What was the hardest part of this election cycle for you?

[moonlight]

I didn't like the negative and the racist comments people would post on our local TV new FB page. It was all about 'we are moving. Those people can have this county.' I'm not saying all republicans are raciest but there are several in this area that did vote for Mitt and posted on FB where everyone could read it.

[niener]

1. Facebook. I'm somewhere in the middle (socially liberal, fiscally conservative). I could not believe some of the vitriol, the immature comments and thoughts that came from my friends there. And some of them are academic deans, administrators, teachers, etc. All very left-leaning, so they would say things like "you hate (gays, women, immigrants, etc.) if you vote for Romney" or "don't set our country back 50 years". The comments last night and today were ridiculous. Smug, self-righteous winners "the right person won" and losers who said things like "praying for this country." What upset me the most are the "praying" comments - are you praying for those who voted for Obama to see the error of their ways? I believe that praying should cover people's general well-being and not their personal decisions. Your prayers for my soul because I voted for Obama are not appreciated, I should not be made to feel that an appeal to a higher power needs to be made because my opinion is different than yours (and apparently those of that higher power). Prayers for this citizens of this country to stop being so hateful to one another over opinions, not facts, are the best place to start.

2. Politics in general. I really don't know what was going on during the last 2 weeks of the election cycle. We had to prepare for, survive, and clean up after a hurricane. But politics managed to insert itself into the disaster we are currently experiencing. WHO THE F CARES if the governor praised Obama for the job he was doing in regard to storm cleanup? It's not like Romney was going to win here anyway. Nobody here cared, as they had no power, no water, no heat. And then people saying that the "hurricane only helped Obama politically"??! F YOU!! Look, I was a political science major, I get that in a certain context, it can be discussed. But to bring it up, while people in this area still do not have power or heat, and in some cases clean water, have no homes to return to, and are panicking about a nor'easter?? Just. leave. it. the. f. alone. Until like January or something. Do not talk about it now. The areas majorly affected by the storm are blue states anyway. Why did people even need to bring this up?? How about focusing on why we can't get enough gas down here fast enough, or how we need to build more effectively along our coastlines and estuaries?

3. Apathy. Maybe its because I feel like this election took 2 years? Or that I felt torn between the two candidates? But I just wasn't excited this time around. Perhaps its because there never seems to be any real discourse about the issues. It takes 3 minutes for discussions about facts and solutions to dissolve into pissing matches about who was more wrong about something that happened several years ago. Still sorting out my feelings on this one (both my apathy and this election in general).

As a friend said on FB, now I can go back to finding out uses for Hidden Valley Ranch dressing and which car dealership I should buy my new wheels from. Oh, and whether or not hockey is going to come back.

Scarlett, you nailed it. All of it.

I've never blocked or defriended someone on facebook until this week. I'm so done with racism, sexism, classism, xenophobia and homophobia disguised as "differing political opinions". No, we don't have differing political opinions, you're just a dick.

I wasn't impacted directly by Sandy but it really made my blood boil to hear the 24 hour talking news heads (who I'm also completely done with and I think take a good chunk of the blame for why these elections have gotten so ugly) discussing whether it was good or bad for the campaign. What a sick joke.

[Chrisada]

Literally just now walking into play pickleball and they are still fucking talking about the democrats vs. the Republicans. I'm in the corner now typing this. Can we just play the damn game.

[Pollyanna]

Most difficult part of the election cycle was Tuesday night The next most difficult part will be January 31(first paycheck with the increased tax burden). How many folks here have created new budgets for 2013?

[GrayMatterWife]

Chrisada: maybe it's because I am pregnant...and pickles sound awesome...but I have to ask: what is pickleball?

[BonBon]

I was thinking that the hardest part was the animosity...now I'm thinking what bothered me the MOST, was the lack of talk about the real issues and how to solve them. Can we talk about the debt? The deficit? How to pay for the promises that have been made? The Patriot Act? NDAA? Drones? There are a LOT of issues that I feel are really important.

[Thirteen]

I was thinking that the hardest part was the animosity...now I'm thinking what bothered me the MOST, was the lack of talk about the real issues and how to solve them. Can we talk about the debt? The deficit? How to pay for the promises that have been made? The Patriot Act? NDAA? Drones? There are a LOT of issues that I feel are really important.

No kidding. It was so discouraging.
We didn't watch any of the debates for this very reason - it would have been so maddening, not hearing any answers for the questions we have.



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[PrincessFiona]

Tara. Total new budget for us here too. There is a lot of frustration in our house over that. DH is actually talking about scaling back services. Right now he has a no-wait policy on consults. He fits people in if they need to be seen same day or next day. He feels like those days are over. If he is going to be paying such a high tax bill it doesn't seem worth it to work as hard. I don't know if he is just frustrated or if we will finally seem some vacation days (which would be the good news about the taxes).

Chris ... you're so right! (of course!)

[diggitydot]

Nothing really changes for us. Rural family medicine + OB is a weird beast. More people with insurance (even with cuts to reimbursement rates) translates into a better financial picture and less "eating" the costs of care. Keep in mind the DRASTC pay difference between FM and most all other specialties. We're also *just* starting out this post-training life, so it's all new anyway.

The dude inherited a LOT of drug seeking patients from the doc he replaced. They are quickly being dropped from the practice when they pop positive for meds that haven't be prescribed for them or illicit drugs. That will sink his patient approval ratings, but it's worth it to protect his license and get some of these patients to consider rehab (which he discusses with them during the appointments).

[Pollyanna]

Nothing really changes for us. Rural family medicine + OB is a weird beast. More people with insurance (even with cuts to reimbursement rates) translates into a better financial picture and less "eating" the costs of care. Keep in mind the DRASTC pay difference between FM and most all other specialties. We're also *just* starting out this post-training life, so it's all new anyway.
.

No I don't mean from the healthcare perspective I mean from the tax bracket change (For 2013 and beyond, there will be five rate brackets: 15%, 28%, 31%, 36% and 39.6% (versus the current six brackets of 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35%)). Everyone is effected by that and everyone needs to change their budget accordingly.

[PrincessFiona]

What Tara said. That's why DH is talking about working less/earning less too ... he just can't stomach the idea of paying the increased percentage to the taxman. I can't either, tbh. I'd rather earn less and pay less in taxes as crazy as that sounds. We have been reworking our budget quite a bit.

Kris

[diggitydot]

Ah, gotcha -- still nothing really changes for us since this will be our first time with post-training pay/taxes. We're going to be Ina new tax bracket, anyway.

[Pollyanna]

What Tara said. That's why DH is talking about working less/earning less too ... he just can't stomach the idea of paying the increased percentage to the taxman. I can't either, tbh. I'd rather earn less and pay less in taxes as crazy as that sounds. We have been reworking our budget quite a bit.

Kris

And this is why increased taxes are part of what destroys an economy. I really don't think most people realize how hard this change will be for the average family making $40k. Decreasing take-home pay by about $2k/year is huge especially when costs will increase. Most people just don't have that kind of wiggle room in their budget.

[PrincessFiona]

Tara, we are thinking that we won't be sending our 8th grader to his catholic school for highschool. The public school peeps will celebrate (our other 4 go to public school, btw), but for him this will mean no orchestra (which is his life right now). If other people struggle, it will mean they will need to let go of more teachers. They already have over the last couple of years. :/

It also means that we shop less and save more. It seems most people don't want to see that, but it's true. If people don't put money into the economy, then businesses don't do well and job creation really slows.

The problem is .... I don't have the answer. Capitalism has to be balanced with the human aspect of society.

[Pollyanna]

Tara, we are thinking that we won't be sending our 8th grader to his catholic school for highschool. The public school peeps will celebrate (our other 4 go to public school, btw), but for him this will mean no orchestra (which is his life right now). If other people struggle, it will mean they will need to let go of more teachers. They already have over the last couple of years. :/

It also means that we shop less and save more. It seems most people don't want to see that, but it's true. If people don't put money into the economy, then businesses don't do well and job creation really slows.

The problem is .... I don't have the answer. Capitalism has to be balanced with the human aspect of society.

The beauty is that when people prosper they DO help more, they DO contribute more, society as a whole is better cared for by their neighbors than by the government.