As CNN officially projected that President Barack Obama would be elected to a second term Tuesday night, I confidently felt that the nation could continue on its path forward. These last four years have not been a breeze in any sense. The economy is moving forward, slowly but surely, and have no doubts: we’re coming back.
The largest issue in this election was undoubtedly the economy. President Obama’s plan involves training better workers, building on American-made energy, making everybody play by the same rules financially, and ending the war in Afghanistan. These actions would effectively help the country create a more experienced workforce, become more energy independent, raise taxes on the wealthy, and eliminate some military spending. Because of this, the economy can move forward, once again getting back on track. Oh, and the math actually adds up on this plan.
Governor Romney’s plan was almost identical to that of John McCain in 2008, and George W. Bush in 2004, which included tax cuts to the rich. This is exactly what got us into the economic mess in the first place. His 12 million jobs claim was shown to be true, but economists predicted that either candidate would create about 12.3 million jobs in the next four years, regardless of who was elected.
Another positive factor of Obama’s re-election are his social views. He supports gay marriage, and whether we like it or not, it will probably be legalized nationwide within 30 years. The Romney/Ryan ticket, which planned to fight gay equality, seemed to be socially stuck in the 1950s, and as we look back on this issue it will be obvious who was on the right side of history. Along with supporting gay marriage, President Obama also encourages giving women reproductive rights, and will continue to promote his liberal social agendas through instituting new Supreme Court justices in the next four years that share his same beliefs.
In the last four years, I believe the President has made monumental progress in moving forward with this country. The Affordable Care Act––commonly known as Obamacare––was a huge step in the right direction for the United States, eliminating the ability for large insurance companies to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. And since Romney wanted to repeal this act, effectively leaving around 72 million Americans uninsured by 2022, it was encouraging to see an incumbent victory.
But the biggest thing this country needs right now is bipartisanship. Republicans need to admit defeat in this election and instead of complaining, work with the other side to get this country back to where it was. The current Congress, arguably the worst in the history of this nation, has passed the least amount of laws in the Congress’ history, and house Republicans have attempted to repeal Obamacare 33 times rather than actually making any progress on other issues.
When Mitch McConnell, the head of the Senate Republicans said that the Republicans’ main goal was “making sure president Obama’s a one-term president,” he shows how askew the party’s current priorities are. Everyone’s goal should be to get this country back on track, not attack and stall the President. And many conservative peers at school have claimed that they will now move to Canada (spoiler: those “socialists” have universal health care), which is not only an ignorant and foolish statement, but also uncalled for. They honestly need to bite the bullet, come to terms with the facts, and respect the President.
So here we are. The economy is on its way back, and as Americans, we have a decision to make: we can complain, moan, and try our best not to let the President get anything done, or we can put our political beliefs aside, support this nation’s leader, and get this country back on track. The choice is ours, but if we look back on this in four years when the economy is thriving, equality is ringing throughout the land, and the government is ensuring almost all Americans with health care, hopefully we can say that we loved our country more than our political party.
