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The Desire To Be Independent

Last night I drove my friend Kim and her sister home and got into one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had in quite a long time. Kim believes her boyfriend needs to become more independent from his parents as she sees them as still treating him as if he is a young kid, he is actually nineteen. He recently got a good paying job and she says that he is on his way and hopefully will become less dependent on his parents. Her sister on the other hand says that neither of them are ready to be fully independent; she brought up very good points seeing that both live under their roofs of their respected parents still and a part time job will never even pay half of any bill. Her final thoughts on the matter were “You’re both not ready to be independent , nobody is forcing you to do so. Ya both can still ask your parents for whatever you want unlike when you’re older. You need to enjoy that luxury while you still can.”

The most expensive thing I ever bought with my own money, I did feel quite accomplished to do so

Going through middle and high school I was always labeled as the “rich kid” and I tried so hard to shake that false nickname. That goal coupled with just growing up can explain why I desire to be seen or at least try to be independent and make my own way. I can’t even remember the last time I asked for a gift, birthday or even Christmas, on top of that fact nights I go out with friends I always turn down any money my parents want to give me. I’ve gotten into the habit of “If I can’t afford it, I don’t buy it.” It seems to be quite a good motto to live by. My desire to be independent is fueled by my pride, I feel that relying on my parents when I’m eighteen isn’t something I should be doing.

Looking around at my group of friends most of them go to school full time and a handful have a job on the side. Of course thanks to scholarships and loans that money earned from a job is mostly used for leisurely purposes and rarely saved or invested. On the other hand though, most of them want to make it on their own as well and really just grow up and be dependent on no one by themselves. It’s safe to assume that all of us teenagers want to be independent.

Perhaps though, my friend’s sister is completely right. Perhaps none of us teens are really one hundred percent ready to make it on our own just yet. We still live under our parents roofs and I can’t say I know any of my friends who pay all of their own bills by themselves. We still have the luxury of being helped by our parents and it really is something we should enjoy and not brush aside. I guess my desire to be fully independent can be put on hold for at least another year or two.

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Mitt Romney Politics

Bobby Jindal – “I Think [Mitt Romney] Is Absolutely Wrong” On That Gift Statement

I think it’s pure political ambition. I think Bobby Jindal saw an opportunity to be against the looser Romney and he jumped on it. It was just a week ago before the election when everything Mitt Romney said was automatically endorsed by Jindal, but now, Jindal is leading the opposition against  the former Republican presidential candidate.

Asked about Romney’s latest statement that he lost the election because of Obama’s “gifts” to different ethnic groups and women, the Republican governor of Louisiana couldn’t disagree more.

“No, I think that’s absolutely wrong,” he said at a press conference that opened the RGA’s post-election meeting here. “Two points on that: One, we have got to stop dividing the American voters. We need to go after 100 percent of the votes, not 53 percent. We need to go after every single vote.

“And, secondly, we need to continue to show how our policies help every voter out there achieve the American Dream, which is to be in the middle class, which is to be able to give their children an opportunity to be able to get a great education. … So, I absolutely reject that notion, that description. I think that’s absolutely wrong.”

I think Bobby Jindal is trying to get some recognition for 2016. Move over Chris Christie!

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Mitt Romney Politics

Mitt Romney’s “Gift” Statement Shows That Republicans Still Don’t Get It

On Wednesday, both the President and Mr. Romney spoke in length about the presidential election that took place a week before. But the style of the two men and the things they had to say showed the vast contrast between them, as one extended an invitation to the other to move the country forward, while the other man continued in divisive politics guaranteed to divide this country along racial and social lines.

Can you guess who would like that division? If you said Mitt Romney, you’d be correct.

In his first press conference since winning reelection, President Obama was asked whether he had followed up on a statement he made in his victory speech about inviting Mitt Romney and finding a way to work together. The President replied that he was giving Romney some time to come to terms with the outcome of the election, but would make that invitation in the future.

The President;

“I do think he did a terrific job running the Olympics, and that skill set of trying to figure out how do we make something work better applies to the federal government.

There are a lot of ideas that I don’t think are partisan ideas but are just smart ideas about how can we make the federal government more customer friendly. How can we make sure that we’re consolidating programs that are duplicative; how can we eliminate additional waste. He presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with. So it would be interesting to talk to him about something like that. There may be ideas that he has with respect to jobs and growth that can help middle-class families that I want to hear. So I’m not either prejudging what he’s interested in doing, nor am I suggesting I’ve got some specific assignment. But what I want to do is to get ideas from him and see if there are some ways that we can potentially work together.”

But around the same time that Mr. Obama was promising to work with the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney was busy with a conference call of his own. Speaking to his donors, Romney continued the same politics of division his campaign embraced in the final weeks of his run for president. Explaining why he lost the election, Romney attempted to remove himself and his failed ideas from the equation and credited “gifts” from the Obama administration to certain ethnic and socioeconomic groups as the reason for his loss.

Mr. Romney:

“With regards to the young people, for instance, a forgiveness of college loan interest was a big gift. Free contraceptives were very big with young, college-aged women. And then, finally, Obamacare also made a difference for them, because as you know, anybody now 26 years of age and younger was now going to be part of their parents’ plan, and that was a big gift to young people. They turned out in large numbers, a larger share in this election even than in 2008.

You can imagine for somebody making $25,000 or $30,000 or $35,000 a year, being told you’re now going to get free health care, particularly if you don’t have it, getting free health care worth, what, $10,000 per family, in perpetuity — I mean, this is huge. Likewise with Hispanic voters, free health care was a big plus. But in addition with regards to Hispanic voters, the amnesty for children of illegals, the so-called Dream Act kids, was a huge plus for that voting group.”

Of course, if Mitt Romney had won the election, getting rid of healthcare would have been his number one priority – he said it numerous times in his campaign. And when it came to women and their healthcare decisions, Romney was/is in favor of inserting the Government in the middle of those private decisions a women make about her own life. It was also no secret that he was against the Dream Act and favored the ludicrous idea that anyone found illegally in the country must “self deport” back to the country of their birth.

Yes, those were all policy ideas of the Romney/Ryan Republican ticket, and all those ideas sucked.

In a nation that considers itself the greatest nation on earth, what’s wrong with making sure that the citizens have affordable healthcare instead of going to the emergency room when it’s too late? What’s wrong with allowing women their right to make their own healthcare decisions? And what’s wrong with implementing smart and necessary immigration policies to ensure that children brought to this country at a very young age be allowed to stay in the only country they know.

Those are some of the policies President Obama implemented in his first term – affordable healthcare, allowing women to make their own decisions and The Dream Act that provided a legal status to children brought to this country through no fault of their own. People voted based on what helped their situations, and calling those policies “gifts” exemplifies the problem with Mitt Romney and the Republicans in general – they just don’t get it!

Two different men, two different governing styles, two different sets of policies. And if what these two men said on Wednesday was any indication, Americans chose the right man for the job of President.

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