Election 2012 - Final Thoughts Before the Polls

So, there have been many questions sent my way, mostly asking how I could vote for Obama, since he has ruined our country. That is what the emails say... the current President has RUINED our country. Who knew? Certainly not me. I live in Ohio. The state capital, so I am... privy to every political commercial, maneuver, trick, lie and ploy on a rotating basis. The metro areas of Ohio tend to vote Democratic, however the population of the outskirts LOVE the Republicans. Ohio has a LOT of electoral votes, so what happens here generally has an effect of every election. So, why would I use my vote to keep our President in the White House? Why not go the way of some of my friends and vote for Mitt? Why is Hot, Black and Bitter endorsing Barack Obama? Here are my final thoughts on this crazy election cycle:

I am a woman and I don't like men making decisions for me. I do not believe that MEN should affect my ability to see a doctor, get birth control, use my right to receive a safe abortion, receive equal pay for a job or give birth the way that I want to. There is no way that I would vote to put someone in the White House that could threaten my rights as a woman... and Mitt Romney does NOT represent my interests as a woman. (And neither do his little cronies-- remember the comments about rape from Todd Akin, Richard Mourdock, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.)

I have lots of friends who belong to the LGBT community. I do not want to see their rights get trampled on. I do not believe that if they have the right to marry, my rights are diminished. I will never allow for the rights of a community to be taken away and say nothing. I do not believe that you can judge someone because of who they love and would love to point at right now that 55 years ago, my boyfriend and I would be unable to marry, simply because we are different races. Why would I put that burden on someone else, or vote for someone who would do that?

I did not go into the Obama Administration thinking that Barack was going to be the savior of my people. There are some (Black) people who are not going to vote for Barack because in 2008 they were touting him as a savior for the Black community. I never suffered under that delusion. I knew there was a rough road ahead AND that his agenda would not be (and should not be) a Black agenda. I'm not mad... the United States is not only made up of Black people. But I certainly will NOT be voting for a person who seems to want Black people to retake their seats at the back of the bus.

I am an animal lover... and the story about Mitt strapping his dog, in a carrier, to the roof of the family car while on vacation was too much. If you cannot respect animals, you probably have limited amounts of respect for people who are helpless (temporarily or permanently). If you are unable to be sympathetic or empathetic to someone (or something) who can do nothing for you, I find it impossible to think that you can rule effectively-- especially in these dire economic times.

Speaking of dire economic times... I really don't want to start over with some new President that does NOT have a good economic record. Massachusetts does not have a great record under Mitt Romney... and now he wants to expand his plan to 50 states? No thank you.

I also don't believe that students should have to go into debt they will never be able to crawl out from under, simply to pay for college; health care should be aright afforded to all American citizens; social welfare programs, while needing a severe makeover, are absolutely necessary and should be used for the betterment of American citizens-- not done away with; and the economy should be dealt with immediately and which ever party refuses to work towards a better economy should be penalized harshly. Lastly, I firmly believe that I (personally) am better off than I was 4 years ago. Four years ago, I was unemployed and living in a house with a mortgage that was underwater. That is not the place I am in today. Do I want things to be better? Yes. Who do I think can get me to a better place? Barack Obama.


 

File This Under WTF?!!?

I am watching the news, like I do every day, and I have to say: what I just saw made me say "what the fuck." OUT LOUD. To myself, mostly because the dogs don't care what happens on the news unless it is being reported that their dog food is being recalled... which is not happening. So there were three things that sincerely BLEW my mind (so much so that they are sparking two blog entries). The two that I will talk about here are 1) the First Lady of the United States of America- and the VP's wife, Jill- were BOOED at a NASCAR event and 2) debt collectors are using some disturbing and ILLEGAL threats to get money.

Ok- let me say this: the news reported that the First Lady and Jill Biden were booed at a sporting event... um, NASCAR is not a sporting event. Please don't embarrass yourself by arguing that point, because it isn't a sport. It IS dangerous and lots of people watch it but still, not a sport-- moving on. I am all about telling politicians where they can go and how they can get there. I talk about them, I call them stupid, I question their allegiances, their intelligence, their common sense-- yea, just about anything. I do NOT boo their families for what the politicians do in office. Did I type about Bristol Palin? Absolutely! Because her mother (the politician) wants to go into public schools and preach about abstinence, while her kid gets knocked up out of wedlock. Would I boo Bristol? No. I'm figuring that she has it bad enough being Sarah's daughter and being a teenage mom. I don't seek her out, don't go to places she will be, don't really give her lip service on this blog, etc. I talked about Anthony Wiener for showing his... wiener. Did I talk about his wife? No- that chick has enough to worry about. I disliked W(greatly), did I talk about his family? The twins? Of course not. I am a big proponent of separating political jobs from families. Politicians can be assholes, and generally are, but their families-- for the most part-- should be off limits. And for the classless dicks who booed LADIES at NASCAR... you are SO classy. I should take lessons from you. I need me a hillbilly edumacation.

The economy is a wreck. OMG-- did I just ruin the news for anyone? No? Ok. The economy sucks. Lots of people don't have jobs. Lots of bills aren't getting paid. Who is shocked? No one? Ok. So when bill collectors call, I tend to ignore them. Oh yes, they call me. I am not above the economy. I was laid off for a LONG time. Sometimes you have to hang deep until the tide changes. These debt collectors on the news, though-- they were some sort of ridiculous! One dick said "We're going to have your dog arrested, we're going to shoot him up and we're going to eat him." WHAT THE HELL?!?!? Ok, you have a job in what I am assuming is a booming industry (debt collection). In order to keep this job, I am sure that you have to meet some numerical standards. I get it, but if ANYone ever called me and threatened my dogs, my life, jail time, or anything else, the future would be bleak for them. Let's keep it real- they would NEVER call me again because the barrage of insults that I would hit them with would make the most veteran debt collector cry. That behavior is so unacceptable. Don't they realize that some people feel bad enough because they CAN'T pay their bills? Do they not realize that threats are not going to make money magically appear, or bills get paid? Sometimes I see shit on the news that makes me kinda wish they happened to me. This is one of them. I would turn into Cedric the Entertainer from The Original Kings of Comedy... I wish a muthaf$%#@ would!!

The Debt Ceiling and the Ceiling of my Patience

This entry has been edited (for language) many times. My parents have taken to reading this blog (yay!!) so I am really trying to cut down on the unnecessary “f” bombs, while leaving in the totally necessary ones… harder than one might think! LOL Seriously, my blogs about politics tend to be slightly inflammatory. Slightly. :) Now that we are all on the same page…


Here we are exactly two weeks away from the possible demise of the credit rating of one of the most powerful nations in the world and everyone seems to be more concerned with Casey Anthony, Rupert Murdoch and every other celebrity that happens to be pushing out a kid. Um, ok- I’m going to say this as politely as I can so that my fellow Americans don’t get too upset: it is this type of thinking that allows other countries to “one up” us on a regular basis. EVERYone should be calling their Congressperson. EVERYone should be weighing in on the fact that the Republicans have come out and said that they want to cut entitlements- benefits that our grandparents have EARNED by working for 45+ years of their lives. EVERYone should be weighing in on the fact that the Democrats are saying that there will HAVE to be higher taxes to pay down our deficit. EVERYone should be shouting that the Tea Party is somehow putting together a plan. (OMG- I cannot even imagine what the hell that is going to look like). Or that interest rates are going to be exponentially higher; the middle class is on the verge of disappearing; the poor will get poorer; crime will go up, or, I don’t know…. This may be the ONE thing that our economy cannot bounce back from?!

Many times I call for outrage and today is no different. This is not happening to someone else, in another country, far, far away. This is happening to us. We elect people to go to Washington D.C., who are supposed to have our needs and wants in mind, yet Congress is arguing like a bunch of buffoons about something that will have the least impact on them. Let’s look at some numbers. John Boehner, who I hate to say is from my home state (honestly, I gagged a little when I typed that- PLEASE do not think that all Ohioans are THAT close minded) makes $223,500 a year. Well, that is what he makes as speaker of the House, there is no telling what he makes on the side- slimy bastard. Both Majority and Minority Leaders of both the House and Senate make $193,400 and each regular member of Congress makes $174,000. (Do a little math and their salaries ALONE equal $94,261,100.) They also get cost of living increases, health insurance and benefits. Hmmm. They represent the people but make so much more than the people they represent. Would it be ok to balance the budget that they are all complaining about by giving them the average wage that is earned in their respective state? The median family income in Cook County is just under $54,000. Cook County is the second most populous county in the COUNTRY. Think about that. Dick Durbin, how about this: in the interest if the country I’m going to have to take away your benefits and give you a salary of $54,000. Fair? What do you think Senator Durbin would say? I doubt he would go for it.

The people who are supposed to be working in our best interest make more than three times the MEDIAN family income (legally- some politicians are on the take). During the last edit of this entry the total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan surpassed $1,223,117,120,950. And these assholes are arguing about getting rid of Medicaid benefits? Could it be that they are so willing to get rid of the benefits for our elderly because no matter what their health care (and that of their families) are covered? Could it be that the Republicans are so willing to take the American people’s entitlements because their’s are guaranteed? Could it be that the Democrats are so willing to dangle those benefits in front of the Republicans because they can go to doctor and WE pay for it? They can go to the hospital and it won’t bankrupt them or their families? Nancy Pelosi can argue until she turns blue… whoever revives her will get paid by the benefits that are bestowed to her by the American people. Barack can auction off some portion of Medicaid, or WIC, or whatever he is willing to give up because his family’s care is guaranteed. John Boehner can say no to higher taxes on the wealthy because his ass IS wealthy. How about we cut their salaries in half? How about we end both wars? We have the potential to save almost $2Trillion right there. I vote yes on that.

It is sickening that Congress people forget WHO they work for… and that we ALLOW them to forget. We should be beating down their doors and lighting their phones UP… or in a caravan, on our way to Washington D.C. to show our faces. Because if these debt talks aren’t productive, guess what? That job that you have won’t be worth shit in the long run. Dollars won’t stretch; they will break, along with the American economy and the American Dream.