The 10 Biggest Differences Between Obama and McCain That Will Affect Your Daily Life

The 10 Biggest Differences Between Obama and McCain That Will Affect Your Daily Life

AlterNet. Posted October 17, 2008.

The next president will influence everything from your Internet access to your ability to pay medical bills.


When the polls open in 18 days, voters will be faced with a stark choice in presidential candidates -- a choice that ultimately comes down to one question: What do you want the next four to eight years of your life to look like? Because the next president will shape the issues that affect the way we live our day-to-day lives.

The future of Social Security, health care, education, income, employment, civil rights and democracy itself all hang in the balance. And the two candidates are worlds apart in their visions for the country.

From the fate of the Supreme Court to the future of Internet access, here are the 10 most important differences between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.

1. Who They Want to Tax

Tax cuts targeted at the wealthiest Americans during a period of runaway spending -- with hundreds of billions of tax dollars spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- have resulted in massive federal deficits.

Both Obama and McCain say they'll control spending and cut taxes, but they are miles apart on the question of who would get those cuts.

According to an analysis of his tax plan by the Tax Policy Center, Obama would cut taxes on the 95 percent of filers who make less than $227,000 per year and raise taxes on the 5 percent whose incomes exceed that amount. Compared with current policy, Obama's tax plan would increase government revenues by $627 billion over the next 10 years.

McCain would make Bush's "temporary" tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans permanent. His plan would cut taxes on top earners by $23,000 per year. He would cut taxes for all other Americans as well, but his cuts would only be deeper than Obama's for those earning between $112,000 and $227,000 -- about 20 percent of the population. Compared with current policy, McCain's tax plan would decrease government revenues by $595 billion over the next 10 years, meaning that new spending cuts would be necessary to avoid growing the deficit even larger.

2. How They Would Shape the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court regularly hears cases on everything from personal injury to sexual harassment to environmental health -- cases that set legal precedents and can affect our day-to-day lives for decades, even centuries.

Our next president could name as many as three new justices for the bench. John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter are all likely candidates for retirement, which means the new picks would be replacing three of the court's four moderate- to liberal-minded justices.

If Obama becomes president, the political calculus of the court will probably stay the same. If McCain becomes president, you can count on an influx of conservative ideology.

First up on the chopping block would be Roe v. Wade. McCain has already promised that much. And if something happens to McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, takes his place, watch out. Not only does she want Roe overturned, she has made it clear that there should be no exceptions even in cases of rape or incest. Under her watch, a 12-year-old raped by her father would be forced to bear the child. For all of conservatives' talk about values, it's hard to imagine a worse way to start a family.


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http://www.alternet.org/election08/103387/the_10_biggest_differences_between_obama_and_mccain_that_will_affect_your_daily_life/?page=entire

your rethug friends with facts and logic, something many of them are unaccustomed to. Hey, I might have to try it on my brothers! ;)

:kick: :hi:

and I think most of us don't usually think about it.

Ellen Goodman did a column on this recently.

the real damage is being done at the lower court level. Bush has been busy packing District Courts and the Appellate bench with corporate whores. Something like 99 percent of cases never make it near the Supreme Court -- and even then, the Supreme Court can just decide not to hear it.

Real damage is being done at the lower level, which is where right-wing judges can just toss out cases against the fascists. While the Supreme Court can decide the blockbuster issues like reproductive rights, the country is being eaten from within by thousands of smaller cases that are decided in favor of corporations and criminals.