Obama v Romney: The Economy



President Barack Obama and his challenger Governor Mitt Romney recently participated in the first of three presidential debates. The two debated a variety of issues, but one topic that came up more than any other was our economy.  Romney called out Obama for essentially dropping the ball in his first term as President, citing increasing unemployment and a stagnant economy.  Obama spent nearly $800 billion dollars in stimulus programs but still failed to keep the unemployment rate below 10 percent.  Furthermore, Romney discussed how Obama’s 4 years as president consisted of multi trillion dollar deficits and projects to borrow nearly a trillion dollars next year.  Governor Romney, for the first time since he received the nomination, seemed strong.  He persuaded Americans that his solution to revitalize the economy, focusing on energy independence, fiscal consolidation, and lowering tax rates will decrease our national debt and consequently stimulate our economy.  Pointing to the fact that Obama has added $5 trillion to our national debt in the past 4 years, Romney assured American’s that because he comes from a business background he will not let this happen.

Obama, for the first time since the race started, seemed weak.  Unable to defend his actions during his first term, he simply repeated the fact that he “wished” to create jobs and cut the government deficit.  The simple fact is that we all know what needs to be done.  The main thing we as voters need to understand from these debates is the differences in policies between the two candidates and the reasoning behind them.  Romney did his job, Obama didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong; I’m in no way supporting Romney in this post.  I’m simply stating the facts – Romney came prepared and articulated what he needed to. In the next debate, we all need Obama to do the same.

- Vivek Shah

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