Election Woes

I think I've decided to vote for Obama. To set the record, I am a long-standing, tofu-eating (granola is really not that good for you), tree-hugging, national health insurance wanting, democrat. I waiver these days on voting Republican for one reason and it's not because they have Sarah Palin. It's taxes. Leo and I have our income fall into a bracket that needs to pay the alternate minimum tax. Please note that this was a tax that was supposed to keep really high-income people from not paying their fair share of taxes. This is increasingly netting more people in this bracket every year, but the government is not doing anything about it, because it is keeping the national budget from being as bad as it could be.

Now let's be plain here. We're not the Rockefellers. We're not bad-off, but this is also because we both work in very high-stress jobs. We both get paid well to do this. If we weren't married, we would not fall into this bracket, but because of our combined income we do. If the tax laws stay like this, I would almost want to tell my daughter to not marry the love of her life, but live in sin. Just because I'm not Miss Suzy Homemaker (not that there's anything wrong with that), I don't think we should be penalized as much as we are.

But I have to consider the big picture. I don't like the war we're in. I'm sick of this state of fear the current administration keeps lording over our heads. Did you know that if you as an American citizen try to cross the border into Canada or Mexico or back, they can confiscate your computer and keep it "for national security"? Did you know your phone line could be monitored and you don't even know it? I want the health care crisis fixed for all people. I think what's happening on Wall Street these days is a cry to let us know that a hands off big business approach is not working. There needs to be some governmental controls. The environment needs to be protected. If I need a D&E because I have a pregnancy that's not working out, I want to have access to that instead of having to wait for weeks for my body to figure it out and have the pain of a normal miscarriage. I had that once and it was the worst ever. I much prefer a D&E, but that could be taken away by pro-life policies.

So long and short of it, the scales are tipping toward Barack Obama. I think he's an interesting guy. He's a little less seasoned than I'd like. But considering he and his advisors had the intelligence to pick someone as smart and seasoned as Joe Biden to be his running mate, I could be swayed to give him a second chance. But taxes alone are not enough to sway me to the other side. I just can't do it.