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[Odler]

by OdlerRobert Jeanlouie

Sep. 9, 2004

I am NOT a Democrat, I am NOT a Republican. I am an independent of the center left.

Bush is good for me. He is good for every American who is paying too much tax. He is good for everyone running a small business.

You don?t believe a medical practice is a small business? Look at the checks you need to write every 30 days, or every year: health insurance, life insurance, malpractice insurance, disability insurance, rent, power and light, business phone, lease on equipments, materials from paper rolls to paper clips, promos, fees for hospital privileges, accounting fees, legal fees, payroll for secretary, office manager, billing contractors, and these are only the big ones. Therefore, tax cut is good.

With Bush, the malpractice crisis that puts doctors out of business is more likely to be solved than it would be with Kerry, whose vice presidential candidate, Edwards, made 39 (or 56) million dollars suing doctors. With a Democratic party devoted to the causes of the trial lawyers and of the labor unions, malpractice costs will likely go north, and the costs of running a business even higher. Increased regulations and tax burden will not make life any easier.

Even at home, I don?t escape the pressure of the Good Old Party of Abraham Lincoln. I hardly spend a week without receiving some Republican goodies or invitations, with, on the cover, a smiling President Bush, in my mailbox. In my neighborhood, not many seem to fit the profile of the social liberal and the fiscal compassionate. It all smells Republican. New Jersey, as a state, is growing more and more conservative. It may soon fall in the battleground column.

The pressure is mounting.

?????.

I will not vote for Bush. And, the question is not about how better he makes my income.

It is about the direction, he takes the country. From last year to the current, 1.3 million Americans fell under the threshold of poverty. And, most look like me. About 45 million Americans are without health insurance; that is more than 3 million up from four years ago. Those are people who are most likely to seek me as a physician, and people who will not be able to pay my bills.

Those are people who are left to fan for themselves. This will not change; it is the essence of the conservative mantra.

Bush policies are directed toward the corporate biggies. I just happen to be a happy bystander.

I believe in the end of homelessness, the protection of our planet, the right of a woman to choose whether or not she should have a baby, the reduction of the income gap between rich and poor, the right to free education (from K1 to college), the need for every American to have health care coverage, the freedom for all minorities, including gays, to be socially equal. I believe in a balanced federal budget, so our children don?t have to pay our debts.

In a country with 6% of the world population using 50% of the world goods, we should have enough of everything for everyone.

The Republican platform does not answer these questions. It focuses on today. It relies on a Pavlov reflex of immediate compensation, of who-cares-about-tomorrow.

Emotionally, I cannot vote for Dick Cheney who voted to keep Nelson Mandela in jail.

I therefore will not vote for Bush because of all of the above; that is the good thing. I will have to vote for Kerry; that is the bad thing.

Please, visit http://www.jeanlouie.com/

(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Thursday, September 09, 2004)