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CNN did (or is doing) a series on undecided voters and what they're thinking about. Since I think I'd still consider myself undecided at this point, and I'm narcissistic enough to like to talk about myself , I thought I'd do one and see what people think.
I'm a relatively young (31 year old) white male. I'm single, never been married, no kids, have a great girlfriend. I live in Michigan, which is almost guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama, but it's probably not set in stone depending on what events transpire in the next month.
I went to school (undergrad and grad) for chemical engineering. Upon graduation, I had a decent paying job, but unfortunately I was laid off, and challenges have ensued since then. I've taken UE benefits, but no food stamps or anything else. I have also done some part-time work. I would like a real job - some may say that I'm not taking the right steps to get one, but that's a personal issue, not a political one. I don't really have any clue how cutting taxes on job creators is really going to trickle down as we've been doing that for my entire life with weak results. But I don't think it's responsible to keep increasing the deficit to create jobs either.
I'm Christian - I'm very involved with my church, going to services, singing in choir, and Bible studies for my age group. That being said, I'm not a fundamentalist or anything. It bugs me that the only two issues it seems like Christians focus in on politically are abortion and same-sex marriage, while totally ignoring sins like greed, pride, and slander that run rampant in everybody's lives. My views on abortion are fairly similar to Romney's. I'm not sure whether the biblical understanding of homosexuality is compatible with the modern one, and I really think that is up to the individual in question, so I'd probably lean more towards favoring same-sex marriage than opposing it, although I don't really feel comfortable with a position either way.
Other things - I'm generally skeptical of the dominance of big business in America and want to the support the little guy. Environmentally, I defer to science as opposed to agendas. I'm pro-gun, pro-hunting, etc. I'm definitely pro-military. My family tends to lean Republican, although we are in disagreement about some of the core issues listed here. I voted for Obama in 2008 because I didn't want a continuation of the Bush policies.
Romney is not Bush. My future son-in-law is a chemical engineer, but is currently working as a bio-medical engineer. My daughter is still looking for a job, a year and a half after graduation from NYU. There's no hope for NY to go Republican, but there are 6 votes for Romney out of my house and my kids are in their 20's.
I may not agree with Romney on 100% of the issues, but I don't know how anyone could consider giving Obama/Biden/Clinton/Reid/Pelosi/Napolitano/Holder another term. Please vote with your common sense and scientifically logical brain and vote for Romney. The future of our country depends on it!
I think no one can tell you how to vote and you have to weigh the issues and decide for yourself.
Here's my main reason for agreeing with Romney over Obama: Bigger government/more taxes has never worked. When you tax less and let people keep more of their money (smaller government), it does stimulate the economy and stimulate jobs because people have money to spend in the way THEY see fit, and they usually know far better how to spend their money than the government does. It does create jobs because businesses have more money to hire more employees. And instead of most businesses being big corporations, the fact is that most businesses are small businesses. I own a small business and I have work for myself and I subcontract to eight other people. If I could afford to hire employees I would, but I couldn't afford to provide benefits. I'm surviving now, but I am sure not getting rich by any means. There are other businesses just like mine, some larger and some smaller, that employ people. You might even be able to start YOUR own business.
I think we are spending way too much on entitlement programs. I think it kills people's initiative when they have things handed to them. I have no problem with supporting the elderly and people who are disabled and cannot support themselves and people who need help temporarily until they can get back on their feet. But the truth is, there are a lot of people who are being supported by taxpayers BECAUSE THEY CAN. That's wrong. People who can work should be working.
What Obama has done the last four years isn't working. It will never work. It hasn't worked in other countries, and it won't work here. You need to give people the tools to make a good life for themselves, not hand everything to them so they don't have any initiative to do for themselves.
I also think we need to close our borders and not allow illegals to stay in our country, especially at our expense. We are already in debt and we are providing housing, healthcare, food and education to people who are not even citizens. What other country can you show up in and do that? None.
I guess I'm a fiscal conservative and social moderate. Abortion and gay marriage aren't things that I feel like I can or should tell another person to do or not to do. That's their own choice. I don't have to do it myself, but I'm not going to tell others what to do. Rowe v Wade is not going to be overturned no matter who is in office. And like you, those aren't the big issues to me. The big issue is the economy. I know things have gotten worse the last four years and things need to change. That's why I'm voting for Romney.
CNN did (or is doing) a series on undecided voters and what they're thinking about. Since I think I'd still consider myself undecided at this point, and I'm narcissistic enough to like to talk about myself , I thought I'd do one and see what people think.
I'm a relatively young (31 year old) white male. I'm single, never been married, no kids, have a great girlfriend. I live in Michigan, which is almost guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama, but it's probably not set in stone depending on what events transpire in the next month.
I went to school (undergrad and grad) for chemical engineering. Upon graduation, I had a decent paying job, but unfortunately I was laid off, and challenges have ensued since then. I've taken UE benefits, but no food stamps or anything else. I have also done some part-time work. I would like a real job - some may say that I'm not taking the right steps to get one, but that's a personal issue, not a political one. I don't really have any clue how cutting taxes on job creators is really going to trickle down as we've been doing that for my entire life with weak results. But I don't think it's responsible to keep increasing the deficit to create jobs either.
I'm Christian - I'm very involved with my church, going to services, singing in choir, and Bible studies for my age group. That being said, I'm not a fundamentalist or anything. It bugs me that the only two issues it seems like Christians focus in on politically are abortion and same-sex marriage, while totally ignoring sins like greed, pride, and slander that run rampant in everybody's lives. My views on abortion are fairly similar to Romney's. I'm not sure whether the biblical understanding of homosexuality is compatible with the modern one, and I really think that is up to the individual in question, so I'd probably lean more towards favoring same-sex marriage than opposing it, although I don't really feel comfortable with a position either way.
Other things - I'm generally skeptical of the dominance of big business in America and want to the support the little guy. Environmentally, I defer to science as opposed to agendas. I'm pro-gun, pro-hunting, etc. I'm definitely pro-military. My family tends to lean Republican, although we are in disagreement about some of the core issues listed here. I voted for Obama in 2008 because I didn't want a continuation of the Bush policies.
I think your best bet would be to look to Romney and Obama's history. People are going to argue both of these, but it's the least partisan one, yet.
Obama:
Positives:
- Instituted tax reform - Specifically, the Economic Substance Doctrine. Any changes to the tax code must have significant economic justification.
- Established a Credit Card bill of rights.
- Closed the doughnut hole in the Medicare prescription drug plan.
- Instituted health care reform, such as requiring HMO's to disclose how much of their premium goes to patient care.
-Increased the VA budget for mental health care professionals.
-Created the violence against women act.
Negatives:
- Promised to close Guantanamo Bay to prevent abuse of prisoners. Did not.
- Legislation for stimulus package did not come close to the effects it promised.
- Added $4.9 trillion to the debt since he took office.
- Did not end income tax for Seniors earning less than $50, 000.00
- Did not end no-bid contracts above $25, 000.00
- Did not create the National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank
- Did not phase out exemptions and deductions for higher earners, despite promises to do so.
- Promised to double federal funding in to cancer research. Did not.
- Was going to require employers to provide 7 paid sick days. Did not.
- Promised to work with Russia to pull nuclear weapons off hair trigger alert. Did not.
- Promised an alternative to Bush's Military Commissions act. Did not follow through.
- Did not follow through on IAEA reforms.
- Did not ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, as promised.
- Promised to double the Peace Corps. Did not.
- Promised an independent watchdog agency to watch for congressional ethics violations. Did not.
- Was going to provide a public database disclosing how much federal contractors spend on lobbying and what contracts they're getting and how well they complete them. Did not.
- Was going to allow 5 days of public comments before signing bills. Did not.
- Tougher rules for revolving door policies for lobbyists and former officials. Did not deliver.
Romney:
Positives:
- Saved the Olympics, under budget and rescued what was going to be a fiasco.
- Became governor midway through fiscal year saddled with huge debt. Balanced the budget with $343 million cuts.
- Restructured government in Mass and saved several hundred million dollars.
- Was the first Governor not to issue a single pardon or commutation.
- Increased Veteran's benefits.
Negatives:
- Did not authorize flooding control after a major flood caused him to request Bush to declare an area a disaster zone. This resulted in another flood, which caused him to authorize flood prevention measures.
- Did not spend his last year in Massachusetts, but rather spent 212 days out of state preparing for his presidential run.
- Sold all hard drives for computers in his office to private individuals. Ostensibly to prevent opposition from getting hold of them.
- Went from supporting stem cell research to opposing it, forcing the legislature to overturn it.
There's far more information on the President than on the Governor, simply because the President tried to do an awful lot. He abandoned quite a lot of campaign promises.
Essentially, the difference is: Romney will make painful choices, but sticks to the rules. He is a technocrat problem solver. Obama will not make painful choices, but will instead push for items and agendas that have broad support. He's a populist at heart.
Both sides will argue this, but based on their records, it's safe to say this is how they'd govern.
I live in a mostly conservative state (TN). When Clinton was president, my state governor and the Clinton adminstration worked out a deal to try a new health care model. It was bi-partisan, the governor at that time was a R.
With help from the federal government, we implemented a health care system to cover all the people who "fall through the cracks," self-employed, low income, pre-existing conditions, etc. Had it worked, the plan was for it to become a model for the nation
Due to scammers, uncontrolled prescription costs, etc. the program did not work. It was bankrupting the state. A Democrat ran for office, and he had an incredible amount of private health care experience. I voted for him because health care was the biggest issue facing our state and state economy at that time.
He did an excellent job- and really, if Obama was serious about a workable health care plan, he should have appt. our previous governor.
I like Romney for the same reasons that I voted for that Dem. governor. Because he has the right economic experience for the current situation. He has a history of turning around things, both public and private (Staples, Olympics, etc.) And he has the added health care experience as well. He is the right person, with the right experience, at the right time.
Obama clearly can't turn this around, he's had 4 years and has done nothing but print money to prop up the economy. This is not sustainable.
I truly believe Romney can make a difference if elected.
CNN did (or is doing) a series on undecided voters and what they're thinking about. Since I think I'd still consider myself undecided at this point, and I'm narcissistic enough to like to talk about myself , I thought I'd do one and see what people think.
I'm a relatively young (31 year old) white male. I'm single, never been married, no kids, have a great girlfriend. I live in Michigan, which is almost guaranteed to vote for Barack Obama, but it's probably not set in stone depending on what events transpire in the next month.
I went to school (undergrad and grad) for chemical engineering. Upon graduation, I had a decent paying job, but unfortunately I was laid off, and challenges have ensued since then. I've taken UE benefits, but no food stamps or anything else. I have also done some part-time work. I would like a real job - some may say that I'm not taking the right steps to get one, but that's a personal issue, not a political one. I don't really have any clue how cutting taxes on job creators is really going to trickle down as we've been doing that for my entire life with weak results. But I don't think it's responsible to keep increasing the deficit to create jobs either.
I'm Christian - I'm very involved with my church, going to services, singing in choir, and Bible studies for my age group. That being said, I'm not a fundamentalist or anything. It bugs me that the only two issues it seems like Christians focus in on politically are abortion and same-sex marriage, while totally ignoring sins like greed, pride, and slander that run rampant in everybody's lives. My views on abortion are fairly similar to Romney's. I'm not sure whether the biblical understanding of homosexuality is compatible with the modern one, and I really think that is up to the individual in question, so I'd probably lean more towards favoring same-sex marriage than opposing it, although I don't really feel comfortable with a position either way.
Other things - I'm generally skeptical of the dominance of big business in America and want to the support the little guy. Environmentally, I defer to science as opposed to agendas. I'm pro-gun, pro-hunting, etc. I'm definitely pro-military. My family tends to lean Republican, although we are in disagreement about some of the core issues listed here. I voted for Obama in 2008 because I didn't want a continuation of the Bush policies.
What do you guys think?
I think you need to make your own choice, like the rest of us.
Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Let's put it this way... if you basically voted against Bush the last time, then what do you think you would be doing if this time you voted for a guy who...
I'm not going to tell you how to vote, but I'm 36 and have a lot in common with you and I'll be voting for Gary Johnson. You should definitely check out his policies and platform as it is a huge change from the same old same old of the last 12 years or so.
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, I thought I'd do one and see what people think.
