Gov. Mitt Romney is the only choice for a prosperous future. He represents the values and ideas that have made this country great. This election is the most important that we have faced in our short lives; it could have devastating effects for our future if we choose to go down the wrong path.
The Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as “Obamacare,” has allowed young Americans to stay on their parent’s health care plan until age 26. We cannot let ourselves be fooled by one bright spot in a bill that is, on the whole, bad policy. Disagree? Well, maybe you should stop watching MSNBC and do your own research. The bill requires all Americans to have health insurance, but insurance does not equate to “access,” a common misconception. Health care access is a complex issue that cannot be solved with a wave of President Obama’s magic wand. What Obamacare does is put pressure on our health care professionals that are struggling to keep up on demand. Additionally, Medicaid reimbursements are terrible and most doctors will refuse people that have government insurance. Doctors have earned their right to decent pay: American doctors have rigorous schooling and training, that’s why we have the best doctors in the world. Obamacare pits doctors versus patients.
Small businesses, the backbone of our country, have been afraid to hire people due to higher insurance costs, stifling our economy. Private-sector insurance companies could include several of the “good” provisions of Obamacare if the market demanded it. The implementation of Obama’s policy has come at the cost of the middle class — a 4.5 percent average increase in health care costs for 2011. Overall, premiums have climbed an average of $2,370 per family during Obama’s term, a much steeper increase than his predecessor.
The president has run a campaign of distractions, running away from his record. In The Post’s poll published Aug. 29 detailing important campaign issues, 34 percent believed birth control was a very important issue and 28 percent believed gay marriage to be very important. In contrast, 86 percent stated the economy was a very important issue and 74 percent said the budget deficit was important. While the first two issues stated may be important to some, they are issues that the federal government should leave to the states; issues that we should be discussing in better economic times. How about our Senate passes a budget, something the government should be good at. It has been 3.5 years without a budget; let me remind you the Senate has been controlled by Democrats during this time.
I believe that all of us at Ohio University plan on finding a job post-graduation. However, under President Obama, one out of every two college graduates cannot find a job in their field of study. Gov. Romney has a plan to ensure that businesses are given an environment in which they can grow and, in turn, hire more employees.
Ryan Dilworth is the president of Ohio University’s College Republicans.
