Last October, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reached an all time high of over 14,000, and today, more than a year later, it is down more that 3,000 points. In January of last year crude oil was trading around $50 a barrel and over the summer it peaked at just under $150 a barrel.
But despite that what is this campaign about? It’s been about whether Barack Obama voted for sex education for pre-school children (he didn’t). And it’s been about whether Sarah Palin can name a specific Supreme Court decision she disagrees with (She can’t). And it’s about whether John McCain can change the meanings of words like “fundamentals” just to suit his needs (apparently he can). I am insulted by all this and you should be too.
I am insulted when John McCain lies, outright lies, to voters when he tells them that Barack Obama is going to raise their taxes and that Barack Obama is a tax and spend democrat. These are the lies we have been told. The truth? People making $18,900 a year would receive and extra $19 from John McCain and an extra $567 from Barack Obama.
$567 is a new couch or a TV, it is new school supplies or badly need car repairs, it’s a new stove or a week at summer camp for the kids. $567 is a lot of money to people making less than 20,000 a year. $19 is maybe a quarter-tank of gas. It’s a romantic dinner for one.
60% of Americans earn $66,000 or less a year and on average they would receive $150 from John McCain and $834 from Barack Obama. Meanwhile the top 0.1% of wage earners (more than 2.87 million a year) would receive an extra $289,364 from John McCain. Enough for McCain to get an 8th house or expand his collection of 13 cars.
Barack Obama on the other hand would give them nothing. He would increase their taxes by $701,885, or a mere 11.5%. Barely even pocket change to people who earn $2.87 million a year, but enough for us to start investing in our infrastructure. To create real and sustainable alternative energy sources. It will provide us with money which we can use improve our schools and create more jobs.
We can reinvest in social security to ensure that it will be there for us when we retire and it will allow us to renew our efforts in the war on poverty and will allow us to increase foreign aide to make sure that farmers in South America have a choice to not grow cocaine and children in Afghanistan can choose to go to school instead of terror camps.
But most importantly of all it will allow us to solve this sub-prime mortgage crisis and bring our economy out of the credit crunch. Its time that we Americans grew tired of dishonest politicians lying to us about our best interests. It’s about time that we ran to the window and shouted “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” (I don’t encourage this, at least not here in school)
Now I’m sure that at least a few of you are a little confused by all these numbers and figures, so let me make it painfully clear: We must elect Barack Hussein Obama as the next President of The United States of America. The “fundamentals” of our economy are in too much danger and the foreign policy issues we face are too grave for young voters to ignore this election or refuse to participate in it, especially when young people will be most affected by the outcome of this election.
Our generation has the unique opportunity to decide what kind of a world we will inherit. We can decide whether we want to inherit a world wrought with poverty and war, or a world of stable peace and true economic and social equality.
We can inherit a world where schools are wastelands and only the rich can receive healthcare or we can inherit a world where our children have an endless roads of opportunity and money is never the obstacle of health and well-being.
This election is an opportunity for our generation to receive the torch from past generations and begin to control the destiny of our nation. Because in the end this election is about more than Barack Obama and John McCain, this election is about the future; you’re future, as well as mine.
In the words of Former Virginia Governor and Senate Candidate, Mark Warner, “this election isn’t about liberal vs. conservative. It’s not about left vs. right. It’s about the future vs. the past.” Barack Obama represents our greatest hopes for the future and the highest ideals of our nation, He represents the American dream, and what could be more fundamental than that?
