Obama

Let's get started shall we? On debt: First off, if we look at my opponent's source and compare it to other articles on the same site, there are contradictions in the amount of debt. Here [10] for example it says $3 trillion whist here [11] it says $2 trillion. How can we trust a source that contradicts itself? Also, it may be true that the debt was lower before Reagan but we must remember, in todays economy we buy more goods from other countries and thus the debt will inevitably increase. Also, if we look at how our monetary system is set up, debt is inevitable from the creation of money.[12] On Obama care: First off my opponent provides no warrants or evidence for this claim, just that it "is completely unfordable." On gas prices: My opponent claims that it was Obama that has raised the gas prices but there are a few problems with this claim, a) if you look at his evidence there is no warrants at all. It just says they have increased. That is akin to me finding a blogpost where someone says they have decreased. Done. b) If you look at a graph of oil prices of the last 14 years, a steady increase in price is shown and thus there is no reason to assume that it was Obama that has increased gas prices.[1] My opponent then claims that taxing the rich wouldn't stop the debt but that is irrelevant seeing as, as my opponent says, "It would only be billions of dollars." which is a huge amount. Also what must be noted is that my opponent is trying to make it so our current president must eliminate debt but this is an unfair notion. There has been 1 time in American history when we have been completely debt free and that was with Andrew Jackson after he stopped the Federal Bank. It is unfair to assume that Obama's job is to eliminate debt seeing as it simply can't be done without the abolishment of the federal bank.[2] Unemployment: The claim that Obama does not support small business is just not true in the least. Obama and Biden laid out a specific plan to help small businesses.[3] Then my opponent posts a video showing rising unemployment but this is what is known as a causality fallacy. There are a) no warrants as to how/if Obama is actually increasing unemployment and there is no evidence to assume so. Conversely, Obama has actually decreased unemployment by 4 points.[4] Regarding Welfare: First off my opponent provides no evidence as to why welfare is bad, just that it is. Secondly, if we are criticizing welfare why are we not criticizing it's founder, FDR? Nextly, it's not just anyone who gets welfare, you must have certain requirements and usually the help is in the form of child support ect[5] Another important point which kills the argument that the people can be lazy is thusly: "The criteria for these welfare benefits are that the heads of household are working to obtain job training which will enable them to leave the welfare programs."[5] And even if we ignore everything that I have said and go with your assertion that welfare is bad, just because Obama supports it does not mean he has done harm. He wasn't the one who started it. Regarding taxpayer's money: This is true. My opponent's claim is correct (I believe, further evidence may be uncovered but we can say this is true) Regarding insults: I can find no evidence for this and my opponent provides none. Regarding socialism: Some people claim: "Obama's a socialist!" The claim is humorous by itself but with tea partiers chanting it, it takes on a very negative connotation. The assumption is made that socialism is a bad economic system, but we will get to that later. We must first examine the claim that Obama is, indeed, a socialist. 1: Just think about it. America is one of the closet countries to being a full, market (capitalist) economy. If you are running to be the president of a republic that is built off the free market, you are not going to be a socialist. It is illogical. And even if you were, you wouldn't be able to push your "socialist agenda" through congress. It's ludicrous to say Obama's a socialist or, assuming he was, that he would be able to push his agenda through a congress full of capitalists. 2: But let's assume he is a socialist and that he could, in fact push his agenda through congress and make America a socialist country. Is that inherently bad? Not in the least. Considering we (a country with enormous influence over other countries) are in an economic recession caused by fat cat capitalists, we would assume other countries' economies are going down the pooper as well. In some regards that is true but there are quite a few that are minimally affected by this economic downturn. Those are either countries that produce massive amounts of goods [China and India] or are socialist/social democracies. Australia, a country that uses a social partnership economy, is the country that is surviving the economic recession the best. Odd isn't it, a country that is based around socialism is surviving the economic crisis the best. 3: We will now look at the satisfaction with the health care system in America (capitalist) and Canada (a social democracy). In Canada, 57% of people are very satisfied with the affordability and availability of the health care system compared to the 26% of Americans who are either "somewhat satisfied or satisfied". Inversely, 76% of Americans are dissatisfied with the health care system in America says Rick Blizzard D.B.A. (Figures may vary) So as we can see, socialism isn't a bad system at all considering a) The country least affected by the economic recession is Australia (a social partnership) and b) People in countries that use some form of social health care are noticeably more satisfied with their system than those without it. So please, even if we go with the insane claim that "Obama's a socialist", socialism it isn't a bad system at all. If America became a social democracy it might even help.[6][7] Offense: Now we will be asking, what has Obama done and has it been good? Well first off Obama saved the collapse of the automotive industry, he has shifted focus to the main threat of terrorism, Afghanistan, he has actually relaxed anti-american tensions around the globe, he has promoted more efficient and cleaner cars ect. Full list here: [8] He has also been communicating with the Muslim world and to better our image and brining back the Freedom of Information act.[9] I could provide you with a huge list of good things Obama has done but I don't think that is necessary as of yet. What my opponent must do is defend his claims and then refute mine. I await his response. [1] http://static.seekingalpha.com... [2] http://www.zeitgeistaddendum.com... [3] http://www.barackobama.com... [4] http://www.neweranews.org... [5] http://www.welfareinfo.org... [6] http://petersaysstuff.blogspot.com... [7] http://www.labnol.org... [8] http://www.bspcn.com... [9] http://dailypaul.com... [10] http://www.cbsnews.com... [11] http://www.cbsnews.com... [12] http://www.rayservers.com...