Gotta love presidential election time! Mud slinging. Hate spewing. "I will say anything to get you to vote for me," crap. Facebook has helped this year. All the political crap that is being tossed out there on Facebook - the, "This guys is not American, he spent us into debt and changed our flag, if you vote for him you are not American and you want to kill babies and spend your kids into debt, " or the, "If you vote for this guy all middle class Americans will pay higher taxes, he is a bully and will send all gays out to slaughter," sort of crap. Personally, I am sick of both sides.
For me, I vote by the person. Democrat/Republican - I am neither (I know, most people believe I am a die hard, left wing liberal, but I am not.) There is no party that fits me. I am pro-life, pro-gun, believe one parent should be home to raise children (either man or woman, don't care), believe family should be the number one thing in life once you have kids, and I am Christian. At the same time I believe if a person falls in love with someone of the same sex and wants to commit together for a life time than they should be able to do so. Their should be some form of legal union. Homosexuality and God - that is between them and God - I need not be a part of that. I believe that if a two year college education is needed for someone to get a job then we, as a country, should provide that to all. Add an associates degree to what the United States provides for education for all American children (then if someone wants to go further with a Bachelors, Masters, or PHD have them pay for it). I believe minimum wage should be increased, and welfare programs should be enacted to help those working poor be not so poor - if you work you should be able to provide a decent, non-starving life for yourself. You can see here that I fit neither Democrat or Republican - and voting is always a difficult thing because I always have to give up on something.
Well, that is the thing. America is hurting. Cost of living has increased while pay has not. Jobs were lost. The economy stinks. College educations are so expensive that those graduating are doing so with a mortgage payment of student loans, but jobs that pay only slightly more than minimum wage. America is collapsing upon itself and everyone is screaming at each other. Republicans have forgotten that Bush the second was the President when everything collapsed and Bush the second increased the national debt way more than Obama has - they are just screaming that we have to go back to a Republican president so times can "prosper" again (do your research, all American ressessions have begun during the end of a Republican presidency). Democrats are screaming that the rich will just get richer and the middle class will sink into poverty while you lose your medicare if Republicans take the presidency. What is going to cause America to collapse - this crap!
When I vote - I have to give up on somethings. Republicans/Democrats - give up on somethings. What we are doing isn't working so obviously you are BOTH wrong. We need to come together and find something that works - something that will increase pay for Americans and get them working again. Something that will decrease the debt. Something that will help bring back that American dream of "If I work hard and don't spend like crazy it will all work out and we will be OK" kind of life - because right now I see it as almost impossible for that to happen.
The Founding Fathers warned us of what would happen in a two party system. George Washington's farewell address talked at length about it - yet we didn't learn and here we are. We are ALL Americans - we are not Democrats or Republicans - we are AMERICANS! Most of us have had a family member shed blood in some war or another. Most of us love this country, I know I do, I may not be proud of it but I love it and I want to see it prosper.
So here is what I think needs to happen. Stop with the mud slinging. Our country is in crisis and we need help. We are in debt and we need to bring that debt down. . . . cut things. First try to cut the things that won't hurt people as much. First try to cut things that won't end jobs. Then cut things that hurt. Make our politicians do things like people do. When I travel I look for the best value for my dollar - make politicians do the same. When I wanted to do or get something for work I had to submit reasons why I wanted it and find the cheapest cost - so should our politician. If we are going to be cutting WIC and food to needy people I don't want to ear about the president or a congressmen spending $3000 a night at a hotel. They can stay at a Holiday Inn just like I can. Cut things and control this spending!
Second - raise taxes. Yep. Raise taxes. Raise taxes on all of us. The system we have right now isn't a bad one - but there are lots of loop holes and deductions - get rid of them. Tax every dollar earned for Social Security so people can have something to retire on (we pay INTO THIS! This is not an "entitlement" program - this is our money and we want it back at some point!) Use that tax percentage - if your income is x or less then you pay 5%, if your income is between x and y, then you pay 10%, if your income is between y and z then you pay 15% . . . . . no deductions. . . . no loopholes. . . no "if you have 12 kids then you don't have to pay anything." Get rid of all of that and just do it this way. Would this hurt - yes - I now it would hurt us. Having four kids brings our taxes down, but everyone needs to hurt here - not just the rich, middle class, or poor - everyone needs to hurt.
Third, stop policing the world. We can't. Other parts of the world have different values than we do - and we need to let them have those values. A huge chunk of our budget goes to the military and these wars that are out there.
Fourth, cut politicians pay if they can't figure things out. They cut teacher pay if their kids don't get a certain test score - so cut politicians pay if they can't get a budget balanced.
Fifth, look out for AMERICA and AMERICANS! You are voted to represent us - not some party or political jargon!!!! Stop democrat/republican garbage and do what we want you to do even if it isn't what you want to do!
Sixth (forgot to add this - so I had to come back and add it), get Americans working again - and make that pay be worth it! We need jobs. We need jobs that pay for us to live. Someone who works 80 hours a week should not have to starve. If a person has a job they should be offered some form of health insurance. We need to work, we need to feel pride in our work, and we need to be able to support ourselves off our pay.
I know none of this will happen, and another election will come and go and nothing will change. Nothing will get better. Hate will still be spewed. Angry posts will fly on F-book. The country will sink deeper into debt, and the middle class family will still worry about how they are going to put their kids through college and pay for retirement, the poor will get poorer, and the rich will still rule the world. I just find this whole election season to be sad and depressing. Honestly, if I didn't have such strong beliefs that everyone should vote then I probably would just stay home let this election pass. I see no good outcome here with either candidate. . . .
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