This iReport is part of an assignment:
Final presidential debate: Unanswered questions
Why I support Obama-Biden
During the last at least 25 years or so, every time a Republican has been elected to the Office of President or they have won most of the seats up for grabs in the House and Senate, or in state elections what happened under George W. Bush happens. As far back as I can remember, from Nixon on, Republicans have taken us to war when it wasn't really necessary, decimated the middle class in favor of the rich, tried to socially-engineer the country to fit their values, and basically have done everything they have said they wouldn't.
I am worse off now than I was in 2008 because of what Republican policies did to the economy. We just went through the worst recession in 75 years. I do not believe it to be possible to recover from a financial meltdown like that in 4 years. It took George W. Bush 8 years to mess it up. I still am unemployed because business has sat on a dime waiting; waiting for what, the next coming of their god, I don't know. I went back to school to learn a new profession and when I graduated this last May I still could not get a job.
What I do know is President Obama's policies, to the extent any President's policies can shape an economy, have begun to turn the country around, maybe not as quickly as some would like, but nonetheless it is turning around. I bristle when people like Paul Ryan say infrastructure projects will not help to create jobs. I beg to differ, because in our history every time we have focused on rebuilding collapsing infrastructure the country has been better off in the long run. The United States is the laughing stock of the rest of the world because we are so bullheadedly stubborn about not moving forward as rapidly as possible with projects like high speed rail and light rail transit. During the last 4 years I have researched and read a great deal about the benefits this technology would bring to the United States, and it is substantial. The Republicans focus in on the start-up costs, which are substantial, but cannot be born by business alone. No country which has developed truly high speed intercity passenger rail has done so solely by the investment of business. Businesses like Siemens and Alstom and Bombardier have developed the technology for rolling stock, but ultimately government must be a partner with business to build out these systems then turn it over to a private operator, the so-called government-private partnerships some have mentioned. In 2004 Minneapolis saw the beginning of operations of the Hiawatha LRT line from downtown at Target Field to the Mall of America. The first year's ridership more than exceeded projections for ridership after the first 20 years of operation alone. Since then ridership has continued to climb year after year, and when Central Corridor begins operation in 2014 I expect ridership to go through the roof because of the line passing through the University of Minnesota twin cities campus. As afr as high speed rail is concerned, My feeling is if Uzbekistan can do it then so can we.
Ryan and Romney are opposed to any government spending to build light rail or high speed rail. If they think for a monute that business in the United States will be willing to invest in public transportation without help from the federal government, they are dreaming. I will be voting for Obama-Biden and to restore hope for the future.
Debates are interesting to watch, but I would not alter my vote solely on the basis of a debate. I am proably not like a lot of people, but I read a lot about the positions of the candidates, I turn off all the ads on TV, and I try to sift through all the crap to find the truth. Then I look back at what others have said and done and compare that to now. The Republican Party scares the crap out of me. I firmly believe that if Romney wins the election he and his Republican friends in Congress will attempt to push through some fairly draconian legislation on the economy, personal freedoms, and health care.
I am a health care professional. I supported what Congress did to enact the Affordable Care Act. If it were left up to the Republicans we would be left to the mercy of the insurance industry, and out standard of care would continue to decline.
There are but a few of the reaons why I will be voting for President Obama.
I am worse off now than I was in 2008 because of what Republican policies did to the economy. We just went through the worst recession in 75 years. I do not believe it to be possible to recover from a financial meltdown like that in 4 years. It took George W. Bush 8 years to mess it up. I still am unemployed because business has sat on a dime waiting; waiting for what, the next coming of their god, I don't know. I went back to school to learn a new profession and when I graduated this last May I still could not get a job.
What I do know is President Obama's policies, to the extent any President's policies can shape an economy, have begun to turn the country around, maybe not as quickly as some would like, but nonetheless it is turning around. I bristle when people like Paul Ryan say infrastructure projects will not help to create jobs. I beg to differ, because in our history every time we have focused on rebuilding collapsing infrastructure the country has been better off in the long run. The United States is the laughing stock of the rest of the world because we are so bullheadedly stubborn about not moving forward as rapidly as possible with projects like high speed rail and light rail transit. During the last 4 years I have researched and read a great deal about the benefits this technology would bring to the United States, and it is substantial. The Republicans focus in on the start-up costs, which are substantial, but cannot be born by business alone. No country which has developed truly high speed intercity passenger rail has done so solely by the investment of business. Businesses like Siemens and Alstom and Bombardier have developed the technology for rolling stock, but ultimately government must be a partner with business to build out these systems then turn it over to a private operator, the so-called government-private partnerships some have mentioned. In 2004 Minneapolis saw the beginning of operations of the Hiawatha LRT line from downtown at Target Field to the Mall of America. The first year's ridership more than exceeded projections for ridership after the first 20 years of operation alone. Since then ridership has continued to climb year after year, and when Central Corridor begins operation in 2014 I expect ridership to go through the roof because of the line passing through the University of Minnesota twin cities campus. As afr as high speed rail is concerned, My feeling is if Uzbekistan can do it then so can we.
Ryan and Romney are opposed to any government spending to build light rail or high speed rail. If they think for a monute that business in the United States will be willing to invest in public transportation without help from the federal government, they are dreaming. I will be voting for Obama-Biden and to restore hope for the future.
Debates are interesting to watch, but I would not alter my vote solely on the basis of a debate. I am proably not like a lot of people, but I read a lot about the positions of the candidates, I turn off all the ads on TV, and I try to sift through all the crap to find the truth. Then I look back at what others have said and done and compare that to now. The Republican Party scares the crap out of me. I firmly believe that if Romney wins the election he and his Republican friends in Congress will attempt to push through some fairly draconian legislation on the economy, personal freedoms, and health care.
I am a health care professional. I supported what Congress did to enact the Affordable Care Act. If it were left up to the Republicans we would be left to the mercy of the insurance industry, and out standard of care would continue to decline.
There are but a few of the reaons why I will be voting for President Obama.
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