The West Georgian

Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: Opinion

Young Democrats
President
Skyler Akins

The economy is the single most important part of the American way of life. It provides good jobs so that people can work hard, support their families and live the American dream of economic prosperity. However, that American Dream of owning a home, raising a family, and retiring at old age is fading away quickly in the eyes of millions of Americans.

Foreclosures on homes are at an all time high, with almost 200,000 families losing their homes in the month of February. The economy that is supposed to provide good paying jobs is sending our jobs to China and India. Retirement is merely a dream for the millions of seniors that are working in their 70's and 80's to pay for their prescription drugs.

What are the people in Washington going to do about it? President Bush, and the Republicans in Congress, believe it's a good idea to give tax cuts to the richest top 1% in America. They are people that already have huge tax cuts, and subsidies to the companies that are taking jobs overseas. "Trickle Down Economics," as the Republicans like to call it, only trickle into the pockets of America's wealthiest executives and CEO's, not into the hands of America's middle class.

Just take a look at what seven years of "Trickle Down" Republican economics have given fellow Americans:

• Record job loss. The December unemployment rate shot up to a two-year high of 5 percent with nearly 500,000 more American looking for work, private employers cut payrolls for the first time in more than four years, with job losses in manufacturing, construction, financial services, and retail sales.
• Family income is down. Since 2001, the real income of a typical working age family has fallen by $2,500.
• Sales and consumer confidence are at a five-year low. Retailers suffered their worst December shopping season in five years. Consumer confidence fell in January to its lowest point on record dating back to 2002, and wholesale inflation last year shot up more than 6 percent, the largest jump in 26 years.
• American families are falling behind on their bills. American Express has warned of rising delinquencies and slowing spending among its cardholders. AT&T and Capital One are seeing more unpaid bills. Citigroup has set aside $4 billion to cover anticipated losses on loans to American consumers.
• Skyrocketing energy prices. Gas prices have risen 10 cents a gallon in the last three weeks to $3.07 a gallon, with new price projections of $3.50 a gallon price this spring. Crude oil prices have topped $100 a barrel and this winter's heating oil cost may climb to more than $2,000 per family - more than three times 2001 costs.
• Rising health care costs. Since 2001, families' share of their employer sponsored health care premiums have climbed $1,500, with a record 47 million Americans without health insurance.
• Mortgage foreclosures jump and home values drop. As many as two million Americans will see their mortgage rates increase in the next two years, with many of them losing their homes as a result of bad lending practices. This fall, home foreclosures have shot up to an all-time high. As a result of the overall housing slump, tens of millions of homeowners could see the value of their home, their primary investment, drop in value.

Given the bad numbers associated with the President's "trickle" economics, one would think that they wouldn't do more of the same. However, the economic stimulus package that the President and his Republican leaders first put together would have given tax cuts to companies like Exxon Mobil Oil Company, which last quarter saw a record breaking $80 billion in profits, on the backs of hard working Americans. Not to mention the billions of dollars that the package would have borrowed from China, something that this President and his colleagues are growing all too comfortable with.

The Democrats in Congress stood up to this ridiculous "Stimulus Plan," and reached a compromise with the President that would give tax rebate checks to poor families, middle class workers, and seniors. This is the moral and just thing to do, to give it to the people that most desperately need the money, and work the hardest for it. The stimulus package that is being debated in the US Senate now is far from perfect though; due to Republican cronyism, which will still give more tax cuts to Exxon Mobile, and borrow billions from China. It is too little too late because the checks won't even reach homes until the middle of summer, at best, but is a step in the right direction.

The last eight years of Republican leadership have been devastating to the country, and families. A good end is in sight, because billions of people across the globe on January 20th 2009 are celebrating the end of the worst, most divisive presidency in history. They are celebrating the election of a President that will once again go back to work for the American people, one that will stimulate the people's economy, not the elitists.


College Republicans
Chairman
David Bachman

Have you ever wondered why in less than 230 years, a population of 300 million people has become the most innovative, the most achieving, the most powerful, the most affluent society in the history of human civilization? Many other societies have been around hundreds or thousands of years longer than we have, each with humans equal in strength, talent, and energy. But ask yourself "What sets America apart from all the rest?" The answer is easy! It rests upon exactly what this country was founded on: Freedom. I believe the 2008 Presidential Elections will fall precisely on this question.

Americans are faced with two choices that split party lines in the upcoming election. Aside from other issues, the Republicans and Democrats sharply contrast on the free market economy and taxes. The Democrat route will unquestionably take us towards socialism. The Republican route will continue on the path we have been on for 230 years: capitalism.

Let's take a look at some facts from America's robust free market economy under the current Republican presidency.

• 1.25 million non-farm payroll jobs have been created since January 2007 - 8.4 million since the 2003 Bush tax cuts, according to Investor's Business Daily.
• IBD also reports that the GDP is up 18.5 percent, about $1.8 trillion since the start of the Bush Presidency.
• The GDP grew by 3.9 percent in the third quarter; "faster than expected," according to the New York Times.
• The latest jobless rates are at 5 percent according to the Labor Department, another continued month of basically full employment.
• Productivity surged 4.9 percent in the third quarter, according to the Labor Department, the fastest pace in four years.
• In November, the Conference Board announced that discretionary income for U.S. consumers grew to a record high going into the fourth quarter. Some 73 million households, or 64 percent, have $1.7 trillion at their disposal - up from 52 percent and $1.2 trillion in 2002.
On the other hand, the word we get from Democrats is "mandate," or in other words "government run" programs that give politicians the power to control your life. It is only February and the Democrats have already made such unbelievable socialist proposals:
• Freeze interest rates for five years; making a wreck of the housing market.
• The largest tax increase ($1 trillion) in America's history; thus ending a jobless rate and all job creation.
• Taxpayer funded pre-k, an extension of public schools.
• $1,000 for every citizen.
• $5,000 for every newly born baby.
• Annual $110 billion taxpayer funded socialized healthcare for every American.

The fact of the matter is that there is nothing "free" about anything the Democrats want to do, particularly Senators Clinton and Obama. Their proposals come at an extremely high price in two distinct ways. First, they will mandate more taxes to be taken away from our paychecks, from our families, and from our businesses to compensate their programs. Secondly, they will destroy the aforementioned positive economic statistics and replace them with very bad socialist policies.

The Democrats and their weak position on taxes and the economy will surely destroy the working family if they take hold in 2008. Make no mistake about it. In order to compensate their astounding big-government proposals, the Democrats will raise taxes on every American, no matter the income level. The Democrat theory is to reward hardworking successful Americans with high taxes to pay for their outrageous big-government proposals. The Republican theory is to continue to cut taxes to stimulate the economy and help low, middle, and high-income families grow and prosper.

Our country was founded on the principles of economic liberty and freedom. Someone please tell me how on earth socialized healthcare correlates with the ideal of freedom? There is nothing free about it! To put it in perspective I want you to think about the Social Security system, which was instituted by a big-government Democrat, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is perhaps one of the greatest government failures of our time and it will chiefly hurt our generation. Right now there are only three people paying into a system that pays ten retirees. Our question should be this: If the government can't even manage the Social Security system, why elect another liberal Democrat to take more money and more power away from the people and give it to the government?

Do we want America to remain the fortress of capitalism and the free market that we have been for nearly 230 years or do we now want to elect a Democrat as president and turn away from the very aspect on which we were founded?

In the midst of this important Presidential Election, I encourage you to look at exactly what each candidate and their political party represents. Do we want more government, higher taxes, economic decline and government dependency? Or do we want less government, lower taxes, continued economic prosperity and individual freedom? The choice is yours so make the right decision.

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