A quick look at Obama’s platforms
Posted by The Skyliner on September 24th, 2008Cody Fields
Sports Editor
This upcoming presidential election, like every one before it, will set the nation’s course and write history. While there are too many issues to fit and discuss into one article, I have chosen three particularly hot button issues and will present and react to the candidates’ stances. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the Democratic ticket, with Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Sen. Joe Biden (Del.).
- The Economy
“Barack Obama and Joe Biden will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs,” says barackobama.com.
While it sounds very appealing at first, this is actually a terrible idea, and really didn’t help things when the Bush administration raised the minimum wage. No one actually expects to live off minimum wage; the point of having one is to keep teenagers from working for more next to nothing than he/she already is. Also, raising the minimum wage won’t counteract inflation but make it worse. Companies will be forced to higher fewer people or cut back on their hours, and more money will be in circulation, which means the dollar will be worth even less.
- Taxes
On his official website, Obama states that he will provide working families with tax cuts and simplify tax filings for the middle class.
“We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people,” Biden said last week, according the Associated Press. Of those who would pay more, he said: “It’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”
I will never complain about tax cuts or a simpler system of taxes, but what Biden is suggesting is pure socialism, and it’s frightening. The wealthy are wealthy because they have worked hard, and they usually give away all kinds of money every year. They are also responsible for hiring the middle class, which would allow them to hire few people. Keep in mind it was Congress that has created a $400 billion budget deficit with irresponsible spending that is partially responsible for this rut. Giving them more money to throw around won’t change anything.
- Iraq
“Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. Immediately upon taking office, Obama will give his Secretary of Defense and military commanders a new mission in Iraq: ending the war. The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government,” says barackobama.com.
Unfortunately for the Obama camp, their joy in taking a cheap shot at President Bush and “the way things are” backfired in the sense that Iraq and the United States already agreed to a preliminary timetable last month, according to npr.org. Obama has been so doom and gloom about the war so much that he completely ignored every single sign of progress. War is never a good thing, but sometimes it is needed. One should also acknowledge progress when it happens, and that has not happened in this case.
In this day in age, one can’t just look a candidate’s party affiliation to determine his/her vote. We must look at all of their stances and determine the best choice. Check back next week, as I will be highlighting the McCain-Palin ticket.
Tags: Fall 2008, Vol. 108 Fall - Issue 3