Special Section
Intern Column Jeremy Keys For anyone that has somehow been completely avoiding politics for the last two years, we at the Trinitonian have compiled the political positions of the two major nominees, Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Below is a comparison of the two candidates with regards to some of the most important domestic and foreign policy issues facing the nation today.
Job Growth
Romney: Mitt Romney has claimed that the economy is stagnant and improving far too slowly, and a Romney/Ryan presidency would usher in a new era of prosperity. According to the Chicago Tribune, Mr. Romney has promised to create 12 million jobs over the next four years, although non-partisan analyses of this claim have shown that the economy plans to add 12 million jobs over
Politics
the next four years regardless of who wins the presidency. Romney has been critical of the President’s economic policies, claiming that 44 straight months of unemployment above eight percent was longer than necessary.
Obama: President Obama’s campaign has countered that Obama’s administration has created millions of private sector jobs during his presidency and, according to The New York Times, that his administration not only stopped the jobs bleeding inherited from his predecessor (more than 400,000 jobs lost per month) but actually reversed the job losses (average monthly gains of 155,000 over the last 18 months).
Tax Policy
Romney: Mitt Romney believes in lowering the overall tax rate for individuals and corporations, cutting personal deductions, and “increasing the tax base” by eliminating tax loopholes for corporations. He has specifically advocated cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent.
He also favors retaining the Bush-era tax cuts and increasing tax cuts for both middle-class and upper-class families.
Obama: President Barack Obama favors eliminating the Bush-era tax cuts only for people with incomes exceeding $250,000. Obama also favors eliminating tax loopholes for corporations, and reducing the corporate tax rate.
Deficit Reduction
Both candidates have made claims that they would reduce the deficit. According to factcheck. org, Romney: Independent analyses have concluded that Mitt Romney’s tax plan would favor upper-income individuals and would increase the deficit by $3 trillion, although Romney claims that these studies are biased and inaccurate.
Obama: According to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities study, President Obama’s favored deficit reduction plan would reduce the deficit by $3.8 trillion over 10 years. Romney is critical of any plan that would include tax increases on the top two percent of wage earners
theTrinitonian OCT.26.2012
Defense Spending Obama: President Obama supports cutting future defense spending (but not current spending) as part of his deficit reduction plan. Romney: Mitt Romney has said that he wants United States defense spending to equal at least 4% of the nation’s GDP, which analysts say could increase the deficit by as much as $2 trillion more compared to Obama’s proposed military spending. According to npr.org, Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate, has claimed that Obama has reduced military spending by $1 trillion, and Romney wishes only to restore that funding.
Nuclear Weapons
Obama: President Obama’s administration has stated that it will absolutely prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon, but it wants to give time for economic sanctions and international pressure to force Iran to cease its plans pursuing weapons-grade enriched uranium.
17
graphic by Samantha Skory, Intern
Romney: According to The Jerusalem Post, Mitt Romney has indicated he would favor use of military action, stating that “regime change is what’s going to be necessary.” Romney has also indicated that he is willing to consider unilateral action, saying that “I don’t believe at this stage that we [a Romney/ Ryan administration] need to have war powers approval or a special authorization for military force.”
Education
Obama: President Obama supports granting waivers that would excuse states from certain No Child Left Behind provisions. Obama’s administration has now granted waivers to 34 states and the District of Columbia. Obama favors increasing education spending.
Romney: Romney’s advisers have indicated he would most likely rescind waivers that had been already granted. Romney also favors holding education spending steady by neither reducing nor increasing the budget for education.
Vote the party, RANDOM FACTS ABOUT... not the person Mitt Romney...
... was born on the same day that President Truman issued the “Truman Doctrine”. ... though we call this presidential candidate “Mitt Romney”, his first name is actually Willard. ... spent time in France as a Mormon missionary while in college. ... lost his first political election to Ted Kennedy in the 1994 Massachusetts senate race. ... met his wife, Ann, in elementary school.
by Maddy Loeb, Intern
Barack Obama...
... is a fan of the Harry Potter novels. ... enjoys listening showtunes.
to
... says his favorite children’s book is “Where the Wild Things Are.” ... took Michelle to go see the movie “Do the Right Thing” on their first date. ... has a beer named after him in Kenya. ... hates ice cream.
.... has five sons.
... prefers to snack on chocolate-peanut protein bars.
... says his favorite snack is hot dogs.
... claims his favorite food to prepare is chili.
Guest Column David Crockett When it comes to elections, Americans tend to adopt the view that it is important to vote for the person, not the party. The civically virtuous citizen is supposed to research all the issue positions of all the candidates for all the races before making those precious choices that determine the fate of the republic. This perspective is so ingrained in us that many people look with disdain upon those who vote a straight ticket. I know this because I have experienced it. I almost always vote a straight ticket, and when people find that out they open their eyes wide and accuse me of “turning off my brain.” They seem to think I’ve become some sort of partisan zombie, mindlessly following the impulse of a predatory and sub-rational appetite to feed upon the living flesh of better
citizens. I half expect them to point their accusing fingers at me and scream “Walker!” while they reach for their guns and crossbows. But consider the logic behind straight ticket voting. To learn all the issue positions of all the candidates for all the races, we’re going to need a lot of information. Residents of Bexar County will have at least 42 computer screens of choices on election day, containing almost 200 different candidates for all of these races. Even if the information is free, it’s almost always incomplete, and it takes a lot of time to digest it. Studying politics is my business, but even I can’t afford to devote the time necessary to read three daily newspapers, three weekly news magazines, and a wide assortment of policy journals, much less watch or listen to enough public affairs broadcasting or scan enough web sites to get all this data firm in my head. Let’s face it : most of us would rather spend our time on more enjoyable activities.
see STRAIGHT Page 18