PUBLIC CRITICISM OF PRESIDENT GROWS

It has been a year since President Barack Obama has taken his oath of office and for over a year, I have sat idly by and waited to see what "change" may come. So let me recap a few of these changes for you;

1. Bailouts: Over the past year, Congress has seen fit (with the approval of the President) to attempt to reinvigorate and re-stimulate the US economy with more than 996.2 billion dollars since January 2009. This includes 118 billion being given to Bank of America, 80 billion to the Credit Unions for deposit guarantees, 1 billion to the US Federal Credit Union and of course more than 787 billion to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These figures exclude the 400 billion handed to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or the 700 billion for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) back in October of 2008. All attempts have failed thus far as both the US economy and the markets have still yet to recover from their recent slide. Unemployment is at an all time low and although some in the mainstream media might want you to believe that the economy is stabilizing, many economists still believe that we have yet to hit rock bottom.

2. Congressional Discourse: We have witnessed something in this generation that only comes around every once in a while, a sitting president the ruling majority of both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives are from the same political party. It is an opportune time for the democrats to utilize the voting power never before witnessed in American history to pass much needed legislation, such as tort reform, tax reform, lobbyist reform and restrictions and other items of noted American interest such as education, infrastructure and natural resources for energy consumption. Unfortunately, Neither the president nor the ruling majority has spent any time on any of these issues, rather they have spent the last year mulling the overhaul of the US Medical Care system. To which they have been engaged by not only opposing Republicans in both the House and the Senate, but by angry members of the own constituencies.

3. The Main Stream Media's Love Affair with the President: Far be it from me to tell a major media outlet what it needs to report or how it needs to be reported, but I do ask that there be a fair and biased communication of the stories that are relevant to their viewers. I am firm believer in the First Amendment and for what it stands for, but it goes without saying that relevant news should be reported without the influx of rhetoric and grand-standing, I am talking about you Rachel Maddow and Keith Olberman, don't get me wrong, the far right has it's issues as well, Sean Hannity. Case in point; ACORN has been under severe scrutiny over practices within several of their offices in the Northeast, but if you were to navigate over to the CNN or MSNBC website to find any information regarding the story, you would find it difficult. In order to find a story about ACORN on either site you have to do a search via the domain's search navigation engine. Hey, even CBS and ABC carried the story on the 5 o'clock news broadcast. Fair and balanced reporting, I think not.

4. The Healthcare Debate: Should every American be granted the right to medical care. Absolutely. Should it be paid for, funded or underwritten by the US Government. Resoundingly, NO. Let's take a look at other Government funded programs that are not quite as complex as health care. The US Postal service has not turned a profit in more than two decades, but privately funded and independently operated companies have not only turned a profit in the postal business, but have done it cheaper than the government could. The US Postal service now ranks as the fourth largest carrier company in the US behind UPS, FedEx and now DHL. DHL Express didn't get into the overnight shipping business until 2002, and in seven years it's express service branch turns a profit larger than the US Postal Service, which has been in existence since the 1800's. Other government controlled programs, such as Social Security, MediCare and MediCaid have all had their share of problems over the last 20-30 years and all are governmental funded programs. Let me end this Health Care Debate in one sentence. Make the insurance companies providing coverage to citizens follow a the same price scale for it's services. If they all agree that the maximum that they can charge for at Tylenol is $1.00, how long do you think it would to take insurance providers to advertise that their plan is better because they only charge $0.50 for that same Tylenol. Insurance companies would have to rely on volume rather than high deductibles to maintain their profit margin, therefore, more individuals can be covered. The reason that these government funded programs have failed is due to the fact that it was controlled by the US Government.

5. Hold Federal Workers to the same standard: If the democrats pass some form of health care reform, then it should do so with this stipulation; every government employee that receives federally maintained health care, free of charge, should be mandated to follow the new health care policy. Why should government workers be the only ones that get free health care anyway? Can anyone explain this to me? A first year senator averages $164,000.00 annually in pay, they pay nothing into social security and federal income tax. So why doesn't that senator pay for his own insurance policy? Some would argue that this is a perk afforded to individuals who have devoted themselves to a life of public service. If that is truly the reason, then I say we tell every veteran who has ever served a four year minimum enlistment in the Armed Forces and was discharged honorably that they to will receive Federal Insurance and no more social security for the sacrifices and service that they have given for this great nation. It's only fair, right?

I could continue this list for days, but it would only solidify my points. For as much the President and his Democratically controlled congress has promised, we have seen zero results. We are still in the midst of one of the worst recessions in the history of the United States, we still have nothing in terms of a palatable health care platform that can be agreed upon by Congress, there is still no end in sight to the recent layoff due to the down turn in the economy, people aren't spending their money on anything other than the necessities and the list goes on. President Obama and Congress are off track, and they need to right the ship if there is any hope of recovery. I lay blame on both parties and their lack of initiative in looking out for what's good for Americans rather than what's good for them. I blame both Republicans and Democrats alike for this down turn, and I am not alone. We should all be upset by these things, but it's our fault for letting it happen.