No More #RepublicanHell !

I will Vote Blue No Matter Who...  

I will vote for whoever is the nominee of the Democratic party. 

If you hate your fellow Americans, particularly those who depend on the government in any way, then vote Republican. Or don't vote. Or vote third party. Or write in a candidate who can't win. It's all the same.  But don't try to say that you are a liberal, a progressive, or someone who cares about people as you prepare to vote to send the country back to #RepublicanHell.   

I pledge that I will not send my country back into #RepublicanHell.

Let me explain my personal reasons for this:  My husband is on SSDI, the Social Security disability program for people who were sidelined by disease or injury after spending mostly decades in the workforce.  The median age of someone on the SSDI program is about 57.  One third of people on SSDI are age 60 or older.

No Republican Hell!  Found at Playbuzz.

My husband has spinal problems that started up in 2007, and two years later, he was in a serious motor vehicle accident. He did manage to get SSDI after he was tossed out of his long-time job. What does this have to do with the question?

Well, we struggle financially. Between the injuries, the accident, the recession, and the unemployment we were pretty well cleaned out. And as we are both older and both have health problems, we don't see any turn around in terms of a nice, comfy job.. or even an uncomfortable job.  We will be counting our pennies on Social Security for the rest of our days.

In January 2015, Republicans cut SSDI by 20%.  They really did.

Now, in January 2015, the Republicans in Congress passed a "rule" (didn't need to be approved by the Prez) to cut SSDI by 20%.. I'm not going to get into how they were able to do this, but it was REPUBLICANS who did it. All of the Republicans running for President have talked about cutting benefits, raising the retirement age, etc. etc. John Kasich, the guy who seems the most moderate of the bunch, even told people they would have to "get over" cuts in their benefits. (More about that HERE.)   The Democrats running for President have talked about protecting SS and perhaps even expanding benefits, perhaps raising the cap. The difference is glaring.

But with a Republican Congress....

Now, there is always a limit to what a Democratic President can do with a Republican Congress. But in the last budget deal, the leadership of the Democrats in Congress along with the Democratic President were able to roll back those SSDI cuts. They had to make some smelly compromises in terms of ending a couple of Social Security "strategy" that allowed some people to have more money in retirement, particularly one called "file and suspend".   But my husband and 11 million other people who are unfortunate enough to have to rely on SSDI will continue to receive all expected benefits.  This means that hundreds of thousands or perhaps even millions of families will be able to keep their homes; others will not have to worry about rent or utilities any more than they do now.  

Now if we didn't have a Democratic president, there's a good chance this deal would never have been made. And if we don't have a Democratic president, no matter who, in January 2017, life will start to be less and less pleasant for many of us, not to mention that there is a good chance that the Republicans will come up with another war.

No, the Democrats are NOT perfect!

I know that the Democrats are not perfect, and everybody will be disappointed in some way with whichever one might wind up as the nominee and then President. But I will put my future in the hands of Bernie Sanders OR Hillary Clinton before I will ever put my future in the hands of ANY Republican. And anyone who refuses to vote for the Democratic candidate, no matter which, is, in my opinion, personally sentencing me and many millions of people who are not in a great financial situation to spend the rest of our days in misery and poverty in another round of Republican Hell, such as what we experienced in the mid 2000's.

If you hate your fellow Americans, don't vote or vote third party.

If you hate your fellow Americans, particularly those who depend on the government in any way, particularly those who aren't well off, students, children living in near-poverty level homes, people who are sick and disabled, the elderly, etc. etc. then vote Republican. Or don't vote. Or vote third party. Or write in a candidate who can't win. It's all the same.  But don't try to say that you are a liberal, a progressive, or someone who cares about people.

Because you don't.  If you did, you would do your darnedest to keep Republicans as far away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as you possibly could.  And that goes for celebrities as well. 

If you care about people; if you care about environmental issues...

If you care about those people, if you care about environmental issues, if you care about reproductive rights, GLBT rights, if you care about the future of this country, vote Democratic, no matter who the candidate is. Even if you have to hold your nose, you can pat yourself on the back that you are not helping the despicable, hateful Republicans take over the very powerful controls of the Executive Branch of the government of the United States of American. You can pat yourself on the back that you aren't helping to put more and more dangerous conservatives on the Supreme Court.

Democrats are not Republicans.

Let me repeat this one more time: The Democrats are not perfect, and we all have our reasons for preferring this one or that one. But they aren't Republicans. The difference is huge. If you don't see the difference, you either aren't looking hard enough.. or you have been brainwashed.

It's that simple.