Why I Voted

With the recent Presidential election, the past few months have been hotbeds of political conversation among friends and family, and more pointedly, among spouses on opposite ends of the winged spectrum. Politics is a sensitive topic, so is religion, and it is one of those things I try not to bring up. So much so that I don't even know where all my associates rest on that spectrum. Regardless, I felt the need to share why I voted for Obama, especially since someone recently wanted to know why. My upbringing and life events created my reasons for the vote. I don't have many readers, but if you do choose to comment, please be gentle, as opposed to condescending and rude. I'm not one for confrontation or debates.

We have to pay taxes. Americans always have. Obama wants to increase taxes on those who make over $250K annually. He does not believe in increasing the taxes of the elderly, students or the middle class. I believe in this game plan. He also thinks that government finances should be run like a family’s finances. Essentially, if you don’t have the money to buy it, then you can’t afford it. For the bigger ticket items like homes, cars and education, you borrow responsibly. I believe that Corporate America and its stockholders care about the bottom line profits, and lay-offs are the first and easiest way to do so, followed by outsourcing. Therefore, that unemployment line gets longer and longer.

I believe that government programs are necessary. I have been a recipient of Unemployment, Disability and Maternity Leave with Family Medical Leave of Absence. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I do not collect on any of the programs anymore because my needs were met for the situation in which it was intended. But they were certainly useful!

I have interned at DCFS, Department of Children and Family Services. Though my time there was brief, I have seen how families succeed with these programs. I have seen how these programs help children and put smiles on their broken-hearted faces. It’s a system with good intentions that is overworked. The social workers had heavy case loads back then, and they still do now.

I don’t believe in NOT helping others. I know that many people take advantage of the system and it makes taxpayers angry. It makes me angry. I believe there should be drug testing for qualification of such programs, including Unemployment, Welfare, food stamps, etc. I also think that they should implement some sort of program where they give back to society in some way, like volunteering, or clean-up, or something beneficial. I don’t have all the answers, but I don’t believe in something for nothing for whoever can trick the system into free help. One of the million dollar questions is how to fix it/prevent it from happening.

I support law enforcement. I believe in the death penalty. I believe in the 3 strikes law. I believe that jail overcrowding is a serious issue. I support the Propositions and/or taxes in favor of police-related activity, in favor of what benefits my husband in his workplace. I believe in deporting criminals back to their native countries. I believe that there are ways to improve Border Patrol policies but there are too many illegals coming in to be measurably efficient. Some are trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Most of them are here related to the drug trade and gang activity. I don’t condone this kind of behavior. It’s frightening and could potentially get my husband or his co-workers killed. Instead of fighting all of them off at every turn, which is an impossible feat given their numbers, we have to find a way to make it work. Imprison and deport the criminals. Beyond that is the next million dollar question. Again, I don't have all the answers.

I use Mexicans as an example, but I do realize there are immigrants of all races coming to this country for opportunity. I was having dinner with a Republican that has strong feelings on the Mexican immigration issue, which we were just discussing. One of the waiters at the restaurant my friend frequents came to our table with greetings. The waiter was very happy to see him and they spent a few moments catching up on work and family statuses. As he walked away, my friend commented that he was such a nice guy and a hard worker with two jobs, morning and evening, to support his family. I pointed out that he probably came to the United States of America to provide for his family, to make a better life for himself and his loved ones. I then asked if he was Mexican. The begrudging reply was a Yes. Well here is proof of my point of view to my Republican comrade, who knows an immigrant personally, that not all immigrants, illegal or not, are bad people. They come here for opportunity. The other side of the table quickly changed the topic. :)

Help the students, all students, of any citizenship status. With the right skill sets and tools, they will become educated, need jobs, start businesses and contribute positively to the economy. The enormity of the situation is mind-boggling and one president won’t fix it. There are too many aspects to address. If it were up to me, which it isn’t, help the good, well-intentioned and ship out the drug dealers and gang members. Many illegals are bad people. I don’t deny that at all. But for me to say that people aren’t allowed in America even though there are better opportunities here than in their own country, it would not be me. Here’s another reason why…

When the Japanese and Chinese were coming to America’s western coast, they were hated because they looked different, had strange customs and behaviors, did the dirty, menial low class jobs, took up space, and they were prevented from buying property and homes in the land they came to for opportunity. Yes, they were illegal. My paternal grandmother was born here and moved to Japan when she was very young. Came back to America years later and they would not honor her citizenship. She was branded as an alien. This was only two generations ago. My paternal grandfather came here for work, as did thousands of other Japanese men. They were lonely and wanted to marry. That’s how the Japanese Picture Bride generation started. After Pearl Harbor, my grandparents, aunts and uncles were placed in concentration camps. Solely because they were Japanese, they were ostracized, considered enemies of the state and stripped of all property and any possessions they couldn’t carry in a suitcase, and forced to live in tents in the desert. They were born here: American citizens. My two uncles were in the military and fought for this country. This was one generation ago. I note the generation because it demonstrates that it was in recent US history, not ages ago where some deem it becomes irrelevant to today's Immigration issues. The Japanese DID bomb Pearl Harbor. American soil. The Japanese Americans were punished for it. American citizens. It was Muslim Al Qaeda that bombed innocents on American soil in New York, DC, and Pennsylvania. Given history, does this also mean that all Muslims in America should be rounded up and forced in the modern day concentration camp? Though at different times in America’s history, both incidents have produced the same reaction in Americans when it comes to the punishment of the race involved.

If you haven’t experienced the need for government assistance and your family has no traceable documentation of their arrival to this country, some of this may be hard to grasp. What if your ancestors came over on the Mayflower, a slave ship from Africa, or an immigrant boat from Europe to Ellis Island? Regardless of which boat brought them here, that kind of heritage is something to be proud of. You’re All American. And I’m All-American. America is a melting pot! 

For a struggling family with an uninsured child who is very sick and a long hospitalization is required, the parents will have to scrape together thousands of dollars (potentially losing their home or claiming bankruptcy in the process) or pray that the hospital has charity funds available. We can help an immigrant learn English and a marketable skill, but if the government doesn’t offer him a reasonable avenue toward legal work status, how can he get a job that will support a family? We can provide baby supplies to a young unwed mother, but if she is unable to afford groceries, decent housing, quality daycare, and an education for herself, they will likely end up in unsafe housing, poorly nourished, un- or underemployed, and stuck in a cycle of poverty. Without government safety nets such as subsidized housing and daycare, food stamps, education grants, health insurance, and support for immigrants, the only other option, private charity, can only do so much to ease the burden of poverty.

I believe in gay marriage. If two people love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together in a legal union, create a family, become a breadwinner and homemaker, and support one another as do a husband and wife, then so be it. A government should not prevent them from doing so. 

I did not vote for Romney because I believe in the hope and change that Obama promised 4 years ago. I do believe that the Republicans stonewalled his efforts whenever they could. I believe that if both parties worked together, things could finally get done around here. It’s about the people, as it should be, and not about political party control. In Oct 2010, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was asked what the job of Republicans in Congress was. McConnell answered, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” *sigh* Their main goal is to make the president fail, right in the middle of an economic crisis. What happened to "All for one and one for all"? Only in storybooks apparently. It also saddened me to see a presidential candidate so far removed from the American people as evident in his speech when he told us to borrow money from our parents to start our own business. In the America I grew up in, the 99%, everyone was struggling to make ends meet and it wasn't that easy.

I believe in women’s rights, her right to choose. I don’t believe that some one or some entity can tell her what to do with her body, or if she can/can’t have an abortion. It is her choice. Religion and government should stay out of it. 

I don’t know if there is one person or party to blame for the state of education in California today. (Apologizing in advance to my numerous  family and friends who are teachers...) I honestly never gave it much attention because I didn’t have kids at the time, or they weren’t school age yet, or I always thought they would attend private school. Now, my daughter will start a public school (private tuition is sky high) next year and I need to get more informed. The fact that teachers in this state have to buy their own supplies to teach in their overcrowded classrooms is wrong. Where did the education dollars go? They have very important jobs and they get paid so little. I've got some homework to do.

Not all of my beliefs are strict to Democratic code, nor are they in line with the Catholic doctrine of which I was born and raised. I do believe in Jesus Christ and I believe that he wanted to help the poor and suffering, not make the rich get richer. There are so many aspects to the great divide, and it's an impossible feat to address all of my opinions. I have a big heart and a caring personality. I have worked my entire life starting at 16. I complained about paying taxes when I got my first paycheck because I didn’t know anything about them. I made enough to make ends meet, but not enough to fund a charity, though I made donations when I could. But I didn’t complain about paying taxes either because I always felt they were necessary. 

I am not well-versed politically, nor am I persuasive with my beliefs. But they are mine and they are part of who I am. Part of what makes America great is our personal freedoms, free speech, our rights to choose for ourselves, and vote for who we deem to be the best for our country.