Education (Mitt Romney v. President Obama)

Part of Mitt Romney's plan is to, "began a program to expand charter schools, providing and increasing funding, fighting the legislature's cap and moratorium on charter schools, and successfully increased the number of charter schools and the number of students attending them" (aboutmittromeny.com/education.htm). This is basically saying that by allowing someone who is big with school run them. That government, state, and etc. shouldn't have any part in school what so ever. The charter school still will have to meet the standards but they can teach however they please as long as the students are learning. The person in charge of the school can pay teacher and staff whatever they want, with the money that is given to run the school.

When President Obama's plan is to, "...by encouraging states to work jointly toward a system of common academic standards that builds toward college and career readiness, and that includes improved assessments designed to measure critical knowledge and higher-order thinking skills" (www.whitehouse.gov). His plan is to prepare students for college and the real world. It's to help the student understand that life isn't easy. President Obama wants to improve the way students learn and make them think more than they are now. With higher-standards and assignments that a student that would enjoy doing it, there is a possible that the graduation rate would increase.

I agree with both Mitt Romney and  President Obama the reason is because they both have good ideas. If they were to put both ideas together and would make education better. With Romney's idea plan with charter school and not allowing the government being apart of school is a great idea. President Obama's by wanting to prepare students for college and the career field they want to do. Also to prepare them for the real world that is a plus because most students graduate from high school naive to the world. And being able to understand the world a little more than what they do once they leave high school is great.

Desicion

As of right now my decision would be to re-elect President Obama. The reason behind this is because while looking through Mitt Romney views on things he didn't always go with he's first choice. For example Romney was the person who came up with the healthcare plan while he was Governor of Massachusetts. Now that he is running for president he's against the plan. I don't want a president that one minute likes something and then changes their mind. President Obama sticks behind what he believes in, he doesn't change he's mind. I believe that you should think everything through before making a decision. Which President Obama has showed through out his time in office.

Presidental Issue: Abortion

Abortion will always be very strong topic which will have different views on it. You have people who are "pro-choice" and others that are "pro-life" and that is prefectly fine. President Obama said,
"I am pro-choice. I believe in Roe v. Wade..." and Mitt Romney said, "... I’m pro-life. And I’m proud of that, and I won’t apologize to anybody for becoming pro-life." This shows two people with two different views on abortion.

President Obama stated, "This is a difficult moral issue. And one of the things that I believe is that to pretend that it's not a moral issue is a mistake. I think that people wrestle with this issue deeply. My belief is simply that women are in the best position to make that very difficult moral decision ..."(Obama). What President Obama basically said was it is a moral problem but it's not something other people should decide for another person. Its a decision that the woman has to make. "I don't know anyone who is 'Pro-abortion'...but woman should make that choice ..."(Obama).He's saying no one believes in abortion but they do believe that there should opposition. It maybe the hardest choice the woman may have to make but its no one else business. Mitt Romney said, "I’ve always been personally pro-life, but for me, it was a great question about whether or not government should intrude in that decision. And when I ran for office, I said I’d protect the law as it was, which is effectively a pro-choice position." This is while he was governor of  Massahcusetts. Mitt Romney still believes that the government should not have a say whether or not if abortions law should be turned over.

I agree with President Obama, even though it maybe immoral it still something someone should be able to choose. No one knows the situation which the woman is in. The woman may have be raped or just isn't fit to rise a child. Its just something she can only change by having an abortion. It will be a hard decision she has to make but no one should judge her or have a problem with the choice she made. 

Political Issues-Abortion

The issue of abortion is very touchy and controversial because it goes against many Americans' moral values or religion and I chose to discuss it due to its popularity right now. President Obama and Mitt Romney are on opposite sides of the fence when it come to having a stance on the abortion issue. While Obama is pro-choice, Romney is on the opposing side, advocating his belief in pro-life.
     President Obama is very much behind the idea of pro-choice, standind behind the Supreme Court's decision in the Roe v. Wade case and protecting the rights of women. He says, "I have been a consistent champion of reproductive choice and will make preserving women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority". Obama also stated, "My belief is simply that women are in the best position to make that very difficult moral decision". It is clear that Obama only wants to abide by the rights given to women due to the Roe v. Wade case and have faith in women to make their own decisions. Romney however, stands firmly behind his pro-life decision, even though he once was pro-choice. He announced, "I believe in the sanctity of life from the very beginning until the end" and "I'm not going to apologize for becoming pro-life. I'm proud to be pro-life."
     I agree more with Obama because I personally believe that women should have the right to make their own decisions. I especially agree when it comes to cases of rape, incest or bad health conditions, because having the baby can cause a woman to have some kind of serious mental break down and bad health conditions can have a detremental effect on the woman or even the baby. However, even if a woman did not get pregnant due to rape or incest and does not have a bad health condition, I still believe that she should have the right to decide, because the government should not be allowed to tell a woman what to do with her body.

-Nia B.

Foreign Affairs (Iraq/Afghanistan)- Shanique

      Based upon the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, Mitt Romney believes that we should not be too involved in helping the Afghanis fight their war on independence. Only the Afghanis can free themselves from the Talibans. He also believes that our policy in Afghanistan should not be based solely on economic costs. "...You don't make a decision about our involvement in a conflict based on dollars and cents alone or certainly not with regards to politics." As for Obama, he is currently starting to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan. By the end of 2011, 10,000troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan. We have made much progress with the problems towards al-Qa'ida by killing 20 out of 30 of its top ten leaders.
       I believe that Foreign Affairs is the most important issue in the U.S. right now because with all our involvement in other countries, we end up spending more money. With all this extra money going towards our involvement with other countries problems, it causes more debt in our country. This leads to more budget cuts and more people losing jobs.  Also, this extra spending is affecting education because with the increase in budget cuts, tuitions are being raised, teachers are being laid off, and less school supplies are being given to schools. I do agree with what Romney is saying because the U.S. should not be helping other nations fight their independence wars. Only the people within that country can win their war.

Scott, Andy. "Romney on the Issues." 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. <http://2012.republican-candidates.org/Romney/Issues.php>.

"Foreign Policy." The White House. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy>.

Arab Spring Obama vs. Romney

Obama appears to have reached three conclusions about the Arab Spring. It represented a genuine and liberal democratic rising that might replace regimes. American opposition to these risings might result in the emergence of anti-American regimes in these countries. The United States must embrace the general idea of the Arab risings but be selective in specific cases; thus, it should support the rising in Egypt, but not necessarily in Bahrain. (Friedman) He has went to reconcile Israel that has no intention of returning to the geopolitically vulnerable borders of 1967 with a Hamas with no intention of publicly acknowledging Israel’s right to exist with Fatah hanging in the middle. Obama's plan is saying, we must take risks in the short run to be on the right side of history in the long run. “If you look around the world and say, ‘Have things become better or become worse under President Obama?’, you know the answer. They’ve become much worse,” he said. (Eldridge)  Romney does not have aspecific stance on what he plans to do upon implementing change pertaining to that of the Arab Spring. He basically blames Obama for everything and says it is, "out of control in some respects because the president was not as strong as he needed to be in encouraging our friends to move toward representative forms of government."

Homeland/National Security

Mitt Romney's plan concerning the country's security focuses on "restoring the 3 foundations of American power"(Romney), through strong values, a strong economy, and a strong military. Romney believes that a "strong America is the best guarantor of peace and the best patron of liberty" (Romney). He plans to build back America's economy on "the principles of free enterprise, hard work and innovations, which will deter its rivals, reaasure its allies and strengthen its overall influence abroad" (Romney). Romney's national security plan also depends on having a strong military, because "military power is vital to the preservation of our own security and peace around the world" (Romney). With his military plan, Romney plans on reversing Obama's era-defense spending cuts.

Obama's homeland security plan is "committed to ensuring the U.S. is true to our values and ideals, while also protecting the American people" (Obama). In order to ensure our country's values, ideals and protection, Obama wants to prevent terrorist attacks, and other threats against our homeland, preparing and planning for emergencies and investing in strong response and recovery capabilities. His homeland security plan also includes: "strengthening our bio and nuclear security, improving intelligence capacity and information sharing, ensuring a secure global digital and information and communications infrastructure, comprehensive transborder security and promoting the resillency of our physical and social infrastructure" (Obama).

-Nia B.

Decision-Shanique

I think that Obama should become President (again) because his policies and plans are aimed to helping middle class or poor citizens of this country. For example, his jobs bill was narrowed to provide $35 billion to states and local governments to prevent layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, etc. He wants to give those who are not as fortunate as others a chance to make more progress instead of having to live from paycheck to paycheck. If there was any advice that I would give to Obama, it would be that he needs to be more aggressive if he wants any of his policies to follow through. So far, I think he's already doing a good job as our President right now.

Decision - Irene

At this, point President Offhand send to be the best President that would accommodate my needs as a middle class student approaching college. Based on his biography for one he is willing to do what it takes to give back to communities that do not have as much as the wealthy and us always humble in doing so. Just because he has become President he always remembers his roots and those who have helped him among the way. His job plan is simply the ultimate necessity for most of the country. Many have gone to school and have student loans to pay off yet, they are unable to get a job. This should not be the case because even if they were to go back to school to look into another profession, where would the money come from. He is all for helping the common man who struggles to make ends meet and cut back taxes for those of the middle class. As for the wealthy class he would like to raise their taxes but for those who make 250,000 a year. Now I understand that many went to school quirked hard to achieve this salary but it all begins with you being a common man before your businesses prospers and to now be greedy to not play more taxes is simply unjustifiable in my opinion. Lastly, his dedication to education is primarily what motivates me to vote for him. He is for equality for all students and believes in not what brings success only, but how students can improve. His idea to keep data and have good hear start at an early education is one that is vb innovating to have students be better prepared for college and “Race to the Top” to achieve better results. He incorporates his plan for jobs with education as well in rebuilding schools around the country. This would definitely put many people to work because it allows for a number of tasks to be done and taken into consideration from engineering to nurses. On the other hand, Mitt Romney has some god qualities as well. However, he does not seem to benefit me as an individual coming from a middle class family going to college. His biography first off explains that he has never actively been involved in politics but has worked in business. Meaning he is not open to other job experiences that majority of the middle class are involved in. his idea of a flat tax rate is in some ways fair that each person should pay the same percentage of money although, it is evident that this is not realistic and the economy becomes corrupt. Lastly, his outlook on education is one that I oppose for a student to take vouchers for any school, charter schools, home schooling, and have a teacher be held accountable for the performance of a student. My preference us that government had done well to provide us with many essentials for the past 13 years and should continue to do so.

Education

Both President Obama and Mitt Romney have different approaches to improving the country's education. Obama's "Race to the Top" plan consists of rewarding those states who perform better in regarding education, with more funding. In order for these states to perform better, Obama believes that they need to "design and implement rigorous standard and high quality assessments, attract and keep great teachers and leaders in classrooms, support data systems that inform decisions and improve instruction, use innovative and effective approaches to turn-around struggling schools and demonstrate and sustain education reform" (Obama). This plan is basically a race between each state, competing for the best education performance, in order to gain extra money. Romney's plan on the other hand consists of "expanding and funding more charter schools, creating a merit based scholarship, proposing parental preparation classes to help parents take active roles in their kids' education, providing special financial bonuses to math, science, AP and improved teachers, creating a mentor teaching program, increase funding for teacher training, and equip the state to intervene faster in failing schools" (Romney).

I can't really say whose plan is better because I think each plan consists of ideas that are a good approach to improve education. In Obama's plan, I think that keeping great teachers and leaders in classrooms and using innovative and effective approaches to turn-around struggling schools are great ideas. With "great teachers", students will be able to learn to their fullest potential and expand their knowledge and thinking skills. Also, taking approaches to "turn-around" struggling schools is a good idea because students in these schools would finally get a chance to endulge in the learning experience that those students with "great teachers" get to experience. In Romney's plan, I think the ideals of proposing parental preparation classes to help parents take active roles in their kids' education, creating a mentor teaching program, and increasing funding for teacher training are also good approaches to improving education. If parents take parental preparation classes, they will be able to help their children if they are struggling with their hw or with a class, therefore improving their children's skills and giving teachers less work. Through mentor teaching programs and increased funding for teaching training, students will be provided with the best teachers who are the most skilled at the subjects they teach, which will be beneficial for these students because they will have a better learning experience.

-Nia B.

Decision

So far, based off of the research i've done on each candidate, President Obama and Mitt Romney, I am deciding to choose President Obama. The reason why I am swayed more to choose Obama is because his platform seems to represent the common man way more than Romney's. Even though Romney has more political experience in dealing with state issues regarding recession, since he was the governor of both Michigan and Massachusetts, I still believe that Obama is the better pick because his solutions to today's problem favor the average working American. Being that the major current issue is the state of our economy and the recession we are in, we need a president whose plans are going to benefit the majority of Americans. Obama's platform is based upon progressive taxing and "putting more money in the pockets of working Americans" (Obama). Through progressive taxing, taxes will be dependent upon a person's salary, rather than Romney's plan of one set corporate tax. Progressive taxing will cause the wealthy elite to have to pay more taxes, giving those average working people a chance to have more money for themselves. Since a majority of Americans are apart of the working class, progressive taxing will allow them to have more money, which means more spending, which means more money for our economy. However, through Romney's plan, working Americans will have to pay the same amount of taxes as the wealthy, which isn't fair.  If we force people to pay taxes that they can't afford, this only hinders our economy from improving because these people will then look to the government for aid, which means more of our tax dollars will be spent trying to financially stable these individuals.

-Nia B.

Education Obama vs. Romney

Obama believes in designing courses that project the intellectual activity of an individuals' mind. Designing and implementing rigorous standards and high-quality assessments. Attracting and keeping great teachers and leaders in America’s classrooms. Using data to inform decisions and improve instruction. Using innovation and effective approaches to turn-around struggling schools. Demonstrating and sustaining education reform. Mitt Romney believes that we should  “Provide special financial bonuses to math and science teachers, Advanced Placement teachers, and teachers with a proven record of results. Create a mentor teaching program and increase funding for teacher training.Equip the state to intervene faster in failing schools to provide leadership training and give principals the authority they need to turn around failing schools. Raise state education aid to its highest level in history.” I personally agree with Obama's plan because he believes in equality for all without Romney's plan of feeling that science and math deserve more respect than those of Social Studies and Humanities. 

Jobs - Irene

Obama's plan is to put money in the hands of the working man. He poses to help the middle-class workers have jobs to stimulate the economy. "President Obama has focused on efforts that can help small businesses grow and expand – that’s why he’s cut taxes for small businesses, helping them hire, invest in new equipment, and pay for health care coverage for their employees. And that’s why he secured a bipartisan agreement to continue existing tax cuts for an additional two years, an agreement that outside economists said would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs." He is for taxing the rich in order to help the growth of economy rather than have the middle class that makes less pay more taxes. Mitt Romney believes in cutting back tax spending in which there will be a flat tax for everyone to pay. He believes in conservative ideas of paying a certain amount of what you make.

Romney Job Plan

President Obama's plan to help the economy is to make investments that would prevent layoffs for teachers,  implement reforms to the unemployment insurance system, and payroll tax cuts, cutting the workers payroll in half next year.  Mitt Romney believes that Obama's plan does not work.  plan to help the economy is to eliminate the tax rates. before Mitt Romney left office as governor, he helped to create new jobs which would help the economy prosper.

Comparison btw Romney and Obama's Economic Plan

With today's economic crisis, it is only natural for our present president, President Obama and running candidates like Mitt Romney, to propose their own various solutions to it. Both Obama and Romney support the proposal of lowering taxes for their citizens, but each has a different idea regarding these tax cuts. President Obama's plan is built upon a platform which is said to "help get America working again." (Obama) His platform is based upon progressive taxing, which consists of taxing citizens based on their salaries, and placing a higher tax on the wealthy and big businesses, in turn "putting more people back to work and putting more money in the pockets of working Americans." (Obama) Obama's plan also provides aid or what is referred to as Obama Care, which includes proposals that would "make investments that would prevent layoffs of as many as 280,000 teachers, provide opportunities for long-term unemployed veterans, and put Americans to work rebuilding roads, railways, bridges, and schools in need of repair." (Obama) However, Romney's platform offers a very different idea with tax cuts, for he wants to "reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs" (Romney) but only plans on "reducing the corporate income tax to 25%." (Romney) Unlike Obama, Romney wants one set tax rate and reduced regulation on businesses and less government programs, rejecting the ideas of Obama care and progressive taxing. Romney's solution to today's crisis is to "rebuild the foundations of the American economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work and innovation." (Romney)

I personally agree more with Obama's idea because it is helping the "common man" and having progressive taxing will give those average working Americans or those less fortunate a chance to live the American dream. Having tax cuts will leave more money in these people's pockets, which in turn will go to the economy because of their purchases. With progressive taxing, the rich will still be making way more money than the average person, so the idea of raising their taxes really is not putting them in a life or death situation. Also, providing more programs and jobs for those Americans that need it will only benefit the economy because once these people are financially stable, they will start to spend their money, which will go to the ecomony, and these new jobs that they now have mean more tax money.
                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                               Nia B.