So what'd y'all think? Any surprises? Since I've admitted to being a wanna-be political pundit, please allow me to pundit-ize:
- Ryan was less of a smarmy bastard than I expected him to be! Now, don't get me wrong, I can't say I like the dude, but I do think he did a good job of presenting himself as much more human that I've ever seen him/heard him. I expected him to make my skin crawl, and I actually found him to be somewhat personable. Wrong (or 'right' as the case may be). But personable.
- Joltin' Joe pissed me off a bit. I found him to be, although correct in most of his statements, incredibly disrespectful. The smirk. The over-talk. The referring to Ryan as 'my friend'. Ryan may not be my favorite, but that should be Representative Ryan to anyone addressing him in a live political arena. He was elected and I think he deserves the respect of being addressed by the rank he holds! This has been a diatribe of mine for a while though... I think one of the biggest problems with politics these days is that respect is completely lacking from political forums. I may refer to the president as 'Obama' or the VP as 'Biden' (or the afore mentioned 'Joltin' Joe') but I do have a great respect for their positions and would NEVER call them anything but Mr. President of Mr. Vice President if I was speaking directly to them. This didn't start here, it's just a continuation of the political climate we are unfortunately living in. Have some respect people! Making a mockery of each other makes a mockery of our entire political system (which does a pretty good job of making a mockery of itself as it is).
- One the flip side, I thought Romney and Obama handled the respect card very well. If you noticed, it was nothing but 'President' and 'Governor'. Gold star for both right off the bat! And, if Romney was the clear winner during the first debate, I'd say you gotta give number 2 to Obama. The criticism that Obama slept through the first debate definitely did not apply here. He was energetic, empathic and concise. He made it very clear when he disagreed with Governor Romney and made some excellent points. And, somehow he managed to do it all without the air of disrespect that Biden brought to the table. I thought Romney did a pretty good job too. Although I still question a lot of what he says because he does seem to be changing his tune, he was pretty clear and concise. Basically, Obama had to defend his last 4 years and Romney had to defend his if-y math. In the end, not sure either 100% sold their side of the story. Who can get America on a better economic path? Well, it seems like it kinda comes down to philosophies...
- It's funny, I'm a pretty liberal gal. Socially- I'm as liberal as they come. (And in the end, that will have to define who I vote for because I am just too passionate about those issues.) But, due to the infiltration of Republicans into my inner-most circle, I have learned to open my mind and my ears to what the other side is saying. And, sometimes I gotta say, fiscally, it makes sense. (phew- that was painful) In the end, like I said above, it comes down to philosophy. How do we create jobs? Do we create jobs by giving tax breaks and incentives to those at the top, with the expectation that they are the job creators and will then be able to put more money into their companies and create new positions; or do we create jobs by giving tax breaks to the working class so they can pay their bills, stay afloat, be productive members of society, and have the money to go to school (and send their kids to school) and make a way for themselves? I have to say that I can see the conservative notion that tax cuts to the wealthy and large corporations potentially lead to job growth, which is desperately desperately needed in this country... but is that enough? Oh if only the conservatives didn't hold such reprehensible social views, I might actually be able to explore this notion further!
- Of course, with the above said, it is interesting to note that currently Obama and Romney's economic/tax plans are not ALL THAT FAR apart. OK, I mean, they are different- and a couple percentage points make a huge difference when you are talking about millions of bazillions of dollars, but I was surprised to see that they are not as far apart as you would think. Maybe I was just a bit uneducated on the subject, but when I did some research, I was somewhat shocked by what I found.
- Both candidates want to lower corporate taxes, which I don't think most people realize. (It's kinda common sense though, how do you get companies to NOT go oversees where taxes are SO much lower, unless you give them incentive to stay.) Obama would lower the current 35% corporate tax rate to 28% (with manufacturing jobs lowered to 25%), while Romney would lower it overall to 25%. Obama wants to see capital gains taxes raised to 20% where Romney would keep them at 15%.
- In terms of individual taxes, Obama wants to keep things as they are (six tax rates, based on your income: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 36% and 39.6%) and Romney wants to lower all tax brackets (still based on income) by 20% (8%, 12%, 20%, 22.4%, 26.4%, and 28%). Definitely a big difference here. Also interesting to note is that the top 2% of people that both parties continue to refer to, is made up of individuals making 200K or more per year or families making 250K per year. I think so many of us assumed that the top 2% referred to multi-millionaire type people, and- although $250K is an astronomical number that most people can only aspire to- it is not close to being as high as I thought it was. Isn't it kinda crazy to think that 98% of this country makes less than 250K per year?
- Estate taxes and AMT (alternative minimum tax) are definitely a sticking point, where Romney would see both repealed entirely and Obama would keep them in place as they are. (If you are not sure what these are, check out the link at the bottom of this post. I had to do some research myself.) I can definitely see both sides on these issues. Should the wealthy be penalized above and beyond others just because they are wealthy? They are already taxed at a higher rate on their income. (insert sigh... 'poor poor rich people') But, on the flip side, if you have it, shouldn't you feel obliged to share it? You certainly didn't get there by yourself, and there is definitely not an even playing field where other, less fortunate folks, could get to the same level without some serious luck or divine intervention! The 'American Dream' is much easier to aspire to if you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth! ..In the end, we need money to run this country, and it needs to come from somewhere. If we repeal estate and AMTs, where does the money come from? Once again insert Mitt's messy math. hmmm!
- Check out this site for more info. It's really good and completely fact based. (Not biased commentary -a la this blog-):
- In the end, like I've said, I'm a liberal girl and Obama is my man. Planned parenthood funding, abortion rights, gay marriage, health care, and social services in general mean MUCH too much to me for me to overlook the despicable and hypocritical Republican views on the subjects. But, this liberal lady is starting to see that there is another side, and maybe, just maybe, the right is not ALL wrong!?
shudder
Very insightful read. Great job and thanks for posting!
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