You might think

I’m foolish, or maybe it’s untrue

Ahem.  Yes.  Well.

You might think, based on a cursory reading of this blog, that I am excited, enthused and ecstatic about the results of the election.

You might think that, but I’m not.  I’m somewhat relieved, not more but not less nervous and moderately happy but probably not for the reasons you think.

I thought that Romney would not have been good for the country and bad for a lot of people.  But I’m not jumping for joy that Obama was reelected.  I’m just not as worried as I would have been if Romney had won.

If Romney had won I would be very worried about what would happen next year but now I feel like I have some breathing room.  Not much, but some and that’s still at risk, but it may be enough.  I am also relieved that the candidate who brought lying in a campaign to new heights did not win because of that.  That’s the part I’m happy about.  All politicians stretch the truth and make promises they may never try to keep.  This guy lied about hard facts and showed no reluctance to keep lying after the facts were reported.

So I’m glad that the candidate who wasn’t as bad won and the one who looked really bad lost.

Excited, no, but I am somewhat relieved and that’s a good thing.

Maybe that is what you thought.

To paraphrase myself

When you win the election you’ve only just started.

Now it’s time to do the things that need to be done.  It’s time to overcome obstruction.  It’s time to help the poor and the middle class.

It’s also time to reject the concept of a grand bargain and instead strengthen Social Security and Medicare.  Don’t cut them, fix what needs fixing and increase the benefits.

It’s time to improve economic chances for everyone; make the tax system fair – and remember that fair does not always mean equal; control spending but also remember that not all spending is wasteful and debt is not necessarily evil.

Notice that none of this is partisan.  This is what every president needs to do.  The hard work is helping the most people possible and that is what needs to be done.  When there is a strong middle class everyone prospers – just look at the numbers and look at the history of this country.

Congratulations to all the winners.  Enjoy the victory.  Then get to work, fix this mess and help people.  That’s the job you just fought so hard to get, so do it.

Optionally disastrous

I mentioned the proposed changes to Social Security and Medicare, and you might be thinking that these changes won’t hurt them because it’s just a way to offer people options of how to save for retirement.

First of all, even if the proposed changes worked, my wife and I are both under 55 and can’t work.  There’s no way we can save enough for retirement.  If you’re 54 years old could you save enough for retirement in 10, or even 15 or 20 years?  If you can, good for you, but most people in the country can’t.

Social Security and Medicare weren’t created because everything was working great for seniors.  Seniors were sick and living in poverty, that’s why those social service programs were created.

But the changes would destroy these programs.  They work as they were designed, with some minor adjustments, but these changes will push millions of people out of them.  Reducing the base of people paying into them will run Social Security and Medicare into the ground very quickly.

Social services aren’t there just for the fun of it, they exist because it’s simple human decency to make sure that people don’t die sick, in pain, and starving.

Any talk of a grand bargain is talk of abandoning seniors because they just aren’t worth it to the people who run the country.  It’s just profit over compassion.

Honest fears

I wonder if my wife and I can survive a Romney administration.

Being a Wall Street supporting right of center corporatist, I expect Obama to slowly destroy the programs that my wife and I depend on, but we might have a chance.  Romney will kill them quickly.

If the private insurance we have can be made to honor their contracts we can manage for a while, but when we hit so-called retirement age we’ll be sunk.

Disability and medical expenses have destroyed our savings and put us in major debt.  I’ve already cashed in and exhausted one 401(k) and a pension is about to go the same way.  Even with insurance our medical expenses are over $20k a year.  Without Social Security and Medicare we won’t be able to survive.

I am voting for the lesser of two evils, to be sure, but I am doing it in the hopes that we have some chance of survival.

If the typically lying CEO wins, I can only hope that both Houses of Congress have sane Democratic majorities.  I know, that’s a pretty thin hope however you look at it.

If I weren’t disabled I would still worry about the future of this country, but as things are now, I worry about next year.

Career dissembler

I do have to admit that Romney is campaigning like a corporate CEO.  Not that that’s a good thing, mind you, but he is doing it.