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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2012
Students debate the next pres. From the Left By Matt Crumb Guest Columnist
By Belle Herrera Guest Columnist In my humble opinion, there is no other choice for president than Barack Obama. He has made countless amazing, historic and beneficial moves to bring this country forward. That’s the thing about President Barack Obama. He doesn’t want this country to go backward. Backward is what Mitt Romney wants to do and he hides it with his “complaining rather than explaining” tactic. That is something that in this day and age, we definitely cannot afford. Mitt Romney has made claims against women that he wants to take away rights dealing with OUR reproductive systems and stop funding for Planned Parenthood. How can you want to take something away that has successfully been implemented as a progressive move for women who have been pushed down long enough? Women have a voice now. This isn’t the 1950’s. Even from a Christian’s perspective, we can’t impose our beliefs on an entire country that is built up of so many different ones. So, saying that a woman shouldn’t have a right to choose is imposing that belief on others. I don’t believe abortion is right, but I also think that just because I don’t believe in it, doesn’t mean I should want to change it so that every other woman can’t have it. Taking it away would just move it to the black market and doctors with dirty knives and no license would take over. How dangerous does that sound? Mitt Romney has claimed that he wants to give tax breaks to the wealthier population. Trickle-down economics have been proven to not work successfully. You can’t grow an economy from the top down; it needs to be built from the middle out. The wealthier part of this country should do
their part and be taxed a little more in order to make progress towards a stable nation. He won’t be able to balance the budget. He even makes claims towards the fact that President Obama hasn’t fixed the economy in four years, but yet says he can fix it in eight to ten years. How does this add up? It doesn’t. It’s a blatant attack to remove President Obama based on the reason that they just don’t like him and won’t give him credit for anything good he has done while in office. Mitt Romney has changed his views on various issues entirely too much. Even Republicans know that. How can someone like that ever be taken seriously or seen as someone who is truthful? Obama has done so much for this country. He grew up as an average citizen. He wasn’t born into wealth; he knew struggle. That’s what I believe makes him so relatable. He has been in your shoes and knows what it feels like not to have everything. He also knows success because you can’t just make it happen at the touch of a button. You have to work hard in order to achieve your goals. That’s what Obama has done. He is blamed every single day for not fixing the economy so fast. How is one man supposed to fix something so detrimental in four years? It was made in eight; he deserves another four to fix it. President Barack Obama has signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act which promotes equal pay for women, because equal work should receive equal pay. He created health care reform which now allows people to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they are 26. People will no longer be denied if they have preexisting conditions. He made the call to take Osama Bin Laden out. He saved the auto industry and didn’t let Detroit go bankrupt which resulted in saving over a million jobs for people. He cut taxes for middle class families which saved almost $1000 a year. He created the DREAM act which promotes immigrant justice for children who were brought here when they were young and gives them a path to citizenship. President Obama has done so much to bring the country forward and it’s time for people to see this. Speaking as a Christian and as a Democrat, Obama is the correct choice to make when electing a candidate. He cares about the people and it’s evident. He wants everyone to have a chance, not just some. He believes in opportunity and chance. It’s also time to see that as a Christian, God is not aligned with a particular party. He actually isn’t aligned with a party at all. So it’s time to see past party lines and make the decision that will set right in your heart. I hope I brought you some insight from the other side! In the wise words of Dr. Calhoun, “Christians can be Democrats too!”
Have you voted yet? Are you going to? I think the real question is do you think it’s even worth it. I would vehemently suggest that you do. We are all affected by the outcomes of the political process, ALL of us. To add some guilt to your decision making, people died and continue to risk their lives for your right to vote. That may be a little much, but it’s true. Anyways, let’s get to the good stuff. It is no secret that the United States of America is in need of some large-scale repairs. The federal government has spent itself into a 16 trillion dollar debt that is increasing. In the private sector, the recession has resulted in lost jobs and diminishing capital. My last few articles highlight America’s woes in more detail (check them out at ReadMyBeacon.com). This mess was brought about by irresponsible politicians on all sides, Republicans, Democrats, and independents. Our next cycle of politicians must display fiscal responsibility
From the Right as well as make tough decisions regarding those government programs that need to be trimmed or eliminated. The status quo is unsustainable and President Barack Obama has only made matters worse by attempting to spend his way out of debt. America needs leadership with good business sense. Enter Mitt Romney (his real first name is Willard, ha!). Mitt Romney is a politician, but he was a businessman first. After graduating from Harvard Business School, Mitt founded Bain Capital, an alternative asset managing firm. During his tenure at Bain, he helped revive companies like Staples, Sports Authority, and Bright Horizons. In 1999 Romney became the CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He took over when the games were on the brink of collapsing as budget and security failures loomed. In a short amount of time Romney righted the ship and oversaw a successful Winter Games. Mitt Romney’s political career began when he was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002. As a Republican governor in an overwhelmingly Democrat state, Mitt accomplished a surprising amount of changes. Massachusetts was, like Washington D.C., a fiscal mess with overwhelming taxes and struggling businesses. Although he did not create a conservative wonderland, Romney was able to work with his opponents to lower the unemployment rate, reorganize the education and health care systems, and lower taxes. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign
features a Five Point Plan that tackles the most important issue of this election, the economy. Part one focuses on making America energy independent by clearing the obstacles in the way of accessing our plentiful amount of oil, natural gas, and coal. This will end our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and all other foreign providers. Part two focuses on easier educational access, reforming a complicated job training program, and adjusting immigration in part by attracting the best and brightest from around the world. Part three is a plan to broaden the market by establishing new trade rules and agreements as well as holding China accountable for manipulating its currency. Part four deals with the out of control federal budget. Programs will need to be trimmed, consolidated, or cut completely and our welfare programs need to be reformed into sustainability. Lastly, part five helps lift the burden off of the private sector by lifting regulations, lowering taxes, keeping public unions in check, and tossing Obamacare. Romney’s Five Point Plan is, in my opinion, the most important part of his platform, but I encourage you to go to MittRomney.com to read about his full plan for America’s future. Obama had his opportunity to improve our broken institutions and he has failed. It is time to give someone else a shot. I also strongly encourage you voters to do research on your candidates for U.S. representatives and senators, as well as your state politicians. As I said before, ALL politicians in this next election cycle must be moral, responsible people and it is your responsibility to send the right ones.