President Obama spoke in three college towns last week:
Ames, Iowa,
Fort Collins, Colorado, and
Charlottesville, Virginia,. In his nomination acceptance
speech, Congressman Paul Ryan described the recent college
graduate, unemployed, living at home, looking at the faded poster
of then Senator Obama from the 2008 election on his wall. I don’t
know who is more foolish: college students coming to hear President
Obama and applauding him when their siblings who are college
graduates are sitting at home doing nothing, or President Obama
trying to sell his record to college students.
The President made much the same pitch of about 30 minutes at
all three stops. Notably, he took no questions. We can only imagine
what bright, objective, student editors might have asked him.
The Economy: The President stated that
“[w]e knew that solving our biggest challenges would take more than
one year, or one term, or one President.” An enterprising student
editor might have asked him about how this comports with his
February 2, 2009, statement that “if I don’t have this done in
three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.” And
a student editor might have
asked about why another four years would improve the lot of
young graduates who currently have a 50% unemployment rate.
Energy: The President argued for an
“all-of-the-above” energy policy, for renewable resources, for less
foreign oil, for an energy plan not written by the oil companies,
for new fuel standards for cars. He stated, “[W]hat’s extreme about
the idea that instead of giving $4 billion a year in tax subsidies
to oil companies that are making a profit every time you pump gas
— it makes more sense to keep investing, using that money to
invest in homegrown energy sources that have never been more
promising.” A student editor might have asked him about his
rejection of the Keystone pipeline, about his Administration’s slow
or non-existent permitting of oil and gas leases on federal lands,
how subsidies given to oil companies are different from subsidies
given to companies in other industries about which he makes no
complaints, how a profit for selling gas is a bad thing, how much
the Federal Government profits from the taxes on a gallon of gas,
why he and his EPA oppose “homegrown energy sources” such as coal
and natural gas.
Immigration: The President argued for
his suspension of the rules affecting young, illegal immigrants:
“[I]it doesn’t make sense for us to tell young people who have
grown up in America, who have pledged allegiance to the flag, who
have understood themselves to be Americans, who want to serve in
our military or attend our universities, that somehow because their
parents were undocumented, they should be sent back to countries
they’ve never even heard of. That’s not who we are as a people.” A
student editor might wonder whether such sons and daughters of
illegal immigrants had never even heard of the countries of their
parents’ origin, and whether they have not in fact returned on a
number of occasions to their home countries. (The DHS policy
recognizes brief absences abroad.) An editor might wonder about
people who understand themselves to be American but who, although
knowing their illegal status, decided to remain after they became
adults. An editor might have asked the President what he understood
“the rule of law” meant when his policy waives, rather than
enforces, the laws of Congress. And an editor might have asked
about the President’s response to the impact on college students
and graduates of an expected competition for jobs of up to 1.7
million such young adults.
Health
Care: The President
declared that Obamacare had allowed nearly seven million young
people able to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans. An
editor would have commented to the President that this seven
million consists of unemployed young adults (or employed by
employers who do not provide health insurance), who are fortunate
to have at least one parent who is employed by an employer who
provides health insurance. An editor might have asked why the age
of 26 had been selected as the maximum age, and if the President
had considered, given the current economic conditions, extending
the maximum age from 26 to 28 or 30 or higher. A student editor
might also have asked the President: “If the government can require
a health insurer to insure a 25-year old, who may be married and
have children and not living with his or her parents, then would
the government consider requiring a health insurer to insure the
unemployed 55-year old parent of an insured 25-year old — until
the parent was eligible for Medicare?”
A student editor might also ask him of his promises that we
could keep our insurance if we liked it, keep our doctor if we
liked her, and all of the uninsured would be insured.
Education: The
President touted a tax credit for up to $10,000 paid for college
tuition. An editor could observe that such government financial aid
gives colleges a license to raise their tuition by equivalent
amounts.
As to the administration of student loans, the President
declared, “We fixed the student loan system that was giving
billions of dollars to banks as middlemen.” An astute student
editor would respond that the word “fixed” was inappropriate since
the system was not broken, that the President had eliminated many
jobs in banking, and that he had displaced the private sector in
favor of the government. The President could be asked to look at
the larger perspective, namely, that the Federal Government is
itself playing the role of middleman when it takes tax dollars from
individuals and companies and then sends the money back — after it
has siphoned off large sums for administration.
Contraception: The President exclaimed
his success in having Obamacare provide “free” contraception. He
did not mention abortifacients or sterilization. A student editor
could ask why the President, a former professor of constitutional
law, believed it was “fair” to require private employers to provide
contraception in the face of their deeply held religious beliefs.
The editor could also inquire: “If contraception decreases the
perceived risk of pregnancy resulting from sex, and this produces
an increase in sexual activity, and there are quantified failure
rates for various methods of contraception, then doesn’t
government-mandated access to contraception increase the rates of
pregnancy?” A student editor could also ask, “Your Administration
has said that contraception saves insurers money because it is less
costly than pregnancy. The death of an individual saves health
insurers money. What is your Administration’s position on reducing
health care for patients consuming too much?”
Afghanistan:
The President told his audiences that he had ended the war in Iraq
as he had promised and that he was on track to end the war in
Afghanistan. Aside from the fact that he was fulfilling some
campaign promises, he did not say why this would be of interest to
a college audience. For example, a smaller military means fewer
jobs. A student editor could ask him whether he was appealing to
young people’s abhorrence of war. Was he saying that a drawdown in
troops would end the exposure of their generation to combat deaths
and injuries? Was he saying that he was indeed worthy of having
received the Nobel Peace Prize? The editor may comment that the
President may be ending American involvement, but he could not
unilaterally “end the war” and the editor could cite that the
Afghan war would continue without American troops. The editor could
then ask what provisions were being made to protect Afghan women so
they could study and work and travel and fulfill their dreams — in
the face of the continuing “war on women” made by the Taliban.
Same-Sex
Marriage: The
President stated he was opposed to amending the Constitution to
prevent gay couples from marrying because people should be allowed
to marry whomever they love. A student editor could ask about the
costs of providing benefits to new dependents of federal military
and civilian employees and retirees, and the costs in the private
sector for the same — totally unrelated to their original purpose
of assisting married couples with children. A student editor could
also ask whether the President could articulate any principled
difference between a gay couple who loves each other and want to
marry and a polygamous group who love and want to marry.
Finally, a good student editor might ask President Obama about
the things the President chose not to discuss, among them:
- Doesn’t the 50% increase in the national debt during your first
term mean that we and our children will be paying interest to China
for the rest of our lives?
- Doesn’t the failure of the Democrats to change Medicare and
Social Security and Medicaid mean that there won’t be Medicare,
Social Security or Medicaid, “as we know it” — or in any other
form — in another 10 years?
- Does the President believe in the bankruptcy laws? His auto
bailout (for just two of the many auto companies) evaded bankruptcy
procedures, depriving creditors of their legal interests, and
terminating contracts with car dealerships, rendering tens of
thousands of employees unemployed. His home foreclosure initiatives
have delayed the inevitable bankruptcies, stretching out by years
the recovery in the home market.
- Does the President have a vision for space exploration — a
vision that would excite the imagination of young people and use
the talents of the people who have been educated in science,
engineering and mathematics? His current plan guts the space
program.
We can wonder if the President will sit for interviews with
astute, bright, critical student editors during this campaign.
