Souled Out

I really don't see how anyone can get excited about the upcoming Presidential election. I am not going to speak for others, but speaking for myself, if I decide to vote for a candidate it will be to vote against the other guy and not to support someone.

I do support healthcare reform, but not what has come to be known as Obamacare. I do not support the unfunded mandate. I don't believe in penalizing people for not buying something they can't afford. I don't support businesses being involved in their employees' healthcare plan. We need to totally rethink how healthcare is financed and delivered in this country. Wrapping it up in a nice little bow for corporate interests is not the solution. It will create a major fiasco.

Why do I support healthcare reform. I have seen so many middle class people basically ruined by the current system. They cannot afford the system. I know that healthcare professionals, for the most part, don't want to hear that, but it is rooted in fact. If you are earning $20,000 to $30,000 per year, most people cannot afford $100,000 bills when they don't have health insurance and when they do have insurance what good is it when they have their coverage dropped after having a catastrophic issue. I know three people who are currently in this boat and another who is only not there because they now qualify for medicare.

Then there is the energy issue. It is an and/both issue. We need to continue to seek out alternatives, but we have to build a bridge to that future with what we have today. This nation has cut back on foreign imports over the last four years, but much of that has been attributable to the Economic Depression.

(Reuters - May 30, 2012) - U.S. crude oil imports fell in March, dropping 266,000 barrels per day from a year earlier, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Crude imports averaged 8.767 million bpd in March, the second year-over-year drop since October. The drop coincided with a larger-than-expected decrease in March oil demand,with consumption down 6.38 percent from a year earlier.

I don't see a compromise coming from the two party system. One lives in a fantasy land of "Alternatives today" and the other believe in "Alternatives will never happen." Yes they will never happen if we don't strive to make them happen and if you think magical fairy dust will make them happen, then you are defeating the cause before you even get started. We need compromise on this issue.

Then there is our current military projection. What is the plan? What is the end game? Obama comes into office and we are in worse shape on this front. Romney seems to want to go foot to the floor board in the Middle East. We can't afford this and check out the above petroleum issue and see where those issues are closely tied. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on this military projection and it is obvious that we aren't seeing a return on our investment and it doesn't look like we will see one any time in the future under current guidance.

Then there is the Domestic Security apparatus. "Homeland Security" has projected itself into every facet of our lives in less than a decade. Does this make you feel safer? Does it not make you fear government authority more? And once again, what about the costs? What is the price on our privacy and liberty? You can't place a monetary value on that, but you certainly can on the technology that is being used to administer this tyrannical apparatus! And look at where the candidates stand on this issue. Four years from now do you believe it will be more or less cumbersome under the direction we are headed?

Neither one of these men can relate to the average citizen. Neither support Federal Reserve reform. Neither support reining in Free for All trade. Neither are looking at substantial cuts in the size of the government. Neither wants to tax the Super Wealthy. Neither has proposed rethinking the current tax system. Both seem to be looking towards more International participation in Governance over our national interests and sovereignty.

We have two parties, but on issues that matter we have one system. Everyone's still participating in World Wrestling Politics and the event is sold out. Too bad the American people won't wake up or do they even have a choice. Does it even matter? Are we too far down the path with our fate already decided? What is your soul, your inner being, telling you? I know what mine is telling me.