I was at a John McCain rally at Montgomery County Community College last Tuesday when it dawned on me that maybe neither of the candidates had a real solution to the economic crisis.
On the way to the rally that morning, my daily coffee of NPR told me that Sen. McCain planned to announce his economic plan and “fight” back at Obama because the Democratic hopeful had recently risen in polls. It is no secret that McCain’s strength does not lie in his economic knowledge but rather his foreign policy knowledge.
So here I am standing five yards from the “maverick’s” podium and both of his introducers talked about how “badly this nation needs a real hero,” how badly we need someone to stand in the face of danger blah blah and everyone cheers. Come on! Call me greedy but am I really the only one who would rather hear about how the next president is going to protect my job security?
Let’s face it; Iraq and Afghanistan, for the most part, thanks to the Bush administration, are not as harmful an issue to the United States as is the fall of our economy. Right now, the military is taking care of the problem overseas as is the current administration. Though I do feel it is important to have a future president who will keep both the U.S. and the troops in good hands, I think it is time to realize that if we are ever going to leave Iraq or even Afghanistan, with a timetable or without, we are going to need to have a strong economy at home so that we can bring the nation back to that level.
When Congress passed the bailout, I was at a Barack Obama rally and at the risk of sounding partial, I think Obama made a good point that day. He mentioned that the bailout was not the solution to the long-term economic problem. However, it was something to give the economy “better footing.” Obama went on to say that giving the middle-class tax breaks was “the key to solving the financial crisis.” In the words so nicely chanted at the McCain rally, “Nobama,” I do not think that just one class being given tax breaks is going to solve this problem.
A friend and I were talking the other day and we came to the conclusion that as of right now, neither of us has enough know-how to find an answer to the economic crisis. However, the problem did not just come only from the greed of Wall Street, but from the lack of education our business men, politicians and even the media have on the subject.
Last year, Jim Kramer of CNBC’s “Mad Money” said that if Bear Stearns continued with their business practices, if there was no regulation in the stock-market, this crisis would occur. He called the entire crisis; he said jobs would be lost, homes would be lost, stocks would dip and the Federal Government would need to wake up. He was right. He knew what he was talking about. So even though Kramer is not much of an academic, I would say that if we are educated then maybe we can find solutions to this and future problems. Both candidates, thankfully, see this light and have pushed the idea that better education will ready us for future crises.
In the second presidential debate, I as a voter wanted to hear more of what both candidates would do to solve the crisis. Instead, the importance of the crisis was pushed aside. The candidates thought proving the other candidate could not solve the problem took the place of what they themselves could do to solve it. Disappointment.
Give me a president who is not going to solve this crisis through tax breaks. Give me a new age FDR who will throw in enough plans and ideas that will save us before we hit bottom. As a writer, I will make much less than $100,000 a year. If the economy drops harder, I might not even see $25,000.
When Nov. 4 comes, the voters of the United States can only pick one candidate. My generation’s vote will finally be able to define the next four years. People my age could even be the ones to solve the economic crisis before the end of that term. Our vote does not only decide the U.S. economy; it decides the global economy through banking systems and loans. There is a phrase written by an iconic writer named Alan Moore who said, “Remember, remember, the fifth of November.” That morning, we will. Trust me.
