Let me say right now, Borepatch has a very excellent point. I’m going to disagree. I’m not going to support my argument nearly as well. Take that as you will. You should understand that my position is very much self-serving.
I do not like Mitt Romney. He sways with the wind. He signed onto seriously bad gun legislation. And Romneycare, need I say more?
He might just be another Obama. But! Psst! Here’s the first bit the disagreement part. He can only possibly be as bad as a 1st term Obama. He will not be as bad as an Obama not interested in re-election will be.
My household is broke. As in, we got a nice fat refund of nearly all of the taxes we paid in, broke. Not quite all, we’re still just barely tax-payers as of 2011. But we have no desire to be Julia (don’t worry, the link goes to JayG). We’re quickly picking up steam. We made more money (okay, lost less) in 2011 than 2010, but on our current trajectory, the machine will get darn close to absorbing us. It was too close for comfort in 2011. And dammit, subsidized success isn’t success at all.
So that refund got us out of foreclosure (yes, literally) and went back into the business. We will soon be increasing belt production (click that, it really is the best), and adding equipment cases and grips. These are partnerships that we have forged that will hopefully prove beneficial to us all.
I’m the accountant in the house. Were I unscrupulous, we wouldn’t have paid a dime in taxes. It wouldn’t have taken much. It wouldn’t really have been dishonest. It just runs on the wrong side of my ethics. Technically, since I hand out business cards and get people interested in holsters, I could write off my chiropractor expenses. I could write it off every time I teach a new shooter. I don’t. Currently, I don’t write off my time for web and office support even though that is completely legitimate. And I say absolutely none of this to make you feel sorry for me. We made our choices and I stand behind them.
I do want you to understand the problem though. We need to hire someone. We’ve got the person picked out. This person would be perfect. The long term goal is that this person would be a huge part of QC in later managing several people. We can’t do that right now. My husband is trying to juggle the responsibilities of being dad, teacher, and business owner all day every day. And he’s really great at it. Just so you know, you might not want to mention me as bread-winner in a social gathering. You will be lit up. I will do it. I can’t afford a private tutor, mechanic, cook, and currently home-health care worker on my salary. And that’s not including the incredible work he does with the holsters. And the customer support he does beyond just building the holsters. I supervise the number crunching. Whee. (Note to anyone that is married to an entrepreneur, tell them regularly how much they are really putting into the household and mean it. Ladies specifically, be his cheerleader, but only if you believe it. If you don’t, talk to me. I bet you are missing something. If you aren’t each believing in the dream. It isn’t going to happen.)
Were we unscrupulous, you’d be making our house payment. We wouldn’t have paid a dime in taxes. What I’m saying is that the rules changed enough that it seems awful clear that someone was trying to buy our vote with our own money. We ate all year long. We had clothes to wear, and we even had several luxuries. And yet, I could have gotten every dollar and then some back from the Fed. Didn’t. Won’t try.
If you did, fine. I’m not judging your situation. But really, the poverty level could honestly include a household that always has food, 3 cell phones, and multiple computers? Cable? Internet? BS.
Romney is a long way from who I want in office. But he’s not running for a single term. He doesn’t want to piss the rest of us off before his re-election. I don’t think he’s stupid either. He’ll pander, but I think we can be the people he panders to. And the more crap the left throws at him, the less I dislike him.
My decision isn’t set. I may find myself in agreement before November. But for now, I think the RINO is preferable.