1. When President Obama took office, the economy was on the brink of total collapse. Through the economic rescue and stimulus packages that President Obama advanced, the American economy was saved from a second Great Depression.
2. President Obama saved the U.S. auto industry through his rescues of GM and Chrysler, while his opponent wanted to let them go bankrupt. A successful country must be a country that makes things, and President Obama understood this at the critical moment. Today, the U.S. auto industry is enjoying record sales and profits, and American manufacturing is back. Tens of thousands of American jobs were saved as a result of President Obama’s actions.
3. President Obama has created more private-sector jobs during his first term than were created under either of his Republican predecessor’s terms. Yes, we still need to do better, and public sector jobs are lagging. But a major reason for that is because House Republicans (including VP candidate Paul Ryan and every other House Republican) blocked legislation proposed by President Obama that would have put hundreds of thousands of cops, firefighters, teachers, clerical workers, and construction workers back to work. Sorry, Mr. Ryan and all your buddies, you don’t get to vote against job-creating legislation and then accuse the President of not creating jobs.
4. When President Obama took office, we were bogged down in an ill-advised war in Iraq that cost America 4,000 lives and our treasury one trillion dollars. As he promised he would, President Obama ended that war and brought our brave men and women home.
5. When President Obama took office, 45,000 Americans were dying every year because they did not have health insurance. Succeeding where many past presidents have failed, President Obama secured legislation that will end that disgrace. Health care reform will also end the practice of denying insurance or charging more for it due to pre-existing conditions, and it has already increased the number of Americans with health-insurance protection by allowing young adults to remain on their parents’ insurance policies. In addition, seniors have already saved $4.5 billion on prescription drugs because of the Affordable Care Act. Just in the first half of this year, the average senior has saved more than $600.
6. Because of orders given by President Obama as Commander-in-Chief, Osama bin Laden and Muammar Ghaddafi are dead, while Al Quaeda is decimated and has been largely driven from Afghanistan.
7. The shameful practice of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the U.S. armed services has been ended by President Obama. Today, qualified men and women are no longer kept out of our armed services because of discrimination, and research has shown that the change has had no harmful effects on military preparedness, unit cohesion, recruitment, or retention.
All of the above constitute more than reason enough to vote to re-elect President Obama. But in addition, there is also the matter of his opponent. Governor Romney has proven himself to be utterly lacking in principle and conviction, changing his position repeatedly on health care, abortion, Social Security, taxes, and many other issues. About the only things he has not changed his position on are keeping his tax returns secret and giving additional tax breaks to his fellow multimillionaires. And it seems that about the only principle governing Mr. Romney’s positions is trying to say things that will get him elected. Hence, one position as governor of Massachusetts, another while running in the primaries, and now near-total avoidance of specifics while running in the general election. One day his tax plan is to cut taxes by $5 trillion over 10 years, most of which would go to millionaires, the next day he says "that's not my plan," and the next day Paul Ryan says it is their plan. But you still haven't heard from him how he plans to do that without raising taxes on the middle class, cutting programs that mainly benefit the middle class, and/or increasing the deficit. And you WON'T hear that from him, because nearly every expert who has studied his plan agrees that it can't be done. And that's even more true if you add in the trillion or so he wants to add to the military budget, even though the military isn't even asking for it. And if all that is not enough, consider the Romney advertising with complete lies about President Obama, such as Romney’s ad about welfare reform, which, like so many other things about Romney, has been thoroughly debunked by every fact-checking organization.
The bottom line is this: President Obama deserves to be re-elected, and Mitt Romney does not deserve any position of public trust. I will be voting to re-elect President Obama, and in Colorado's third Congressional district, I will also be voting for Sal Pace for Congress to give President Obama the support he needs in Congress to keep America moving forward.
Note: The essay above is a slightly expanded version of a letter I wrote that appears in the Pagosa Springs Sun this week. I welcome debate on my endorsement of President Obama. I will post and respond to any thoughtful comment that I receive via email or, if we are Facebook friends, via Facebook. Forward!
