What green initiatives, the Nuclear Renaissance? Clean coal? The National Bioeconomy Blueprint? US solar and wind energy companies have been collapsing left and right. Solyndra happened to make the news because of the government investment. Obama is just another greenwasher pretending to care about the environment. He cannot blame this on Congress; during his first two years he had a solid majority in both houses of Congress, and what does he have to show for it? A deeply flawed health insurance reform bill that forces people to participate in a broken system? A sham of an economic recovery that has chiefly benefited investors in the stock market?

If that were not enough, whatever happened to the Freedom of Choice Act and the Equal Rights Amendment? Are these even on the agenda? Would there have been any need for the Lily Ledbetter Act if the ERA was in the Constitution?

Certainly Obama and his party have done some good things that would never have seen the light of day under John McCain, but he had the chance to do so much more. I think he squandered his political capital on that health insurance reform sham, which only passed because he was willing to throw women under the bus to pacify the anti-choice zealots, and now it appears likely the Supreme Court will throw at least part of it out. I am really sick of being expected to settle for crumbs just because the Republicans are worse.

Here are the things that I think that the President has gotten absolutely right. I applaud the signing of the Lily Ledbetter Act. It was the right thing to do at the right time. The President also deserves kudos for repealing DADT; passing health care reform legislation; encouraging investment in green energy initiatives and supporting the revitalizing of the automotive industry. All of those are outstanding achievements.

On the other hand, I feel that the health care reform act did not go far enough in covering the average uninsured citizen and gives too much away to the insurance industry. I have always and still support a single payer system and I hold out the hope that the United States will see universal health care in my lifetime. I also have serious concerns about President Obama’s stance on issues like: the XL pipeling; telecom immunity;l the NSA spying program; the failure to close Guantanemo, the treatment of whistleblowers; the detainment of Bradley Manning; and the escalation of the war in Afghanistan. These are issues which I just can’t brush aside and pretend don’t exist. I am a realist. I know that everything on the President’s agenda could not be accomplished in a single term. I also realize that this President has had to contend with one of the most obstructionist House of Representatives in history. The endless time wasted on discussing the President’s birth and his religion were an embarrassment to this nation.

On the other hand, I can not support Mitt Romney or the GOP agenda either. The policies and the budget cuts that the GOP have proposed and passed in several states across this nation are barbaric and misogynistic. Mr. Romney’s pandering to “the Southern and rural” audience not only smacked of insincerity but was demeaning. Comments like “cheesy grits” and “fans in trash bags” revealed just out of touch the candidate is with the audience that he was attempting to woo. And the one accomplishment that I would give Mr. Romney kudos for, the health care plan in Massachusetts, is the one thing that he is trying desperately to distance himself. In the public’s eye that smacks of hypocrisy. I disagree with Mr Romney’s energy and fiscal policy plans. And finally, I could never vote for anyone who thought it was a good idea to just let the US automotive industry collapse. And I have a strong feeling that the majority of employees at GM, Ford, Goodyear, Firestone and the thousands of automotive related product companies throughout the US and around the globe feel the same way.