The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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October 31, 2012

Your View: President Obama is a proven leader

By Ron Yezzi, Mankato

— I don’t see why the presidential race is so close when the country is so much better off than four years ago.

President Obama’s accomplishments: Avoidance of second Great Depression; terrifying, cascading monthly job losses replaced by steady (but somewhat slow) job growth; economic stimulus that created or saved millions of jobs; re-establishment of stability to the financial system; government assistance that saved and revived the auto industry; foreign policy that revived respect for the United States, while avoiding deep entanglements in new wars; Osama Bin Laden gone and Al Qaeda’s power structure severely weakened; troops withdrawn from Iraq and leaving Afghanistan; significant energy conservation to be achieved through increased fuel efficiency standards; “Obamacare” with adequate funding that will bring insurance coverage to some 30 million more Americans, eliminates many harmful practices of private insurers, and lays out programs for controlling health care costs; Dodd-Frank regulations to prevent Wall Street practices that produced the financial crisis; lower interest loans to make college more affordable.

Everyone knows we still have a long way to go, but Obama is a proven leader who moves us forward.

By contrast, Gov. Romney jumps all over the place and withholds all the important details that need to be evaluated. Here’s my view of his strategy: By changing positions constantly and avoiding details, he hopes that everybody will just assume that he’ll do exactly what every one of them wants.

If he’s elected, people are in for a sad awakening. What you don’t know can hurt you.

Vote for Obama.

 

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