Siskiyou County California Democrats

Here are some ideas that may help you in discussing the key issues for this year's election. You can either scroll through the page to find what you want or you can just click on any topic to see the talking points for it. To get back to the list of topics, just click on the word "Top" at the bottom of the talking points for any topic.

National Defense
An End to Social Security
Veteran's Benefit Cuts
Tax Cuts Only for the Rich
Loss of Affordable Student Loans
Health Care
Government for Sale
Deficit Spending

1. National Defense - Are we getting safer?

If it was Afghanistan and al Qaeda who caused 9/11, why did we slash troop strength in Afghanistan before accomplishing our objectives there? Bin Laden is still at large, the Taliban is resurging, and al Qaeda is alive, well and has evolved into a more virulent and dangerous form. And why did we slash the recovery funds for Afghanistan? Projects that could have helped win the hearts and minds of the Afghanis were never completed. Where are their hearts and minds now?

Why did we invade Iraq with so little intelligence and preparation? Iraq was known to be another Yugoslavia - an irrational collection of people who don't like each other very much - held together only by a strongman. Why did we decide to open this Pandora's box without being able to make it work? Nothing in the President's reasoning justifies the reckless haste that resulted in our current predicament.

Why have so few of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission been carried out? Funds to protect America are being misspent. Is a petting zoo in Indiana really more at risk from terrorist attack than the Brooklyn Bridge? Why are most of our seaports still not equipped with radiation detection equipment? Why is almost a quarter of cargo carried on passenger flights not screened at all?

Our go-it-alone foreign policy is a shambles. Many of our closest allies no longer want to cooperate with us. North Korea and Iran have been left alone to fester. The Middle East has gone to war. Our policies on torture and treatment of prisoners have degraded our ability to lead the free world by example.

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2. An end to Social Security. How will you retire?

Social Security was set up to keep our senior citizens from falling into poverty. It works because there is a guaranteed income that will allow retirees to plan for their retirement. The Republican proposal will remove this guarantee. That isn't changing or "fixing" Social Security. It is eliminating it. Social Security is to be replaced by a take-your-chances system in which the safety net that keeps our seniors afloat has been eliminated.

Although the American people overwhelmingly rejected this program to kill Social Security in 2005, several powerful Republican Senators (Santorum, de Wine, Kyl et al.) have vowed to pursue this program if they are returned to power in the next congress.

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3. Veteran's Benefits Cuts. Is this how we support our troops?

Republicans voted to cut veterans' health benefits in 2005 and 2006. Given another chance, they will do it again.

The Republicans tried to deny benefits to reservists who were called to active duty.

Many families of service personnel have slipped into or near poverty because support for them is so sadly lacking

We owe a debt to those who put their lives on the line for us. Whether or not we agree with the Iraq war, we still owe that debt to those who answered the call.

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4. Tax cuts for the rich (but not for you.)

The Republican tax cuts, for example the elimination of the estate tax, provide tremendous savings for the rich, but the average citizen gets crumbs.

Average citizens are paying an increasingly greater percentage of the tax while the wealthy get most of the benefits of those taxes

The concentration of wealth in an ever smaller group of people threatens the American economic system. Eventually, a small group of ultra-wealthy families will control the American economy. It's neo-feudalism not neo-conservatism.

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5. Loss of affordable student loans. How will your family afford college?

As the cost of a college education rises rapidly, substantially exceeding the rate of inflation, the Republicans have raised fees, hiked interest rates and eliminate popular loa programs, such as the Perkins loans.

Republicans treat education as a privilege for those who can afford it instead of a strategic necessity. As a result of our failure to fund education and support students, e are falling behind such countries as China and India. They are taking our most valuable jobs in engineering and technical fields. These are the jobs that fueled our rise to become the pre-eminent world power after World War II.

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6. No affordable Health Care. How will you pay for a catastrophic illness?

Republicans control the legislative agenda but have failed to bring forth any reform of a health care system that no longer serves the people.

Most Americans live in fear of losing their health insurance if they lose their jobs or their employer decides to stop providing health care insurance.

Increasingly, Americans are losing their retirement nest-egg or college savings to pay unexpected medical bills.

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7. Government for sale. Who will stop the lobbyists?

Republicans have blocked every effort to stop the system of legalized bribery that controls everything that happens on Capitol Hill.

Top Republicans have been implicated in some of the worst corruption since Teapot Dome of the 1920s.

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8. Out of control deficit spending. What will it cost our children?

Democrats restored fiscal sanity in the 1990s. In six short years, Republicans have spent America back into debt - the highest debt levels ever!

Republicans have completely abandoned rules that required congress to balance spending and the taxes needed to pay for it.

Someone will eventually have to pay for the Republicans' borrow and spend policies. It will be our children.

The America in which we can give our children a better life is gone, drowned in debt.

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