Plans for the Issues of America

This week, a mostly quiet week for the Republican candidates except for a debate held in Arizona on Wednesday, the twenty-third, I have decided to review all of the major issues that many Americans are looking for in debates and what they want from these commander-in-chief hopefuls. I will do one issue for every blog post in the coming weeks, along with the summary of the different primaries and caucuses coming up. The first issue I’m going to write about is what I think is the largest: the economy. President Obama’s campaign back in 2008 had little to none about “saving the economy”. I would know; I went to watch him speak. Times have changed so much then, as now nearly everybody’s lives have been changed in some sort of way by the downfall. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed, the foreclosures have been building up more and more, and this has led to the nation being in uncontrollable debt. The number changes by the second. I’ll start with Obama’s plan to fix this issue. Obviously he has gotten tons of heat from the Republicans on how he is steering the country in the wrong direction, and how his approval rate goes to show that. The president has helped many small-business owners and consumers with different programs, and his stimulus plan, which helped the overall economy for a short while, but has still not helped the 9.1% unemployment rate.  Obama’s real message in his campaign about the economy is that it will take years to fix it completely, and that is why he needs to be re-elected. Mitt Romney’s view and plans for the economy if he gets into the Oval Office is the “cut, cap, and balance” plan which will cut out all federal deficit spending. Current national leader Rick Santorom’s plan is reducing the corporate tax rate, and how he is against raising taxes in the crisis we as a country, are all ready in. “We need to get the economy growing. That doesn’t mean taking more money out of it that means creating energy jobs, manufacturing jobs…” According to information on his website, newt.org, Gingrich wants to make the tax cuts that Bush made permanent and eliminate capital gains tax, lower the corporate tax rate, and eliminate the estate tax. Last but not least, Senator Ron Paul’s plan is to eliminate the Federal Reserve altogether, which I think is a very bold move. Paul voted for two bills recently that will increase the debt ceiling, and bring the country back to a “gold standard”. Next week’s post will include a preview of the February twenty-eighth Michigan and Arizona Republican primaries, and the Leap Day Wyoming Republican caucus. To keep up to date on all of the latest news on the Election 2012, visit usatoday.com and cnn.com.         

Romney Wins Maine

Because this is my first post, I guess I should clarify on what this blog is going to be about. My goal in writing this blog is giving my different opinions on one large topic: the 2012 presidential election. I will write mostly about the Republican Party to see who gets the nomination, and face President Obama for the next presidential administration. Last Saturday included the Republican Maine caucus and the Republican CPAC straw poll, which were both big, but slim wins for the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Coming off a disappointing Tuesday where he lost three states (Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado) to Senator Rick Santorom, Romney got thirty-nine percent of the state’s votes, edging out Senator Ron Paul, who had thirty-five percent. With that victory, Romney won eleven delegates and Paul with a respectable ten. Santorom and former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich pulled up the trail with seventeen and six percent respectively. The other thing I gave point to in my introduction was the Republican Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll. When Mitt Romney campaigned in 2008 and eventually lost, he did not come out with a conservative campaign. This election however, he has tried, but few have really believed that he will lead the country with a conservative mind. The campaign trail moves on now to Arizona and Michigan which will take place on February 28^th, and then the Wyoming caucus on Leap Day, the 29^th. As of February 16^th, Rick Santorom is ahead of Romney in early polls in Michigan, a state where Romney was born and one that he won when he went for president back in 2008. Santorom has even come up with an ad that is being aired nearly every 1,000 commercials. In my mind, I think it’s pretty clever. It portrays a reverse angle of a person who looks like Romney, and a cardboard figure of Santorom. The actor that plays Romney then holds up a shotgun, shoots it, and it sprays mud that flies wide right of the cardboard Santorom, to signify Rick’s slogan for the ad, “Mitt is Missing”. Till then, the trail will be pretty quiet, with no debates (a disadvantage for Speaker Gingrich, who is winning delegates because of his rather feisty attitude during the debates) for Republicans to talk about. However, the candidates continue to campaign, across the country, as there’s less than a month before Super Tuesday, where nine states will be holding their Republican caucuses and primaries.  For more on Election 2012, you can go to usatoday.com or cnn.com. Also, if you want to learn more about any of the Republican candidates, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorom, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul, here are their websites in the order I just addressed: mittromney.com; ricksantorom.com; newt.org; and ronpaul2012.com.