Category | Op Ed

Obama sets the stage for success in the U.S.

Published on February 2, 2010 by Joel Mendelson

President Barack Obama entered the House chambers last week amid growing criticism and plummeting poll numbers, and with an American public who is beginning to sincerely doubt his ability to bring change to Washington. The speech was heavily focused on the economy and helped set the tone and agenda necessary to pull the United States back from the abyss.

The economic portion of the speech centered on job creation and what it would take to finally get the 10 percent of Americans who are unemployed back to work. The president asked Congress for a jobs bill to inject the necessary funds into the economy that will stimulate growth. According to Obama, his stimulus package has saved or created an estimated 2 million jobs and will create an additional 1.5 million by year’s end. While skeptics and critics of the stimulus package still trumpet it as a failed piece of legislation, when one goes beyond what critics and pundits say, it is working.

President Obama staunchly defended his policies from conservative attacks by proudly reaffirming that his administration cut taxes for millions of Americans during his first year in office. This announcement did not find any support among Republicans who are seething with anger over Obama’s decision to let George W. Bush’s tax cuts expire at the end of this year. These massive cuts did little to help middle class families and allowed the wealthy to live lavishly during these lean times.

Health care reform took a smaller stage than usual, but Obama reaffirmed his commitment to the long embattled debate and hopes to have health care reform passed in the near future. With Americans concerned over the mounting deficit, the president proposed a federal spending freeze. Estimates show that there will be a $1 trillion deficit reduction during the next two decades. These represent just some of the ways the of tackling the continuing economic issues plaguing our nation.

Aside from the economy, which dominated the speech, President Obama discussed at length the lack of leadership on Capitol Hill. Republicans in the Senate have been using the filibuster option at a record pace, requiring the Democratic majority to scrape together a supermajority (60 votes) that they just don’t have. This obstructionist behavior led to a legislative standstill and is partially responsible for the lack of progress on the president’s legislative agenda. The president looked sternly toward the Republican side of the chamber declaring, “Just saying no to everything isn’t leadership.”

This obstacle of hyper-partisanship has created gridlock in Washington at a time when few Americans can afford to sit idly by and watch Congress bicker. President Obama laid out an agenda filled with ambitious yet achievable goals for Congress and the United States. Financial, energy and infrastructure reforms are hardly hyper-partisan in nature.

If one throws their ridiculous partisan label out the window, you might start to realize the importance of true reform in this country. The president isn’t proposing some scary socialist agenda, as some would have you believe; it’s an agenda that supports the United States and its people, something that’s been regularly neglected over the past decade. Some will still fight against investment in education, jobs creation, energy independence and the middle class, but if the president were of the same party as those in opposition, they’d support every word that came from his mouth.

That’s what has become so unfortunate in the United States: If you don’t support the political party of the president or any other government official their message instantly becomes wrong and poisonous to American growth. We remain divided due in part to our constant need for political news, and we lack the knowledge to separate politics from governance. This isn’t the Democratic Party takeover of America, this is a man trying to lead the United States in the direction he feels is best, and he’s giving it everything he’s got. President Obama is ready to roll up his sleeves and so are the American people. Let’s hope Congress can follow suit. From the economy to education, from infrastructure to national security, President Obama is my president, he’s your president, and he’s the President of the United States. If we let him lead, the country will not spiral downwards into oblivion, and we can recapture the American spirit and build a better tomorrow.