Don't just toss me a bone!

As a rational and intelligent person, a registered Republican, and a voter, I am somewhat annoyed at both the party and the candidates 'tossing the electorate a bone' attitude. A visit to John McCain's website will allow prospective voters to peruse the candidates position on many issues, however more often than not, all one gets is a bone.

John McCain Will Help Americans Hurting From High Gasoline And Food Costs. Americans need relief right now from high gas prices. John McCain will act immediately to reduce the pain of high gas prices

Dear John, (no pun intended! I...think?) I appreciate your concern about the economic impact to my pocketbook by high gasoline and food costs. Your website has made me aware of the fact that you have several 'tangible' plans to benefit me in these challenging times, however your sound-bite statement regarding relief does little to benefit, educate, or enlighten me. I realize that you did not 'grow up' with the Internet, but certainly there must be someone on your staff with some rudimentary skills in this area. Perhaps they could explain to you what a hyperlink is so that you might link an outline of your plan to this rudimentary statement, so that I might better understand exactly what it is you are talking about doing. I certainly feel capable of rationally evaluating your proposal in the context of its socio-economic impact.

Don't get me wrong, there are many specifics on the candidates website; An increase in the personal exemption for dependents from $3500 to $7000 is quite a concrete statement.

But it seems that at times, and on certain subjects, you are being intentionally vague. Immigration reform can mean many things to many different people. Immigration reform can mean making it easier to immigrate or making it harder to immigrate, all dependent upon your point of view. The "importance of a flexible labor market" might make one construe that you are in favor of the former as opposed to the latter. You state that "I will secure the border", what does that mean to you and precisely how do you intend on going about it?

You make the assertion on your health care page that:

John McCain Will Reform Health Care Making It Easier For Individuals And Families To Obtain Insurance. An important part of his plan is to use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety to match people's needs, lower prices, and portability. Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines.

So, you plan to use competition to improve quality? How does this work? Is there not enough competition now to achieve that effect? There certainly seems to me that there are enough insurance companies around to achieve that effect. A simple Google search led me to a news article with links to 300 different health insurance companies, and I am sure that this list was not comprehensive. I feel that it would be safe to say that there are probably well over a thousand companies with thousands of policies to choose from. How much competition do we need? Please, explain to me how this whole competition thing works.

Another news article quoted a US Census Bureau figure that 16% of Americans are without health insurance, for at least part of that year (2006). That percentage corresponds to 47 million Americans, a ghastly figure. But... it also stated that 37% of those people made over $50,000 a year. That is roughly 17 million people making a comparable wage to me, who don't have health care. How does it become my responsibility through my tax dollars to subsidize their medical care via the Federal government, when I am responsible enough, with equivalent earnings, to obtain health care for myself and my family. The problem my friend is not the availability of health care, nor for many is it predominately the cost of health care, it is the prioritization of their choices... how many of those people earning over $50,000 a year, without health care, are driving around in an Acura or Lexus? How many have a camper or a boat? Bought more house than they could afford?

You need to start explaining yourself, your plans, and your platform! and stop tossing us bones in the form of soundbites and catchphrases. Why don't we try a new strategy in this election, leave the soundbites to the other party and start talking to Americans in plain and simple language about what you plan to do to better their lives, their country, and the world at large, who knows? Maybe it'll work.

~Finntann~