Obama has done a good job for the American people
In debate after debate, the GOP hopefuls have derided the Obama Presidency. His horrible policies. Questioning his birthright. After their shameful performance on March 3, maybe it’s time they took a look in the mirror. We can start with the most recent Republican president, George W. Bush (7 Worst Moments of George W. Bush’s presidency, The Washington Post, 2013).
Mission Accomplished: on May 1, 2003, Bush announced the end of the major combat in Iraq in front of a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished.” However, the war would last another decade and see the loss of thousands of American lives.
Hurricane Katrina: this was the death knell for Bush’s second term. His widely criticized handling of the storm recovery was a big stumbling block to his achieving any success in his final years in office. Punctuating the mess was his remark that FEMA director Michael Brown was “doing a heckuva job” amid a consensus to the contrary.
The market crash of 2008: Bush’s policies led to the crash, and he will forever be linked to the greatest U.S. economic downturn since the Great Depression. President Clinton left America’s coffers with a projected $1.9 trillion surplus. When Bush left office in 2009, we were left with a projected $1.2 trillion in debt. This is blamed mostly on Bush’s $1.5 trillion in tax cuts to the wealthy, as well as the additional trillions spent on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (The Daily Dot, 2015).
Now, no one president will ever satisfy everyone, but to listen to some Republicans, and Obama is the devil incarnate. I beg to differ. For example, after five presidents over a century failed to create universal health insurance, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act of 2010, covering 32 million uninsured Americans beginning in 2014 and mandating measures to cut health care cost growth (50 Best Policies of President Obama, Washington Monthly Magazine, March 2012).
To keep the world economy out of recession, in 2009 and 2010, he helped secure from G-20 nations more than $500 billion for the IMF to provide lines of credit and other supports to emerging market countries, keeping them liquid and avoiding crises with their currencies.
In 2011, Osama bin laden was eliminated.
In coordination with First Lady Michelle Obama, he improved school nutrition in 2010.
Obama helped to turn the auto industry around by injecting $62 billion in federal money in 2009 into GM and Chrysler. In return, the car makers gave equity stakes and agreements for massive restructuring. Since 2009, the auto industry has added 100,000 jobs to the economy.
He brokered an agreement for speedy compensation for victims of the Gulf oil spill in 2010.
Also in 2009, President Obama nationally recognized the dangers of carbon dioxide to the environment, allowing the EPA to regulate its production.
He killed the Keystone XL pipeline, and most recently, he has closed the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling, protecting our shoreline habitats and tourism industry.
In general, the GOP is not interested in funding institutions such as education, health care, and social security. Neither are they interested in the environment, and seem to want global climate change to just go away.
Democrats. Are we perfect? Certainly not, but again, in general, the Democratic ideology is that of inclusion, looking out for everyone, whether you’re talking jobs, education, environment, or the global scene. If you’re rich, you probably want to stay on the dark side; they’ll watch your back. If you want something different, vote Democrat.
But don’t stop there. Be vocal, and let your representatives have it if they don’t do what they said they would.
The process doesn’t stop with the vote. Lately, Americans aren’t vigilant enough. Whoever you vote for, make sure they do their jobs. For example, they should show up to vote on important issues, they should be diplomatic in their interactions with others. That’s their job. Make sure they do it.
The writer lives in Conway.
This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Obama has done a good job for the American people."