boring politics

In an effort to be an informed voter, I just finished reading the transcripts of the 2nd and 3rd Democratic primary presidential debates, and the "issues" section of each candidate's website. I'll do that for the Republicans next. I'm an Independent so I have to decide which primary to vote in. Here's a summary of what I've learned. Who knows? Maybe it will help you out too.

The candidates are Mike Gravel, John Edwards, Sen. Joseph Biden, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Christopher Dodd, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Barack Obama, and Gov. William (Bill) Richardson.

I tend to think of these as the big three.

Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all want pretty much the same things and have similar ways of achieving their goals. They all want a time frame to get us out of Iraq. They all want affordable health insurance for everyone, however, Edwards wants to make purchasing health insurance mandatory. His view is that if it is low-cost enough, everyone can afford it. Obama and Clinton do not want to force people to purchase it, but just make it affordable enough for everyone to do so. They all want to strengthen the public schools, make college more affordable, enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur and economic sanctions in Sudan, raise minimum wage, remove Bush's tax cuts for those making over $200,000 or $250,000 depending on the candidate, pro-gay marriage, and want to let gays openly serve in the military. They're also all pro-environment and want to reduce our dependency on oil. They all want to do something about illegal immigration, but nobody seems to have any detailed ideas.

Dodd - He is similar to the above three except Dodd wants to end the war on March 31, 2008 and his health care plan includes a Universal Health Care Fund. Employers will either have to provide insurance for their employees or contribute to the fund. If your employer doesn't cover you, than you are required to purchase insurance from the fund on an income-based price.

Biden - He has a very detailed plan for Iraq that gives the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunis shared power. He has the same goals as Clinton, Obama, and Edwards, but with the exception of his Iraq plan, I couldn't find any other plans, just rhetoric.


Richardson - He is similar to Clinton, Obama, and Edwards in ideology. In my opinion, he doesn't have the experience or political backing to make much of a showing.


These next two are very radical in their ideas and plans.


Gravel -He has radically different plans from the others. Gravel wants health care vouchers given to each person yearly based on projected needs, wants to bring troops home in 60 days, and eliminate the IRS. He also supports the National Initiative for Democracy which means that Congress would have to vote itself out of existence, so the people could vote on their own legislation.


Kucinich - He wants not-for-profit health care instead of insurance companies, wants free college for everyone, and wants to end the war on drugs by decriminalizing illegal drugs and making it a medical and moral problem instead of a criminal one.