I thought I wouldn*t watch
the Presidential Debates.
I thought I would just stick my head in the sand and hope for the election to be over before I pulled it out again.
But I watched the SNL parody of the Presidential Debates which made me wonder about the actual Debate. And next thing I knew I was very interested in the manner and answers of the Sept 26 debate.
If you only read Facebook posts, you would think the vote is over this question:
“Who is the least wicked?”
On one side of the scale we have
unethical ….and deleting ….and setting people up for murder
and on the other we have
groping…and funny hair…and not paying…and cheating at….
So as Christians we weigh, which is worse? Deleting emails vs. Adultery? Attempted murder or tax evasion? The ad hominem attacks expose almost every hidden aspect of the lives of the candidates, and we have to say…hmmm…which is actually worse? Which is more tolerable to have in a leader? “What do the 10 Commandments say?”
I have some good news for you.
A wicked person will be in the White House.
First of all, we are all wicked. Secondly, a third party candidate cannot win unless there is an “act of God” destroying both candidates before the election. (After the election, of course, the VP would become Commander-in-Chief.)
Why is this good news?
Note well. This is not an ethics vote. It is NOT asking you to vote for the best-of-the-worse SIN. We don’t like it. But facts are facts–One of those sinners will be in the White House. Inasmuch as Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Nixon, Obama, Jefferson, and JFK were sinners, we have a doozy….again. We have a sinner, again, in the White House.
Case in point…JFK, for all his fame and fortune, was a womanizer. He just didn*t talk about it, like “he” does. JFK was involved with the Mafia and kept his criminal secrets just as mum as “she” does.
This is not an ethics vote. We’d love for Jesus to be king. But we’re stuck with a fallen human. And this vote we are stuck with an America that has become transparent about flaunting sins. The downfall and openness began with Monica, but the sins have been there since…at least…yep. Even “I Cannot Tell a Lie” Washington (and his illegitimate children).
Don’t let their “holier than thou” fight distract you from the true issues. It’s not a contest over appearances and demeanor–not who will “look like” the best President, or who is most-informed. Those are externals, and can be shaped and learned and, worse, we can be manipulated about them.
THIS IS NOT A VOTE FOR THE LEAST WICKED
The Presidential Debate was as clear as day.
Considering the JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESIDENT…
we find we have to make a choice between TWO EXTREMES. And you may already know which side you stand on. EASY DECISION.
We are voting for an Economic Policy
We are voting for an International Policy
Economic Policy:
Big government vs small government; Robin Hood vs Bill Gates
Big Government (Robin Hood):
“The central question in this election is really what kind of country we want to be and what kind of future we’ll build together….First, we have to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. That means we need new jobs, good jobs, with rising incomes.
I want us to invest in you. I want us to invest in your future. That means jobs in infrastructure, in advanced manufacturing, innovation and technology, clean, renewable energy, and small business, because most of the new jobs will come from small business. We also have to make the economy fairer. That starts with raising the national minimum wage and also guarantee, finally, equal pay for women’s work.
I also want to see more companies do profit-sharing. If you help create the profits, you should be able to share in them, not just the executives at the top.
And I want us to do more to support people who are struggling to balance family and work. I’ve heard from so many of you about the difficult choices you face and the stresses that you’re under. So let’s have paid family leave, earned sick days. Let’s be sure we have affordable child care and debt-free college.
How are we going to do it? We’re going to do it by having the wealthy pay their fair share and close the corporate loopholes….”
“We also, though, need to have a tax system that rewards work and not just financial transactions….
We just have a different view about what’s best for growing the economy, how we make investments that will actually produce jobs and rising incomes.
I think we come at it from somewhat different perspectives. I understand that.”
HIllary Clinton, at Sept 26 Debate
Small Government (Bill Gates):
“Our jobs are fleeing the country. They’re going to Mexico. They’re going to many other countries. You look at what China is doing to our country in terms of making our product. They’re devaluing their currency, and there’s nobody in our government to fight them. And we have a very good fight. And we have a winning fight. Because they’re using our country as a piggy bank to rebuild China, and many other countries are doing the same thing.
So we’re losing our good jobs, so many of them. When you look at what’s happening in Mexico, a friend of mine who builds plants said it’s the eighth wonder of the world. They’re building some of the biggest plants anywhere in the world, some of the most sophisticated, some of the best plants. With the United States, as he said, not so much.
So Ford is leaving. You see that, their small car division leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio. They’re all leaving. And we can’t allow it to happen anymore. As far as child care is concerned and so many other things, I think Hillary and I agree on that. We probably disagree a little bit as to numbers and amounts and what we’re going to do, but perhaps we’ll be talking about that later.
But we have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us. We have to stop our companies from leaving the United States and, with it, firing all of their people. All you have to do is take a look at Carrier air conditioning in Indianapolis. They left—fired 1,400 people. They’re going to Mexico. So many hundreds and hundreds of companies are doing this.
We cannot let it happen. Under my plan, I’ll be reducing taxes tremendously, from 35 percent to 15 percent for companies, small and big businesses. That’s going to be a job creator like we haven’t seen since Ronald Reagan. It’s going to be a beautiful thing to watch.
Companies will come. They will build. They will expand. New companies will start. And I look very, very much forward to doing it. We have to renegotiate our trade deals, and we have to stop these countries from stealing our companies and our jobs.”
Donald Trump at Sept 26 Debate
So looking at the bolded words, which of the philosophies do you hold? Not a hard choice…
Do you believe the government should force companies to give benefits to people to make things fair, or do you believe companies need to be trusted to give good benefits (increased wages, etc) as the company gets stronger? Think of Microsoft. Or Google. Or compare
What will businesses do to get and keep the best employees? What will businesses do to get “ahead of the pack”? Do you trust the “invisible hand of economics” that Adam Smith spoke of? Yes or No. No=Clinton, big govt; Yes=Trump, small govt.
We know for sure that Hillary Clinton wants to help the lower class get a break. She’ll fight for that.
We know for sure that Donald Trump wants to help businessmen to return their businesses to America. He’ll fight for that. And businessmen will do what they will do.
International Policy:
Appease them into agreement vs.
manipulate them financially into agreement
Read/watch the second half of the Presidential Debates TRANSCRIPT (with factcheck) VIDEO to see details, the most hotly debated section. Hard to pin down. But things I noted.
Hillary Clinton is satisfied with her current method of dealing with other countries re: ISIS, NATO, China, Japan. Hillary’s facts were mostly accurate. A political scientist facing other politicians.
Donald Trump wants to expect countries to bear their fair share of responsibility in paying for NATO, fighting ISIS, he wants to not let other countries step on us as they benefit financially from us, and he wants to tackle the national debt. Trump’s facts were guesses, often inaccurate, except when it had to do with large amounts of money at which point it was accurate. A businessman facing other business-minded world-leaders.
Which takes you back to your first question of economy. And to the job description of the President.
