Does the person is in the Whitehouse really effect you personally?

1. 0

   Justsilvieposted 11 years ago

   
   Does the person is in the Whitehouse really affect you personally?
   
   A friend asked me this question during the Bush reelection campaign and it made me think and has kept me thinking.
   
   I have discussed this with friends and family and we all had to honestly say no.
   
   Except for a dip in our home values and our 401 K, we have had no major change in our life or lifestyle and this is probably the same for many like us who are still lucky enough to have a job that pays decently and covers our needs and wants, no child or other family member in a warzone, and don’t have the desire for the most expensive of everything on the market.
   
   So if it does not really make a difference why do we vote as we do?
   
   We are also split on who to vote for, I am for Obama all the way, (Please don't even bother to negate my stance to Sheeple status, I am educated, well read and not poor in fact I would say I am the average American and my sister is for Romney who is pretty much like me.
   
   So again the question is does the person is in the Whitehouse really affect you personally?
   
   And let’s make it simple and leave it at 3 top reasons why we are voting for the candidate who may not really affect us personally.
   
   For me it is easy and no particular order
   
   War (totally anti war unless another army marches in here)
   
   Healthcare (I have decent healthcare but, I am outraged at the cost and charges in this system and I do believe decent healthcare is a right for every citizen!
   
   Veterans Issues (You ask them to serve and in some cases made them serve, so stop screwing them and pay up.)
   
   What’s your stance? Can we also keep it civil please?

   replyreport
   1. 83

      kathleenkatposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      War: I am anti war. Though, we do have the duty to help our allys if they engage in war. I don't have a problem with that. I just don't want to be the one initiating it!
      
      Healthcare: I agree that it is way too expensive, but I don't think the government should involve itself that much. Perhaps make a law preventing the amount of income a doctor makes from a visit (even with insurance, I pay a couple hundred dollars to just get looked at. All over services are extra. Ridiculous; if there's nothing wrong, I still have to pay, even if they only saw me for 5 minutes and took my blood pressure.) If doctor's visits cost less, then insurance costs would also go down.
      
      Veterans Issues: Veterans deserve government help; they helped the government. They, I think, deserve help before anyone else.

      replyreport
2. 76

   CMerrittposted 11 years ago

   I think the white house has a direct impact on the economy, but the policies they stand behind.  So, yes I say it very much matters.  The business I am associated with has been very, very slow due to the economy.  The raises, and bonus' has not been available due to the economic impact.  I think gas price CAN come into play by a strong WH.
   
   This just for starters.

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Al Baconposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think it makes some difference but not as much as people would like.  As a nation, we elect a president and hope for the best but then most people forget about politics for another 4 years.  We have divided the country into democrat or republican and almost no one checks to see if there is an alternative, for example Gary Johnson at the moment, who actually has a platform addressing your three main issues.
      We have groups such as the CAGW.ORG to name one which can keep us informed as to the actions of our elected officials and how so many of them place their own issues ahead of the issues of those who elected them but too few are aware of that or how their representatives vote on issues concerning we, the people, or even what those issues are.
      The president also has little control over various bureaus within the government and we suffer more by the actions of those bureaus than anything that the president does or does not do.  For example, the FDA dragged its feet for several years regarding better labeling on the product VIOXX although test showed that it increased the risk of heart problems five-fold while a competitor decreased those risks. 
      Government bureaus do things like give grants to farming corporations while smaller family farms without grants must compete or hold billions of dollars worth of buildings which require thousand of dollars to maintain even though they are basically abandoned.
      We can elect the person we think will best serve the interests of our country as president but we must then weed out those who place their paychecks and the interests of the over a thousand lobbyists ahead of the interests of we the people.

      replyreport
3. 78

   Mighty Momposted 11 years ago

   Yes, s/he does.
   Is our country at war? With who? Why?
   Is our economy growing? If not, why not? What are we doing to remedy that?
   Are we making our environment safer or less safe?
   Do we value education for our children -- all children?
   Do we promote equality of all citizens or just select citizens?
   What help is available to get "displaced" middle class Americans back to work so they can restart their lives (often after losing their homes and their retirement plan equity).
   What are we doing to tackle the exorbitant cost, relatively poor quality and incredible disparity of access to our healthcare system?
   What is the role of women in our society?
   How do we treat our veterans?
   How do we treat our elders -- including the big wave of Baby Boomers?
   What is the role of corporations in government? In the Supreme Court?
   
   I could go on and on.
   Yes. It matters a lot.

   replyreport
4. 81

   S G Huppposted 11 years ago

   The answer is yes. The social questions are huge, of course, but they've been covered here so I won't rehash them. 
   
   A profound effect that the current administration has had on me and many people I know can be attributed to confidence.  Fair or not (and really not relevant to my point anyway) many, many people feel that the current administration is hostile to small business.  A lot of small business owners feel that they are over taxed and over regulated and that they are being victimized by an administration that is so focused on "reaching back and pulling someone else forward before the door slams" that it has forgotten that you can only squeeze so many dollars out of one small business.  So how does that affect me?  My husband, myself and most of our friends and family are in some sort of sales.  Everything from packaging to real estate to food and beyond is represented and something we all hear over and over and over and over is "I have to wait until after the election because I may not be able to afford...(insert item of your choice)" or "I'm waiting until after the election because I might have to close my doors" or "I may have to lay people off"  or what ever.  It has had a trickle effect.  Incomes for people like me are down and it's really just because the people we deal with are nervous.
   
   I also have to mention the forclosure issue.  While it's true that a few people were able to refinance, due to the President's policy, the people who seriously needed it were not included.  Those who were struggling to make their house payments and desperately needed to refinance couldn't if they'd had late payments.  Those are the people I still see losing their homes.  Allowing people who were able to keep up at their current interest rate but were simply upside down in value to refinance seemed like window dressing to me.

   replyreport