Not to get political, but... well, yeah, actually this is political

I'm not voting for President this year.

That statement makes me sad.

I've been voting since I was eighteen, and I don't think I've missed a general election - or if I have, it's been only one.

I'll vote this year, just not for any of the Presidential candidates on offer.

Why?

In a nutshell, I don't stand behind Obama's economic policies, and I don't agree with any of the Republicans on social issues. Rock and Hard Place, meet Amy....

While the National Debt continues to rise, Obama spends. I'm not even going to get into health care, mandates, foreign aid, etc. No, let's just look at the way his family has handled money while in the White House. The latest is that one of the Obama girls will be going with a few friends and twenty-five secret service agents to Mexico. It's being called a school trip. Um. Yeah.

This summer, the Obamas took separate planes and motorcades to their vacation, purportedly so that the first lady could get a few hours' jump on her vacation time. *sigh* The extra travel costs are estimated at $100,000. How much did your vacation cost last year? I try to keep ours under a grand.

And it's reported that Michelle Obama took about 42 days of vacation last year, jetting off to some beautiful locales.

So what does all that have to do with why I'm not voting for Obama? Well, the way I see it, if a person/family spends their own money and time too freely, then they won't think twice about spending ours. (And much of 'ours' was spent on these vacations. The Obamas don't pay for those secret service agents, they don't pay for Air Force One, etc).

I just can't stomach it. Especially not when most Americans are struggling to put food on the table, forget about vacations!

As for the Republicans. I can barely tell one from the other anymore. It seems to me that each and every one of them stands on their religious beliefs to dictate to us what is 'right' and what is 'wrong.' They are socially backward, imo. Abortion? Hell no! Gay marriage? As if!

Get with it, Republicans! The Gay rights issues of our times are our Civil Rights fight. I will not vote for any candidate who believes one law-abiding segment of our population shouldn't have all the rights afforded to the others. I just won't.

So, I respectfully withhold my 2012 vote.