politics
I love my parents dearly. I was raised in a military family by parents that tend towards the Republican philosophy. There are still several conservative tenants that I hold to, though many ideas that fall liberal. My dad sent me the following to me in an email:
On television today a Democratic operative pointed out that when Obama holds a rally 25-30,000 people show up, whereas when McCain holds one he only draws 10-15,000.
The Republican spokesman replied, "That's because McCain's supporters are at work."
I ended up responding to my dad.
Many people may find this amusing. Living in Detroit, however, I don't. There are a lot of good, hard-working people out of jobs right now in my area because of the failure of the economy and specifically the auto industry and rising fuel costs. I am HAPPY that they are taking a day off from job hunting to take an interest in who might be the next President of the United States.
The unemployment rate in my area is abysmal and too many people are trying to vie for too few jobs. The mainstay of the economy in Michigan has been auto for a long time. I have yet to meet anyone that doesn't have someone in their family/friends that doesn't work in the auto industry. There job skills are limited, so when they get laid off its hard to find anything with comparable pay. Don't give me the line that they should take a job flipping burgers because many people I know have TRIED TO GET THAT JOB AND BEEN TURNED DOWN! There just isn't enough work to go around, especially as winter draws near.
McCain has turned his back on Michigan. He doesn't try to come here anymore or try to advertise because he knows that people are tired of the same old thing, tired of the Republican party's failure to keep the economy strong. More people are registering to vote than have done so in decades. Its GOOD to see more people interested in the fate of this country. Its pathetic that one of the greatest nations in this world has such an apathetic voter base and that countries like Iraq have a significantly higher voter turn out despite the all to real threat of death.
I can't vote for the current version of McCain. Back in 2000 I would have voted for him in a heart beat. Now he has turned into another big-money lackey. His health-care plan would LOSE millions of people their employment based health plans and the tax credit wouldn't be enough to provide good coverage on their own. I'm tired of watching good people lose their homes due to bankruptcy and foreclosure because of their medical bills. I am tired of watching people come back with their second/third/fourth heart attack or in severe congestive heart failure or with any other PREVENTABLE condition because they couldn't afford their medications. I am tired of seeing relatively young men coming in with heart attacks that are stress induced because they can't find work to provide for their families and then add the further stress of impossible medical bills and the inability to work for several weeks after the heart attack.
We need change. Am I some Obama-maniac? No. Do I like everything Obama says he's for? No. But I am tired of seeing corporations run this country. I hope that Obama will be for the working class people and I don't have a similar feeling of hope with McCain.
I'm sorry, dad, but I don't think your email was funny at all.
On television today a Democratic operative pointed out that when Obama holds a rally 25-30,000 people show up, whereas when McCain holds one he only draws 10-15,000.
The Republican spokesman replied, "That's because McCain's supporters are at work."
I ended up responding to my dad.
Many people may find this amusing. Living in Detroit, however, I don't. There are a lot of good, hard-working people out of jobs right now in my area because of the failure of the economy and specifically the auto industry and rising fuel costs. I am HAPPY that they are taking a day off from job hunting to take an interest in who might be the next President of the United States.
The unemployment rate in my area is abysmal and too many people are trying to vie for too few jobs. The mainstay of the economy in Michigan has been auto for a long time. I have yet to meet anyone that doesn't have someone in their family/friends that doesn't work in the auto industry. There job skills are limited, so when they get laid off its hard to find anything with comparable pay. Don't give me the line that they should take a job flipping burgers because many people I know have TRIED TO GET THAT JOB AND BEEN TURNED DOWN! There just isn't enough work to go around, especially as winter draws near.
McCain has turned his back on Michigan. He doesn't try to come here anymore or try to advertise because he knows that people are tired of the same old thing, tired of the Republican party's failure to keep the economy strong. More people are registering to vote than have done so in decades. Its GOOD to see more people interested in the fate of this country. Its pathetic that one of the greatest nations in this world has such an apathetic voter base and that countries like Iraq have a significantly higher voter turn out despite the all to real threat of death.
I can't vote for the current version of McCain. Back in 2000 I would have voted for him in a heart beat. Now he has turned into another big-money lackey. His health-care plan would LOSE millions of people their employment based health plans and the tax credit wouldn't be enough to provide good coverage on their own. I'm tired of watching good people lose their homes due to bankruptcy and foreclosure because of their medical bills. I am tired of watching people come back with their second/third/fourth heart attack or in severe congestive heart failure or with any other PREVENTABLE condition because they couldn't afford their medications. I am tired of seeing relatively young men coming in with heart attacks that are stress induced because they can't find work to provide for their families and then add the further stress of impossible medical bills and the inability to work for several weeks after the heart attack.
We need change. Am I some Obama-maniac? No. Do I like everything Obama says he's for? No. But I am tired of seeing corporations run this country. I hope that Obama will be for the working class people and I don't have a similar feeling of hope with McCain.
I'm sorry, dad, but I don't think your email was funny at all.