Rand Paul’s March 6 filibuster, affectionately referred to by the public as “Filliblizzard,” has been the talk of the politics world for the past few weeks—especially because of the surprising amount of bipartisan support that surfaced for Rand during his almost thirteen hour speech. However, many people outside the political loop, and even some on the inside, wonder why Rand Paul put so much energy into a senatorial technique which many deem to be old-fashioned and a waste of time.

The United States cannot sustainably spend more money than it takes in—period. There will be a point where we are so tragically in debt, countries will stop buying our bonds and investing in the American economy. At the point that the world recognizes our budgetary issues cause us to be an unsustainable black hole, America itself will lose potency and further degrade its reputation.

On Election Day, I voted for President Barack Obama. I believe that this man genuinely has the interest of every American at heart. This has been one of the most important elections to take place in our nation’s history. If Mitt Romney had won, our future would certainly be a hell of a lot different.

In the final month of the 2012 election, President Barack Obama held two campaign rallies within a two-week period at George Mason University. Obama has visited Mason a total of six times since first announcing his campaign for president in 2007. As the election season comes to a close, Mason students and professors speculate on Obama’s northern Virginia campaign strategy.