Major Differences - Fund-raising

Mitt Romney and President Obama have two entirely different fund-raising styles that perfectly reflect their political personae. Mitt Romney seems to specialize in $50,000-a-plate fundraisers, while President Obama welcomes donations of as little as $5. Obama also keeps advertising the fact that they'll draw a name from everyone who makes a donation during a specific period of time, and you can win a chance to have dinner with the President.

Can anyone imagine Romney doing something like that?

I can actually imagine Romney's reaction to someone in his camp telling him he should try some fund-raising where he'll have dinner with someone who donates as little as $5.00. "What? You mean eat? With one of the little people? God, WHY?!?"

President Obama should stick to caring about, standing up for and directing fundraising efforts to the people who can only afford to give $5 or $10 at a time. Governor Romney should stick to rubbing elbows, fighting for and fundraising from the rich and the "elite". When November 6th comes around, we'll get a chance to see which type of people outnumber the other.

Here's How I See It

Here's how I see what's going on with the debt ceiling discussion:

Republicans: "We are going to hold the American economy hostage until we get what we want!"

Democrats: "Okay, what do you want?"

Republicans: "We want balloons! Lots of balloons!"

Democrats: "Alright! Here you go! Here are your balloons!"

Republicans: "Oh, wait...did we say balloons? We meant a pony."

Democrats: "You win! Here's your pony!"

Republicans: "Why won't you give us what we want!?!?!"

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This whole situation is totally ridiculous. The debt ceiling needs to be raised. We need to assure our creditors that the United States will pay what we owe. Not what we're GOING to owe. That's an entirely different discussion, or at least it should be. The debt ceiling relates only to what we currently owe, what we've already borrowed and spent. The Republicans have, with Democrats and Independents, raised the debt ceiling without hesitation numerous times before. They did it seven times under George W. Bush. They did it EIGHTEEN times under Reagan. They've done it a total of 74 times since 1962.1

It's only now, after 8 years of recklessly writing Dubya a "blank check" (to use a phrase that they seem quite fond of), of spending money like they have an endless supply, that Republicans are suddenly very concerned about balancing the budget. It's only now, with a strong Democrat in the White House, that Republicans take issue with the idea of passing a simple bill consisting of something we need to do for the future financial health of the country. And not just for the government's financial health; it's also for the financial health of nearly every citizen of this country, as well as for the standing of our country in the world.

This is a BIG DEAL. A very big deal. And the fact that the Republicans seem happy and willing to drive the country they claim to love and want to serve into the ground to further their political agenda should be a neon warning sign to both Republican and Democratic Americans. There's really no point in being elected to an office if you don't actually accomplish anything once you're in office. And despite what Republicans apparently think, refusing to let "the other side" get anything done does not actually count as doing anything yourselves.

So, enough of the political posturing, playing to the most extreme members of your constituency, and turning the simple concept of paying the bills we've already racked up into an elaborate and strategic game of chess. Enough of the Republicans pretending they've compromised with Democrats in coming up the Boehner Bill. Compromise, for anyone who is wondering, is defined as "a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands". I have a feeling Republicans think compromise means that they can make the other side give up some of their principles, so that Republicans can keep all of theirs in tact. Reality, and dictionaries, would demonstrate otherwise.
In summary: The government needs to raise the damn debt ceiling, even if it means President Obama having to use the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to do so. It needs to be done, preferably before we suffer any negative consequences due to the up-in-the-air, goat rodeo atmosphere in Washington right now.

1. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/07/10/What-Is-the-Debt-Ceiling.aspx#page1

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Here's a very informative and interesting article I found about Americans views on debt: Why Taxpayers Are So Angry and So Wrong About Spending