics is that everything is so split in the country.... They fight over trivial things distracting the majority of people from issues that REALLY matter, like the environment. Historically we rarely had this kind of show and propaganda infusion into society, people were not divided like this.

[Kupek]

They fight over trivial things distracting the majority of people from issues that REALLY matter, like ______.

Everyone says this about the issue they're passionate about.

[Julius Seeker]

Everyone says this about the issue they're passionate about.

Though anyone who says this is making a very weak statement. All they would be doing is blowing off a subject they don't necessarilly know anything about by making their own assumptions and completely ignoring the specifics.

[Flip]

Obama's economic plan is to tax the richer individuals and add more programs while cutting ones that arent working. It isnt an even trade off, though, because he plans to spend more than any president ever has int he past for domestic programs. I believe i heard in the radio that he publically, at one point, said that he wont even bother with the decifit until 3 or 4 years. So that will be worse for a while. Hes still immensely popular with the middle class since he is promising us tax cuts, in spite the insane spending he plans to do. A higher capital gains tax could further hurt the market.

I voted for him, though, because i want less taxes, lol.

[SineSwiper]

Obama's economic plan is to tax the richer individuals and add more programs while cutting ones that arent working. It isnt an even trade off, though, because he plans to spend more than any president ever has int he past for domestic programs. I believe i heard in the radio that he publically, at one point, said that he wont even bother with the decifit until 3 or 4 years. So that will be worse for a while. Hes still immensely popular with the middle class since he is promising us tax cuts, in spite the insane spending he plans to do. A higher capital gains tax could further hurt the market.

The main focus will be the economy, for a while. He'll have to delay some of his other programs for that. I think part of that will be the tax cuts, but also whatever spending is required to get the economy back on track. Of course, with that $700B bailout, I think the govt has already spent what we need to get everything balanced. After that, it's just time.

Hopefully, he'll get cracking on a plan to get rid of oil as a dependant resource as soon as he can.

It isnt an even trade off, though, because he plans to spend more than any president ever has int he past for domestic programs.

This comment is completely baseless and without proof. Quit watching TV smear ads.

They fight over trivial things distracting the majority of people from issues that REALLY matter, like ______.

Everyone says this about the issue they're passionate about.

People who aren't passionate about the environment have no hope for the future. You live in the "environment", so you should care if your "environment" changes for the worse. It's like not caring that your own house is falling apart.