365 Days

So now a full year to the day President Obama was inaugurated the Democrats have lost control of the Senate and already there’s talk of dropping the Healthcare bill. The fact is the Healthcare bill should have been a done deal by now and I know this may sound strange coming from me but the problem is with President Obama. How is it that for a full year the Democrats had control of both houses yet they were unable to pass the Healthcare bill? The problem began with President Obama trying to play nice with the Republicans and although it was commendable of him the fact is that they had no plans of supporting anything he introduced from the get go. This should have been obvious with his efforts to pass the stimulus package. The Republican plan form the outset was to feed the idea to the American public that Obama was responsible for the country’s mess, a mess that was in fact created by the Bush administration, and it worked. Just think about it, President Obama is now being blamed for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the worst economy since the depression, record unemployment and the bank bailouts all of which occurred under Bush’s watch.

Hopefully this will be a wake up call to both the Democrats and to President Obama. The Democratic representatives need to end the disarray and stop getting in their own way and President Obama must realize that the time for him to begin playing hardball is long overdue. He can start by continually reminding the American public that the Republicans under the Bush administration created this fiasco instead of playing nice. He needs to point out to the nation that he and the Democrats are trying to correct the situation and the Republicans are continuing to play politics and refuse to do anything to help. He cannot continue to allow the Republicans to define his agenda and continue to misinform the American public. Lastly President Obama must concentrate on visibly rebuilding the economy by the time of mid-term elections lest the Democrats lose more seats.

In the past I have been one of President Obama’s most vocal cheerleaders but it’s time for him to step up and show some leadership. He may be a personable and likable guy but that’s not going to do it. The fact that the Republicans were able to put one of their own in a position the Kennedy Dynasty has held since 1972 should be a tremendous wake up call to all. The Republicans are feeding on the fact that Americans are nervous about the economy and need jobs so how about actually creating some. Healthcare is equally important but the Republicans along with their talking heads have convinced a lot of Americans that President Obama is trying to push through socialized medicine, socialized being the key word here used to destroy the plan and terrify and intimidate the ignorant. Their plan is to continue to push through and reinforce these ridiculous notions about President Obama and to shoot down and now possibly filibuster any plans presented. The best way to get the American public confidence back is to show some results. The healthcare bill is not a loss and can pass if the Democrats act quickly. Step up and tell the House to pass it now as is. Period!

It’s only been 365 days but this President is judged as if he’s been in office for eight years. This President is judged on a magnitude the likes of which have been never seen before. This President is being judged as the first African-American President and there are those who would have preferred to find him guilty on day one.