Question of the Day

Why should Americans be FORCED to vote for the "lesser of two evils" come election day? I really wish someone would run for president who represents all of the issues that I and most Christians are passionate about!!

The Issues

Today, I've decided (since I'm still sick) to make a very comprehensive list of the the issues of both candidates. This goes beyond my list from yesterday. How many Americans have honestly gone to BOTH candidates' websites to read about where they (supposedly) stand on issues? Not a whole lot of people; I can pretty much guarantee that!

So here goes:



McCain:

*Energy
-Believes in breaking our dependence on foreign oil by utilizing our oil reserves at home and promotes off shore drilling as a short term solution until more efficient fuel methods are discovered. (How long is that going to actually take?)
-Wants to give a $5000 tax credit to those who buy a car with zero carbon emissions
-Wants to construct 45 nuclear power plants by 2030 with an ultimate goal of 100 total
-Wants to "encourage" the market in producing more wind, hydro, and solar energy sources

*National Security
-Believes in a stronger military and giving them all of the tools they need to combat terrorism and any threat to American soil.
-Believes in "shoring up our alliances".
-Wants to ensure "quality intelligence necessary to uncover plots before they take root, the resources to protect critical infrastructure and our borders against attack, and the capability to respond and recover from a terrorist incident swiftly."
-Supports a national missile defense system "to reduce the possibility of strategic blackmail by rogue regimes and to secure our homeland from the very real prospect of missile attack by present or future adversaries."
-Wants to make the military larger, give it all of the necessary tools it needs and increase funding, and decrease the frivolous and wasteful spending in the military

*Health Care
-Believes that health care is too expensive (yeah...duh).
-Believes that every citizen should have a right to healthcare.
-Want's to give every family $2500-5000 to offset the costs of insurance (that's really not that much...sorry).
-Wants to make insurance more portable. Say if you leave your job and go to another one, your insurance should go with you if you want.
-Encourages the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSA's), because there is more autonomy in health care choices. (Bosch just went to this form of insurance. Some people aren't sure how they feel about it yet.)
-Wants to help ensure those with pre-existing conditions
-Wants to "establish a nonprofit corporation that would contract with insurers to cover patients who have been denied insurance and could join with other state plans to enlarge pools and lower overhead costs. There would be reasonable limits on premiums, and assistance would be available for Americans below a certain income level."
-Wants to reform Medicaid and Medicare
-Supports tort reform that would basically not allow a doctor to be sued if he technically followed the correct protocols in his practice. This would, in theory, put an end to frivolous lawsuits.

*Iraq (I'm just going to paste the three paragraphs from McCain's website).
"John McCain believes it is strategically and morally essential for the United States to support the Government of Iraq to become capable of governing itself and safeguarding its people. He strongly disagrees with those who advocate withdrawing American troops before that has occurred.

It would be a grave mistake to leave before Al Qaeda in Iraq is defeated and before a competent, trained, and capable Iraqi security force is in place and operating effectively. We must help the Government of Iraq battle those who provoke sectarian tensions and promote a civil war that could destabilize the Middle East. Iraq must not become a failed state, a haven for terrorists, or a pawn of Iran. These likely consequences of America's failure in Iraq almost certainly would either require us to return or draw us into a wider and far costlier war.

The best way to secure long-term peace and security is to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq that poses no threat to its neighbors and contributes to the defeat of terrorists. When Iraqi forces can safeguard their own country, American troops can return home."

*Climate Change
-Believes that "climate policy should be built on scientifically-sound, mandatory emission reduction targets and timetables."
-"climate policy should utilize a market-based cap and trade system."
-"Climate Policy Must Include Mechanisms To Minimize Costs And Work Effectively With Other Markets."
-"Climate Policy Must Spur The Development And Deployment Of Advanced Technology."
-"Climate Policy Must Facilitate International Efforts To Solve The Problem."

*Veteran's Issues
-Believes in supporting and adequately funding the needs of service men, veterans, and those who become disabled serving our country
-Believes in providing great quality health care to our service men and women.
-Believes that it is our job to take care of our military as they have taken care of us.

*Immigration
-Wants to secure our borders, he has a comprehensive plan on how to go about doing that.
-Once borders are secure, he wants to initiate several measures that keep the nation secure: prosecute employers who employ illegal immigrants, ensure that we meet America's labor need (comprehensive plan for that too), ensure that undocumented aliens in the country go through the proper steps to become documented, perform background checks on aliens and deport those who have criminal records.
-Wants to ensure that all illegal, undocumented aliens either leave or follow correct paths in becoming legal residents.
-"Will commit to clearing out the backlog of individuals that are waiting legally outside of the country, some for up to 20 years, for their green card number to become available."

*Education (to summarize)
-Believes that student of any school that does not meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind policy should be able to change schools and attend one that does meet these standards.

*2nd Ammendment (The Right to Bear Arms)
-Strong supporter of the right of innocent civilians having and using guns
-Opposes legislation that holds gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed by third parties using firearms.
-Opposes restrictions on so called "assault rifles".
-Supports legislation in requiring gun manufacturers to install gun locks on firearms.
-Supports the use of instant background checks on individuals buy guns.
-Opposes waiting periods for purchasing guns.
-Wants stiffer penalties for people who use firearms in a crime.

*Santity of Life
-Supports overturning Roe v. Wade
-Does not support abortion, but believes in encouraging adoption and creating social services for women who "have the courage" to keep their babies.
-Does not support "fetal farming," or creating embryos in order to perform stem cell research, but he agrees with using other means (i.e. amniotic fluid, umbilical cord, etc) for research.
-Defines marriage as between one man and one woman.
-Opposes human cloning

Note: all quotes come directly from http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/. This is as concise as I could possibly be on the issues that I personally really care about. To view more, you can obviously go to John McCain's Website yourself and read everything.



On to Barack Obama:

*Health Care
-Supports Universal Healthcare
-No one will be turned away due to a pre-existing condition.
-Federal subsidies to help those who cannot afford the plan.
-It will be mandatory for all children to have health insurance.
-He will expand eligibility criteria for those needing Medicaid.
-Wants to lower costs by ensuring more competition in the insurance and drug markets.

*Taxes
-Wants to take tax breaks away from companies who are moving their businesses overseas.
-Wants to raise the minimum wage whenever necessary.
-Increase workers' ability to organize unions.
-Wants to double funding for afterschool programs, and expand the Family Medical Leave Act.

*Social Security
-Wants to preserve it and protect it from those who would want to privatize it.
-Wants to ensure that companies don't neglect their pension obligations.

*Education
-Wants to create a "Zero to Five" Early education program.
-Wants to reform the No Child Left Behind mandate.
-Wants to increase compensation for teacher who really excel at what they do
-Wants to decrease the dropout rate by investing in "proven intervention stategies."
-"Will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that will make tuition at the nation’s community colleges completely free and will cover up to two-thirds the cost of tuition at the nation’s public colleges and universities. This $4,000 tax credit will be fully refundable and available at the time of enrollment in college – when families need the money."

*Clean Energy Solutions
-Wants to implement the "cap and trade" program to reduce green house gas emissions (same as McCain)
-Wants to invest $150 billion over the next 10 years to deploy cleaner technologies
-Wants to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

*Women's Issues
-Supports legislation for equal pay for women, fight discrimination, and increase child care options.
-Will require that employers much provide for 7 paid sick days.
-Encourage states to promote paid leave of absenses
-Supports women's rights to choose whether or not to abort their babies; upholds Roe vs. Wade.
-"Obama will work to reduce unintended pregnancy by guaranteeing equity in contraceptive coverage, providing sex education, and offering rape victims accurate information about emergency contraception."
-"Obama will appoint a special advisor who will report to him regularly on issues related to violence against women. Obama will also pass legislation that provides job security to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault."

*Immigration
-Wants to secure the borders
-Remove incentives for people who enter the US illegally by cracking down on employers who hire undocumented immigrants
-"Supports a system that allows undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens." (One note: The line for coming into the US legally is about 20 years long).
-"Believes we need to do more to promote economic development in Mexico to decrease illegal immigration."

*Iraq
-Did not support the war in the first place.
-Wants to bring the troops home within 16 months.
-Wants to engage in diplomatic measures to help Iraq become a stable country.

*Terrorism
-Wants to finish the fight in Afghanistan.
-Wants to crack down on Al-Qaeda in it's safe haven of Pakistan.

*Iran
-Does not support a war with Iran
-Wants strong diplomacy to "offer Iran the choice of increased international pressure or incentives if it stops its disturbing behavior."

*Military
-Also wants to increase the military and its technology.

Note: All quotes and information come from Barack Obama's, "The Blueprint for Change," which can be downloaded directly from his website: http://www.barackobama.com/issues/.

I hope that, for some people, this really helps clear up any misinformation that may have been received. You know, I really find it amazing that people will spend hours watching television or playing on the internet, but they hardly take time to find out the truth about their potential new president. This election is very important for America, as all elections are. How many of us take it for granted that we can actually vote? Remember that it wasn't so long ago that women and African Americans were not allowed to vote, and there are countries all over the world that are being oppressed by their governments. We are FREE!! Never take this for granted.

Wondering...

I am really struggling with who to vote for in this election. Honestly, I think both candidates are pretty full of crap...haha...sorry but that's just how it is. My faith in politicians isn't so high, as you can see.

McCain Pros:
Good military record and lots of experience
Seems to have a good energy idea (notice I didn't say plan)
Doesn't agree with EMBRYONIC stem cell research
Is not for abortion
Seems like a strong leader
Doesn't necessarily believe in bringing out our troops from Iraq until we clean up the mess we've made.
Strong reaction to the Russia/Georgia conflict

McCain Cons:
I don't really understand how someone can be pro-life but pro-war.
Off shore drilling is not a good idea...maybe a short term fix but not a solution
He's republican, and i am tired of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. There is, frankly no middle class anymore.
Possibly another George W. Bush, and frankly, the entire world is ready for that to be over.

Obama Pros:
Wants to ultimately get the troops out of Iraq
Seems to have good rapport with the rest of the world, so he may be able to restore a bit of our image.
Young and charasmatic
Wants a lot more funding for schools and education

Obama Cons:
Speaks really well, but I'm not sure he can honestly back up what he says.
Very wishy washy when it comes to matters of faith
Supports a woman's right to an abortion. What about the kid's rights? Or the dad's?
I'm not quite sure I'm for Universal health care...not completely sold on it yet. Do you know that Germans pay over $700 per month out of their paychecks to pay for their heathcare? How many Americans could honestly afford something like that?
He's democrat...I don't like them either...haha

This is just a preliminary list. I need some feedback from people who are actually in America. Give me your arguments. If you don't want to post them on the comments, you can email me (so that no one else will see) at mrsehl@gmail.com. Please, please give me some feedback!!

Beth

More Fun Trips

This past weekend, we traveled to Nürnberg and Rothenburg ober der Tauber. I'll tell you a little about Nürnberg first. (Man, Rick Steves should hook me up with a job)!!

Nürnberg is really old. There's even a house dating back to 1338 and a pharmacy dating back to 1486. So obviously, people have been hanging out here for a long time. Adolf Hilter also liked the place, and his aim was to make it the capital of the National Socialist Party (Nazis). An architect was hired to plan everything, and everything was set to go until America came to save the day. Haha...that's not exactly how it happened, but I just wanted to say that. Anyway, all the plans were in place. Laborers were working day and night to complete the plans. A capital building was partly built. A huge stadium that could hold 400,000 people was planned, and the sight of many of Hilter's speeches was completed. It was quite eerie to see all of this, because we were able to walk on the actual platform where Hilter gave so many of his speeches. You could imagine all of the hundreds of thousands of people standing there listening to these false promises thinking that this man was going to change Germany to make it a wonderful place. So many empty promises; so many lives lost, and for what? It made me really sad. Even the architecture that the Nazis used was very concrete and bland, but it was also so big; larger than life. You could see that it was truly Hilter's aim to take over the entire world removing the Jews, the Christians, and any other religion that exhalted itself above the power of the Nazi party. Sound like a story you've heard before from the Bible? It reminds me of when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down to Pharoah, and they were tossed into the fire. God ultimately received the glory in that situation, so sometimes I wonder why so many had to die in the Holocaust. I know I can't see the broad scheme of things, but it is just plain sad. I know that God saved and protected so many of the Jews, but I wonder what His purpose was or is in so much persecution taking place. Don't think I am doubting God. I know that if anything good happened from the Holocaust it would have to be our awareness to the dangers of the persecution of one religious group by another. I really do believe that in such a horrible situation that God was revealed to so many, and that His purposes, while they are unknown to us, were made known to many. Maybe the world is a better place because of the sacrifice. What do you think? Let's think about this for a minute. Sorry I am on a bit of a tangent right now. Can you imagine being a Christian during this time period? People had to honestly think that Hilter was THE antichrist and that Jesus was coming back on his chariot of fire at any minute. I wonder how many people found Jesus during that time. I mean, even during the cold war, there were so many Americans who honestly thought that they could be nuked at any time. I wonder where their hearts stood with Jesus. Maybe we have to go through things such as war so that we are reminded who is ultimately in control. It sure isn't us, and thank God for that!! Anyway, these are just some things I have been thinking about. Here's some pictures of Nürnberg:

 

On the River

 

I love all of the flowers on the houses and buildings in Germany.

 

Really old Pharmacy (1486). Just remember that America wasn't discovered by Columbus until 1492!

 

This house dates back to 1338. How do I know? Well, there's a plaque on the wall in front of it that tells me. haha.

Rothenburg ober der Tauber is honestly a place I know nothing about. All I know is that it's old, and a lot of tourists go there. There is, however, a really cool medieval wall that surrounds the town that you can actually walk in and circle most of the town. We did get to put our heads into the stocks which was kinda cool in a weird sort of way. Here are some photos:

 

Taken from inside the wall around the city.

 

Part of the city square

 

I am supposed to look like I am dying. Yeah, I can sing a little, but I surely can't act. haha.

 

Danny's the happiest guy you'll ever see in the stocks.

Fun Trips

We've been on some really fun trips over the last two weeks. We are trying to use all of our remaining weekends here for traveling to places around southern Germany that we haven't seen yet.

Our first visit was to Salzburg, Austria (not quite in Germany, I know). This is the place that The Sound of Music takes place and was filmed. By the way, I just saw that movie for the first time about 4-5 months ago, and I fell in love. It's funny, because most people in Germany and Austria have never even heard of this movie much less seen it. Anyway, back to Salzburg. So after driving for about 6 hours (it was only supposed to take 3 hours), we finally found our hotel and had some time to tour the city. There was something going on in every nook and cranny of this town...a concert here, people walking on stilts there. We actually came across this orchestra and choir...yes a full orchestra and choir...playing in front this big church. They actually played a medley of songs from The Sound of Music. I was on cloud nine, to say the least.

The next day, we went to the Königsee (the Lake of the King). This place is absolutely my favorite place in all of Germany. You literally ride in a boat down the lake surrounded by enormous mountains with waterfalls everywhere. I took so many great pictures, but even the photos don't do the place justice. So we hiked most of this day all around the mountains. We stopped at this little farm house to have a little lunch. It was so cute. They served fresh buttermilk and cheese and ham on bread. Kenny Tucker would have appreciated the cheese here. (It was stinky cheese, and everyone knows that the best tasting cheese is the kind that stinks the most...hehe).

I'll post some pictures here of the two locations, but to see all of them go to: http://mrsehl.picasaweb.com.

Salzburg:

 

Street in Salzburg

 

The famous glockenspiel

 

Where Mozart was born

 

Beautiful ladies on stilts

 

We thought this guy looked an awful lot like Kenny Tucker...hehe.

Königsee:

 

St. Bartolomä

 

The lake and the mountains

 

Mirror effect

 

The perky old witch