It’s been close to a year into Obama’s presidency and it has been a turbulent time. As people who have read my blog know, I have tended to focus more on the economy and what political actions have been done to change it. I will definitely agree that Obama has inherited an economy in very very poor shape (understatement) – though we must ask ourselves what has he and his self appointed team of economic advisers done so far to strengthen our future prospects.
It’s not easy to predict the future and what might be the outlook for the upcoming year and beyond, thus we must look at what has been done to change the corroded structure of our economy. Sad to say but not much if anything has been done from the white house to secure a better future for our nation. Even before Obama was elected the economic crash was under way. After being elected one would think the first problems to tackle would be our banking system, rampant fraud, and under funded social programs. I will say our status-quo health care system is without a doubt not sustainable, though neither is our economy. Both are inter-connected but one is just a subset of the other. So why not tackle the bigger more relevant problem? The answer to this question still eludes me and the many discouraged Americans today.
It is great to have a leader that is very well spoken and seemingly intelligent. Also it was a relief to see someone emerge as relatively unknown in the political world and become president. I and many others would like nothing more than our president succeed in his job on helping America prosper. Though it is our duty as citizens to witness what is being done to us, our neighbors, and our country and then express our views either negative or positive. It is not healthy for us to behave as giddy fans to the new ‘cool’ president – unlike a sporting event if we as a country ‘lose’ we do not have the opportunity to go home without it effecting us. This epidemic, apathetic, fan mentality must stop immediately.
What we have seen in this past year is very disappointing to say the least. The health care debate has proven that big Pharma and insurance companies can effectively buy our off government preventing effective reform. Also an even bigger scene currently underway is Wall Street and big banks are now winning the ‘reform’ battle. This is not the sign of a strong leader who ran on ‘changing’ our country. Congress is at fault also, but that will be up for debate in the 2010 elections. Americans left, right, and moderate voted for Obama to ‘change’ our country. As recent polls point out (presidential approval rating has dropped the fastest in history in the first year) we have not seen any change but just endless political rhetoric with a kind face behind it.
Granted many think we should give Obama some time to prove himself. I on the other-hand judge politicians on performance. What I have seen is more status-quo and bailouts for the rich. The majority of the populace has been left to soak up the failed banks and corporate losses. We are in dire need of reformist leadership and of new voices that will speak the truth. A national purification so to speak – hopefully Obama can prove himself to be that person but our nations time is winding down and I for one will not sit around silently hoping for this ‘change’ to come around.
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