Have you noticed that everyone is either snapping and sniping at each other, or they are completely apathetic and don't care? I've been talking to young adults around me, trying to convince them to get out and vote, but they don't think their vote counts so they don't see any reason to vote anyway. It's very annoying. I try to explain why it is so important to vote, and not let a small minority of voters make choices for us all.
I was talking to someone who said they weren't registered to vote and I tried to convince her it was very important to vote. Only about 30% voted in the last election. My friend said their vote didn't count because it was all in the hands of the electoral college anyway. That's just wrong. There are more things to vote on than the Presidential election, although that is a very important reason to vote in itself, You may not be directly picking the candidate but your voice should be heard.
Our electoral system is being torn apart by both parties and their refusal to work issues out and accomplish something. This divisive attitude has been in existence for years but it has never been more prevalent than it is today.
The immediate right wing of the electoral system wants to use their conservative platform to change the face of America and make it a nation ruled by the religious zealots on the right. We do not need zealots with any agenda controlling this country. It has always been a secular country and it should always be. It was never intended to be governed by religion. Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Baptists from Danbury Connecticut in 1802.
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
The Tea party keeps beating the drum demanding that their candidates refuse to raise taxes ever! The uber-rich want to continue the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy. Taxes were 39% until Bush cut them 4%, to 35%. Wealthy people hire accountants who help them manage their money and apply any loopholes they can find to reduce their taxes. Mitt Romney admitted that he has paid 13-15% taxes for the last few years. That is far below the 35% that you and I pay.
The issues in this election are the economy, and the lack of jobs across America. President Obama didn't have any cooperation in pushing his bills through congress, so he may have thought it would be hard to get cooperation with creating manufacturing jobs and developing a diverse array of products that could be sold in America. I believe it is imperative.
Continuing the tax cuts for the rich is not in the best interest of our country. Tax rates aren't nearly as high as they have been in the past for the wealthy in this country. The highest tax rates were 95% under President Eisenhower's administration.
I think America is schizophrenic. We have to be. I can't explain any other reason that we would flip-flop back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans. Nobody seems to remember George Bush and his horrible presidency. He was a very manipulative and divisive president. He took this nation into two wars. He spent billions of dollars for war and he borrowed it from a communist country. Raise your hand if you think that's stupid.
The stress is starting to become too much. People think the economy is in the toilet and their lives are being ruined while congress is dicking around fighting each other. There aren't enough jobs out there and the dangerous economic situation we are in is hurting everyone. The stock market is booming though, and companies are making record profits so it's all good. When will we feel the trickle down effect? I want to know.
If the Republicans get into the White House, and take control of the economy, and cut programs, and continue to disenfranchise voters, we will all pay. Every time I have seen the federal government cut spending and taxes, states pick up the slack and start taxing it's citizens. When our state isn't able to tap into the federal budget and get earmarks for pork barrel projects like roadwork, schools, and pet projects everybody is disappointed.
Gordon County has been working for several years trying to line up money for big projects. Some money is needed to revamp ramps on the freeway. They also want government money to create tourist parks and a driving tour throughout places where battles were fought during the Civil War.
I've noticed that when the federal taxes are lower my state taxes are higher. But it doesn't even stop there. My local taxes are higher, too. And I'm not finished. Every freaking bill we get goes UP in cost when the economy gets bad.
I guess the cable company is losing too many customers when they lost their homes so they have to start gouging the customers they have to keep their profits high. Don't even get me started on everything else that goes up. Oh God! The property taxes! Everyone who owns a home or property is struggling under a crushing debt of taxes. I think the government has a wicked sense of humor because all our taxes are due around Christmas time. I guess they want to crush the human spirit.
The same goes for the other companies that raise rates and slip in hidden charges in our bills. My telephone bill is chock full of coded services and indecipherable information.
I'm talking about my taxes to let you know that it is impossible to get away from paying taxes. Everybody has to pay the piper. Nearly everything you purchase is taxed. Your YooHoo, your Twinkie, your gasoline, your home. It's all taxed by the man.
If you know me, you already know I'm a Democrat, and if you're ever around me you know I'm adamant. As we roll closer to the end of this electoral battle, I have become very vocal and very insistent in trying to educate and explain why it is important to vote for Mr. Obama again for President.
When Barack Obama ran for president I wasn't enthused to have him stepping into the limelight and stealing Hillary Clinton's thunder. I was poised to celebrate the inauguration of the first female president.
Obama happened to be at the right place at the right time. Senator Ted Kennedy was instrumental in helping Obama secure the nomination.
There was no choice between McCain and Obama after McCain picked Sarah Palin for his Vice Presidential running mate. McCain had been a Senator for decades and knew lots of people but he chose an unknown first term governor from Alaska. If that was an example of his first policy choice, it didn't give me any confidence in him.
George Bush used fear tactics and intimidation to whip the public into supporting two wars. Every time a hearing in congress came up concerning funds, or dissent from anyone, the Republican machine went to work calling people unpatriotic, or traitors. They were quick to label people communists, or socialists. Everyone still throws around those terms today. They still want to control with fear and propaganda and it works!
I think George Bush and his evil sidekick Dick Cheney took American politics to a new low. They tried to instill a sports like frenzy as they distributed playing cards with terrorist's pictures on them. Every time they bombed something, or killed anyone, it was splashed all over the news. They used every tool in the book to promote and inspire a team spirit in America about the war.
People were on such a frenzied high because of the war that they became rabid when they talked to anyone who didn't support the war or the excuses that were used to explain why we were invading Iraq. Bush first expressed hostility when Iraq refused to allow nuclear inspectors in their country. Before a resolution could be reached, and without the consent of the United Nations, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.
The news played it as a historic occasion when we "freed the Iraqis" and suggested that we would be greeted as liberators. Bush claimed that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's). Some sketchy information confirmed this suspicion. When Joe Wilson's report became public that he couldn't find any evidence of Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger, Dick Cheney allegedly uses his friend and cohort Scooter Libby to out Jim Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a spy. Holy Double-cross Batman!
Politics is a dirty business. Backstabbing, and double-cross, and lies are strongly enmeshed in politics. I see it all the time on a small scale when I watch the wranglings of the local politicians but it is becoming very disturbing to see that the federal government is getting deeper in the cesspool now. Their job is to take care of the nation and to help their community. Those two jobs shouldn't be held hostage by politicians who went to Washington to prevent any progress and to block any legislature that would benefit Obama's administration.
People are afraid of Obama. The immediate right paints him as the devil incarnate. He isn't the one who got America in two wars and squandered million upon millions of dollars that would be better spent here in America. He was just the man who had to clean up after it. America and the rest of the world would have sunk into a depression to rival the one in the '30's if Obama hadn't propped up the stock market and auto industry. A Judge in Texas is predicting a Civil War if Obama wins again. The right wing is going dangerously towards the edge. They are creating more loonies every day. Honestly! Can we say Koo-Koo for Coco Puffs?
The rabid right is going to come out in force in November to assure themselves of dethroning Obama at the expense of common sense and their own best interests just to rid themselves of an educated, intelligent, thoughtful, diligent, leader who happens to be black and a Democrat. They are blind to the needs of the less fortunate and the possibility that they may need government assistance some day, probably when they are in a nursing home. I wonder what we will do when families have to face that full financial burden without government assistance.
I saw a comment about the atmosphere of the 2012 election fervor over Obama on a message board which summed it up nicely.
Jame s Holloway said, "So the racists are circling the wagons. The one thing that Mr O's election has done that no one can debate is, it's brought the racists out of the closet into the main street of town."
I was talking to someone who said they weren't registered to vote and I tried to convince her it was very important to vote. Only about 30% voted in the last election. My friend said their vote didn't count because it was all in the hands of the electoral college anyway. That's just wrong. There are more things to vote on than the Presidential election, although that is a very important reason to vote in itself, You may not be directly picking the candidate but your voice should be heard.
Our electoral system is being torn apart by both parties and their refusal to work issues out and accomplish something. This divisive attitude has been in existence for years but it has never been more prevalent than it is today.
The immediate right wing of the electoral system wants to use their conservative platform to change the face of America and make it a nation ruled by the religious zealots on the right. We do not need zealots with any agenda controlling this country. It has always been a secular country and it should always be. It was never intended to be governed by religion. Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Baptists from Danbury Connecticut in 1802.
"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof", thus building a wall of separation between Church & State."
The Tea party keeps beating the drum demanding that their candidates refuse to raise taxes ever! The uber-rich want to continue the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy. Taxes were 39% until Bush cut them 4%, to 35%. Wealthy people hire accountants who help them manage their money and apply any loopholes they can find to reduce their taxes. Mitt Romney admitted that he has paid 13-15% taxes for the last few years. That is far below the 35% that you and I pay.
The issues in this election are the economy, and the lack of jobs across America. President Obama didn't have any cooperation in pushing his bills through congress, so he may have thought it would be hard to get cooperation with creating manufacturing jobs and developing a diverse array of products that could be sold in America. I believe it is imperative.
Continuing the tax cuts for the rich is not in the best interest of our country. Tax rates aren't nearly as high as they have been in the past for the wealthy in this country. The highest tax rates were 95% under President Eisenhower's administration.
I think America is schizophrenic. We have to be. I can't explain any other reason that we would flip-flop back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans. Nobody seems to remember George Bush and his horrible presidency. He was a very manipulative and divisive president. He took this nation into two wars. He spent billions of dollars for war and he borrowed it from a communist country. Raise your hand if you think that's stupid.
The stress is starting to become too much. People think the economy is in the toilet and their lives are being ruined while congress is dicking around fighting each other. There aren't enough jobs out there and the dangerous economic situation we are in is hurting everyone. The stock market is booming though, and companies are making record profits so it's all good. When will we feel the trickle down effect? I want to know.
If the Republicans get into the White House, and take control of the economy, and cut programs, and continue to disenfranchise voters, we will all pay. Every time I have seen the federal government cut spending and taxes, states pick up the slack and start taxing it's citizens. When our state isn't able to tap into the federal budget and get earmarks for pork barrel projects like roadwork, schools, and pet projects everybody is disappointed.
Gordon County has been working for several years trying to line up money for big projects. Some money is needed to revamp ramps on the freeway. They also want government money to create tourist parks and a driving tour throughout places where battles were fought during the Civil War.
I've noticed that when the federal taxes are lower my state taxes are higher. But it doesn't even stop there. My local taxes are higher, too. And I'm not finished. Every freaking bill we get goes UP in cost when the economy gets bad.
I guess the cable company is losing too many customers when they lost their homes so they have to start gouging the customers they have to keep their profits high. Don't even get me started on everything else that goes up. Oh God! The property taxes! Everyone who owns a home or property is struggling under a crushing debt of taxes. I think the government has a wicked sense of humor because all our taxes are due around Christmas time. I guess they want to crush the human spirit.
The same goes for the other companies that raise rates and slip in hidden charges in our bills. My telephone bill is chock full of coded services and indecipherable information.
I'm talking about my taxes to let you know that it is impossible to get away from paying taxes. Everybody has to pay the piper. Nearly everything you purchase is taxed. Your YooHoo, your Twinkie, your gasoline, your home. It's all taxed by the man.
If you know me, you already know I'm a Democrat, and if you're ever around me you know I'm adamant. As we roll closer to the end of this electoral battle, I have become very vocal and very insistent in trying to educate and explain why it is important to vote for Mr. Obama again for President.
When Barack Obama ran for president I wasn't enthused to have him stepping into the limelight and stealing Hillary Clinton's thunder. I was poised to celebrate the inauguration of the first female president.
Obama happened to be at the right place at the right time. Senator Ted Kennedy was instrumental in helping Obama secure the nomination.
There was no choice between McCain and Obama after McCain picked Sarah Palin for his Vice Presidential running mate. McCain had been a Senator for decades and knew lots of people but he chose an unknown first term governor from Alaska. If that was an example of his first policy choice, it didn't give me any confidence in him.
George Bush used fear tactics and intimidation to whip the public into supporting two wars. Every time a hearing in congress came up concerning funds, or dissent from anyone, the Republican machine went to work calling people unpatriotic, or traitors. They were quick to label people communists, or socialists. Everyone still throws around those terms today. They still want to control with fear and propaganda and it works!
I think George Bush and his evil sidekick Dick Cheney took American politics to a new low. They tried to instill a sports like frenzy as they distributed playing cards with terrorist's pictures on them. Every time they bombed something, or killed anyone, it was splashed all over the news. They used every tool in the book to promote and inspire a team spirit in America about the war.
People were on such a frenzied high because of the war that they became rabid when they talked to anyone who didn't support the war or the excuses that were used to explain why we were invading Iraq. Bush first expressed hostility when Iraq refused to allow nuclear inspectors in their country. Before a resolution could be reached, and without the consent of the United Nations, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.
The news played it as a historic occasion when we "freed the Iraqis" and suggested that we would be greeted as liberators. Bush claimed that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's). Some sketchy information confirmed this suspicion. When Joe Wilson's report became public that he couldn't find any evidence of Iraq trying to buy uranium from Niger, Dick Cheney allegedly uses his friend and cohort Scooter Libby to out Jim Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a spy. Holy Double-cross Batman!
Politics is a dirty business. Backstabbing, and double-cross, and lies are strongly enmeshed in politics. I see it all the time on a small scale when I watch the wranglings of the local politicians but it is becoming very disturbing to see that the federal government is getting deeper in the cesspool now. Their job is to take care of the nation and to help their community. Those two jobs shouldn't be held hostage by politicians who went to Washington to prevent any progress and to block any legislature that would benefit Obama's administration.
People are afraid of Obama. The immediate right paints him as the devil incarnate. He isn't the one who got America in two wars and squandered million upon millions of dollars that would be better spent here in America. He was just the man who had to clean up after it. America and the rest of the world would have sunk into a depression to rival the one in the '30's if Obama hadn't propped up the stock market and auto industry. A Judge in Texas is predicting a Civil War if Obama wins again. The right wing is going dangerously towards the edge. They are creating more loonies every day. Honestly! Can we say Koo-Koo for Coco Puffs?
The rabid right is going to come out in force in November to assure themselves of dethroning Obama at the expense of common sense and their own best interests just to rid themselves of an educated, intelligent, thoughtful, diligent, leader who happens to be black and a Democrat. They are blind to the needs of the less fortunate and the possibility that they may need government assistance some day, probably when they are in a nursing home. I wonder what we will do when families have to face that full financial burden without government assistance.
I saw a comment about the atmosphere of the 2012 election fervor over Obama on a message board which summed it up nicely.
Jame s Holloway said, "So the racists are circling the wagons. The one thing that Mr O's election has done that no one can debate is, it's brought the racists out of the closet into the main street of town."
Nobody should be uninformed in this day and age. Go online and read about each candidate and the issues. If you are not rich, why would you vote for someone who only cares about the rich, and will cut programs for the needy?
Everybody should get out and vote. We shouldn't leave it to the few. Research politicians and issues then go vote in November and help choose our next president. It doesn't matter if you vote for Romney or Obama. The important thing is to exercise your citizen's right to choose. Many people around the world have died fighting for the right to vote. Don't squander your freedom. Don't let someone take the right to vote away.
AS ALWAYS
PIO
