Roadmap to the Future

The other day my mom asked me about Mitt Romney. What he was about, how he differed from Obama, etc. I gave her a semi-explanation but basically said, "You're probably pro-Romney." Generally I just assume any older Chinese person is Republican. Or maybe that's just the Chinese parents we grew up around. Del Mar, say hey!

In all the parties my mom has hosted here, I can only recall a few dinner conversations that have even touched on politics. During one of them, my mom's good friend was trying to explain why everyone had to register and vote for Obama. Hearing her rail against Romney was surprising.

Later I asked her if her pleas generally fell upon deaf ears. She said, "probably."

This was an interesting article about Paul Ryan, Romney's newly selected running mate. It's mainly about Ryan's economic theories and his rise to prominence in the Republican party. I took one of those "which are you" quizzes awhile back and Ryan came up as my match. That, plus his (prior) allegiance to Ayn Rand, made me pay attention to him. Of course I'm not a Republican but I try to read as much as possible of the other side, especially on the economics stuff, in which I'm fundamentally conservative. Reading all of Rands' books will do that to you.

What Ryan espouses is pretty drastic though. Privatization of Social Security, vouchers for Medicare and Medicaid, a government that is drastically scaled back. And the military. There's always the military. Since 2001, "annual defense spending has risen more than a hundred per cent...and it already constitutes more than half of all discretionary government spending." Anyone surprised by this?

"In practical terms it would make most of what the federal government does -- from maintaining infrastructure to air-traffic control, environmental regulation, and crime fighting -- unaffordable. Ryan's path to prosperity, in other words, is a path that ends with the federal government spending its money on health care, Social Security, and the military, and little else."
-Call That A Budget?-

I keep trying to dig into what I really think about the ideological gap between the Republican and Democratic ways of handling money. I tend to start with what rules I'd impart on my children. Am I responsible for their financial well being? For how long? What legislation would I pass to keep them accountable? For some reason though, I'm pretty sure using the parent/child analogy isn't helpful in thinking about national economics. So I should probably not try to model it that way.

In the 1990s, Charles Barkley's grandmother once admonished him for supporting the Republicans. She said that only rich people were Republican. His reply was that he WAS rich. (Barkley is pro-Obama now.) That's basically how it lines up. If you've got money -- or are ultra-religious -- you're Republican. If you're not, then you're a Democrat. Obviously it's not that simple but that's the two dichotomies. It's rare to meet people who don't vote according to their financial status/background. Which makes sense I guess. Even if that seems kind of predictable.

Really, I think it just comes down to "earn" and whether you think those quotation marks are necessary. Younger Randian me would have knee-jerk said, "Nope, those aren't necessary." But older me knows better. What I don't know is what older me thinks about other stuff because I'd put all that aside for awhile. I guess it's a good time to start figuring that shit out again.

"Ryan told me that the class of Republicans elected in 2010 was transformational. 'Usually, you get local career politicians who want to be national career politicians,' he said. 'They’re more cautious. They’re more risk-averse. They’re more focused on just reelection.' He went on, 'This crop of people who came up are doctors and dentists and small-business people and roofers and D.A.s. They’re not here for careers -- they’re here for causes."
-Fussbudget: How Paul Ryan captured the G.O.P.-

Another thing that caught my eye was Ryan's proposed ten year budget, which amounted to only 70+ pages. That's novella length. I mean, it's probably dense as hell but I would've thought that planning our nation's fiscal future would take a lot more ink. Throw that sucker up on Amazon for 99 cents Paul, I'll download it.

Last Saturday my mom pulled up to the driveway in a newly purchased Lexus GS 350. She'd been talking about getting another car for awhile now and after seemingly endless consultation with friends and family -- I think George gets her roundabout decision making process from my mother -- she decided to eschew a used car (my recommendation) for a new one.

My mom was positively giddy as it's the only car she's ever chosen, because my dad always used to pick our cars. I doubt she'll be this happy ever again, until there's a grandchild presented to her. I know George inherited this giddiness from my mom because she got a new bike recently. Take a look at this smile on George's face from her big day and that's exactly what my mom looked like last weekend. Now we are a family of go-getters. My mom in her Lexus, George on her bike, and me on whatever they aren't using.

In related news, I am now free to drive anywhere/anytime I want because we are a two car family again. Thanks for caring about me during this joyous time, you know who you are. Who you are.

My mom has also declared that nobody else can drive her car. Except maybe family. It's just too pretty and precious. We spent an afternoon shuttling between Walmart, Costco, and Target looking for the right sized floor mats. Keep in mind that the car already comes with factory perfect ones. My mom just wants an extra layer of plastic protection. I took the opportunity to explain to her what O.C.D. was. She's been constantly using that acronym ever since. "Is this OCD? Is X's mom OCD? What else is OCD?"

All of it Mom, you've made us all OCD. For life.