Post Election

Caution!  This is an opinion piece and if you do not like the opinion, I am sorry.

Today is the day after the 2012 presidential election.  I woke up to a text from my very best friend Laura saying "did you see the election results?" to which I replied, Nope, fell asleep.  Just a little background, Laura and I have very similar political beliefs. 

I immediately went to Facebook, but it wasn't loading.  So, I went to Google and googled "2012 election results" there is was, President Barack Obama, with 303 electoral votes.  Ugh.  I replied to Laura, That sucks.

I have to explain why I said that.  I have a degree in Political Science, so I am very connected to the importance of voting.  I also understand the limitations on what a president can actually do.  I know that a lot of the things presidential candidates claim they will do x, y, and z, but only really the authority to change w.  One thing presidents do though is appoint a cabinet, those people do make a difference.

So, why was I disappointed in the choice of the nation?  I had a conversation with a few different friends, and I have said pretty much the same thing each time.  I felt I knew who I was going to vote for before the first debate.  After the first debate, I was certain. 

Some of the reasons I decided to vote for Romney:
-my pay has been frozen for the last 2 years and is scheduled to be frozen again this year.  Why does that matter?  At least I have a job.  That is very true, but when they froze our pay the first time, it was January of 2010.  In January 2010, the average gas price was $2.67/gallon, the average price for a gallon of milk was $2.79.  In January 2011, the average gas price was $3.52/gallon, the average price of a gallon of milk was $3.96.  In 2012, the average gas price was $3.97/gallon, the average price of a gallon of milk was $3.63.  So as you can see, having your pay frozen does affect people.

-My husband is a soldier, Obama is planning to cut 100,000 troops.  That is a big deal, if my husband does not have a job, our income goes down drastically, plus we will have to pay almost 15 times more in health insurance (probably more than that), we will pay more for our rent, and go through the stress of an unemployed family member.

-No worries though because unemployment has been extended to like 2 years.  The unemployment rate is at almost 9%, and the lets add 100,000 discharged soldiers to that number and see how easy it is to get a job

-Why is it hard to get a job, Obama is not small business friendly.  When creating his requirements, such as Obamacare, he penalizes small businesses.  If the business cannot afford the employees they have, they are not going to be hiring anyone, vet or not.

-Obamacare!  UGH!  I have a huge problem with socialist health care.  I have lived in Germany twice now, about to be three times.  I have gone to the German doctor and waited in the waiting room for hours for a doctor who doesn't really care the difference in people or illnesses because they get paid the same regardless.  The quality of care is less.  Oh, and again, the attack on the small business owner.

-I didn't know much about this until our pastor talked about it at church one Sunday and I started listening a little closer.  No one in the history of the world has survived taking on Israel.  The US is starting to have strained relations with Israel.  that does not fair well for us.

-Immigration, the fact that we are allowing work permits when we don't have enough jobs for our people.

-Bailouts.  Really, I do not agree with the idea that anything is too big to fail.  We have gone through a depression before and everyone was poor.  Why is that not the case now.

The list goes on.

One thing that has really frustrated me is the idea that I don't like this presidential candidate because of his skin color.  That could not be further from the truth.  I do not care what color you are, if you are the wrong choice for our country, I am not going to vote for you.  I do not think his policy is like others.  I think he double speaks, I question his values, and I dislike the fact that he doesn't seem transparent.

I think it is very interesting that Romney won more states, and most of the Midwest, middle states.  I know many people hate the electoral college, but I do see the need for it, so that everyone has a somewhat fair shake.  I do wish more states did like Maine does with dividing the electoral votes by congressional district so that things like Ohio don't happen.  Most of Ohio voted Red, but the cities voted Blue.

I don't think the new president will be any different than he was last, possibly worse. 

I am also very disappointed with those on both sides of this vote.  Those that voted for Romney are very upset with the ending result.  I agree that it is disappointing, but we need to be gracious losers.  But the Obama supporters must have forgotten how they reacted when Bush 2 was reelected in 2004.  It seemed there were pretty much exactly the same comments after that election.  I think it is terrible to sling mud at either of them.

I fear our future.  I am afraid of a depression, revolution, attack, etc.  I am about to move to Germany where the dollar is only worth .73 Euros.  This is devastating since we are paid in dollars. 

That is all I am going to say.  I did not get a new boss last night, so I will press on with the boss I have had.  I will do the best I can to be the best citizen I can.  I am going to contact my congress people to express what I feel should change.  I will continue to be proud to be an American, but I will be cautious of our future.