This post was inspired by an article by
Conor Friedersdorf. I honestly don't know much about Johnson, beyond the easily available information provided by his campaign. (Whose information, regardless of the candidate, is never enough to make a good determination of character. It's like asking a sports fan why their team is the best.) I do, however know much more about Gov. Romney and Pres. Obama. Personally, I don't care who a person votes for with one caveat, do it based on how that candidate will benefit you individually.
So, if finance is the most important issue to your life I would encourage you to vote for whoever seems to benefit you most (easiest way to make a decision). Simply stated if you are very wealthy and put a great deal of importance on increasing that wealth as much as possible, it would appear that Gov. Romney would be your best advocate. He certainly has a good deal of experience in corporate America and, happens to have been particularly successful at Bain Capital. Given the type of business Bain conducts, one could deduce that Romney would have a potentially key skill set to direct the troubled economy towards growth. The logic among many seems to be that Bain is a group that identifies struggling companies and makes improvements to turn them profitable (more on that in a moment). Conversely, if morality and societal progression is really THE most important issue to you, as it certainly appears to be for Conor Friedersdorf, the decision of who to support is frustratingly complicated.
If you are someone who has not done business with Bain Capital or are among the people who stand to have their taxes cut because of a Romney presidency, I urge you to look into the “success of Bain Capital” briefly to learn how they conduct business. The reason I won’t vote for Romney is not because of Party affiliation. The reason I won’t vote for Romney is because there would be no benefit to me through his presidency. Understand that the investment company he was a part of made billions of dollars while under his leadership. Some of their investment/consulting strategies are legendary in the financial community for good reason. The cost, however, varied for each of the companies acquired. In some instances fledgling companies were able to see much greater profits once certain expenditures were considerably reduced or eliminated. One of these famous expenditures is labor. Apparently, when working in the US employees carried a minimum price tag (comprised of competitive salaries and benefits and federal minimum requirements) that was eating into the profits companies were able to get. Some of the options to solve this issue is to cut benefits of employees, eliminate certain positions, transfer other positions to countries that are far less restrictive on wages, and to hire non-union affiliated workers. Let’s not forget dividends! Bain Capital’s bread and butter are the dividends they are able to claim based on the assessed value of each company acquired. If you happen to be a company with a great deal of potential but have management issues or don’t have the connections needed to tap into a larger market Bain Capital can be a major asset. It’ll cost you a great deal of money, but you may still get more money than you previously had access to. On the other hand if your business doesn’t quite have great potential but still has a reasonable chance at making it big, Bain will be interested in helping you achieve that potential. They will maximize your potential as best they can and take their share of your newly found revenue (maybe all of the revenue) in order to pay for the pleasure to do business with them. If for some reason that revenue is not enough to satisfy your contractual obligations to Bain capital your company may, eventually, be liquidated to get every last drop of liquid assets available. To put all that into shorter terms Bain can either help you succeed, or help you rewrite your will on your way to the bridge.
While I "hoped" for more "change" during the Obama presidency (lol) unfortunately, what I got is just what I expected. Apparently, many people who voted for Obama believed in their own projections of the ideal President who would end war and fix the ills of our nation. Such a task is clearly beyond what a President would be able to do. There are far too many issues that have been facing this country since before President Obama took office and, many of those problems will remain beyond his desired second term. Mr. Friedersdorf takes great issue with is the militant and forceful nature of President Obama and the casualties that result. While I admire his humanitarian spirit and the fervent displeasure with the Drone program methodology, I do not completely share in, what appears to be, his objection. In no way do I willingly endorse/support this “War on Terror” that has been going on for so long. However, the tactics used would not be what would change my vote from Obama if I had voted for him previously.
During the previous campaign the rhetoric used by, then, candidate Obama gave all indication that the bloodbath would end in Iraq but continue elsewhere. Specifically Obama indicated Afghanistan, vaguely he indicated elsewhere. At that time there was one candidate I believed would actually end the war (and I had been seriously considering voting for) and that was Ron Paul. During that debate season there was one particular exchange that rang so loudly in my head I couldn’t believe no one else brought attention to it. Mr. Paul had called attention to the fact that all the other candidates, including Obama and Clinton, when asked how they would handle the war in the Middle East; they stated that no option would be taken off the table. Although his assertion that such a statement was code for nuclear strikes may have been a bit sensational in our modern era, his concern was legitimate. It was that statement “no option would be taken off the table” that spoke far beyond any talk about troop drawdown plans. To me it was clear the men and women deployed would not be finished overseas for some time.
To bring it back to the present, Obama has done much of what he said he would during his first campaign. The problem is many chose not to listen to everything he was saying. While his reactions were not as apocalyptic as Ron Paul had suggested the practices employed in this war under President Obama have been quite brutal. I’m almost surprised the gun toting, 2nd Amendment preaching Americans aren’t more supportive of President Obama. This country has become so desensitized to the cost of war, how it goes beyond the bugle horns playing to the tears of mothers and fathers. The cost is greater than the number of American flag covered coffins returned to lonely wives/husbands and fatherless/motherless children. There are thousands of people dead who know little of America. What they know of is the alien humming of a robot watching them prepared to strike any moment. The truth is what matters to people directly involved with the costs of war is of little concern to the powerful few commanding the future of the powerless many. Unfortunately, our system is designed in such a way whoever is “Commander and Chief” war will not stop merely because of their desire to end the bloodshed. It will take either a nation standing together demanding an end or the miracle of a majority of our leaders wanting to stop the war. With that said, this war is what I expected because the framework for Presidential Sanctioned assassinations was set before President Obama was ever elected. As long as we perceive others to be enemies or a threat to our safety there will always murders (no matter the justification, killing someone else will always be murder in my eyes) in foreign countries as well as in our own.
Anyway, I’ve gone off on a tangent once again. Please vote for whose ambitions will help you the most because they will always work towards their true desires that can either help you towards your own, or hinder your progress. Do research, formulate your own opinions through your own intelligent analysis and don’t feel obligated to tell any person how you will vote. Your vote is no different than your prayers; they are meant to be between yourself and the intended recipient.
I wish peace and blessings for all.
~Au revoir
