overheat naughty: Why I am voting for Obama

I?m very involved in politics. I stay informed by watching and reading various news sources. I feel it?s very important to stay informed so you can make educated choices about who you are voting for. Based on my beliefs, I identify with the Democratic party. However, I never vote my party line just because they are a Democrat. I always like to understand where someone stands on at least one of my key issues listed below.

Women?s rights
Gay marriage equality
Health care reform
Immigration reform
Education
Taxes on the middle class vs. Taxes for the wealthy

The presidential election is no exception. I have voted in every presidential election since turning 18. I even drove home from college to vote in the 2004 election because my absentee ballot never arrived. ?I waited to change my name in 2008 after getting married to make sure my vote counted. I voted in 2008 after waiting in line for over an hour to cast my vote. I felt it was my duty as an American to make sure my vote is counted. ?Every vote counts, even if you don?t think it does. In my opinion you can?t complain about any administration if you never voted in the first place.

With all of that said, I would like to outline why I feel Barack Obama will get my vote come November 6th.

Women?s Rights

I believe that women shouldn?t be paid less for the same job as men. ?Barack Obama signed the Fair Pay Act to ensure this doesn?t happen.

I strongly believe in a women?s right to choose, and that any medical decision should be between herself and her doctor to make. Barack Obama stands behind that and will not attempt to repeal Roe vs. Wade.

I also believe strongly that all?preventative?care should be covered in full by all health insurance companies. Only with?preventative?care can we catch things early enough to be treated with minimal intervention saving health insurance companies, tax payers and patients a lot of money. Obama?s health care plan requires all insurance companies to provide preventative care at no cost.

Women should have easy access to low cost birth control. I don?t necessarily agree that it needs to be fully covered by insurance companies. However, all women deserve the right to access low cost birth control. Without this, more and more unwanted pregnancies will occur forcing many American?s to make hard choices, depend on government support, or live in poverty. Obama?s health care plan requires insurance companies to provide birth control to all women.

Gay Marriage Equality

I believe that the government needs to recognize all marriages, not just those between a man and a woman. Barack Obama has already repealed Don?t Ask Don?t Tell. He also would like to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that recognizes marriage as between one man and one woman. I will say that just because the government recognizes the marriage doesn?t mean that a religious institution needs to. The reason for this is to allow all men and women to receive all benefits that come with being married (ie, taxes, health decisions). These cannot be accomplished with civil unions.

Health Care Reform

Health Care in America is broken. We pay out the nose for coverage, only to be denied because of a pre-existing condition, or because we reached out lifetime limit. This needs to end. Health Care decisions need to be between patients and their doctors. Health Insurance Companies should not have a say in what procedures are done, or if someone can afford those procedures.

As touched upon before, there needs to be low cost access to preventative care. Only through this will potentially deadly diseases (that are completely treatable) be caught earlier to save costs all around.

Prevent companies from discriminating from patients because of pre-existing conditions. This is something I very very strongly believe in. I was born with a condition called Hydrocephalus. It is very treatable. When I was a month old, I had a shunt installed to help the excess fluid drain from my brain. I had a second surgery at age 10 to extend the shunt tubing because I had grown. But because of this diagnosis, I was denied health insurance after I reached the age to be dropped by my parents insurance. I had little choice but to pay the $600 a month insurance premium to keep any coverage (that didn?t include any co-pays or prescription costs).

Obama?s Health Insurance Plan addresses each of these issues. Is it a perfect fix, no. But he came up with a plan to help fix these problems. I would like to see the plan?tweaked?in the future to make the plan work better. I also don?t completely agree with the mandate. But then again, many states mandate insurance for cars. At some point in your life, you will need health insurance. It shouldn?t be something afforded to just those that can afford it.

Immigration Reform

I believe that illegal immigrants that were brought here as children should have a chance to become US citizens. There needs to be a process that these children can live and thrive legally in the US. I remember reading a story last spring about several high school students in Florida who were on tap to be deported from the US. Most had lived here since before they started school. One was the valedictorian of their high school and had received a scholarship for college. This was now in jeopardy because of their illegal status. This child should have a chance to stay and prosper in the US as a productive member of American society by following a citizenship process. Obama?s DREAM Act is a step towards this.

Education

Higher education should not be just a privilege for the wealthy. That was not what our country was founded on. Everyone should have a chance to go to college and continue their education. ?Student loan rates need to be kept low to allow young adults to complete their education without fear for what will happen after college. Obama made sure that Student Loan interest rates didn?t double this summer. He also made sure that monthly repayments are no more than 10% of income.

We have to make sure that our workforce is keeping up with today?s technology. ?He invested in community college to help provide career training programs. He also helped give my husband a job

Taxes & The Economy

This is a huge issue and one of the big reasons I?m going to vote for Obama come November. ?I truly believe that our country would be in a much better position if we taxed everyone on a flat tax rate. But since that isn?t going to happen, making sure everyone is taxed fairly is a good start. This means that those that can afford to pay more, do. It doesn?t make sense that someone like myself is taxed at say 15% and someone who makes millions a year is only taxed at 11%. This can?t continue to happen. In order to balance the budget, we need to cut spending AND increase our tax revenue. Obama has tried his hardest to make this happen. ?However, there have been many obstacles in his way.

I also believe that corporations shouldn?t receive tax breaks for sending jobs overseas. The tax incentives should go to those companies that keep jobs here in the US. Obama has proposed this legislation and has not had the support in congress to allow it to be made into law.

These are the issues I feel are VERY important. Yes there are plenty of other issues out there. ?But I only vote for someone who agrees with me on my key issues. Those are the things that are near and dear to my heart. I would have a hard time supporting a candidate that didn?t represent my interests on the majority of those issues.

Note: ?All of the information on where Obama stands on the issues above came from?barackobama.com. I was not compensated to write this post. These are my honest opinions.