There was the economy to fix, the war to deal with, gay rights, foreclosures, and Americans getting laid off, and plenty more! So imagine yourself in the President’s position. He’s kept the country together, which is a pretty huge accomplishment considering the United States wasn’t in “tip-top” shape. On top that he has done even more!

(Continues after graphic…)

President Obama has accomplished other things, such as:

• The senate has recently passed the healthcare reform, which means health care for almost everyone!
• The economy has gotten to a 1.9% growth rate! Sounds small but is better than our previous 0.9% growth rate.
• He’s banned torturing and inhumane treatments of prisoners.
• Our President has appointed the first Latina to the Supreme Court.
• He has cut taxes 95% to all working families.
• President Obama has dedicated more than 60 billion dollars for clean energy.

President Obama has also influenced many children. He has taken time out of his busy days of fixing this country to directly talk to the young people of this country. The president didn’t just say “stay in school!” but told kids why they should stay in school and what means for their future.

Are you ready for another awesome Obama-filled year?

by Saba Kinfe, 6th Grade
Associate Editor / THE LION LEDGER

MCT is a joint venture of McClatchy and the Tribune Co.

The surge of forces that Obama has ordered will raise the U.S. commitment to 98,000 troops by next summer, at an estimated added cost of about $30 billion a year. The pace of the subsequent draw-down, however, remains uncertain and depends, administration officials said, on “conditions on the ground.”

Both the military boost and announced start of a planned withdrawal are intended to weaken and ultimately defeat the Taliban and to train Afghan security forces, administration officials said.

The goal, the president said, is “to seize the initiative,” finally, in a war that started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and is not going well after eight years. The president said he wants to build Afghanistan’s capacity to secure itself and then allow for “a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan.”

“After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home,” the president said before an audience of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. “The absence of a time frame for transition would deny us any sense of urgency. … It must be clear that Afghans will have to take responsibility for their security.”

Acknowledging the price of the deployment, the president said, “Our troop commitment in Afghanistan cannot be open-ended, because the nation that I am most interested in building is our own.”

The president has in mind a time frame of 18 to 24 months for the new mission, one senior administration official said. Senior administration officials referred to the new strategy as a “surge,” a term familiar from the previous administration’s renewed Iraq war strategy.

“While we have achieved hard-earned milestones in Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated,” Obama said. “Afghanistan is not lost, but for several years it has moved backwards.”

Already this year, the president has nearly doubled the U.S. military force in Afghanistan, with 33,000 of the existing 68,000 troops added this year. The additional force of 30,000 will include two or three combat brigades and one brigade-size group dedicated to the training of Afghan forces.

The president conducted a three-month strategy review before announcing his plans Tuesday night. During the review, the military proposed sending in additional forces over the course of a year, with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, seeking 40,000.

Administration officials said the deployment of additional troops would occur quickly.

“The force option that the president has chosen gets more troops into Afghanistan faster than any option that was previously presented to him,” one administration official said.

While trying to prevent al-Qaida from returning to Afghanistan, the administration also is intent on helping neighboring Pakistan with its own security issues.

“We did not ask for this fight,” Obama said, pointing to the al-Qaida-run attacks of Sept. 11 that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. “We must keep the pressure on al-Qaida. … We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country.”

___
© 2009, Tribune Co.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

by Mark Silva
Tribune Washington Bureau / (MCT)

MCT is a joint venture of McClatchy and the Tribune Co.

Do you know what today is? Today, Tuesday November 4th, 2008, is Election Day! This reason it is special because this one only comes once every four years, when people run to be America’s new president.

The two candidates in this election are Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain. Obama is the Democratic nominee McCain is the Republican nominee. Whoever wins, it’s going to be one of the most historic elections ever.

If John McCain wins, he is going to be the oldest president and Governor Sarah Palin from Alaska will be the first female vice president. If Barack Obama wins he will be the first African American to be president.

People are ready for a new leader, for the past eight years we have had the same leader, President George W. Bush. A lot of Americans are happy about this change. That is why today is so important.

They want something new, someone who in their opinion understands the people better. That is why many Americans are planning on voting for Barack Obama because his campaign is about change.

by Andrea Granera, 8th grade
Editor / THE LION LEDGER