Category: Mason Speaks

Obama Rejects Chance to Send 5mil to Charity

By Teddy Rose

FINAL UPDATE 11/1: President Obama missed the deadline to release the records, as a result missing an opportunity to directly benefit a charity of his choice with 5 million dollars. Here’s Donald Trump’s response:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYgW3_w3TS8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

UPDATE 10/30: Tweet by Donald Trump on Oct. 30th: ” The President has until tomorrow at 12 noon to pick up $5M for his favorite charity. Looking like he won’t be doing it. What is he hiding? “… Apparently giving the President more time to release the records due to Hurricane Sandy. 12:00 P.M. , November 1st, is the new deadline.

In a recent publicity stunt, Donald trump has given President Obama an opportunity to send 5 million dollars to a charity of his choice, the President has to release his college transcripts and passport records for the public to see. Mr. Trump claims that Obama has been one of the least transparent Presidents in history and wants to give him a positive way to release these records to the public while becoming “more transparent.” Trump told TheBlaze, “I thought it would be a very easy way to get transparency from the president…I would hope to find nothing – but I have a feeling that might not be the answer.” President Obama would have to release those records by Today, October 31^st, by 5:00 P.M E.T, or else he will have passed up an opportunity to give 5 million dollars to a charity of his choice.

Some met Mr. Trump’s ultimatum to the President with jokes and mockery, including the President himself who made a joke on the Jay Leno show. Some just ignored Donald Trump by simply saying, “It’s Donald Trump, what a joke.” Personally, I do not understand why people are making a mockery of this, what is the big deal? While some might ask “why” Donald Trump would do this, I ask, why not? If the President were to release those records, 5 million dollars would be donated to charity, he would be considered more transparent, and the public would know more about him. If the President does not release those records, that is 5 million dollars that will not go to help others, the President will be considered less transparent, and the public will not know as much about him as they would if he did release the records. If he does not have anything to hide, why not release his college transcripts and passports records? Whether you are an Obama supporter or not, I believe we should all support this opportunity for the President to be more open and transparent with us while benefiting others with 5 million dollars going to charity at the same time.

I could honestly care less if he released those specific records, it personally would not change my vote and probably would not change your vote, but why pass up an opportunity to give 5 million dollars to charity? I am sure New York and New Jersey could use that money right about now from the damage that Hurricane Sandy has caused.

Click here to watch Donald Trump’s big announcement.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Join Mason Votes and the Office of Student Media on Election Night

Rommey’s Deception

Photo by: lepesunset on flickr.com

Last week, the Romney/ Ryan campaign once again proved that their primary strategy for this election is deception.

At a campaign rally in Ohio, a key battleground state and a major beneficiary of the 2009 auto bailout, Governor Romney informed the crowd of a story he had read earlier that day; stating “that one of the great manufacturers of this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.” This was of course, far from accurate and a complete distortion of the article he was referring to, written in Bloomberg News.

Not only does Jeep have zero intention of moving all production from the U.S. to China, it has added about 7,000 jobs in North American since 2009. In actuality, the article in which Romney was referring to, explains that Chrysler, who owns Jeep, would be reopening its plants in China due to the increase in demand of Chinese costumers, never implying they were halting American production.

Executive, Gualberto Ranieri at Chrysler was quick to respond with a statement denouncing Romney’s dishonesty, saying “Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China… A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.”

What did Romney do next? Apologize for his misrepresentation? No. Pretend that he had never made those comments and move on? No.

Instead, he began airing an ad making the exact same accusation.

If Governor Romney would decide to run a commercial reiterating a fact he had already been publically ostracized for stating, one can only wonder what ethical decisions he would make as President.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Obama Campaign’s Last Ditch Desperation

If the polls are not convincing you that Barack Obama is in trouble, then just look at his actions. With just 10 days remaining until Election Day, the Obama campaign has attempted a number of desperate tactics that are intended to swing the balance and eek out a narrow reelection victory.

Obama’s campaign began this late cycle barrage by jumping on seemingly innocent, off the cuff, comments by Mitt Romney during the debates and blowing them up into major campaign attack spots for TV. One of the first ones featured Sesame Street’s Big Bird. The ad satirizes Romney as standing up to the ‘menace’ that is the adolescent character, emblazoned with Barack Obama’s verbal endorsement at the top of the ad. However, what’s worse than stooping to such a juvenile level, being rebuffed by the bird himself. Sesame Street’s non-profit group issued a statement condemning the ad, “We have approved no campaign ads, and, as is our general practice, have requested that both campaigns remove Sesame Street characters and trademarks from their campaign materials.”

Next was Romney’s seemingly praiseworthy effort to find qualified women to serve in his cabinet as Governor. Romney said he received “binders of women” who were qualified. That too, was seized upon by Obama HQ as a point of ridicule. Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly even used the prop when introducing the President at his campaign event at George Mason just last week. Obama also debuted his new attack line against Romney last week at Mason, ‘Romnesia’. This immature line of attack has been used over and over again not only by his surrogates, but by the President himself. Even more childish, the Obama Tumblr site this week even featured Romney in a dunce cap.

What all this points to is a long held strategy that the Obama team has had to defeat Romney. They would paint Romney as out of touch, elitist, corny, and an object of ridicule. It was a more personal form of attack than Jimmy Carter attempted to subject Ronald Reagan to. Carter only tried to paint Reagan’s policies as extreme. What the Obama campaign has attempted to do is paint Romney as personally unacceptable; almost like a high school popularity contest. Obama’s hope it seems is that their character assassination of Romney will trump the real issues.

However, much like Reagan beat back Carter’s attacks in a debate, so to did Romney. He showed in front of over 70 million people that he wasn’t quite so dislikeable as Obama had painted. On the contrary, he looked like the only person on the stage that could handle the next four years.

Now Team Obama is becoming more desperate. With no arrows left in the quiver, the Obama team will now be on a mad dash over the next 10 days to do anything they can to smear Romney and sway just enough voters to squeak out a narrow win. However, it seems the tide is set and it’s not going in Obama’s direction. The question does remain unanswered: Will Obama’s last minute distractions work? Only on November 7, when America’s verdict is read, can we know the answer.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Importance of Election for Young Adults

Photo by: dkachur on flickr.com

With less than two weeks before the General Election, the Obama campaign is out in full force. As President Obama was concluding his 48 hour, 6 state campaigning marathon yesterday, Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady of the United States, Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager of Obama for America and Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood held a press call with college and university media outlets from around the country. They emphasized how consequential the outcome of this election will be for young adults.

Dr. Biden drew from her experiences as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College and a mother whose child was in the military, to explain how much good President Obama and Vice President Biden have already done for young men and women in the United States; stating that “we have seen what forward means.” She highlighted how Pell Grant funding has doubled, the war in Iraq has ended and the economy is improving, with a foreclosure rate the lowest since 2007 and an unemployment rate the lowest since the President has taken office. Students are graduating into a better economy than they were four years ago.

Additionally, this administration has implemented student loan reform and created a college tax credit. Stephanie Cutter explained how under Obama, higher education has been made more accessible over the last four years, and how the President plans to continue this trend over the next four years. Federal student loan monthly payments have been capped at 10% of monthly discretionary income, helping ensure that graduates do not drown in student loans. Banks are no longer the middleman, reducing fees and allowing for the reinvestment of money into scholarships and Pell Grants. If reelected, President Obama will implement policies that will cut tuition by 50% in 10 years, as well as implement the Race to the Top initiative that is already used in elementary and secondary schools, in institutions of higher education.

Cecile Richards, who has taken a leave of absence as president of Planned Parenthood to campaign fulltime for the Obama/ Biden ticket, emphasized how important the President’s reelection is for the accessibility of healthcare for young people. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which Romney has vowed to overturn, allows people to not only stay on their parent’s insurance plan until they are 26 years old, but has eliminated copays on women’s preventative care; both of which substantially impact the economic well-being of young adults.

She also discussed how detrimental a Romney Administration would be for Planned Parenthood, the largest women’s preventative care provider in the country. Governor Romney has called to eliminate federal funding, which goes solely to preventative care, for Planned Parenthood. Something that Congressman Ryan has already voted to do. This will not only result in birth control, cancer screenings and numerous other essential health care needs becoming inaccessible to many, but is anything but economical. Every dollar the government spends on preventative care, $3-4 is saved on unplanned pregnancies.

All three women made it clear, there could not be more on the line in this election. To learn more about President Obama’s plan for the next four year go to barackobama.com/plan.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Romney Continues Support of Mourdock Campaign

Photo by: Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Indiana’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Richard Mourdock is receiving much criticism for comments regarding rape and pregnancy. During Tuesday night’s debate, Mourdock and his opponent Representative Joe Donnelly, were asked if they believe abortion should be allowed in cases of rape and incest; at which point he responded, “I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it’s something that God intended to happen.”

Mourdock quickly tried to walk back his comments in a press conference on Wednesday, explaining that he did not mean “to suggest that God wants rape, that God pushes people to rape, that God wants to support or condone evil in any way” and apologizing to those who were under such an impression.

Murdock’s comment came one day after a television ad of Governor Romney endorsing him candidate was released. The DNC’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Shultz has called on the Republican Presidential candidate to denounce the comments and request that this ad be taken off the air. Though, Romney’s spokeswomen Andrew Saul told The Hill that, “Governor Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock, and Mr. Mourdock’s comments do not reflect Governor Romney’s views. We disagree on the policy regarding exceptions for rape and incest but still support him.”

This further demonstrates how dominant the extreme right flank has become in the Republican Party. Mourdock isn’t the first GOP candidate to come under fire for such comments this election cycle.

Not only can a Republican nominee, in one of the countries most highly contested races, so blatantly insult women and their ability to make personal health decisions, but can do so and still receive the legitimacy and public support of his party’s leader. Neither Presidential Candidate will be able to call the White House home for the next four years if they are not able to court the women’s vote come November 6. Yet, Romney continuously pushes women away with what President Obama refers to as the social policy of the 1950’s.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Flash Lecture held at GMU on Higher Education Policy

GMU Student Govenrment held the first of a series of “Flash Lectures” on October 17, 2012. The flash lecture was a debate with an election spin to inform students more about issues. The debate featured Professor Bryan Caplan and Professor Steven Pearlstein who spoke on the question of “should government withdraw from and active role in providing and subsidizing higher education?”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKYvLYynVSM[/youtube]

598756_10151242020840027_1003958994_n — Flash Lecture held Oct. 17, 2012 sponsored by GMU Student Government

Student Reactions to Final Debate

Opinion: One in the Same

The objective of the final presidential debate was to determine if Governor Romney or President Obama scored higher on the “ability to seem like the Commander in Chief” test. And while Romney was not as bellicose as he was in the second debate, he undeniably received a lower grade, unable to hide his discomfort discussing foreign policy.

Romney spent the entirety of the debate altering his past positions and agreeing with President Obama; differentiating himself only by stating the he would have done what the President did, but somehow better. Obama made sure to point this out, expressing joy that the Governor was now supporting his foreign policy on a number of occasions.

Romney explained that because of the President’s leadership, Iran was now four years closer to a nuclear weapon, but that the Obama Administration was right in imposing the sanctions that have put the rouge state in economic turmoil; lacking any explanation as to how his policy over the next four years would be any different. While discussing the current civil war in Syria he criticized the President for not taking a strong enough stance against al-Assad, but gave no specific alternatives, explaining that he would continue what Obama is already doing. Romney also declared that he would fulfill the President’s plan to remove troops in Afghanistan by 2014, contradicting his previous position to evaluate the situation before making a final decision to drawdown.

Romney tried to detract from his obvious inexperience and past positions by continuously dancing his way to the left, mentioning his desire for peace, more often than not, and seizing any opportunity he had to reference the economy.

In the globalized world that now exists, discussion of the economy and education was appropriate, as foreign issues have understandably become domestic ones; but it replaced many foreign policy matters that should have been debated. Neither candidate mentioned the Eurozone crisis, or the effects that it is sure to have on America. Nor was there any real discussion of Latin America or any East Asian countries other than China. While the Middle East is of obvious importance to America’s national security, it must not be forgotten that the rest of the world exists. Over the last four years we have seen the President work with NATO to help defeat an oppressive regime in Libya and work with European leaders regarding their financial crisis. Last night was Romney’s chance to prove that he is aware there are more than two regions in the world, and he missed the opportunity.

Governor Romney needed to show the American people that he would be a strong alternative to Obama, but instead he presented himself as a more nervous version of the current President.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

Romney/Obama Stage Foreign Policy Fight in Last Debate

Tonight Mitt Romney and Barack Obama had one last chance to have America’s undivided attention. Both candidates seemed to know what they needed to do and they kept to their separate strategies.

Romney was clearly trying to move away from prosecutor and toward acting Presidential. He talked many times about peace and sounded more like a dove on war policy than many had ever heard. His strategy was clearly to look like a sober, steady hand on the trigger. To assure nervous undecideds that he can handle the possession of the nuclear launch codes. He was also in a unique position of having momentum and therefore not really in need of a game changer. He could sit on the lead he garnered in the first debate.

President Obama, on the other hand, remained aggressive and pushed the issue a number of times with his opponent. He looked like a guy that was in desperate need of something that would move the needle. He attacked like a guy who’s behind, because he is.

Many may claim the headline of this debate is the many times Romney agreed with Obama on policy. I don’t think this should surprise people because these two don’t disagree entirely on foreign policy. There are certain points of agreement. Romney chose to attack those key points where the views did not match. Romney would never attack Obama for killing Osama bin Laden or removing Gaddafi. He attacked on the President’s apology tour in 2009 and his ‘leading from behind’ strategy instead.

The electoral impact of this debate is still unknown, but I would predict its influence to be small. The trajectory of these debates was made clear after the first one. Add in the fact that domestic issues are the dominant topics in 2012 and you have a recipient for a small impact night.

Both men needed to pass the Commander and Chief threshold. Both men did. Now that that’s complete, the voters can judge their different views and the temperaments they possess. It is only the voters that can judge which man can best lead the free world. That decision will be rendered in just two week’s time.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

** Photo courtesy of AP