With Election Day 6 days away, students, if they haven’t already voted early, should be narrowing down their choices for the presidential race.
President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney disagree on almost everything.
We want to encourage people to understand how important this election is.
For example, after the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, every student should be evaluating what Obama and Romney think about gun control.
Romney is an advocate of concealed carry, but doesn’t want to create new laws for gun ownership. Instead, he wants the government to enforce the current laws – allowing those who have a gun in their home to continue to have one without going through additional screening.
Even though he is in opposition to concealed carry, with the exception of retired police offices, Obama wants more stringent screening for gun owners.
Eliminating loopholes that allow the mentally ill and children to have access to armed weapons.
Hey, first-time voters with minimum wage jobs, did you know Romney doesn’t believe in raising the federal minimum wage?
Yet, you might not want to look to Obama for answers. In 2008, he said he wanted to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour by 2011.
Like a lot of promises made by the president, this increase wasn’t done during his first term.
We know some students hear the word “health care” and think that issue only is only a concern for their parents and grandparents, but that is far from the case.
Why should you care?
Even though college students won’t feel many effects of Obamacare until 2014, this reform allows college graduates to stay on their parents’ health insurance until they are 26.
So freshmen, think about having to pay for health insurance plus student loans.
Talk about a nightmare.
On the other hand, Romney wants to repeal all aspects of Obamacare.
Yet, he has a plan for college graduates too, but it involves giving families an option to purchase private insurance that covers members up to any age.
Then comes the obvious concern for college students – student loans.
Romney has been slammed for his “just borrow money from your parents” view on assisting students with paying for college, but the former governor wants to keep private lenders as an option for student loans instead of subsidizing all loans to the government.
During the campaign trail, Romney has told students to just live within their means and it is the student’s responsibility to pay them back, not the government.
Obama has, what some would call, a more friendly approach with the Obama Student Loan Forgiveness Program.
This program allows college graduates to refinance student loans and obtain “forgiveness” after 20 years of payment.
It decreases to 10 years for nurses, members of the armed forces and teachers.
Students and young people often think their vote does not matter. We want to remind students their vote is a huge factor.
We want our readers to understand the importance of this election and how crucial it is for people to vote.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to get out there and vote this election and to get educated about the candidates.
There are more than two people on the ballot – Jill Stein, green party candidate, and Gary Johnson, libertarian candidate, for example.
Regardless for whom you vote, it is important for young people to have a voice and contribute to the next stage of this country.
To find out where to vote in Wichita Falls, contact the Wichita County Courthouse or visit www.co.wichita.tx.us.