"Hope" and "change" were the key words that candidate Barack Obama infused into his campaign rhetoric four years ago. Today, with an additional $5.5 trillion in U.S. debt, elevated unemployment and no clear foreign policy, all the United States can hope for is change. If the country is to move forward, as President Obama has emphasized during this election season, different leadership is needed. Our great country requires a president who can manage national affairs, promote a culture of prosperity and inspire conviction in the American dream once again. The candidate who can actually achieve these goals is Mitt Romney.
Democrats love talking about inheritances. We all understand that President Obama entered office when the nation was teetering on the precipice of economic recession. Yet what has the President done to accelerate the recovery? The $700 billion bank bailout, a measure that was characterized as corporate welfare in 2008 but saved us from a depression, was passed under the Bush Administration. Obama also claims that he and his fellow Democrats salvaged the auto industry. Actually, the previous administration intervened in the auto industry, and Obama's final negotiations did nothing to aid General Motors but rather abused corporate bondholders, perpetuated stifling union contracts and supported the production of electric Chevrolet Volts whose sales figures are so depressing that production was halted in September. Were I Obama, I would not celebrate GM's "success" after government intervention - its stock is trading 23 percent below its initial public offering price.
Also, where is a serious housing plan that ameliorates the shadow inventory of foreclosures and fosters a sensible home-ownership culture? Romney's economic adviser Glenn Hubbard has proposed a system of refinancing that shortens the time of indebtedness to mortgagors and decreases loan-to-value ratios. Though Obama has espoused similar ideas, he certainly did not dedicate sufficient energy toward this pursuit. Perhaps this is because Obama focused his attention during the first two years of his presidency - when he enjoyed enough Democratic support in the House and Senate to legislate his visions - on Obamacare and a stimulus bill packed with funding for "shovel-ready" jobs that were not "as shovel-ready as we expected." His words, not mine.
Romney - who spent over three successful decades in private equity, returned the 2002 Winter Olympics to profitability, left Massachusetts with the nation's best schools and worked to balance the state budget - understands priorities and management. He would reduce tax and regulatory burdens on businesses. Liberating enterprise in this manner will reignite the American entrepreneurial spirit and induce employers to hire again or reward diligent employees with higher wages.
Right now Americans - regardless of gender, race, creed or ethnicity - need to get back to work. We need a president who knows how to encourage prosperity, our ultimate gateway to freedom. That is Mitt Romney, not President Obama.
Elizabeth Fuerbacher '14 will be voting for a candidate who knows how to lead businesses and people down the road to prosperity, rather than leading them down the road to indebtedness and stagnation.
