Voting for President in 2012

On November 6, I will cast my vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States.

There was a time when I thought I wouldn't do that.  What I'd really like to do is write in Bernie Sanders for President.  Do you know Bernie Sanders?  He is the Independent US Senator from Vermont.  He supports progressive ideas and is a great advocate for the middle class and the poor.  Both Pres. Obama and Gov. Romney say in their speeches and debate statements that they want to make the middle class stronger.  But their policies would continue to advantage the wealthy more than the middle class.  But, for Bernie Sanders, support for the middle class is more than election rhetoric.  

On December 10, 2010, Sen. Sanders spoke for 8 hours and 37 minutes on the Senate floor in opposition to a 2 year extension of the Bush tax cuts and the deal that had been agreed to by Democrats and Republicans to continue tax breaks for the wealthy.  That speech has now been released as a book, titled The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class.

In my opinion, Bernie Sanders is a statesman, not just a politician.  I believe he is sincerely concerned about the best interests of the American people, not just the wealthy and powerful.  Here's a link to his appearance on Moyers and Company, which gives a small taste of what he is like:

Bernie Sanders on Moyers and Company

If you decide to keep watching after the Bernie Sanders segment, you can hear the Green Party Presidential candidate, Jill Stein, talk about the Green Party platform.  For a while, I thought of voting for her.

However, in the end I have decided to vote for Barack Obama.  I could probably get away with voting for Bernie Sanders or Jill Stein without affecting the outcome in New Jersey, which is expected to be won by Obama easily.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that Pres. Obama's policies, as a whole, are horrible.  And they are certainly much better than Gov. Romney's and the Republican party's.  But, I think he has been too willing to compromise with Republicans and not willing enough to fight for the middle class and the poor.  He has gotten us out of Iraq but is not getting us out of Afghanistan quickly enough.  He is too committed to using drones and too willing to accept the civilian casualties that result.  He is too beholden to Wall St.

I read a couple columns recently that encouraged people to vote for Pres. Obama in order to register votes against Gov. Romney.  I guess that's where I am in this election.  I believe that a Romney administration would be a disaster for the country.  I believe Romney would be heavily influenced by the extreme right wing of the Republican party and I couldn't live with the results of that.  So, I think it's best to try to put as many votes in the Obama column as possible, to send a message that he is preferable to Romney.

What I would really like to see is a third (progressive) party that is not reliant on wealthy individuals for its campaign funds and that would represent the interests of the people of this country.

P.S. - Network, a Catholic lobbying group, has created an election guide that compares Pres. Obama's and Gov. Romney's positions, in relation to Network's framing of the issues according to Catholic Social Teaching.  Pres. Obama seems to be more in line with Catholic Social Teaching than Gov. Romney.  Although I think they do not include some of Obama's negatives (e.g., the drone strikes), I agree that Obama's policies are more in line with Catholic Social Teaching.

Click here to see Network's Election Guide

Individualism - Some Consequences

Last time I wrote about the extraordinary emphasis in our country on individualism.  I think this focus on the rights of the individual versus the responsibilities each of us has to promote the common good results in a number of things that do harm to the world we live in.  Here are some examples:

·      People throwing cigarette butts, empty plastic bottles and paper cups, papers that food was wrapped in on the ground or out of the car window.

·      Bumper stickers and car decals that include curse words, crude comments and pictures, e.g., a decal of Calvin peeing on the Ford logo.  I recently saw a decal on the back of a mini-van that had a father, mother and kids, with names underneath.  The family was labeled “The Ass Family” and the names underneath were “Smart Ass”, “Wise Ass”, “Stupid Ass”, etc.

·      The greed of bankers, hedge fund managers, CEOs and other corporate executives, who believe there is nothing wrong with making millions of dollars a year while others earn only minimum wage and millions of children live in poverty.

·      The belief among many Americans that taxes need to be decreased over and over again so they can pay less and less, regardless of the impact it has overall on the society.

Can you think of others?