The government has grown large and wasteful, there's no doubt about it. There's nothing wrong with restructuring, but it also requires significant changes in economic policy and government spending. But Democrats and Republicans both have their own untouchable "sacred cows" in Social Security and Defense spending, respectively. A cooperative approach to spending cuts is necessary, and I don't think that's something Romney brings to the table. He's more interested in playing a partisan game and appealing to big business; and as history and most economic theory shows, the "trickle down effect" just doesn't work. In fact, income inequality in American continues to grow. The American Dream is dead, and has been for a very long time.

Moreover, stimulating the economy will require tax increases in some areas. I know it seems like an impossible concept to some, but we need to reform the tax code. Romney isn't even willing to do that much, and is still fascinated with the idea that tax cuts to top earners will create jobs. This simply isn't true. I beg anyone to find statistical evidence that credibly supports this claim.

Obama has made a concerted effort to extend a hand across the aisle, which has been slapped down repeatedly by congressional Republicans. To be fair, Democrats in Congress are almost as unreasonable; but Obama and Boehner nearly came to accord during the debt ceiling crisis before partisan Republicans slapped down a deal that would have significantly downsized the government and reduced excess spending. Obama's more moderate than most people give him credit for. Romney's swung so far right at this point that I don't find him at all credible.

Though this is only tangentially related, I'm also incredibly concerned about each candidate's approach to dealing with global warming. Whereas Romney and most republicans outrightly ignore the problem, at least Obama recognizes it. It may seem counterintuitive to most corporate conservatives, but we must devote some spending to mitigating and adapting to the challenges that global warming will pose now, or we face imminent catastrophe. Everything suggests we'll be experiencing a hurricane of changes soon, which could be economically devastating under a president like Romney, who is unlikely to be willing to stimulate necessary changes in both the public and private sectors.