my thoughts on romney.
he followed an extremely unpopular (acting) governor in jane swift, who only got her grubby hands on the position because celucci ran away to canada. compared to her, he was a superstar in the republican party. people knew his name cause he ran against kennedy in 94. (the only thing i remember of this election were mitt romney's commercials - i can still sing the jingle if you ever wanna hear it.) he lost, of course, because we do love our kennedys, dead or otherwise.
you'll hear a lot about romney cutting spending, but it's important to look at where he cut it. like i said before, my school's arts program lost 17% of its funding. he cut education like CRAZY to get his surplus, and frankly, i don't think education is where we should be cutting corners. tuition at every higher learning institution SKYROCKETED.
he DID, however, put into effect the health reform law which required all massachusetts citizens to have health insurance. through masshealth and commonwealth care, health insurance was made extremely affordable (shit, it was free for me when i was making $111.11 a week). he gets points there for me.
he's against abortion. i do not like this gentleman telling me what to do with my body, thank you kindly. he said he wants roe v. wade overturned, however he said he wouldn't change abortion laws as governor and he stuck to that. i mean, we're catholics, but we're liberals. smart move on his part, frankly. he vetoed emergency contraception for rape victims. because, you know, they deserve to be punished more. he vetoed stem cell research. because, you know, who wants a cure for cancer or alzheimers?
he does not support gay marriage or gay rights. he said something to the effect of "marriage has been in effect for a long time, let's not go messing with it now." he's against gays adopting, saying kids deserve a mom and a dad.
The development of a child is enhanced by having a mother and father. Such a family is the ideal for the future of the child and for the strength of a nation. I wonder how it is that unelected judges, like some in my state of Massachusetts, are so unaware of this reality, so oblivious to the millennia of recorded history. It is time for the people of America to fortify marriage through Constitutional amendment, so that liberal judges cannot continue to attack it.
i believe that he did support health care benefits and the like for gay partners, but don't quote me on that.
he supports the death penalty. ugh. he's against illegal aliens in the states, but had some employed at his home as landscapers. he was for affirmative action. he wants to privatize social security. he's against decriminalization of drugs. he was for the patriot act and supported the war in iraq.
my biggest issue with him was his cuts for education, which was the thing that most directly affected me as a massachusetts citizen at the time. i was uninterested in politics until about the last year of his tenure and i think his rather liberal approach to health care was good. i just disagree with him on too many fundamental issues to be able to EVER want him leading my country.
