Donald K. Allen for President

Top of the Week

Monday, March 3, 2008

Last week I attended a presidential forum hosted by the Youngstown Jewish Community Center, featuring Ann Lewis, senior advisor for Hillary Clinton, and Ambassador Alfred Moses, who supports Barack Obama. They both gave opening and closing statements, and in between there were questions from the audience. One man mentioned NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and how many of our young people were leaving this area because there were no jobs available.

I was dumbfounded by the answer that Ambassador Moses gave the man. He said, “The people of this valley are good, hardworking people. The jobs will come back.” Like how? Some kind of magic? This is somewhat typical of the smoke and mirrors that are being promoted by Senator Obama, requiring “a willing suspension of disbelief,” to quote his opponent. But, of course, all campaign rhetoric is like this.

In Friday’s ‘Vindicator’ Obama had the first of five full-page ads describing how he will bring “Change We Can Believe In.” I was flattered that he used the term, “American Opportunity Tax Credit,” as a way of making college more affordable. Sounded kind of like my own “United States of America Opportunity Scholarship,” which disregards tax credit because we will then be under The Fair Tax and tax credits won’t matter. The benefit of my plan is that a college education will be affordable for anyone who can come up with the first semester’s tuition and maintain a C or better average. It will be free.

They are promising you all these grand things, like solving the health care issue and taking on special interests. Everyone seems so enamored with the wonderful solutions all the party candidates are offering. But why haven’t these things been solved already? Why hasn’t the Democratic majority in Congress stopped tacking on earmarks to every bill proposed? Why haven’t the Republicans conquered the health care problems and halted the flow of jobs out of this country? Perhaps because the changes involved might harm corporate America more than it would help we the people — Americans? The way things are going, we eventually won’t have a choice in the matter, and we’ll just have to live with what our government decides for us. Do we want to have a say in our futures, or have someone else make those decisions for us?

Time to take back our government and reject the two-party system by voting independent. An independent president will have no obligations to party, corporate, or special interests. Just an obligation to you.