The fact that in November I will probably vote for Romney will probably surprise anyone who's read any of my political posts.
My reason for voting the way that I do differs from most Americans. I don't believe that the actual choice in President matters--at the end of the day it's Congress that gets things passed or not passed, independently of what the President says or wants. I look at the office of the President as being a way to motivate the non-political to get off their butts and care. Granted, this idea of mine is dependent on the polarization currently destroying our country, but I believe that the office of the President can also be used to close the gaps between ideologies.
I voted for Obama not because I was particularly impressed by his ideology, but because I didn't like the way McCain was so pro-war and because if we didn't reform Wall Street and Big Business we'd end up in the same economic situation again--the bailout was a necessary evil because the failure of regulation made money stop flowing. But more importantly, Obama seemed like he was playing a pivotal roll in American politics. He was getting the younger generation interested in politics and motivating the growing complacent older generation to stand up and say that they didn't want their children and grandchildren's liberalness to govern them. I voted for Obama because I knew in my gut that if he won, something big was going to happen in America. And I was right. The Tea Party was born just a couple months after his election.
American's (and really all humans) are largely governed by what they think not necessarily what is truth. I haven't done the research, but it seems obvious to me that many of those fears about a Democratic President that we heard about during the election and since haven't come to pass. Talking with my grandmother yesterday was interesting. She's opposed to mandating healthcare because it will put more people on Medicaid, even though the only difference between the current system and a system with more people on Medicaid is that people not currently with any sort of insurance only go to the hospital when they're dying (or think that they're dying) and if they had some form of insurance, they'd see a doctor for their once a year check-up and find things before their a major problem. Okay--and some government official might change the tax code to move the money you're paying the insurance company to subsidize the hospital's ability to take non-insured individuals to the Treasury to fund Medicaid, but really this would be just a technicality. THAT would be the worst case senario where nothing changes. The best case senario (and what is most likely) would be that health care costs would go down since instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on recovery from a massive heart attack, we could spend $10 a month on Lipitor pills. And yes--I mean we. Most of the money you pay in insurance goes to hospitals so that they can treat individuals who don't have insurance. But I digress.
I will vote for Romney because if he wins, the middle class might finally be convinced that tax breaks for the rich aren't in their best interests. UhhhhhhG. Shoot. Dammit. I'm sorry. My logic is faulty. The middle class won't learn anything because as soon as Romney wins the election, businesses will know that all taxes will be reduced and you will see a sudden upsweep in spending in their sector...spending that was cut when a Democrat took office not because he was actually going to tax their businesses, but because he was going to implement fair taxes to help cut the deficit--taking money not spent hiring people (money spent on Lamborginis (not an American made car) that were destroyed 3 months later). And laws trying to keep the mega-rich from putting their money into Swiss bank accounts. And reforms that would keep Wall Street from selling bad loans. When Romney takes office, business will once again rule our country.
I predict that the major battles in Congress will be about passing necessary reforms. They will be blocked by well paid lobbyists and nothing will change. Oh, you don't know about the power of Lobbyists to stop common sense reforms? Watch the video below.
My reason for voting the way that I do differs from most Americans. I don't believe that the actual choice in President matters--at the end of the day it's Congress that gets things passed or not passed, independently of what the President says or wants. I look at the office of the President as being a way to motivate the non-political to get off their butts and care. Granted, this idea of mine is dependent on the polarization currently destroying our country, but I believe that the office of the President can also be used to close the gaps between ideologies.
I voted for Obama not because I was particularly impressed by his ideology, but because I didn't like the way McCain was so pro-war and because if we didn't reform Wall Street and Big Business we'd end up in the same economic situation again--the bailout was a necessary evil because the failure of regulation made money stop flowing. But more importantly, Obama seemed like he was playing a pivotal roll in American politics. He was getting the younger generation interested in politics and motivating the growing complacent older generation to stand up and say that they didn't want their children and grandchildren's liberalness to govern them. I voted for Obama because I knew in my gut that if he won, something big was going to happen in America. And I was right. The Tea Party was born just a couple months after his election.
American's (and really all humans) are largely governed by what they think not necessarily what is truth. I haven't done the research, but it seems obvious to me that many of those fears about a Democratic President that we heard about during the election and since haven't come to pass. Talking with my grandmother yesterday was interesting. She's opposed to mandating healthcare because it will put more people on Medicaid, even though the only difference between the current system and a system with more people on Medicaid is that people not currently with any sort of insurance only go to the hospital when they're dying (or think that they're dying) and if they had some form of insurance, they'd see a doctor for their once a year check-up and find things before their a major problem. Okay--and some government official might change the tax code to move the money you're paying the insurance company to subsidize the hospital's ability to take non-insured individuals to the Treasury to fund Medicaid, but really this would be just a technicality. THAT would be the worst case senario where nothing changes. The best case senario (and what is most likely) would be that health care costs would go down since instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on recovery from a massive heart attack, we could spend $10 a month on Lipitor pills. And yes--I mean we. Most of the money you pay in insurance goes to hospitals so that they can treat individuals who don't have insurance. But I digress.
I will vote for Romney because if he wins, the middle class might finally be convinced that tax breaks for the rich aren't in their best interests. UhhhhhhG. Shoot. Dammit. I'm sorry. My logic is faulty. The middle class won't learn anything because as soon as Romney wins the election, businesses will know that all taxes will be reduced and you will see a sudden upsweep in spending in their sector...spending that was cut when a Democrat took office not because he was actually going to tax their businesses, but because he was going to implement fair taxes to help cut the deficit--taking money not spent hiring people (money spent on Lamborginis (not an American made car) that were destroyed 3 months later). And laws trying to keep the mega-rich from putting their money into Swiss bank accounts. And reforms that would keep Wall Street from selling bad loans. When Romney takes office, business will once again rule our country.
I predict that the major battles in Congress will be about passing necessary reforms. They will be blocked by well paid lobbyists and nothing will change. Oh, you don't know about the power of Lobbyists to stop common sense reforms? Watch the video below.
Watch The Meth Epidemic on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.
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