Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The Election - Its Over at Last

Well it is finally over - the election that is.  Throughout the election cycle I have little doubt about where I stand and I will readily admit that I am happy about the results.  With that said, I am not writing this post to gloat.  Instead I am writing this to point out the issues that divide us as a nation and give the people who voted for Romney something to think about.

What were some of the most significant issues that seemed to effect the election?  Let's first address the economy.  The economy was listed as the number one priority for many voters in exit polls.  Where do the difference lie between Romney voters and Obama voters concerning the economy?  The key difference seems to be that Romney voters blame Obama for the poor state of the economy.  Let's face a key fact - there is very little politician do that can improve the economy.  If we realize that fact then we have a point from which to start a discussion.  Realizing that politicians don't have any real impact on the economy, you then have to ask what was the true difference between Obama and Romney.  The difference was in their tax policy.  Romney believed that the wealthiest members of society should be taxed less on their earnings so that they could use the money to create jobs.  Obama on the other hand believe that the larger share of the tax burden should be carried by wealthy.  This tax burden would be used to provide essential programs and pay down the debt.  Ask yourself what is fair?  The middle class and poor bearing a greater part of the tax burden or the wealthy?  I think the answer is obvious - the wealthy should bear the larger portion of the tax burden.  And I say this as someone who will clearly be taxed at a much higher rate under Obama then I would have been taxed under Romney.  I believe that I should have to pay the higher tax rates.

Another major issue that divided the electorate was on the issue of healthcare.  Romney supporters strongly believed that the Affordable Healthcare Act should be repealed.  Why?  What is so inherently wrong about the Affordable Healthcare Act that it should be repealed?  The current healthcare system is failing.  Costs are continuing to rise without any likelihood that the price increases will cease.  More and more people are losing their health insurance.  It is obvious that something needs to be done to change the dynamics of the system.  We cannot continue to let the status quo continue or eventually more and more people will be without healthcare.  The system is broken.  Why is it so preposterous to implement the Affordable Health Care Act and change things? Let's try something new and see if it works.  It's not socialism it just a more coordinated attempt to get people insured and control rising costs.

The national debt was another issue that divided voters.  Romney voters made a significant issue about that debt.  Granted the debt is a massive problem.  But to rectify the debt we will eventually need to reach a point where the government is collecting more money than it is spending.  We need to realize that we were in that situation in 2001 and instead of continuing to collect the additional money, George W. Bush decided we needed tax cuts instead.  Those tax rates have never gone back to the point that they were prior to those "temporary tax cuts".

The argument that Obama is "wasting" so much money doesn't really hold water.  Yes - Obama has overseen some of the largest deficits in American history.  But those deficits have been driven by decreased revenue collected because of the economic problems as opposed to massive spending increases.  The most significant issues associated with spending have been the massive amounts of money spent on wars.  What has been gained from those wars?  To be frank - not too much.  Yes - we did get Osama bin Laden which was very important.  But despite the amounts of money spent both Iraq and Afghanistan are still basket case societies.  In fact there is a growing trend of countries slipping into chaos that has been accelerating in recent years.  Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, Libya the list continues to grow each year.  The United States can't stop this trend and we need other countries to step up and help out.

I guess I could go on and on - but there really isn't that much of a point.  I would ask the people who voted for Romney to give it a chance.  During the George W years those of us on the left had to just suck it up and roll with the punches.  We got a lot of things thrown our way that we didn't want but we didn't revolt.  We just tried a lot harder to win the elections and as a result we did in 2008.  So it's time get together - solve our problems and if you don't like the what we the Democratic party/progressives/liberals put on the table then make sure your guys get elected in 2016.

In the end run Barack Obama was re-elected and the sun has risen on another day.  As much as everyone on the right seems to think it's the end of the world, it really is not.  The world will still be here and the United States will still be standing when the next election day comes around in 4 years.

And with that I will leave the subject of politics for the foreseeable future!

We got some news today about Zack's trip to Washington DC.  It has been rescheduled to take place from November 29 to December 2.  Based upon what I know of the school calendar he will get to miss two days of school for the trip.  He is so broken up about that thought!  No - not really!

Life is very low-key for us these days which is perhaps why I haven't had a lot to write about.  We are doing the normal every day stuff without too much difference every day.  One potential little hiccup has been thrown into my schedule as there is a good possibility I will have to head to India the week after Thanksgiving.  This would be over the same time that Zack is in Washington DC.  It's not yet certain as it is for a series of conferences and meetings in Delhi and we still don't know if we are going to get funding for these conferences or not.  Given that we are nearing the end of the year, there is an effort to cut down on costs to better improve my employers financial results for the remainder of the year.  Hopefully I will find out with some certainty this week whether that trip will be necessary or not.

Thanks and peace to all! ~J.

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