It’s no surprise that the liberal leaning New Yorker is endorsing Barack Obama for president. Although predictable, it’s worth a read because it offers one of the more thoughtful looks at a complicated president who has disappointed many but, nonetheless, achieved a remarkable record. It begins with a reminder of the utter failure of the Bush presidency.

Obama succeeded George W. Bush, a two-term President whose misbegotten legacy, measured in the money it squandered and the misery it inflicted, has become only more evident with time. Bush left behind an America in dire condition and with a degraded reputation. On Inauguration Day, the United States was in a downward financial spiral brought on by predatory lending, legally sanctioned greed and pyramid schemes, an economic policy geared to the priorities and the comforts of what soon came to be called “the one per cent,” and deregulation that began before the Bush Presidency. In 2008 alone, more than two and a half million jobs were lost—up to three-quarters of a million jobs a month.

The gross domestic product was shrinking at a rate of nine per cent. Housing prices collapsed. Credit markets collapsed. The stock market collapsed—and, with it, the retirement prospects of millions. Foreclosures and evictions were ubiquitous; whole neighborhoods and towns emptied. The automobile industry appeared to be headed for bankruptcy. Banks as large as Lehman Brothers were dead, and other banks were foundering. It was a crisis of historic dimensions and global ramifications. However skillful the management in Washington, the slump was bound to last longer than any since the Great Depression.

The endorsement continues with a discussion of Barack Obama’s naïve aspiration to lead as a post-partisan president and rightfully criticizes him for not effectively communicating his policies to the country. It then praises the President for his ambitious legislative, social, and foreign policy successes that “relieved a large measure of the human suffering and national shame inflicted by the Bush Administration.” Rather than cheerleading, the endorsement offers a thoughtful and balanced chronicle of Obama’s achievements. It ends with the following:

The choice is clear. The Romney-Ryan ticket represents a constricted and backward-looking vision of America: the privatization of the public good. In contrast, the sort of public investment championed by Obama—and exemplified by both the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Affordable Care Act—takes to heart the old civil-rights motto “Lifting as we climb.” That effort cannot, by itself, reverse the rise of inequality that has been under way for at least three decades. But we’ve already seen the future that Romney represents, and it doesn’t work.

The re-election of Barack Obama is a matter of great urgency. Not only are we in broad agreement with his policy directions; we also see in him what is absent in Mitt Romney—a first-rate political temperament and a deep sense of fairness and integrity. A two-term Obama Administration will leave an enduringly positive imprint on political life. It will bolster the ideal of good governance and a social vision that tempers individualism with a concern for community. Every Presidential election involves a contest over the idea of America. Obama’s America—one that progresses, however falteringly, toward social justice, tolerance, and equality—represents the future that this country deserves.

The post The New Yorker: “The reelection of Barack Obama is a matter of great urgency” appeared first on Occasional Planet.

President Obama’s policies have “helped the middle class and kept a deep recession from becoming worse. He repaired America’s reputation in the world. And he got important legislation passed.For that, the nation is better,” says the Kansas City Star in its endorsement of President Obama for a second term in office.

As evidence, the editorial includes a list of the President’s top first-term accomplishments:

• Ended the war in Iraq.
• Is on track to responsibly bring troops home from the war in Afghanistan, following the killing of America’s top enemy, Osama bin Laden.
• Pushed through tax cuts for the middle class.
• Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to better protect women from discrimination.
• Ended “don’t ask, don’t tell,” allowing gays and lesbians to serve without prejudice in the military.
• Created the Consumer Financial Protection bureau, which has successfully led to new safeguards.
• Sparked efforts to improve education and expand and lighten the cost of student college loans.
• Boosted the fuel economy standards for cars.
• Signed the Affordable Care Act, his signature achievement so far that will give Americans access to insurance, regardless of pre-existing conditions and without limits.

As to Mitt Romney, the Star says that it couldn’t endorse him because, “We have no clue which Romney he would become as president,” and goes on to enumerate the many issues on which Romney has changed positions during his career and during the presidential campaign. “In too many ways, Romney resembles a slick salesman, willing to fudge and say anything to close the deal,” adds the Star.

In addition,

Romney’s comment in a private donor setting — belittling the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes as freeloaders — is damning and hard-to-shake evidence that he may not really care so much about many Americans of lesser portfolios.

And it’s immensely troubling that Romney’s tax plans don’t add up. His wish to lower all tax rates, without specifying how he’d counter the revenue loss with elimination of deductions and loopholes, is not acceptable. Will home mortgage and charitable deductions get the boot? Or will he eventually try to sell his fluctuating “cap” on the total dollar amount of deductions, which in some iterations wouldn’t make a dent in the debt?

Romney’s abortion ideas and general views on women (no comment on pay equity) are troubling. There is a real risk his Supreme Court appointments would be anti-abortion, and women’s private health decisions could be dangerously restricted.

Bottom line:

We look ahead to four more years of Obama’s reasoned, compassionate and forward-looking ideas on good jobs, fair taxes and better education to meet the global competition.

The post KC Star: Obama’s reasoned, compassionate and forward-looking ideas appeared first on Occasional Planet.

In its endorsement of President Obama for a second term, the Miami Herald draws a sharp contrast between the President andMitt Romney. The President’s first term has a record of substantial accomplishments that demonstrates his core beliefs about America, says the Herald. Romney’s ever-changing, self-contradictory policy statements make it hard to know who he is, and therefore, how he might lead.

President Obama, says the Herald…

…has championed the middle class and has a larger, more tolerant notion of America that includes closing the inequality gap and evening the playing field, as exemplified by making an equal-pay-for-women bill the first law he signed. He has fought for the DREAM Act on behalf of the immigrant youths brought here by their parents, and he wants a Supreme Court that will continue to support Roe v. Wade. That’s crucial. .

He has insisted on a balanced approach and shared sacrifice — cuts in spending, tax increases for the wealthiest.

Describing Romney, the Herald notes:

He wants to cut taxes, reduce the deficit and increase military spending. That’s magic, not real math. And it’s hard to see how any candidate who keeps much of his wealth stashed overseas — like Mr. Romney — could credibly ask Americans for sacrifice.

The Herald urges President Obama, in a second term, to

…get serious about reforming entitlements and mopping up the ocean of red ink. If spending money to avoid a second Depression was a priority in the first term, balancing the books should be his goal in a second one. To do it, he will have to take a more active role in working with Congress…and he must summon the skills necessary to persuade lawmakers to meet him halfway. That’s the kind of leader Americans want in the White House.

In the end, Mr. Obama’s policies across the board — the environment, social policy, taxes and immigration — offer a more generous vision for America. The issues he has fought for, coupled with the lingering doubts about Mr. Romney’s persona and his true intentions, make this a clear choice. In the race for president, The Miami Herald recommends BARACK OBAMA.

The post “A more generous vision for America:” Miami Herald endorses Obama appeared first on Occasional Planet.

The post Obama has earned a second term: San Antonio Express-News appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Many of this year’s endorsements of Barack Obama for president are laced with caveats, but the tone of the Los Angeles Times and General Colin Powell are far more enthusiastic than many others.  While endorsements from the Times and Powell occasionally mention an item or two in which they would have preferred a different policy by the president, they basically provide the obvious reasons to give him strong support over Mitt Romney. They recognize that President Obama came into office following a devastating eight years under the leadership of President George W. Bush. They further note that over the past two years, the president’s ability to enact his agenda has been challenging because of almost complete obstruction by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. The Times and Powell do not blame Obama for either the situation that he inherited or what he has faced in trying to be reasonable with an obstinate House.

Regarding the economy, in an interview with CBS This Morning, Powell makes his position very clear:

Well you know I voted for him [Obama] in 2008. and I plan to stick with him in 2012, and I will be voting for him and Vice-President Joe Biden. When he [Obama] took over, the country was in very difficult straits, buried in one of the deepest recessions we had seen in recent times, close to a depression. The fiscal system was collapsing; Wall Street was in chaos; we had 800,000 jobs lost in that first month of the Obama Administration, and unemployment would peak in a few months at 10%. The auto industry was collapsing; the housing industry was starting to collapse and we were in difficult straits, and I saw over the next several years stabilization come back, housing is now starting to pick up, consumer confidence is rising.  And so I think that generally we’ve come out of the dive.

As I listen to Mitt Ronney’s proposals, especially with regard to dealing with our most significant issue, the economy, it’s essentially “let’s cut taxes” and compensate for that with other things, but that compensation did not cover all the cuts intended or the new expenses associated with defense.

The LA Times echoes those sentiments:

Despite Republicans’ persistent obstructionism, he [Obama] pushed for — and enacted — stronger safeguards against another Wall Street meltdown and abusive financial industry practices. He cut the cost of student loans, persuaded auto manufacturers to take an almost unimaginable leap in fuel efficiency by 2025 and offered a temporary reprieve from deportation to young immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents. He ended the morally bankrupt “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that had institutionalized discrimination against gays in the military.

The race between Obama and Romney presents a stark choice. Romney wants to cut taxes, spending and regulations in the hope that the mix of stimulus and austerity will spark growth and reduce the federal deficit. Obama wants to trim spending but raise taxes on high-income Americans, shrinking the deficit without sacrificing investments in the country’s productive capacity or curtailing Washington’s role in protecting the vulnerable.

Both the Times and General Powell praise President Obama for his handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same, time Romney has made confusing, incoherent, and inconsistent remarks regarding both wars.

Powell says:

I saw the president get us out of one war and start to get us out of a second war and did not get us into any new wars. Finally I think that the actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid.

According to the LA Times,

He [Obama] has confronted two inherited wars and the deepest recession since the Great Depression. He brought America’s misguided adventure in Iraq to an end and arrested the economic downturn (though he did not fully reverse it) with the 2009 fiscal stimulus and a high-risk strategy to save the U.S. automobile industry. He secured passage of a historic healthcare reform law — the most important social legislation since Medicare.

The LA Times concludes its endorsement this way:

Voters face a momentous choice in November between two candidates offering sharply different prescriptions for what ails the country. Obama’s recalls the successful formula of the 1990s, when the government raised taxes and slowed spending to close the deficit. The alternative offered by Romney would neglect the country’s infrastructure and human resources for the sake of yet another tax cut and a larger defense budget than even the Pentagon is seeking. The Times urges voters to reelect Obama.

Powell also gives and unequivocal endorsement to Obama. Many are surprised that Powell has endorsed Obama twice. because Powell is a Republican and has a military background. But Powell was in the out crowd during the Bush administration, because he did not share values and policies with the foreign policy neo-cons. Powell’s views go beyond foreign affairs. He recognizes that there are limitations to American power if the United States is not strong at home. Therefore. he supports activist policies in the U.S. to further stimulate the economy for both the poor and the middle class. What is surprising is not Powell’s support of Obama but rather his connection with the Republican Party, something he did not sign on for until leaving the military.

It’s difficult to find two more credible sources of endorsement for President Obama than the Los Angeles Times and Colin Powell. Hopefully, the American people will listen to these voices of reason and compassion and follow their lead in supporting President Barack Obama.

The post LA Times, Colin Powell enthusiastically endorse President Obama appeared first on Occasional Planet.

La Opinion, the biggest Spanish-language newspaper in the U.S., has endorsed President Obama for re-election, saying that on November 6, “there is no clearer choice for Hispanic voters than to re-elect President Barack Obama.”

Comparing President Obama with Mitt Romney on economic plans, La Opinion says:

The president’s vision is inclusive, forward-looking and promotes growth without leaving people behind. The former governor’s vision is divisive and his proposals are the same that have led to a huge wealth gap.

And as to familiar complaints about President Obama’s lack of accomplishments, La Opinion disagrees:

During his first term, Obama rolled up his sleeves at all fronts. He worked to bandage a nation on the brink of a financial collapse triggered by the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. Obama also delivered on key commitments: He brought U.S. troops home from Iraq and oversaw the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In the face of fierce opposition, the President managed to pass a health care bill that will extend benefits to many in our community. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, adds nine million Latinos currently without coverage to the health care rolls – a life-saving boost for a community that suffers the highest uninsured rates in the country. The very idea of repealing this law, which Romney proposed, is nonsense.

The endorsement takes special note of the difference between President Obama Mitt Romney on issues of women’s reproductive health:

With Romney, women are at risk of losing access to important services in employer-provided health insurance, like the option to make decisions about their bodies and health.

And, as one should expect from a newspaper that serves the Hispanic community, La Opinion evaluates President Obama in terms of his how he has and will help that demographic group:

Unemployment remains above the national average for Hispanics. However, since February 2009, this rate dropped from 11.1% to 9.9%. Obama has taken critical steps, such as investing billions of dollars in community colleges and job training programs that help Latinos access better jobs.

The President recognizes the needs of our community and the brilliance of the sons and daughter we put forward. His historic appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is the brightest example of this.

The editorial, like so many endorsements this election season, also expresses some disappointment in President Obama’s first term, especially regarding immigration reform, while acknowledging that Republican obstructionism has been a major roadblock:

Obama deserves a second term. The price of not casting a vote for him would be great.

In 2008, the vast majority of Hispanics backed then Senator Obama for president. Much of this support was based on the promise that he would deliver sensible and humane immigration reform. We are greatly disappointed in this unfulfilled commitment. Yet, we also recognize that Republicans did nothing to help the matter. And we still believe that reform is far more likely under an Obama presidency, not a Romney Administration.

The biggest disappointment was immigration. The ambitious promise to have comprehensive reform in year one collided against the economic emergency and then the political realities in Congress. What is unjustifiable was the federal government’s improvised implementation of the Secure Communities program, which undermined the original principle of public safety. Among the good things is counting on the recent Deferred Action decision, which at least gives peace of mind to millions of young people.

Mitt Romney, by contrast, offers little for the immigrant community:

…the Romney alternative is self-deportation and state laws like Arizona’s, in which undocumented immigrants are seen as a danger instead of as contributors.

The blunt reality is that Romney has not worked to gain the trust of Latinos. Left up to Romney, Justice Sotomayor would not be sitting on the Supreme Court. The Republican candidate has said that given the chance, he would have voted against her nomination.

With a candidate, campaign and party that have failed to engage Hispanics, one can only wonder whether a binder of Latinos would even be on a shelf at the White House under their reign.

And President Obama, says La Opinion, is a President for all Americans:

The nation, in all of its diversity and economic disparities, needs a commander in chief who is president of all. We need a president who is consistent and who will wrestle with the toughest issues.

Obama has the mettle, vision and record that bode well not only for Latinos but also for future of our nation.

The post La Opinion: Obama offers a better vision for the future for everyone in U.S appeared first on Occasional Planet.

“Today, we recommend President Obama’s re-election. He has led the nation back from the brink of depression. Ohio in particular has benefited from his bold decision to revive the domestic auto industry. Because of his determination to fulfill a decades-old dream of Democrats, 30 million more Americans will soon have health insurance. His Race to the Top initiative seeded many of the education reforms embodied in Cleveland’s Transformation Plan. He ended the war in Iraq and refocused the battle to disrupt al-Qaida and its terrorist allies. He ordered the risky attack inside Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden”

That’s the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s view of President Obama’s first-term record, which forms the basis for the newspaper’s endorsement of the President.

The Plain Dealer notes that not as much has been accomplished as it had hoped for in President Obama’s first term–due, in great part to the circumstances he inherited and also to “unbending, even belligerent” resistance put up by his Congressional foes. Despite these circumstances, though, the Plain Dealer sees hope in a second term.

Not only do we still believe this president can do those things, we think he can do it with policies most likely to lift Ohio and Ohioans. Obama’s leadership has made a difference when it mattered most. His stimulus package helped avert an even worse economic collapse and initiated investments in education, manufacturing and green energy that should yet pay dividends. His commitment to a balanced path toward deficit reduction won’t please the most zealous members of either party, but it makes sense for the nation.

As to Mitt Romney, the President’s challenger, The Plain Dealer credits him as a “man who gets things done.” The problem, however, is that his positions on so many issues have changed so many times, that no one know…

…which Romney would they elect? The rather liberal one who ran for the Senate in 1994? The pragmatic governor? The sharply conservative candidate of this year’s GOP primaries? The reborn moderate of recent weeks?

On foreign policy, The Plain Dealer criticizes Romney for his “bluster” and “swagger,” while admiring President Obama’s deliberative style.

Obama has shown that he favors engagement over bluster, and practical solutions over easy bromides. That’s what the country needs.

As an example of President Obama’s effective leadership, the Plain Dealer cites the auto bailout, which has been especially beneficial in Ohio.

Consider a defining moment early in Obama’s first term — one with special resonance in Ohio: The outgoing Bush administration had used TARP funds to throw a lifeline to General Motors and Chrysler, but the two automakers were still at death’s door. They wanted more cash and offered vague promises to change their ways. Public opinion opposed another bailout. Romney urged the companies to file for traditional bankruptcy — at a time when private-sector credit was frozen even for healthy firms.

Obama told the companies to restructure using the Bankruptcy Court and set conditions for government financing: GM’s chairman had to go. Excess plants and dealerships had to close. Chrysler had to be bought out by Fiat. Contracts had to be renegotiated.

It was unpopular but gutsy. And it worked. Ohioans today are making cars in Lordstown and Toledo. They’re making parts and steel for Ford, Honda and other automakers. They’re back on the job.

That’s leadership that deserves a chance to finish the job. Re-elect President Obama.

The post Sound leadership: Cleveland Plain-Dealer says re-elect Obama appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Favorite son? Not any more. Mitt Romney’s home-state newspaper has published a smack-down editorial endorsing President Obama for re-election and calling Romney a “shameless” “shape-shifter” unworthy of a first term. In its editorial, entitled “Too Many Mitts,” the Salt Lake Tribune ruefully remembers the good old days when Romney was viewed as the savior of the Salt Lake City Olympics and as a moderate, bi-partisan governor of Massachusetts [images that may or may not ever have been true]. Since those glory days, says the Tribune, Mitt Romney has morphed into someone–or someones– unrecognizable and undefinable. The editorial offers withering criticisms of Romney, describing him and his ideas as “radical,” “bellicose, “inflammatory,” “bereft of detail,” and “worthy of mistrust.”

From his embrace of the party’s radical right wing, to subsequent portrayals of himself as a moderate champion of the middle class, Romney has raised the most frequently asked question of the campaign: “Who is this guy, really, and what in the world does he truly believe?”

…If this portrait of a Romney willing to say anything to get elected seems harsh, we need only revisit his branding of 47 percent of Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, yet feel victimized and entitled to government assistance. His job, he told a group of wealthy donors, “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Where, we ask, is the pragmatic, inclusive Romney, the Massachusetts governor who left the state with a model health care plan in place, the Romney who led Utah to Olympic glory? That Romney skedaddled and is nowhere to be found.

As to the candidate that the Tribune is endorsing–President Obama–the editorial credits his decisive efforts to stimulate the economy, particularly through the badly needed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  In addition, “The president also acted wisely to bail out the auto industry, which has since come roaring back. Romney, in so many words, said the carmakers should sink if they can’t swim.”

On foreign policy, President Obama is the clear choice, says the Tribune:

Obama’s foreign policy record is perhaps his strongest suit, especially compared to Romney’s bellicose posture toward Russia and China and his inflammatory rhetoric regarding Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Obama’s measured reliance on tough economic embargoes to bring Iran to heel, and his equally measured disengagement from the war in Afghanistan, are examples of a nuanced approach to international affairs.

Bottom line:

Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.

The post “Too many Mitts:” Salt Lake Tribune endorses [gasp!] Obama appeared first on Occasional Planet.

The Denver Post endorsed Barack Obama for president in 2008, and Obama has earned their endorsement once again in 2012.  This endorsement is particularly important because Colorado is considered a swing state.  The Post says:

With the nation mired in two wars and amid an economic meltdown, we endorsed a largely untested young senator from Illinois for president in 2008.

Four years later, the Iraq war is over, the war in Afghanistan has a conclusion in sight, and the economy has made demonstrable — though hardly remarkable — progress.

Obama’s record of accomplishment under trying circumstances and his blueprint for a second term make him the best pick to move the nation forward.

Continuing with Obama’s accomplishments, the Post contends:

There have been notable accomplishments: rescuing the nation’s auto industry, passing comprehensive (though contentious) health-care reform, and delivering justice to Osama bin Laden.

The Post does not suffer from what the president calls “Romnesia,” the forgetfulness the Republican nominee Mitt Romney has regardinghis record in both business and government.  It also points out his persistent habit of flip-flopping over virtually every issue of importance.  It reminds us of the insensitivity that Romney has towards nearly half the American population:

His comments on the 47 percent of Americans who refuse to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives” were a telling insight into his views and a low point of the campaign.

Romney’s approach is one of tax cuts for all, drastic Medicare reform, increased defense spending, and what would be catastrophic cuts to other discretionary programs. In the Republican primary, he said he couldn’t support a plan that included even $10 in cuts for every $1 in new revenue. To expect the country to balance its budget without additional revenue, in our view, is nothing short of fantasy.

The Post recalls the many holes that former President George Bush dug and which Obama either was forced to drive into or had to make a special effort to circumvent.  Additionally it points out that the president’s accomplishments have been limited by an obstinate Congress that has been controlled by Republicans over the past two years.

A largely intransigent Republican Party shares in the blame, however, particularly because of unwillingness to cede any ground to Obama in the last two years on policies — such as the president’s American Jobs Act — that attempt to bolster the economy.

The Post addresses an issue of education which Obama has repeatedly stated as key to the quality of life in America as well as economic growth.  Romney has largely been absent on the issue or disdainful towards those who need financial aid to attend institutions of higher learning and the students who attend them:

Obama has moved the country in the right direction on school reform. On higher education, he has taken steps to address affordability through increasing Pell Grants and streamlining the student-loan process. His executive order that allows qualified illegal immigrants brought here as children a chance to pursue college degrees is a positive step — though much remains to be done on immigration reform.

While Mitt Romney has no experience with foreign affairs except outsourcing labor and hiding personal money, the Post praises the president for his accomplishments.

As commander in chief, he has demonstrated himself capable in a tough situation. He eliminated the military’s discriminatory “don’t ask don’t tell” policy, limited this country’s involvement in Libya while still playing a role in the ouster of Moammar Khadafy, and hasn’t allowed the U.S. to be drawn into the Syrian civil war. He has remained a friend to Israel, but isn’t engaging in war talk over the Iranian nuclear issue. Moving forward, the administration owes the American public a thorough explanation of the troubling events surrounding the murder of four Americans in Benghazi last month.

This is not a lukewarm endorsement.  The Post is not fooled by the Romney and Ryan rhetoric that the president has done little over the past four years and has no plans for a second term.  It recognizes Obama’s accomplishments in the face of persistent GOP obstruction.  It also points out the skills that the president has demonstrated to be an effective president.  The Post is confident that the president will continue to be an effective chief executive.  Therefore it gives him a ringing endorsement.

The post Denver Post: Re-elect President Obama appeared first on Occasional Planet.

Although economy recovery since 2008  has been far worse than could have been imagined,  says the Tampa Bay Times
“…conditions would be far worse without the president’s steady leadership. This is not the time to reverse course and return to the failed policies of the past. Without hesitation, the Tampa Bay Times recommends Barack Obama for re-election as president. ”

The editorial reviews President Obama’s record and the positive developments of the past four years in the economy, jobs, housing, health care and foreign policy. Regarding economic factors, the Tampa Bay Times notes that:

…there have been 31 straight months of job growth, and more than 5 million private sector jobs have been created. The unemployment rate is down to 7.8 percent — not great, but the same as when Obama took office. The stock market has come back, new housing starts are the highest in four years and housing prices in Tampa Bay and other areas are rising.

Commenting on the economic stimulus package, which Romney and his political allies opposed and called a failure, the Tampa Bay Times reminds us that:

It preserved or created up to 3 million jobs, and it invested in smart projects such as expanding U.S. 19 in Pinellas County and connecting the Port of Tampa with Interstate 4 in Hillsborough County. The auto company bailout, which Romney opposed, preserved jobs and rejuvenated the industry. The Dodd-Frank financial regulations, which Romney would repeal, protect consumers and force banks to act more responsibly. Undoing those reforms would be a mistake and invite the abuses that contributed to the economic crisis.

The editorial praises President Obama’s Affordable Care Act,  noting that a national plan for universal health care has been a goal of presidents for decades:

The Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature legislative achievement, offers sweeping health care reform that presidents from both political parties unsuccessfully pursued for decades. More than 30 million uninsured Americans will get health coverage. Millions of young adults can stay on their parents’ insurance policies, and insurers no longer can refuse to cover children with pre-existing conditions. In 2014, insurers also will have to accept adults with pre-existing conditions, and most people will be required to have health insurance or pay a penalty. This is a historic step toward universal health care and a fairer sharing of costs, and it should be improved upon rather than repealed as Romney promises.

On foreign policy, President Obama has been steady, level-headed and courageous, says the editorial, which contrasts the President’s sure-footed approach with the saber-rattling stances taken by Mitt Romney.

Romney suggests Obama has been too timid on foreign policy, but it took courage to order the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The Republican’s saber-rattling about the violence in Syria and Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon is particularly concerning. This nation has neither the resources nor the appetite for another discretionary military adventure. Obama’s mix of diplomacy, coalition-building and tough economic sanctions remains the smarter approach.

The differences on social issues between President Obama and Romney are stark, says the editorial. In contrast to Romney’s immigration policy emphasizing “self-deportation,” President Obama “took the  initiative to let young undocumented immigrants of promise stay in this country legally if they are in school, high school graduates or serve in the military…Any hope for broad immigration reform to keep and attract the best and the brightest regardless of their birthplace lies with the incumbent Democrat.

President Obama’s support for expanded civil rights is a point in his favor, too, says the Tampa Bay Times. President Obama rescinded the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, and expressed support for same-sex marriage.

And on women’s issues, President Obama is the clear leader:

Obama has a particularly strong record on issues important to women, from equal pay to access to health care to education. In stark contrast to Romney, the president steadfastly supports abortion rights. The next president could appoint perhaps two Supreme Court justices, and those appointments could determine whether a woman’s right to control her own body is overturned. Romney, who supported abortion rights as Massachusetts governor and now opposes them with limited exceptions, cannot be trusted to stand up to social conservatives who view overturning Roe vs. Wade as a litmus test for prospective justices.

On the critical issue of Medicare, The Tampa Bay times is highly critical of Mitt Romney’s plan to turn the program into a costly and damaging voucher plan. President Obama, who is committed to shoring up Medicare–and who has already taken steps to extend its life and save on costs without cutting benefits to seniors–is on the better track.

Romney’s mathematically implausible tax plan comes under fire, too.

He rejects raising even $1 of new revenue for every $10 in spending cuts, and he promises to cut taxes by $5 trillion but won’t say which loopholes or tax breaks he would end to cover the cost. Meanwhile, he wants to reduce the federal deficit while increasing spending on defense beyond what even the Pentagon requests — even though the United States spends nearly as much on its military as the rest of the world combined. This fanciful math could only add up to deep cuts in spending on education and other domestic programs — and tax increases on the middle class.

Bottom line:

Obama has capably steered the nation through an incredibly difficult period at home and abroad, often with little help from Congress. The next four years will not be easy for whoever occupies the Oval Office, but Obama has been tested by harsh circumstance and proven himself worthy of a second term.

For president of the United States, the Tampa Bay Times recommends Barack Obama.

The post Tampa Bay Times: Obama has earned second term appeared first on Occasional Planet.