Why Vote For Obama Again In 2012?

Why Vote For Obama Again In 2012?
By John Viall
July 4, 2012

YOU MIGHT HAVE SENSIBLE REASONS not to vote for President Obama in 2012. You might be a billionaire, for example. But when you read a few blogs, check out the political pages on Facebook, and listen to nutjob right-wing news, you quickly realize there are two bizarre strains of thought when it comes to voting against Obama in November, or not bothering to vote for him.

1. The crazy right-wing types insist Mr. Obama is a commie, a Kenyan, a tyrant in black sheep’s clothing (emphasis on “black”) and warn he wants to destroy America with gay marriage licenses and crippling taxation.

2. The grumbling types, including a few disgruntled liberals, complain that President Obama hasn’t carried out all his promises and say it makes no difference whether he or Mitt Romney is elected.

In the end, most Americans choose the candidates they support based in part on fact, in part on opinion. So let’s start with a fact in his support. Osama bin Laden, the man responsible for the death of 3,000 innocent Americans, sleeps with the fishes. The nutjob right-wing types sneer, saying: “Obama didn’t kill Osama, the Navy Seals did.” But they’re lying through the right side of their teeth if they try to say they wouldn’t have gone loco if the nighttime raid into Pakistan, ordered by Mr. Obama, had failed.

It’s also a fact that the previous administration, headed up by a rock-ribbed conservative crew, didn’t kill Osama, either. They got us involved in the wrong war, at the wrong time, in the wrong place.

Not convinced? Say what you will about flaws in the Affordable Health Care Act. It may be like having watched legislative sausage being made. But it’s a start. It’s at least an attempt to address serious problems that beset our current health care system. And right now–this very day–if you have a type-1 diabetic in your family, an uncle with lupus, or a wife with multiple sclerosis, your loved ones can no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. That’s not all, as they say. If your family has an adult son or daughter, age 19-25, without their own health care coverage, they can now be covered on your family health plan.

Millions of young Americans are better off, as a result.

In fact, if Mr. Obama is a communist, business leaders haven’t noticed. Corporate profits in 2011 reached all-time highs, even as wages stalled or declined. (More on that later.) When the U. S. economy crashed in 2008, the Dow-Jones began a long plunge from 14,164 (October 9, 2007) down to 6,440 (March 9, 2009). Trillions of dollars in investments were wiped off books before the “with-out” a valid birth certificate could recite the first line of the oath of office. Since then, whatever the nutjobs say about the “communist” in the White House, stock market valuations have doubled and the retirement plans of many an angry Tea Partier have been saved.

Remember when Mitt Romney and Republican leaders made fun of “Government Motors” and said it would be a far better thing to “let the U. S. auto industry die?” Talk to a GM or Chrysler worker today, men and women with families and bills to pay, just like you, are still collecting their paychecks and now earning a bit of overtime. How are those “bailed out” companies faring? June 2012 sales figures for General Motors were up 15.5% over 2011, and with 248,750 vehicles sold the company had its best month since the 2008 collapse. Chrysler did even better with sales gains of 20.3%, and its best June figures since 2007.

Speaking of the auto industry, what about howls from the right, blaming Mr. Obama for rising gas prices? As recently as March, Rush Limbaugh was almost apoplectic. Other right-wing types went to great pains to point out that on the day Obama took office a gallon of gas sold for $1.81. Of course, they ignored the fact it was selling cheap in January 2009 because the world economy looked like it was about to go bust.

So, let’s go back to 2008 for a broader perspective. On May 28, 2008, crude oil sold for $135 a barrel and the average price of a gallon of gas was $3.94. Four years later, under Mr. Obama, the average cost of a gallon of regular unleaded has dropped to $3.50 and a barrel of crude is selling for $84. So, congratulations, President Obama.

Really, all you right-wing nutjobs. Go look it up.