It occurred to me today that the chance for Hardscrabble Times to join the rest of the Republican-owned mainstream media in making a presidential endorsement was slipping away, what with early voting, mail-in ballots and all. Regardless of when or how you choose to vote, I urge you to vote for Barack Obama.
The central issue of this election is the economy. Much has been made by Obama’s opponents about “redistributing the wealth.” This is something these plutocrats disguised as Republicans actually know something about. For the last eight years they’ve been redistributing the wealth of the middle class to oil companies, war-profiteers, the disease-care (some call it health-care) industry, insurance companies, Wall Street fat cats and just about every other corporate concern that I could name.
Now they want to call it “socialism” when someone comes up with a better idea — like giving the middle class a tax break and making corporations pay their fair share.
Speaking personally, for the last eight years I have had to work harder for relatively less money than at any other time in my adult life. At one point during this dismal period I actually made a fair amount of money by my standards working day and night the equivalent of three part-time jobs as a writer, editor and ranch manager. But all that hard-earned income disappeared in a wave of higher costs of living, medical and special needs expenses for my son, increasing debt and, yes, higher taxes.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This country needs something different when it comes to the economy. Barack Obama likewise offers the best hope for re-establishing our credibility in the foreign policy arena, and the best plans for addressing energy independence, education, health care and every other major issue facing this country. If you have not already voted for him, Hardscrabble Times urges you to do so.
