Note to the readers: I’ve been struggling and struggling with this piece trying to make sure I was covering everything and wasn’t being too biased. But new things keep popping up and I have some health issues on the horizon, so rather than keep poking at it I’m going to post it while I have the chance and plan to make addendums as necessary. On to the actual post…

It’s very disheartening to realize that he’s against abortion unless the woman is a victim of rape, incest or her life is in danger along with thinking adoption and foster care are the solution to the problem of unwanted pregnancies. Because the hundreds of thousands of kids currently in foster care awaiting adoption that are going to age out of the system without ever having a permanent home aren’t enough of a clue that his approach isn’t feasible. Neither are the studies showing that foster care is worse than staying in a troubled home. So, let’s make people have babies they don’t want/can’t afford/can’t take care of, and then let’s put those kids into an already overburdened system and hope that magically everything will be okay.

But that’s not my only issue with McCain as a candidate. No, let’s talk about his commitment to veterans. Little known fact, I’m ex-military and I went through college on a combination of the GI Bill and the Illinois Veteran’s Grant. Now, when I was a GI Bill recipient the monthly check wasn’t remotely enough to cover college tuition at today’s prices, but it was a nice little chunk of change and helped me keep my head above water. No, the IVG was what actually paid for college and kept me from having crazy student loan debt. Now, one would think that McCain being a vet would want something similar for today’s soldiers. Yeah, not so much. He thought the expanded educational benefits would hurt the military by giving military personnel more options outside of serving. Because you know that 3,4, or 6 year initial commitment isn’t enough. No, let’s arrange a cute little trap to make long term service (for volunteers!) the only viable option. and yes, I know he’s said he’d only try to bring back the draft if World War III was upon us, but leveraging promised benefits against retention would let him say that since fewer soldiers would be able to afford to leave at the end of their tour. A lot of people join in order to be able to afford college, which is getting further and further out of reach for low income families especially in the current economy.

Speaking of the economy I’m not entirely certain he has any idea what he’s doing when it comes to little things like balancing the budget. After all the latest plan he’s unveiled calls for the budget to be balanced by the end of his first term. But it doesn’t seem to actually have the steps in place to balance the budget much less avoid leaving the poor and elderly out in the cold. I shudder to think of what social programs would be cut to the bone or lose funding entirely given how a large part of this plan is predicated on reducing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. There’s no direct mention of food stamps, but I wouldn’t hold my breath over there being any increase in that funding either despite the increase in gas prices meaning both an increase in food costs and a decrease in available cash in many households to buy groceries.

These are not my only issues with McCain’s candidacy but I’d say these are among the most important issues for any American and I’m more than a little nervous about the idea of McCain as President. I know we’re pledged to stay in other countries (most notably Germany & South Korea) for 100 years, but that doesn’t mean adding new locations to that roster is a good idea. Making it less feasible for military personnel to have good options at the end of their tour isn’t what I’d call taking care of the troops. And balancing the budget by making it more difficult for the poor to exist is just flat out ridiculous. Especially since you then want to limit the options of low-income women to plan their family size. Of course if you want to be at war on multiple fronts for 100 years, what better way to ensure troop levels than to have limited educational opportunities for the masses of unwanted children born in a society where abortion isn’t an option and access to birth control will be increasingly curtailed by cuts to Medicaid then I guess this plan makes sense. Of course that’s a crazy conspiracy theory that doesn’t make any sense. Right?

Karnythia is a writer, a historian, and occasionally a loud mouth. In between raising hell and raising kids she usually manages to find time to contemplate the meaning of life as a black woman in America. Her posts on any topic can be found at her Livejournal.