Happy Obama Day!

So much Obama drama! Watched the election coverage all night last night... Sparked some great debate, but I'm so damn sick of the word Socialist being thrown at Obama supporters... Like it would change our votes. Socialism is NOT what Obama's economic policies are. If anything, they're pro-business. Universal health care.... WHY do people call that socialist? You know what I call it...? I call it giving families who are struggling to make ends meet AS IS the ability to have health care. It allows those families to NOT STRESS that one of them will become sick or be injured in an accident.

I know what it feels like..... I fell on June 8th... Passed out because of extremely large blood clots in my lungs (bigger than quarters!) which had restricted my airways dramatically. When I fell in the parking lot of our local pharmacy, I landed face first into a cement curb, shattering my left orbital socket and fracturing my jaw. All of this happened... And we didn't have insurance. My husband's insurance through work is expensive enough that we wouldn't be able to live on our own if he was to opt in for his work insurance. I had previously been under state insurance, but it was pending renewal when I fell, and there was no guarantee that it would go through. Without insurance, we would have paid $30,000 to rebuild the left side of my face (which has 3 bone plates and 20 screws, plus some wires). Do we have $30,000? OF COURSE NOT! We don't even make $30,000 a year! Is it because we're lazy? No. Is it because we don't WANT to make more money? NO! It's because I'm a college student majoring in Elementary Education, my husband is working the best job he can get in our small town so that he can support our family, and we're still struggling to make ends meet despite everything we do. I'm taking a full course load, I'm working 10-15 hours a week at a workstudy trying to make a little bit extra... And still we struggle, because we pay out a ton in taxes that we actually NEED!

So Obama is a socialist? Bull fucking shit he is! But I can tell you this... I voted for Barack Obama. You know why? Because I believe that he can make a difference. I believe that he can save our country from this economic slump, I believe that he can make it so that lower income families can still afford to LIVE in this country. Because it is NOT living when you spend all of your time struggling just to pay bills and buy food. It is NOT living when you aren't sure if your rent check will bounce because you have to buy diapers and you don't know when your landlord is going to finally deposit the check. You know what else? It is definitely NOT living when you aren't sure that you'll be able to go to the doctor for that nasty cough your baby girl has developed.

So yes, I voted for Obama. Yes, I'm glad he won. Yes, I'm extremely glad that we'll finally have a president who is capable of giving a speech that doesn't come across as "I uhhh really ummm think that hmmmmm." It will be great to have a capable orator in the White House again. It will be great to see what Barack can do for our country. A friend told me tonight that he hopes that Barack will be everything he's said he is, and that he's as honest as he claims to be... Because if he is everything he says he is, he will bring great change to this country. Hearing our President-Elect tell his children that they've earned the new puppy that will be moving with them to the White House was touching and sweet- a candid statement that had his eyes glowing with love when he told the entire nation. The same love that showed when he talked about his wife, his family, his grandmother. The love which he talked about our nation with! Finally, a family man, a lover, and a scholar has been elected as President of the United States of America! Which is exactly what we need.