My Fourth Of July

I received an email from my friend Janice this morning titled "facts about Mitt Romney".  I didn't know what that might be.  Whose facts?  But when I read it I realized they were all true...nothing overblown or mean, just the truth.  We have lots of information out there....on both sides that may or may not be true.  Records can be spun one way or another.  But a person's past is really not up for discussion.  It is what it is.  And these are the things he did. (I attached the email at the end, it was tempting but I took out the negatives - hey I'm human!)
I am not going to inundate you with emails asking you to vote for Mitt Romney....but I am going to ask you to vote, and vote intelligently.  Weigh things out carefully....That is what I am doing.
There are no jobs in Las Vegas.  I sit on the planning commission and I can tell you no jobs are coming either.  But when I went to taxation yesterday it was packed. Packed with people who are starting their own businesses...people who will not give up.  People who are starting over....I need a leader who has done that too.  Started a business, hated the million ridiculous regulations government requires, met a payroll, hired people, and even fired people.  Who lost sleep at night over the failure of a business...wondered if they would make it through the end of the month....but in the end was a success!
I admit I am not happy with the leadership in our country right now, not with my governor, my senators, or my representatives.  They are not inspired...they are not making anything better.  We are all stuck in the mud.

We need someone to inspire us, someone to paint their face blue and go into battle with us.  (Braveheart reference inserted here) My hope is a new president will do that.
I am weary already of this election....perhaps you are too.  That is our very flawed system....it is hard to watch millions of dollars spent on TV and print ads that may or may not be true.  It is hard to believe that people are being paid to jump on the words of any candidate, hoping to catch them in a slip of the tongue.  That is what we are reduced to....I hope this election doesn't hinge on the slip of the tongue.
I respect everyone's opinion...as you can see I have not attacked President Obama.  I think he is a very likeable man,  a great dad and husband.  But for me, (and isn't that how we vote?) the last four years have been hell.  If you want to make the case that he only inherited this mess, that's fine.........but he hasn't told me one thing that will make any of this better, there isn't an energy plan, there isn't a job plan, there has not been one single budget and congress is a mess.  Congress needs someone to stand in front of them and call them out for who they have become.  Partisan hacks only caring about supporting their own party.  Shameful.  They have lost sight of the fact we are all Americans...they simply see themselves as Republicans or Democrats.  No one willing to negotiate, no one willing to admit the other side has a good idea.  No one willing to work together.  We need someone to give us back our honesty and dignity.......and bring us together.
We need jobs but who creates them?  Not government.  Would someone please invent something?  build something?  No one has been inspired to do that... We need work, none is coming, we need fair health costs.  Let me tell you about ours.  Our health insurance has gone up 300 dollars a month since Obama has been in office.  Since I pay that personally let me do the math for you, $300 x 12 x 4.......That comes to $14,400 extra dollars.  There are 4 of us on the policy and we pay $1380 a month.  The report is it will go up another 20 per cent in the next few years.  How long can we keep that up? 

I have to vote for a change....I have long lost the notion that any leader is perfect....it is what civilized people do.
These are my reasons, you are free to disagree.  I hope your life has been better the last four years than ours has been.   I will not be negative about what we have in place...I don't want anyone to think I am racist because I disagree with President Obama's vision.  I am not.  He has his reasons for what he is doing, but they don't work for me. 
I need a leader... I am desperate for a leader.

When the Supreme court ruled the message I received is this...."Your present government has put this health policy in place to force you to buy something...that trend will not end.  So if you want something different find other people to lead you."  I agree with the pundit who said, Justice Roberts is playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers.  It is a complicated verdict....Perhaps you got something else from the ruling...again I am emphatic that we all work from our own perspective.  Mine has turned into survival. And be sure, I will survive no matter who wins in November.....I would just like some help surviving.
A roommate of mine from college married a fine guy who was hired right out of Harvard Business School by Mitt Romney.  He worked with him for a long, long time.  She told me Romney is just what you see.  An honest guy trying to make things better.  His skill set is fixing financial things.  It is also a life of service.  He really has given back.  I am also a Mormon and so I know the time it requires to be a Bishop and a Stake President, volunteer positions.....I have watched 3 of my children serve missions....I know that sacrifice too.
Another friend worked with him on the Olympics in Salt Lake City........she an avowed Democrat told me he is just what you see...honest, organized and relentlessly attentive to details.   Clayton Christensen, a tremendously inspiring guy in his own right, was speaking one day about service, and he mentioned his stake president showing up to help someone move just like everyone else in the ward....Mitt Romney.  There is a list of people a mile long who will testify Governor Romney walks the walk.
A cousin told me she couldn't vote for him because he flip flopped.  I would like to take a page from my democratic friend's book and call it what it is......he evolved.  There was a time in my life I didn't think abortion was wrong, now it is my hot button issue.  Did I flip flop?  Or did I do as Oprah says?  When I knew better I did better.  I want my leaders to grow, I want them to admit mistakes and do better.  And sometimes that means changing...
So this is me, and I am writing this on the fourth of July.......a day we celebrate freedom, my freedom to think the way I want to, and I celebrate that freedom for you too.
I would love to hear your thoughts too...

Just Some Real Facts About Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney:

After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney.

As a venture-capitalist, Romney's first major business deal involved investing in a start-up office supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold office supplies. That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over 90,000 people.

Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the "Bain Way") would go on to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others.

Got your calculators handy? Let's recap.

Volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year.

Unpaid intern in Governor's office 8 years.

Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years.

Unpaid bishop and stake president for his church 10 years.

No salary as president of the Olympics 3 years.

No salary as MA governor 4 years.

That's a grand total of 28 years of unpaid service to his country, his community and his church.