How I’m voting for the environment on Feb. 5, 2008
My vote for President: Hillary Clinton
Let me preface this by saying I have nothing against Obama, and will not be upset if he wins.
But I think Hillary’s the better candidate.
Hillary’s experience — and relatedly, her long-time dedication to the issues I care about — is the deciding factor for me. Obama often gives me the impression that he’s making decisions on the fly, learning as he goes. Learning quickly’s great, but I’d rather vote for someone who’s already done more of this learning before entering the White house. Obama often seems to quickly take a stand — then qualify it later. On “clean coal,” for example, he first simply came out in support of it — then qualified it later to match Hillary’s stance.
At the CNN debate last week, Obama actually tried to make Hillary look like the flip-flopper, pointing out that she’s changed her stance on whether to give undocumented immigrants drivers’ licenses. Hillary then pointed out that he too had changed his stance on the issue — to which he could only nod in sheepish agreement. Why he even brought up the issue when he must’ve known he’d done the same position-changing, I don’t know. But his misguided tactic, to me, seemed like an example of his inexperience.
When it comes to health care, Obama’s platform seems extremely contradictory to me. Calling a voluntary program “universal health care” aside, Obama levels critiques against Hillary’s health care proposal that seem to even better fit his own proposal. For example, at the CNN debate, Obama said everyone who wants health insurance will be able to buy it because subsidies will be available for the poor. However, when referring to Hillary’s plan which also includes subsidies for the poor, Obama said “there’s still going to be people who can’t afford it.” Which is it?
Furthermore, he attacks Hillary’s plan, saying that mandating that people buy health care will require disciplinary measure for those who don’t comply. “Are you going to fine them? Are you going to garnish their wages?” he asks, arguing that the poor who can’t afford to buy health care will be unduly punished. But then when asked what he’ll do when people who haven’t bought into his voluntary health care plan show up asking for care, Obama says we can address that “By, for example, making them pay some of the back premiums for not having gotten it in the first place.” If that’s the case, Obama’s questions to Hillary about fining and garnishing wages of the poor who couldn’t afford to buy health insurance seems to apply to his program too.
In the end, I agree with Hillary’s assessment: “Now, in Barack’s plan, he very clearly says he will mandate that parents get health insurance for their children. So it’s not that he is against mandatory provisions, it’s that he doesn’t think it would be politically acceptable to require that for everyone.” I also think that Hillary has learned from her previous efforts to get a health care package passed, and has a better understanding of the negotiations necessary to get a package through this time around.
Of course, Hillary’s long-time experience means that she’s also made more visible mistakes — like voting to give Bush more authority to take military action in Iraq, which Hillary says was a decision made on the limited info available at that time. Since, Hillary’s actively and visibly critiqued the Bush administration’s involvement in Iraq on numerous occasions. Obama wasn’t in the senate at this time, so it’s difficult to see what he would’ve done in the situation. At this point, both Obama and Hillary say they’re getting us out of Iraq; I think Hillary is our best bet for getting us out safely, as quickly as possible.
On enviro issues, Obama and Hillary’s platforms are very similar — though I like Hillary’s more qualified stance on nuclear power. More importantly, Hillary showed up for Grist’s presidential forum on global warming and energy and displayed her knowledge of the science and policy issues around global climate change (see top video). David Roberts of Grist says that his impression at this debate was that “Clinton had the best grasp of the political and policy details.” Obama was MIA.
I really do like Obama, but most of what I like about him is what he symbolizes, not what he’s done or what he has been able to — or will be able to — achieve. With Hillary, we’ve seen what she’s done — both her failures and successes. The low points of course leave her more vulnerable to critique, but I believe she’s the more capable and promising candidate for successfully bringing about the many progressive changes we need in our government.
Tags: hillaryclinton, president
Got a lil behind this week due to Earth Day festivities. Meaning that today’s actually day 10 — and the freebie already went up — but I didn’t quite get a post up for yesterday.
Honestly, I’m not sure what a fair share is. I also don’t particularly have anything against gambling (yes, it’s a problem for some, but everything’s a problem for some). There are some questions about oversight, workers’ rights and environmental impact issues, but just as it’s difficult to tell wether $9 billion is fair, it’s difficult to tell whether the provisions made to address these issues are adequate. Yes, there are clauses about environmental impact studies and independent audits, but the devil’s in the details, which aren’t in my voter’s guide. One side says the provisions are adequate, the other disagrees. 
This measure changes the length of time a person can serve in the state legislature (made up of the assembly and the senate). Right now, a person can serve in the assembly for 6 years max, and in the senate for 8 years max — for a combined 14 years. If Prop 93 passes, the total time a person could serve in the legislature would decrease, from 14 years to 12 years. However, the measure also would also allow a person to spend all of those 12 years in either the assembly or the senate. 
I’m all for community colleges, but this measure seems more like a power play than an effort to improve community colleges. 
The no vote on this should be a no brainer, since the people who put the measure on the ballot in the first place are now urging you to vote no. 
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