At the beginning of his term, President Barack Obama made a famous statement: “If Americans aren’t better off in four years, I’ll be a one term president,” according to USA Today (content.usatoday.com). To be frank, Americans are not better off. The Wall Street Journal reported that at home, the unemployment rate is at 7.8 percent — the same as when Obama initially took office in January of 2009 (wsj.com).
Overseas, our allies cannot trust us to help them when they need it most and our embassies are being attacked. Just look at the murder of the American ambassador to Libya. With a deteriorating economy and international reputation, is a president that has taken the country backwards really someone the American people should reelect?
Presidential candidate Governor Mitt Romney is currently campaigning with Vice Presidential candidate US Representative Paul Ryan — a duo widely known as America’s Comeback Team. Their past achievements make them extremely qualified for these prestigious positions of leadership. In 1971, Romney graduated from Brigham Young University and went on to earn dual degrees from the Harvard Law and Harvard Business schools. He then worked as a business consultant until he founded the very successful Bain Capital investment firm (politifact.com). In 2002, Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts and served until 2007.
Romney’s running mate Ryan ran for Congress in 1999 and entered as the youngest member of the freshman class. In addition to currently serving his seventh term in Congress, Ryan is also Chairman of the House Budget Committee and serves on the House Ways and Means Committee (mittromney.com). Both Romney and Ryan’s prior experiences in positions of power and influence demonstrate their considerable skill in leading an institution and handling tough issues, qualities that are vital for any successful presidency. Romney and Ryan are clearly well suited for the tasks at hand.
Senior Channing Tullio plans to exercise his ability to take part in the upcoming election by voting for Romney. He believes that Romney’s previous business experience will help him balance out the country’s deficit better than Obama currently is. Furthermore, Tullio has an appreciation for Romney’s values. He said, “I think he has a moral and ethical background that would bring a lot to this nation.”
There are many aspects of the Republican presidential campaign that would have a positive impact on the country in the event of Romney’s election, many of which are included in his “Five Point Plan.” According to the official Mitt Romney website, this plan focuses on achieving continental energy independence by 2020, finding trade that works for America, providing Americans with better skills for success, cutting the deficit, and supporting small businesses. Its primary goal, however, is “strengthening the middle class,” something America desperately needs (mittromney.com).
Romney is against increasing taxes for all United States citizens. He plans to take a smarter approach and reduce government spending, thereby avoiding the need for higher taxes, according to the American Enterprise Institute. “The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever rising tax rates to cover ever rising spending,” said Mr. Thomas Sowell, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute.
If, as Romney proposes, the government started spending less, taxing could be reduced. With lower taxes, consumers would have more money to spend, stimulating the economy. Romney also wants to lower taxes on corporations, which are among the highest in the industrialized world. The lower taxes would free up money that corporations could use to hire more employees. Interestingly enough, even Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness agrees with this strategy. Unlike Obama’s failing “balanced approach,” all of the above economic policies would create jobs, stimulate entrepreneurship and encourage investments throughout the nation (aei-ideas.org).
Though Senior Joseph Gibson may not be old enough to participate in the presidential election this year, he would vote for Romney if he had the chance. “Obama has been focusing on the wrong things. He had enough time to fix the economy, and nothing has happened,” Gibson said.
In terms of healthcare, Romney’s conservative outlook is easily recognizable. He intends to give all the states the power to create their own reform plans that will benefit their citizens as much as possible — a completely separate direction from the present Obamacare, in which the federal government holds the most control (mittromney.com).
In a March 2012 survey taken by Rasmussen Reports, 55 percent of 1000 likely voters favored the repeal of Obamacare. As of October 2012, 54 percent favored repeal and a low 39 percent opposed repeal (rasmussenreports.com). The law has slightly decreased in popularity in the past two years, and it has not even been fully implemented in the country yet.
Romney’s opponents often claim that he favors a voucher system for Medicare. This is not true at all. He actually plans to allow senior citizens the choice to stay with Medicare or receive a defined contribution in order to buy private insurance. For those who choose coverage outside of Medicare, Romney’s plan would allow the free market to provide better senior care at a lower cost (mittromney.com). America is thirsty for this kind of innovative thinking.
It is of Romney’s personal opinion that “life begins at conception,” according to the official Mitt Romney website. However, he realizes it is a controversial issue. He therefore plans to remove Planned Parenthood funding from the country’s budget, but keep the practice legal. People would still have access to the controversial abortion procedure, but taxpayers would no longer subsidize it. As a billion-dollar business, Planned Parenthood would be able to operate without government funding any way. His change would just stop the government from forcing Americans to financially support a cause they may disagree with.
The Romney-Ryan Campaign is geared toward working hard to make America prosperous again. In the powerful words of Romney himself: “We believe in a place that challenges each of us to be better and bigger than ourselves. We believe in a land of opportunity and freedom. We believe in America.”