Spring Break
Barack Obama: A Defining Moment
Barack Obama
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Forum
Editors Note:
After receiving this guest
column from the campaign of Barack Obama the editorial board of The Daily Barometer attempted to contact the campaigns of both presidential
candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Both campaigns have yet to respond with a similar contribution.
The guest column follows:
This is a defining moment for America and for your generation.
I've met students across this country who are wondering whether the college education they're receiving will lead to a good job that can pay off all those loans. I've met others who are tired of watching our planet polluted and our climate changed forever, and still others who have bravely gone to fight in a war that should never have been authorized and never been waged.
It is because of these failures that all Americans - not just Democrats - are listening to what we say in this election. This is our chance to forge a new majority to tackle problems that grew worse under George Bush but had festered long before he took office.
And that's why we can't afford the same old politics this year. We can't tell everyone what we think they want to hear. We have to tell people what they need to hear.
Presidents have made the most difference in people's lives when they have led not by polls, but by principle; not by triangulation and calculation, but by conviction; when they have been leaders who could summon the entire nation to a common purpose.
That's why I'm running for president.
I'm running to make college more affordable for any American who wants to go. I've proposed a $4,000 a year refundable tax credit that will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public college or university. And I'll strengthen our community colleges by offering new degrees for emerging fields and rewarding schools that graduate more students.
I'm running to reform health care like I did in Illinois - by reaching across party lines and taking on the insurance industry. That's how I'll sign a universal health care plan by the end of my first term as president. Under my plan, if you graduate and don't find a job that provides health insurance right away, you can stay on your parents' insurance until you're 25.
After receiving this guest
column from the campaign of Barack Obama the editorial board of The Daily Barometer attempted to contact the campaigns of both presidential
candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Both campaigns have yet to respond with a similar contribution.
The guest column follows:
This is a defining moment for America and for your generation.
I've met students across this country who are wondering whether the college education they're receiving will lead to a good job that can pay off all those loans. I've met others who are tired of watching our planet polluted and our climate changed forever, and still others who have bravely gone to fight in a war that should never have been authorized and never been waged.
It is because of these failures that all Americans - not just Democrats - are listening to what we say in this election. This is our chance to forge a new majority to tackle problems that grew worse under George Bush but had festered long before he took office.
And that's why we can't afford the same old politics this year. We can't tell everyone what we think they want to hear. We have to tell people what they need to hear.
Presidents have made the most difference in people's lives when they have led not by polls, but by principle; not by triangulation and calculation, but by conviction; when they have been leaders who could summon the entire nation to a common purpose.
That's why I'm running for president.
I'm running to make college more affordable for any American who wants to go. I've proposed a $4,000 a year refundable tax credit that will cover two-thirds of the tuition at the average public college or university. And I'll strengthen our community colleges by offering new degrees for emerging fields and rewarding schools that graduate more students.
I'm running to reform health care like I did in Illinois - by reaching across party lines and taking on the insurance industry. That's how I'll sign a universal health care plan by the end of my first term as president. Under my plan, if you graduate and don't find a job that provides health insurance right away, you can stay on your parents' insurance until you're 25.
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