Getting sucked into politics

It seems today that people pick beauty contestants based on where they stand on the issues and politicians on how they look on tv. Its a little screwed up wouldnt you think?

Well getting sucked into politics is inevitable it seems, everybody wants to know what politics is like here and what he thinks about Clinton, Obama and McCain and the whole cherade that is American politics.

So this is a brief summary of the candidates and where they stand on the issues(as opposed to how they look on tv):

McCain
Strongly opposes the withrawal of troops from Iraq.
Supports the surge of US troops in Iraq
Promises to strengthen the military
Bring Osama Bin Laden to justice
Opposes opening diplomatic relations with Iran or N Korea
Plans to train and equip internal forces there that can overthrow their respective governments
Believes in low taxes
Supports tax cuts for middle class families
Opposes a woman's right to have an abortion(except in rape and incest cases)

Obama
Will remove US troops from Iraq
Will provide economic aid to Iraq based on her progress in reaching a political agreement
Calls for a global reversal on nuclear weapon reliance
Would use diplomacy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and eliminate N Korea's exisiting weapon programs
Will end production of nuclear weapons in the US
Will fight climate change by putting a limit on all carbon emissions
Aims to cut global warming by 80% by 2050
Willing to meet with rogue state leaders like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez

Clinton
Promises to bring american troops home from Iraq within the first 60 days of her administration
Proposes to set up an oil trust to distribute a share of oil profits to every Iraqi
Promises to implement the American Health Choices Plan, giving Americans a choice in health plans.

None of the 3 is the solution to America's problems, so Americans are screwed either way really. He's happy he doesnt have to vote for one of them, one will milk America dry to go to war, one is full of textbook ideals, and the other tells Americans whatever they want to hear.

Nevertheless the joy is shortlived, he may not have to take part in the voting process, but apparently he has to lobby for something in Congress. He just got an email from AFS saying that he and his fellow students under the YES program in North Dakota will be meeting their congressional representatives in Washington DC, come July 2nd. Not many YES exchange students are placed in North Dakota, just himself, Gigih and this guy from the Phillipines, Ryan.

Just so you understand whats going on here, the US State department sponsers around 300 students all over the world to come to the states as exchange students, this of course, costs money. The group that decides on budgets and controls spending in the US is the Congress, they control the purse strings of the US, as well as laying down the law for Americans. Now just reflect on that statement for a little while, let the huge responsibilities of the congressman sink in. Now consider this, of the 500 men in Congress:

29 have been accused of spousal abuse

7 have been arrested for fraud

19 have been accused of writing bad checks

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3 have done time for assault

71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14 have been arrested on drug-related charges

8 have been arrested for shoplifting

21 are currently defendants in lawsuits

84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Yeah. Thats right.

Of these 500 men, Albert, Gigih and Ryan will have to meet one of these guys and convince him that Congress should continue support for the funding of the YES program, and secure his vote. Lets just hope this congressman is one of the good guys.