Editor,
Stephen Dinkel is wrong in saying Barack Obama is not for America. The conservative values of fiscal responsibility, national defense and moral values are not represented by the Republicans. America needs Obama; conservatives and their values need Obama. Since the Ronald Reagan era, deregulation has been pushed forward by the Republicans in office and has since dominated American economics. A great example is the selling of paper on Wall Street for huge profits. When Reagan led the American people to believe the government was the problem, Americans were for the first time in our history left in the dust by pure greed.
Proof is today's economic crisis and the way our conservative Republican president hopes to deal with it. Paper "traitors" on Wall Street fought for and gained deregulation policies, which led to huge profits and inevitably terrible fiscal responsibility. This conservative "hands-off government" approach is what has led us into the turmoil we are in today.
Obama and Democrats do not believe in hands-off government and do not believe our taxes are meant to bail out the pro-Reagan corporations that fought for deregulation and blamed the government for their problems. These are the same corporations that are now looking to the conservative regime in the White House to con the American taxpayers into giving them a $1 trillion check. I would much rather take Obama's $1 billion requests that were meant to help the American public any day over the request for a $1 trillion blank check for the wealthy.
Obama and Democrats are for economics that are meant to produce fairness for the American people on Main Street - not individual wealth and greed. See, where Democrats stand is in the heart of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's policies, policies which are meant to produce revenue that is then invested back into America with a hands-on approach. These policies are meant to produce quality and quantitative gains for society as a whole. Democrats believe taxes are meant to be invested back into America, which will then create more jobs, lead skilled research to cure and prevent diseases and poverty and produce world-class meaningful results.
I might also add President Bush not only led America from its greatest surplus in history to its greatest deficit in history but also grew the government. Many conservatives may argue the deficit is worth it because of the Iraq War and their belief in its worth for national defense. Obama voted against the failed war in Iraq and pushed for a real war against the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama showed a very responsible judgment for national defense, much stronger than that of the current conservative administration in the White House. If one believes we are safer because of the Iraq War, I hope he or she re-evaluates the situation.
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And as for moral values, I understand that abortion is a very strong subject for moral value. What one must start to do is evaluate moral value as a whole array of choices rather than one topic. Is it morally correct to allow these corporations (the same corporations that fought to deregulate government policies and are now begging for mercy from their knees) to steal $1 trillion of our taxes? No, because the truth is they are stealing it from us. They knew that without regulation they would become so large that our economy would become so dependent that they could become fiscally irresponsible and be bailed out. Is it moral to go into a war that turned out to be filled with lies? No. Is it moral to rush into the Iraq War and run it with private contractors? No. Is it moral to give tax breaks to the oil giants and wealthiest 5 percent of Americans and leave the middle class behind? No. Is it moral to leave the black community waiting in vain after Hurricane Katrina? No. Is it moral to elect another na've conservative? No. Obama wins in fiscal responsibility, national defense and moral decisions.
Derek Lynch
UNM student
