Reply #42: This is a painful process for me.

[Lasher]

Since I was first eligible to vote, I have never missed a primary or general election - except for one time when I was overseas in the Army and they didn't send the absentee ballot I applied for. I have always voted exclusively for Democrats, because I believe in what the party stands for.

Extension of the Bush tax cuts flies in the face of progressive taxation. But even more importantly, protection of our New Deal social programs is a sacred trust of my Democratic Party. If events unfold this year as I think they will, I won't be able to recognize my party anymore.

I don't know exactly how I would react, but if a Democratic President signs a bill that includes Social Security and Medicare cuts, he will change the color of this old Yellow Dog.