My Simplistic View of Republican Losses

I will be the first at admit that I don’t have much political savvy or knowledge. Even when I read about the issues I don’t look into every detail. It’s like I am on the outside looking at everything from a distance, while others are on the inside paying attention to all the minutia. And from where I was standing in 2008 and 2012, I have a few personal ideas of why the Republican party lost the Presidential election, or at least why they lost my vote. Of course this is a simplistic and personal outlook of what was going through my head during the elections. 

I know more than a few republicans who were interested in my stand in 2008, that Obama would be my choice for president. At the time I had never taken an interest in politics before and relied on my husband’s judgment. But, 2008 was going to be a historic election. Everyone was passionate about it on both sides. So, I decided to do my own kind of research. I did like what Obama had to say, but I was also paying attention to John McCain.

John McCain, a respected, admired, true war hero, was running. He was certainly qualified to be President. He had the experience, background, leadership ability necessary for office. But, issues aside, I found myself concerned with his age and his health. I even expressed my concern to my Republican husband, who told me not to worry, he has good genes. McCain inherited longevity from his parents. Great. What about his health? He had cancer and it had reoccurred in the past. Again he tells me not to worry, he was given a thorough checkup and received a clean bill of health. Fine. And then, on September 15th, 2008, John McCain declared the economy was fine. That same day we suffered a huge financial crisis when the stock market plunged nearly sending us into a depression. That did not inspire confidence in me that he knew enough about the economy to handle the job as President. After all, how was he going to fix the economy when he had no clue it was about to crash? I read someplace that President Obama was warning Congress about this possibility two years earlier, asking them to take action, and his concerns were documented. So, considering the economy became an urgent issue, I felt President Obama was more in touch with what was going on. 

Now, let’s assume, or argument’s sake, that someone could convince me that John McCain was in good health for his age and misspoke about the economy being strong just before the bottom fell out. How in the world can anyone overlook the fact that he chose Sarah Palin as a running mate? Granted, she looked great that first night, giving her prepared speech on national television. I’ll be the first to say I was excited about having a woman in the race, which hadn’t happened since Geraldine Ferraro ran with Mondale. However, in the ensuing days, Palin left a lot to be desired. Her lack of experience and knowledge was evident. She couldn’t answer simple questions and coined the term “gottcha moment” for all questions. She appeared incompetent and turned into a laughing stock, so much so, that her word for word quotes were being used on Saturday Night Live and none of her lines had to be changed. Tina Fey actually sounded better and made more sense to me using Sarah’s own words. So then I thought, why did John McCain pick someone for Vice President as ill prepared as Sarah Palin? This is his first major decision and he chose her?   I asked myself what if his health fails for whatever reason, and she was put in charge of our country? No republican seemed concerned with that issue. I even asked my husband about it. His answer was nothing was going to happen to McCain so Palin is not an issue. Ok, well, it was and remained an issue for me. That is was sealed the deal for me. The republicans sank their own ship with Alaskan missile, Palin.

Now we get to the 2012 election. The economy could be a lot better, no question about that. What are Obama and Romney going to do about it? Romney never said what his plan was and I suppose now we will never know. But forget about that, that’s not why he lost. Everyone was willing to take him at his word that he had a plan. But, I wanted to hear it. If he mentioned his plan, I didn’t hear it. I did hear about a Medicare voucher plan which scared me and doing away with PBS to save money. That’s about it. But Romney’s biggest problem is that he could not relate to anyone except the richest people in this country. He kept insulting everyone. He called them victims and moochers. The 47% comment included the elderly on Medicare, disabled veterans, college students, people living below poverty level, people who are unemployed through no fault of their own, and he insulted his own father and my father. He insulted all the women in all the binders in all America. He made ridiculous remarks that showed he was out of touch with the middle class time and time again. Who tells college students to work 3 or 4 jobs to pay tuition when there are no jobs? Or tells graduates, who need a job, to ask their parents for $20,000 to start a business in a depressed economy? Who wants to make a friendly wager of $10,000? Who wants to cut Pell grants for thousands of students to pay for a millionaire’s tax cut? And if he can’t understand the middle class, who he thinks makes $200-250,000 a year, how is he going to reach the poorest of this country? He flip-flopped on the issues over and over again. He said it would take him 8-10 years to fix the economy and he agreed with a lot of the things President Obama was already doing…so what did we need Romney for? 

Romney was a poor candidate, in my opinion. The truth is I could never connect with Romney. He didn’t inspire trust or confidence in me. I felt he was wishy washy. He underestimated many citizens of this country. People came out to vote in droves last Tuesday. They came out not just to vote for President Obama, but to vote against Mitt Romney. My daughter’s friend flew to North Carolina to vote for Obama because her vote in New York would have been wasted. I’ve heard it said that Obama scares republicans.Well guess what? Mitt Romney scared me. Maybe if 51% of us were rich, Romney would have had a better shot. 

And that’s what I was thinking, in a nutshell. I tried to be respectful of the opinions of others as much as humanly possible and ended many a comment with “may the best man win.” America has spoken, and he has!

P.S. Here is a peeve I just have to get out. The other day I saw a map of the United States shaded in red and blue, representing the republican and democratic states. As we know, the RED predominates the map and the caption read something to the effect that Obama won even though so much of the country (in area) voted for Romney. Now I wanted to post under that map “TOO BAD DIRT DOESN’T VOTE, people do!”

Romney, Sandy, FEMA Handouts...

Romney compares Sandy to FOOTBALL GAME (VIDEO)

I have been curious about something for the past several days. Why isn’t Romney going around to check out the devastation on the east coast in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy? I mean, it’s not a small matter and it is a huge problem he might inherit if he should win the election. So where he is? Is he campaigning? Has he mentioned Sandy, it’s victims and what he plans to do for them if elected? I’m just curious. I mean he shouldn’t step on anyone’s toes, but shouldn’t he have a first hand look at the damages himself?

Just yesterday a friend of mine, in a very hard hit area in Pennsylvania, told me Romney was there campaigning in a nearby, untouched, wealthy neighborhood. I guess it’s a matter of first things first. And I did some research and found that he did indeed talk about hurricane Sandy and compared it to cleaning up a field after a football game...seriously, the video link is under the picture above. Is this guy kidding or so out of touch with reality he doesn't connect with the vast number of Americans in this country?

Yes, I heard that he very generously asked people in Ohio to give any money they planned on donating to his campaign to the relief funds being raised. That’s quite admirable seven days before the election. What more money can he need anyway? The media is only interested in the relief efforts and what measures are being taken to help destroyed areas. No one is covering the election. But it would be nice to see Romney take an active interest in what is going on, don’t you think? But then again he would be touring the areas of the 47% , the people who are victims and will be accepting handouts, and really, who cares about them anyway?

Meanwhile, I wonder, if he were president, would he be so generous with FEMA funds? It’s going to take billions of dollars and years of work to rebuild the east coast. Is FEMA considered a handout? Will that 47% of victims who accept handouts increase to 53%? Maybe the tides of hurricane Sandy have turned that number too. I read this morning about a Connecticut republican, James Winkler, who lost everything he owned in the hurricane. He is dead set against people going to the government for help…well until now. Now he says he will reluctantly accept FEMA handouts because he has 1.7 million dollars of damage. He still believes people in dire need should not accept any handouts from the government, but he is doing it just this one time. I want to scream at the hypocrisy. It’s okay for him to break his own rules and to back track on his firm position that government should not help it’s people with financial relief, but it’s not okay for others who have faced dire situations? Isn’t it convenient to accept entitlements when he needs them…just this once? And, with 1.7 million in damages, I am quite sure that James had homeowners insurance and a few bucks stashed away for a rainy day, don’t you think? But he still needs government help. Imagine how people, who have a tiny fraction of what he has had, have had to manage day to day to pay their bills and put food on the table?

I’m sure there are many republicans who have faced devastating losses. A storm doesn’t check your voter registration card before hitting your home or neighborhood. How many of them will be looking to President Obama and FEMA to assist them now? Will it be okay just this one time? I don’t know, you tell me.

Mitt Romney’s 13% Tax Rate…

42.5 MILLION = 13% TAX RATE

Mitt Romney’s 13% Tax Rate…

I wish I could avoid hearing anything on the news, because everything I hear is aggravating. This morning, for example, I heard that Mitt Romney, who earned 42.5 million dollars is paying 13% in taxes. He also won’t release previous tax returns, beyond the last two years, because some speculate he paid no taxes at all. It wouldn’t surprise me that someone whose net worth is about 250 million dollars and who made 42.5 million isn’t paying their fair share of taxes, while others, who make a pittance of that amount, pay far more.

Let’s take my older daughter for example. She graduated college three years ago. Fortunately for her, she earned a full scholarship and has no loans to pay back, so all the money she earns is hers to keep…except for taxes. After working three years, she still cannot afford to move out on her own. Why? On her meager salary she pays 25% in taxes. Yes, a single person earning $35,350 or more must pay 25% in taxes. Imagine if she had loans to pay? She would be working for taxes and loans forever. Unless, of course I had $20,000 sitting around to lend her for a business. What sense does this make? How can people ever get out of debt when the rich people don’t pay their fair share?

Check out your bracket, are you paying more than Romney?

Yesterday I read that Romney wants to cut out Pell Grants for Students in order to DECREASE taxes for the rich. In Nebraska, 75 students would lose their grants to pay for one millionaire’s tax cut of $265,000. Pell grants are a maximum of $5,000 per low-income student. It’s based on financial need. It’s to help students and parents who can’t afford tuition costs, so they can get an education and be contributing members of society. So what is the logic in taking away from so many who can ill afford it, to make the rich richer? Now I understand why President Obama called it Romneyhood!

On top of that, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. There is a bill proposed to raise it to $10 an hour. Guess what? Romney sees no need to raise the minimum wage at this time. If not now, when? Romney and his people suggest that they want students to work their way through college and, at the same time, they fight an increase in the minimum wage that would help them do so? And then take away the grants they receive too. How are students supposed to get a college education and be productive citizens when everything is working against them? Even if they manage to graduate, they have loans to pay which may last as long as 30 year mortgages because they are being taxed at a rate of 25%.

Meanwhile, Romney doesn’t want to show us his previous tax returns. Where is all the hoopla demanding he present them like there was for Obama’s birth certificate?  Is he waiting for after the election to show us how little he paid? It might hurt his chances if people were to learn he paid even less than 13% for other years, don’t you think? 

I think this is all appalling. With high unemployment, loans, high tax rates, and low minimum wage, parents will have to take care of and support their adult children for a long time. But don’t worry, at this “rate,” the Romney children will be doing just fine.