Poop:
<It is more important to vote for the person who agrees with you on more important issues. A few that I think about:>
I'll take Bush's side....
<Gun Control>
Under all the fluff, Bush is very pro gun. Under the fluff, Gore is anti-gun, or whatever stance will get him more votes at the moment.
<Environment>
Gore is environment above all else. Bush is environment as long as it doesnt hurt the US or local economy or threaten national security.
<Taxes>
Basically Gore has a tax cut plan purely to say that he does. Gore's tax cuts are so targeted that it hard for most people to use them. Bush wants to cut taxes across the board and reduce it to 3 brackets. Aside from top 1% you hear from Gore, Bush's plan makes it so that 6 million more people on the lower end of the income scale will pay no taxes at all. The middle class pays about 50% less than they do now. The top 1% get a 6% reduction in tax rates, so if you are really rich, that 6% is alot of money, but they will still pay 33% in income taxes to the federal government.
To find how you would fare, go to
www.taxclarity.com.
<Social Security>
Gore basically pumps surplus money into SS to keep it afloat for about 50 years and then it's a problem again. Gore offers a plan that if you meet certain income schedules, the fed will match any retirement plan investments you make. The downside to this is that if it is successful, it will have a huge effect on the budget, and you have to have thaat extra money to contribute to that retirement plan. It's odd he advocates this, because if you have the money to contribute, you get to double your money with Feds maatch, and isnt this the "rich get richer" scheme dems bitch about? In actuality, to get the full benefit, you'd have to have a lower income, and if you had a lower income, you couldnt afford to set that money aside to begin with. If you have the money to put aside, because of a real good income, you arent eligable. As I started with, he has a tax cut purely to say that he has one, not to really help any body. Another example, Gore will allow a 10,000 dollar tax deduction for college education. Well for most people that can afford 10,000 dollars in tuition, they wont be eligable either. Tell me how a middle class family of four sending their first child to college will come up 10K in tuition. How "poor" people will this help?
Bush wants to form a commission to study how to allow new workers to invest a portion of the SS tax they pay in investment plans, and pump surplus money into SS to keep it solvent in the meantime.
My opinion is that if you have a 401k and use it, you know why Bush is right and Gore is wrong.
<Medicare Spending>
Gore will add prescription drugs to medicare, free for the really poor, with reducing benfits as income levels rise.
Bush basically starts with Gore's plan, but also wants to include about 6 health care plans as an option to medicare. Put this way, it is pretty clear Bush has a better idea.
<School Vouchers>
Gore opposed, as a very last resort he said tonight, after every thing else failed he would consider vouchers.
Bush wants to use federal funds, because really that is all he can do as president, to give parents of children in failing schools money (vouchers) to use for tutors, or private school tuition. His ideal on this is that if the school system fails to educate, vouchers would get the children out of that school system and into private schools where the private schools compete on the ability to teach.
Does that help?