President Barack Obama, our 44th President, is running for a second term of office. A 51-year-old from Hawaii, his political experience includes seven years as a State Senator in Illinois and as U.S. Senator from 2005 to 2008.
Obama is married to Michelle Obama, and has two children, Malia and Sasha. The family owns a Portuguese water dog, Bo. Obama graduated from Harvard Law School. He played on his high school’s varsity basketball team, and can speak Indonesian.
In 2008, he ran for President against Senator John McCain. He won 365 electoral votes vs. McCain’s 173 electoral votes. This year Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden are running against Republicans Romney and Paul Ryan. Obama’s campaign of “Forward” focuses improving life for the middle class.
Abortion
- Obama is Pro-choice
College
- Administration increased the maximum student Pell Grant from $900 to $5,635. This allows over 9 million needy students access to post secondary schooling.
- Obama pushed the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) which helps over 9 million students afford college with a tax credit worth up to $10,000 on four year in college.
Future Plans if Re-Elected:
- Suspend Student Loan Interest Rate Increases.
- Federal Campus-Based Aide Programs will invest $10 billion annually to keep tuition down.
- Create a “Community College to Career Fund” which invests $8 billion to train 2 million workers in high-paying IT jobs and providing community colleges with the resources to do so.
Economy
- Under Obama, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which cuts taxes for small businesses and 95% of working families. It also included emergency funding to support about 300,000 educator jobs, about 4,600 law enforcement positions, and investments in the clean energy sector that supported 224,500 jobs through 2010.
- Obama dealt with the massive economic crash right before his presidency, including the recovery plan to save America’s auto industry, which protected more than 1 million jobs and allowed the automakers to create more jobs since 2009.
- Future Plans if Re-Elected:
- Reward companies keeping their jobs in America with low taxes and eliminating tax incentives for those who ship jobs overseas.
- $3 trillion in debt cuts by higher taxes to the rich, tax revenue, scaling down the war in Afghanistan and interest savings.
Obamacare
- Extends young adults to stay under their parents health care until the age of 26.
- Focus on Medicare; 47 million Medicare beneficiaries now have access to free health services.
- Does not replace private insurance or Medicaid.
- Insurance companies can no longer discriminate against children with pre-existing conditions.
- Insurance companies will no longer be able to charge women more than men for the exact same coverage.
- According to the Obama Administration, the Affordable Care Act will cut the deficit by over $100 billion during the first 10 years.
Quotes from Bingham students regarding Obama:
“He kind of ruined the economy, and I get that he made people have health care, but don’t like how those who can’t pay or don’t want to…have to.” -Junior Maddi Merrill
“I like his policies, and I think he’ll be a better president than Romney.” Junior Matt Schieving
