Obama’s inaction should diminish his hopes in 2012


For as questionable as Michele Bachmann’s track record and campaign has been, one popular Bachmann-led chant should be taken very seriously: “one-term president.” 

With this terminology, Bachmann is attempting to make her campaign look stronger by outlining the basic weaknesses of President Barack Obama’s first term. And these weaknesses are not exaggerated.

Obama made the suggestion that the same voters who brought him to the Oval Office in 2008 might turn right around and vote him out, in an interview with Matt Lauer on Feb. 1, 2009, just days after his presidency officially started. The president said the American people would begin to see some economic progress within the first year of his presidency.

A failure to turn our economic downfall around, he said, within his first three years in office could result in a “one-term proposition.”

Obama’s statement rings true today. Though he likely meant it as a show of confidence that he would improve our economic state of affairs, the idea that things almost seem to have gotten worse only proves that Obama should be voted out of office, because he has failed to live up to the promises that matter most to the American people.

Besides a couple of financially hopeful recovery periods, the economy has continued to deteriorate to the point that multiple rumors of a double-dip recession have been floating around.

Though the 4.1 percent loss in GDP brought about by the initial recession was erased by economic growth in the final months of 2010, economists maintain the economy is still smaller than it was before the recession hit.

Government surveys show the American people are spending less and less, and for good reason: Housing prices have remained dismally low, and millions of Americans have to pay back mortgage debts that exceed the price values of their homes.

Even worse is the unemployment rate. Obama’s deputy communications director holds the president has added 2.3 million jobs to the economy.

The unemployment rate, however, has increased. When Obama took office in January 2009, the national unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent.

The latest employment report by the U.S. Department of Labor shows that it is now at 9.1 percent.
An unemployment rate this high is unacceptable.

President Obama does have the best interests of the American people at heart, but his actions in promoting these interests have not been successful.

Continuing to spend money we don’t have is incompatible with job creation and economic growth. It will only dig us into a deeper budgetary hole — one we might not be able to climb out of.

It took our credit rating getting downgraded to promote serious discussion about our nation’s debt and establish significant spending cuts, which need to occur on a larger scale so the market can rebound without the government spending its way to recovery.

Continuing to gamble with the livelihoods of struggling Americans is not an option.

Obama is obviously not the only one to blame for the current economic situation, but as leader of this country much of the responsibility lies chiefly on him.

The argument that he inherited the economic problem as a result of past policy failures is valid, and political polarization and extreme partisanship do prevent speedy and effective legislation.

The president has made an impressive effort at promoting bipartisanship in Washington, and he should be applauded for the positive gains he has made during his term. But as one of the foremost leaders of global politics and one of the most influential players in economic policy, he has failed in areas where success is absolutely vital.

We all might disagree on how we can pull our economy out of this slump and bring regular employment back to jobless Americans, but evidence shows we are in a worse position than we were when he took office. Obama should not be rewarded for subpar work with a second term.

Sarah Cueva is a sophomore majoring in political science. Her point runs every Friday. 

4 replies
  1. Seriously?
    Seriously? says:

    You are completely insane if you really believe that American businesses are deliberately throwing away revenues by not hiring additional workers, as part of some bizarre conspiracy to oust Obama. Do you seriously think that millions of business owners all across America are willing to risk their own livelihoods just to get political revenge on someone?

    Sorry, but that is complete nonsense. When it comes to the market, profit trumps politics. The reason businesses are not hiring is simply because it is too risky to do so in the current economic climate.

  2. Sandy
    Sandy says:

    You really need to factor in the economic realities about the so-called “recession”, which would be a full scale depression if Obama hadn’t taken so many needed steps. We were over the cliff, 3/4 of the way down. The stock market plunged, lost over 50% of its value. The banks lost trillions. There was no money to loan, so even people who wanted to buy a house, couldn’t. Neither could business. They were closing their doors left and right. All of that has turned around. The stock market doubled. Banks are stable and beginning to loan money again. Businesses aren’t shuttering their windows, in fact they’re sitting on $1-2 Trillion Dollars in profits. The only reason the unemployment rate hasn’t dropped is that those businesses would sooner sit on that money to keep the economy from growing in order to get Obama out, than start hiring and expanding again and maybe have to pay their fair share of the tax burden again. And the only deficit problem we have would be solved by making the rich give back the Bush tax cuts so social security benefits can be paid to boomers, which is where Clinton’s budget surplus came from in the first place.

    • Seriously?
      Seriously? says:

      You are completely insane if you really believe that American businesses are deliberately throwing away revenues by not hiring additional workers, as part of some bizarre conspiracy to oust Obama. Do you seriously think that millions of business owners all across America are willing to risk their own livelihoods just to get political revenge on someone?

      Sorry, but that is complete nonsense. When it comes to the market, profit trumps politics. The reason businesses are not hiring is simply because it is too risky to do so in the current economic climate

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