Quote Originally Posted by GMichael View Post
Neither. Can we wipe the slate clean and start over?
Hey, GM. Did Romney lay out his plans on immigration reform during the debate? Like I said, I didn't watch it, but the few reports I've read and heard either didn't mention immigration or said that immigration was not discussed. I know this issue is important to your family. Whether you're for strict enforcement of immigration laws or some other plan, it's hard to tell where Romney is today as opposed to where he stood during the nomination process.

Likewise, I have no idea where he stands on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. I hear what he's saying now, which is that he's going to save Medicare and Social Security and block grant Medicaid, but I don't trust him or his running mate on Medicare and Social Security (based on their own proposals in the very recent past) and I know too many families with kids on Medicaid and parents and grandparents in nursing homes to trust any kind of block grant to MY state (AL). The idiots in my state legislature talk about turning down federal monies in the name of states' rights, but if they got federal monies with no strings attached, they'd blow it trying to lure auto and airplane manufacturers to the state while sickly kids spread germs all over schools and die and nursing homes shut down and turn the elderly and infirmed into the streets. Besides, they wouldn't put any money into educating the local work force (and the up and coming work force) to prepare for the jobs such manufacturers would bring. They'd continue their war on teachers and the public schools.

The Romney ticket has already told us that Social Security is not going to be the same for my generation under their plan. I'm 44. Except for my first year in college and my first semester in law school, I've worked continuously since I was 16. That's almost 28 years. But I'll have to wait longer to retire than my dad did to get my maximum benefits. (It's really an entitlement rather than a benefit because I've paid into it and I've relied on a promise.) That's going backwards. I expect my kids to have it easier than I did. It doesn't have anything to do with whether they're lazier. It's my duty to make it easier for them than it was for me. Of course if I'm a financial burden on them when I'm an old geezer, I've failed. If they have to work longer and harder than I did, then my generation has failed their generation. "Hard work" shouldn't mean people have to run themselves into the ground until their 70 or dead. Oh, and Wall Street cannot wait to get its hands on the Social Security Trust Fund. It will mean more money to play with and big bonuses even if the stock market crashes and the fund goes bust. If the White House and the right number of Congressional seats align, privatization of Social Security could happen.

And this outrage over the numbers on food stamps? Give me a break. What do you expect in a recession - number of people on food stamps remains constant or goes down? Please don't insult my intelligence. My family was on WIC when we were just starting out and I was working as a file clerk for the FBI. We needed it to survive. Baby stuff is expensive. I don't regret it and I'm not embarassed about it. Heck, now I think it's kind of funny (ironic, maybe?) that I was working for the government and getting government assistance at the same time.

And politicians telling us companies aren't hiring because of "economic uncertainty" while the largest companies are holding onto more accumulated capital than ever before? Who's creating the uncertainty, if that's true? The government or the companies holding onto capital which they once invested back into their businesses?

When you're sitting at the table trying to get the upper hand in a business deal, profit is the ultimate goal and the ends jusitfy the means. For that, Romney may be the man. But in that scenario, the playing field is level. The person across the table can hire the best lawyers, consultants, etc. if they want to. But according to Romney, 47% of the American people will be sitting across the table from him if he's president and they don't stand a chance.