On Politics

I like to consider myself one of the independent voters that every four years the leading men from the two major political parties likes to try to appeal to in order that I'll turn out at the voting booths and vote for them to be the next leader of the country.  I watch the debates, I look at their records, I judge their personality, and not matter what my impression of the candidate running for re-election, I still judge his competition to make sure that he's still the better man for the job.

This year, I'm almost sad to say, that my decision has been made before the candidates ever faced off at the debates.  Mitt Romney has proven this week to be, without a doubt, someone completely out of touch with the common person in this country after the release of his speech made at a fundraising event earlier this year.

During this event, he stated that 47% of this country doesn't pay taxes (this is true) and that these people depend on an entitlement state (this is not completely true) they will never support him (also not entirely true) and he has no reason to care about them.  He advised that these people need to take responsibility for their own lives, and that his real focus ought to be on the 7% of voters in this country who he perceives makes up the independent voter block.

I am one of those people he is trying to woo.  I am also one of those people who, for at least the last few years, falls into that 47% of people who haven't paid an income tax.  I'm not evading my responsibilities on this matter, but simply due to how our tax system works I have not been required to pay, and each year when I file my taxes, I get back the taxes I paid into the system.  A few years it was because special student credits allowed me to get everything back.  Before that, I made too little, and was considered at an income level that didn't require me to make an income tax payment. Before that, even, my record keeping of all the charity donations I made year to year gave me so many deductions that I was considered tax exempt.

Mitt Romney also spoke in his speech that people in that 47% of America block feel they are entitled to food, housing, and health care.  I would say that yes, I do feel like these are things everyone, not just me, deserve, and since systems have been set up to help those going through hard patches.

Back in April last year, I ended up in a situation wherein I lost my regular job.  I worked for the Federal Government, but when the Republicans took over congress and started threatening to shut down the government, my department started laying off almost everyone then employed in the state.  I was left, as a result of his party's doing, to my own devices.  On top of that, I got a letter advising me that I would no longer be eligible for additional student loans I would need to finish the final few courses of my bachelor's degree.  I was left on my own, jobless, no degree, and with minimal savings to try to may my way.  Because of how my job was positioned, I was ineligible for unemployment, and so had to live out of my savings.

I came to live with a good, long-time friend in San Francisco while trying to get back on my feet, and while here, for a month or two, I took advantage of government food stamps so I could make sure I had food on the table while looking for work.

I was one of those, not paying taxes, taking advantage of government entitlement programs, and yet, still trying to work myself into a better life.  Mitt Romney proved to me, that he knows nothing of the life of people like me.  His interests aren't in helping people like me make a better future, and even if he were, he has no idea what it would take for that to happen.  He's been too sheltered from poverty and need to know what its like. (This became obvious when I also found out that he thinks that a middle-class family makes $250k a year, a figure I've never seen)

If any of you are still trying to consider who you will be voting for this election, I encourage you to reflect on the revelations made recently, and consider if this man really does have your best interests at heart.  Fact is he likely doesn't.  Even if you disagree with Obama, he at least has made a more concerted effort to understand your life, and do something to help you rather than simply dismiss you as someone he doesn't need to care about.