Why I Still Support Obama

We're coming up on the two year anniversary of Obama's election, and in that time, my life has changed a lot. But why I still support Obama can be explained not by the changes in my life, but the changes in the life of my girlfriend. Nobody I know has had such a dramatic change in their life, and I'd like to share a little bit of her story for some of you out there who still hope for better days ahead.

My girlfriend was working for a public school last year. She wasn't a teacher, she was doing administrative work. She was working for the high school that she had graduated from some years back. It wasn't an easy job and the hours were absolutely horrendous, but she stuck around because she loved the school and the people and the kids and she wanted to work her way up and become a part of that community. Over the summer, she got a job at a house cleaning company and quit right before the school year began. That's when it all went wrong.

The school laid her off because they didn't have the funding they needed. Then she got into a car accident and her car was totaled, but the insurance company refused to pay her a cent even though she wasn't even moving when the truck merged into the side of her car (it's a long story but I'll leave it at that). Then she filed for unemployment, but was denied because she had quit her job at the house cleaning company before she got laid off. So she decided to go back to college to get a better job in the future but was denied financial aid on a technicality.

Things have gotten a lot better since then, because both of us have been working really hard to get on track. It's easy to be angry with the system, but here's how I think about it (as it pertains to my girlfriend): the Republicans will keep cutting back on education and their plan will make sure that many other dedicated people wind up getting laid off, the Republicans will side with the insurance companies that do anything and everything to screw over honest people. The Republicans will whine and whine about the abuse of entitlements... when my girlfriend wasn't even eligible for unemployment when she desperately needed it! And politicians tell us to go back to school and work hard so we can have a better future, but won't make it financially possible for us to do that? Obama's not perfect by any means, and the Democrats haven't done a great job. But I still believe in the core message that Obama delivers and I still believe that things will get better.

I think it's a bunch of BS when conservatives say that liberals just want hand outs. Americans are hard working people, we'll do what we've got to do to get by. But we have to have an opportunity to take advantage of so that our hard work will get us somewhere. That's the difference between Obama and his opponents. If it were up to his opponents, our hard work would benefit somebody else, at least with Obama, our hard work will (eventually) benefit ourselves. So I'm not going to vote for Republicans, even though I don't like the Democrats. Because I don't like the cuts in education, I don't like siding with insurance companies and big pharm and defense contractors. I still support Obama.

Mustachio said:

We're coming up on the two year anniversary of Obama's election, and in that time, my life has changed a lot. But why I still support Obama can be explained not by the changes in my life, but the changes in the life of my girlfriend. Nobody I know has had such a dramatic change in their life, and I'd like to share a little bit of her story for some of you out there who still hope for better days ahead.

My girlfriend was working for a public school last year. She wasn't a teacher, she was doing administrative work. She was working for the high school that she had graduated from some years back. It wasn't an easy job and the hours were absolutely horrendous, but she stuck around because she loved the school and the people and the kids and she wanted to work her way up and become a part of that community. Over the summer, she got a job at a house cleaning company and quit right before the school year began. That's when it all went wrong.

The school laid her off because they didn't have the funding they needed. Then she got into a car accident and her car was totaled, but the insurance company refused to pay her a cent even though she wasn't even moving when the truck merged into the side of her car (it's a long story but I'll leave it at that). Then she filed for unemployment, but was denied because she had quit her job at the house cleaning company before she got laid off. So she decided to go back to college to get a better job in the future but was denied financial aid on a technicality.

Things have gotten a lot better since then, because both of us have been working really hard to get on track. It's easy to be angry with the system, but here's how I think about it (as it pertains to my girlfriend): the Republicans will keep cutting back on education and their plan will make sure that many other dedicated people wind up getting laid off, the Republicans will side with the insurance companies that do anything and everything to screw over honest people. The Republicans will whine and whine about the abuse of entitlements... when my girlfriend wasn't even eligible for unemployment when she desperately needed it! And politicians tell us to go back to school and work hard so we can have a better future, but won't make it financially possible for us to do that? Obama's not perfect by any means, and the Democrats haven't done a great job. But I still believe in the core message that Obama delivers and I still believe that things will get better.

I think it's a bunch of BS when conservatives say that liberals just want hand outs. Americans are hard working people, we'll do what we've got to do to get by. But we have to have an opportunity to take advantage of so that our hard work will get us somewhere. That's the difference between Obama and his opponents. If it were up to his opponents, our hard work would benefit somebody else, at least with Obama, our hard work will (eventually) benefit ourselves. So I'm not going to vote for Republicans, even though I don't like the Democrats. Because I don't like the cuts in education, I don't like siding with insurance companies and big pharm and defense contractors. I still support Obama.

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i hope everything goes well for you two.

I wish her the best. I won't go into politics in this thread. God or whatever you believe in bless.

This story really isn't that uncommon. People do find themselves in a deep hole that isn't of their making. Hard times can hit almost anyone. And disability (not the self-inflicted kind that the Republicans insist is the only kind) can strike out of the blue, putting you squarely into long-term impoverishment.

But think how much worse it would be if you had kids. The pressure of needing to do for the kids would be unbearable.

Sending your GF healing wishes and good vibes.

Regards from Rosie

I do have to say that there have been no cuts in education funding. The federal government set records for spending on education during the Bush years. It is not lack of federal spending that caused your girlfriend to lose her job but terrible mismanagement by school districts and school boards with our tax money. They've overbuilt their facilities and built up their bureaucracies to the point that they have no money to operate the schools. In this case new teachers and administrative assistants are always the first to go. Insurance companies are another topic altogether. I wish I had more details about the problem she had but its kind of hard to judge based on what you've given us. But no doubt insurance companies can be hard asses. Her inability to get unemployment was typical government bureaucracy that could happen no matter whose in charge. I really don't know how anybody affords to pay for school these days. I am going to go broke putting my two kids through.

Sounds like you've had a run of bad luck but I don't understand why you are not more disenchanted with Obama. None of what you are saying as a criticism for Republicans make sense. It sounds like you are regurgitating stereotypical talking points about Republicans to make youself feel better about the failure of Obama and the Democrats. Good luck to you. I am willing to bet that by your own hard work you and your girlfriend are going to see better days in the future. Don't wait around for the government to spearhead your recovery.

Thanks for the kind words people! I was in a really bad mood when I wrote that, but we've had a lot of great things happen in the last month and we're pretty optimistic. And the people who screwed us over have heard plenty about it

jambalaya said:

I do have to say that there have been no cuts in education funding. The federal government set records for spending on education during the Bush years. It is not lack of federal spending that caused your girlfriend to lose her job but terrible mismanagement by school districts and school boards with our tax money. They've overbuilt their facilities and built up their bureaucracies to the point that they have no money to operate the schools. In this case new teachers and administrative assistants are always the first to go. Insurance companies are another topic altogether. I wish I had more details about the problem she had but its kind of hard to judge based on what you've given us. But no doubt insurance companies can be hard asses. Her inability to get unemployment was typical government bureaucracy that could happen no matter whose in charge. I really don't know how anybody affords to pay for school these days. I am going to go broke putting my two kids through.

Sounds like you've had a run of bad luck but I don't understand why you are not more disenchanted with Obama. None of what you are saying as a criticism for Republicans make sense. It sounds like you are regurgitating stereotypical talking points about Republicans to make youself feel better about the failure of Obama and the Democrats. Good luck to you. I am willing to bet that by your own hard work you and your girlfriend are going to see better days in the future. Don't wait around for the government to spearhead your recovery.

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I see what you're saying, although the thing about education spending -- I'm not sure where that money went, but the funding didn't make it to the schools themselves. It's not about how much money, but how that money is used. I don't have all the information myself, but I'm not saying that Republicans are to blame for all of this. But in my opinion, Republicans aren't working for us anymore, they're working for corporations and big business. And I'm not a big fan of the way Obama's America is looking right now, but I want to give this administration time and the benefit of the doubt to fix the mess that Bush and the Democratic congress and even us Americans caused.

I'm actually familiar with the education system in South Carolina, and I don't want to go too into depth, but ya'll are hurting really bad right now. I've seen things from your state that make me really nervous about the future. But it is getting better. Best of luck to you too!

jambalaya said:

I do have to say that there have been no cuts in education funding.

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I'd like to note that is true on the federal level, but most school funding still comes from the state and local level and that funding has been cut in a lot of places, but that's not the fault of the Republican or Democratic lawmakers but an issue with the lack of tax revenues brought on by the housing crash and general recession.

Mustachio said:

the thing about education spending -- I'm not sure where that money went, but the funding didn't make it to the schools themselves. It's not about how much money, but how that money is used. I don't have all the information myself, but I'm not saying that Republicans are to blame for all of this.

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self contradiction

Mustachio said:

the Republicans will keep cutting back on education and their plan will make sure that many other dedicated people wind up getting laid off

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Civil1z@tion said:

I'd like to note that is true on the federal level, but most school funding still comes from the state and local level and that funding has been cut in a lot of places, but that's not the fault of the Republican or Democratic lawmakers but an issue with the lack of tax revenues brought on by the housing crash and general recession.

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I can only speak for Columbia, SC and around here the local governments are going crazy with bond issues and other taxes and building and renovating schools at a record level.

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles and hope that things get better for you, but I don't see how one bit of that can be attributed to Republicans. I believe that every single problem would have played out the same way under Democratic governance - in fact, they did. It just sounds like you're looking for a scapegoat and have decided to blame the people you already didn't like.

jambalaya said:

I can only speak for Columbia, SC and around here the local governments are going crazy with bond issues and other taxes and building and renovating schools at a record level.

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The bonds and taxes are probably in large part a response to the drop in tax revenue, if not for the recession they probably wouldn't need so many attempts to raise funds (at least not if they want to keep up school construction).

"Americans are hard working people, we'll do what we've got to do to get by. But we have to have an opportunity to take advantage of so that our hard work will get us somewhere. That's the difference between Obama and his opponents. If it were up to his opponents, our hard work would benefit somebody else, at least with Obama, our hard work will (eventually) benefit ourselves."

I just want to start of by saying that I'm sorry to hear of your unfortunate situation and I hope things improve for you. But I was just skimming through your last paragraph here and I needed to stop and address some of the fallacies I see through my eyes in your statement.

1. Yes. Americans are absolutely hard working people. And in this amazing country we live in each one of us is granted opportunity. But I don't understand how you can think that under Obama of all presidents, you have the best chance of getting the most benefits from your hard work.

Let me go into something deeper for a moment. I feel that in this country, particularly on the left, we have created this concept of self-pity on a grand scale. We watch the news and hear about the jobs being lost and all these situations where people are victimized. So we've taught people to feel that they've been wronged by some sort of evil oppressive force which is absolutely not the case. The point is, is that having ups and downs in your life is a human condition. EVERYONE goes through rough times, but we don't get out of them by folding our arms and pointing fingers playing the "woe is me" game. Once someone offers you an excuse all nice and pretty on a platter, it's tempting to take. If no one had ever offered these ideas of self-pity though, who would ever wallow in it? Instead, people need to take self-initiative and pull themselves out of the trenches and not point fingers at whoever it was that put them there--even if it was someone specific who did it! It's so much more rewarding as a human being to instead take a sense of pride and purpose in your revival. Think about it. How good does it feel when you open up a birthday card and find money inside? Yeah it's a nice little surprise. Compare that to the feeling you get when you found a way to earn that money yourself? You didn't just work for it, but you figured out a way to earn it through your own unique, individual intuition. A times of crisis in your life is a great opportunity to test what you're made of. It has so much more meaning to push yourself to your maximum to get done what you need to get done as opposed to complaining and receiving these handouts you're "entitled to". It all comes down to a basic psychological concept. When you start thinking of yourself as victim the result is just anger and frustration. When you start thinking of yourself as your own personal hero walls get knocked down and something great emerges.


Obama and his administration are proponents of redistribution of wealth. He thinks some Americans earn too much money and that it would be better transferred to some who are less fortunate. Am I against helping out the less fortunate? Absolutely not. I think it's a great idea to give to charities with causes you're passionate about. And plus it makes you feel good inside. That's a better concept than Obama's hand reaching into your pockets to take the amount of money that HE thinks is appropriate and running it through the most honest, efficient machine we know of, the government. I don't feel good about that on giving end, and those on the receiving end are still complaining they don't get enough. What qualifies as enough? When is the battle over between the "oppressed middle class" and the....evil capitalists? Perhaps it's when everyone is just about equal.

Mustachio said:

We're coming up on the two year anniversary of Obama's election, and in that time, my life has changed a lot. But why I still support Obama can be explained not by the changes in my life, but the changes in the life of my girlfriend. Nobody I know has had such a dramatic change in their life, and I'd like to share a little bit of her story for some of you out there who still hope for better days ahead.

My girlfriend was working for a public school last year. She wasn't a teacher, she was doing administrative work. She was working for the high school that she had graduated from some years back. It wasn't an easy job and the hours were absolutely horrendous, but she stuck around because she loved the school and the people and the kids and she wanted to work her way up and become a part of that community. Over the summer, she got a job at a house cleaning company and quit right before the school year began. That's when it all went wrong.

The school laid her off because they didn't have the funding they needed. Then she got into a car accident and her car was totaled, but the insurance company refused to pay her a cent even though she wasn't even moving when the truck merged into the side of her car (it's a long story but I'll leave it at that). Then she filed for unemployment, but was denied because she had quit her job at the house cleaning company before she got laid off. So she decided to go back to college to get a better job in the future but was denied financial aid on a technicality.

Things have gotten a lot better since then, because both of us have been working really hard to get on track. It's easy to be angry with the system, but here's how I think about it (as it pertains to my girlfriend): the Republicans will keep cutting back on education and their plan will make sure that many other dedicated people wind up getting laid off, the Republicans will side with the insurance companies that do anything and everything to screw over honest people. The Republicans will whine and whine about the abuse of entitlements... when my girlfriend wasn't even eligible for unemployment when she desperately needed it! And politicians tell us to go back to school and work hard so we can have a better future, but won't make it financially possible for us to do that? Obama's not perfect by any means, and the Democrats haven't done a great job. But I still believe in the core message that Obama delivers and I still believe that things will get better.

I think it's a bunch of BS when conservatives say that liberals just want hand outs. Americans are hard working people, we'll do what we've got to do to get by. But we have to have an opportunity to take advantage of so that our hard work will get us somewhere. That's the difference between Obama and his opponents. If it were up to his opponents, our hard work would benefit somebody else, at least with Obama, our hard work will (eventually) benefit ourselves. So I'm not going to vote for Republicans, even though I don't like the Democrats. Because I don't like the cuts in education, I don't like siding with insurance companies and big pharm and defense contractors. I still support Obama.

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I do, too.

Support CAN go hand in hand with legitimate criticism. I voted for him and that's all the support he really needs. What's important now is to evaluate him and his achievements in the office our votes provided.

jambalaya said:

I do have to say that there have been no cuts in education funding. The federal government set records for spending on education during the Bush years. It is not lack of federal spending that caused your girlfriend to lose her job but terrible mismanagement by school districts and school boards with our tax money. They've overbuilt their facilities and built up their bureaucracies to the point that they have no money to operate the schools. In this case new teachers and administrative assistants are always the first to go. Insurance companies are another topic altogether. I wish I had more details about the problem she had but its kind of hard to judge based on what you've given us. But no doubt insurance companies can be hard asses. Her inability to get unemployment was typical government bureaucracy that could happen no matter whose in charge. I really don't know how anybody affords to pay for school these days. I am going to go broke putting my two kids through.

Sounds like you've had a run of bad luck but I don't understand why you are not more disenchanted with Obama. None of what you are saying as a criticism for Republicans make sense. It sounds like you are regurgitating stereotypical talking points about Republicans to make youself feel better about the failure of Obama and the Democrats. Good luck to you. I am willing to bet that by your own hard work you and your girlfriend are going to see better days in the future. Don't wait around for the government to spearhead your recovery.

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That has got to be the worst steaming pantload of crap I have ever seen on this site, as I am well informed on the issue having a spouse that is an educator and myself being involved in education. I don't even know where to start on how wrong your points are. Where did you pull this out of -- your ass?