While most of us have felt some sense of outrage regarding the Secret Service prostitution scandal, in which at least 11 (I have actually lost count) members of the president’s elite protective service along with several military personnel were found to have solicited “escorts” in Columbia, when they were supposed to be engaged in conducting advance work for the president’s visit.
Again, I think most of us would agree that it is a stupid idea for the people who are in charge of protecting our president to position themselves in such a way that they could be vulnerable to sexual blackmail and while those who were stupid enough to behave in this manner should be disciplined, it is certainly not the stuff of a national or for that matter, an international crisis.
Washington however, with its predictable knack for moral posturing that is driven more by hypocrisy than anything else, has transformed this incident into ammunition for the right-wing guns of moral outrage. Chuck Grassley, the U.S. Senator from Iowa who has managed to triumph over his own brand of adversity, and has somehow elevated himself to the position of ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has asked if any White House staffers also slept with escorts that evening. No investigator had even suggested that there was a possibility that this had happened, but Grassley had to ask—just in case. Senator Grassley appeared on FOX last night just to ensure that viewers are continuously exposed to baseless charges regarding White House staff.
Representative Pete King, Long island Republican and defender of smut, innuendo and lies, has ambushed Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan with a list of 50 questions about the scandal in order to make it seem as if he is conducting a serious investigation.
For those outside of Congress who belong to the Let’s Get Obama anyway we can club, the strategy is to attempt to use this scandal to prove once again, the failure of Obama as a leader and his shameful failure to make everyone who works for the federal government to stop being such awful people while simultaneously acting as harbingers of waste and fraud.
The National Review Online suggests that the real moral of this story is that the American taxpayer pays way too much for presidential security, especially for all those totally unnecessary agents with their fancy bullet-proof Suburbans. Sarah Palin, who for once had a right to be offended (I can hardly believe I am writing this) after it was discovered that the agent at the center of this scandal had written totally inappropriate sexist remarks on his Facebook page about her, was among the first to brand this scandal as evidence that the problem was with the “culture” President Obama has fostered at the White House. Karl Rove, by the way has suggested that politicizing the scandal is stupid and “counterproductive.” Also interesting is that Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan was promoted to his current position during the George W. Bush administration.
Unlike most American institutions linked to the government, the composition of the Secret Service is not driven by the politics of whoever lives in the White House. However like most American law enforcement entities, it is primarily white and extremely macho. It is very rare for right wing attack dogs to demonize these carefully selected and professionally trained public servants.
The reality is that the right has for years had a kind of Clint Eastwood fantasy of Secret Service agents as being heroic, blond, blue-eyed and steely-jawed. Courageous Americans putting their lives in jeopardy only to protect those lazy elitist phonies raised the blood pressure of every loyal right wing nut. The very idea that it was necessary to protect the Clintons, the Gores and now God forbid, the Obamas—these people are not worthy of such loyalty and sacrifice.
White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney has responded to the criticism of the Secret Service couched in terms of it being reflective of a kind of fault within the Obama administration saying, “It is preposterous to politicize the Secret Service.”
Carney criticized Palin and other politicians who have linked the Secret Service incident with other recent scandals, most notably the lavish spending by the General Services Administration that is currently under investigation and the recent killing of 16 Afghan civilians by an American non-commissioned officer.
“What they’re doing is trying to turn these incidents¬¬-one that is still under investigation¬-to political advantage” Carney said. “On the face of it, it’s a ridiculous assertion that trivializes both the very serious nature of the endeavor that our military is engaged in in Afghanistan and the very serious nature of the work that the Secret Service does, the apolitical nature of the institution, and the seriousness of the investigation under way.”
While what happened in Cartagena, Columbia was inexcusable, the insatiable thirst that Congress has to investigate should not be quenched this time. I would argue against an official congressional hearing over this and it is far too premature to call for the dismal of the Secret Service Director.
Salacious scandals feed the appetite of a 24-hour news cycle, but we should allow this one to take its course through the normal review process without the usual rush to judgment.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Barack Obama for President in 2012--Part Two
Last week, we talked about some of President Obama’s domestic policy and why his work on the economy in particular, should earn him re-election to the White House. Today, I want to explore the President’s geo-politics and how they have been manifested by his foreign policy.
As off-base as the right wing in this country is on the matter of the kind of domestic President Mr. Obama has been, it is in the area of assessing his performance in the arena of foreign affairs where the right has become completely unhinged. Governor Romney, the presumptive GOP candidate for President accuses President Obama of apologizing for America while the criticisms of other Republicans all but call the president an appeaser at best and a traitor at worst. One reality however is that President Obama reversed President Bush’s decision from almost totally ignoring Osama bin Laden and instead, practically from his first day in office, set into motion a strategy that ultimately resulted in the capture and death of the world’s most wanted terrorist.
In news stories since the bin Laden affair, it has come to light that when crucial decisions were required, the president overruled both his Secretary of State and yes, his Vice-President to opt for the riskiest, albeit the most ambitious, plan offered. President Obama then assumed an even more direct role in the drama that resulted in Osama bin Laden’s capture and death by personally ordering the extra helicopters that ultimately prevented another disaster, a la the Jimmy Carter failed attempt to rescue American hostages from Iran more than thirty years ago. What has also not been discussed enough is that not only did the Obama administration succeed in eliminating a global terrorist they also confiscated a massive amount of intelligence that since the operation has served to diminish the capacity of al Qaeda even more than the killing of their leader.
If President Obama’s predecessor had managed somehow to eliminate bin Laden and decimate al Qaeda’s leadership as has been accomplished by this administration, Bush could have changed the U.S. Constitution, run for and got re-elected to the presidency. But where Bush acted like a rootin tootin cowboy, President Obama has quietly but inexorably destroyed our real enemies, while somehow managing to win the broader propaganda war as well. Since Barack Obama has assumed the presidency, al Qaeda’s influence in the Muslim world has all but vanished.
President Obama, if nothing else, is an astute student of history. His foreign policy is actually reminiscent of the Eisenhower administration’s in that it by-passes the short-term political benefits for the long-term strategic foreign policy advantage. It is driven by a president who is committed to protecting and advancing American interests as opposed to championing an ideology that ultimately leads to the poisoning of America’s soul because of the loss of international respect and more importantly, the loss of American life as manifested by an irresponsible rush to armed intervention. By careful assessment and with a willingness to share the international stage with like-minded allies (such as in Libya), this president has restored the desire of other countries to actively seek America’s assistance and in doing so, has returned the mantle of smart super power status to America. This strategy has almost all by itself, erased the doubt, ridicule and mistrust of America engendered by our war of Iraqi occupation.
As it is true with the domestic policy of this administration, and as is so often the case regarding an administration who governs from the middle, the right wing in America is not the only constituency that has it wrong. While the left is less undone by its criticisms, it is just as likely to miss the intellect and commitment behind the Obama administration’s strategy of protecting America’s global interests. Right from the beginning of his presidency, the far left attempted to call the shots in some kind of ridiculous notion that because Democrats had control of the White House and Congress that a liberal agenda was called for. What the left conveniently chose to ignore was that while the White House and Congress may have been dominated by Democrats, the country itself was hopelessly polarized.
The irony here (and for me the truly scary part) is that this polarization was due primarily to American Liberals almost total lack of response to a segment of America who refused to accept a black American as its leader. The visceral reaction from these Americans spawned such political nightmares for everyone such as the Tea Party which served to further de-stabilize the political arena beginning with a massive takeover of the Republican base.
Iconic but baseless in law and governance, the 60-vote majority in the U.S. Senate before anything substantive could happen, prevented even the majority party from managing to accomplish anything legislatively and resulted in the worse kind of gridlock since the Boston massacre.
As if to add fuel to the fire, the American left has accused President Obama of being unable and some even believe unwilling, to curb the actions of a Wall Street gone wild. They ridiculously accuse Obama of being an elitist who is unable to grasp the challenges of the average working American and they rant and rave against Obama’s presidency as one that failed at some kind of “Grand Bargain” on entitlement reform. They complain about his stimulus, which they claim was not large enough (I have been one of those) and they criticize his one-step-at-a-time approach to gay rights. But most of all, (and I am afraid I am in this group as well), they despair at his constant attempts to meet Republican assaults with calm appeals to unity and compromise.
Despite attacks from both the right and the left, a recurring pattern has emerged from the Obama White House. From as early as his inaugural address, the President began his foray into international waters by first extending the hand of friendship to everyone. When some responded with their fist, instead of an open hand, he immediately demonstrated that they were the source of the tension between them. As he exercised a kind of “moderate liberalism” he was able to give voice to his total disregard for policy driven by a rhetoric that is at once divisive. This was like turning a giant aircraft carrier 360 degrees—it took time. It also means that the President can appear to be incapable of defending his strategy or worse, it seemed at times as if others within his administration were defining him. This however, is where his detractors are truly out of touch with reality.
By failing to grasp the significance of Obama’s approach to foreign affairs, by making a mountain out of a molehill on one issue after another (the ridiculous “Let’s just have a beer at the White House affair) but most importantly, by projecting a kind of fantasy, brought into existence by the more severe extremes of both the left and the right, they have completely missed the reality that Barack Obama’s strategy is to play all nine innings. He did with the Democrats over health-care reform. He did with the Republicans over the debt. He did it with the Israeli government regarding the cessation of expanded settlements on the West Bank and with the Iranian regime by refusing to play the game by their rules, even as they gunned down innocent Iranian citizens in the streets of Tehran. No policy decision, no strategy, no political objectives can be understood regarding this administration, if there is a refusal to accept that Barack Obama has been playing for all nine innings—for eight years, not four.
If he is re-elected, the 2012 election will actually go down in history as more crucial than even the 2008 one. Reagan claimed after his first election that he had a “mandate” to govern, and immediately Gil Scott Heron exclaimed in one of his songs B-Movie, “Mandate my ass.” Well a return to the White House by President Obama will indeed be a mandate. It will be a mandate for a full paradigm shift away from Bush type inequality and reckless intervention abroad. It will mean an end to decades of irresponsible deficit spending. A re-election of the Obama team will make it possible for him to strengthen what he has done already and prepare for the future.
I am the first to admit that I am biased towards this President. My bias however is driven by the actual record of this administration, not the spin or the vitriolic cries for his head. I am biased towards a president who despite the fact that he has been subjected to more visceral attacks than possibly any other president in American history, has not once lost his cool, has not once lashed out at anyone but instead has conducted himself with calm and grace under fire. I am biased towards a President who has been confronted with one crisis after another and while it is almost unbelievable, has not had to spin down one single scandal, either personal or professional in his entire public career.
If the President’s team is guilty of anything, it is that they have as of yet, failed to convince the American people of the character and intellect of this President and worse, have failed to create an environment in which this President can be valued appreciatively as opposed to being derided from both sides of the political spectrum. I have faith however in the American electorate and I know that enough of them will come to see these last three years as I have—the beginnings of a return to America’s greatness.
As off-base as the right wing in this country is on the matter of the kind of domestic President Mr. Obama has been, it is in the area of assessing his performance in the arena of foreign affairs where the right has become completely unhinged. Governor Romney, the presumptive GOP candidate for President accuses President Obama of apologizing for America while the criticisms of other Republicans all but call the president an appeaser at best and a traitor at worst. One reality however is that President Obama reversed President Bush’s decision from almost totally ignoring Osama bin Laden and instead, practically from his first day in office, set into motion a strategy that ultimately resulted in the capture and death of the world’s most wanted terrorist.
In news stories since the bin Laden affair, it has come to light that when crucial decisions were required, the president overruled both his Secretary of State and yes, his Vice-President to opt for the riskiest, albeit the most ambitious, plan offered. President Obama then assumed an even more direct role in the drama that resulted in Osama bin Laden’s capture and death by personally ordering the extra helicopters that ultimately prevented another disaster, a la the Jimmy Carter failed attempt to rescue American hostages from Iran more than thirty years ago. What has also not been discussed enough is that not only did the Obama administration succeed in eliminating a global terrorist they also confiscated a massive amount of intelligence that since the operation has served to diminish the capacity of al Qaeda even more than the killing of their leader.
If President Obama’s predecessor had managed somehow to eliminate bin Laden and decimate al Qaeda’s leadership as has been accomplished by this administration, Bush could have changed the U.S. Constitution, run for and got re-elected to the presidency. But where Bush acted like a rootin tootin cowboy, President Obama has quietly but inexorably destroyed our real enemies, while somehow managing to win the broader propaganda war as well. Since Barack Obama has assumed the presidency, al Qaeda’s influence in the Muslim world has all but vanished.
President Obama, if nothing else, is an astute student of history. His foreign policy is actually reminiscent of the Eisenhower administration’s in that it by-passes the short-term political benefits for the long-term strategic foreign policy advantage. It is driven by a president who is committed to protecting and advancing American interests as opposed to championing an ideology that ultimately leads to the poisoning of America’s soul because of the loss of international respect and more importantly, the loss of American life as manifested by an irresponsible rush to armed intervention. By careful assessment and with a willingness to share the international stage with like-minded allies (such as in Libya), this president has restored the desire of other countries to actively seek America’s assistance and in doing so, has returned the mantle of smart super power status to America. This strategy has almost all by itself, erased the doubt, ridicule and mistrust of America engendered by our war of Iraqi occupation.
As it is true with the domestic policy of this administration, and as is so often the case regarding an administration who governs from the middle, the right wing in America is not the only constituency that has it wrong. While the left is less undone by its criticisms, it is just as likely to miss the intellect and commitment behind the Obama administration’s strategy of protecting America’s global interests. Right from the beginning of his presidency, the far left attempted to call the shots in some kind of ridiculous notion that because Democrats had control of the White House and Congress that a liberal agenda was called for. What the left conveniently chose to ignore was that while the White House and Congress may have been dominated by Democrats, the country itself was hopelessly polarized.
The irony here (and for me the truly scary part) is that this polarization was due primarily to American Liberals almost total lack of response to a segment of America who refused to accept a black American as its leader. The visceral reaction from these Americans spawned such political nightmares for everyone such as the Tea Party which served to further de-stabilize the political arena beginning with a massive takeover of the Republican base.
Iconic but baseless in law and governance, the 60-vote majority in the U.S. Senate before anything substantive could happen, prevented even the majority party from managing to accomplish anything legislatively and resulted in the worse kind of gridlock since the Boston massacre.
As if to add fuel to the fire, the American left has accused President Obama of being unable and some even believe unwilling, to curb the actions of a Wall Street gone wild. They ridiculously accuse Obama of being an elitist who is unable to grasp the challenges of the average working American and they rant and rave against Obama’s presidency as one that failed at some kind of “Grand Bargain” on entitlement reform. They complain about his stimulus, which they claim was not large enough (I have been one of those) and they criticize his one-step-at-a-time approach to gay rights. But most of all, (and I am afraid I am in this group as well), they despair at his constant attempts to meet Republican assaults with calm appeals to unity and compromise.
Despite attacks from both the right and the left, a recurring pattern has emerged from the Obama White House. From as early as his inaugural address, the President began his foray into international waters by first extending the hand of friendship to everyone. When some responded with their fist, instead of an open hand, he immediately demonstrated that they were the source of the tension between them. As he exercised a kind of “moderate liberalism” he was able to give voice to his total disregard for policy driven by a rhetoric that is at once divisive. This was like turning a giant aircraft carrier 360 degrees—it took time. It also means that the President can appear to be incapable of defending his strategy or worse, it seemed at times as if others within his administration were defining him. This however, is where his detractors are truly out of touch with reality.
By failing to grasp the significance of Obama’s approach to foreign affairs, by making a mountain out of a molehill on one issue after another (the ridiculous “Let’s just have a beer at the White House affair) but most importantly, by projecting a kind of fantasy, brought into existence by the more severe extremes of both the left and the right, they have completely missed the reality that Barack Obama’s strategy is to play all nine innings. He did with the Democrats over health-care reform. He did with the Republicans over the debt. He did it with the Israeli government regarding the cessation of expanded settlements on the West Bank and with the Iranian regime by refusing to play the game by their rules, even as they gunned down innocent Iranian citizens in the streets of Tehran. No policy decision, no strategy, no political objectives can be understood regarding this administration, if there is a refusal to accept that Barack Obama has been playing for all nine innings—for eight years, not four.
If he is re-elected, the 2012 election will actually go down in history as more crucial than even the 2008 one. Reagan claimed after his first election that he had a “mandate” to govern, and immediately Gil Scott Heron exclaimed in one of his songs B-Movie, “Mandate my ass.” Well a return to the White House by President Obama will indeed be a mandate. It will be a mandate for a full paradigm shift away from Bush type inequality and reckless intervention abroad. It will mean an end to decades of irresponsible deficit spending. A re-election of the Obama team will make it possible for him to strengthen what he has done already and prepare for the future.
I am the first to admit that I am biased towards this President. My bias however is driven by the actual record of this administration, not the spin or the vitriolic cries for his head. I am biased towards a president who despite the fact that he has been subjected to more visceral attacks than possibly any other president in American history, has not once lost his cool, has not once lashed out at anyone but instead has conducted himself with calm and grace under fire. I am biased towards a President who has been confronted with one crisis after another and while it is almost unbelievable, has not had to spin down one single scandal, either personal or professional in his entire public career.
If the President’s team is guilty of anything, it is that they have as of yet, failed to convince the American people of the character and intellect of this President and worse, have failed to create an environment in which this President can be valued appreciatively as opposed to being derided from both sides of the political spectrum. I have faith however in the American electorate and I know that enough of them will come to see these last three years as I have—the beginnings of a return to America’s greatness.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Barack Obama for President in 2012
The nightmare for some, comedy for others, generally referred to as the 2012 Republican primary for President of the United States, is finally almost over. With victories in Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C. on Tuesday of this week, Governor Romney, short of being disclosed as the father of three illegitimate children, is the presumptive Republican candidate for President in 2012. So, let’s take a moment from the Republican campaign trail to look at the other side of the aisle, so to speak.
The right wing in America rants against President Obama, calling him a socialist. The left wing in America bellows that he is a sell-out and tries too hard to compromise with Republicans and their Wall Street keepers and independents just think the President lacks courage. The noise is everywhere and it is at such a fever pitch that now the common held beliefs are that Democrats are disappointed in the Obama administration and that the Independent voter is even more disillusioned. As for the Republicans, well they have worked themselves, as is normal for them, into an almost apocalyptic fever.
And while this is a common occurrence during the last year of any President’s first term and that first term presidents running for re-election always get attacked viscerally by the opposition, it seems that this time around, the complaints, charges, criticisms and even the outlandish lies are more prevalent than in any prior race for the White House.
The fact that unemployment is still at a stubborn but remarkable high level and that the national debt is also setting historical records fosters a political environment in which criticism of this administration has been, and on some level should be, fierce. In fact, I understand exactly why the right is so enraged and the left is so demoralized. There is enough bad news to upset even the strongest Obama supporter.
Once we have gotten all of our disappointments off our collective chests however, the reality is that both the right and left analysis of this administration’s performance over the past three years is just simply wrong. Despite the rhetoric ranging from the sarcastic to the vile, the reality that is left for us to deal with is that President Obama has performed admirably, given the state of the Union when he was inaugurated.
There have been instances over the past three years where I have disagreed with the Obama administration. Some of those disagreements have found their way into posts to this blog. I was disappointed that the President did not accept the Bowles-Simpson debt commission findings as warm heartedly as I thought he should have and I have been terribly disappointed that the perpetrators of Bush-era war crimes have not been brought to justice, but given the state of the American economy since before he took office, it seems to me that what the Obama administration has accomplished balanced against what it promised coming into office, demonstrates that the President has delivered in a way that right wing nuts and left wing purists cannot grasp because of their own deep-rooted silliness. Their endless whining has kept them from appreciating the work that this administration has only begun and why it needs four more years to build on the successes of the first four years. As critical as his election was in 2008, the re-election of Barack Obama is even more essential for 2012 if this country is ever to complete its recovery from the Republican forged economic debacle of the George W. Bush era.
Those who oppose him from the right claim that President Obama has governed as a radical socialist attempting to implement a “fundamental transformation” of the American way of life. Governor Romney has accused the President, whenever he can take time to beat back his Republican opponents, of wanting to turn America into a “European welfare state.” He has pointed his finger at the President claiming that be does not believe in free enterprise and that he has no real understanding of how a capitalist economy is supposed to function and most of all, he riles the President for apologizing for America around the world while simultaneously appeasing our enemies. According to Romney, the President is a mortal threat to “the soul” of America and is an “empty suit” who couldn’t run a business, let alone a country.
Here is what actually happened: when Obama assumed the presidency, our economy was losing some 750,000 jobs each month. The last quarter of FY2008 saw an annualized plummeting of job growth near nine percent. This was the most dramatic drop since the 1930s and there was the real danger of a systemic collapse of the entire global financial system. Added to that was the frightening possibility that unemployment and debt were about to get a lot worse. Even the most virile right wing nut who carries picket signs depicting Obama as Hitler or the devil cannot blame President Obama for the economic earthquake that fully erupted in 2007 and wreaked havoc on the American family through 2008-2009 resulting in after-shocks through 2010 and most of 2011—that have only recently begun to subside. Economies in general and the American one in particular take time to change course.
Upon being sworn into office, Obama went right to work. He continued the bank bailout that had begun under his predecessor, he implemented a bailout of the American auto industry and he worked hard to push a stimulus package of more than $780 million through Congress.
Despite the howling from the right, these decisions and actions were far more successful than anyone has yet to give the Obama administration credit for. The monitoring of the number of job losses each month has now been transformed into an assessment of job gains each month, with Republicans still screaming that the increase in employment is not enough—a point never disputed by the President.
Since the stimulus began to finally impact the jobs market, America has added 2.4 million Americans to payrolls across the country. Again, that is not enough, but it is far better than what Romney would have you believe and even more importantly these jobs represent more than the net jobs created under the entire Bush administration! Just this past year, 1.9 million private-sector jobs were created, while a net 280,000 government jobs were lost. Overall government employment has declined almost three percent over the past three years. Listening to the Republican wannabes on the campaign trail would make one think the opposite is true, but the facts are indisputable.
I admit it, I am biased. Anyone who knows me recognizes that I am an Obama supporter—not an apologist—but a steadfast supporter. This President has conducted himself with a sense of grace and calm that even when a member of the U.S. Congress shouted him down as a liar during a STOU address he failed to lose his cool. I have a fundamental belief in the intelligence and common sense of Americans, and it is my hope that enough of us will come to recognize the need to keep President Barack Obama in office for four more years, letting him finish what he has started.
Next week, let’s talk geo-politics...
The right wing in America rants against President Obama, calling him a socialist. The left wing in America bellows that he is a sell-out and tries too hard to compromise with Republicans and their Wall Street keepers and independents just think the President lacks courage. The noise is everywhere and it is at such a fever pitch that now the common held beliefs are that Democrats are disappointed in the Obama administration and that the Independent voter is even more disillusioned. As for the Republicans, well they have worked themselves, as is normal for them, into an almost apocalyptic fever.
And while this is a common occurrence during the last year of any President’s first term and that first term presidents running for re-election always get attacked viscerally by the opposition, it seems that this time around, the complaints, charges, criticisms and even the outlandish lies are more prevalent than in any prior race for the White House.
The fact that unemployment is still at a stubborn but remarkable high level and that the national debt is also setting historical records fosters a political environment in which criticism of this administration has been, and on some level should be, fierce. In fact, I understand exactly why the right is so enraged and the left is so demoralized. There is enough bad news to upset even the strongest Obama supporter.
Once we have gotten all of our disappointments off our collective chests however, the reality is that both the right and left analysis of this administration’s performance over the past three years is just simply wrong. Despite the rhetoric ranging from the sarcastic to the vile, the reality that is left for us to deal with is that President Obama has performed admirably, given the state of the Union when he was inaugurated.
There have been instances over the past three years where I have disagreed with the Obama administration. Some of those disagreements have found their way into posts to this blog. I was disappointed that the President did not accept the Bowles-Simpson debt commission findings as warm heartedly as I thought he should have and I have been terribly disappointed that the perpetrators of Bush-era war crimes have not been brought to justice, but given the state of the American economy since before he took office, it seems to me that what the Obama administration has accomplished balanced against what it promised coming into office, demonstrates that the President has delivered in a way that right wing nuts and left wing purists cannot grasp because of their own deep-rooted silliness. Their endless whining has kept them from appreciating the work that this administration has only begun and why it needs four more years to build on the successes of the first four years. As critical as his election was in 2008, the re-election of Barack Obama is even more essential for 2012 if this country is ever to complete its recovery from the Republican forged economic debacle of the George W. Bush era.
Those who oppose him from the right claim that President Obama has governed as a radical socialist attempting to implement a “fundamental transformation” of the American way of life. Governor Romney has accused the President, whenever he can take time to beat back his Republican opponents, of wanting to turn America into a “European welfare state.” He has pointed his finger at the President claiming that be does not believe in free enterprise and that he has no real understanding of how a capitalist economy is supposed to function and most of all, he riles the President for apologizing for America around the world while simultaneously appeasing our enemies. According to Romney, the President is a mortal threat to “the soul” of America and is an “empty suit” who couldn’t run a business, let alone a country.
Here is what actually happened: when Obama assumed the presidency, our economy was losing some 750,000 jobs each month. The last quarter of FY2008 saw an annualized plummeting of job growth near nine percent. This was the most dramatic drop since the 1930s and there was the real danger of a systemic collapse of the entire global financial system. Added to that was the frightening possibility that unemployment and debt were about to get a lot worse. Even the most virile right wing nut who carries picket signs depicting Obama as Hitler or the devil cannot blame President Obama for the economic earthquake that fully erupted in 2007 and wreaked havoc on the American family through 2008-2009 resulting in after-shocks through 2010 and most of 2011—that have only recently begun to subside. Economies in general and the American one in particular take time to change course.
Upon being sworn into office, Obama went right to work. He continued the bank bailout that had begun under his predecessor, he implemented a bailout of the American auto industry and he worked hard to push a stimulus package of more than $780 million through Congress.
Despite the howling from the right, these decisions and actions were far more successful than anyone has yet to give the Obama administration credit for. The monitoring of the number of job losses each month has now been transformed into an assessment of job gains each month, with Republicans still screaming that the increase in employment is not enough—a point never disputed by the President.
Since the stimulus began to finally impact the jobs market, America has added 2.4 million Americans to payrolls across the country. Again, that is not enough, but it is far better than what Romney would have you believe and even more importantly these jobs represent more than the net jobs created under the entire Bush administration! Just this past year, 1.9 million private-sector jobs were created, while a net 280,000 government jobs were lost. Overall government employment has declined almost three percent over the past three years. Listening to the Republican wannabes on the campaign trail would make one think the opposite is true, but the facts are indisputable.
I admit it, I am biased. Anyone who knows me recognizes that I am an Obama supporter—not an apologist—but a steadfast supporter. This President has conducted himself with a sense of grace and calm that even when a member of the U.S. Congress shouted him down as a liar during a STOU address he failed to lose his cool. I have a fundamental belief in the intelligence and common sense of Americans, and it is my hope that enough of us will come to recognize the need to keep President Barack Obama in office for four more years, letting him finish what he has started.
Next week, let’s talk geo-politics...
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