Goodbye 44, hope and change or socialism and missteps

By Christopher Curran
Posted 1/18/17

Presidents when they leave office become marble men of American history. Of the 43 men who have served as Commander N' Chief (Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, therefore he counts as two), some have left stellar legacies of innovation

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Goodbye 44, hope and change or socialism and missteps

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Presidents when they leave office become marble men of American history. Of the 43 men who have served as Commander N’ Chief (Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, therefore he counts as two), some have left stellar legacies of innovation and accomplishment. Others have left records of mediocre caretakers who have handled tasks but showed no particular vision or initiative. While others had been consistent disappointments never rising to fulfill their campaign promises and never exhibiting proficiency when important matters arose.

With the tenure in office of our 44th President Barak Hussein Obama coming to an end, one must evaluate what degree of success this president has achieved. Elected in a time of great economic crisis, Obama was marketed as a cure all to America’s woes. One can postulate that Obama’s ascension may not have been possible without the dire circumstances surrounding the Great Recession of 2008 propelling Americans to try a diametric opposite to the then incumbent George W. Bush.

Obama’s assertions during the campaign of 2008 went well beyond the usual Democrat platforms and policies. The question eight years later is simply was his covenant with the electorate kept or did his slogan of hope and change actually manifest itself as socialism and missteps? Did Barry Obama succeed? Or, should the newest marble man be counted among those substandard presidents of United States history?

Although I personally did not cast a vote for Mr. Obama, once he was elected I hoped he would lead the country out of the great economic tentativeness that we were suffering. From what I had read about him, I knew he was socialistic politically. Further, I knew he was possessed by social justice issues. His two books The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from My Father painted a picture of a young man’s struggle with identity, parental absence, and a domestic view of social class inequity that drove Obama’s determination toward politics.

Also, his redundant themes in the campaign were ending the Iraq War, energy independence, reforming the health care system, and getting a handle on the escalating national debt.

Orchestrating the most technically savvy presidential campaign in political history using the social media tools of “My Space” and “Facebook” along with a state of the art scientific polling apparatus, Obama prevailed.

Beating all odds, Obama skyrocketed from an obscure Illinois State Senator to the presidency in less than four years. The new president had severely beaten Republican Senator John Mc Cain in the 2008 election 53% to 46% in the popular vote and 365 to 173 in the Electoral College.

Thus, those election figures along with the Democrats taking the majority in both houses of congress, Barak Obama was given the license of mandate. His charge was now to lead a country on the brink of economic disaster. As has been often quoted, the words of then Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel were uttered often during the first two years of Obama’s tenure. They were “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste”.

Consequently, in collusion or cooperation with the Democratic control of two of the three branches of government, Obama jammed through laws, which reflected his penchant for socialism. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 spent 800 billion dollars on various pork-laden programs. Although marketed mostly as an infrastructure bill, when in reality only 44 billion was spent on roads and bridges, this law added greatly to the national debt and mostly furthered the excesses of bloated state and municipal governments. So, this allowed governments to continue to act in an irresponsible fashion without making prudent austere decisions.

Additionally, the Tax Relief Law of 2010 did not form a fairer system of graduated progressive taxation. Instead, the law gave slight relief to the middle-class and rewarded low-income citizens with expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. While the law did little to turn back the Bush Era tax cuts for the wealthy. As a result, the ill effect on the expanding national debt was significant.

Unemployment Insurance (UI) was elongated with the Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. Problematically, as 26 weeks eligibility was extended to 39 weeks and then 52 weeks, a new mindset of dependency was forming. There was a significant increase in filings for Supplemental Security Income, which then became an everlasting extension of UI. This program was designed to help the blind and disabled and is funded by US Treasury General Funds. Now mass granting of this entitlement was creating an umbilical cord between government and the out-of-work, which rendered them potentially in lifelong sloth. This example of social engineering may have dovetailed with Obama’s sense of socialist tendencies, but it is corrosive to the fabric of our society.

Most counterproductive to the national debt was what amounted to a redistribution of wealth program “Obamacare”. Legally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), this drive toward socialized medicine penalized employers, and those who did not purchase health care through the “Health Exchanges”. The act did nothing to cap insurance rates. While deductable amounts increased and monthly rates steadily rose, young taxpayers did not enroll in the program to sufficiently offset expenses. Consequently, the program cannot pay for the tax credits given to low income enrollees. Thus, the program adds to the debt of the nation. Simultaneously, the middle class and small businesspersons despise the ACA. Only the indigent are accommodated. This result favors the president’s sentiments of social justice, but does not recognize those who produce and create jobs in our society.

Perhaps more distressing is the state of our foreign affairs in the wake of the Obama presidency. Keeping his promise of troop withdrawal from Iraq, Obama failed to obtain a “Status of Forces Agreement” with the Iraqi government. As a result, with only a nominal presence the radial Islamic group ISIS overran most of the country.

In Syria, where a civil war was raging, the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was warned by Obama about the use of chemical weapons on his own populous. Assad crossed the line marked by Obama, yet the United States did nothing other than offer air support to those rebelling against a vicious and immoral Syrian government.

In Iran, Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry made a poor deal in regard to Iranian adventurism into nuclear weapons development. The United States lifted sanctions and released billions to the Iranian government in trade for their agreement to an unverifiable pact in which Iran can easily circumvent the restrictions on their quest for military nuclear power.

Also, Obama balked on doing anything valuable in regard to stemming Russian aggression in the Crimea and in Eastern Ukraine.

All in all, our 44th President can best be graded with a letter grade of D. Admittedly, he walked into office amidst a great crisis. However, instead of seeking to resolve the underlying issues that caused the downfall on a case-by-case basis he used the predicament to foster a socialist agenda. More people are reliant upon the government than ever before in history including the depression era. This reality is counter to the long-term health of a capitalist democracy. Furthermore, his half-hearted handling of foreign affairs made the world a more precarious place indeed. Thus, the US is less safe due to a series of mistakes and apprehensive retreats in policy statements.

Moreover, after promising to lessen the national debt, during the last eight years the national debt has increased from 11.3 trillion on January 20, 2009 to almost 20 trillion today. The Obama Era has increased our liabilities more than any other president in history.

Unfortunately, there was more socialism and missteps than hope and change in the presidential terms of Barak Hussein Obama.

Comments

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  • RISchadenfreude

    Things can only improve- at least this buffoon's amateur hour "Lead from Behind" antics are over- good Riddance, #44.

    Thursday, January 19, 2017 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    deplorable

    Thursday, January 19, 2017 Report this

  • davebarry109

    And on the way out the door, this deplorable 'president' commuted the sentence of a traitor to this great country and pardoned a puerto rican terrorist who blew up cities across the USA. He is despicable.

    Friday, January 20, 2017 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    eye thought he was just deplorable. now he is despicable too. the double d's of presidents. amen

    Friday, January 20, 2017 Report this