2012 US Elections and me

I will preface this with the following disclaimer, I am white, I am male, I am conservative, I am from the South, I am not however Christian,although I am a religious or spiritual person,and I am a registered Republican. This little rant is my personal opinion and obsevation on the 2012 US elections. I felt the need to write down my thoughts as a release of frustrations as I read various opinions across the net.

I am very disturbed at the course my country my home is headed, there is too much division at present however you want to classify the division, Republican vs Democrat, Liberal vs Conservative, Black, Hispanic and Asian vs White, We are all Americans and need to realize that the problems in our nation are bigger than any one groups agenda. Too me any talk of succession is very premature foolhardy and leads to more division and caters to our baser instincts.

Our Nation is being fought over by for lack of a better term the 1%. The Democrats have thier wing of supporters in the 1% as do the the Republicans. I assume all Americans can see this is the case because if we as Americans cannot see this is the case then we are in more trouble than even I believe.

Both Political Parties hold extreme positions on Abortion, for example the Republican platform wants to abolish abortion and the Democrat platform is for abort on demand under any circumstance up to and including partial birth abortion. I would like both parties to meet somewhere in the middle and take this away as an issue to talk about. I dont think either parties view on abortion represent the majority of thier parties positions much less the majority.

For my part I believe abortion should be legal, I also want it to as safe as possible, rare as possible, and as early as possible in the pregnancy, I would be very much in favor of the morning after pill for women, I have a hard time accepting a woman carrying a child almost to term and then deciding to abort the child. in cases of rape, or incest , or health of the mother I have no problem with tax money being used, I do have an issue with paying for an abortion that is the choice of the mother unless the mother is financially indigent. On the issue of contraception its a person dicision to have sex so people need to take responsibility and pay for thier own contraception that goes for males and females. This is my position on the issue and a product of my moral compass, I do not expect everyone to agree.

Immigration is another hard issue,I am not against legal immigration, I am against illegal immigration, I want the borders and ports secured and I want a pathway for those here to become legal and with an eventual path to citizenship.I am not under any circumstances for an amnesty the nation went this route back in the 1980s and it did not improve the situation vis a vi illegal immigration.

My position on Gay marraige is as follows , I am for civil unions for any couple that wants one either homosexual or hetero sexual, government should offer civil unions for all couples for legal purposes and get out of the marraige business and leave marraiges to the churches. I realize this is a rather out there suggestion so expection to catch flack on this issue from both sides.

Gun control, just as many dont want the government interfering with thier sex or marraige choice vis a vi their bedrooms I dont want the government in my gun safe. If I am commiting no crime and am not bothering anyone else leave me and mine alone. I already have enough paperwork and fees to pay to be able to purchase and carry a firearm for my personal protection.

Welfare and entitlements I dont know anyone that is against a social safety net on either side of the divide there does need to be a limit on how long you can draw from the safety net and there needs to be some type of welfare to work requirement, cradle to grave care for people that are not totally disabled is a loser for the individual involved and the nation as a whole.

Corporate welfare needs to end unless said corporation is working on a specific project that will benefit the entirety of the nation and Defense contractors, companies and unions workers need to take some cuts in what they are paid for defense contracts after all a strong defense benefits us all. On the other side of the issue I cannot see for example subsidizing Sesame Street for example when that corporation brings in over 300 million usd per year in income via toys and other brand mechandise.

National defense, hate to say it but its time to bring the troops home from the mid east from asia and from europe, we cant be the world policeman anymore and I think it is better for America and even our allies at this point if we only base our troops and on American territories, I am not agaist some prepositioned equipment and small detatchemnts for maintainence and upkeep of said equipment, we have been doing the world police deal for 6 decades now and I think it is time for our allies to pick up more the burden. Also if a country is not stable enough to ensure that our diplomats and embassies are going to be protected then we need not to have diplomats and embassies in those countries and they need to remove thier diplomats need to leave from our country.

Energy I am an all of the above kind of guy, although I have resevations about nuclear having been alive for 3 mile island, cherynobl, and now fukushima safety needs to be of paramount concern. Coal, clean coal plants, America is the Saudi Arabia of coal for us not to tap this resource is criminal mismanagement of natural resources. I want solar wind and hydro power geothermal and natural gas to be used. I would really like a comapany to come out with inexpensive solar panels that can be used for our homes I worry a bit about wind turbines and thier effects on the avian populations I love birds. Higher gas milage requrements for vehicles yes but lets not impose a standard that cannot be met and possible give tax breaks for vehicles that get over 40 mpg to the gallon, not to the company that makes such vehicles but to the companies, individuals and families that purchase such vehicles. I care about the enviorment but I also care about jobs and the well being of my fellow citizens there has to be a middle ground here.

End the drug war legalize marijuana and let cigarette companies grow and package it and tax the crap out of it like we do gas, cigarettes and alcohol. Harder drugs should be remain illegal, get the non violent drug offenders out of the prisons and get them working as productive citizens again.

Tax the rich, I have no problem taxing income of over 1 million USD at a higher rate but I also think the capital gains tax needs to be reduced to spur investment and jobs growth. I do not want to kill small business in any way shape or form.

I am appallled by the division being sown by the 1 percent in this country on both sides The Democrats and the Republicans are supported by the 1 percent either by company or individuals.

Blue voters dont buy what they are selling you, the Red voters except for a very few extremists do not want to be in your bedroom, they are not looking to make abortion totally illegal, are not looking to put black people back in chains or return to jim crow and are not looking to deport all the immigrants these are scare tactics intended to divide and conquer us.

Red voters dont buy what they are selling you, The Blue voters dont want to take away your religion, or your guns, they are not looking to get back at whitey no matter what some of their extremist may say.

For my part as an American I dont care what your religion is, what your color is, what your sexual preference is, or how much money you make. I just want us all to be good Americans and get through this mess we are in without bloodshed or even seperation of the nation. I feel that should be the goal of all of us red or blue.

For anyone reading this thank you for your time, this is just the view of 1 red state American, and its just out there because I needed to vent.