I had one of the best nights of my life Wednesday night. I got to shake former President Clinton's hand and hear an awesome speech in support of Dr. Richard Carmona and democrats in general. President Clinton's speech really resonated with me and it's one that I will never forget. President Clinton urged Americans to come together and resist the divide that the Republican party is attempting to force upon us. Clinton stated that trickle-down economics is no longer effective in our governmental society. The "trickle" is being intercepted by big bank and corporation bail outs and tax cuts for millionaires. Not of which is logical. What is logical is fairness and proportion. If you make millions of dollars, pay a little bit more and help out the country and the middle class as a whole. It's that simple. The GOP has been hijacked by greed and political extremists who only want to multiply the dollar in their pocket. Sad, but true.
President Clinton also stressed the importance of the Dream Act and our future generations and work force. Under the Dream Act, student loans are made manageable and easily accessed. Upon graduating college, students pay back loans based on income. So essentially, if you leave college with a degree, yet can't find a job that pays well, you don't have to worry about making huge payments to a debt collecter. All of the interest and tax surplus created by the Dream Act goes into a Federal fund which gives money to Pell grants and scholarships for students. Of course Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan want to repeal this act in order to help "balance" the budget. Similar to how cutting PBS and revoking women's rights will do the same. The problem is that the GOP is focusing on the categories that fiscally, don't matter. However, they intrinsically do matter. Education, women, and PBS combined make up a minor portion of our budget. If the GOP really cared about balancing the budget they would go after defense. But oh wait, that's so anti-Republican, they would never.
President Clinton's speech was awesome. It was only about 20-30 minutes long so I really do urge you to look it up on youtube and watch it. For the rest of my life, I will never forget being front row, ten feet away from Mr. Clinton listening to him speak about all of my beliefs in such a short period of time. I can't wait to tell my kids that story one day.
Now, onto elections and politics. I'm focusing on the senate race in this one.
Dr. Richard Carmona: Served as 17th Surgeon General of the United States and was brought in under President Bush. Dr. Carmona served in Vietnam, earning a purple heart and many other various decorations. He dropped out of high school, and joined the forces. He then went to community college, followed by medical school and became a trauma surgeon. Oh and did I mention he was homeless for a while as a child? And he was the first to earn a diploma in his family? STUDENT LOANS PEOPLE. He is also the director of the Canyon Ranch health resort and served on the Tucson police force (specifically in the SWAT department). Carmona was independent before deciding to run on the democratic ticket. He is great when it comes to reaching across the aisle and negotiating amongst parties. I strongly urge you to vote for this man. Especially in times when bio-terrorism is becoming an issue, who do you want sitting on your Senate? A straight-forward politician, or a trauma surgeon/surgeon general? Yeah, that's what I thought. Dr. Carmona supports women's rights, including healthcare. Dr. Carmona urges Washington to take responsibility for the federal defecit, and even proposed reduction in pay until positive results are seen (which heaven forbid, would require Republicans to reach across party lines). Carmona also supports veterans services, and proper allocation of benefits.
Dr. Richard Carmona is running against Jeff Flake (yes, the name says it all). All of what I'm going to tell you about Flake is literally on his own website and I have not warped it in any way. Flake believes that education is a local issue that should be handled at a local level. This would be detrimental to education, as well as federal funding for it. He voted against the No child left behind act. In terms of energy, Flake encourages the use and utilization of nuclear power plants, as well as offshore and on land drilling. Please take into account that Germany just surpassed the US in terms of clean energy created via the sun and their country is 1/3rd our size. So basically, no solar or wind, hard fossil fuels and energy, which leads to environmental degredation and pollution. Flake also believes that federal spending is out of control. However, he proposed that we cut funds that include: the relief given to Hurricane Katrina, medicare prescription drug benefits, war in Iraq, etc. Flake also supported Bush's tax cuts, and wants to make them a permanent fixture in out government.
Please go out and vote. Go out and vote for a cleaner and brighter future. I honestly urge you to vote for Dr. Richard Carmona. We have had enough of big tax cuts for the rich and increasing pressures on the middle class. We as a country need to upgrade our policies. We need clean energy, equal rights, and great education. Not pollution, more tax cuts, and cuts made to education and healthcare.
No comments:
Post a Comment