Oh dear. Some of my thoughts on current political issues.

Here is the situation.... do I think that Barack Obama is the best President we have ever had? NO, but I do think he is a good solid man, that with the true backing of our government and the American people, can be a great president.

Thoughts on Romney after watching the debates and my thoughts on stuff that is important to me.

Self deportation? WTH? Here was my take. He thinks that we should strip illegals of every service so that they will simply leave of their own accord. There was a mediocre film made called A Day Without Mexicans about what the US would look like if all illegal residents of this country were gone... I don't even have to see a movie to know what that would look like. This country would come to a screeching halt.

Visas for foreigners with college degrees: He then said that, (again my take) people with college degrees from other countries should get automatic visas to come to the US. Does he realize that people from this country with college degrees cannot get jobs? This country's success does not rely solely on white collar jobs. Blue collar jobs are no less integral, they are simply less appreciated and less compensated. This country was truly great when we were actually making things here, instead of outsourcing everything. I say that we should give everyone who is "working" illegally a chance to be legal. 

Does he think that American citizens and legal residents are going to all of a sudden occupy the jobs that illegals currently occupy? No siree Mitt, they are not. Cus many "legal" Americans want to do as little as possible for as much money as possible. See US Postal Service as an example. No offense to hard working postal workers, there are many of you out there, but c'mon... I have never seen a less efficient and less customer service oriented organization in my life. Don't get me started on the DMV and local government.

Education: Perhaps I have a simplistic view of all of this, but how about really investing in k-12 education? Sure, make getting a teaching job harder and have truly high standards, but let's pay teachers a ton more money, like 6 digits? Teachers are responsible for shaping our children and preparing them for college or whatever future that they choose. How come shopping malls are more comfortable, modern and clean that public schools? 

I was an illegal immigrant in this country. Fortunately, my family didn't get deported and I am now a citizen and a contributing member of society. I was a non-English speaking immigrant who didn't grow up with much, but I am now living on the same block as one percenters and I know for a fact that most only care about their own kids. When it comes time for people to pony up taxes for education, the super rich feel like it should be every man for themselves. That is not what this country was built on. I am not currently earning over $250k a year, but I am certainly striving for that and I can't wait to be able to pay a ton of taxes that will contribute to education in my state. If I can afford an extra pool, tennis court or weekend home, I can afford to help education.

I don't need to say anything in depth about the middle class. They are simply getting screwed.

It seems like,  ideally, government should not tax the rich for the education of all, however, if it wasn't the case, the super rich would contribute privately only to their district as they actually do now and all other districts get screwed. Again, I love to simplify, but letting people choose whether they contribute to education and expecting it to come out fairly is like giving a chocolate cake to a 10 year old and expecting him to give an equal share to his 5 year old sibling. It aint gonna happen. Yes, we are family because education affects our entire country's well being.

Planned Parenthood: This one just boils my blood. Where do conservatives think their little darlings are getting their birth control? Or having that strange rash checked out because their parents never had a real conversation about about what really happens in high school and college? Instead, they poured themselves a nice single malt Scotch after Sunday services and simply hoped for the best.

I had a high grade pre-cancer of the cervix when in my 20's. I didn't go to PP persay, but I did go to a government subsidized women's clinic. Thank goodness current policies on screening were not in place or I would be dead. I was a freelance designer who could not afford insurance, so I relied 100% on Women's healthcare services. I did make cash donations to the clinic when I could and even donated design services because I felt so indebted for the services I was receiving. I became very good friends with the woman who performed Cryo and Leep on me and essentially saved my life. She was in SF last year at a conference where she discussed the need for early screening of abnormal paps. The way it works now is that a pap has to be a much higher grade of abnormal in order for a clinic to perform leep and cryo. Many young women have died as a direct result of this.

Women's clinics do far more than distribute birth control and perform abortions. They make women healthier through regular paps, birth control education, std screening and education, mammograms and much more. This ends up saving the country lots of money on healthcare in the long run. Health Insurance is through the roof in this country. We cannot just think of the needs of the wealthy.

Welfare.  I know that there are 1000's of people who abuse the welfare system and they are of every color, not just black and brown. See Texas and New Mexico. When I was 16, my mother and I were living in NY and she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer... I was in school full time and working full time to support the two of us. We paid a visit to the welfare office and after seeing many people who we both agreed probably should not have been there, we walked out. 

In hind sight, maybe we should have taken the help so that I could have focused 100% on finishing the school year and she could have convalesced without worrying that her 16 year old daughter was working full time and taking subways at 1 am from Manhattan to Queens. 

Many of you are probably saying, "Well, her mom should have had savings and money to support the two of them." You might be right. My father died when I was 9 and my mother was a house wife before then. I am not going to judge whether or not she did her best, but looking back, I think we might have been justified in accepting help. My mother did receive Medicaid. She had exhausted all of her savings going to doctors and trying to figure out what was wrong with her and that money ran out. It is thanks to Medicaid that she was able to obtain great care from Dr. Shemen and Dr. Rosenburg who saved my mother's life. She had surgery at St. Vincent's hospital and received radiation at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Thank God for Medicaid, wait no, thanks voters. 

That is so gay: To say that I am pro equal rights for gays because I have several gay best friends, well, you know what that sounds like... I simply say, gay and hetero and everything in-between, and trust me, there are many in-betweens, well, denying "gay" is like denying weather. Why don't we ban rain? That makes just as much sense as banning gay marriage. Do you know how many gay men are married to women because of how society treats gays? That is just not cool. These poor ladies are thinking that the fact that their husbands uses more hair and skin products than they do is normal? I am not talking "metro", although, most metro is just gay as gay can be. I love when people say that being gay is a choice. Oh yes, who would choose to grow up being called, homo, fag, fruitcake, sissy and butch and dike by all? That sounds like fun.

I am not perfect.  I do a lot of "good" things in my life that I don't need to list here, but I am human. I love wine. If I could spend several months a year in the Meditteranean of Spain or a white sandy tropical beach getting my toes massaged, I would.That being said, I would want said toe massager to be paid a fair wage and have full medical benefits. I read US weekly, well, I just look at it, but I actually pay for it instead of just looking at it at the nail salon. I buy mostly organic food when I can and I snob most reality tv. I am kind of a yuppy in many senses of the word, except for I am probably too old. I own an iphone, MacBook Pro and an IPad.  I grew up wanting to be on the Tonight show with Johnny Carson and still fantasize about chilling with Ellen Degeneres and convincing her that being vegan is not that answer. I can be shallow, but all of this aside, I cannot close my eyes at the disaster that electing Mitt Romney would be for this country. Sandy would seem like light showers.