Four years later, Clinton has become arguably the best secretary of state this country has ever known and Obama…he’s been mediocre, at best. He started to reel me in when the Lilly Ledbetter Act was signed into law. I thought Hey, maybe this guy’s for real and things are about turn around. But almost four years later I’m still left with a feeling of wanting more.
It’s inarguable that Obama’s done a lot in his first term. The argument is whether you like what he's done or not. He passed an economic stimulus bill, there was cash for clunkers, the auto bail out, health care reform, federal funding for stem cell research, Lilly Ledbetter, Bin Laden’s dead, Sotomayor and Kagan onto the Supreme Court, we’re finally out of Iraq, Gaddafi’s gone with no American lives lost, no more global gag rule, and DADT (that hideous monstrosity) is finally gone.**
**Forgive the lack of chronology as I was just throwing out things off the top of my head.
After all of this, I’m still left with a lot ambiguity toward our 44th president. The economic stimulus didn’t go nearly far enough and allowed states to use the money in ways that were not stimulative. The health care bill also didn’t go nearly far enough and I’ll elucidate my opinions on health care at a later date. Obama’s foreign policy has been better and more humane than W's and Cheney's ever was (but, then again, when the defense industry is privatized and highly profitable, should we be so shocked that we get perpetual war?)
It’s nice to have a president who believes in science and doesn’t use women’s rights as a bargaining chip for destitute countries to receive foreign aid. However, to give Obama credit for the DADT repeal would be analogous to giving Wilson credit for the Nineteenth Amendment (it’s women’s suffrage people. Geez, study your history). Much like activists such as Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, Carrie Catt, Inez Milholland, et al deserve the credit for forcing the hand of a reticent public and a president playing politics, people like Lt. Dan Choi, Knights Out, the Log Cabin Republicans, Susan Collins, and yes, even Lady Gaga deserve the credit for forcing the hand of a president who was playing politics with a constituency he assumed he had in his back pocket. Nevertheless, the P.O.S. law is gone and that’s a plus one for Obama.
But the bottom line is no matter how much blame can be placed on the Bush Administration, no matter how much of a failure trickledown economics is, no matter how many pledges Grover Norquist makes conservative legislators sign, this country is not that much better off than it was four years ago. Republican obstructionism notwithstanding, the hope and change promised in the campaign has fizzled down to a, "maybe if we wait it out things will get better." I don’t want rhetoric. A nice speech, no matter how poignant, doesn’t pay my bills. My paycheck has stagnated for three years now, but my cost of living keeps going up and I can’t sustain that trend much longer.
It isn’t difficult to discern what the American public wants. We just want fairness. We get that the free market ebbs and flows and sometimes we hit downturns, but the downturns have become deep pits because we have a system that’s set up to favor large corporations who can afford to buy off politicians. We don’t want to pay zero taxes, we just want everyone to pay their fair share—even the wealthy.
(And, conservatives, please stop with the half of America doesn’t pay income tax bullshit. They don’t pay income taxes because they make shit for wages and you just want to kick them while they’re down. Everybody pays taxes in some form or another. Effective rates are what matter and the ultra-wealthy are making money off of their money, not from hard work).
Our system is set up against the middle class. We bear the brunt of both corporate tax breaks and excessive entitlements. We carry the weight of the poor overhead like Sisyphus, while we drag corporate welfare behind us like a ball and chain strapped to our ankles. But pretty soon our backs are going to break and then who will politicians run to? You won’t be able to turn to your owners (the wealthy) because the second you turn on them is when they pull their funding from your PACs and then how do you win re-election? And you won't be able to drain the middle class anymore because, well, we won't exist.
Given the state of the Republican primary it’s looking more and more like my vote in 2012 will be going back to Obama, unless Huntsman pulls out a miracle. But it’s definitely not with the enthusiasm I had four years ago. I’ve got to admit, Mr. President, that I think you’ve been a little on the wimpy side over the last four years (apart from Bin Laden and the Iraq pull out, for which your country owes you a debt of gratitude). I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you about the whole fourth most accomplished president bit. You’ve done a lot, but much of it has been rather half-assed and you seem to capitulate to the right more than is necessary. We’ve still got massive unemployment, massive debt, and a stagnant economy, though an obstructive House deserves at least as much of the credit for that. The Tea Party has revealed itself for what it really is—a group of saboteurs who want nothing but your downfall—and the American public has caught on to them. If you get re-elected, your next four years will reveal your presidential legacy. I think you have it in you to be a great president, but (and forgive the uncouth locution) you need to grow pair before that will happen.
Yours,
Liz
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