By Sora Hwang

November 6 is quickly approaching and many college students are not as educated on the issues and the candidates’ views as they should be. Here is a short rundown of a few of the biggest issues this election is focused on and what president Barack Obama and republican candidate Mitt Romney both have to say.

Jobs and Economic Growth
Obama believes that the answer to the nation’s level of unemployment is to go back to the root in education and training. His actions would include taking money that is no longer being used on war and redirecting it toward teachers. During his presidential term, he and his administration have added more than 4.3 million private sector jobs, witnessing 27 straight months of job growth. Obama recognizes that there is still more work to be done, but he believes it starts with American work and businesses.

On the other hand, Romney believes that the government should not continue on its path of attempting to spur economic growth. He believes it will lead the United States down a path that will end like Europe with high unemployment, low wage growth and potential fiscal calamity, as he stated in his campaign speech in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 14. He thinks the nation needs a decrease in taxes and government programs with an increase in trade and energy production.

Health Care
With health care, Obama’s priorities are to provide security to working families, making sure costs are kept low, and ending the discrimination for pre-existing health conditions. He wants to end insurance companies taking advantage of its consumers for the entire nation. He also believes that if one can afford health care, one should take it upon himself to buy it. However, if one needs help, the government will provide aid.

Romney disagrees with nationwide health care. He believes each state knows its citizens the best and plans to repeal Obamacare if he is in the oval office. Instead, Romney wishes to restore state leadership and flexibility by giving states the power to regulate local insurance for their own citizens. He wants to promote the competition between insurance companies because they are such an enormous part of the nation’s economy. In turn, there will be high consumer choice.

Gay Marriage
Obama became the first president on May 9 during an interview with ABC News to affirm his support for same-sex marriage; however, he does not believe it is an issue that should be taken to a national level. He believes it is one issue that should remain at the local level with discussions between states and communities because marriage was never a federal issue.

Romney has made his opinion on marriage clear, stating that it is strictly a relationship between a woman and a man. Unlike Obama, Romney seeks a national amendment stating what a marriage should be.

Iran
The prevention of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons has been a big issue in America. Obama does not eliminate any possibility of action. “I will take no options off the table and I mean what I say. That includes all elements of American power: a political effort aimed at isolating Iran; a diplomatic effort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Iranian program is monitored; an economic effort that imposes crippling sanctions; and, yes, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency,” he said to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on March 4. He does not approve of the loose talk involving war and asks for the issues to be considered heavily.

Romney has said that he will go to any length, as president, to make sure there are no nuclear weapons. He plans to pressure Iran with a military option in order to persuade them to abandon any sort of ambitions toward nuclear weapons. He stated in an op-ed written to the Washington Post in March, “Only when they understand that at the end of that road lies not nuclear weapons but ruin will there be a real chance for a peaceful resolution.”

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