Obama, Obama, Obama

(Hoping if I say it thrice, it will conjure him, like Beetlejuice, into continued existence.)
 
I am rarely political on my blog (saving those rants for my friends on Facebook), but Today is Election Day (and the first Presidential election since its inception), and this one is so important I just can't stay silent.

Let me be clear: A vote for Mr. Romney is a vote against women, against old people and against my family. The same for a vote for any Republican Senators or Congresspeople. Because the Republicans have consistently, for the last four years worked AGAINST to good of this nation and the American people, just so they could undermine Obama and win this election. People have suffered and DIED so that they could play politics. They shot down a very important aid bill for VETERANS.

Make no mistake: The Republicans wanted this nation in terrible shape today and they kneecapped everything Obama tried to do to help our nation emerge from the dangerous financial place irresponsible Republican policy had brought it to four years ago. 

I could go on and on, but I have been reading some brilliant words by others who have laid out why. so movingly, eloquently and in some cases surprisingly, I am just going to quote and link here from now on.

First off, from Avitable's Why I’m Voting For Barack Obama In The 2012 Presidential Election. I don't even know how to chose a quote here; his whole post is clear, concise, brilliant, heartfelt, and 100% on the mark... so this:

"Over the past four years, I have seen President Obama try to compromise and work with Congress to help this country, and I have seen his opponents act ignorantly and prevent him from accomplishing as much as he could, just because they are from a different political party. Who are these people that are so arrogant that they put their own ideology ahead of the desperate needs of the American people? When did the welfare of our own country become second to the aspirations of those in Washington?."

Then there's this: The Politics of Pressure Support  A very important post (please share EVERYWHERE) from a father whose child has grave medical issues and who, though a hardworking taxpaying member of America;s middle class was being ploughed under by his child's medical care costs and insurance companies who had capped their spending. Until "Obamacare" forced them to continue to pay the care this child needed instead of just lining their pockets more deeply. 

"Governor Romney has repeatedly promised that on his first day in office he will work to repeal Obamacare. Insurance companies will again be free to deny my family coverage for whatever reasons they see fit. The Ryan budget which Governor Romney plans to enact as president includes enormous cuts to Medicaid.  A vote for the Romney/Ryan ticket is a vote to completely destroy the financial security and medical safety of my child and family. If you are planning on voting for him I’m sure that you are doing it for other reasons but these will be the consequences of that decision. You may not like hearing it but it’s the truth. A vote for Romney/Ryan is a vote that will hurt hardworking Americans like me and my family." 

And then this article: Why I'm Voting to Re-Elect President Obama from a man who does not love Obama, not at all, but finds the alternative guy so wacko and deeply owned by and aligned with questionable people and organizations; so much so he feels it is the only vote possible...

"I watched the Republican primaries. I went to the debates. I saw long-settled assumptions about the nature of representative democracy thrown down and danced upon. I heard long-established axioms of the nature of a political commonwealth torn to shreds and thrown into the perfumed air. I saw people seriously arguing for an end to the social safety net, to any and all federal environmental regulations, to the concept of the progressive income tax, and to American participation in the United Nations, the latter on the grounds that a one-world government threatens our "liberty" with its insurance-friendly national health-care reform bill. I saw Rick Santorum base his entire foreign policy on the legend of the 12th Imam, and I saw Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann actually be front-runners for a while. I saw all of this and I knew that each one of them had a substantial constituency behind them within the party for everything they said, no matter how loopy."

Then there's this chart from this Forbes article: Who Is The Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower? Would You Believe It's Barack Obama? revealing that Republicans actually OUTSPEND Democrats when in office.

 Not a typo. True. Please send this article to ever Republican you know!

Then there is this: The Eldercare Cliff. It's Coming. Are You Ready? an article that doesn't name names, but talks about voting for candidates that support eldercare - the elderly and those who care for them; talks about how important Medicaid is to the middle class, not just the poor. And you ALL know a vote for Romney is a vote against the safety net, including Medicare and Medicaid. A vote for Romney is a vote AGAINST old people. 

"One-third of Medicaid’s entire budget—almost $120 billion—is spent on long-term care services for frail elderly and younger people with a disability. Which means any of the proposed cuts in Medicaid will directly result in unpaid caregivers needing to take on the care of aging relatives, adult siblings or children who lose their coverage and services."

Finally, a bit of levity -- Joss Whedon (the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly/Serenity for the non-geek among you) with a very funny video about the whole thing - WATCH!

So share this with everyone you think needs to hear it. And go out and vote! (Or as my father used to quip: Vote early and vote often!)