Despite all that he has done for this country in such a short period of time, President Obama is being blamed for a lot of things lately, and it just isn’t fair.
But the President is fighting back against critics who say he hasn’t done enough on jobs, the economy and health care. He is fighting against apathy and hopelessness.
And he is fighting back against those who would give tax cuts to the rich and let ordinary Americans fend for themselves, and I support him.
We must remember what the situation in America was like when President Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. His predecessor, George W. Bush, had left a big mess. Bush had turned a budget surplus under Clinton into a huge budget deficit. America was fighting two wars—one in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan.
Further, a massive recession was already under way, with widespread unemployment. Bad policies led to 1 in 7 Americans landing in poverty. The deregulation of the financial sector allowed banks to use risky mortgages to sell derivatives, and gamble with the future of everyday people in the process. The foreclosure crisis has devastated millions of families, and according to United for A Fair Economy, the subprime mortgage meltdown has resulted in the largest loss of black and Latino wealth in modern U.S. history.
So, this is what our current President faced from day one. Yet, he is blamed for the things he didn’t do, and the good things he has accomplished under trying circumstances. His $887 billion stimulus package put people back to work and kept the U.S. from falling over the cliff into another Great Depression. And it prevented tens of thousands of teachers from losing their jobs. Some people mistakenly hold President Obama responsible for the TARP bailout of Wall Street banks, thinking that TARP and the stimulus are one and the same. But Bush orchestrated the TARP program.
Here is what Obama has done, however: The President enacted national health care reform. Many presidents have tried, dating back to 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt included health insurance in his campaign platform. He is going forward with a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to help out people who can’t defend themselves from predatory loans and other discriminatory banking practices. President Obama signed into law an overhaul of the federal student loan program. His reform increases Pell grants, increases aid to community colleges, eliminates private bank fees and includes loan forgiveness after 25 years. The President has expanded college access to millions of young people who are crushed under the weight of student debt, and often must give up on their dreams of owning a home because they cannot afford it.
In addition, President Obama has made badly needed investments in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure, and he saved the U.S. auto industry. Further, the President extended unemployment benefits to 2 million workers, and made sure that 11 million additional children had health insurance. Obama appointed more women to his cabinet than any other president, and nominated two women to the U.S. Supreme Court, including the court’s first Latina judge. He has instituted a new national drug control strategy that treats drugs as a public health issue, and emphasizes community-based solutions and prevention. And he has restored integrity and transparency to the federal government.
Meanwhile, some oppose the President simply because he is the first African-American in the White House. The tea party has made a whole industry out of hating Obama, but they offer no solutions other than shutting down the government. I would ask them whether they think they could do more.
The challenges that Pennsylvanians and people around the country face may seem overwhelming at times. Although the waters may be rough, I am relieved that we have
the steady hands of Barack Obama at the helm.
State Rep. Ronald G. Waters is chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.
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