Spring Break
Progress starts at home, not abroad
Heikal Aliakber
Issue date: 11/14/08 Section: Ed-Op
Now that Election Day has passed, millions of Americans find themselves either struggling to come to grips with the results of one of the most expensive and negative campaigns in history, or celebrating the outcome of a crowning achievement in American politics and culture. Not only did the nation elect a minority as Commander in Chief, but Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike found common ground in electing Barack Obama as the next president of the United States.
It is not often that partisanship takes a back seat to concern about the welfare of a population during election season; there is a reason why there are traditional blue and red states. But in electing Obama as president, Americans (including myself) of all races, creeds and party affiliations came to realize one undeniable truth - progress starts at home, not abroad.
Many critics of Obama attack him for his tax plan. However, these same people fail to realize that without increased taxes to support massive deficits and spending sprees by the once GOP-dominated government, the U.S. has turned to economic rivals such as China for loans. As of August, the U.S. owed China approximately $541 billion, a figure that has not dropped since. Ironically, a large majority of these critics supported John McCain, a man who unabashedly wanted to continue the war in Iraq, a struggle that has cost the nation billions per month. A war that the American public was duped into supporting by a GOP-dominated government. The same government that awarded wealthy oil honchos with lucrative contracts after Iraq was in ruins, instead of taking money and investing it back at home. The same honchos who would've seen huge tax breaks under a McCain administration, unlike the middle class. How do people expect to continue a war that is costing billions per month, without raising taxes in order to pay for it? How can we afford to continue a war that really has no end in sight when we can't technically afford the money we're borrowing from foreign competitors in today's rapidly deteriorating economy? What exactly are we winning should we come out victorious in Iraq? Last I checked, Osama bin Laden was nowhere near Iraq.
It is not often that partisanship takes a back seat to concern about the welfare of a population during election season; there is a reason why there are traditional blue and red states. But in electing Obama as president, Americans (including myself) of all races, creeds and party affiliations came to realize one undeniable truth - progress starts at home, not abroad.
Many critics of Obama attack him for his tax plan. However, these same people fail to realize that without increased taxes to support massive deficits and spending sprees by the once GOP-dominated government, the U.S. has turned to economic rivals such as China for loans. As of August, the U.S. owed China approximately $541 billion, a figure that has not dropped since. Ironically, a large majority of these critics supported John McCain, a man who unabashedly wanted to continue the war in Iraq, a struggle that has cost the nation billions per month. A war that the American public was duped into supporting by a GOP-dominated government. The same government that awarded wealthy oil honchos with lucrative contracts after Iraq was in ruins, instead of taking money and investing it back at home. The same honchos who would've seen huge tax breaks under a McCain administration, unlike the middle class. How do people expect to continue a war that is costing billions per month, without raising taxes in order to pay for it? How can we afford to continue a war that really has no end in sight when we can't technically afford the money we're borrowing from foreign competitors in today's rapidly deteriorating economy? What exactly are we winning should we come out victorious in Iraq? Last I checked, Osama bin Laden was nowhere near Iraq.
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