Letter to our dear Candidate

Dear Mr. Romney,

As a young, college educated, lower-middle class, and female parent, it is amazing for me to think that only 47% would automatically side against you.

Why would a young person vote for you?  You are blatantly out of touch with what is important to people who are under 30.

Why would someone who is college educated vote for you?  You are not concerned with carving the road towards a more lucrative education system that does not drown its students in debt, and starve its academics.   Teachers, principles, and child care professionals are the least appreciated folk in our country.   For the hours of preparation, the personal resources unaccounted for that are used for the classroom, the extra time taken out of one’s day – it is not an 9-5 job.   There are so many unpaid hours.   So much work, often unaccounted for.   All for a teacher to be graded by how their students can memorize standardized bubble tests.

Why would anyone in their right mind vote for you if they make less than twenty thousand…hell, hundred thousand per year?!  You define middle class as over two hundred thousand: why, so you can justifiably give rich people greater tax breaks?  Your personal wealth is and always has been so enormous that it is a joke to surmise that you can relate to anyone attempting to make a life off of minimum wage – more correctly referred to as dirt-poor-cannot-sustain-yourself-nor-your-family-off-this wage.

There is not much more that upsets me more than to see females who claim to support you.   Based off of your policy and what you say on the campaign (not what you used to say in campaigns past), you fundamentally see women as helpless, second-class citizens who cannot make our own decisions.   That’s it.   You cannot be a self-loving, independent person and agree with your policies on choice.

From what I can tell, your policy on family is fine; have a gaggle of kids, easily support all of them with the money your money makes on interest, and live easily.   Not quite so simple when you have to apportion your paychecks week to week, rarely coming up with a surplus to put into savings.

And by the way, I am a responsible adult.  I care for my child.  I accept some welfare for the duration of my maternity/paid family leave.   I have two jobs - one which I'm working while I'm supposed to bond with my child because between my two jobs, and my husband's job working midnight to 8am at a Casino, it is still very difficult to make ends meet.  I have earned my Bachelor's degree, thankfully without any help and without debt - but so few people can say that.  Unlike you, I could not merely ask for help from my parents to pay for college.  Tadd has earned his A.S.  but with help - and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that because part of what made my country great is that we ARE entitled to an education -- but somewhere along the way that has been lost.   Education was never supposed to be the gift of the privileged.   It has always been the nexus of the American Dream.   Now, we teachers whose jobs and pensions are a joke; we have kids who cannot pass the high school exit exam nor even graduate; and we have college tuitions skyrocketing, quality of education plummeting, frazzled professors…need I say more?

Not one person is entirely self made.  Even you are not entirely as self made as you proclaim.  You know what's more?  I may receive money back from the government, but nobody keeps as much as you do!  It is hard for me to believe that you pay anything in taxes with your blatant censorship of your earnings.   If you would like me to pay more in taxes, you ought to consider paying a living wage; I would appreciate being able to support my little family.

Do you know what I do with my tax refund, Mr. Romney?  I save it with the hopes of possibly being able to purchase a home.  He has enough at the end of each year to purchase a few thousand homes the size and price range I would struggle to afford.   And even if my dream were not so noble, you have no right to tell me that I do not deserve the money I receive post-filing.   For me and many, it is the difference of standard of living, quality of life.   Issues you have never battled.

I do not have any entitlement issues because I believe that I deserve to purchase a home for my family to live permanently, to own; I am currently preparing to move for the third time in 10 months, thus the issue especially hits home.  I do not have entitlement issues because I believe that my two month old son deserves the same quality and accessibility to health care as the likes of you.  I certainly do not have entitlement issues when I think that millionaires can pay steeper taxes so the poorer of society can have food...with a table for one's family to gather around inside a safe home to eat within.

I DO have issues with those that believe that they are what makes this country great because "they made that," or whatever your campaign has heralded.   No.  WE made this.  WE ALL made this.  All successful businesses and companies thrive because of roads, because of communities, because of TAXES, and because of consumers who were willing to trust the product.  I essentially have issues with those who tell me I have issues.  Try living on this end of the spectrum, sir.  I am fortunate compared to the truly poor.  Try forging a living at Starbucks or at a Casino or at McDonalds or as a teacher and tell me that I have entitlement issues.

Basically Mr. Romney: Fuck you and that very expensive [tax exempt] horse you rode in on.

Sincerely a woman who would never vote for you,
Caitlin Sawatsky