A Detailed List of Why I Intend to Vote for President Obama for a Second Term

As promised, a very detailed list of the reasons I plan to vote for President Barack Obama for a second term of Presidency. Where necessary I have included sources to my information. So facts below are presented as just that facts, while others are opinon-based with sources to back them up. I hope anybody out there who may not know who they're voting for finds this list helpful:

Reason #1 – Pay Equity for Men and Women

1/29/2009 – President Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that:

• requires employers to review their practices in regards to compensation for both men and women to ensure they are fair.
• Removes the statute of limitations for employers who recognize they are being paid unfairly to be able to file suit.
• Pay discrimination based upon gender, race, color, national origin, age, and disability is now prohibited.

Mitt Romney's take on the the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - “Mitt Romney supports pay equity and is not looking to change the current law.” However, Romney has not set whether or not he would have signed the law into effect in the first place.

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/04/11/mitt_romney_and_lilly_ledbetter_equal_pay_act_we_ll_have_to_get_back_to_you_on_that_.html

Reason #2 – 4 More Million Children Insured Under SCHIP

2/4/2009 – President Obama signs the SCHIP Legislation that:

• Insures 4 more children with health insurance in addition to the 6 million already insured.
• Two attempts under the George W. Bush administration were made to expand the program, but were vetoed by President Bush.

Mitt Romney stated during 1 of George W. Bush's veto that he in fact would do the same thing – veto the legislation that would expand the program.

Source:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dnc-romney-an-schip-off-the-bush-republican-block-58465222.html

Reason #3 – The 2009 Stimulus Package

2/17/2009 – President Obama signs into Law the 2009 Stimulus package that does the following:

• GDP in 2010 raises by 3.8% (http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth)
• All workers receive a $400 tax credit in their paychecks ($800 per couple).
• $82.2 billion in aid for low income workers, unemployed, and retirees (including job training).
• $70 billion in tax relief for middle income workers by patching the alternative minimum tax for one year.
• $155 billion for health care assistance for the poor and unemployed primarily for Medicaid, health information technology, and insurance premium subsidies.
• $100 billion in education aid to prevent lay-offs, modernize schools, award Pell grants and help low income children & special education programs.
• $48.1 billion in investments for highway, bridge, high-speed rail & other transportation projects
• 1.45 million jobs were saved as a direct or indirect result of the 2009 $80 billion bailout to the automotive companies, GM and Chrysler according to the Center for Automotive Research. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/opinion/sunday/a-million-jobs.html)

It's hard to tell what Mitt Romney feels on the stimulus package. He has indicated two different things in two different versions of his book “No Apologies.” He has been on record for the stimulus, and he has been on record against the stimulus.

Source: http://www.humanevents.com/2011/06/30/has-mitt-romney-flipflopped-on-obamas-stimulus/

We can look into Romney's past, however, and see that Mitt Romney was against the auto bailout that President Obama helped push through for General Motors and Chrysler. He penned an op/ed during the debate that we should “let Detroit go bankrupt,” but has as recently as May taken credit for the auto bailout.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2012/05/08/mitt-romney-takes-credit-for-the-auto-bailout-say-what/

Reason #4 – The Credit Card Act

5/22/2009 – President Obama signs into law the Credit Card Act which does the following:

• Credit cardholders protected against arbitrary interest rate increases, hidden and excessive fees, and due date gimmicks

Mitt Romney indicates that he would repeal the Credit Card Act if elected, and that it “produced federal restrictions on credit card companies that have already led to higher interest rates, higher annual fees, and lower credit limits, especially for middle class borrowers.” According to the source below, independent studies have shown the opposite.

Source: http://www.credit.com/blog/2012/02/the-2012-election-your-credit-cards/

Reason # 5 – LGBT Related Issues

Detouring from the time line, here is everything President Obama has done for the LGBT community:

• 6/22/2009 – ended discrimination and hosted the first ever reception at the White House honoring Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered, and Bisexual Pride Month which was hosted by the President and the First Lady.
• 10/28/2009 – federal hate crime law expanded to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. People with HIV/Aids are no longer prevented from entering the United States.
• 1/1/2010 – Discrimination based upon gender identity is now banned in the Federal Work place.
• 6/2/2010 – Federal benefits extended to same sex partners of workers through memo of the Obama administration.
• 12/22/2010 – Gay and lesbians are allowed to serve openly in the military because the President signs into law the repeal of the decades only Don't Ask Don't Tell Clinton-era policy.
• 12/22/2010 – Obama Administration sponsors a measure to include “sexual orientation” in the definition of human rights adopted by the UN General Assembly.
• 2/23/2011 – The Defense of Marriage Act is is declared unconstitutional and no longer defended in court by the Obama Administration.
• 5/9/2012 – President Barack Obama becomes the first President in United States history to publicly support the legalization of Marriage Equality, specifically same-sex marriage.

Mitt Romney publicly opposes gay marriage. Mitt Romney supports a constitutional amendment defining gay marriage as one man and one woman. Mitt Romney believes that the Defense of Marriage Act should be enforced.

Source: http://www.mittromney.com/issues/values

Mitt Romney does not support same-sex civil unions.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/09/mitt-romney-gay-marriage-civil-unions-obama_n_1503597.html

Mitt Romney does not support non-discrimination for gays and lesbians on the federal level. He also opposes sexual orientation and transgender hate crime legislation. He vetoed a bill in 2003 as Governor that would fund hate crimes prevention.

Source: http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianactivism/p/MittRomney.htm

Reason #6 – Tough on Foreign Policy

Again, straying from the time-line, President Obama has a tough record on foreign policy. He has accomplished the following:

• Since taking office, President Obama has overseen the killings of at least 34 Al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other middle-Eastern countries, either by drone, CIA operatives, or other means.
• 5/2/2011 – A directive issued by President Barack Obama orders a CIA task force to enter a Pakistani compound and kill the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, who was the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bin Laden evaded capture by the Bush administration for 7 years after the initial attack, and at one point, George W. Bush indicated he wasn't concerned with where Osama Bin Laden was (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o&feature=related)
• Immediately upon taking office, President Barack Obama prohibits the use of torture (water boarding) by the CIA and military to interrogate prisoners.
• President Barack Obama has successfully removed all American forces from Iraq, as promised. He has a plan to remove all forces out of Afghanistan at the end of 2014, with draw-down beginning in December of 2012.

In general, Mitt Romney didn't form an opinion publicly on getting into Iraq as Governor. He is on record in 2011, during the draw-down, as saying it would be looked back on as a mistake.

Source: http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/Governor/Massachusetts/Mitt_Romney/Views/The_War_in_Iraq/

Reason #7 – The Health Care Reform Act of 2010

Instead of listing every benefit of the health care reform act, I'm going to just give the link of all the benefits the act will have once fully in effect:

• http://www.healthcare.gov/law/timeline/index.html

Mitt Romney does not support the health care act and has vowed to repeal it on day one of his presidency. Though, when governor, he implemented what is referred to as the “godfather” of the Healthcare Reform Act in his state. And because of that act, a little over 98% of the state's residents now have health insurance.

Source: http://www.factcheck.org/2011/03/romneycare-facts-and-falsehoods/

Various other reasons why I support Barack Obama for a second term:

• President Obama believes in the Buffet Rule (the rule that a person's secretary shouldn't pay more in taxes than the head of a large company who makes their money through investments of stock). President Obama believes in keeping taxes low for the middle class. He believes those making more than $250,000 a year should pay more in taxes (in that he means go back to the Clinton-era tax rates). http://www.barackobama.com/record/taxes?source=primary-nav
• Governor Romney believes in the theory of trickle-down economics. He believes that we should cut taxes for all Americans, including those already paying lower tax rates because of tax loopholes on how they earn their money. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/tax
• President Obama is relying more on donations from small donors in the amounts of $200 or less. In fact, in 2011, his reelection campaign raised nearly half of their donations by people contributing $200 or less. In comparison, Mitt Romney in his 2011 fund raising, only raised 9% of his donations from contributions of $200 or less. Both of these figures say nothing for the super-PACS contributing to both campaigns. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-fundraising-powered-by-small-donors-new-study-shows/2012/02/08/gIQANfKIzQ_story.html
• Mitt Romney is being bank-rolled by conservative business men. $10 million has been raised by the Super-PAC “Restore our Future,” by one billionaire alone, casino titan Sheldon Adelson. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/mitt-romney-super-pac_n_1691051.html?utm_hp_ref=elections-2012
• Barack Obama is opposed to the Citizen's United Ruling that, among other things, gave corporations the same rights as individuals when it comes to free speech in elections, along with the ability to raise an unlimited amount of money for any one particular issue or support one particular agenda. Mitt Romney supports the Citizen's United Ruling. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/23/obama-weekly-address-vide_n_434082.html

Okay that about covers it, or at least the major stuff. For a very detailed date by date time-line of events of the accomplishments of President Obama, you can check out: http://www.democratichub.com/obama-administration-accomplishments.aspx?o=ps&t=lc. I know it has taken me a long time to get this up, but I feel it's important to research exactly why you feel a particular way about a candidate and this exercise helped me even further than I thought. President Obama is the candidate for me. He may not be the candidate for you, but at least take some time to research Mitt Romney first before voting for him simply because he isn't President Obama. The biggest enemy our country will have this election, and any election, is the voters who vote simply because they weren't informed on a particular issue. People in today's world have a wealth of information at their fingertips. But with so much information, it is possible to get misinformation as well.