Politics, News & Issues >
Democratic Leaders
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedIs Obama up to the job?
Results so far:
| Yes | 56% | 142 votes | Total: 255 votes | |
| No | 44% | 113 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesA very wise man once advised me that until you have done a job, you do not know the job. So if the voters say you're qualified, you're qualified. Of course, the flip side of that is that if they say you're not qualified, you're not.
Using that as a measuring stick, you could say that at least as of last November, the majority of voting Americans said that Obama was qualified to be President. Based upon his current job approval rating, some 15 to 20 points higher than the percentage of the vote he received, it appears that most Americans believe he is doing the job well. In that regard, by these measures, it would be a definitive yes, Barack Obama is up to the job of President of the United States.
Speaking personally, I have been most pleased with Obama's first month in office. Some would say it was foolish of him to allow Congress to write the Economic Stimulus law he recently signed. If you look at the details of the bill, though, it becomes evident that a great many of the promises he made on the campaign trail have been addressed in this one piece of legislation. These include stimulating the economy by investing in the nation's infrastructure, a system that was deteriorating to the point of a looming crisis. He also cut taxes on the middle class, which was a major theme of his campaign. The law also allows for new school construction, which fulfills his campaign promise to invest in education and our nation's children.
So while Republicans have criticized this as being a pork-laden piece of legislation, all the pork was added by members of Congress, not the Obama Administration. To the extent that he signed the bill into law would make him at least co-responsible for this, but let's dispense with the notion that pork is all bad. It's how members of Congress get elected and re-elected, so when it comes time to account for their performance every two years in the house and every six years in the senate, they can tout how much money they have brought home from Washington. This makes voters feel warm and fuzzy, and so they vote for the man or woman because they've done such a good job meeting the needs of people like them.
Following the passage of this $787 billion piece of legislation, Obama unveiled a comparatively smaller plan to address the mortgage and foreclosure problem. Of course, critics of the plan are saying that responsible Americans who saved their money for a rainy day, who made mortgage payments on time, are going to be asked to subsidize the bad decisions of people who bought a home they could not afford. That sounds suspiciously like the every man or woman for him or herself philosophy of the Republican Party, so my suspicion is that those who make this argument did not vote for Obama in November, will not vote for him again in the next election, and are among the 25 to 30 percent of Americans who do not approve of the job he is doing as President.
Whether Barack Obama's presidency is a success will depend almost entirely on how the economy responds to his plans. It is far too early to say, but the majority of Americans seem content to give him, and the economy, time to right the ship, so to speak.
Regardless of whether Barack Obama is up to the job, it is his job for the next four years. And those who would presume to say they could do a better job than him will need to wait until the voters have a chance to say whether or not they are qualified to serve.
http://www.oba mareadytoserve.com
Learn more about this author, James Henry.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
by Karen Langst
Will Obamanomic Work?
We have been sold a bill of goods. President Obama has tripled the Bush spending policy after just one month in office. If we were to pay a million dollars a day since the time of Christ (2000yrs.), we could not pay back this debt. We do not need a stimulus package; we need to stimulate the economy with tax cuts and incentives. According to Heritage Foundation China owns forty percent of our Treasury now. It will not be very long at this rate before we not have a country. Is this what we really want? We are American's and we managed to get into this mess and we can manage to get back out.
Our land of the free is becoming a country of Socialism and Marxism. Our medical records will be Nationalized and put on computers for anyone who is authorized to see. If you are over sixty, you may as well forget having surgery. They want to ration care and give your option of surgery to a younger person. Take a pill and die seems to be the mantra! The government is taking over our banks and our businesses. When they take over our Health Care, they will decide if you get that new knee. Ooops! You are too old and it's not cost efficient for the time you have left. Do you want the government telling us how to live? or that we are or are not worth fixing. Our most valuable people are the young and the old. The old is for what they will leave with us, and the young for what they will learn.
This RFID is an electronic tracking system. They want to put it in our new cars so that they can track our mileage, charge us for miles driven and know every place that we have been with this vehicle. They also want insert a micro chip into our driver's license. That way they know where we go, what are interest are, and we are doing? One reason for doing this is to bombard us with advertisements relative to where we have been. People complained about Homeland Security when they used and are using computers to monitor chat. The computers only paid attention if you used words such as building, bridges, bomb and explosives. Then Homeland Security obtained a wire tap warrant. This was to safeguard us from our enemies. RFID is just an invasion of privacy and is backed by the current administration.
Our current President is outspending Bush by Trillions. He says by the end of his current term, he will have paid half the current debt (Bush's debt not his). He is tripling to quadrupling the Bush debt. They are already talking about another stimulus package and most of the first one will not be distributed until 2010. They have printed more money with nothing backing it and are talking about printing more money and devaluing our dollar even more...
I call the new change Obamanomic, and believe me, it is change that we can count on. Is this what we want for our families? Do we want Change that will put our Children, Grandchildren and possibly our Great Grandchildren in debt for all their lives? Every child born will start out being fifty-thousand dollars in debt according to the Heritage Foundation. This is not " that we should have to live with? We can all decide our fate with a vote and a voice! Businesses are closing; most people's portfolio's are down, and many people in the United States have lost faith and confidence in our country. We are no longer revered and envied by the rest of the world. We all want change; but change for the better with a President that leads our country with honor and not apologizes to everyone for our success!
Learn more about this author, Karen Langst.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
- Democratic Leaders
- Obama and Hollywood: Will the star power help his presidency?
- Will the photo of Obama in a turban hurt his chances for the Democratic nomination?
- Has Obama gotten more popular since the election?
- Is President Obama changing America for better or worse?
- Was NY governor Spitzer right to resign due to his involvement in a prostitution ring?
- Is it time for Nancy Pelosi to step down?
