Thursday’s article about young Republicans’ thoughts as we approach the November election illustrates just how poorly the Republican Party platform correlates with the issues that matter to many college students. While it is promising that Republicans at the University of Michigan support LGBT rights, we must not forget that the official GOP platform, endorsed by Mitt Romney, includes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The party platform also seeks to prohibit abortion in all cases, including when a woman’s life is at risk. The Republican Party, the so-called champions of “small government,” is by no means small when it decides to legislate a woman’s right to her body. Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s comments last month are a striking example of just how out of touch the Republican Party is on social issues.
While College Republicans’ realization that their party is out of touch on social issues may be promising, their misguided support of the GOP’s economic plans is cause for concern. Regarding Thursday’s article, the interviewees’ lack of clear plans for economic recovery is just another case of the party’s use of rhetoric instead of clear planning. His plans to revamp the tax code strongly favor the extremely wealthy, who will see great tax cuts while middle-class Americans watch their taxes increase. To compensate for the decrease in government revenue, Romney will likely decrease government spending. Where will these spending cuts occur? As with most of his economic plans, it’s not entirely clear.
President Obama has proven himself capable of creating jobs and growing the economy during his term in office. Over the past 27 months, private sector jobs have grown by 4.5 million, a greater growth than seen during the term of any other U.S. President. He spent much of his speech at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month discussing his support for the middle class, concrete plans for future job growth, and his optimism for the future. President Obama tried to get the American Jobs Act passed, a piece of legislation that would be a critical boon to our jobs sector. The Republican-controlled House never even voted on the Jobs Act, likely because they were too busy complaining about the Affordable Care Act. For the past four years, President Obama and the Democratic Party have been the leaders in economic reform and creating a favorable job climate for college students.
As I read Thursday’s article, I was intrigued by the College Republicans’ inability to cite policies that would help our economy recover. The College Republicans must be following in the example of the national party. On both social and economic issues, the Democratic Party has proven itself to be the superior party of progress. This election, we have a clear choice between two ideologies: one with backward social policies and a lack of fiscal clarity, and one that promises to move our country forward.
Jacob Light is a representative of College Democrats.