First and foremost, I apologize for my lack of blog posts over the few weeks. I have been dealing with some health issues and a myriad of family crises and issues.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a political rally in which our esteemed President, Barack Obama attended, lending his support to Oregon's gubernatorial candidate, John Kitzhaber.
I found the President mesmerizing and articulate while witty and clearly intelligent. I was pleased to hear him take credit for the successes of his presidency, something that I believe that he and my party have been lousy at communicating, which I find strange since communication has always seemed to be one of his strong suits.
The President stated that the Republicans must be under the impression that the American people suffer from amnesia. That we seem to forget that many of the current dilemmas that our country faces were the making of our previous Presidency and the political party in power. He is right. The Bush administration took a country with a strong economy, low unemployment rate, international respect and drove it all into the ground. The analogy made by the President Obama was amusing and accurate.
You have a situation where the Republicans drove a car into a ditch, and so the President and other Democrats rolled up their sleeves and attempted to rescue the car from the ditch while the Republicans watched, unwilling to actually help retrieve the car, but all the time criticizing the efforts being made saying "You're not pushing hard enough," or "You're pushing the wrong way!" So, the Democrats got the car out of the ditch, and it was a little beat up, needed to visit the body shop and get a well deserved tune up. He said it is funny how now that the car has been recovered from the ditch the Republicans want the keys back! Why would we, the American people give YOU the keys back?! You are the one's who drove the car into the ditch in the first place! We don't want to go backwards! We need to move forward, after all, you have to put the car in "D" (Democrats) for drive (forward) and "R" (Republicans) to go in reverse.
It was a humorous analogy and was right on the money. For a moment, let us account for what the President has accomplished during his first two years of his presidency.
1. He averted a depression: Sure the recession sucks, but if it weren't for the President's intervention, the financial crisis would have surely spiraled into a deep financial abyss, similar to that of The Great Depression. According to economists from Princeton and Moody, more than 16million jobs would have been lost if not for the TARP intervention, the Recovery Act and the Federal Reserve. Unemployment would have soared from the dismal 9.5% that it is now to 16.5%. The president has achieved through patience and
pragmatism what he was unlikely to win through political warfare.
2. Sparking recovery: In an attempt to brand his presidency in ways similar to that of FDR and the New Deal an and LBJ and the Great Society, he spoke of a "New Foundation." The Recovery Act was designed to lay the cornerstones of recovery and included the most progressive middle class tax cuts ever enacted, delivering benefits to 95% of working families, invested $94 billion in clean energy and $100 billion in education. If any one president had passed each of those legislation independently, it, in itself would have been a very significant record of accomplishment and rivals the biggest reforms of the Clinton presidency and it is extremely significant that it passed on Obama's 24th day in office.
3. Saving Detroit: The president injected $60 billion into the American Auto industry and in doing so placed a bet on the future of the U.S. auto industry. If the administration had allowed GM and Chrysler to go under, like the Republicans had wished for, it would have caused the collapse of part suppliers, and dealerships nationwide, creating such collateral damage that even Ford would have gone belly up. Additionally, it would have resulted in the loss of more than one million jobs and would have devastated the economies of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana where the unemployment rate is among the highest in the country.
4. Reforming Health Care: Obama's crowning legislative achievement is by far, Health Care Reform and true to Joe Biden's pithy and profane assessment, it's a "Big Fucking Deal." All progressives since Theodore Roosevelt wanted it and all Democrats since Harry Truman have fought for it and Barack Obama is the only president who got it. The health care reform extends coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans by expanding eligibility for Medicaid and subsidizing insurance for low and middle income citizens. By the end of the decade, 95% of Americans will have health insurance. Both extreme liberals and Republicans criticize Obama for both his concessions and lack there of, however, the Administration contends that if they would have stuck on the public option component of the initiative, then reform would not have happened at all. The choice came to letting Health Care Reform fail or or taking a huge leap forward for everyone who will benefit from this now and for generations to come; when it came down to it, it wasn't a hard choice to make.
5. Cutting Corporate Welfare: The health care bill is paid for partly by $136 billion paid out under Medicare Advantage, a Bush era debacle under which private insurers were larded with subsidies for the underhanded service of inserting themselves as middlemen between patients and governement run Medicare. He also cut out megabanks such as Sallie Mae, who have reaped the rewards by receiving millions by doing the paperwork for student loans, while still allowing the government to assume all of the risk. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act kicked out private banks from the student loan lending program, cutting lending costs by $60 billion over the next decade, while reinvesting $36 billion into federal education grants, historically black schools and community colleges. In addition places a cap on student loan repayment, placing a repayment cap of 10% of a borrowers annual income.
6. Restoring America's Reputation: I shouldn't need to say much more. When I spent time abroad during the early days of G.W. Bush's presidency, it was clear what a joke America and it's president were to those residing outside the confines of the U.S. borders. When talking with foreigners as well as U.S. citizens while in a different country I was embarrassed by the people's presidential choice, and I would like to mention how terrible it felt to be ashamed of my country, which happens to be the best country in the world. This was after 9-11 and after "freedom fries." Despite the dwindling NATO troops, U.S. approval ratings in western Europe have soared into the 60th and 70th percentile, needless to say, much much higher than during that of the Bush era. U.S. approval ratings have increased 10 points in Poland and Russia, 20 points in China, and 30 points in Indonesia, France and Germany. Overall, the world's confidence in the United States has increased from 21% in 2007 to a staggering 64% today, just three years later. Thank you Barack Obama: Thanks for nothing G.W. Bush. Obama has already repaired much of the damage caused by the latter Bush. Former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, said in September, "(Obama) has restored America's reputation on the world stage."
7. Protecting Consumers: With the government TARP intervention, came financial institution reform. These reformations protect the consumers by preventing banks and other financial institutions making bets on wall street initiatives that would ultimately hurt the American economy and consumers (think about the mortgage crisis.) What I find most interesting about these newfangled reformations is that they are merely a reiteration of the former post "Depression Era" financial reforms. During the Clinton administration and the tech boom those financial restrictions were amended because we incorrectly assumed that the "Great Depression" was long ago and given the high flying times of the tech boom, seemed improbable at the time; the economy was great, people were employed and making a money hand over fist, and certainly the parameters that existed during the pre-depression times could not exist then. . . . .clearly we were wrong and those means of protection should have never been lifted. The new addition to the current financial reform was the restrictions placed on creditors; credit card companies have to list how long it will take to pay off debt with the minimum payment required, along with preventing them from placing deceitful increases in percentage rates without warning. It also makes it more difficult for credit card companies to lure college kids from accruing a lot of debt.
8. Launching a clean energy moonshot: Living in Oregon we are fortunate enough to live in one of the "greenest" states in the country. Portland is the most livable urban cities in the country. If you travel throughout the Columbia Gorge, you are confronted by the troves of wind/energy generating turbines nestled upon the rolling hills of the windy gorge. They are a site to be treasured and adored. Portland has also become the solar city of the country. The administration has mandated that all federal agencies are now required to reduce their carbon pollution by 28% in the next decade. That alone is enough to reduce carbon emissions by 101 million metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere.
In contrast to the ingenious political spin orchestrated by the GOP and the Tea Party, the Democrats have done a terrible job capitalizing on their achievements. Most progressives can not get over the compromises made in an effort to achieve such monumental acts of political reform. Average Americans are mostly clueless about the presidency's key achievements. Polls show that only 12% of Americans realize that Obama actually cut their taxes, and indeed most believe (inaccurately) that he in fact increased their taxes. Only 29% realize that the stimulus did in fact boost the economy while 81% believe that the health care reform will ultimately increase the national deficit.
While, my post today is lengthy, please pass it along to those who are clueless about the gains made by our charismatic President. The important message in all of this is to vote and make your voice heard. Be aware of what is, not what it seems to be. The political spin and Republican rhetoric is not indeed the truth. Seek out the truth and be an informed and educated American and Voter.
