Barack Obama’s visit to Cedar Rapids Monday, Oct. 29, was a work in contrast as the candidate began the tour discussing his plans for Social Security and ended it on the MTV/MySpace stage, answering questions from college students.
Liz Belden, an Iowa senior who receives Social Security, was happy to start the day with a discussion of the benefits for older Americans.
“When they first started talking about privatizing Social Security, I was against it,” she said. “It wasn’t too long after that the stock market took a huge plunge. I knew that if a lot of people had invested their Social Security that they would have lost their money. So, I completely agree with Sen. Obama’s plan to protect and secure those funds.”
Likewise, Chinese international student Elaine Chen, who is not a citizen and will not be taking part in either the Iowa caucuses or the general election, said she was glad to have the opportunity to hear from the Illinois senator and learn more about the American system of government.
“I’m from a different system of government,” said Chen, for whom English is a second language. “I want to know how everything here works. This has been a lot of listening — an exercise for me. But I think it was all very good.”
She added that Obama was very “talkative” and that she was happy to hear him discuss many global issues.
Securing a Future for Older Americans
Cedar Rapids retired middle school teacher Myrna Cooney provided the introduction for the Illinois Senator during the morning campaign stop at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
“I declared for Barack before he declared he was running for president,” she said. “I started talking about his authenticity. I sensed his ability to listen to people and to see the common needs that we share. Because of this, I know he will keep our interests at heart.”
Obama told the audience of about 150 that he knows social security is often on their minds.
“The issue is a personal one for me,” he said. “As most of you know I was raised mostly by a single mom with the help of my grandparents.”
Obama said his grandparents worked hard their entire lives and they, like many in the audience, “earned a secure retirement.” That secure future is now being threatened by rising costs and government mismanagement, he added.
“Here in Iowa, 95 percent of seniors rely on their monthly Social Security checks,” he said. “So, we know what a difference it makes in people’s lives. We also know that the system has some problems. Some argue that the problems are so severe that Social Security is fundamentally broken. This is the argument that George Bush was trying to make when he was seeking to privatize the system. That is an exaggeration. It is not true. The underlying system of Social Security is is sound.”
According to Obama, the problem is a projected cash shortage that could be solved, but the situation is time-critical.
“If we do nothing, annual surpluses will end in 2017 and the trust fund will then be exhausted by around 2040,” he said. “The question is how do we solve this problem. You might remember that this question came up in the last presidential debate. When Sen. [Hillary] Clinton was asked about it, she wouldn’t say what she thought we should do. The other day here in Iowa she skipped another chance to answer a direct question on this issue.”
Refusing to answer questions — especially about Social Security, he said, is politics as usual. Then he took advantage of an opportunity to take a direct swipe at Clinton, the junior senator from New York and his most direct opposition in the bid for the White House.
“Conventional thinking in Washington says that Social Security is the third wheel in American politics,” Obama explained. “It says that says that you should hedge or dodge or spin on this issue, but, at all costs, don’t answer the question. In fact, there was some chatter on the Sunday morning news programs where it was said that it is good politics not to talk about it. But I reject that notion. I think that on issues as fundamental as how to protect Social Security, candidates for president owe it to the American people to tell us where they stand. Because I don’t think you’re ready to lead if you can’t tell us where you’re going.”
Obama says his approach to Social Security is to steer away from privatization and to raise the $97,000 income cap on the tax.
Speaking to Young Voters
The roughly 250 students who gathered in the Coe College auditorium for the MTV/MySpace presidential candidate forum saw someone a little different than did senior citizens and supporters at the library. Somewhere along the mile-long route between the two locations, Obama lost his tie, although he continued to wear the same dress shirt and dark suit.
The forum — the second in a series for the cable network and social networking internet site — featured questions both submitted online and from students in the venue. Those listening were encouraged to answer polls throughout the event to determine how closely Obama’s views matched their own.
Obama faced a wide variety of questions including same-sex marriage, foreign policy, immigration, the separation of church and state, waste exportation, net neutrality and No Child Left Behind. The one question which seemed to give the candidate the most pause, however, was what many might consider a softball.
“If you were given the opportunity to make a movie about your life or some aspect of it, what would you call it and who would you cast as yourself and your wife?” asked Tara, a reporter for the Coe College Cosmos.
Obama had not missed a beat when discussing the possibility of a Kurdish state in the Middle East. Ditto when confronted with electronic waste shipped to other countries by the United States. This question, however, left him stuttering for several beats — and appealing to one of the co-hosts as a time-stalling measure — before he answered and indicated that the title of his current book, The Audacity of Hope, would be his preferred movie title.
“In terms of who would play me… uhm… I suppose Denzel is already taken,” he said. “Will Smith is a possibility because his ears match mine. In terms of my wife, there’s nobody that good lookin’ — so, she’d have to play herself.”
The question, however, that hushed journalists in the press room was asked by Jeanice Perez, a Minnesota resident who’s father was deported to Mexico three years ago.
“I just want to ask a question on immigration because it is very personal to me,” she said. “A few years ago my dad was deported, and I’ve seen first-hand how it can really destroy a family. What are your thoughts and feelings on granting amnesty to illegal immigrants who have been deported but have legal family here?”
Obama said the situation Perez outlined is one of the reasons America has to fix the current immigration system while securing the nation’s border.
“We’ve got 12 million people who are here and we’re not going to be deporting all of them,” he said. “What we are doing is selectively deporting one or two or 50 or 100, but that’s not a way to solve the long-term problem. So, I am a strong supporter of a pathway to legalization for the 12 million people who are already here — most of whom are here just because they want to provide a better life for their children and their grandchildren.”
Those individuals who came into the country illegally would have to pay a fine, would need to learn English and would be placed at the “back of the line” when applying for citizenship. America should be “a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants,” he added.
Following the forum, Perez said that she appreciated Obama’s response to her question and personal struggle.
“Even though I was a daughter of an illegal immigrant that doesn’t mean that I don’t support protection of our borders,” she said. “It’s just hard when you are in a position where you build a life here in the United States and you’ve paid dues.”
Perez said her father had come to America as a young man and had lived here for 18 years.
“He built his life here and it was just heartbreaking because there was no warning and there were no questions asked,” she said. “They just came, took him and he was thrown into a country nowhere near where his family was. He was just dumped there. It was very disheartening to see how people are treated when they don’t belong.”
Her father, she said, is now living in Mexico, keeps in touch with his family here and “is doing the best that he can.”
“He has more faith in this country than I used to — than I did,” she said. “He loves this country. It just amazes me and I ask him, ‘How can you love a country that doesn’t love you?’ He says this is the best country in the world.”
