Vote for change, the slogans hailed. A change in Washington, said others.
President Obama came in with great ideas and a pledge to change the way Washington does business but a year later, we’re left wondering what exactly has changed except for a higher unemployment rate and bigger deficit.
Obama agreed during his State of the Union address Jan. 27 that he hasn’t accomplished everything he set out to do in his first year.
But throughout his rousing one-hour plus speech — that sounded very similar to campaign speeches leading up to his election — he continued to promise the American public that change was coming.
Are we supposed to all-of-a-sudden forget about the past year?
He continues to promise jobs in the form of green initiatives. However, a few thousand employed at solar panel companies, nuclear power plants or high-speed railways aren’t going to make a dent in the existing unemployment rate.
And it’s doubtful his new initiative to give community banks money to provide low-interest loans to small businesses will do much either. Exactly what kind of companies does he expect to take these loans. Most small businesses are service types, which depend on a public willing to spend their extra money on home improvements or eating out. If families don’t have disposable income, those types of businesses will fail.
Most concerning was Obama’s insistence to stay the course on healthcare. He seems oblivious to the fact that many across the country are leery of what is happening behind closed doors. Instead, he is intent on blaming the minority party for being obstructionist and preventing his plan from moving forward.
He extended an olive branch of sorts to Republicans by promising to sit down with them and hear their ideas on healthcare reform. But hearing them out and actually implementing anything they may say are two different things. Bi-partisanship does not mean telling someone your plan and then dismissing them if they don’t agree with you.
Obama is set on putting blame for the country’s problems on a couple of industries — insurance and finance.
He needs to start thinking outside the box if he really wants change. The healthcare mess is every bit the fault of ridiculous federal legislation and cost-shifting at money-making hospitals as it is the greedy insurance executives.
Just like the fault of the financial crash falls just as much on a federal push for banks to extend loans to unqualified and risky borrowers — not only the Wall Street types who profited.
If Obama is truly serious about change, he needs to look at the problems from all sides.
Melissa Steele is editor for The Beacon. Email her at melissa@milfordbeacon.com.
Milford, Del. —
