As a woman veteran of the Armed Forces, I take issue with people like Romney who want to become our Commander in Chief — yet, Mitt dodged the draft 4 times.  Perhaps I might be more open to Mitt’s request of increasing our $2.1 trillion in defense if he had put his own ass on the line.  What does Romney want an increase of $2.1 trillion for?  It smells of war mongering to me, and Americans need to start choosing our battles more carefully because we need to minimize bloodshed after a decade of war.

I believe Obama won the military audience when he said:

“There’s no reason why Americans should die when Afghans are perfectly capable of defending their country,” Obama said. “After a decade of war, it’s time to do some nation-building at home.”

Face it, folks.  Our military members, their families are tired of constantly being deployed.

It is time to focus on Homeland issues, and Romney is on the record for wanting to increase the Defense War budget by $2.1 trillion dollars even though our military didn’t ask for it.  It’s one thing for our military to ask for an increase — but they didn’t ask for it to begin with.

Sound familiar?

It sounds like Romney is appeasing special interest groups that benefit from war — and that is the bottom line.

I believe we ought to choose our battles more carefully, and give our military a rest to a degree.  When our troops are rested, and when their morale is strengthened….they become better focused fighters anyway, in fact, I’ll go so far to say that I would like to see a United States President appoint some women to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

I leave you with this interesting BBC poll where the international community favors Obama over Mitt Romney.

BBC poll: Rest of world favours Obama

A BBC World Service opinion poll has found sharply higher overseas approval ratings for US President Barack Obama than Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

An average of 50% favoured Mr Obama, with 9% for Mr Romney, in the survey of 21,797 people in 21 countries.

On a side note:  How can military morale be boosted knowing that Romney dodged the Vietnam War draft to begin with?

President Barack Obama sparked an onslaught of social networking when he referenced “horses and bayonets” in Monday night’s third and final presidential debate.  “Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military has changed,” Obama said, after Gov. Mitt Romney jabbed the president for, he said, overseeing a Navy that is smaller than at any time since 1917.

Roger Simon of POLITICO had a wonderful opinion that pretty much nails how I feel.  I especially enjoyed the “horses and bayonets” comment President Obama replied with when Romney tried to discuss old ideas ranging  from the 1917′s to the 1980′s.  These debates tend to get monotonous from time to time and the audience needs to liven up every now and then when discussing such serious matters.

Simon wrote:

In presidential debate, President Obama takes Mitt Romney to school

“Obama chose a good evening to be good. Having learned his lesson in Denver, having sharpened his skills at the second debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Obama unloaded on Romney in Boca Raton with a prepared theme: “Wrong and reckless.”

“I know you have not been in a position to execute foreign policy,” Obama said snidely to Romney. “But (yours) is wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map. It is not a recipe for American strength or keeping America safe.”

And what could possibly be worse than being wrong and reckless with American lives?

Being like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney!

….  And Obama’s prepared lines had a boom-lowering quality to them. Romney has frequently complained that our Navy has fewer ships now than in our past.

“We also have fewer horses and bayonets,” Obama mocked, pointing out that time moves on and presidents must do more than play giant games of “Battleship.”

Was the evening enough to be, in the now-favorite term of the press, a “game changer”?

Perhaps. Perhaps not. But Schieffer ended the debate by quoting his mother. “Go vote. It makes you feel big and strong.”

I served honorably in the Armed Forces and it bothers me when politicians pretend to know about foreign policy or try to come off as being empathetic to our military when they dodged the draft.  Did you know that Mitt Romney dodged the military?  Romney avoided military service at the height of the fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments according to Selective service records. Romney was of age to fight for our Country, but sought deferments instead. As a veteran of the United States Air Force, and as a female of the Armed Services, I will not vote for Mitt Romney.  How can a man who “claims” to love our Country seek deferments in order to fight for her?

Is it really necessary for Mitt Romney to increase our war budget when our ‘top brass’ didn’t ask for it?  Mitt Romney wants to increase our war budget by $2.1 trillion.  Imagine if we invested that here in our Homeland instead of abroad.  We are tired of bombing countries only to rebuild their infrastructure.  We need jobs HERE in our homeland and we cannot afford to piss away our tax payer dollars by constantly bombing other countries — especially during  a slow economy.

Americans are sick and tired of war, and more importantly dependents and family members of soldiers serving in the Armed Forces are, too.

Bill Moyers Essay: Honoring a Fallen Soldier’s Plea (VIDEO)

October 4, 2012

“Why are we killing kids that don’t need to die?”

That’s the question Florida Congressman Bill Young was moved to ask after reading a letter written to him by Matthew Sitton, a young soldier who was killed in Afghanistan in August. In this powerful broadcast essay, Bill talks about the congressman’s surprising change in perspective, the soldier who inspired him, and how that question needs to be posed to the two men now vying to be our Commander-in-Chief.

From the Huffington Post:

Obama Leading Mitt Romney Among Veterans, 32 Percent Think Iraq War Ended Successfully: Poll

First of all, as a female veteran of the United States Armed Forces – I do not think Romney is qualified to attack Obama on his foreign policy

(Above) Veteran, Independent and Woman voter of Arizona via DeeDee Garcia Blase who was an explosives K-9 handler in the US Armed Forces.

particularly when he dodged the draft. Romney avoided military service at the height of the fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments according to Selective service records. Romney was of age to fight for our Country, but sought deferments instead.

As a veteran of the United States Air Force, and as a former female soldier of the Armed Services, I will not vote for Mitt Romney. How can a man who “claims” to love our Country seek deferments that prevented Romney fighting for her? For the record, I am supporting President Obama in 2012, and it will be my first time voting for a Democratic President ever.

Though an early supporter of the Vietnam War, Romney avoided military service at the height of the fighting after high school by seeking and receiving four draft deferments, according to Selective Service records. They included college deferments and a 31-month stretch as a “minister of religion” in France, a classification for Mormon missionaries that the church at the time feared was being overused. The country was cutting troop levels by the time he became eligible for the draft, and his lottery number was not called.

President Barack Obama, Romney’s opponent in this year’s campaign, did not serve in the military either. The Democrat, 50, was a child during the Vietnam conflict and did not enlist when he was older.

But because Romney, now 65, was of draft age during Vietnam, his military background _ or, rather, his lack of one _ is facing new scrutiny as he courts veterans and makes his case to the nation to be commander in chief. He’s also intensified his criticism lately of Obama’s plans to scale back the nation’s military commitments abroad, suggesting that Romney would pursue an aggressive foThe foolishness of Romney’s reaction is glaring. Pretending that the statement from the U.S. embassy in Cairo was anything other than a completely understandable and reasonable attempt by its occupants to save their own lives borders on disgraceful. Romney’s implication that the statement was issued at the height of the attacks is also false; it was actually released earlier in the day, a preventive measure aimed at keeping the protests from turning violent.reign policy as president that could involve U.S. troops.

 

It sounds like Romney doesn’t think 47% of the American population isn’t taxed enough.

Now let’s talk about the 47% Romney is basically lambasting. Does this include military soldiers since many of them do not fit into the class he is seeking? Indeed the unintended consequence of Romney’s 47% remark reveals economic hardship reality of our troops, young families & seniors.

Particularly when every American I know pays up the wazoo in taxes albeit gasoline, in some cases food, clothing, liquor, tires, tobacco and the list goes on and on.

Let’s take gasonline taxes for instance.  Did you know Americans pay an average of 48.8 cents per gallon in taxes? Almost 50 cents per gallon, folks.

Below is an interactive map that will give you an idea with regard to all the gas taxes going into the revenue system.

It appears Romney is simply out of touch with the ordinary American and the tax burdens we are already overloaded with.

It doesn’t stop with gasoline taxes in which almost every American depends upon in order to get to and from work.  Look at the alcohol tax revenue, Sales Tax Holidays, Tobacco Tax Revenue, State General Taxes on items such as clothing and household needs, and the tax list can go on and on.

Should Mitt Romney discount the 47% of the American population since every American pays taxes in some way or form?

Does Romney’s elitist views include only a certain class of people and shouldn’t every single American who pays into any type of tax department be treated the same?

After all, at its core, the Boston Tea Party was a conflict over taxation. You may have heard the phrase “taxation without representation,” which developed in this era. Unlike their British brethren, the people living in the 13 colonies did not have direct representatives in the British parliament. Because of that, the colonists had no way to vote for how they would be taxed or who would represent them. And because of this lack of representation, the British government was free to tax the colonists in any way — and for any amount — that it saw fit. With no way to fight taxation and no way to claim their rights, many colonists feared that their property could be taken away through debilitating taxes.

Fact is, Romney’s slam against 47% of the American population seems to be pretty damning and it shows his utter disregard for a much needed “unity” message we are all thirsty for.  It is unfortunate that Romney has shown no concern for the approximate “other half” of Americans.  This is highly unfortunate and Mitt Romney owes Americans an apology.