Election 2012: What Matters to Me {Joy}

“Women Voters” are a much sought-after demographic for the 2012 Presidential Election. As a mom, I’ve been perplexed by how often I hear or read “women voters care about XXX” or “mothers in this country care about YYY issues and that’s why they will vote for This Guy or That Guy”.

So, of course, I was curious: what do Scottsdale Moms care about and what will be some of the issues that we will take into consideration when voting this November?

First, let me state our ground rules:

1. We will not endorse–or even mention–a political party or candidate.
2. We will discuss our personal point of view and how that affects our decisions.
3. This is not an opportunity for us to bash, belittle or argue why another side doesn’t have it right. We are simply opening up a discussion to present the different perspectives of moms who live in the Valley of the Sun.

In this post I’m going to answer the following questions: (1) What do I see as the role of government? and (2) what will be the main issues that I will take into consideration when voting this November? Tomorrow Sarah will follow the same format (from a pretty different point of view–which is part of the point of all this!).

What do I see is the role of government?

As the owners of two small businesses, my husband and I are faced daily with the effects of decisions that are made through legislation that either help or hurt our businesses. We started Cactus CrossFit in 2008. That’s right, we started a business in the middle of the most financially challenging year since the 80s Recession. It has been awesome and we’ve never looked back!

As such, I believe in the Free Market, I love capitalism with my heart and I’m not afraid of the failure that can come when supply is too high for the less-than-present demand (or visa versa). I believe that failure is a tool for growth and makes individuals and businesses stronger. I absolutely, get a huge kick out of learning from my mistakes and I love encouraging others to try new things and learn from their mistakes too. I take this philosophy into my parenting, where I’m happy to let my little ones stumble and struggle in order to master a skill. This is how I learn best and I assume that is how others learn as well. I wouldn’t want to deprive someone of valuable self-knowledge derived from good ol’ hard work.

So, it is from this perspective that I determine what role I’d like government to have in our country. And, I’m not a lawyer and I know there are all sorts of crazy interpretations of different parts of the Constitution, but I like to go back to the basics when trying to make heads or tails of all the noise out there.

In short, the preamble of the Constitution of the United States says it best: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, (1) establish Justice, (2) insure domestic Tranquility, (3) provide for the common defence, (4) promote the general Welfare, and (5) secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Let freedom ring!

What will be the main issues that I will take into consideration when voting this November?

When talking about issues that are most important to me I must refer back to the perspective that I come from; a small business owner who loves the Free Market, fiscal responsibility and living within my means.

1. Budget Reform – who can cut spending and government-funded programs in order to operate within the means of our country’s tax income

2. Healthcare Reform – Yup, this is a huge frustration to me. I’m floored at how broken this system is from care providers to insurance companies. On this, I’d love to see both regulations and free market take a hand-in-hand approach.

3. Role of Military – I worked for the Department of Defense for about 3 years upon graduating from college. I saw both great achievements and great waste. I refer back to the preamble here where it states we are to “provide for the common defense”. Yes please. Defend me. Defend our borders. Keep me, my family, our country safe, but I see this as an area where our spending and our global politics can be greatly improved through strong leadership.

4. Social Issues – Going back to our Constitution, I love that our government has the role to “establish justice”. I strongly believe that this means that our government has the responsibility to advocate for those without a voice, namely the infirmed and the unborn. Life is a precious gift that should be protected especially when stronger and

Ah! Was that uncomfortable for you? Are you so angry or are you ready to let me know what YOU believe! Please do so in the comments below! We love sharing ideas and hearing about what is most important to the women in our community! Perhaps I’m in the minority, I’d love to hear about that too!

A note to our amazing readers and commenters: Please help us keep this discussion kind and productive by sticking to the same ground rules we laid out in the beginning of this post. Please avoid endorsing a party or candidate specifically, and please share your personal point of view (rather than generalizing or using “us vs. them”). Thank you!

Photo credit: Flickr creative commons user lwvc