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For those of you who voted for Barack Obama, what were your main reasons for voting for him?
Since this election will make a huge change in the direction of the United States for ever. Clearly the conservative view point did not resonate with half of the voters especially in the swing states. I would like to know what the reasons were for voting for Obama
Closing Statement from pat gilbert
Ok out of 152 comments I got 6 answers to my question.
1 answer was to vote against the rich
1 answer was to vote against Romney's intention to let the too big to fail fail and the jobs that would be lost
3 answers were because Romney did not respect women or pro choice
1 answer was because Romney represented lost jobs.
So to read into it a little with Women it was about pro choice
With men it was about jobs
In my experience this is typically what the left believes.
I do thank you for your forthright answers.
With this stuff the devil is in the details, I get a clear sense of unwillingness to look at the details.
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Andres Aullet 10+
I did not vote for Obama. But I didn't vote for Romney either. As a matter of fact I could have not voted for any of them because for some people, more than a decade of paying taxes is not enough to have the right to vote.
But not that i think too highly of voting anyway. Candidates are products for sale, and advertisement works its magic on people. This election was no different from previous ones.
But i am curious. I do not agree with many policies of Obama, but i fail to see how things have changed from last year or will change in the next years. What exactly is this change of direction of the United States forever? where do you see it going now, and how is it that this election changed it so drastically?
cheers
pat gilbert 100+
The long of it and the short of it is debt. O increased it by 6 trillion in less than 4 years. And the lions share of it will not come until Ocare kicks in. The problem with a service that is give for free is that the demand skyrockets which means that it will cost a lot. Not that Bush was much better about the same in 8 years.
Additionally Frank Dodd has not kicked in yet. it will handcuff the economy further. To give you an idea Sarbanes Oxley is estimated to cost the economy 1.5 trillion dollars per year, if anything Frank Dodd will be worst. You may not know but Franks and Dodd along with Greenspan were the most culpable individuals for the housing meltdown. Both of them have retired as they know they can't get reelected. The main problem with this that business investment goes on a I-hate-us with this much uncertainty.
O is going to raise taxes which further exacerbates the situation as there will be even less incentive to make a profit. and the tax revenue will decrease.
Additionally O does not have to worry about reelection so he will now not hold back on his agenda.
The most important thing is that the culture has changed from what was a free market culture to one of socialism and entitlement. The reason the U.S. was successful is the culture. When you look at the Europeans what is uppermost on their minds is holiday and the envy of the world the English healthcare. And they are in worst shape than the U.S. because of this culture. What is amazing is that this has happened so quickly.
These two videos sum it up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EW5IdwltaAc
http://www.ted.com/talks/niall_ferguson_the_6_killer_apps_of_prosperity.html
Andres Aullet 10+
On immigration, my own guess is that because immigration law has changed little in decades, and with the exception of George Bush II (whom i did not support much but i have to recognize his positives too), and the McCain-Kennedy effort, nobody has taken immigration seriously in the legislature (speeches do very little to change the law)
Debt i agree is the key issue (which some could interpret as to mean money is the issue, after all, money is debt, right?, well, let me get back on track, I know you mean government debt)
I take issue when you imply that all government debt goes out to become free services for lazy people. Let's for a moment forget the fact that i don't yet buy the principle that completely deregulated business make an economy thrive and focus just on where this insane debt comes from.
Do you think we would be in this levels of debt if there had been no war with Iraq or Afghanistan? Just like i don't buy the government explanation that we need to intervene every industry to revive it (a point with which i am sure you will agree), i also don't buy the government explanation that these wars were needed
Trillions went there and disappeared in the hands of the military industry. Isn't that another way of the government using public funds to "intervene" an industry?
People say: "the market likes this or that policy", "the market reacted as you can see in the DOW today". Who is this "the market"? quite moody "individual" isn't it? i venture to say that this "market" is composed principally of a small percentage of wealthy individuals. Am i wrong?
I'll watch the videos you suggested and will get back with my comments
cheers
pat gilbert 100+
You do have to have some regulations but that point was reached decades ago.
No question that the military industrial complex is a form of crony capitalism. On the other hand do you propose that we do nothing after 3000 people are killed on our own land?
The market is individuals and groups. Money by definition is confidence, in other words you are confident that a piece of paper will be accepted by someone else. People have more confidence in gold than they do dollars. In reality the stock market is an index of confidence.
Andres Aullet 10+
Seminoles also saw their standard of living raise from that of their ancestors, and it was not because of unregulated free markets
I am not disputing your point. Entitlement, taken for what it means (the perception that something is deserved without any effort) is something i do not agree with
But as usual, the devil is in the details
If i pay social security for 20 years and i retire. Am I entitled to receive social security payments? is that a correct use of the word entitlement?
If i am a pharmaceutical business that makes good money out of selling my products... am i entitled to receive government grants to fund my research?
How about tax breaks for oil companies... are they entitled to receive those?
So the question is who deserves to get tax money and who defines the criteria under which that money is deserved. Deserved as in work for it. When somebody works to get the money they get i do not call it entitlement
I am sure we can debate the video extensively. I will only say that i don't buy much of what Ferguson portrays as the explanations. They sound much more than justifications for the status quo
Regarding the military I would say that the response to 9/11 was both disproportionate and misdirected (did Iraq have anything to do?) Threats are vastly exaggerated, which leads me to suspect that the government sees the need to convince it's people of spending money where they might not spend it otherwise
I was not disputing the confidence definition of the stock market. But the confidence of who? Most of the money invested in stock is owned by a minority, and the remaining small fraction owned by common individuals doesn't really reflect their confidence in the specific industries where they stock is invested (few actually know or decide precisely where it goes)
So i still contend that the reactions of the stock market usually reflect the confidence of a minority of wealthy individuals regarding their expected returns
cheers
pat gilbert 100+
Social Security is not an entitlement in that most people will pay more into it than they get out of it. It is 15% of anyone's salary which is immediately put into the general fund thanks to LBJ
Pharma and the Oil companies are called subsidies and they are crony capitalism. Although I think you are assuming that they get more they do. Especially considering the risk involved.
Entitlement refers to the stuff that is given away for free like WIC, Section 8 housing, free medical care, etc.
Regarding Ferguson you have got to be kidding, I will agree to disagree
Regarding the military could be
Mostly the stock market is regular peoples retirement funds.
The main point though is the debt in the other video.
One other point right now the Feds pay 250 billion a year on interest of the debt. Normally the interest rate is around 5% when that happens the Fed will spend 750 billion on just the interest of the debt. That will happen overnight that means instantly almost half of the annual revenue will go to interest on the debt. Zimbabwe here we come
Richard Flynn
pat gilbert 100+