Recently, President Barack Obama spoke at the 113th Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention. Obama spoke of an upcoming “American Century.” He remarked, “Around the world, the United States is leading once more.” He said we are “stronger and safer and more respected in the world” because of his leadership.

There were some other highlights in this speech. Commenting on the Great Depression, Obama said, “When millions were unemployed and some believed that other economic models offered a better way, there were those who predicted the end of American capitalism. Guess what. They were wrong.”
Despite the president’s comments regarding American capitalism in this speech, he cannot stop complaining about the private equity company Bain Capital.

It makes no sense to say capitalism is wonderful and then continuously go after Mitt Romney for his success in capitalism. There is constant flack hurled at Romney regarding Bain Capital, and this strangely contradicts the president.

For instance, Obama said that Romney’s founding and operation of a private equity firm “doesn’t necessarily make (him) qualified to think about the economy as a whole.” Assuming this is true, if Romney’s vast experience in the private sector — founding a company that now holds $66 billion in assets — is not enough for economic thought, Obama’s almost nonexistent experience in the private sector surely means our president is unqualified.

The American people are skeptical of Obama’s claims about Romney. In a recent Gallup poll, Americans rated Obama and Romney on issues and characteristics.

While Obama was rated more “likeable,” more understanding of “the problems Americans face in their daily lives” and — for unknown reasons — more “honest and trustworthy,” Romney was rated more qualified to manage the federal budget deficit, taxes, the economy and the creation of jobs.

Romney even tied with Obama in terms of healthcare. The only issue on which Romney lost to Obama was foreign affairs. Fifty-two percent of Americans find Obama better on this issue. Maybe Americans have been taken in by comments such as, “the United States is leading once more.”
For sure, America is not in last place. Nevertheless, Donald Trump’s current sentiments about America’s position in the world are more accurate. For example, regarding foreign policy in the words of Trump, “China is not our friend. I mean this is a group of leaders that are just taking advantage of our leaders. They’re smarter, they’re sharper and they’re laughing at us all the way to the bank.”
Last week, we learned foreign debt holdings under Obama’s watch have hit an all-time high. We owe the world $5.26 trillion, including the $1.17 trillion we owe China. Despite Obama’s claims, owing other nations a huge amount of money is not the path to a “stronger and safer and more respected” America.

Last year, Standard & Poor’s downgraded the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook. Because of this downgrade, the United States is now trailing Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

This is a list of nations that all maintain an AAA rating. That is to say this is a list of nations we are no longer leading. Someone inform the president.

Michael Stikkel is a junior computer engineering major. His column appears online weekly. He can be reached at mcstikke@syr.edu.

Published on July 27, 2012 at 2:38 pm