Friday, January 27, 2012

Romney, Obama, and me, a moderate Mormon.

I find myself in the rare position of being willing to vote for Obama over some of the candidates in the Republican race.  While my favorite, Governor Huntsman, is out of the race, I still might vote for Romney over president Obama.  But I might actually try and persuade people to vote Obama if someone like Gingrich is the republican nominee. 



Barack ObamaImage by jamesomalley via Flickr
I think much of the Obama hatred is misplaced.  I honestly believe he couldn't have done much better in turning the economy around.  I don't think anyone can magically reverse the direction of the economy so quickly.  Obama has done a good job, but it takes a few years.  I also like Obamacare, or Romneycare, or whatever you want to call it.  It doesn't do a lot to cut costs, but it does do a lot to get coverage to people.  And it does do a little bit to cut costs. 

Something like Ryan Paul's idea is needed to work on cutting cost.  There are many countries with better health care than we have, and many of them cost less than ours does.  It may not be an inalienable right to have health care coverage for everyone garaunteed by the constitution, but we are a rich country, and we can afford to, so why not?

I don't like that Obama wanted to get out of Iraq at the worst possible time, and I'm glad that it became clear that staying in was working before he took office.  Otherwise we would have had another Vietnam scenario on our hands there.  I hope he learned from that . 

English: Governor Mitt Romney of MAImage via Wikipedia
I like Romney because he's a Mormon and I'm a Mormon.  I don't think the presidency usually plays a big role in the economy, although they do sink or swim based on how it does, so I'm not overly impressed by his business acumen.  I kind of like how his candidacy highlights the very low tax rates that the rich can get.  :)  Why do we allow the superrich to pay less taxes again?  Why can't capital gains be taxed like wages? 

I also don't like this new "veto the dream act" thing.  The dream act is a great idea!  Of the illegal immigrants that are here, almost none come here to go to college.  The beneficiaries of the dream would overwhelmingly be kids that came to the USA when small.  They share no guilt with their parents, who committed the unspeakable crime of crossing a line on the ground without permission.  It's almost as bad (much less dangerous) as speeding, and just as illegal!

I
Detail of Uninsured TaxpayersImage via Wikipedia
am somewhat concerned with how the LDS (Mormon) church will end up being perceived based on how Mitt does as president if he is elected.  I'd rather it stand on it's teachings and practices instead of on some random member's actions. 

Anyway, on many issues, Mitt is fairly moderate.  And that, for me, is no sin
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