Four years ago, our nation chose change. And after the greatest economic recession since the Great Depression, America is coming back. Recently, the nation has been gaining an average of 170,00 jobs a month and unemployment is still hovering around 7.9 percent, according to the Washington Post. The last thing America needs in the long onslaught of economic recovery are the same policies that put us into recession in the first place, and this is why we are endorsing President Barack Obama for a second term.
Obama’s presidency has saved our country from plummeting into an economic crisis. Through his stimulus bill, he saved 2.5 million jobs and kept unemployment under 12 percent.
He also saved the auto industry through the bailout, and his jobs plan, if not stymied by the Republicans, would have created around 1.3 million new jobs along with renovating schools and repairing infrastructure, according to Macroeconomic Advisers.
More importantly, Obama’s plan to change is a process that has yet to be finished. If reelected, Obama would be poised to reduce the deficit and implement his jobs’ bill stimulus, especially when Bush’s tax cuts expire.
On the other hand, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney promises to use heavy tax cuts and decreased government regulation to save the economy, a plan that didn’t work before and one that won’t work now.
Romney has wavered in his positions on the core issues of this year’s presidential campaign, including taxation, economic growth and abortion among others. We believe his ties to the ultra-conservative Republican party shadow his promises in doubt.
When it comes to foreign policy, we believe that Obama is the clear choice. With much more experience, Obama has kept the promises he has made. In the 2008 election, he vowed to end the war in Iraq, and to spend any and all resources necessary to go after Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Four years later: the war is over, American troops are transitioning out of Afghanistan and Bin Laden is dead, and we believe that this upholding of promises deserves recognition.
Meanwhile, the campaign by Romney has given us no reason to believe he would handle foreign policy any more effectively. In fact, we believe that this is a subject in which Romney is lacking in experience.
We also agree with Mr. Obama on many of his civil rights positions. Under the Obama administration, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was finally abolished. We applaud Obama on his support of same-sex marriage and believe he is best qualified to continue the struggle for gay and lesbian marriage rights.
Romney opposes same-sex marriage and supports the Defense of Marriage Act, which undermines the rights of gays and lesbians even in states that recognize those rights.
For these reasons, among others, we hope that Mr. Obama will be reelected for a second term and continue to rebuild America.