For the past year or so, we have all been bombarded by one negative campaign ad after another, and if any of them have even a shred of truth to it, I’m not so sure I want Obama or McCain running my country. Next Tuesday, November 4th, 2008, the United States of America will sit on the edge of being plunged into a new era of economic policies. These policies will be—so they say—geared towards resurrecting what remains of our economy. But, regardless of who takes the Presidential Trophy, will these policies work?
Some would like to blame President Bush for all our economic troubles. But—I feel obligated to ask—is it solely his responsibility? What about all of the wonderful checks and balances that afford our Congress and House of Representatives to yea or nay the bills of the president? What about corrupt senators and representatives who let the power of their position go to their head, gleaning profits from faulty policies while Joe the Plumber takes the hit to his finances? The blame is much broader than the president alone. But, pointing fingers aside, our economy has been slipping, manifested in the massive amounts of home foreclosures, lost jobs, small businesses having such a hard time getting loans to keep themselves afloat, and the Wall Street crash in early October.
CNN’s Jessica Dickler quotes the Bureau of Labor Statistics and consulting firm Watson Wyatt in her article Job cuts: Who’s next? According to her sources, over 760,000 jobs were lost as of September and 25% of employers are anticipating making more layoffs in the next year. Dickler’s sources also claim that certain industries are at a higher risk than others, mainly the housing, finance, retail, publishing, automotive, and travel industries.
This is scary, especially to a lowly college student—such as myself—with no prior degree in anything, leaving only the previously mentioned industries to look for a job. How else am I to pay for tuition, car payments, rent, groceries, and other staple payments required of my bank account? Currently, I’m in retail. I really lucked out when I started working for Target three years ago, in that I honestly feel secure in my position there. But it is Target, and I’m barely making enough to cover my expenses. Where else do I look? For one with creativity zinging through my fingertips, just dying to be let out, obviously the art realm holds the most attraction for me. But, the catch to my infatuation with art is: very few people will hire me and pay a decent wage without a bachelor’s degree in design/fine art…whichever. So, that leaves me at Target, working a few bucks over minimum wage, contemplating which school to transfer to so I can continue my art education, all the while dreading having to take out more loans to cover the tuition. For now, I’m stuck.
The one bright spot lately, however, has been the dramatic fall in gas prices. I filled up my tank and got a car wash yesterday for less than a tank of gas cost two months ago. Considering I drive an awful lot between work, school, and family affairs, this is FANTASTIC news! Previously, when gas prices hovered right around $4 per gallon, I tried to cut back on driving. Which is saying something, considering I’m one of those yuppie people who loves to drive every chance I get. By cutting drive time, I also cut back on eating out, going to movies, bowling, and whatever other manner of entertainment I might come up with. Now, I feel a little bit freer to do more with my money. Like, put more into my savings account, invest in a winter car, something besides holding it closely, afraid I’ll have to funnel it all into my gas tank.
All that remains for me to do now is vote. This is the first time I’ll have been old enough, so I’m semi-excited. Politics have never been my favorite topic, but for once, I now get to cast my vote for what I believe in, instead of sitting by and watching my relatives bicker over the chronic faults of the party they oppose. So, Tuesday I’ll be at the polls. Hopefully, with a new team of political players, we’ll get some relief. God knows we could use it.
Sources
Dickler, Jessica. “Job cuts: Who’s next.” CNN.com. Accessed Oct. 30, 2008.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/27/news/vulnerable_industries/index.htm?postversion=2008103010
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Debates
Debate: definition Discussion between two parties, meant for discussing possible solutions for various crisis, but actually becoming a political WWE Smackdown.
Exaggeration? Perhaps. Regardless, much of the Vice Presidential debate was spent slamming the opposing party's candidate.
After wrestling with my Internet connection yesterday, willing it to be cooperative enough to run the broadcast of the debate from CNN.com, the program starts off with one Gwen Iffil of the News Hour as the host. She finishes her tele-prompted intro speech and out come the VP hopefuls. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware: cool, collected, obviously used to Eastern politics and debate. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska: informal (the first words out of her mouth were "Can I call you 'Joe'?" as she and Biden shook hands), collected, with an undercurrent of butterflies.
Iffil's first question to Sen. Biden: Do you think, in regards to the Bail Out Bill whose fate is still being determined, is this the best or the worst of Washington? Biden follows with one of his few direct answers of the night, responding that "It is neither the best, nor the worst. It is, however, evidence to the fact that these last eight years under President Bush have been the worst we've ever had". He goes on to detail the four basic criteria Barak Obama says are needed for any "Rescue Plan": there has to be oversight by the Treasury, there has to be a focus on home-owners and on folks on Main Street, we have to treat tax-payers as investors, and we have to make sure that, in the long run, CEOs don't benefit from the Plan. Biden goes on to say that his previous response brings him back to the "fundamental disagreement between Gov. Palin and [Biden]", claiming that "[The Democratic Party is] gonna fundamentally change the economic policy. We're gonna focus on the middle class, because when the middle class grows, the economy grows and everybody does well." Nice, and to-the-point, no sidetracking.
Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska takes the camera. Outline how any average Joe and soccer-mom Sally are going to worry about any investments they've made, how they're going to send their kids to college. Small businesses will worry about being denied loans to expand. Palin agrees with Biden that the federal government has not provided the oversight that the American public deserves and that there needs to be reform. She highlights McCain's catalyst action two years ago with mortgage giants Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, saying McCain "sounded the warning bell." One of her few smears on Biden was that he did not side with McCain to take care of the Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac issue.
Through the rest of the debate, Biden adds more and more statistics of McCain voting for tax increases, deregulation, and so on. Palin steadily lays out McCain's plans for the various questions that arose, from health care plans to the war in Iraq, throwing in the occasional jab at Obama and Biden, but all-together keeping a nice offensive. Biden seemed to be playing both sides of the court, nicely detailing Obama's plans for the future, but also throwing a good deal of cheap shots at Palin and McCain.
Is it possible, at all, to have a debate where talking about the opposing party and how they did/didn't vote for something the right way, how they did/didn't do something the right way? Is it possible spend an hour or so detailing just what we, as American citizens, are getting ourselves into with this upcoming election? I highly doubt it, but let's remain hopeful.
Exaggeration? Perhaps. Regardless, much of the Vice Presidential debate was spent slamming the opposing party's candidate.
After wrestling with my Internet connection yesterday, willing it to be cooperative enough to run the broadcast of the debate from CNN.com, the program starts off with one Gwen Iffil of the News Hour as the host. She finishes her tele-prompted intro speech and out come the VP hopefuls. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware: cool, collected, obviously used to Eastern politics and debate. Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska: informal (the first words out of her mouth were "Can I call you 'Joe'?" as she and Biden shook hands), collected, with an undercurrent of butterflies.
Iffil's first question to Sen. Biden: Do you think, in regards to the Bail Out Bill whose fate is still being determined, is this the best or the worst of Washington? Biden follows with one of his few direct answers of the night, responding that "It is neither the best, nor the worst. It is, however, evidence to the fact that these last eight years under President Bush have been the worst we've ever had". He goes on to detail the four basic criteria Barak Obama says are needed for any "Rescue Plan": there has to be oversight by the Treasury, there has to be a focus on home-owners and on folks on Main Street, we have to treat tax-payers as investors, and we have to make sure that, in the long run, CEOs don't benefit from the Plan. Biden goes on to say that his previous response brings him back to the "fundamental disagreement between Gov. Palin and [Biden]", claiming that "[The Democratic Party is] gonna fundamentally change the economic policy. We're gonna focus on the middle class, because when the middle class grows, the economy grows and everybody does well." Nice, and to-the-point, no sidetracking.
Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska takes the camera. Outline how any average Joe and soccer-mom Sally are going to worry about any investments they've made, how they're going to send their kids to college. Small businesses will worry about being denied loans to expand. Palin agrees with Biden that the federal government has not provided the oversight that the American public deserves and that there needs to be reform. She highlights McCain's catalyst action two years ago with mortgage giants Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, saying McCain "sounded the warning bell." One of her few smears on Biden was that he did not side with McCain to take care of the Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac issue.
Through the rest of the debate, Biden adds more and more statistics of McCain voting for tax increases, deregulation, and so on. Palin steadily lays out McCain's plans for the various questions that arose, from health care plans to the war in Iraq, throwing in the occasional jab at Obama and Biden, but all-together keeping a nice offensive. Biden seemed to be playing both sides of the court, nicely detailing Obama's plans for the future, but also throwing a good deal of cheap shots at Palin and McCain.
Is it possible, at all, to have a debate where talking about the opposing party and how they did/didn't vote for something the right way, how they did/didn't do something the right way? Is it possible spend an hour or so detailing just what we, as American citizens, are getting ourselves into with this upcoming election? I highly doubt it, but let's remain hopeful.
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