Still Undecided

I haven't posted an over six months.  There are times when I wanted to, but didn't take time out of my schedule to do so.

As the election for President nears I am still very much undecided as to whom I will vote for.
I don't dislike President Obama.  He and his family appear to be very friendly.  They are just what a normal family in America is supposed to be.  I like the fact he ended our military involvement in Iraq and has pledged to do the same in Afghanistan .  I don't have any problem with his place of birth or his college record or his religion.  The only complaint I have about his religion is he doesn't take his family to church on a regular basis.

And, for the record, I don't give a hoot about a president's race.  God made us all and we have no control over the color of our skin.  But there are a lot of people in the United States who want to remove that black family from the White House without regard of who they put in his place as long as the person is white.

However, I am disappointed in his view of Medicare and how he wants to increase the premiums.  Once a person retires, it is hoped recurring expenses will remain as stable as possible.  I am not overly enthused about Obama Care, but I can't see how it will have an adverse effect on me.

I am disappointed also in the President's foreign policy.  He has allowed Russia, under Putin's leadership, to become a cold war enemy again.  Russia is planning to port naval vessels in Cuba and is arming Venezuela with world class missiles.  Between the ships in Cuba and the arms in Venezuela, the U.S. becomes a very reachable target.  That worries me.  In my view, we should have normalized relations with Cuba long ago.

Vice President Biden is largely ineffective but would probably be rather harmless if he ascended to the presidency.  I have a negative view of Joe Biden as a leader but not as a person.

On the other hand, Mitt Romney was my second pick in the Republican primaries.  I really liked John Huntsman, former Governor of Utah and former Ambassador to China.  But Huntsman couldn't excite the hard core Republicans.  He was probably the most qualified person to seek the Presidency since Bush, Sr.  Check his bio on Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman,_Jr. 

Like John Huntsman, Mitt Romney is a Mormon.  That bothers some people, but doesn't bother me.  I had a Mormon roommate in college and, later as a Jaycee Regional Director had a local Jaycee chapter composed entirely of Mormons in Liberty, Mississippi.  None of them ever approached me about converting to their religion.  But they were very sincere in their beliefs, didn't drink, smoke, run around with women, or cuss.  They went to Church every Sunday.  I have nothing against that lifestyle.

Romney has made oodles of money with his investment firm.  Yes, they closed some businesses, but stabilized far more than they closed.  He performed an economic miracle when he took over the Olympics held in Utah.  He married well and has a wonderful family.  He is a devout Mormon.  He is very, very generous with his money and his time.  Stories of how he has helped people abound. 

But, I have a few problems with Mitt.  First of all is his choice for Vice President.  Paul Ryan is one of those primarily responsible for the do nothing Congress we are currently witnessing.  I can understand party politics.  But when you allow party politics to interfere with America's future, you have over stepped your boundary.  

Secondly, I have a problem with Mitt's tax plan.  He says he won't raise taxes on the middle class, but he will reduce the amount of tax deductions.  Well, duh!  That's a tax increase.  While he says he will protect Medicaid and Social Security for us older Americans, I don't know what effect his plan will have on others in the future.  Let's face it.  Most Americans do not save money or plan for a rainy day.  If you put Social Security benefits where they could be made available to people as 401k plans are now.  We are going to have a massive problem in this country within 20 years.

Then I have a problem with Mitt on foreign policy.  He speaks before he thinks on matters of foreign policy.  He must stop that immediately or he will endanger America for future generations.  In addition, he is eager to go to war with Iran.  I want our troops on the ground to be out of the middle east.

There are people who dislike Romney because he is rich.  Well so were John Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.

So there it is.  I am still undecided.  I listened to all the Republican debates in the primary and I plan to listen to all the debates in the general election.  Then, I'm going to make up my mind.