New York Times
By PETER BAKER
Published: November 7, 2010
WASHINGTON – President Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday night that he views last week’s mid-term Congressional elections as “a referendum on the economy” rather than a referendum on him, his policies or the Democratic Party.
While he said he should be held accountable for the economy as the nation’s leader, he did not accept the suggestion that he pursued the wrong agenda over the last two years, and he focused blame on his failure to build public support for what he was doing or to change the way Washington works.
In a session taped for CBS’s “60 Minutes” before Mr. Obama left for Asia, the correspondent Steve Kroft pointed out to the president that Republicans view the election as a referendum on him and the Democrats, and asked if he agreed. “I think first and foremost it was a referendum on the economy,” Mr. Obama said. “And the party in power was held responsible for an economy that is still underperforming.”
The interview was Mr. Obama’s first since the election and largely tracked the sentiments he expressed at his news conference the day after the vote.
The president’s interpretation of the election underscored the contrasting messages the two parties have taken from the elections. Republicans won at least 60 more seats in the House to take control, the largest such gain by either party since 1948, and picked up six more seats in the Senate, putting them close to parity with the Democrats, who maintained a much slimmer majority. Republicans also scored significant victories in governor’s and state legislative races.
Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader slated to become speaker, and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican minority leader, have said the election was a clear verdict on Mr. Obama’s policies. Mr. Boehner told ABC News last week that the president is experiencing “some denial” and Mr. McConnell repeated Sunday that the issue was not the message but the substance.
“I think the president believes that somehow he didn’t – his product was good but he just didn’t sell it well,” Mr. McConnell said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “I think he’s a good salesman. I think his problem was not his sales job. It was the product. The American people simply did not like what the president and this Congress were doing substantively.”
Surveys of voters at polling places showed that 37 percent said last Tuesday they were casting their votes to express opposition to Mr. Obama’s policies, while 24 percent said they were supporting his policies. The rest said he was not the impetus for their vote. Those numbers are almost identical to those in 2006 when voters cast judgment on President George W. Bush’s policies and Democrats seized control of Congress in a mid-term election they cast as a referendum on the incumbent president.
Mr. Obama made clear in his interview that he sees the economy as the main source of voter frustration. With unemployment stuck for months at 9.6 percent, no other president in decades has gone into a mid-term election with the jobless rate as high for as long. Nearly 9 in 10 voters last week expressed worry about the direction of the economy; four in 10 said reducing deficits should be the first priority while 4 in 10 said job creation should be a priority.
In his interview, Mr. Obama focused on the latter group, which tended to vote more Democratic than those concerned about deficits. To the notion that voters may have sent a message for smaller, less costly, more accountable government, Mr. Obama responded, “First and foremost, they want jobs and economic growth in this country.”
Pressed by Mr. Kroft, he then added that voters also care about spending. “There is no doubt that folks are concerned about debt and deficits,” he said. “I think that is absolutely a priority. And by the way, that’s a concern that I had before I was even sworn in.”
Echoing comments from his news conference, the president expressed his willingness to negotiate with Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell on tax cuts and other issues but gave no specific examples of where he would change his position to build consensus.
The president offered praise for the Republican leaders and expressed regret that at times he had gone too far in his campaign rhetoric attacking the opposition. “Both John and Mitch are very smart,” he said. “They’re capable. They have been able to, I think, organize the Republican caucus very effectively in opposition to a lot of the things that we tried to do over the last two years. And that takes real political skill.”
Without mentioning any examples, he said he bore responsibility for some of the tenor of political discourse lately. “I’ve been guilty of that. It’s not just them,” he said. “Part of my promise to the American people when I was elected was to maintain the kind of tone that says we can disagree without being disagreeable. And I think over the course of two years, there have been times where I’ve slipped on that commitment.”
Some questions to consider:
1. Has Obama's policies generally benefitted the country, or have they not been helpful?
2. Why do you think more voters are against Obama's policies than for them?
3. Why do you think Republicans gained more seats in the House of Reps. and Senate?
4. Is there anything specifically that is encouraging about Republican gains?
5. Who or what should be blamed for the "economic mess"?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/us/politics/08obama.html?scp=1&sq=are%20democrats%20to%20blame%20for%20economy&st=cse
I admittedly do not follow politics at all, so I am probably missing a lot of background information on this topic. My general idea about Obama is that he promised a lot, and over the past couple of years he hasn’t delivered on many of his promises. This country is definitely going through some hard times. Some moves have to be made to deal with this, but it’s hard to say exactly what. Many people consider unemployment an issue. Obama can’t exactly snap his fingers and create thousands of jobs. The increase in Republican Senate and Representative seats makes sense. The article compared the current voter statistics to those in Bush’s midterm election. The Democrat takeover was obviously related to this discontent. The Republican gains come from a similar motive. This is perhaps a good thing, but I know that most of this school, and this state, is fairly Democratic, so may not appreciate the Republicans having control. It is impossible to blame a single person on the “economic mess.” Issues such as the war, or certain policies are partially responsible, but consumers are also responsible. A healthy economy relies on the movement of money.
ReplyDeleteLike Megan, I have to admit that I am detached completely from politics. Unless something quite eventful happens for the good of the USA, then I have no idea what's going on, and with the economy as it is today, I almost couldn't care less. Obama has made many promises that he can't keep; I think that's the main concern for most of our government leaders. The promises they make that get them into office are almost never fufilled, which causes frustration for citizens. It's obvious that something has to be done, but saying is so much harder than doing in this case. I don't think that Obama should be blamed for this mess, although most people do because he is the one highest in power for our country and when times are hard, the normal instincts are to blame the leader. So that's what we have done. Although we can blame him for not keeping many promises that he made, the mess is not entirely his fault. Everyone knows the saying that "money makes the world go 'round," But almost no one knows what happens when money is running out.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard for me to judge if Obama is a "good" or a "bad" president. No one can truly say which he is, because it is a matter of opinion. As far as I know, there is no line that divides the "good" presidents from the "bad". If i had to make a guess however, it could be determined by how much of what a president has promised has been done. I think that in order to be elected, presidents promise much more than they can ever achieve. That is what happened to Obama, in my opinion. He promised to fix America's problems, when the best he can do is make them a little bit better. This was a bad strategy for him, because Americans believed that he was going to solve all of our problems the second he became president. It is only natural for Americans to be leaning towards Republican ideas, thinking that since Democratic ideas do not seem to be working, Republican ones will. I do not think that any one thing can be blamed for the economic recession, but the war is a large part of it. We waste so much money trying to do things outside of our country, when the reality is, our country is falling apart. If we just ended the war and started to use the money we are spending on it to fix our own problems, we would get closer to being the "perfect" that we were promised by Obama.
ReplyDeleteI don't think everyone in our school can definitely say whether they are Republican or Democratic. I for one, believe in both Repubulican and Democratic views for different things. I think because Obama is a Democrat some people who were like me(iffy as to which political side they supported) might have been swayed by the promises Obama made during the Presidential election. Like Megan said, Obama has failed to fufill his promises and this may be why some Americans may have voted Republican in the recent election. It's no ones fault for the "economic mess," but we as a country can't solely depend on ONE person to make the whole world all happy-rainbow! We have to work together and if one idea/tactic doesn't work, you have to let someone else try theirs. Obama's plans aren't going to work one hundred percent of the time so we have to have different ideas in the senate and house. If all the high political figures are democratic than everyone will agree on ONE idea together and just agree on that idea. If that idea fails then they're stumped. If we have more than one idea, we will have SOMETHING to fall back on at least. Now this may create some conflicting emotions, but it might be worth it. I say might because like Megan, I too am not a wiz at politics! PS: Did anyone notice the word IMPETUS in the article! That was a FD vocab word! I knew what it meant! YAY!!!
ReplyDeleteI think that Obama’s policies generally benefited the country. His pushes for health care, Wall Street reforms, and education were all necessary. The criticism for Obama usually comes when people ask what results have really come out of those actions, and look for the impact today, when the plans were aimed years down the road. The American voting public is more against Obama and Democrats now because they want the unemployment rate to suddenly rise back up, the “economic mess” to suddenly go away. The reality is that those results will take much more than two years. I think voters have become impatient. Republicans have gained many seats in congress because voters are unhappy with the fact that the Democrat’s bills and reforms aren’t having affects today. The Republican gains will only last if they find a way to make the voters satisfied with the unemployment and stock figures at the end of their terms, and if they don’t, congress might not be red or blue for very long. I think that the President always gets too much credit or blame for how the economy is in his term, at the end of the day, the American greed of executives taking kickbacks to go along with their ludicrous salaries is where the “economic mess” actually came from.
ReplyDeleteI feel now that the country is starting to realize the mistakes and broken promises Obama has made through out his time as a president. The tides are turning as people realize what they are really voting for and this is why Republicans gained more seats in Congress and the House of Representatives. Voters have realized that they have been voting for things that they didn't know how badly it would cripple the country. Obama's policies have done the exact opposite of benefitting the country because our economy isn't doing to well. The reason for all these Republican gains are that, once again, people have realized how Obama has been hurting the country so they want to change that and make up for it so it won't continue. The reason for the current economic mess is the government, because of all the spending that is happening, and the only way to end a economic "depression" is to wait and the economy will "heal" its wounds.
ReplyDeleteI think that the largest issue at hand with the economy is "the blame game." Overall many Americans want to blame a president or presidents on the state of our economy. I believe that there is no one to blame. This "economic mess" is not Obama's nor any other presidents fault. I believe that it is what was created over time and the different leaders as a whole. I do not know much about politics so it is difficult for me to make a decision on the positive and negative sides of Obama and the economy, however what I do know is that all together the people of America are "shooting too high." Barack Obama has made some promises that are far to difficult to fully keep, and the citizens of America should not expect so much from him right away. This is where the whole "shooting too high" idea comes from. People are making unrealistic goals and dreams. With that being said I do not think that it can be determined how great of a president Obama is, not within the small amount of time that Obama has been president.
ReplyDeleteVoters are against Obama right now because (as the comparison to Bush shows) the people are always angry at the incumbent party if something is wrong. In the case of Bush, this would be explainable anger. In Obama's case, it's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe main problem with our country right now is unemployment, which is not Obama's fault. It's a Republican, Bush's fault, for plunging us into not only two failed wars that have bankrupted our government but the greatest economic depression since the Great Depression. Obama inherited a “freefalling economy, huge deficits, and skyrocketing healthcare costs.” Obama is simply trying to dig us out of that hole, but is encountering resistance from the American people because they don’t see IMMEDIATE results (which is not completely true, because the economy is stabilizing and over 150,000 jobs were created in October). This idea of immediate recovery is not realistic at all, and recovery will be much harder with Republicans in control.
These significant Republican gains are not encouraging at all. First of all, they will make it much more difficult for Obama to apply his policies, which almost always benefit the country or are a step in the right direction (green energy, healthcare, education (which we need if we are to compete on a global level), pulling us out of the Iraq war. . .). Instead, we will be back to warmongering (and as a result losing money), intolerance toward groups of the population, and in general bad policies. The only good thing that could come of this is that the government now represents more evenly the political opinions of the American public.
I have no idea what goes on in the political world besides what surrounds me. What I can say from my knowledge is that President Obama has said and made many promises to the “American People”, but either he has not gotten to them yet or he cannot follow through with the “promises”. I have almost no knowledge on what the President has promised or done with the United States economy, besides the almost everlasting economic downfall. When thinking about why voters are against Obama’s policies, it could be caused by the “American People” seeing little change because they are not satisfied with what they see rather than see the improvement which is here in the USA. I believe that the people are just putting too much pressure on him and/or the economy to make everything “perfect” or as “perfect” as can be. We should know as Americans, there can’t be a perfect world or a perfect country. What we, the people, can do, is open our eyes a little bit bigger and see what the President has done already to help improve the USA and its economy. I think that the Republicans gained more seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate because the “American People” are not satisfied or cannot see the change that the President, who is a Democrat, has done and the people are blaming it on him and the democrats, putting more “trust” into the Republicans. The “gains of the Republicans” mean nothing to me because I have no idea what they are and because I believe that the “republicans” should give the democrats some slack even though this is a race/competition. The “economic mess” should not be blamed on just one person. It is every single person who truly contributes to this economy. Each person has done something that could have helped this economy or done something small that could hurt or harm the economy. Each person has a small amount of blame, the tiniest fraction, but each person is to blame.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I follow politics is when elections come, and even then I do not follow it very closely. This topic is very topical but I do not have an understanding of what Obama tried to do and I do not know what he failed at. However, what I do get out of this article is that Americans want results and they want them fast. They also love to hate the man in the White House. What Americans do not grasp is that it is not all the President's fault. He did promise a lot of things that he could not or did not get. It is not like he isn't trying to get jobs for unemployed people or something like that. It is not his sole responsibility to create a thousand jobs in two years. People should vote for who they think will do a better job for them and their state and their country, not who will oppose the big man in D.C. People let their emotions get in the way of seeing what would really help their state and country.
ReplyDeleteObama is largely responsible for halting what would have been the biggest financial collapse since the 1930s. Just as Bush was coming to the end of his term, the banks began to collapse. Obama was the one who put the policy in place that pulled them out. The three biggest car companies almost collapsed, and he has pulled out two and may even pull out the third. The mortgage companies were close to collapsing, and once again, he pulled them out. WHY ARE PEOPLE DISSATISFIED WITH HIM?
ReplyDeleteFrom the start, it has seemed to me that people have wanted Obama to fail. No matter what he does, people always find something to complain about. Looking at how his popularity has decreased so dramatically, I find it hard to blame it just on his policies. He is our first black president, and there are always going to be people who do not want 'change,' and want him to fail. That, I think, is the deep down reason for his dramatic decrease in popularity. When a few people begin to doubt someone, many people will follow. It's just like when one bird takes off, the whole flock will follow, and that is how it has been with Obama. This also explains why Republicans have gained so many more seats in the House of Representatives, and the Senate.
When Obama first came to presidency, he was landed with a huge economic mess. Many Americans believe that Obama started the mess, when really Bush handed it over to him. His main failure has been to fail to show America what he was landed with, and what he has done to save the American economy.
I, like others, also do not follow politics (ha Mr. Rogers, I used also in the middle of the sentence). From what I know, when Obama was running for president he was promising a lot of different things, and over the past couple of years that he has been president, not many of them have been put into action. Though however, I will agree with Ellie in saying that since he has become president, the things that he has done have been significant. He has stopped what Bush started in the financial drop, he has pulled major car companies out of the gutter, and he has helped mortgage companies as well. However, since there are still racist ignorant idiots in the world, Obama will always have his negative portion of the country. People think that Obama has done a bad job as president, but really, with what he has been given to work with, he has done a pretty good job. Don't go knocking Obama haters
ReplyDeleteThrough the years, Obama has supported education, reforming Wall Street and healthcare. His policies have been beneficial to the United States. Obama made many promises when he was campaigning, but some have yet to come true. People are hoping that maybe the opposing party will uphold their promises, unlike Obama. Just based on the information I received from this article, I feel like the American people are leaning toward Republicans because they seem to think that Democrats are not capable as they used to be anymore. Everybody has different opinions, so they decide on their own what they think. I know of many people who support one party but cannot help agreeing with ideas from the other. Having more of their party on the House of Representatives and Senate is encouraging for Republicans. I, personally, am not sure if I am happy or not about it. In politics, it is hard to distinguish between “good” and “bad.” Many people base it on their own feelings and thinking. For the “economic mess” no one is to blame. It happened over the course of many years, many presidents and many politicians. The American public also has a huge impact on the economy. Like Khai mentioned, “the blame game” is a big issue and nobody should be partaking in it.
ReplyDeleteOverall, this entire article is the issue of making promises that you cannot keep. I do not follow politics very closely, but I do know for a fact that Obama made promises during the presidential elections that made Americans very supportive of him, and he has not followed through with some of the promises. It isn't right to blame the president for all of a country's problems, but when they promise to do something and they do not do anything about it, they become easy to blame by their own fault. Has Obama made beneficial policies? Most people here are going to say yes, without even understanding any of his policies, because their parents or family is mostly democratic. The reality is that we live in Massachusetts and if you asked the entire country the same question, there would be MUCH different answers. I think it is really important to understand everything that is going on before answering the question. Honestly, I have not seen much of a change in the economy of the United States since Obama was elected and that has always been the one thing that I have paid closest attention to. I can't answer the question about whether or not Obama's policies have been beneficial, but over time, hopefully, I will be able to.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I also want to say to anyone who thinks that the drop in Obama supporters is due to race, you're just wrong. The REAL reason is that they have lost confidence in the president because he isn't following through. We have our first black president! (he is actually half black and I am 25% black, just to let you know, I never call myself black. I have nothing against it but I am more of an oreo or caramel, or even a zebra. I really don't know what Obama prefers to be called, but how about we think about that one for a second?) I love that we have our first black president but eliminate race for a second, because it doesn't even matter right now. There are people who are racist but trust me the 37 PERCENT WHO VOTED OPPOSING OBAMA are not all racist ! I am not racist whatsoever and I would have voted opposing Obama too.... So, please just take a minute to think about that. thanks.
ReplyDeleteI consider myself as a very liberal Democrat, so when I read this article, I thought it was very conservative. I believe that what President Obama has done so far has benefitted the US. He created the new health care laws which make it possible for every American to have good health care at an affordable price, he has lowered the unemployment rate from a very large amount, to a smaller but still large, and he has created hundreds of jobs in the US. More voters are against Pres. Obama’s policies because they fear what these new laws will bring them, they fear losing their jobs, and losing more money in the stock market. I believe that Republicans gained more seats in the senate this election because not as many Democrat voters came out to the ballots and because of the state of the economy, the Democrats who did come out were scared about what would happen in the near future and voted either Independent or Republican. I believe that George W. Bush should be blamed for the economic mess because he lowered taxes for the rich and raised them for the poor, he invested tax payers money in the war in Iraq, and he let Fanny-May and Freddie-Mack cheat Americans on home loans and bank loans, but like I said, I am a very liberal Democrat.
ReplyDeleteThis entire mess we got ourselves into was not Obama's fault. Not only is the economy being called the worst since the great depression, it has been happening for many, many years. When Obama entered the office, the economy was horrible. Obama did not start the economy's downturn. That all started during Bush's presidency. It's not fair to blame Obama for Bush's actions. Obama is doing the best he can with a bad situation. Even though Republicans did do well in the recent elections, I think people will soon realize this might not be the way to solve these issues. I care about politics and do follow them, but I will admit to being a strong Democrat. I have been and still am a supporter of Obama, but I believe it to be with just reason. Obama is a strong President and still has not yet completed his term. It is not fair to give up on someone so easily. The economy has improved, and we can all hope it will continue to improve with Obama's help. Regarding the promises he has not fulfilled yet, I remind you again that his term is not over yet. I also agree that this "blame game" is not fair and that people need to recognize the economic crisis is not simply a problem with the presidency.
ReplyDeleteThe situation is not a result of Obama. When he came into office, Bush had taken 8 years to destroy the economy, so people have to give Obama more time. The United States citizens have never had any patients for fixing problems. You cant turn a whole countries economy in 2 years. The job that Obama was sent into was a fire pit. Unless all of a sudden he fixed everything he would have a ruined reputation as a president. You can look at Roosevelt in the depression and he was given 16 years. I am not saying that it should require all of those years, but patience is key. Republicans at this point are trying to undermine him. An example is that my grandmother said that after 1 WEEK, "Nothings changed yet, so much for him helping. (She also blames Clinton for the economy, but thats another story.) The American citizens need to learn more about patience.
ReplyDeleteAs others have commented, I’m not a huge follower of politics. When these big elections go on, I of course, like to understand what is happening, but otherwise I find politics quite boring. Surprisingly, I was actually interested, however, when I read this article. I am a big supporter of Obama. I feel that some of Obama’s policies have benefitted the country, some haven’t. I also think some people have gotten impatient with what the president is trying to do. I feel that some of America thought that Obama’s changes were going to magically happen over night. In reality, it is really challenging to make changes and they are going to take much longer than expected. This economic downfall has been the worst one since the Great Depression in the 1930’s and I think some people think that it is Obama’s fault. What is happening in economics now didn’t start when Obama became president. It started before Obama. Now that he is president people are blaming it on him because really, they have no one else to blame.
ReplyDeleteAs some people may have mentioned above I do not follow politics like I follow other things. From reading the article, Barack Obama seemed like he promised a lot but he hasn't really done anything further on these promises. For example at the end of the article he gives an example of a promise which is, “Part of my promise to the American people when I was elected was to maintain the kind of tone that says we can disagree without being disagreeable. And I think over the course of two years, there have been times where I’ve slipped on that commitment", this is explaining how he had made a promise/commitment and didn't follow up on it. I think that people might be against Obama's policies rather than for them because he isn't doing what the people want for him. However, Obama isn't like the perfect person to make everything perfect. Nobody in particular should be blamed for this economic mess because it isn't one person's fault that everything is not the way it is supposed to be.
ReplyDeleteI could not help myself from responding to the posted comments, as I was pretty shocked on seeing how people reacted to this article. The main point of this blog was that Obama has great ideas, but he puts them into action at the wrong times. It also states how he has not satisfied the majority of US citizens with his efforts on helping the economy. Someone mentioned that, just like during Bush's presidency, many people are switching over to the opposing party because of their discontent towards the party in power. Mostly no one can say that they are completely Democrat or Republican. The reason for Republican's increase in supporters is because people do not like having a government that is only Democrat. It is nice to have two parties govern the country so that every idea can be seen through two viewpoints. Obama is definitely not to blame for anything; no one is. That includes Bush's previous presidency. Whoever says that the economy's failure is because Bush ruined everything for Obama should reconsider what they have said. This topic is on Obama and what he has done, not what Bush had done in the past. We all acknowledge that Bush made dreadful mistakes that still haunt the economy to this day, but Obama’s job is to assist our country out of them. He has done some good deeds, but this article is trying to make people see the other side of the story. While it is true that no one is able to fix this economic downturn alone, it is also true that the president was elected for a reason. Obama is expected to make decisions that the citizens want, not what he wants. Obama is not in this alone; he has so many people he can turn to for advice. It is weird, though, because he never gets anyone else’s opinion on his ideas except for Democrats. It is rarely heard of Obama asking a Republican for their point of view on his policies. Even though Obama has somewhat improved the country, overall I believe that he could have easily done a more effective job if he would allow a different opinion to influence his decisions.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of sounding like a broken record, I must say that I have a meticulous inability to understand politics. I can, however, understand that Obama has helped the country in a (much too) passive way. Most Americans expected him to work miracles and looked up to him as the hope for our success, but his failure to do this may just be a result of inexperience. I may also be saying this out of inexperience, but it seems as though nothing Obama has done will significantly influence us. This is both good and bad. Obama isn't ruining our country like certain other previous presidents, but he isn't fully delivering what he has promised.
ReplyDeleteMany people are being swayed into becoming Republican; the grass seems greener on the other side. They aren't fit with what Obama is doing, and are looking to the other political parties to remedy this.
Actions speak louder than words.
I, like Megan, don't follow politics all that closely but I agree with Isaiah that actions speak louder than words. This is something that is vitally important for every one, political leaders in particular, to remember. When president Obama was sworn in, he promised many things to us. Right now I don't see many of them happening. In his defense, he was given a country which was in economic turmoil, fighting a war that was started on false pretenses and that had one of the highest unemployment rates in history, with the running orders: fix it. However we elected him because he promised us that he could handle the pressure, and because he promised us that he had the drive to do some real good for our country. However with things looking much the same as they did when he was sworn in (or in some cases worse) I don't think anyone is happy with his performance. So now we have realized that his way is not working. So we, as a country, start to think. What do we have control over? What can we change? Obviously something is not working so something has to change. So even if it is not the fault of the democrats that the country is not moving in a good direction, the current political leaders will be blamed for everything that is going on in the country, good and bad. It is near to impossible to pin the blame on any one party but because the current political leaders are (or were) mostly democrat, the country, wanting change, decides to change who is in power, in an effort to change the country it's self.
ReplyDeleteHello All,
ReplyDeleteWith a poor political knowledge, I can't exactly make certain clames. From what I here around, Barack Obama has made many promises he has not kept. Although it may not seem as though the president is doing much for our economy, he actually has. I mean compared to where the economy was a couple years ago when Barack Obama had started his presidency, we can confidently say it has improved. However, the restoration of jobs to those who are unemployment still remains an issue. Again, aside from unemployment, Barack Obama had definitely had a productive two years as president. Think about what good he has done! He has improved relations with Iran and Russia, shut down Guantanamo Bay, and most importantly ended the bloodiest American conflict since Vietnam. Not only has he made an effort to make the United States a better place, but he actually HAS. I can't say there is no room for improvement, but there has definitely been some productivity the last two years. People want to make a slightly more conservative change. I guess they have not seen the productivity I do in my eyes. Obama has made life easier for people who do not have jobs by lowering the cost of health care. The need for education is slowly being implemented into our government, and cleaner sources of energy are being harnessed in order to preserve the earth! The amount of how much he preached 'change' may have been a bit too much, but it is safe to say this change was for the better.
I feel like if have nothing really to say because i don't follow politics at all, just like Megan said. I actually find it very boring too. From what I've heard, Obama hasn't been doing anything, or following through on his promises. The only good thing is that he's not messing up the country like other presidents. I'm guessing that the people are against his policies because of this. The situation, like said in the article, but the places are switched. Obama, who's a democrat is now the president, and people are displeased, so more republicans are filling the House of Rep. and the Senate. This is good and bad, depending on the person, I would say. There isn't one single person to blame this mess on, it's everyone's fault.
ReplyDeleteI, as many have said before me, do not closely follow politics. Although this was not one of the questions, I think that this type of blog post is not optimal considering it requires a background knowledge of politics. That being said, I can give some of my thoughts, but I can't be 100% confident about them. I think that whether or not Obama's policies have or have not benefited the country is too soon to tell. For example, the effects of Obama's health care plan are yet to be determined. You can't just blame Obama for this "economic mess", even though that is what most people seem to be doing at this current time. The economy was a problem even before Obama was in office. This problem was created by the whole country, not just one person or group. The majority of people became in debt, and continued to spend money they didn't have. Everybody is to blame for this country's economic crisis.
ReplyDeleteThe way I understand this problem that Obama has to deal with is that the economy is bigger than congress, than the President, or than any governmental body that thinks it can fix it right away. The economy is global, making it bigger than the United States even though the United States plays a huge role in it. It apparently also moves a slower pace than people understand. The second problem is that it is too early to tell whether or not Obama's policies have benefitted the country. Personally I think that they have, because I think that our recession could have gotten far worse without the policies he put in place, but that might not matter to the average American who has lost his or her home through foreclosure or all of the crummy bank policies that allowed people to sign up for loans that they couldn't afford. Just because Obama's polices helped the nation as a whole avoid another Great Depression doesn't mean that the average person feels better for these policies. What I understand about Republicans taking over seats midway through Obama's term is that this happens a lot with Presidents who are governing in tough times. Obama got a mess when he took over from Bush. Two wars and obviously horrible review of bank policies that let people take on so much debt anyway -- all of that was in place many years before Obama came in. The average person having money problems is probably looking for someone or something to blame. This is why Obama gets a bad rap for trying to clean up the mess that George Bush left behind. It takes time to clean up a huge mess.
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