Endorsement: Barack Obama for president
Past the partisan bickering and campaign half-truths of the 2012 election season, it is integral that students take the initiative to educate themselves about the issues at stake on the November ballot.
The Daily Bruin editorial board, which represents the voice of the entire newspaper, has researched the measures and candidates that students will be voting on, and endorsed the ones we think do the most to support the UCLA community. We encourage students to use our endorsements as a starting point for conducting their own research, forming their own educated opinions and casting an informed vote come Election Day.
See who the board endorsed:
The people
The education propositions
The rest of the propositions
By Editorial Board
Nov. 1, 2012 12:13 a.m.
In the past four years, President Barack Obama has weathered the single greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, two foreign wars and an extended period of the worst Congressional gridlock this country has seen.
Despite these conditions, Obama appears to have kept his eye grounded in pragmatic solutions to the issues at hand, especially those issues that concern the college-age voter. For this reason, we endorse Obama for re-election in November.
Under Obama, Pell Grants have seen significant increases in availability and size, allowing students to leave college with a more manageable debt load. In addition, Obama has continued to lead the movement of loan allocation from private banks to the federal government, keeping interest rates low and cutting down on predatory lending.
On this issue, it is clear that Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s positions are no friend to college students. Romney’s focus on privatization would encourage the expansion of the private loan industry and the for-profit college model ““ both major roadblocks in rebuilding America’s higher education systems.
Of the whole slate of issues at stake in this election cycle, two stand head and shoulders above the rest: economy and health care.
On these platforms, this board believes Obama’s stances are both progressive and logical, two criteria that seem to escape his opponent.
The problem of post-graduate underemployment is one that must be addressed with immediacy and clearly guided policy. Obama’s proposed investment in green and sustainable industries and focus on tax policy over tax loopholes are indications of much-needed forward thinking in policy making.
Perhaps more cut and dry than economic policy are both candidates’ stances on health care.
This board stands firmly in support of women’s rights to their own choice of medical procedures and the freedom ensured by easy access to birth control and contraceptives.
Furthermore, Obama’s stipulation under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has allowed graduates under the age of 26 a respite from insurance concerns until they find their footing.
