I agree that we need to be a player in global trade, but to our benefit, not detriment. What about the trade deficit, the fact that other countries own our buildings, industires, and God knows what else.....What about American jobs?
I don't think it's just about what Obama can do for that generation.....Just because they're there, doesn't mean they're owed anything but oppurtunity......
What would McCain "do for them?"
I think we're all needed to address the complexity of our problems, but I agree that we "the older generation" should not be irresponsible with our materialism.....let's stop importing all that crap that Walmart sells.
‘Ask Not What You Can Do For Barack Obama, Ask What Barack Obama Can Do For You’
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Chances are, if he makes it there, he will. From the moment he takes his hand off the Bible on Inauguration Day, a President Obama will want the same thing as any first-term president: a second term. The metric by which the country will judge his worthiness for this prize is: did he get something done? So Obama, a cool rationalist at heart, will work diligently to produce a reform agenda. The easiest way to do that? Working with the Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress he is almost certain to have.
Here's where the trouble for young people starts. Those Democratic majorities don't owe it all to you. They owe just as much to the groups that have traditionally put Democrats into Congress: the old coalition of labor unions, urban affluents and minorities. Their agenda will be tailored to the short-term concerns of those interest groups, not the long-term benefit of the young. That's a shame because what's in young people's interest—a sound fiscal policy, a solution to the entitlement crisis, a robust approach to global trade and a realistic plan to address climate change—also happens, by definition, to be in the nation's long-term interest.
Get selfish before it's too late. The financial crisis is horrible news for everyone—rich and poor, young and old. But the fact that it coincides with the presidential debates—the last gasp of substance in the campaign—provides a unique opportunity for you to ask Obama to choose you. With the new fiscal reality, neither he nor John McCain should get away with promising everyone what he or she wants. In debates they will be pressed to explain their priorities. Seize this opportunity. To get the best of Obama, young people, cut out the blind devotion. Get off the Huffington Post. Stop the Facebook blasts. If you really want to be the change you've been waiting for, start holding Obama to some of his promises to our generation. In these waning days of the campaign, ask not what you can do for Barack Obama, ask what Barack Obama can do for you.
Of course, asking is easier said than done. What exactly should you ask Obama for?
The most predictable request, and a suitable one for our earnest generation, is for Obama to do something about the entitlement crisis. Many of you know how Armageddon is coming through simple math: the retirement of the baby-boom generation means the Social Security system will have to pay out more in benefits for retired workers than it is taking in from those still in the workforce. Politicians have long paid lip service to the coming crisis (Al Gore's "lockbox," President Bush's "ownership society"), but to date, none of them has achieved a solution. Under an Obama presidency, the crisis will be on our doorstep.
In the early stages of his campaign, Obama seemed genuinely interested in addressing this problem, proposing to cover the Social Security shortfall by raising the payroll tax on high earners. In recent weeks, though, his advisers have significantly scaled back this proposal. The momentum of the modern presidency suggests that the appropriate time for a president to dare to touch the "third rail," the first year of a second administration, may be many political lifetimes away for either Obama or McCain.
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