toy trainIt goes without saying that supporters of Mitt Romney and President Obama have very different views of which candidate is best suited to fix the economy. Many Democrats, if not more Democrats than Republicans, are in a dire state of financial emergency. These last five years have been a financial struggle for everyone and, yes, even Democrats want to see it turnaround.  

According to recent reports, Mitt Romney’s solution to strengthen the economy is not to create more jobs but to implement a plan that includes firing teachers, firefighters, and policemen.  

Does that make sense to anyone? 

When the economy crashed in 2008, our nation faced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in 1929. When I voted for Obama in 2008, I voted for him knowing that it would take more than one term to fix the economy that had been in an economic decline for years before Obama took office. When George W. Bush took office in 2000, he inherited a stable and strong economy. By the time he left in 2008, however, Republican policies and initiatives crashed our economy, leaving President Obama and his new administration to pick up the pieces. 

And since then, I've experienced personal losses and been a witness to many friends suffering as well. Just last month, my father-in-law, a commercial real estate developer, lost ownership to the biggest source of income in the family business. This source of income was the foundation of the family business for the last 15 years and the source that guaranteed my husband’s salary for the last eight.

Thankfully, we were as prepared as we could be for what was to come. After making many changes to our lifestyle in the last few years, this year we faced our biggest decision yet. Deciding what to do about our two biggest expenses, the mortgage and school tuition. Selling our home would mean selling it at a loss leaving us with no equity and, therefore, no down payment for a new home. The other option was getting rid of private school.  

Since selling the house was really no option, we did not re-enroll two of our three children into the private school that we have been in for the last seven years. Our oldest son will be the only one to remain in the school only because he is nearing middle school, putting his education at a more critical turning point than the younger two children. 

Deciding between which of our three children would receive the better education was a low point for us. But despite our situation, I know how lucky we are compared to other families that have lost their homes, their cars, or their jobs. Still, I am hopeful that things will get better for us but I know that it will take more more time. There is still more work to do but ultimately, and I know that Obama is the best candidate to help move my family and this nation forward.

This post is part of a weekly conversation with our Moms Matter 2012 political bloggers. To see the original question and see what all the bloggers had to say, read How Has the Economy Affected You?

 

Image via  Eric Constantineau/Flickr