The litany of serious problems facing this country is as long as it has been in 70 years: the collapse of financial institutions, spiraling national debt, rising unemployment, a dysfunctional health care system, crumbling infrastructure, a failed energy policy and porous borders. And we're fighting two wars.
What we've been doing isn't working. America needs a powerful dose of change, and The Bee believes that Barack Obama is the presidential candidate who can deliver it.
Obama is better equipped than John McCain to deal with the massive collapse of the nation's financial institutions. Less than a month ago, McCain was telling the American people that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." That wasn't true then, and things are worse now.
Both candidates propose tax cuts as part of their response to the economic crisis. Obama's plan would cut taxes for 95% of Americans, giving much-needed relief to the middle class. McCain is focused on making George W. Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans permanent -- a move he once opposed.
On health care, the distinction between the candidates is clear. McCain wants to move people out of health care plans based on their employment. He wants to tax health care benefits as income, but would offer a tax credit of $2,500 for an individual or $5,000 for a family that buys private insurance.
That would work for many younger workers, but it would leave older workers dependent on employer-based health care. In turn, that would be an incentive for employers to drop health care for employees altogether.
Obama's plan would mandate care for children, and require employers to offer health care directly or pay into a fund to provide it. It would be expensive, but it would reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
In 2006, McCain sponsored a sensible immigration bill (and Obama voted for it) that would have allowed illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S., work and apply to become legal residents after learning English, paying fines and back taxes and clearing a background check. Now McCain says his first priority is securing the border. That's good, but it does nothing to address the status of millions of illegal immigrants already here. McCain had it right the first time; Obama still does.
McCain's support for energy independence has lately devolved into the mantra, "Drill, baby, drill," which is often a crowd pleaser, but doesn't match Obama's broader and more nuanced goal of promoting cleaner alternatives to oil. Obama understands that reducing our dependence on foreign oil, though eminently desirable, is not enough by itself. We need to reduce our dependence on oil from any source, because burning fossil fuels ravages the environment and is the principal cause of global climate change.
Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, and his stance has been borne out by events. Saddam Hussein's Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but we have spent thousands of lives and billions of dollars there, instead of focusing on Afghanistan where the leadership of al-Qaida -- the real enemy -- is concentrated. Obama wants to wind down the U.S. presence in Iraq, freeing troops and supplies for the real front in the war against terrorism.
At a time when we've become innured to increasing voter apathy and indifference, Obama's campaign stands out for the astonishing number of new voters it has motivated. He has raised unprecedented sums for this race, but the remarkable thing about that fund-raising is the number of individual donors he has attracted. There is more "grass roots" to the Obama campaign than any other in recent memory.
The past eight years have seen the Bush administration lurching from one crisis to another, almost always with John McCain's support. Are we better off? The answer is an indisputable "no." It is time for new energies and new visions.
Barack Obama is thoughtful and reflective, notwithstanding the fiery passion he can bring to a set-piece speech. Those are qualities we very much need after eight years of the catastrophically impulsive "Decider."
John McCain has served his country with extraordinary courage and dedication. But he is, in many ways, a figure out of the past, the Cold Warrior out of time and out of touch. The world has turned since McCain began his long service, and he hasn't kept pace. It is time for change, and Barack Obama is the candidate better suited to guide the United States into this troubled new century.
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/story/930147.html
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