Why do I vote?

As we still await the results from the 2020 Presidential election, I find myself flipping through articles on history and politics like I used to BK (before kids). I love comparing past elections to the current one. Maybe it provides some level of comfort knowing things aren't too out of the norm?

I voted early this time around. Why? Because I didn't want to be in the thick of a COVID crowd on Election Day. Instead, I braved tropical storm weather without an umbrella and stood in line OUTSIDE for over an hour. Socially distanced... and soaking wet.

But I was happy to do so. Why? Read on...

On Election Day, my 6-year-old daughter asked me, "Who did you vote for?" I quickly responded with a lesson on civics rather than my candidate preference (or lack thereof). I told her that political parties are like clubs. 

"Julia, if you like the color Galaxy..." [Galaxy has been her favorite self-titled color for about a year now--a mix of deep purple and dark blue.]

"No, the rainbow, Mommy!" She replied.

"Ok, you really like the colors of the rainbow, but I REALLY love the color purple. Pretend like we both want to convince everyone we know that they should join our club if they really like the rainbow or really like purple. That's similar to a political party. The candidates try super hard to convince people they will represent them the best for what people really care about," I explained.

"Cool!" Her 6-year-old mind was working. I could see the gears turning! "I just thought it was like a birthday party."

If only she knew Kanye ran for President as the Birthday Party candidate. That would be lost on her right now. Ha!

"Julia, do you know why I get so excited about voting? I vote every possible chance I get because 100 plus years ago, I wouldn't have been able to as a woman. Did you know women haven't always been allowed to vote?"

"Yep. And African Americans also weren't allowed to vote," she said.

"That's right, sweetie. And I am so thankful for the people who lived before us who worked incredibly hard to make sure all African Americans and all women had the right to vote. Because we're all equal," I said.

---

Did you know that even though women were granted the right to vote in 1919 via the Nineteenth Amendment, the federal government left it up to the states? The women's suffrage movement in South Carolina began in 1898 and the Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1919; however the Nineteenth Amendment wasn't fully "accepted" or ratified until 1969. That's only 19 years before I was born, y'all. FIFTY-ONE years ago. South Carolina "sorta" accepted the Nineteenth Amendment, yet passed a law excluding women from jury duty. So Carolina ladies were not treated equal under the law until FIFTY years after the amendment was passed at a federal level.

Now, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were approved and ratified by Congress in the 1866-1870 timeframe. This granted citizenship for U.S. born or naturalized persons and voting rights to everyone (well, except women), respectively. Not perfectly complete, but it basically took a century for South Carolina to get its act together to give all citizens the right to life, liberty, and happiness... 

The least I can do is vote for those who I think are the best options to ensure our state and country can move forward in unity and respect for one another. You may think your one vote doesn't count, but as we know from this very divisive election, every vote truly does count!

Some say, "Keep America great." I say we should push America to greatness through liberty, equality, and justice for all. 

I’m back—with blue light glasses!

Years ago, I started this blog with the intent to inform on politics, current events, and LIFE. I kept up with it a bit even after having my first baby. But my goodness, that second one came along and all of a sudden I’m in grad school and have no extra time for my blog!

Well, here’s my attempt at changing that. I do a lot of writing on Facebook, sometimes on Instagram, and a little tweet on the rare occasion.

This post has nothing to do with politics — shocker! But no worries, I’ll get to that eventually. After all, this is an election year. *wink wink*

Today I’ll share a simple product that has been an amazing little addition to my work-from-home-during-the-pandemic life.

*BLUE LIGHT GLASSES*

Yep. I first learned about them in 2019 and thought about ordering them, but only for a moment. Then the pandemic happened. Suddenly my days were filled with Zoom meetings and constant screen time. My eyes began to suffer! I immediately hit the interwebs (as my hubby likes to say) to search for the best (cheapest, but not super cheap) options out there.

After trying out several, here are my 5-star picks from Amazon.

The first pair are my faves (see photo of me). The round frames sit nicely on my face, and I find them the most comfortable on my ears. I have an average sized head and have had zero issues with fit and comfort. They REALLY work. No eye strain, headaches, watery eyes. Nada. Also, I think I look pretty cool in them. So win-win-win.

*Click here or below - you may catch it on sale and/or on a lightning deal, but either way, this pair is a really great price and product!*



The second pair look super cute. My hubby prefers these on me in terms of style, and even borrows them from me to wear at home. :) The last I checked, these are also on sale and equally a great deal! Click here or see the photo below to grab this product!



Happy eyes, happy life! 

When presentation trumps policy...

Many Americans are tired of the same ol' political establishment, with their talk of policy that's way over our heads, ignoring the issues, or the incessant lying.

A good portion of the GOP vote have tossed their hat into Donald Trump's ring. Republicans, Democrats, and the rest are perplexed at how well he has done so far. I'm one of them.

Those who support Trump seem to overlook things that have dominated our vote in the past: strategic policies and hopeful charisma. 

Two things Trump seems to lack.

I breezed through a transcript of conversation that he had with The Washington Post editorial board yesterday, and found myself analyzing his responses that took entirely too long. Much of what I read was incoherent, and his repetition of words and phrases left much to be desired from an interview.

Seriously, do we really know what he'll do when he's in office? I'm always confused by his banter.

You can read it for yourself (or listen to the audio) here.

I would have liked to have heard more about his plans rather than about buildings or his hands. 

But only presentation seems to matter. Not the character or true business deals gone wrong.

A coworker shared an NPR transcript with me about Trump's finances in the '90s. From the transcript, "He had taken on too much debt in a number of different areas, including his other casinos. And so when it came time to pay the interest payments on his junk bonds, the Trump company finances went into a tailspin."

Within ONE YEAR, the Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy. Trump negotiated and tried to salvage his ownership of the Taj Mahal. As a result, he gave up significant ownership to the banks!

The Casino Control Commission said that Trump was in noncompliance on $1.1 billion in loans across his empire: the Taj, Trump Shuttle Airline, the Castle, Trump Palm Beach Corp., and Mar-a-Lago. To stay afloat, he gave up the airline (and a yacht).

Hard times.

In another year, Trump filed bankruptcy for his other two casinos: Castle and Plaza. To resolve those debts, he gave up half of his stake to the lenders.

What does that mean? Lenders lost money, small-time investors who bought bonds lost money, small business owners who sold to the Trump organization lost money.

And let's not look past the loan his dad gave him at Castle. I'd call it unethical and unlawful in the way it was done. Yet, Trump nor his father were found of any wrongdoing.

I'll end with this. O'Harrow pointed out a telling piece of who Trump really is through Trump's use of junk bonds, which Trump said he originally wouldn't use:

"Making promises, changing the promises or turning your back on them, suffering the consequences and then later saying, that's my prerogative."

Or, as we all know, Trump can do what he wants. Why? Because he's Donald Trump the billionaire. Money talks, and even when money speaks hate, racism, sexism, ignorance... people listen.

<insert very sad and perplexed emoji here>

Still undecided...

In less than 8 hours, many South Carolinians will wake up, drive to their polling place, and pick the candidate they feel represents their values (or the lesser of all evils).

In less than 8 hours, many South Carolinians will not exercise their vote. Maybe they're busy. Maybe the kids are sick. Maybe they just don't feel like it.

In less than 24 hours, we'll find out which candidates garnered the most support in this state.

For those who will vote in the Republican primary tomorrow and are undecided (like I still am!), I thought I'd focus on the remaining candidates for certain critical areas -- some aren't discussed enough (some are)! 

Education

Jeb Bush: School vouchers, more local power (but has supported Common Core/national standards), reduce Dept. of Education.

Ben Carson: School vouchers, more local power.

John Kasich: *Only one who has plan laid out for how to shrink the Dept. of Education*; school vouchers -- has experience with his state's EdChoice program.

Marco Rubio: *Only Republican candidate that I've seen talk about a plan for our student debt crisis and the college educational system*; vocational college-focused; increase financial aid for working students. See his quote below from The Des Moines Register on Sept. 13th, 2015:

Rubio recommended reforming the accreditation system “to welcome low-cost, innovative higher education providers,” requiring schools to inform students how much they are expected to earn with a given degree prior to offering loans, increasing financial aid programs for working students, developing alternatives to student loans and correlating loan repayment with each graduate’s income.

Read more about education stances here.

Tax Plans

Jeb Bush: Tax plan has three tax brackets of 28, 25, and 10 percent. Claims that this would increase investment, higher wages, and sustained 4% economic growth, while reducing the deficit.

Ben Carson: A 14.9% flat tax on both individuals and corporations -- no exemptions, no deductions, no shelters. Opposes the earned income tax credit, calling the tax break a manipulation of the tax system. The flat tax plan would reduce federal revenue by $5.6 trillion over the next 10 years. This plan would increase taxes on all income groups other than the top 10 percent. 

John Kasich: Reduce tax brackets from seven to three, lower top individual tax rate from 39.6% to 28%, cap the long-term capital gains tax rate at 15% (helping high-income), drop top business tax rate from 35% to 25%, eliminate the estate tax, double research & development tax credit for small businesses, and increase the earned income tax credit by 10% (helping the low-income). He also would balance the budget within eight years by freezing most spending except military.

Marco Rubio: Reduce number of tax brackets from seven to three: 15%, 25%, and 35%. Eliminate all exemptions and deductions except for charitable contribution and reformed home mortgage interest deductions. Cuts corporate tax rates to no higher than 25%. Provide a new child tax credit of up to $2500. *Offers 25% tax credit to any business that offers between 4-12 weeks of paid leave to workers with qualifying family or medical issues such as maternity leave.* Calls for 80% cut in 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax that pays for most federal transportation projects in order to devolve the system to the states. Tax plan would decrease government revenues by $6 trillion in 10 years.


Read more about tax plans here.

Immigration

Jeb Bush: Opposes mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Calls for practical plan: allow people to earn legal status where they pay a fine, work, don't commit crimes, learn English. To address border security, he would use advanced counter-surveillance technology and improve border infrastructure with road construction and maintenance. Also recommends requirement of e-verify system, track and deport immigrants overstaying visas, and withholding federal funding for sanctuary cities.

Ben Carson: Allow a six-month window for undocumented workers to apply for guest worker permits, pending they work and have a clean record. Supports building a border fence, fining companies that hire illegals, prosecute those who cross illegally, and making English the official language.

John Kasich: Finish the border and have a guest worker program. For illegals already here with a clean record, fine them, and put on path to legalization (not path to citizenship).

Marco Rubio: Hire 20,000 new border agents, finish fencing and walls, enforce mandatory e-verify, implement entry-exit tracking system to prevent visa overstays, and once all that is complete, then fine those who are not criminal. Would not deport the illegals here, but would fine and have them go through process.

Read more on immigration here. 

ISIS and Syrian Refugees

Jeb Bush: Tighten efforts to deal with entry visa program to track those who have been where there is Islamic terrorism. Destroy ISIS in the caliphate -- need a no-fly zone, safe zones for refugees, and build a military force. Embed our forces inside Iraqi military. Arm the Kurds.

Ben Carson: Necessary for U.S. to declare war on ISIS. Establish a military coalition with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Recruit and train Sunni men from those in coalition. Evaluate visa and immigration policies. Destroy caliphate. Take oil as their source of revenue. Shut down funding and attack their command-and-control centers.

John Kasich: Assemble coalition with Arab leaders and friends in Europe. Once we win against ISIS, we should leave and turn it over to regional powers. Need a better vetting process before admitting more Syrian refugees.

Marco Rubio: Embed American special operators alongside Sunni Arabs to help with training, special missions, and improve air strikes. Reverse cuts to military. Film and broadcast capturing ISIS leaders. Restrict Syrian refugees from entering U.S. Need a reliable process to vet refugees. 


Read more about views on ISIS and Syrian refugees here. 


Ok, now let's talk about "winnability."

After much research, I truly believe Governor Kasich and Senator Rubio have the greatest chance of winning in November versus Hillary or Bernie. They are willing to work with both parties, and that's a sign of a great leader.

Check out this article stating Democrats "hoping" for a Trump/Carson ticket.

Of the 176 superdelegates who answered the question, 65 said Rubio, the first-term senator from Florida, would be the Democrats' strongest opponent. [Kasich got second with 45 votes.]

I wouldn't be opposed to a Rubio/Kasich ticket in November. Now... who to vote for tomorrow??