The Michigan Journal endorsement: Top 10 reasons we support Obama’s re-election

(Tina Nelson / MJ / File)

BY THE MICHIGAN JOURNAL

Next week’s election is a big one for our country. Right now, America is at a tipping point. Who we elect on November 6 will decide if our country will continue to move forward or if we will undo all the progress we’ve made over the last four years.

1) Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat. Neither are at least 14 other al-Qaida leaders nor Moammar Gadhafi.

2) The Affordable Care Act provides insurance coverage to previously uninsured Americans and keeps the insurance companies in check by ruling that a person cannot be denied coverage for a preexisting condition. Additionally, young adults can stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26. This coverage is vitally important, considering many college graduates do not immediately find a job with insurance benefits after graduation.

3) President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, ensuring that women can seek legal action when they are not paid the same wage as their male counterparts for the same job. Romney did not support the Act.

4) In the same vein, women now enjoy greater access to contraceptives thanks both to a mandate in the Affordable Care Act and Obama’s support of Planned Parenthood. Republican nominee Mitt Romney would end funding to Planned Parenthood, despite the health screenings and services they provide for women.

5) The General Motors and Chrysler bailouts saved both companies, as well as Michigan’s economy. People often do not realize how many employees would have lost their job and the devastating effect the bankruptcy of these companies would have had on our state and national economies. Let us not forget Willard’s op-ed in the New York Times in which he was willing to let Detroit go bankrupt.

6) Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been repealed, meaning that LGBTQ Americans serving in the Armed Forces need no longer keep their private lives secret for fear of discharge. And with support for same-sex marriage now written into the Democratic platform, we are confident that conditions for LGBTQ Americans will improve in the next four years. Unfortunately, Romney does not agree and he believes it is just fine to deny equal rights to same-sex partners.

7) Under his leadership, the Iraq War has ended and we are on the course to be out of Afghanistan by 2014. We do not believe Romney has the foreign policy experience necessary to handle our affairs across the world, especially in the Middle East. He has offered no plan to withdraw forces from Afghanistan, and in the first debate, he seemed all too ready to declare war on Iran.

8) President Obama understands the growing costs of college and has a plan to cut tuition growth and increase financial aid to deserving students. Romney, however, made deep cuts during his time as Governor of Massachusetts and college costs increased 63 percent during his term.

9) Obama supports tax cuts for middle class families, while Romney would focus on cutting taxes for multi-millionaires while raising taxes on the middle class. We believe it is unfair for America’s millionaires to pay a lower tax rate than middle and lower class families.

10) Governor Romney has changed his stance on several issues an uncomfortable amount of times. We recognize that Obama has not been a perfect President, however, he is more honest and more in touch with the average American than Romney ever could be.

Next Page: EDITORIAL: The MJ endorses Barack Obama (Oct. 28, 2008)

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