Our country needs change. If eight years of a failed foreign policy wasn’t enough, our economy is now teetering on the edge of a cliff. No one can ignore the urgent call for change. While Barack Obama and John McCain both hear this call, only one of them has the right response.
The ills of our economy are all around us. A budget surplus from then-President Bill Clinton that has crashed into a crushing deficit under President Bush. A tax cut that has lined the pockets of the super-rich while turning a blind eye to the middle class. Savings that are down, while health care costs are up. Employment that has fallen while foreclosures rise. And a stock market that is crashing as the national debt booms.
We need to change this. We need to give businesses, both large and small, access to the credit they need to create jobs and grow the economy. We also need a president who will stand up for all Americans — who understands what it’s like living paycheck to paycheck, and who will put individuals ahead of corporations. We need a president who shares our values and is on our side.
That’s why Obama wants to cut taxes for middle-class workers, eliminate income taxes for seniors earning less than $50,000 per year and give all families a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate. McCain, meanwhile, wants to give a tax cut of $125,000 to the top 1 percent of income-earners, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. That sounds like more of the same to me — and it’s not what America needs right now.
Obama’s economic plan will jump-start our economy and provide immediate relief to families hit hard by the economic turbulence. In the longer run, his plan to build an energy self-sufficient America will bring stability to our future — while creating 5 million clean-energy jobs in the process. McCain? His plan to “drill, baby, drill” would have no impact on gas prices in the short term, and would be insignificant in the long term, according to the Energy Department.
The economic, global and environmental challenges ahead of us are great. There will be no quick fixes and no magic wands. We need a new approach and a change in our politics. While Obama offers the change our country needs, the only change I’ve seen in McCain has been the change in himself. He has changed from a man who commanded wide public affection to a candidate embroiled in misleading ads, bad calls and an overly negative campaign.
McCain’s erratic temperament and impulsive decision-making may have suited his role as “maverick” senator. But the change we need will not be accomplished by a volatile president. We need a president who is both steady and bold, thoughtful and decisive, pragmatic and visionary. We need Obama.
Although the election is at hand, it’s not too late to volunteer in this history-making campaign. Click here for more information or call 805.617.3525.
Tim Allison is a team leader for Santa Barbara Volunteers for Obama.