So last weekend I was buying a new pair of pink Hunter rain boots, and as I was swiping my credit card, I couldn’t help but think, “I’m glad I’m buying these now. I don’t know if I’d be able to with the imminent increase in tuition costs because of Gov. Nixon’s higher education budget cuts.” Now, I’m not saying it’s because he’s a Democrat, but if we had a Republican governor, maybe this wouldn’t happen.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has [proposed a $106 million cut to higher education budgets](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2012/2/10/nixon-adds-40-million-higher-education-funding-pro/), but now it seems he wants to add $40 million by using funds from a settlement by the nation’s five largest mortgage banks. With this amendment, the budget cuts will be reduced from 12.5 to 7.8 percent.

Needless to say, I am rather happy with the governor’s decision to reduce the budget cuts, but the reduction still might not be enough for many students. Even though they will be reduced, they’re still there, and we have had education cuts for several consecutive years. In addition to the education cuts, certain Medicaid services will face cuts, and he proposed to cut hundreds of state employee positions.

This just seems a little backward to me. I get everyone wants to cut spending, which is totally understandable and needs to be done, but certainly not at this level and all at one time. Citizens are being hurt by so many cuts in state jobs, and I think this economic crisis America is falling into needs to be dealt with by cooperation between the states and federal government.

Speaking of the federal debt, it is rapidly on the rise. Some people say the economy shouldn’t be the top priority for the government or the presidential candidates because the government can just borrow more money, print more money, etc. But the government shouldn’t have to do this. It shouldn’t have to reduce the value of the dollar or borrow from other countries. We need someone who can figure something out, and quickly, and I don’t think most Democratic presidents or presidential candidates will be able to do that.

So, what I’m saying is it doesn’t look like our current president is taking many steps, or many smart steps, to prevent the debt from increasing. I do think the lack of war spending will help, but more steps certainly need to be made. Although President Obama has recently made some tax and funding cuts to different programs, they might not be cuts to the right areas, and there hasn’t been a significant decrease in debt in the last four years. Why should we give him a second chance?

These Republican candidates are not stupid. They are all in some form of office, and I think that reflects poorly on voters when all they can say about a candidate is that he’s stupid because he strongly follows a different religion or doesn’t hold the same views as them. That’s just as bad as calling someone stupid for being gay.

So, you can bash the Republican candidates all you want about their religions and social stances, but don’t you think the American debt should speak louder than that? Every president accumulates a substantial amount of debt, and I’m not saying presidents don’t. I’m just saying I don’t think Obama should be reelected. We need a change of scenery.