Showing posts with label Presidential election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presidential election. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2012

10 Florida Republicans Who Helped Make Voting More Difficult

UPDATE November 11, 2012
The votes have finally been counted, at least for the most part according to officials. They still don't have all of the military votes but since President Obama has over 70,000 more votes, those votes won't change the end result.
There is a Nov. 16 deadline for overseas and military ballots, but under Florida law, recounts are based on Saturday's results. Only a handful of overseas and military ballots are believed to remain outstanding.


It's one thing to have your own political views and want to defend them. What is not right is trying to prevent people from doing what you want the right to do.

Governor Scott and these politicians should be ashamed of themselves. Aside from adding another hindrance to voters, they managed to give them even more reason to vote next time to make sure these people are out of office!
10 Florida Republicans Who Helped Make Voting More Difficult
(PHOTOS)
Huffington Post
Janie Campbell
Joey Francilus
Posted: 11/09/2012

Who is responsible for Florida's second infamous elections debacle since 2000?

There will be plenty of blame to go around, especially when Miami-Dade County finally finishes counting provisional ballots and gets to the bottom of who declined to shore up voting operations, and when. But blame will also likely fall on conservative state legislators, who fought for two years to reduce the number of early voting days and limit registration after heavy 2008 turnout in the state for Democrats.

"Obama won the most where the lines were the longest," former state Sen. Dan Gelber (D-Miami Beach) told the Tampa Bay Times, speaking of the 2012 turnout.

Gelber called the law reducing early voting "hubris and overreaching by the Republicans, who may learn a lesson that 'Maybe we shouldn't abuse our prisoners that much because sometimes they'll get back at you.'"

Citing admittedly non-existent fraud, the GOP gang reduced the number of early voting days from 14 to 8, eliminating the Sunday before Election Day disproportionately preferred, in large numbers, by blacks, Hispanics, young people and first-time voters.
read more here

Florida still counting votes

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Obama gets emotional talking to campaign staff

Obama gets emotional talking to campaign staff
November 8th, 2012
08:15 PM ET
10 minutes ago
Posted by
CNN's Kevin Liptak

(CNN) - Video of President Barack Obama's visit Wednesday to his campaign headquarters in Chicago shows the newly re-elected commander in chief becoming emotional while heralding the hard work of his young staffers.

"I am absolutely confident that all of you are going to do amazing things in your lives," Obama says in the video, which was posted on his campaign's official Youtube page Thursday.
read more here

Florida still counting votes

Florida still counting votes as of 2:15 pm today
In contrast, even Hawaii, which is five hours behind Florida, was able to call the state right after 6 p.m. local time when the polls closed.

Currently, Obama leads Romney 4,173,275 votes to 4,120,025. He is widely expected to hold that lead.

The fact that Florida can't call the state yet for either Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has officially conceded, has put us once again in the political spotlight, and made the state the butt of national jokes.


So which is it? Did Romney concede or didn't he? Can Florida get any of this right?

UPDATE FROM NEWS 13 ORLANDO
Obama claims victory in Fla.; Romney won't concede
Last Updated: Thursday, November 08, 2012, 5:47 PM
MIAMI (AP)

President Barack Obama is claiming victory in Florida, although all of the votes haven't been counted and the state hasn't certified the election.

Obama's campaign issued a statement late Thursday afternoon saying they had won Florida. The Associated Press has not called the race said it is still too close. Obama led Romney 49.9 percent to 49.3 percent or by about 52,000 votes. Obama does not need Florida because he has won an electoral vote majority in the rest of the country.

The Romney campaign and the Republican National Committee say they are waiting for the state to finish its count, which includes thousands of provisional ballots.


This is from the Huffington Post,,,,,so what's up with these reports?
Mitt Romney Campaign: We Lost Florida To Obama In Presidential Election Posted: 11/08/2012 3:16 pm EST Updated: 11/08/2012 6:59 pm EST Florida is still undecided largely due to long voting lines on election night, a deluge of last-minute absentee ballots and other assorted problems. Mitt Romney's campaign said that President Barack Obama won the state of Florida in the race for the White House. The Miami Herald reports that Romney adviser Brett Doster said in a statement, "The numbers in Florida show this was winnable," and added, "We thought based on our polling and range of organization that we had done what we needed to win. Obviously, we didn’t, and for that I and every other operative in Florida has a sick feeling that we left something on the table. I can assure you this won’t happen again." read more here

Politicians FUBAR!

Politicians FUBAR!

Rep. John Boehner has not gotten the message in four years, so he won't understand it now. After all, he was elected to serve Ohio's 8th District while President Obama was elected in 2004 by 66,882,230 voters in 2008 and so far at least over 60,000,0000 again but since Florida screwed up again with yet another election, we just have to settle for that right now. It is the same state that put the keys to the White House into President Obama's hand again, making what Florida was unable to do more embarrassing than anything else.

What does Boehner say after the election? Pretty much that we're going to see even more of the same out of the Congress under his control. We saw it over the last two years as they whined about the unemployment rate along with everything else while they did absolutely nothing other than try to take things away from everyone that wasn't rich. We noticed!

It was one more reason President Obama was re-elected. The voters told other politicians what they wanted out of Washington. What did Boehner along with Senator Mitch McConnell do? They said it was their number one job to make Obama a one term President! We noticed!

We noticed enough here in Florida that in areas with a heavy Democrat population, we were willing to stand in lines for hours because another politician didn't care about the people he was supposed to be serving. That politician is Governor Rick Scott among a long list of other Governors doing everything in their power to prevent the voice of the people from being heard. This is what happened here.
Florida Republicans left to ponder future as Obama victory in state looks likely
Washington Post
By Brady Dennis
Published: November 7

TAMPA — The final tally had yet to emerge from the presidential election in Florida on Wednesday, but Republicans throughout the state were already asking an unsettling question: What happened?

Conservative groups poured tens of millions of dollars and countless hours into the Sunshine State. Mitt Romney visited nearly 40 times, far more than President Obama. The Republican Party ramped up voter turnout efforts, undertook a relentless advertising campaign statewide and even held its national convention in this key city on Florida’s west coast — all in an effort to improve on Sen. John McCain’s performance in 2008 and win the state’s 29 electoral votes.

Exactly why those efforts fell short and what it means for Florida’s Republicans in the future is the source of an ongoing debate and plenty of soul-searching.
read more of this FUBAR here


I live in a Republican County, Seminole. While I took advantage of early voting on Thursday, there was an hour wait. I also live right on the Orange County line where the wait for them was hours long, yet they still made sure they did whatever it took to use the power of their one vote. Governor Scott didn't win what he wanted. We noticed!

So what happened in this election in the rest of the country? As of right now President Obama has 60,662,601 votes and a whopping 303 Electoral Votes. Speaker John Boehner won unopposed which is fascinating considering the number of votes President Obama received after a very long, hard battle against Romney.

So what does this all mean? It means a man that didn't even have to do anything, in his job as a member of The People's House, he got his job back and then tells the rest of the country that what we said didn't matter at all.

People voted for what President Obama said he intended to do.

President Obama, no matter if Boehner liked it or not, said he intended to do things in 2008 when he was first elected but that didn't matter to him then either.

Our lives have been falling apart while Congress has been playing games and yes, we noticed. We saw so much suffering so they could win an election. They lost but again, Boehner didn't notice. Now he has given no confidence to the American people for Congress.

They could have done marvelous things for our veterans, especially with the new jobs bill but they let that wait until after the election.

Here is one more thing they are playing games with.
An even bigger challenge facing the administration will come if Congress doesn’t find a way to prevent an additional $500 billion in sequestration cuts to defense slated to begin in January as mandated by law. Obama will face pressure to negotiate a bargain with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to evade sequestration.
We noticed all of it and the lack of work they were supposed to be doing for us while getting paid with our tax dollars. It's time they noticed they had a job to do and that was to work with the person voted into office by the MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE no matter if they like him or not. If they don't like what Obama said he wanted to do then maybe, just maybe they should have nominated someone other than the man passed over for Sarah Palin by John McCain!

Massachusetts noticed what Romney was all about but the problem is, people forgot that the other candidates for the GOP nomination did too.

So maybe if all the whining stopped in Washington, someone would finally accept the fact the GOP lost and the Democrats won for a reason.

I'm an Independent because both parties have too many politicians in them!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Congratulations President Obama Again!

After a very long night waiting to here about Florida, President Obama gave his speech but I fell asleep with the TV on.

There were very long lines and as of this morning, we're still not sure what happened in my state. Florida seems to always make news and most of the time not in a good way. It is for sure that the Floridians will remember what Governor Scott did not do to help us vote when he is asking for us to vote for him.

Anyway, it was a marvelous night for this country because once again, so many decided that the future of this country was important enough to endure long lines to vote. It also proved that all of the Super Pack money in the world cannot buy our votes. All the games with corrupt machines switching intended votes cannot defeat real the voice of the people.

It also proved to members of Congress that the games they've been playing over the last two years did not work. McConnell's game of letting us suffer so he could "make Obama a one term President" failed. He let us suffer. His desire was not to take care of the troops, families or our veterans. Not put us back to work. Not fix our roads and bridges. Not replace the "Obamacare" he hates so that we can have a chance to live a healthier life. None of what we needed mattered to him and his pals for the last two years.

Here's the President Obama's speech in case you missed it to.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Woman in labor went to vote before going to hospital

Galicia Malone, Chicago Woman In Labor, Votes En Route To Hospital
Huffington Post
Posted: 11/06/2012

A Chicago-area woman went into labor early Tuesday morning -- but she wasn't about to let that stop her from taking the opportunity to vote.

Though her water had already broken, 21-year-old Galicia Malone voted around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at New Life Celebration Church in south suburban Dolton, ABC Chicago reports.

According to Cook County Clerk David Orr, Malone's contractions were five minutes apart when she arrived at her polling place. Her labor reportedly began at 3 a.m.
read more here

Voting machine flips vote for Obama to Romney on video

2008 in West Virginia
2012 still happening in a different state!!

Army couple told no record of them voting over last 8 years!

Some voters face registration issues at polls
FOX 23.com
11/05/2012
Reported by: Ian Silver

Thousands of Tulsa voters cast their ballots during early voting, but a small handful were turned away at the polls because they were no longer registered to vote.

Kiersten Lane wanted to teach her two young children how important it is to vote.

"We waited until they got out of school on Friday and we went and stood in line for about an hour," Lane said.

But that hour-long wait turned out to be a waste of time.

"It took them about 10 minutes to find me in the system, and they said that I had been deleted and taken out of the system due to inactivity."

According to Oklahoma law, there are five reasons a person's voter registration can be canceled:
-The death of the voter.
-The voter is convicted of a felony.
-The voter is legally determined to be incapacitated.
-The voter moved out of the area and registers elsewhere.
-The voter has not responded to correspondence from the county and has not voted for more than four year.

But none of those reasons apply to Lane and her husband.

In 2004, Lane and her husband voted absentee from Fort Hood, Texas, where her husband was on active duty in the U.S. Army. In 2008, they were stationed at Fort Sam Houston outside San Antonio, Texas, and again voted absentee.

"I am worried," Lane said. "They aren't accounted for. There isn't a record whatsoever of our votes for the last eight years."
read more here

Monday, November 5, 2012

Living in Florida has been hell!

UPDATE by the way, watching TV pretty much sucks too. We end up changing the channel only to discover another campaign ad.
I can't help it. My home phone is a non-published number but for the last two months it has been ringing off the hook. Not that we've been answering it. Most of the calls have been for Republicans. While some callers hang up when the answering machine picks up, some actually dare to just play the recorded message. Here's a note to all of these groups. Calling people at all hours and bothering them only does one thing. GETS THEM SO PISSED OFF THEY WON'T THINK OF VOTING FOR WHO YOU SUPPORT. You bunch of dummies!

Florida presidential race comes down to the wire

Florida presidential race comes down to the wire
Polls show virtual tie in battle for state's 29 electoral votes
Orlando Sentinel
By William E. Gibson
Washington Bureau
November 4, 2012

WASHINGTON — The presidential race in Florida is heading for a neck-and-neck finish Tuesday, with Republican challenger Mitt Romney gathering momentum in the economically strapped state in the last days of a closely contested campaign.

Late polls and voter comments indicate that President Barack Obama's narrow lead has disappeared as independent and late-deciding voters turn to Romney.

The result appears to be a virtual tie in the contest for Florida's 29 electoral votes — the biggest swing state in the country — going into Election Day. More than 3 million Floridians have already cast their votes, with Democratic voters holding a slight lead.

"It looks like another down-to-the-wire race," said Kevin Wagner, a political scientist at Florida Atlantic University. "I don't think there are a lot of undecideds. It's going to come down to which side is more effective at getting their voters to come out in higher numbers. That makes for a divisive election and a divided government after the election."

A Quinnipiac University poll taken Oct. 23-29 shows a statistical tie but had Obama up 48 percent to 47 percent. At week's end, the RealClearPolitics average of Florida polls showed Romney with 49 percent and Obama with 48 percent, also a statistical tie.

The presidential race, a U.S. Senate election and six close congressional contests will give Florida viewers much to watch Tuesday night.

Two-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson has led most polls since August, with last week's Q-Poll showing him up 52 percent to 39 percent over Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV. But Mack is hoping that his ties to Romney — he has accompanied Romney at every Florida appearance in the past week — will boost him to a win.

Democrats are hoping to add two more congressional seats —– one in Central Florida and the other in Broward County — and are hoping to knock off as many as four incumbent Republicans across the state, including U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden.
read more here

I stood in line for over an hour to early vote on Thursday. The ballot was two pages front and back. As I was filling it out, all I could think about what how lousy this congress did for this country. For the last two years they have done a marvelous job on blocking everything while not spending any sleepless nights trying to come up with anything to replace the bills they were blocking.

The worst thing is that before members of the Senate went back to their states, they put a veterans jobs bill on hold until after the election. Wasn't that nice of them? They think we're stupid. They think we won't notice most of our suffering came from them simply because John Boehner decided to cover up for what congress was not doing.
"The Democrat-controlled Senate, it hasn't passed a budget in more than 1,000 days."
Boehner didn't think it was important to add in the fact that the Senate, no matter which party controls it, needs a super majority to get anything up for a vote. He should remember that simply because he was among the top whiners going to reporters and saying "Give us an up or down vote!" But if he said anything about what we're all talking about, then congress would have to accept the blame for all of this.

Then we have Mitch McConnell saying their number one priority was to make President Obama a one term president in 2010.

The fact anything changed at all was because of the first two years and the fact things have not been done in the last two years can be directly tied to the members of congress putting politics ahead of the people.

While most people are afraid of who will be elected president, I'm more afraid of who will be in charge of the congress. If it is the same folks that had control over the last two years, we're all screwed! They proved political games trumps what we need and what they promised us.

We are also in trouble if we do not understand we are responsible to hold all of them accountable after they are elected. There is no way this could have happened if the people of this nation actually put their foot down and told congress to get to work for what they were elected to do and not ignore their duty.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Crying 4 year old resonates with over a million YouTube viewers

Crying Fort Collins Girl Isn’t Alone. How the Election is Emotional for Kids
By Grace Hood

A YouTube clip shot in Fort Collins has gone viral on the Internet. It features four-year-old Abbie Evans crying, saying she’s tired of election coverage. The video has struck a chord with adults who also can’t wait to see the election come to a close. But it got us pondering this question: What effect does the non-stop political marathon have on young children?

Listen to what Abbie's mom, Elizabeth, has to say about the viral YouTube video Abbie’s, mom, Elizabeth says she was listening to NPR on the way to the store when Abbie broke down. Elizabeth’s taken her daughter to political rallies and watched presidential debates with her daughter, all with the hope of creating a well-informed citizen.

read more here

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Romney can't make up his mind state to state on anything

A long time ago, in a land far away from Florida, I lived in Massachusetts and there was a Governor with a very bad speech problem. He never seemed to understand, when he talked, people were listening. Not just listening, but recording what he said.

It used to be funny at times if you happened to be channel surfing as Governor Romney said one thing on one channel and then something else the next day on another. At least he understood that different news stations were watch by different audiences but he never understood the rest of what it takes to be committed to a core set of values.

Here are just a few of the changes in what he said showed up depending on who he knew was listening.

This is the video that what he said was clearly meant for his rich friends but someone had a camera rolling.

Against the 47% speech he gave when he thought only like minded folks were listening. Keep in mind that it was pointed out who the 47% are. Deployed troops, veterans, the elderly, poor, handicap citizens, just to name a few.

This is what he said when he thought the people of Massachusetts would want to hear these words.

Mitt Romney Addresses National Right to Life Convention
At 1:21 he talks about abortion "treating human embryos as research material." He said he couldn't support that but it turns out he not only supported just that same thing, but made money on it.


0:27to have the endorsement of national right to life
0:30if you ever question whether your advocacy changes hearts and minds
0:35let me show you
0:36that it does
0:38i'm just one of many americans
0:40from every walk of life
0:41who found themselves asking an important question
0:44an afterthought salute deliberation
0:47came to a heartfelt conclusion
0:49innocent life
0:51must be respected and protected
0:53from its beginning to its natural and
0:56when i first ran for office i said that i would retain the laws relating to
1:00abortion the were already in place despite my personal belief that abortion
1:04is wrong
1:06but after being elected governor of massachusetts i was confronted with
1:09legislation
1:11they're called on me to expand the legal taking up onboard life
1:15treating human embryos
1:16as mere research material to be experimented upon
1:20and then destroy it
1:21i could not support that
1:23government's action of abortion
1:25devalues human life
1:27as a governor then
1:29whatever the question of life came before me by answered that we must
1:32protect it
1:34i thought the benyamin cloning
1:35i thought the ban embryo farming
1:38i thought to define life is beginning to conception
1:41i fought for abstinence education in our schools
1:44and i vetoed a bill that would have given young girls abortion inducing
1:48pills
1:49without prescription
1:50or parental consent
1:52i thought those fights because of the quiet of conscience
1:56and it was the right thing to do
1:58and i will always be grateful for advocates like you
2:00who stand to protect
2:04the damn running for a different and higher office
2:06it comes with an even greater set of responsibilities
2:09and even tougher challenges i face is governor
2:12more than twenty three million americans are unemployed
2:16underemployed
2:17or left the workforce altogether
2:20new business start-ups
2:21artist thirty-year low
2:23our nation is running trillion dollar deficits every year
2:27food and energy costs have soared
2:29while home values it incomes have plummeted
2:32president bombers economic policies
2:35have failed
2:36he said his chance
2:38now it's time for change in leadership
2:40if i'm fortunate to be elected this november
2:43putting america back to the right track
2:45and getting americans back to work
2:47will be my priority from day one
2:50but i will not forget that a strong country needs more than a strong economy
2:55it needs strong families
2:56and strong values as well
2:59present obama once said the decisions about abortion are
3:02above his pay grade
3:04i'll never be so cavalier about life
3:06i will be a pro-life president
3:08a read state the mexico city policy
3:11a cut off funding for the united nations population fund
3:14which supports china's aboard
3:16one-child policy
3:18alin sure that abortion advocates like planned parenthood get no taxpayer
3:22dollars
3:23and i'll reversal bomber regulations
3:26that attack our religious freedom
3:28and threaten innocent life
3:30nominate judges who respect the constitution
3:34opponents of judicial restraint
3:36and know the difference between personal opinion
3:38and the law
3:40if elected president
3:41i will work with you to foster respect for innocent human life
3:45with understanding that a culture that fails to do so
3:49altar boy becomes a culture
3:50in which respect for all fell a demon beings
3:53is diminished
3:55i'm heartened by the advances made by the pro-life movement over the last
3:58several years
4:00the ranks of our pro life partners
4:02are growing everyday
4:04that progress would not be possible without your passion
4:07and your dedication
4:08god bless you for it
4:10and god bless united states of america
4:12thank you so much

but this is where some of his money came from, hundreds of millions of dollars,


Oh well but as with any grim fairy tale, it seems as if Halloween presented this country with a trick or treat question. Depending on what you wanted to hear, he said it all. So here's what he said when he thought pro-life people were not listening.

Romney: Abortion Not On My Agenda
Comment to Iowa paper's editorial board sparks criticism from Obama campaign.
By Sarah Huisenga
Updated: October 10, 2012 | 4:01 p.m.
October 9, 2012

Mitt Romney said on Tuesday that he has no plans for abortion legislation if elected president, a statement that is more moderate than ones he's made on the issue in the past.

“There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda," Romney told the Des Moines Register editorial board.

In an interview with an Ohio TV station during the heat of the Republican primary in February, Romney said he was “in favor of a pro-life policy.” He noted that “the legislation that relates to abortion is something which is going to have to be approved by the Supreme Court,” a body to which he would appoint nominees to fill any vacancies if he is elected.

Asked to clarify the Republican nominee’s position, Romney spokesman Andrea Saul sent an email saying that Romney "is proudly pro-life, and he will be a pro-life president." She also said that Romney "would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life."
read more here from National Journal


I have no problem with people believing what they want as long as they believe in something. It seems Romney only believes in what people want to hear and that is very sad.

Military women take birth control to regulate their cycle along with preventing pregnancy until they want to have a baby or not at all. They are also raped but they have to hear some members of congress talk about the "right to life" when it was even something as evil as rape, topped off that they want to end birth control altogether. It seems it is time for these folks to answer some real questions and actually repeat them because they believe in them and not just saying what they want select groups to hear.

Can you imagine being in Afghanistan right now and hearing all this going on by the people wanting to be in control of this country? Can you imagine being there and knowing the media doesn't have a clue? They know what Congress is responsible for and they also know what they have been doing over the last two years. None of it has been good.

We owe them at least an honest reporting on the facts. Hell knows they didn't get that when they were being sent into Iraq. Reporters failed them then and are still failing them.

With Allen West, less means zero

If comments left on this are an indication of how people really feel about Allen West, he won't have to go back to Washington.

Allen West: We used bayonets in Iraq and horses in Afghanistan
Washington Post
Posted by Ed O'Keefe
October 23, 2012

STUART, Fla. — Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) knows a thing or two about how the U.S. military uses bayonets, because he sent soldiers into battle with them in Iraq.

Speaking to about 100 senior citizens Tuesday afternoon in this golfing and retirement community, West joined legions of conservatives and Republicans criticizing President Obama’s performance during Monday night’s presidential debate on foreign policy and seized especially on the exchange between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney over the declining strength of the U.S. Navy.

“I can tell you that when I was a battalion commander, we did still issue bayonets to our troops when we deployed to Iraq in 2003. The second thing I will tell you is that in 2001, Special Forces soldiers were on horseback riding with the Northern Alliance to fight against the Taliban,” West said. “So obviously we have a president who does not understand the full capabilities and capacities and what we do in the United States military.”

During the debate, Obama responded to Romney’s concerns about U.S. naval power by noting that “we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed.”
read more here and be sure to read the comments left


West does understand a thing or two, but not more than that. Does he actually not get that Obama is the Commander-in-Chief?

Saturday, October 27, 2012

In veteran-heavy states, military issues magnified

This is an easy one to explain. Stop listening to what they say and start looking up their records. That's the only way to figure out what they will end up doing. Romney will cut the VA and privatize it. Aside from the Ryan budget he approved of we have his record in Massachusetts. He cut state VA funds, ended hiring preferences for veterans and cut public employees, most of the were veterans. Remember, veterans enter into law enforcement, fire departments and public service more than they return to the private sector. They always want to give more and serving makes them happy.

John McCain proved that it is not what they say but what they do as well. Look up his record on everything from the GI Bill, which he not only voted against but fought against it and go all the way back to when he was first sent to the Senate. He loved to say he was "one of us" until we weren't looking.

For President Obama, even the most staunch Republicans I know have admitted he has done a lot for veterans and to right some wrongs done against them. Gulf War veterans and Vietnam veterans were included in on all the changes for the better when the media was just paying attention to the newer veterans. Think of how many years that went on and no one did anything. Then think of the new veterans bill the Senate tied up that would have trained the OEF OIF veterans to be police officers and firefighters and you get a good picture of what is really going on.

In veteran-heavy states, military issues magnified
timesleader.com
Associated Press
(AP) The far-flung swing states that have the most sway in the presidential election have something else in common a large share of military veterans who are getting special attention from the fiercely dueling campaigns.

In a White House campaign this hard-fought, no interest group can be ignored. But veterans are an especially prized group since so many live in battlegrounds including Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.

Backing those who have served the country also sends a feel-good patriotic message to the electorate at large. And although veterans traditionally lean Republican, both candidates see an opening to win over veterans this year.

The next president will face U.S. troops returning from Afghanistan and a continuing budget crisis with veterans benefits under scrutiny.

Navy veteran Rob Meurer fears for his own livelihood at a northern Virginia aerospace manufacturer if military spending cuts are enacted during a second administration for President Barack Obama. Defense cuts "could devastate our military and our business," Meurer said.

At the other end of the state, Hampton Roads area Air Force veteran Lawrence Ewing fears the quality of his health care will suffer should the government privatize benefits under Republican Mitt Romney.

"We simply cannot afford cuts to the VA," Ewing said.
read more here

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Even long-time Republicans have noticed Obama's dedication to veterans

The following is a really great article that needed to be written and I suggest you go to the link to read the whole thing. For right now, this is a great point for you to see because it is what I do every day.
Even long-time Republicans have noticed Obama's dedication to veterans.

Larry Pressler, a Vietnam veteran with 22 years of service as a Republican member of the Senate and the House of Representatives, recently endorsed President Obama and his commitment to our troops in The Huffington Post.

It is tempting, in light of the above, to believe that President Obama is just much more committed to the concerns of our veterans than President Bush was and have that be the end of the story. But the stark differences between the Democratic and Republican parties' commitment to our veterans extend far beyond the last two presidential administrations. Instead, these differences were most recently on display during last month's Senate vote on the Veterans Job Corps Act of 2012.
I track the reality. Real news reports from reporters all over the country including parts of it you've never heard of before. Why? Because veterans may serve this one nation but they all go back to different parts of it.

In Massachusetts, veterans there know which politician is full of (in the recent words of President Obama) bullshitters and which ones actually care about them. That is why they won't be voting for Romney. They know him. They know how he treated them when he was the Governor and had a chance to prove if they mattered or not.

Go to other parts of the country and you end up with veterans simply voting on party lines because they think it is the right thing to do and that is exactly how we ended up in the mess we've been in for the last ten years. Actually, cancel that. We've been in a mess for too many years going back a lot further than ten. Ask Vietnam veterans what it was like for them to file claims, fight the system, get treated and get what they paid for when we sent them to Vietnam and you'll know none of this is new and Congress is still playing games with their lives.

Here in Florida I talk to veterans all the time and usually I walk away stunned by what I hear them say. It is nothing I've read in real news reports. It has all come from people playing political games that end up making veterans pay for believing in the people they supported.
The Mystifying Misperception
Joseph Graziano
Attorney
Huffington Post

Two months after September 11, 2001 my father, the severely injured, sole survivor of Engine 22 Ladder 13, sought help in securing disability benefits from the New York City Fire Commissioner's Office. The Office responded that the government of New York believed he was dead and refused to help him. A deserving public servant, my father's struggle to obtain benefits from the state following 9/11 is not unlike that of the millions of veterans who struggle to secure disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs after they return home from duty. My father's experience sensitized me to this enduring injustice, and subsequently, I have spent the last decade committed to serving those who have served.

Traditionally, veterans have been dependable supporters of the Republican Party. Although veterans are no longer a homogenous voting group, this continues to ring true. According to recent polling by Politico, Governor Romney has a commanding 20 point lead over President Obama in the veteran vote. This unhealthy pairing can be explained by the existence of a persistent and complexing misperception that hawkish republicans, those most likely to send our soldiers off to war, are the same people most likely to stand beside and serve our veterans when they return home. Nothing is further from the truth.

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Starting Point, working together, setting politics aside

It is astonishing that political differences have taken over so much that a reality TV show had to do something like this, but I am glad they did.

The veterans I spend my time with manage to do this all the time. They put the "mission" ahead of political views. Just as they did when they risked their lives, the only thing that matter was the guy next to them was "one of them" and political views really didn't matter that much.

They were willing to die for one another but most people in this country can't manage to have a civil discussion that gets to the point instead of pointing fingers.

Political parties come together to build home for veteran
October 17th, 2012
CNN
Ty Pennington explains

Ty Pennington is known for building homes for deserving people. We've been following his work as he brought both political parties together for one goal, to build a home for a military family. It's a plan both parties could agree on.

The plan called for half of the home to be built, you'll remember, at the Republican National Convention, the other half of the home was constructed at the Democratic National Convention. Today the home comes together. It's donated, it's finished and it goes to John Jones II and his wife, Tanisha. They're going to get that home at 12:00 noon today.

This morning on "Starting Point," Pennington talks to Soledad about the journey to getting the house produced, and the Jones family explain how thrilled they are to received the house.


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Vets Seek Specifics On How Candidates Would Help

It is one thing for a person running for election to say they care or claim they "know how to fix something" but it all comes down to what they actually did.

Vets Seek Specifics On How Candidates Would Help
NPR
by Quil Lawrence
Oct 16, 2012
Morning Edition

Military veterans across the country have a whole range of concerns this election season, from the high rate of suicide to special challenges for female vets. But like everyone else, they're especially concerned with health care and jobs.

Military veterans across the country have a whole range of concerns this election season, from the high rate of suicide to special challenges for female vets. But like everyone else, they're especially concerned with health care and jobs.

The nation's obligations to some 2 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan pose a challenge for the next commander in chief. Unemployment for post-Sept. 11 vets is about 2 percentage points worse than the national average, and veterans want solutions.

In Orange Park, Fla., south of Jacksonville, a town built around Navy and Air Force bases, the VFW hall is smoky and loud with conversation among veterans from many different wars.

"I was with the Air Force Reserves," says Elisa Rosemond, "and my question is how you're going to help the troops coming home, active and reserve, find a job that they can support their families with?"
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I am originally from Massachusetts but moved to Florida when Romney was governor. What he did was end the hiring preference for veterans, cut state VA budget and outsourced public worker jobs to India. For military families, one thing is clear. Most veterans end up going into law enforcement, fire departments, emergency responders, medical and teaching. These jobs fall in the group of public employees Romney has shown disdain for.

If you read this blog you know I also have issues with President Obama but at least he has tried to fix what has gone wrong for our veterans. In the first two years, he did have a congress run by Democrats and things got done. As we've seen in the last year and a half when the Republicans controlled the House and the Senate Bills were blocked by Republicans because a super-majority is needed to prevent filibusters, President Obama should have taken to the airwaves more to let the American people know exactly what was going on and who was responsible for it. While he did include most of these shenanigans in his weekly address, few heard what he had to say.

MSNBC
Aired on September 20, 2012

Sen. Cardin on defeat of jobs bill: Our veterans deserve more
MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks to Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-MD., about the defeat of the Veteran’s Jobs Bill in the Senate.


Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


The truth is what it is but politicians won't come out and tell the truth.

President Obama had the opportunity to address one other issue but has avoided mentioning it. The fact that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were not part of President Bush's budget and were provided by supplemental requests and Afghanistan was hardly ever mentioned. President Obama put the costs into his budget so the costs wars were no longer hidden even if they were not actually paid for.

Iraq War Supplemental: Speech by President Bush (2007)



2:17
Bush talks about a date to withdraw the troops as if he had no intentions of the Iraqi people stepping up to take over their own security. It turned out that having a date to leave put the future of Iraq into Iraqi hands. This was not about the US taking over Iraq, so the argument did not hold up.

This claim is now being repeated concerning Afghanistan by Romney as if giving the Afghan people a date when they have to take over their own security is a bad thing when we are not taking over Afghanistan.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Veterans want real policy, not just politics

Veterans want real policy, not just politics, from this election
By Jim Sanders
Sacramento Bee
Published: Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012

Veterans are emerging as a significant political force this year because of their numbers, sacrifice, public popularity and the government's need to plan for serving troops returning from the Middle East as fighting winds down. California, for example, expects to see its 2 million veterans swell by 30,000 to 35,000 annually over the next few years.

Times have changed since Paul Cook returned from Vietnam in 1968.

To avoid inciting someone to spit or throw something, Cook was not allowed that year to wear his soldier's garb in the nation's capital.

The Yucca Valley Republican, a state assemblyman, is now a candidate for Congress, touting his military service and proudly wearing his full Marine Corps uniform on his campaign website.
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Thursday, October 11, 2012

For Marines, Afghanistan is main battleground state

For Jacksonville voters, Afghanistan is main battleground state
WRAL.com

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — While the campaigns of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are locked in a fight to win North Carolina, for many people who live near Camp Lejeune, the real battleground state is on the other side of the world.

James Tyree, a retired Marine who now cuts hair at the Headquarters Barber Shop in Jacksonville, said the community has struggled every day for 11 years with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His customers aren't eager to give their opinions about war or the election, rarely speaking unless spoken to first.

Sgt. Daniel Potts Jr., who brought his 1-year-old son in for his first haircut, said he has deployed three or four times in recent years. He said he's "indifferent" to plans to pull U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

"I joined to do what I'm doing and to support and defend my country, so I'm doing that," Potts said.

After fighting for the U.S., he said he just wants people to care enough about the country to cast a ballot.

"A lot of people don't register to vote. A lot of people just don't get out there and do it. It's important," he said.

Lance Cpl. Tyler Burns, who bears a tattoo on his arm that says "Brothers will be there for all adversity," said he thinks Romney is more likely than Obama to send him to more war in the Middle East.
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Romney Drops SEAL Story After Mother Complains

Romney Drops SEAL Story After Mother Complains
ABC News’ Michael Falcone and Emily Friedman report
Mitt Romney’s campaign said today he will stop citing his meeting with a former Navy SEAL killed in last month’s terror attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya after the victim’s mother protested his use of her son’s death.

“He shouldn’t make my son’s death part of his political agenda. It’s wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama,” said Barbara Doherty, the mother of the slain Navy SEAL Glen Doherty.

She added, “I don’t trust Romney.”

A Romney aide told ABC News today that the Republican candidate will respect Mrs. Doherty’s wish and stop telling the story on campaign stops about how he met Doherty a few years ago.
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