Why I voted for Obama

By Zack Lemon

This has been one messy election cycle, and quite a few people are left wondering who to hand over the nation to.  It took me quite some time to come up with my vote, but in the end I confidently cast my vote for Barack Obama.

The economy is the issue of this election, and understandably so.  This recession has put the economy in its worst state since the Great Depression.

How bad could it have been though?  The stimulus package and the bailouts put a floor on what could have been a plummet never before seen.

The recovery may not have been as smooth as the country would have liked, but it is in the right direction.  Changing course now would cause a sharp turn from the policies that caused this recession to hit its bottom and start to climb back.

Reverting to past policies and un-doing anything done in these four years seems like a bad way to make America prosperous again.  Is this a great long-term strategy?  

No.  The government should not be constantly involved in the economy, but the short-term cannot be sacrificed to the extent it would have been.

These measures increased the debt to an unprecedented level of 73 percent of the country’s GDP, something that is an indisputable problem looming over the horizon.

However, the debt is not an immediately crippling issue, nor is it as much to blame on Obama as many believe.  Exempt the spending on wars and bailouts, and the lost revenue from the Bush tax cuts, and the national debt would not have shifted from the start of the term to today.

The wars are ending and no bailouts will be coming soon.  Obama is not as expensive as popularly believed, and his spending is in valued areas.

To fix any of our present economic issues or the future debt issues, our country has to be far more educated then we are now.

Obama is committed to getting Americans more educated at every level.  Our universities are second to none, but our public schools cannot properly educate our students to use these universities to their fullest potential.

Obama’s plans will improve public education and make college more affordable for the average, middle-class student in this country.

Obama also supports same-sex marriage, something I support.  There is no harm to society by allowing gays to marry.  Two people in love, no matter the circumstances surrounding their love, should be permitted to marry, no questions asked.  

Beyond all of these issues, Obama also put common-sense reforms into the credit card industry, and audited the government’s budget.

Obama has added some spending, but is also streamlining the government, ending wars, and ensuring an economic collapse of this magnitude will not happen again.

Oh, and Osama bin Laden was killed on his watch.  Go ‘Merica!

 

Why I voted for a conservative future

By Kate Brickner

 

 

While it is clear that President Obama has captured the hearts of many a young voter, as I stared at my ballot, skmming through the Democrat, Socialist, Green, and Constitutional candidates, I fixed my eyes on the Romney/Ryan ticket.

Most of those voting are simply doing so to avoid the other candidate, and while it is a valid excuse, I proudly say I voted for Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. As a Cleveland-native, I was shunned by friends and family alike for voting to put a new-age robber baron in office. 

Although he has been depicted this way by some, looking at him from a Constitutional perspective, he could not be a better choice.

Why, you ask? He has flip-flopped on every ideology for the past twenty-five years! He is not trust-worthy and his empty promises make the middle class cringe, right? Not exactly.

As a governor, Mitt Romney is supposed to represent the interests of his state. State legislatures are supposed to familiarize themselves with their states and represent their interests. This makes sense. No matter Mitt Romney’s own personal views, he listened to and acted based on his constituents’ interests in a Constitutional manner. 

Since the state is predominantly blue, although a moderate Republican himself, Romney did what he thought was fair in representing his state. 

As a presidential candidate, he has to respect and respond to the entire country’s interests. In fact, the job of the presidency is to enact laws that the Congress makes based on his own view of the Constitution.  

Romney’s understanding of the Constitution follows Republican ideals, and this is how she should be looked at as a candidate. 

Well, he is not a Republican, some say. He enacted socialized health care for his state, which everyone knows is Obamacare on the small-scale. However, the Constitution specifically grants all power not listed as federal to the states.

Romney is not a flip-flopper because he proposed socialized health care for his state, because that right is given to him in the Constitution. Since all states are sovereign, they can make laws for themselves, so long as they do not oppose the Constitution.

As a Presidential candidate, however, he does not want to overextend his powers and would rather let the states take care of laws of that magnitude themselves. 

His willingness to rework the health care system so it does not infringe on civil and natural rights is commendable and a necessary precedent in our country. Also, his business experience is irrefutable and with his knowledge of the economy, he is the best man to pick American out of the shambles and make it make sense again. 

He is also more aggressive in foreign policy, but not an extremist. He is aware of present dangers and wants to respond to them in a way that leaves no fear in the American mind over nuclear threats.

While I do not agree with all of his social policies, I believe he has enough respect for the Constitution and the American people to do what is necessary to bring us back to freedom, both from threats abroad and those in our federal government. Romney is also a man who has dedicated years and money to charity. A man with such moral fiber, dedication, experience, and practicality is a man we ought to get behind.