Election day 2012

I want to just get down some thoughts before I get ready to go vote and go to work.

Why I’m voting for Obama today:

Rights of everyone:

Obama has consistently pushed for equal rights for everyone, despite religious ideals, sexual orientation, sex, or ethnicity.  Guaranteeing that my fiancée and any future daughters will have the same opportunities and access to their bodies which I enjoy is imperative   Romney refused to sign various pieces of legislation, including the Lily Ledbetter Act, which would guarantee something as simple as equal pay for women.  On minority rights he has wavered on stances anywhere from effectively “make anyone who’s not white show papers” to supporting the Dream Act.

Tax policy:

Under Obama, the middle and lower classes will receive slight tax breaks.  Considering that wages for the past 12 years have refused to keep up with inflation (can we eschew “trickle down” doublespeak yet?), this is necessary to keeping our economy on the right track.  He will also close a number of loopholes and slightly raise taxes on those making $250,000 or more every year: people who actually have a lower tax rate and far more disposable income than the middle and lower classes.

Economic soundness:

The way the Obama administration will change the tax code will decrease our national deficit $3.8 trilling from 2013-2022.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Romney’s tax cuts for the rich and effective tax hikes on the middle and lower classes would actually increase the deficit.

Veterans’ benefits and rights:

Straightforward and to the point: Obama has vastly improved veterans’ access to health care, bolstered the VA (when he wasn’t blocked by the GOP), and given much support to veterans.  Romney’s plans would gut all that progress in the name of budget savings.

Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):

Plain and simple this will save taxpayers (you and me) a whole ton of money.  It improves health care, access to health care, and reduces costs for everyone.  Not only does it save us all money but it would also cost a whole lot of money to repeal the program.

There are abundant myths and lies that the ACA cuts Medicare or other programs.  These are just what I called them: lies.

Foreign policy:

I think this is one of the most understated aspects of this election.  Our relationships overseas and across this continent are extraordinarily valuable in both our commerce and effectiveness with military and economical actions.  By and large, President Obama is far more willing to work alongside other countries than Romney.  Even more striking is how much more willing the other countries are willing to work alongside our incumbent president than they are Romney.  He is practically a globally reviled figure whilst Obama is, for all intents and purposes, globally lauded.

Our success at home is tied and reflected to our success worldwide.

Homeland security:

More than any war draw down (which Romney has said he would both enforce and rescind), our citizens face local environmental dangers.

The Midwest experiences tornado seasons, the East coast suffers hurricane seasons.  Traditionally, under Republican presidents, FEMA — the Federal Emergency Management Agency — is slow to respond and, even worse, ineffective in their actions.  In 2005 over 1,833 people died in the days following Hurricane Katrina.  Those people died after the hurricane ended.  They died because they weren’t rescued from flooded areas, from hospitals, from anywhere.  Their communities and neighborhoods in New Orleans and surrounding areas were left to rot for days.  When Hurricane Sandy hit New York just last week, FEMA, now under Obama’s administration, save untold numbers of people.  Tragically, Hurricane Sandy has claimed about 133 lives, but due to Obama’s quick response, far more were saved.

Romney wants to privatize FEMA.  This would weaken it and more people would die in the Midwest during tornado season.  More people would die in Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, South Carolina, New York, and any other East Coast or Gulf state during hurricane season.  Of course, bolstering FEMA also saves money in the long term.

Women’s healthcare:

Under the Affordable Care Act women are now entitled to free birth control from their insurer.  This saves costs and reduces not only unwanted pregnancies, but the abortion rate.

Anyone who says that birth control leads to premature promiscuity is reciting statistics which the anti-choice industry made up.  That’s just how it is.

I’ve seen a lot of people cite the incident at Benghazi as a reason not to vote for Obama.  Quite frankly, that’s absurd.  The White House did not have a live feed of what was happening, nor did they deny any extra security to the embassy.  In fact, the embassy at Benghazi didn’t even ask for more security — the one at Tripoli did.  The entire tragic Benghazi episode is a horrible red herring to issues which affect 98% of this country (47% of which Romney actively doesn’t care about).

I didn’t even touch on how Obama knows what it’s like to not have money, how the Romneys think that gallivanting through France on religious missionary excursions is equivalent to our soldiers looking down the enemy’s gun barrel, or the fact that Romney skirted taxes from 1996-2010 (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-29/romney-avoids-taxes-via-loophole-cutting-mormon-donations.html).