Good Afternoon, Kossacks. I have been very fortunate in this life. I have spent most of my life as a field archaeologist and a college professor. As an archaeologist, I have seen a lot of the world, including areas such as eastern Ukraine, village India, the Western Desert in Egypt, Jordan, and the West Bank--regions that are rarely visited by tourists. I have also worked a number of odd jobs, as a babysitter, lifeguard, swimming instructor, and a "pot girl" at Girl Scout Camp, in order to pay for my education. However, my most important job was and is being a mother to my three kids.
Not everyone can or should be a parent. But for those of us who do become parents, deciding to bear or adopt children is a statement about one's belief in our future. As Whitney Houston sang:
I believe that children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be
Dad and I became parents quite late in life. Even though we are both in our 60s, we are the parents of a college sophomore (born when we were in our 40s) and two young adults in their 20s. It is my kids and my concern for their future and the futures of all the others like them that make me a Democrat.
I vote for Democrats because I support public education. I went to a wonderful public high school, the Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson, NY. It was and still is one of the best public high schools in the nation. My kids attended great public schools here in central New Jersey from kindergarten through grade 12. I even ran for and was elected to our local school board back in the 90s when some of the then-board members were interested in cutting school programs. While I am not enamored with a lot of what is labeled as "education reform", I am appalled by what some of the recently-elected Republican governors have done to education in our states. Governor Walker signed a budget that cut $1.65 billion from public schools and the University of Wisconsin system. (I hope that he will soon be former Governor Walker.) Here in NJ, Gov. Christie cut $820 million from the state education budget in 2010. He is now proposing a 10% across-the-board tax cut in state taxes. This cut is heavily weighted toward the richest New Jerseyans. A family making $50,000 would save about $130 per year, while a someone making a million dollars a year would save $7200. I don't know about you, but I would rather pay $10 a month more in state taxes than see our public schools lose state funding. High quality public education can be an engine of upward mobility in this country. Starve the public schools, and you build an aristocracy. Top rated private schools in this part of the country can cost more than the tuition at Harvard.
I vote for Democrats because I support federal and state aid for higher education. Everyone in our family has relied to financial aid for our education. Blue jersey dad went to college on the GI Bill, supplemented by federally-insured student loans. I had a New York State scholarship and federally-insured student loans. I also spent nearly two years in the UK as a graduate student on a Fulbright Fellowship. All three of my kids have relied on scholarships, federally-insured student loans, and work-study grants to pay for their education. I want to make sure that these programs are available to future generations.
I vote for Democrats because I want my kids to live in a country where everyone has equal rights. We are still not there, but far more progress has been made under Democratic presidents than under their Republican counterparts. LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. A Democratic Congress and White House under President Obama ended don't ask, don't tell. My Republican governor thinks that civil rights should have been put to a vote. Republican governors in places like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas and North Carolina are making it harder for students, the elderly, and people of color to vote. Not everyone has government-issued ID. My mom, who passed away last fall, no longer had government-issued ID. She gave up driving many years ago. Under the rules passed in these Republican-dominated states, she could not have voted in 2008. I am tired of voter suppression; it is the poll tax of the 21st century.
I vote for Democrats because I want a foreign policy that is based on knowledge rather than fear. I hated almost everything that Bush the Lesser did during his 8 years in office, but I am angriest about the Iraq War. As an IGTNT diarist, I wrote about too many young people who lost their lives in a war that was based on lies. These were wonderful young men and women who wanted to serve their country. Many joined because they wanted to use the GI Bill to continue their education. Our men and women in uniform deserve better. Our foreign policy should never be based on fears of mushroom clouds and yellow cake from Africa. I am terrified for the future of this country when I hear the neo-cons and the Republican presidential contenders speak about Iran. We do not need another war in the Middle East.
I want a better world for my kids and the generations that come after them. I want them to have clean air and clean water. We need a better solution to our country's energy future than "drill, baby, drill." I have no illusions. President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are far from perfect. However, when I watch the Republican goat rodeo, I am reminded of the old saying:
Voting is just like driving. If you want to go backward, choose R. If you want to go forward, choose D. I will be working to re-elect President Obama and a Democratic Congress this fall.