Obama vs Romney, who are you voting for and why?

[Luigi_Daniele]

Romney and Ryan will gut programs designed to help the poor. They don’t care about the poor at all. They want to make sure that the rich get theirs and maybe it will trickle down…Spoiler: it won’t trickle down.

And I find it hilarious that some Catholics are more interested in gay marriage than they are about helping the poor. THAT is shameful in my opinion. Then again Jesus spoke constantly about gay marriage and I don’t recall him ever saying anything about helping the poor.

Even more interesting that there are Catholics who would go against the advice of their bishops and vote for the most pro-abortion president in US history.

 

[LaMusicaSenior]

I will not be voting. I’ll be praying instead.

How can one pray for an outcome concerning God’s will in a coming election if one does not do one’s own part to further God’s will in America? Just a thought.

 

[St_Francis]

Romney and Ryan will gut programs designed to help the poor. *They don’t care about the poor at all. *They want to make sure that the rich get theirs and maybe it will trickle down…Spoiler: it won’t trickle down.

And I find it hilarious that some Catholics are more interested in gay marriage than they are about helping the poor. *THAT is shameful in my opinion. *Then again Jesus spoke constantly about gay marriage and I don’t recall him ever saying anything about helping the poor.

Here is an article that explains that our first duty is to avoid evil; doing good is the *second *priority. We cannot do evil that good may result. [It is not as well-written as hers usually are.]

The issue of homosexual “marriage” affects our society at its root and is a hopefully temporary proposal for change. It is also a legal condoning of something evil. Like abortion and other issues, as an evil, it must be opposed *first. *

I have not met any Catholics who are unconcerned about the poor. We are actually capable of being concerned about the evil permitted in our society along with being concerned about the poor.

However, many of us see that federal government aid as it is currently established is neither helpful to the poor nor an efficient way to help. As an example of the former: the “gaps” make it very difficult for people on welfare to work their way out of this dependency, and the Obamacare tax increase will only make that much worse. As an example of tge latter problem: for every dollar you give the government which they allocate to helping the poor, only 27 cents get to an actual poor person. Few of us donate to charities with such abysmal results.

 

[St_Francis]

Why I am voting for Mitt Romney:

1. He says he is pro-life–if nothing else, if he supports abortion or any of the other anti-life sides, we can remind him of this.

Obama worked against, spoke against, and voted against the IL Babies Born Alive Act, which even NARAL accepted.

On the above alone, I would vote for Romney; however, if that were not an issue, I would still vote for Romney.

1. Obama has put our economy into a state of instability in which businesses are afraid to make long-term decisions, among which are decisions to hire people. I think Romney understands the business world better and will be better equipped to stabilize our economy so it can get going again.
2. I think that Romney has had to work with people to make deals and that he will be better able to work with Congress and the Senate.
3. While everyone is concerned about the poor, all this concern will go nowhere if we are unable to continue down this road, which we cannot travel indefinitely. I think that Romney will be able to address this in a way that Obama has been unable to.*

I am a Distributist. I would much prefer to vote for someone who has an outlook more similar to mine, but I am in a swing state and even aside from the life issues, I think it may be more possible to work towards Distributism with Republicans than with Democrats at this ppoint.

 

[Tampa_Dave]

I will vote for Romney. Main reason? He is not Obama.

 

[Luigi_Daniele]

Why I am voting for Mitt Romney:

1. He says he is pro-life–if nothing else, if he supports abortion or any of the other anti-life sides, we can remind him of this.

Obama worked against, spoke against, and voted against the IL Babies Born Alive Act, which even NARAL accepted.

On the above alone, I would vote for Romney; however, if that were not an issue, I would still vote for Romney.

1. Obama has put our economy into a state of instability in which businesses are afraid to make long-term decisions, among which are decisions to hire people. I think Romney understands the business world better and will be better equipped to stabilize our economy so it can get going again.
2. I think that Romney has had to work with people to make deals and that he will be better able to work with Congress and the Senate.
3. While everyone is concerned about the poor, all this concern will go nowhere if we are unable to continue down this road, which we cannot travel indefinitely. I think that Romney will be able to address this in a way that Obama has been unable to.*

I am a Distributist. I would much prefer to vote for someone who has an outlook more similar to mine, but I am in a swing state and even aside from the life issues, I think it may be more possible to work towards Distributism with Republicans than with Democrats at this ppoint.

Excellent post

Could you give us a 1-2 sentence definition of the bolded part? Thank you

 

[CMatt25]

Maybe Catholics are concerned about gay marriage because it harms the family. A strong family helps the poor since much of poverty is from not having an intact family. Gay marriage and the poor are interconnected. It’s like how some people see a divide from social justice (i.e helping the poor) and abortion; they are all a part of social justice.

SG, I hope the thread doesn’t turn into this huge debate about single issues such as gay marriage or abortion. We’re supposed to be giving reasons why we are voting for our selected candidate. Sure they can be valid reasons for some on which they base their vote. But the specific debating of gay marriage and abortion choice has been debated on other threads by opponents and proponents alike and I am sure will continue to be until the end of time on earth. But just quickly in reply. I don’t know I’m starting to think that I guess I just might never agree gay marriage harms the family. I’ve listened to opinions and arguments but have yet to be convinced. Regardless of whether or not they’re legally allowed civil marriage or to be united in civil ceremonies or even in ceremonies in those faiths which would allow it, a gay couple is not going to reproduce offspring anyway. But in places where gay adoption is allowed, they help the family when they take on the responisbilty of parenting children. Such couples do provide an intact loving family for their adopted children. And some of the children they provide loving homes for might even be heterosexual and go on to reproduce.

 

[CMatt25]

I will vote for Romney. Main reason? He is not Obama.

Nope one is named Mitt Romney. The other Barack Obama. And like each of us they are individuals each with their own personal life experiences.

 

[Jeanne_S]

Well Jeanne and I are both in swing states though mine has more electoral votes.

 

[Tampa_Dave]

My family of four will vote for Romney. Unfortunately, only three in Virginia (my eldest daughter now lives in Alabama and that is a red State). Our extended family lives in Ohio, so that’s at least another 100+ votes for Romney.

 

[Jeanne_S]

My family of four will vote for Romney. Unfortunately, only three in Virginia (my eldest daughter now lives in Alabama and that is a red State). Our extended family lives in Ohio, so that’s at least another 100+ votes for Romney.

 

[zenith15]

Kind of judgmental don’t you think? Saying they don’t care about the poor is a big jump from saying in your prudential judgment their policies won’t help the poor.

Maybe Catholics are concerned about gay marriage because it harms the family. A strong family helps the poor since much of poverty is from not having an intact family. Gay marriage and the poor are interconnected. It’s like how some people see a divide from social justice (i.e helping the poor) and abortion; they are all a part of social justice.

Are you saying that if we vote for Romney and he forbids gay marriage, those gay individuals will then give up, marry heterosexuals, and raise a family???

My husband and I are heterosexual, both of us worked hard all our lives until he became disabled and we have a disabled child as well that means I need to stay home to care for them both. We are now poor. It had nothing to do with gays or with not having an intact family.

And no, I don’t mean poor with cable TV and smartphones, etc. I mean the three of us live in a single room, the person who owns the rest of the house rents it to us and he has internet so we get to use that and that’s it.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I myself am still undecided on who to vote for this upcoming election. It be great if you fellow forumers could share your thoughts.

And please, if on purpose, try not to add any lies or false statements on your replies.
I just want the hard truth on why you support your guy.
Thanks a lot!

i will be voting for Mitt Romney. i haven’t read the other threads, but i am not sure how people could not be sure who they were voting for unless this might be your first or second time to vote and the political game is a little bit overwhelming. which i can understand.
i don’t think that president obama has shown any real leadership the last 4 years. he only wanted to push through HIS own agenda and didn’t really have answers to the serious crisis facing our country. i don’t think he deserves another 4 years. he likes to feel, look and act important so being president matters to him a great deal i believe. these past 4 years have been sad days for America. is all i have to say.

 

[Al_Moritz]

I agree with CMatt also, but as Meltzer said, be prepared for the onslaught.

I would like to add that though I am pro life, I have discussed my choice extensively with my pastor and have read the USCCB Faithful Citizenship bulletin, and my personal feeling is that voting for Romney and Ryan and all they stand for would be a serious enough grave evil to sway my vote despite Obama’s pro choice stance. That’s my feeling and my opinion, having read, thought and studied–please don’t attack it and I won’t attack yours.

 

[Sparticus]

Everything Oscama is doing is designed to destroy the USA. I will vote for Romney.

 

[Cinette]

You’re going to get a lot more Romney supporters because the vast majority on this forum are political conservatives.

But I’m voting for Obama: Wow there are so many reasons it’s not even close for me. Here are several but not an exhaustive list.

If we don’t change the House of Representaives, I want a check and balance to the Tea Party and much of what today’s Republican Party stands for.

Obama finally got something done on healthcare. The sick with pre existing conditions before Obamacare could be denied health care coverage. And too many people in the richest nation on earth have gone without adequate healthcare because they do not have employer health care coverage or do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare. This has always been a disgrace to me when other industrialized countries have been able to provide their citizens with universal healthcare and the richest on nation has failed miserably at doing so. Obamacare is not perfect. I’d have preferred single payer or a public option. But is better than the status quo.

I totally reject the Paul Ryan budget which was supported by nearly every Republican. I want Paul Ryan nowhere near the White House. Cardinal Timothy Dolan thinks Ryan’s budget is very good Like Sister Simone of the Catholic faith and the other nuns on the bus, I will not sit back and do nothing to try to stop such severe cuts to programs affecting the poor. I completely reject a philosophy that it is moral to cut food stamps, to cut healthcare and programs like Headstart. While the Republicans increase defense spending and refuse to even come to the table if it means asking the wealthiest among us to pay a little more in the form of a tax rate increase. I will not stand aside while the Republicans try to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class without asking more sacrifice from the rich. I also oppose the Medicare plan Ryan had in his budget.Perhaps you fail to understand…

Obama inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Look up how many jobs per month we were losing before he took office. We’ve been gaining jobs for many months under Obama. No one claims we are where we need to be but the economy is turning around compared to where it was and I’m willing to give it more time.

The auto industry is alive.Not because of Obama

The Iraq war is over. And Obama has a plan in place to bring troops home from Afghanistan. While Romney did not even mention Afghanistan in his convention speech. The expense of these 2 wars has been tremendous. And I fear the same neo cons who advised George W Bush advise Romney.

I’m glad because of President Obama children of immigrants, young people who know our country as their home and who pledge alliegance to the same flag I do, today are not living in fear of deportation.

Osama Bin Laden was found under the direction of this Commander in Chief.

There’s more but that’s quite a number of my reasons.

Obama supports abortion
Obama supports infanticide (have you heard of partial birth abortion?)
Obama wants to redefine religion
Obama wants to redefine human rights
Obama wants to force Catholic employers to finance abortion, contraception, etc etc.
Obama is certainly not a friend of the Church
Are you?

 

[Seeker1961]

I agree with CMatt also, but as Meltzer said, be prepared for the onslaught.

I would like to add that though I am pro life, I have discussed my choice extensively with my pastor and have read the USCCB Faithful Citizenship bulletin, and my personal feeling is that voting for Romney and Ryan and all they stand for would be a serious enough grave evil to sway my vote despite Obama’s pro choice stance. That’s my feeling and my opinion, having read, thought and studied–please don’t attack it and I won’t attack yours.

When I first started posting here, I was skipping the Presidential line, I was going to vote for local offices only. However, my time here and the research I’ve done on what has been posted here-plus a LOT of prayer and a LONG chat with my Confessor has convinced me to vote for Obama.

I’ve removed the issue of abortion from consideration since I have no confidence at all that Romney has any intention of doing anything about it. It’s not his area, he’s more interested in the economy-and since my family and I are part of the 47% who make too little to pay taxes, or depend on government programs like Social Security and Medicare he’s not that interested in us. We’re nowhere near his definition of middle class which he thinks is $250,000 a year, so we’re not even on his radar. I’m concerned that he and his friends will take us into yet another ill-advised war-because war makes a lot of money for a lot of people. I’m concerned that even the small gains we’ve made in jobs will evaporate as he and his friends send more jobs overseas for cheap labor and big profits. I’m concerned that Wall Street will once again gamble with everyone’s future because there will be even fewer regulations, and now everyone’s retirement and long term medical care will be tied to it.

I know I’m in the minority here but that’s not high on my list of priorities in life.

 

[Cinette]

Catholic teaching says not to vote for those that support intrinsic evils such as homosexual marriage, abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Obama supports all of the above and he supports the religious liberty infringing HHS mandate which has 29 lawsuits, many from the Catholic dioceses and institutions. Bishops have also spoken of the problems with the Obama health care law which has lack of conscience protection and allows federal funds to pay for abortion among other issues

Apart from Abortion being evil it has serious consequence on the demographics of countries, the economy and a lot besides. I wonder how many Democrat Catholics understand the serious consequences, apart of the sinfulness of such an act.

 

[scipio337]

When I first started posting here, I was skipping the Presidential line, I was going to vote for local offices only. However, my time here and the research I’ve done on what has been posted here-plus a LOT of prayer and a LONG chat with my Confessor has convinced me to vote for Obama…

Serious question:

If Social Security and Medicare are your concerns, what would make you vote for Obama? He hasn’t proposed any plan to keep Social Security solven beyond 8 years, and the ACA makes some pretty steep cuts to Medicare.

I’d love to see what you think, outside of hyperbolic “Ryan pushes granny over the cliff”. You may not agree with the Ryan plan, but it at least addresses the problem. Estimates range the program operating at a steep defecit in 4 to 8 years, and taking as much as 70% of the GDP within ten.

Doing nothing isn’t an option. President Obama so far has been content “kicking the can” instead of addressing.

 

[JMJSHJ]

Neither he nor anyone else has restricted the private practice of our faith.

Just to be clear on what I meant, I am referring to the HHS Mandate where Catholic institutions have to provide birth control as part of health care package. Last time I checked artificial birth control is still prohibited by our Catholic faith.