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A college student’s letter to the president

By on November 4, 2009 2:40 am in Columns / 9 comments

 
A college student’s letter to the president
email

Dear President Barack Obama,

I’m sorry, but the grace period has passed, and my Obama buzz is wearing off.

It has been more than a year since we elected you, and more than nine months since you were inaugurated. Do you remember how wonderful it was? The thousands of people in Grant Park the night of your election, the millions more watching on TV as you promised “change and progress” for America?

I not only believed you, but I campaigned for you. I did the door-to-door, I did the voter-registration drives.

But now that I’m coming down, I am not feeling as confident anymore.

I am not much different from many college students in that I saw great potential in what you had to offer.
I still do.

However, the time is fast approaching to own up to the nation’s problems.

Yes, you inherited not one, but two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, you were left with an unprecedented national deficit. And yes, as we all know in Michigan, the economy looked like Luke Skywalker after his first duel with Darth Vader — dejected and crippled. But we can only blame former President George W. Bush for so long.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Web site, the US unemployment rate was 7.6 percent when you took office last January. Today, it is hovering around 9.8 percent, slowly creeping toward the dreaded 10 percent marker. The last time unemployment was this high was August of 1982.

A 2.2 percent rise of unemployment since you took office cannot be blamed completely on former President Bush’s policies. It is time to shoulder some of the responsibility yourself.

Since January, we have had the bailouts of Chrysler and General Motors, the Recovery Act and a debate on health care reform, which is becoming less productive every day.

People are starting to lose faith in your message, Mr. President. Even a member of your own caucus, Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) has said he will filibuster any healthcare reform bill that contains a public option.

Responsibility and accountability were constant themes on the campaign trail. You said countless times while campaigning that you would accept responsibility for your actions as President of the United States, but I have yet to see this.

Don’t get me wrong though; I am rooting for you, Obama. I still believe in your message, for the most part. I would love to see an economy revitalized and diversified. I would love for everyone to have health care. And I would love to see the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq come to an end.

But until then, I would like to see more action from your administration and less speeches. Words mean nothing without action.

I am doing my best to keep the faith, but it is a challenge when the majority of the economic news — especially in Michigan — is more and more depressing.

Let’s see if you can turn “Hope and Change” into “Policy and Results.”

 

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  • Jim

    Not to worry Mike, he fooled a lot of people. I am proud to say, he didn’t fool me. He was and will always be a puppet in ther Dem party.

  • Ted Grayson

    Governance is a slog that was never going to be as hopeful and shiny as the campaign. You’re not the first, nor the last person to feel like the past year hasn’t lived up to the rhetoric of 2008. Frankly, it was never going to, and douche-y Repubs like Jim (above) are going to jump on a column like this right away every time because everyone likes to say ‘I told you so.”

    There have been victories for Obama this year, notably on children’s health care, tobacco regulation, hate-crimes penalties and pay equity, to name a few. But they are overshadowed by the endurance race on health care. But that’s still going to pass.

    The guy has 3 more years at least to meet your expectations. It’s probably better that you learn this lesson about politicians now, so the next time one comes around promising the moon, you know better than to take it all at face value. That goes for Repubs AND Dems.

  • BromaceroftheStone

    I think the president’s inertia is more or less a result of the corrupting nature of politics. Once Obama got his hands dirty, it was all over and his ideas were swallowed in a sea of fickle bureaucracy. That’s why politics is such a hopeless game; there are no altruists, only party members.

    And America only has two choices: Dems or GOP–neither of which are adequate in terms of the real needs of the American people.

    There needs to be an overhaul of the system so that these two, ideologically opposed facets are broken apart and more room can be made for ideas that represent a larger piece of the American pie.

  • Objective Critic

    Mike, the truth is, you were dooped! President Obama promied many things which could have EASILY been achieved by now, but has not done:

    1) No more earmarks – yeah right, he blew this one almost immediately
    2) No lobbyists in the whitehouse – out the window in just a few short months as he waived his own policy for a political appointment
    3) Reversing the wire-tapping laws – notice, he has not touched this and probably now realizes how important it is to anti-terror efforts
    4) Pulling out of the war in Afghanistan – I think he now realizes how tough that is and just how important a stable government in that region is to the security of the world
    5) Remember his promise in the primaries to take public financing? That was out the 4th story window before he was even elected once he raised so much money!

    Obama is a Politician, not a SAVIOR! Don’t get your hopes up. He’s just as dirty as the rest of them.

  • Nick Smith

    Some of the biggest problems in his presidency include his stubborn refusal to quit trying to cater to the Republicans in Congress, hence watering down every piece of meaningful legislation that they even try to pass.
    Also, there isn’t near the solidarity within the Democratic Party currently, even with their majority, to just get together and put forward their agenda.
    When I say this, I mean centrists in the Party. Out here in N. Dakota, from the times I’ve met and spoken with Sen. Conrad and Sen. Dorgan, I’ve found them to be sincerely good guys and quality leaders. However, their having to be centrist and almost Republican on energy due to the huge oil play out here, they tend to do their own party no favors when it comes to major legislation.
    Take Conrad in the health care issue. If he and Montana Sen. Max Bacuas weren’t conservative Democrats and were more in line with the majority of their party, they could’ve crafted a much stronger health care bill in line with what their party wants.
    Anyone wishing to finally see a strong liberal agenda begin to me implemented is going to unfortunately continue to be disappointed. There are too many centrists and competing factions in the Democratic Party, coupled with Obama’s insistance to keep trying to reach out and having the Republicans just spitting in his face; taking and giving nothing back. He needs to wake up and start being more hardline with the Republicans.

  • Objective Critic

    Nick,

    You obviously have no clue what the purpose of our government is. Its not to shove through what your party wants or to ram a partisan agenda down the throats of Americans.

    The system was designed to make this a very slow process and force government to do what the American People want, not what the elected officials think will get them elected again.

    The truth is, the majority of American People do NOT want government running our health care system. If there was a single payer system, government would run over 20% of our ecomony — that’s a move toward socialism we don’t need in this free country!

    Quit being partisan and drinking the kool-aid!

  • B Ohbahma

    Whats wrong Nick, had to move from Ohio because there werent any Journalism jobs there? All we heard about was how great Ohio was. Maybe someone knocked you off your high horse because no one believes the media’s lies and spin ;)

  • chipskeptic

    Don’t worry Mike, you were not the only gullible Dem or independent voter who bought the hope and change bumper sticker campaign plan. Well, “hope” is not a strategy and “change” will soon be all that is left in your pocket if he gets two terms of passing billion dollar plans that are “budget neutral”. What a joke……

  • Andrew

    Mike, I’d like to stand apart from the other comments left here and just say that your letter was well-written and your thoughts well-said.