I decided months ago how I would vote. This year it’s a no brainer. Except for the one nobody paid attention to, the Republican candidates for president were embarrassing, including the one they selected.
Following the two-year outrageous performance of the congressional majority with its 8 percent approval rating and the bizarre legislation of our statehouse, I think any concerned, thinking person will vote for Democrat state and national candidates. Here are a few reasons:
Republicans want to privatize just about everything, including Medicare, Social Security, prisons and even schools. Think about it, particularly when, at gut level, they are averse to applying any regulations or controls on the privateers.
Their plans for Social Security and Medicare are procedurally designed to gradually erode both completely away.
Private prisons are most profitable when every cot is full, sentences long, and employees poorly trained and paid.
Who is likely to win when our kids’ learning is weighed against shareholders’ interests?
Democrats know some things should never be part of the for-profit system. They will keep working to someday make that a health care reality.
Republicans have passed laws to make it more difficult for the poor minorities, the old and the young to vote with no justification. Seems their multi-billionaire backers figured out that voter suppression works to their advantage and even wrote the legislation for them.
Republicans are committed to the notion that pollution equals prosperity as they lock arms with the most obscene industrial polluters to gut all the environmental protections that gave us clean air and water back when bipartisanship committed to and advanced good sense.
Unmitigated bully arrogance and obeisance to a moneyed class without a shred of patriotism propel Republicans these days. It’s Democrats who stand for ordinary folks. How more obvious could it be?
JENNIE YOUNG
Elizabethton
NiteRider writes:
November 5, 2012
3:12 PM
It's obvious if you believe all of the disinformation out there. Republicans are not for privatizing schools, prisons, etc. They do support allowing parents to have the choice of sending their kid to a private school, but are not advocating privatizing all schools. Where do you come up with this stuff? Social Security and Medicare are great benefits to our society, however they are underfunded and at the rate we are going will be insolvent at some point in the near future. There needs to be a solution to fixing the problems, not continuing on the path they are now. Read about what is happening in Greece to see what happens when the government can no longer pay out what they have promised. Republicans aren't against minorities and elderly voting, they are working to assure there is not voter fraud. You can't even open a bank account without proper ID, why is it so wrong that you should have to have one to vote?
winelover writes:
November 5, 2012
4:01 PM
From Ann Romney: "I have seen what happens to people’s lives if they don’t get a proper education. And we know the answers to that. The charter schools have provided the answers. The teachers’ unions are preventing those things from happening, from bringing real change to our educational system. We need to throw out the system."
NiteRider writes:
November 5, 2012
4:25 PM
My interpretation is that she is saying the charter school system provides a better education model than what is being used in the public schools and that we should follow that model, but the teachers unions are preventing that from happening.
winelover writes:
November 5, 2012
4:28 PM
"We need to throw out the system."
NiteRider writes:
November 6, 2012
7:38 AM
I interpret that differently. We agree to disagree. However, even if you are correct, Ann Romney doesn't speak for the whole of the republican party. And even if she did, the schools are the responsibility of the states, not the federal government. And even then, practically, there is no way to abolish the entire government funded school systems. It sounds like you are against education reform. I support improving our school systems and providing the best education for our children that we can. The Democrats don't want to reform education.