The Road the Country has Traveled in Obama's first Term
Saturday, April 28, 2012
It's time to look back and revisit the road the country has traveled since Barack Obama was elected to office. In just a few short months, the country plans to decide if they want to keep President Obama in office for a second term.
The last 4 years have been difficult for everyone, and no more than the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. In November 2008, President Obama was elected president. The newly elected Commander and Chief had no time to celebrate. He had just inherited the worst economy of any President since the great depression. Now the Republicans blame him for it. But it seems natural these days that people always blame someone else.
Nothing was more evident of the the big problems Barack Obama inherited by mid 2009. There was the
biggest crash of household wealth that anyone from the modern world could remember. Millions of people were loosing their jobs. The financial system was locked up and was about to totally collapse. The President took on a burden that no President from modern times had taken. But it was his inherited problem now, as a Republican President before him, George W. Bush was actually directly responsible for the collapse of the
U.S. economy, and all the hardships that Americans now had to face, with loss of jobs, savings, income, and retirement just because no-one from the Federal government took action to prevent the disaster from happening.
Many people didn't see it coming, because all they were conditioned to live with every day when President George W. Bush was in office that the only thing that was most important on his mind was to catch and kill Osama bin Laden. 8 years went by, and no Osama bin Laden. President Obama had no choice but to do what it took to get the country turned around.
The President took the boldest steps in doing what he called "remaking America". The course of the nation was resting on his tough decisions, and every step he took revealed his character. As President, he now had to figure out where to begin.
He started with the 'Recovery Act', giving health care where it was most urgently needed. The housing market was almost in full collapse, but President Obama turned to the people most affected, there were small business incentives, tax cuts for the middle class, and job training. He laid out the groundwork for a new economy. The next crisis was the U.S. auto industry. The auto executives asked for another bailout, as the money suppied to them from President George W. Bush. General Motors claimed that if the President failed to act and no funds were coming their way, and they need to service. If there was no GM, what would happen to the job market, what would happen to America's manufacturing base, what would happen to the auto industry. The road that GM was taking was very clear. They were on the brink of going bankrupt.
In a front page article from the New York times on November 19, 2008, Mitt Romney, the person that the Republicans have now picked to be their nominee for President to run against Barack Obama stated that the Federal government should "Let Detroit go Bankrupt".
The President accomplished allot for this country in his first term. He could have done allot more, but the determined radical minds of the Republican party have an agenda to do whatever it takes to remove the President from office in November, at the country's expense. The Republican controlled Senate repeatedly blocked progress for at least the last 2 years since gaining the majority in the House in 2010, and now they
blame him for the lack of leadership. We shall see who will win in the end. The country has allot to gain by keeping the current President in office. The Republicans have allot to loose if he is re-elected, along with the possibility of loosing control of the House again. That seems to be the
only thing important to them. CONTROL.... and even if the country has to suffer.
Somehow in the end, the country must find a way to work together. The President will continue to push towards better things and promote his policies. I've already predicted publicly on this blog that President Obama will win the election, and if he happens to loose, this blog may not continue to exist. Oh and by the way, it only took a couple of years for our current President to do what President Bush had started, even in the wake of all the stalling by the Republicans to get anything done in Congress. Osama bin Laden has been killed, General Motors is back in business, woman's rights have been strengthened, and the economy has been turned around. More and more people are going back to work, and the economy seems to be heading in the right direction. But success doesn't happen over night. The stock markets continue to be in difficult straights, but also have turned around from a steady decline to an unsteady gain, thanks to the world markets and the world economy that has also been shaken for the last several years. Gas prices are still very high,
and the president also has answers to solving that problem, as he has introduced several alternative energy plans, but the Republicans continue to fight against him, with the only thought in mind is to make President Bush look like he can never get anything done, and try to show that he hasn't kept many promises. One promise that he did keep at the reluctance of the Republicans is that the Iraq war is officially ended, as all troops have now returned home. The President is making good on other promises too, even at the reluctance of the Republicans who refuse to admit progress by this President.
On May 5th, President Obama will bring his campaign up to full swing as he will then start his campaign in for his second term against Mitt Romney.