I've always considered myself an independent. I've always been willing to listen to ideas and vote for who I felt was best... I always felt voting a party line was ridiculous. This year however, I'll be voting a straight Democratic ticket.

It started with Bush's environmental policies. He still chooses to use the "science" of a tiny minority of scientists who still claim we can't prove that we're contributing to global warming. He filled Environmental positions with big oil and big energy positions. He used Big Energy folks to re-write environmental policies and then framed his new policies in language like "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forest" when in reality they were the opposite. There are hundreds of thousands of jobs that could be created with the proper environmental policies and they would help save the planet rather than ruin it.

Since then I've come to disagree with pretty much every Economic Policy, Foreign Policy, Trade Policy, Education policy, and just about everything he's done.

It wasn't always like this mind you, when I saw Cheney in the debates I was extremely impressed, he's obviously extremely intelligent and eloquent, and for quite awhile I just trusted the administration as I figured they had more information than me and thus we making informed decisions that I maybe didn't fully understand because I didn't/couldn't know what they know... but it just got so overwhelmingly, I just can't trust them anymore. They halt investigations, refuse to disclose requested information, suppress reports from coming out. They've been caught with their pants down so many times but squelch the results of all investigations. They don't give me enough information to give them the benefit of the doubt.

While I understand the profound effect big companies have on our country, Republicans have gone way to far in doing anything to benefit big business:

• They continue to push de-regulation even after the endless scandals that have resulted from Enron to the SEC to Mutual Funds to the NYSE. I can't understand why deregulation is still being pushed.
• They continue to support legislation and changes that encourage companies to outsource work oversees.
• They drop environmental protections
• They ignore human rights violations in other countries

I believe the current Republican leadership to be extremely short-sighted in all of there efforts. I believe taxes should be raised as I believe appropriate goverment spending should drive down costs in many areas including healthcare, roads, environment, and the formation of jobs. Cutting is not always the best answer. Spending money up front can help create the efficiency of goverment that republicans keep calling for.

Republicans don't seem to get the idea that an spending money on prevention saves money, instead they spend billions building prisons and on the resulting problems rather than addressing the causes.

Bushes advice on what to do to help the economy, “Shop“. The average american

I could go on and on... I believe Bush and the republicans are ruining the country. I'd be happy to discuss this with anyone.

So anyway, for now, I'm a democrat.