5 groups with a serious stake on Election Day
For some voters, the all-too-regular gridlock in Washington may make it seem like the occupant in the White House can't bring about real change. For others, however, Election Day could have a very clear and direct impact on their lives. Here's a look at five groups of people with a substantial stake in the presidential election.
1. Defense industry employees
There are few differences between President Obama and Mitt Romney as distinct as the difference between their plans for the military. Mr. Obama has already started implementing a plan to make the military smaller and more flexible. Romney, by contrast, wants to increase defense spending. The choice could have a significant impact on the aerospace and defense industry, which employs millions of Americans.
According to research from the consulting firm Deloitte, the U.S. aerospace and defense industry directly employed 1.05 million workers in 2010. More than 3.5 million U.S. jobs overall were either directly or indirectly related to aerospace and defense -- not including skilled workers employed by the federal government or airlines. California had the most workers associated with the defense industry in 2010, with 162,162 direct industry employees and 641,378 people directly or indirectly associated with it. After California, the states with the most defense employees were Washington, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Connecticut and Virginia.
Comparing the candidates on defense spending
These people work for companies like Advex, a defense contractor in Hampton, Va., that makes precision parts for aircraft carriers, or Electric Boat, which employs engineers, welders, carpenters and others to build nuclear attack submarines in Connecticut.
This sector would surely benefit from a Romney administration. The Republican candidate says he wants to set defense spending at a minimum level of four percent of the Gross Domestic Product and would build 15 new warships every year, compared to the president's nine. According to independent estimates, Romney would increase defense spending by more than $2 trillion dollars over 10 years.
"We have to make decisions based upon uncertainty, and that means a strong military. I will not cut a military budget," Romney said in the Oct. 22 presidential debate.
By comparison, Mr. Obama has already cut projected Defense Department spending by $487 billion over a decade, allowing only for growth with inflation -- in other words, he is essentially keeping defense spending flat. Mr. Obama in January unveiled a new defense strategy for a smaller, more flexible military force, which he said will prepare the nation for the threats of the future while restoring balance between the defense budget and domestic spending. "The size and structure of our military and defense budget have to be driven by a strategy--not the other way around," Mr. Obama said then.
While the election will certainly impact the industry, the biggest hit could come before the next presidential term. Defense cuts totaling around $500 billion could go into effect January 1 unless Congress acts to avert them.
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1. Eliminate Excessive Taxes
2. Eliminate the National Debt
3. Eliminate Deficit Spending
4. Protect Free Markets
5. Abide by the Constitution of the United States
6. Promote Civic Responsibility
7. Reduce the Overall Size of Government
8. Believe in the People
9. Avoid the Pitfalls of Politics
10. Maintain Local Independence
Which of these principles do you have a problem with?
If you apply these principles to your own household why not expect the federal government to live by the same rules
55 million on medicaid
If 4.6 million are low income seniors and 31 million are children, who are the other 19.4 million?
Are they the ILLEGAL ALIENS and THIRD GENERATION WELFARE CHECK DRAWERS?
This country needs REAL JOBS.
Utterly incredible that CBS assesses the election's impact on relatively SMALL groups like defense-industry or government employees (a few million each) and ignores its impact on gigantic groups like women (150 million plus), people of color (70 to 90 million), and the 47%! Yes, I know some women, people of color, and people who receive government benefits actually support the Spoiled Fratboy ticket (for reasons I cannot begin to fathom). But millions of American women and people of color and seniors and military service members and veterans consider the possibility that Romney/Ryan might win this election a profound personal threat. So do millions of white men who don't receive government benefits but DO genuinely believe that all people are created equal. These groups, too, have "a serious stake on Election Day"!
Pence is getting a ton of money from out of state, and it's those rich people that want to keep their gravy train of record low tax breaks. I can't believe Romney wants to cut taxes more, when we can't even pay for what we've got now.
We MUST cut entitlements, not matter how much we raise taxes
If we quit sending so much money to countries that hate us
If we quit giving billions to Obama supporters' "green companies" like Solyndra, BrightSource, A123, and several others that are already bankrupt...
If we quit giving welfare to people who just don't want to work...
If we quit paying for welfare cell phones..
If we quit quit paying welfare mothers to have more babies...
As long as we continue to REWARD bad behavior and tax the people who are trying to work and take care of themselves, things will only get worse.
I have worked for 35 years and I just can't afford any more taxes and Obama is the worst president of my lifetime.
If Obama wins tomorrow, I think I will quit working and sign up on welfare, food stamps, get a medicaid card, get into federal housing until THE FREE RIDE WELL RUNS DRY.
CONSERVATIVES:
They use their rear end for talking and looking at the future. Years ago they were for child labor and no vote for women.
"It is not true that all conservative people are stupid; it is true, however, that most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873.
When the country has to borrow money and you want to look at who you should blame, look to th administration that incurred the liabilities, not the one that has to borrow money to pay them off. Here's a good example of the sitting president's problems: A couple gets divorced, and the the husband learns that his wife ran up $100,000 in credt card debt while they were married. If he doesn't pay Saks and Nieman Marcus, it's his FICO score that gets trashed.
YOu would probably do well to take a course in Introductory Accounting at a local Community College, if you're going to write comments about US debt and/or the deficit. Oh, you ought to read the Constitution; the president is not a monarch - no president has the power to "fix" the deficit.