Anti-Romney or Anti-Obama

By: Erik Barzdukas

The GOP has to swallow the pill

The Republican base seems to be allergic to Mitt Romney. Being the most moderate candidate has hurt Romney’s image. Much more conservative candidates, such as Governor Rick Perry, Michelle Bachman and Herman Cain, have all had surges in the polls. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has failed to pull ahead. The whittling down of the G.O.P. presidential contenders seems to be a search for the “anti-Romney,” but the Republican base will be forced to swallow a bitter truth. If they truly want a shot at beating President Obama, the fire-brand crazy of the Tea Party and Ayn Rand thumpers will have to give way to a more centrist and serious candidate.

Rick Perry’s unimpressive debate record pandering to the far right will make him uncompetitive against the current President. He has kept afloat most of his candidacy by just barely outdoing Romney in conservative policy (Romney wants to limit government debt to 25% of the GDP while Perry suggests a more austere 20%). Governor Perry’s comments about doing away with Social Security also make him uncompetitive. Perry’s underwhelming debate performances have been a plague on his campaign, and his slip up at the CNBC debate Wednesday could be the final nail in the coffin. With the first primaries coming up early next year, many political commentators are calling this the end of Perry’s campaign.

Herman Cain champions his business experience and has become famous for his unorthodox flat tax plan, but his campaign hints at more of a publicity stunt than that of a serious presidential contender. He has proven that he does not know how amendments are ratified. His “9-9-9” tax system has been lambasted for its absurdity by many. His comments about preventing China from developing nuclear weapons technology are evidence that he has given little to no thought to foreign policy, as China has had nuclear capabilities for forty years. There are five women now who have accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment, and this has resulted in a loss of support from women voters. Many other voters say that they will be less likely to vote for him because of the allegations.

All of the other potential anti-Romneys are just plain weird. Michelle Bachman refuses to entertain the idea of global climate change and has also come out harshly against homosexuality. Newt Gingrich is just a passing fad as voters swim away from the sinking Cain ship. Rick Santorum gets hardly any attention. The most rational of all, John Huntsman, does not speak in sound bites so no one will listen.

If the Republicans are serious about beating Obama in the 2012 elections, they will rally behind Mitt Romney. On the bright side, he has waffled on almost every single political issue so voters can easily imagine he will change his mind and vote their way. Everyone from the militias in Idaho to the bible thumpers in Texas can imagine him as their guy.

In the end, the difference between crazy-on-steroids Bachman and a serious candidate like Romney will be the difference between throwing the ball underhand or a slow and straight fastball to Obama. With the decision deciding who leads one of the most powerful nations in the world, I hope that the Republicans have the sense to at least throw a solid pitch.

The Benefits of Taxation

By: Erik Barzdukas

As many are aware, there has long been a push by conservatives to lower the “burdensome” tax rates on job creating corporations. Their premise is that the economy is an animal that just needs to be “unchained” through deregulation in order to provide prosperity for all. The problem with this overly simplistic reasoning is that it places an inflated value on low taxes while disregarding all of the other ingredients that go into the economic stew.

American corporations already pay little by dodging payment on a large sum of their revenues. A three year study prepared by Citizens for Tax Justice concluded that the effective tax rate for 280 of the biggest publicly traded American corporations is equal to 18.5 percent of their profits. This is slightly more than half of the official rate of 35 percent. Of these 280 corporations, 30 were found to have not had any federal tax liability for the duration of the study. To put this in a historical context, the amount paid in taxes by corporations today adds up to 1.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product in contrast to the 6 percent of GDP paid in taxes by corporations in the 1950’s.

Despite many corporations paying next to nothing in taxes during the duration of the study, from 2008-2011, underemployment and unemployment have increased. This shows that there is no linear connection between tax rates and economic growth or employment.

The idea that corporations seek to invest in a country based mostly on its corporate tax rates is also a myth. According to the Citizens for Tax Justice study, two thirds of the American companies with significant profits overseas pay more in taxes to foreign governments than they do back home. This is evidence that there is something overseas that makes paying those higher taxes attractive to American companies or, at the very least, that tax rates have little to do with a company’s decision to do business in a country.

There are other factors that shape an economy besides corporate tax rates. Having an educated and skilled labor force will attract higher paying jobs. A country with better infrastructure will allow better transportation of goods. A government providing a reasonable social safety net will stabilize a consumer base in ways that a corporation could not.

Economic policy has always been a fairly boring talking point for politicians. Voters paying attention to a candidate’s economic ideas instead of emotionally charged stances on war or abortion is a bit like eating broccoli instead of brownies. Trying to simplify economic policy into sound bites in order to provide the voter with a sexier package is reckless though. These sound bites are repeated so much that they depart from fact based debate and reside in a land of ideology. This gets in the way of any reasonable debate and distracts from real solutions. And real solutions are, at the end of the day, what benefit everyone.

Balancing Act

By: Sam Knehans

Student journalists make sacrifices to adjust to national football travel schedule

The Syracuse University football team has had several long-distance trips for games this season. However, the players are not the ones most dramatically affected by this national schedule. Student media organizations, which travel to sporting events with the team, have had to make significant sacrifices to cover these away games.

Campus media organizations report on sports from men’s basketball and football to women’s lacrosse, traveling to as many away games as financially possible. This media contingency includes radio stations WAER and Z89 as well as CitrusTV, Syracuse University’s entirely student-run television studio, and The Daily Orange.

Bill Spaulding, sports director at WAER, stressed the importance of covering away games. “Traveling to games is something that WAER has been doing as long as there has been WAER. Providing consistent coverage of sporting events, whether home or away, is something that all campus media organizations strive for,” Spaulding said.

However, with such a broad national football schedule this year, funding has become a limiting factor to covering these games on-site. According to Ryan Koletty, sports director at CitrusTV, the necessity of air travel limits the number of students who can gain experience traveling to games.

“When we have drive trips, such as games at Rutgers or Connecticut, we can bring a larger group. But when we have to fly to places like USC, we have to bring the most experienced people,” Koletty said.

Eric Silverman, sports director at Z89, echoed this sentiment. “At Z89 we pay for our personal travel so attending away games becomes less feasible for many staff members when driving is no longer an option,” Silverman said. For the other student media outlets, WAER, CitrusTV and The Daily Orange, travel is paid for through alumni donations, advertising and broadcast sponsorships.

Despite the increased financial burden—for those that have an opportunity to travel—game coverage is a very rewarding experience. Every trip is memorable for a distinct reason. “Sometimes it is about the game or venue, and sometimes it is about location,” Silverman said.

“The best part of the USC trip was the game,” Spaulding said, “whereas New Orleans was cool for other reasons. Getting to explore the city and try Cajun food for the first time was a blast.”

Reporting on a historic moment in Syracuse sports may be the ultimate experience for student journalists who travel alongside the team.

“I was reporting last year for the Syracuse football game against Rutgers, when Syracuse clinched bowl eligibility, and to be on the field at the end of the game when the players were bowling their helmets and to see tears in so many of the players, and even the coaches, eyes—knowing how far the team had come to make a bowl game—is something I will never forget,” Silverman said.

With so many student journalists traveling to away sporting events, some would expect tensions to build between the media organizations who are in competition for listeners, viewers and readers.

Koletty sees this notion of competition as a misconception. “We all do different things; we all have different features. Radio does play-by-play, CitrusTV focuses on their pregame and postgame shows and The Daily Orange provides an overview of the action for the casual fan. So I do not think we are doing much competing for the same listeners, viewers or readers,” Koletty said.

Rather than a competitive atmosphere, there is actually a unique level of friendliness and camaraderie among the student media organizations—especially among those in the broadcast medium—because of the significant overlap between the organization staffs.

“Most of the people do not work at just one station. A lot of the staff is the same from WAER, Z89 and CitrusTV. I also work at CitrusTV. Bill Spaulding, the sports director at WAER, also works at CitrusTV and Z89. Ryan Koletty, the sports director at CitrusTV, also works at Z89. We are all good friends and the three of us meet regularly to discuss travel plans and other things among the broadcast media,” Silverman said.

This social atmosphere extends beyond the Syracuse student media. “We’re friendly with other media outlets. We even talk to the professional guys who we work alongside. It is a good way to network,” said Dan Cohen, a member of the WAER, CitrusTV and Z89 sports staffs.

On more than one occasion, taking the initiative to associate with the professional journalists covering Syracuse sports has led to additional media positions for involved students.

“A lot of us have gotten other opportunities like internships and freelance jobs through contacts we have made. I became the Syracuse correspondent for ESPN Radio-Ithaca and a contributing reporter for Yahoo! Sports Radio through professionals I met covering Syracuse sports,” Silverman said.

Despite all of the unique experiences and potential advantages of traveling to cover Syracuse sporting events, it is a constant struggle for those students who are highly involved.

“One huge thing is we are students. Student athletes are allowed to miss classes to travel. They get a slip to give to their professors. When we’re traveling for a media organization no one gives us a slip to miss classes. We have to beg our professors to be able to miss class to travel to games,” Koletty said.

“It hurts our grades, there is no doubt about that,” Silverman said. “The guys who are calling or reporting on games—the ones who are traveling—it does hurt our grades, it hurts our attendance, it hurts our ability to do work for classes and that is a huge factor.”

Rosanna Grassi, associate dean for student affairs at Newhouse, recognizes the determination of these involved students. “I’m constantly impressed with the ambition of our students. We have incredible journalism programs, but it is the personal motivation of our students that allows Syracuse University to maintain such successful media organizations,” Grassi said.

Working for student media organizations is always a balancing act. Student journalists want to produce a professional quality product while still maintaining their academic standing as well.

“The really tough aspect of it is that we are still students,” Silverman said. “In the real world, the work we are doing at our stations is a full-time job. Here we do that while taking 15 credits of classes.”