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Letter: Obama has all qualities GOP, Dems desire
Op-Ed · October 16, 2014
I think Democrats and Republicans can agree that we want a president who is moral and of good character, a family-oriented person, someone who is compassionate, articulate, educated and has a good knowledge of law, economics, science, history, geography, has an understanding of religious and cultural differences, critical thinking skills and wants to keep our country safe.
We have a President now who has all of these qualities but, as he has pointed out time and again, he cannot do the job without help.
He has tried to make an economic difference to the middle class and those in need. He wants to make health care affordable for all; 7 million people have health care who didn’t have it before the Affordable Care Act. Those with a pre-existing condition are now able to go about their lives free of the stress of worrying about their coverage. The Department of Health and Human Services, after a thorough study, found that the average subsidized net premium for those covered by the ACA was only $82/month. It will take a few more years to implement this program but it took a long time for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and the Federal Prescription Drug Program to solve their initial problems.
Barack Obama wants to make the privilege of voting easy for all Americans, not more difficult by requiring everyone have voter identification. I have worked at the polls and our elections have so many checks and cross-checks to prevent voter fraud. Voting is a sacred privilege for all.
He wants immigration reform, a top-notch education for all our young people, improved infrastructure, fairness for all in marriage equality, election finance reform, women’s rights to equal pay for equal work and the right to make their own reproductive decisions with their doctor, a fair minimum wage and climate action, to name just a few issues.
It is so important that we elect representatives who will work with our president to move this country forward. Those who just say “NO” to everything are doing all of us a great disservice. If Theodore Roosevelt and FDR had this Congress, we would not have invested in infrastructure, national parks and conservation measures. If FDR had this Congress, we might be speaking German now. We would not have Social Security. Eisenhower could not have built the federal highway system. We would not have Medicare and Medicaid, the civil rights bill would not have been passed.
When you cast your ballot, please remember this and put into office those who believe anything is possible if we all work together.
Sheila Dalton, West Branch
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