Mr. Romney, you probably haven't seen poverty up close. Not your fault, really. You probably don't hang out where the impoverished tend to go. Your cars likely take routes that run through the high-end neighborhoods; you're not likely to have many "poor folks" sightings that way. Depending on which of your homes is the return destination, an elevator might take the car "above it all" with you. I know it's hard to relate to the idea that extreme poverty exists. It does. It's epidemic.
Just so you know, poverty rarely happens because the poor are "lazy" or don't want to work. Contrary to what many of your fellow Republicans choose to believe, the "safety net" is not a hammock. For the life of me I can't understand why so many Republicans are downright contemptuous of the poor. (I heard someone say that TV interviews with the Romneys look like scenes from "The Help"... yep. They don't seem real crazy about being questioned by the well-heeled media either. You can almost hear them thinking You people . . . .) Where, oh where, is the compassion your faith teaches? I rarely see evidence of it.
A Republican friend— I have 2, maybe 3, from the rational wing of the GOP—shared his reason for supporting Romney. We were relaxing in his luxurious primary residence in a beautiful gated community. He said if President Obama is re-elected his taxes will go up. Yep, that's the main consideration! (Ever wondered how the people who scream the loudest about "paying down the debt" are so unwilling to pony up for doing that?) It was a hard conversation to have with that "country club Republican." His label, not mine. I love him, only wish he could see that he has far more material "stuff" than he or his family will ever need. Why would he mind contributing to the greater good of others through fair taxation?
I see myself as extremely fortunate, even though I live on a fixed income; if Romney is elected, my taxes will go up. My friend's will not. And yet that's the very last thing I worry about. What concerns me far more is the lack of compassion I see in the GOP candidates—along with intolerance, their eagerness to "roll back regulations" on banks, industries that pollute Planet Earth, and for sure those bothersome inspections of food, water, and air that might take away a smidgen from the corporate bottom line. The fact that they'd like to do away with the Department of Education. Do they understand that not everyone can afford private schools? Of course they do; that's the point! I won't even go into the attitude toward women. They're all for "less government"— except where women's bodies are concerned.
Let's race to the front of the line in November to vote a second term for President Obama. Better yet, if your local Republican officials haven't restricted early voting, that would be the way to go. We don't have the luxury of sitting this one out, my friends. Let's V O T E and encourage others to do the same!
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