A dear friend wrote…
People generally want you to vote if they assume you will vote for their candidate. If I vote, it will NOT be for the current President because he has ignored us for four years and causes our families and communities to be more divided, dependent and confused. It is pure lack of self-esteem to vote for somebody who ignores us. If your effort works, it may cause your candidate to lose. People should be left alone if they choose to NOT vote. A NON vote is a vote.
And it could hurt the best candidate.
Here’s another thought for those still trying to decide…
ARE YOU MAD AT THE PRESIDENT??
After the 8 years of the Bush/Cheney disaster, now you get mad?
You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy and push us to invade Iraq.
You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us. You didn’t get mad when we spent over $800 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
You didn’t get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined.
You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars in cash just disappeared in Iraq.
You didn’t get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.
You didn’t get mad when they didn’t catch Bin Laden.
You didn’t get mad when Bush rang-up $ 10 trillion dollars in combined budget and current account deficits.
You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed Hospital.
You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.
You didn’t get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend, the 1%, over a $ trillion dollars in tax breaks.
You didn’t get mad with the worst 8 years of job creations in several decades.
You didn’t get mad when over 200,000 US Citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance.
You didn’t get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush Administration caused US citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in investments, retirement, and home values.
But you got mad when the President didn’t pull the economy out of the worst financial disaster to hit the land since 1929 fast enough to suit you (took FDR 12 years to manage to cure that one).
But you REALLY got mad when a black man was elected President and decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, all those things above are okay with you, but helping fellow Americans who are sick… Is Osama bin Laden plotting anything against the USA right now? Is General Motors alive and well today? Oh, hell no.
So what has President Obama done for us and why does he deserve your vote? From DailyKos. Click this link where you see “ref” …
President Obama Improved the Economy and Reduced the Debt
1. 3,680,000 private sector jobs created since the end of the Bush Great Recession ref ref
2. Expanded government’s fight against fraud in Financial ref, Federal Contractor ref and Health Care areas ref
3. $2,000,000,000,000 in deficit reduction ref
4. He saved the economy from ruin (until the Tea Party took over Congress) with a stimulus that was as large as possible given the political realities ref
5. Saved the US Auto Industry ref, ref
6. Health Care Reform ref
7. Reduced military spending by $500,000,000,000 ref
BREAKING NEWS TODAY…The economy grew at an annual rate of 2 percent during the third quarter of 2012, federal researchers said Friday, handing President Barack Obama better than expected economic news in the final Gross Domestic Product report to come out before the election. http://www.politico.com
President Obama Reigned in Wall Street Excesses
8. Wall Street Reform ref ref ref
9. Leaned on the banks to recover almost all “bailout money” with interest ref ref
10. Saved the world from global financial collapse ref ref
11. Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. ref
President Obama Made America Safer
12. Killed Osama Bin Laden ref
13. Killed a whole generation of al Qaeda leaders ref
14. Stopped numerous terrorist attacks in this country ref ref
15. Authorized and oversaw a secret mission by SEAL Team Six to rescue two hostages held by Somali pirates. ref
16. Unified the world against Iran and brought unprecedented united international pressure against Iran’s nuclear bomb potential ref
17. More deportations per year than Bush ref
18. Hired more border patrol agents than Bush ref
President Obama Reduced Taxes
19. Tax rates for average working families are the lowest since 1950. ref
20. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, cut taxes for 95% of America’s working families. ref
21. Reduced Social Security Taxes for 2011 and 2012 ref
President Obama Brought More Efficiency to the Federal Government
22. Smaller Government ref ref
23. Fewer regulations than Bush ref
President Obama Strengthened Personal Liberties
24. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; Instituted equal pay for women. ref, ref, ref
25. Expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. ref
26. Support’s states’ right on medical marijuana ref
27. Repealed “Don’t ask don’t tell” refref
28. Appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. ref
29. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. ref
30. Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing ref
31. Publicly expressed support for the right to enter into a same-sex marriage. ref
32. Implemented much of Dream Act via Executive Order ref
33. Appointed two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court ref
President Obama Helped Make the World a Safer, More Democratic, and More American Friendly Place
34. Ended the war in Iraq ref
35. Established a date for transferring Afghanistan fighting to Afghanis. ref
36. Toppled Gadhafi without an American casualty ref
37. Fired the first salvo of the Arab Spring with his address in Cairo no less ref
38. Has the Arab League watching Syria ref
39. Presided over democratic revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Bahrain
40. Helped to restore America’s reputation around the world as a global leader that does the “right thing” in world affairs, at least according to the rest of the world. ref ref
41. On his second day in office, he signed a detailed Executive Order that banned torture, reversed all Bush torture policies, and put the United States in compliance with the Geneva Convention. ref ref
42. Three new trade agreements ref
President Obama Increased Respect and Public Support for American Soldiers
43. Increased veterans/benefits every year ref ref
44. Along with Congressional Democrats, not only reauthorized families of fallen soldiers to be able to visit when the body arrives at Dover AFB, but also provided funding for it. Ended the media blackout on coverage of the return of fallen soldiers. ref ref
45. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as GI Bill 2.0 ref
President Obama Invested in Education
46. Invested in college students: 1) by repeatedly increased funding for student financial aid, and at the same time cut the banks completely out of the process. ref ref ref 2) by reforming student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate. ref and 3) by overseeing an expansion of the Pell Grants program, to expand opportunity for low income students to go to college. ref
47. Invested in primary education: Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , invested heavily in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education. ref
48. Oversaw major expansion of broadband availability in K-12 schools nationwide ref
49. Oversaw major expansion in school construction. ref
50. Also through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he put $5 billion into early education, including Head Start. ref
President Obama Protected What We Eat, Drink and Breathe.
51. Strengthened environmental protection via new laws and policies. ref ref ref ref ref ref ref.
52. Fast-tracked regulations to dramatically increase fuel efficiency standards ref ref
53. Strengthened the bond between clean energy and commerce by overseeing establishment of an Energy Partnership for the Americas, to create more markets for American-made biofuels and green energy technologies. ref Oversaw the creation of an initiative that converts old factories and manufacturing centers into new clean technology centers. ref
54. Pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars. ref
55. Obama EPA reversed a Bush-era decision to allow the largest mountaintop removal project in US history. ref
56. Turned America toward native sources of renewal energy Ordered energy plants to prepare to produce at least 15% of all energy through renewable resources like wind and solar, by 2021. ref (As you can see, Republicans are trying hard to kill it.)
57. Created a program to develop renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that will produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents. ref
58. Bypassed Republican opposition in Congress and ordered EPA to begin regulating and measuring carbon emissions. ref
59. Oversaw doubling federal spending on clean energy research. ref
60. Reengaged in the climate change and greenhouse gas emissions agreements talks, and proposed one himself. He also addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference, officially reversing the Bush era stance that climate change was a “hoax.” ref ref ref
This article from Rolling Stone yesterday brings it home…
Viewed through the lens of history, Obama represents a new type of 21st-century politician: the Progressive Firewall. Obama, simply put, is the curator-in-chief of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier and the Great Society. When he talks about continued subsidies for Big Bird or contraceptives for Sandra Fluke, he is the inheritor of the Progressive movement’s agenda, the last line of defense that prevents America’s hard-won social contract from being defunded into oblivion.
…If Obama wins re-election, his domestic agenda will be anchored around a guarantee to all Americans that civil rights, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, affordable health care, public education, clean air and water, and a woman’s right to choose will be protected, no matter how poorly the economy performs. Obama has grappled with two of the last puzzle pieces of the Progressive agenda – health care and gay rights – with success. If he is re-elected in November and makes his health care program permanent, it will take root in the history books as a seminal achievement. If he loses, Romney and Ryan will crush his initiatives without remorse.
…The main goal of Obama’s second term, besides driving down unemployment, will likely be the conversion to clean energy.
…Thanks to the Obama bailout, which saved the auto industry, unemployment in Ohio stands at 7.2 percent, well below the national average. They should erect statues of Obama in Toledo and Akron. Name a boulevard after him in Dayton and Elyria. Without the bailout money, GM and Chrysler likely would have gone bankrupt, and many Ohio towns would have become Hoovervilles.
So, which side of history will you belong to? The side that voted for progress for your country and family? Or did you vote for the continued dismantling of a wonderful country because of your ignorance and hatred of a black man? Because surely when you weigh the facts, there can be no doubt who will move us forward. Or did you fail to vote because of stubbornness or apathy, which is akin to voting for a backward nation.
Will you be able to look in the mirror on November 7 and feel proud of yourself and know you did the right thing? Will you be able to face your family and tell them you are a true patriot?
The choice is yours.
cadesertvoice 
You must be logged in to post a comment.