... you nailed it, sacey0612!

...this is my first blog ever. You are all very inspiring bloggers! I'm in my late 30's and this is the first election I've ever been really passionate about. Why? (a) I’m getting wiser with age, and (b) because as a woman who runs a small, but growing business, I have a lot to lose here. Our company has just started hiring more people and adding insurance benefits for employees. Our hope is to start an employee ownership plan in the next year or two. However, we cannot grow if we are burdened with more and more taxes! More people working and receiving insurance benefits is much better than more uninsured people receiving unemployment benefits!!!

I am registered R but do not necessarily agree with all the R platforms. I am pro-life, but like many Republican women, I do not believe the government should be involved in a women's right to choose what is best for her own wellbeing. Thankfully, I've never had to even think about it from a personal standpoint.

I truly believe that if government … local, state and federal… were forced to justify every penny spent, develop budgets from $0, eliminate wasteful job functions, and be more realistic with their own benefits packages, there would be more than enough money to appropriately fund education and other important programs. I do not believe that all these important programs should be funded by penalizing individuals and businesses for being successful. People in America have the right to dream, work hard to achieve their dreams and reap the rewards of their hard work. We have the right to earn to our potential and the right to give as we choose. Take from the rich and give to the poor only creates more dependence on government – do we really want to become a socialist society?

Last night, I attended a fundraiser for Kids Beating Cancer. I wish I could have been one of the big donors in the banquet room, but I did what I could. I have been attending such events for several years and it’s really sad to see such an extreme decrease in giving this year. You could see in the faces across the room that people truly wanted to give more. I’m pretty sure that all charity organizations are feeling the impact of the economy.

The best community support programs are not government sponsored / run programs, but the ones created from the hearts of people who are passionate about their causes and are supported by businesses and working people. I have met several women who have started non-profit organizations that fill vital needs in their communities. These women ensure that a very high percentage of the money donated to support their causes actually goes to the cause by keeping their administrative costs at a minimum. How many government-run organizations can you say this about?

Politics are so difficult because personal situations are different for everyone. I try very hard to keep my opinions to myself to avoid offending anyone and it can be frustrating at times. I appreciate a venue to express myself where women can chat intelligently without taking offence to differing viewpoints.

"You mentioned on many occasions how you can't have pride for your country or pledge allegiance. I have to wonder if you've visited other countries or have thought of trying to live somewhere else, just to see if you would find better opportunities or government systems."

Yes, I have said that I can't pledge allegiance to ANY nation, because to me it is a form of idolatry to an abstract idea. That does not mean that I don't call America my home, and it doesn't give anyone else the right to suggest that if I don't like things about this country to go somewhere else. That seems like a contradictory idea to what it means to be an American.

I have stated numerous times that I am very grateful to live in the US and very grateful for the experiences and opportunities I have as an American-especially as a woman!

There are 49 countries represented at my graduate school and I am fully aware of the extremely difficult obstacles women from other countries face just to go to school! I have not lived in another country, but only because that opportunity has never presented itself. My family was lucky if we got to travel to the beach once a year let alone go to another country. I am hoping to travel more when I am done with grad school.

The fact that I have not lived in another country has no bearing on what I know the U.S. has done to make life shitty for other countries. One thing we agree on is that the U.S. takes care of its own. And while the U.S. may have our token charity cases, we heap much destruction (economic and political) on other countries which in turn causes people to want to come here, because (ironically) we take care of "our own."

Want an end to Mexican immigration??? Tell American companies to stop marketing American products/ways of life to Mexicans who have no way of attaining such "ways" other than to seek the fruits of American consumerism in AMERICA!!!!

I have a friend/neighbor from Norway. We talk politics all the time. Norway has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. They have some of the highest taxes, but they have national health insurance, national education (through college) and no one is ever in jail for more than 24 years. No life sentences, no death sentences. He is baffled by the way we do things. He expected the US to be more "compassionate" (his word not mine) but has perceived our ways of doing things as angry, reactive, individualistic, divisive, and not in the best interest of human beings who don't fit certain criteria.

Honestly though, going to another country WILL cause a homesickness for American conveniences (I have NEVER denied that.) But it will make me even more angry at how the U.S. has contributed to global conditions of this world.

I don't state negative "feelings" toward my country. This has nothing to do with my "feelings." I have stated conditions and policies that our country has participated in that I think are unjust, inhumane, and unethical. I am not going to pretend I don't know those things exist and I am going to do the best I can to prevent others from denying them as well. That IS how I make changes in my country.

Your job analogy doesn't quite fit for me either because its not about "not liking it." It's like this: What if you worked for a great company in a fantastic job but the company you worked for was seriously corrupt and many of the people you worked with either denied the corruption or enjoyed their paychecks or the people they worked with so much that they justified the illegal action as necessary. I would hope that simply quitting would not be an option. I'd think you'd have to somehow, in whatever way possible bring to light what was wrong.

I believe in standing up against issues in proportion to how they affect people who are least able to stand up for themselves. With only 10% of the annual budget going to ALL of social welfare programs, the fact that a percentage of that 10% are abusing the system is not a concern that is at the top of my priority list. When the government spends half of its annual budget (your hard earned money) on defense spending (more than any other country in the world)I think there is a problem that will affect me no matter what country I live in. That's where I choose to focus my energy.

There is not a country in the world that is not affected by U.S. foreign policy. If I moved to another country I'd have less opportunity to bring to light our country's shortcomings.

If I had to "pledge allegiance" to anything, it would be to an ideal that puts as much value on other people and places as we do to our own.

In short, I ain't goin' anywhere.