Columns

We cast our absentee ballots for Hillary Clinton for president and here's why:

Hillary Clinton is the most qualified. She had eight years experience in the U.S. Senate; four years experience as the nation's Secretary of State; and eight years as First Lady. Clinton has laid out in detail her positions on the issues. All we have heard from Trump on the issues is that he is going to make America great again, which we take to mean sending the country backward to a time when discrimination and hate were not only accepted but celebrated.  

Trump has filed for four bankruptcies and has two failed marriages. And his following businesses failed: Trump Airlines, Trump casinos, Trump mortgage, and Trump Vodka. In addition, Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel has ordered Trump to stand trial in an investigation over fraud and racketeering charges related to Trump University. Judge Curiel is the same judge who Trump said was biased against him because of his Mexican ancestry. Tell me again, what makes him qualified to be president? 

In addition, Trump has a long history of saying and doing racist things and has won the support and praise of the country’s white supremacists. Do we really want a racist as president? 

Many cite Clinton's supposed "corruption" as the reason why they will not vote for Clinton, which we take to mean the bogus Benghazi incident, the overblown "email gate," and the Clinton Foundation "scandal." As for the Benghazi incident both House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) admitted that the Republican House committee created to investigate the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, was solely “designed to go after” Hillary Clinton. She was cleared of any wrongdoing. 

As for the so-called email gate, Clinton committed no crime by doing the exact same thing as some her predecessors did. FBI Director James B. Comey, a republican, said, "there had to be evidence that Hillary Clinton intentionally transmitted or willfully mishandled classified information." The F.B.I. found neither, and as a result, Comey said, “our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.” The commotion raised by the republicans in Congress about Clinton’s handling of emails was just another political tactic to discredit Clinton. 

Remember in 2007, when Congress asked the Bush administration for emails surrounding the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales revealed that many of the emails requested could not be produced because they were sent on a non-government server. I don’t remember the republicans in Congress asking for an investigation of the Bush administration. 

Finally, the Clinton Foundation is not a scandal as the Republicans would have you believe. In fact, it is a phenomenal, life-saving success. In contrast, the Donald J. Trump Foundation is under scrutiny for how he used his foundation when he directed more than a quarter of a million dollars from the charity to settle legal disputes stemming from his personal businesses. Now that's a scandal. 

In this land founded by those from other countries, Trump's immigration policy is one of exclusion, not inclusion. For example, he has said he would bar all Muslims from entering the U.S. and build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, paid for, of course, by Mexico. His proposed immigration policy makes a mockery of the words carved on the base of the Statue of Liberty, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."  

And if all else fails, Trump will reuse his his contempt of women, which unfortunately appeal to many who do not believe a woman should be president or in any position of power or influence. Earlier this month, a tape was released in which Trump makes lewd comments about women and admits to sexual assaults. In an earlier tape, he agreed with Howard Stern that his daughter Ivanka was "a piece of ass." Is this misogynist fit to be president?  

We filed our tax returns and Clinton filed her tax returns. Trump claims he cannot because he is being audited. But according to the Internal Revenue Service that is not a barrier to disclosure. At the September 26 debate, Trump indicated he had not paid taxes because he is smart. Guess those of us who pay taxes are suckers. The New York Times obtained a copy of Trump's 1995 tax returns, showing a $196 million loss derived from the his mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his airline business, and his purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. This deduction could allow him to avoid paying taxes for up to 18 years. So much for Trump's touted business acumen. 

We voted for Hillary Clinton because she is more qualified than Donald Trump and we just cannot imagine a president Trump representing us at home and abroad.  

We urge everyone to vote for Clinton. A vote for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson is really a vote for Trump. Those who do not vote are also favors Trump. 

It is time to vote for Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president of the United States.