With the 2012 Presidential Campaign already under way, the main focus is clearly the economy. The recovery has been a sluggish process marked by one step forward and two steps back. Contenders are falling in line and there is a long list of Republican candidates looking to remove President Obama from the White House. My question is “Why are there no Democratic Challengers vying for the same goal?” Evidently nobody within the same party feels disenchanted with this President. I applaud President Obama for certain social advances made under his leadership: the repeal of DADT, universal healthcare (although it has adversely affected the cost of my coverage), the justice department no longer defending DOMA, and a better approach to foreign policy than we had seen in the previous 8 years. This leads to my assessment that Mr. Obama is not a bad President; rather, I believe he would have been a great President, at a different time. The social triumphs are great; if Don’t Ask Don’t Tell were not in place when I graduated from high school, I probably would have served in the military. I do not agree with the wars in which we’re involved, but I am a proud American who would have loved the opportunity to serve and defend my country. My main argument against the Obama administration is that the primary focus should have been on jobs and the economy.
When the housing bubble popped and the mortgage meltdown led to the largest financial collapse since the Great Depression, we needed a President whose main priority on day one was the recovery of our failing economy. The bailouts were approved under the outgoing Bush administration and the unemployment rate has since fallen slightly, but we needed the CEO of the most powerful nation in the world to approach the situation with a clear plan to reinvigorate the job market. This is where the promises of “hope” and “change” fell short. There are countless Americans still out of work and more and more families are struggling to make ends meet. This is unacceptable in the most powerful nation in the world.
The biggest piece of political theatre has been over the debt ceiling. Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling by the first week of August, or the US will be unable to pay its debts. The idea of United States of America defaulting on its debt is unprecedented. When talks between congressional leaders and Vice-President Biden broke down in June, it was predictable. Joe Biden isn’t exactly the most tactful. Now that talks have broken down between Speaker Boehner and President Obama we are staring down the barrel of default. Congress needs to cut its spending, reform entitlements, and increase income. The Bush tax-cuts (the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans) were intended to be temporary; which is how they were approved in the first place. This perpetuates the idea of “the rich get richer.” The very wealthy can afford to pay their fair share. We have to be certain that taxes will not increase on small businesses and hard-working middle class families. I am sick of Washington covering their asses rather than working to help the people they were elected to represent. We do not want to push this debt ceiling vote into next year; 2012 is going to be the next big political contest with the President and several key congressional leaders up for reelection. We do not need more distractions from dealing with the financial future of our country. We need financial reform and a plan to help us pay down our debts and reduce our deficits. We cannot afford this game of financial “chicken.” Congress needs to stop using the livelihood of their constituents as fodder for their political warfare.
