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There’s no question that I’m voting for Obama come November 6th. That’s my boo. I trust him, and I trust his character. After all, it’s his team and party that’ll be doing the job of running the country so I need to know the President has the right spirit and moral attitude when it comes to leading. But although I’m a Obama supporter, I can’t say that I don’t cringe every time I hear his party’s politics on social welfare and protecting the poor. I’m a conservative in many ways. I’m reminded of that everytime I hear Democrats empathizing on behalf of the poor. When I say poor, I’m not talking about those rendered unemployed by the current economic crisis – I’m talking about those who have taken advantage of welfare programs and free social services for the long term.
Sorry, I’m going to offend a lot of people when I say that I believe we actually should have less social services catering to the perpetually “poor.” I grew up around many people who abused the system and can sympathize with the Republican objectives of reducing social welfare services. I believe that people need incentives to work and be productive. I’ve witnessed members in my extended family basically profit from low income housing by getting paid under the table and continuing to tell Uncle Sam that they bring in too little income to provide for their families.
One of my cousins, who is a single mother, doesn’t believe it’s worth her getting off of welfare because she’s so much better off with the free access to healthcare and daycare services for her toddler that are afforded to her. If she got a job paying over $40,000 per year, she’d be easily worse off. Come to think of it, if I were to have a child on my own today, I’d probably be worse off or on equal footing with my cousin. The only difference would be that she would have free time and free money to pursue advanced education while I continued to trudge to work every day.
I understand that there is a lot of grey areas when it comes to economics in this country but what I do feel strongly about is that the rich aren’t evil. Although Obama and his team members represent the upper class, they continue to demonize the wealthy in this country and paint the middle and low-income folks as innocent bystanders. That kind of rhetoric doesn’t resonate with me. I’m middle class but I’m not helpless. I understand how my decisions have shaped my economic standing. I would appreciate the U.S. government having my back if I were to get laid off and lose health insurance, but I certainly don’t expect Uncle Sam to compensate for my cousin’s lack of ambition and work ethic. Obviously, my ideal party would meld the principles espoused by both parties but til then…
What do you guys think about how the two parties paint the rich and the poor?
