The Case For A Second Term

"In the struggle for peace and justice, we cannot walk alone. In the struggle for opportunity and equality, we cannot walk alone.  In the struggle to heal this nation and repair this world, we cannot walk alone." - Barack Obama

            On November 4, 2008, the whole world watched America break free from its past and into a new modern era with the newly elect President, Barack Obama. Who would of thought that a young African American would have ever become president in such a divided nation that is plagued with so much racism and hostility towards a man who built his ideals upon the principle that “yes, we can.” Big and small, black and white, gay and straight; all marveled at a man who would redefine America’s journey towards progression, and his ability to improve the odds for minorities in making a difference. To have the first Black President means having America and its citizens realize how far we have come since the Civil Rights Movement and the end of Jim Crow—or so it seems. He is young, energetic and represents the ideals of the youth and the changing world. He is the epitome of a modern FDR, JFK, and Lincoln. His inner FDR is in solving the financial crisis and the recession that began under President George Bush. His JFK, for his charisma and rhetoric to incite and pump the youth. And above all else, he is Lincoln: a man determined to bring the Union back together and to fight for it, risking his image to do so. Forty-seven years since the death of Martin Luther King, we are finally free to be judged by our content. Forty-seven years later, we are allowed and have a president that supports who we choose to love. Forty-seven years later, we have a president that represents the outcome of adversity and that is able to incite hope for our future generations. Forty-seven years later, we have Barack Obama.

Obama is the turning page in history and his accomplishments achieved during his first term is enough reason to give him four more years. This year, that man is seeking a second term. Not for the title, but to lead once more. Every western country has moved and progressed in its economy, infrastructure, education, and the inclusion of policies aimed for equality and justice. America is nowhere in the top ten of those lists, but Obama plans to do something about it. He started out strong and had a wide majority of support in the beginning, but now he is fighting it out with a Republican contender and a Congress to make a case for a second term. His case revolves around his strengths and accomplishments achieved under his first term, and the negative outcome that a Romney/Republican “America” would be like. In writing this essay, I aim to make a case for Obama’s second term by analyzing it through his domestic and foreign policy, the nature of Congress and the Courts, and the relationship with the American people and the road to progress.

            January 20, 2009: a very chilly cold morning in Washington, D.C. Chief Justice Roberts recites the presidential oath as Barack Obama repeats after him. All eyes are on the Capitol. The world watches from afar and even from space, the inauguration of a new president. The atmosphere around the country is overcome with the excitement and awe of America’s new chapter. There was not one single classroom in my school that wasn’t watching the live feed of the 44^th President taking his oath. The nature of this transitional power yielded more than just another person taking the reins of this country, but of America coming into the light after being under darkness for eight long years under Bush. “The Bush Years” were filled with never-ending stories of soldiers fighting a lost cause in the Middle East, the failure of the federal government in addressing Katrina, the start of the financial crisis in policies enacted by the Republicans, and the passing of tax cuts that came to be known as the “Bush Tax Cuts,” disguised simply as loopholes for millionaires. Obama was America’s Messiah. After being sworn in, he temporarily halted the draconian trials at Guantanamo Bay, heralded a stringent code of lobbying and government appointments, ended the ban on non-governmental organizations receiving federal funds that perform abortions or counseling overseas, and signed his first bill, the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act,” to provide women the right to file a pay discrimination lawsuit. Our president was at work immediately after being sworn in.

            The composition of Congress when Barack Obama took over the Presidency was controlled by Democrats in both the House and Senate. There was nothing stopping the president from making his agenda reality. He reversed many of the Bush Administration’s policies that placed burdens on education and public works. In his first year, the legislation he advocated garnered at least 96% approval votes by the Congress. No other president had been so successful in getting things passed than Lyndon B Johnson’s 93% approval votes in his first year. Obama championed the successful repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and his signature package of “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” or as pundits like to call it, “Obamacare.” This is the defining legacy that Obama has been able to create during his first term. He guided his party to reform health care to where every citizen will have the opportunity to have some insurance in a way that limits the role of insurance companies. Before the GOP and Tea Party took control of the House in 2010, Obama was able to provide women the right to fair pay, end unequal treatment of gays in the military, provide health care for all, sign hate-crime discrimination laws, end executive lobbying, decrease taxes for 95% of Americans, and expand Pell Grants in financing college education for low-income students. All of this was able to be done by a Democratic Majority in the House and Senate as well as so much more.

            The reaction to “Obamacare” was the way that right-wing commentators, politicians and activists, were able to incite the Tea Party Movement in the summer of 2010. They claimed that Obama was corrupting the government and that he was raising taxes, when in fact they are the lowest in 60 years. The Republican House candidates used the phrase “they’re going to kill Grandma” to shift public support away from “Obamacare.” They misconstrued the notion of the inclusion of medical panels in emergency life-threating cases with “death panels” and said that Obama was going to take away money from Medicare to fund his health care law. This language and the vilification of the president gave them credibility with conservative voters and those who still harbored some discontent when McCain lost, for the GOP to gain control of the House. Since the GOP took control of the House in the spring of 2011, Congress has been in solid gridlock. Nothing is able to be resolved or passed because of how partisan the Congress and how the new GOP dominated House refuses to compromise with the Democrats or to even show some support for the president. This in turn has affected approval ratings for Obama, because if he isn’t able to deliver what he promised, then people are going to leave. But it’s not Obama’s fault, its Congress’s. They refuse to work together, and in the current 112^th Congress, all major legislations have been voted along party lines. Most of the bills coming out of the House are mainly Republican sponsored bills, and once they reach the Senate it ultimately dies because it’s still being controlled by the Democrats.

            Obama took office at a time when the economy was at its lowest point since the Great Depression. Unemployment was at least 10% and the auto industry was collapsing. Everything seemed bleak. However, Obama championed four distinct economic recovery laws which have successfully brought America back to prosperity. They are the: Stimulus, Wall Street Reform, the Auto Industry bailout, and the recapitalization of the banks. His economic recovery plan is moving the economy in the right direction by: job creation, housing prices, a steady stock market, standards in petroleum, and energy production. The economy is the main issue that will either make or break Obama, and his policies distinguish him from his predecessor. The same cannot be said for Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, who is advocating for the same policies that got us into this big mess in the first place. The main industry in the United States that was most hard hit by the recession was the auto industry and it was on the brink of collapse, however Obama successfully was able to save it to Romney’s displeasure, who wanted Detroit to go bankrupt.

            With foreign policy, President Obama has been able to re-build America’s image across the pond and with the nomination and confirmation of Hillary Clinton to be the Secretary of State, he has eased relationships that were very fragile when Bush was president. Obama ended the Iraq War, brought Osama bin Laden to justice, ousted dictators during the Arab Spring, developed defense ties with Israel, emphasized trade negotiations with China, reduced global nuclear weapons, and has promised to end the War in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. With this repertoire, Obama is regarded extremely strong in foreign policy since FDR.

            As politics has become more personal than ever, so has the way in which we regard ourselves politically. We are liberal or conservative; progressive or for the status quo; Democrat or Republican. Each side of each party has been able to distinguish themselves from each other, in which voters can now see what both parties stand for. However, some feel that having only two options is not enough, so they veer towards third parties. The Republican Party or the GOP has broken away from the Reagan moderate bandwagon and is infested with right extremists who are completely against federal intervention, who cry religious warfare, and who are as racists as the KKK. At the beginning of the primary season early this year, we had candidates who wanted to ban the Spanish language, ban abortions completely, make homosexuality a crime, deport all Latinos, and to end all appropriations for social and international programs. Crazy, huh? The Republicans are crying wolf when they attack Obama as being a socialist, communist, comparing him to Hitler, just because he’s Black. They can’t call him the “N” word, because they have found some new words to use, which when asked why they call him that, they are perplexed and can’t even give the definition of the terminology of what a communist or socialist is. If Romney gets elected, his policies will push back America and undo everything that Obama has championed for minorities.

            Obama’s re-election campaign is pushing the ideas and accomplishments that I have talked about in this essay, but he is far from over. His goal if he gets re-elected is to solve the ongoing effects of the recession by implementing—hoping that Congress acts—the Buffett plan to restructure the tax code in which those earning more will pay more, end the war, close Guantanamo Bay, successfully champion the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), pass anti-discrimination employment laws, pass the DREAM Act which would benefit undocumented students, increase funding for education and public works, implement immigration reform, and do all this by stabilizing the budget and paying off the debt. Obama’s arithmetic adds up. Romney’s does not. Also at play is the Court. To be specific, the Supreme Court. Three of the nine Justices are nearing the age of 80, in which most federal judges retire. The Court is important because it is the body which interprets the law and can have a longing effect way after Obama’s presidency. The ideologies of the soon to be retiring Justices are: one conservative, one moderate, and one liberal. Whoever wins the Presidency, will in effect change the scope of the Court in issues relating to marijuana, campaign finance, gay marriage, federal supremacy, etc. The Court’s legitimacy and ideology will depend on who wins, and the effect of either candidate will have a positive or negative consequence for the future.

            Women, Latinos, Blacks, Gays, Youth all love the president and it was clearly demonstrated by their record turning out during the 2008 Presidential Election. A vote for Obama is a vote for America’s future and role in ensuring the basic principles of freedom, justice, and equality that this great country heralds as the American exceptionalism. From naming the first Women Latina to the Supreme Court, to expressing support for same-sex marriage, to providing undocumented students the right to an education and exercise of the American dream; Obama is distinguishing himself as the modern president who not only represents the Democrats, or the ones that voted for him, but represents the turning point of America in the 21^st Century. A vote for Obama is a vote for women’s rights, gay rights, immigrant’s rights, environmental rights, tribal rights, middle class’s rights, and on and on. To move the country, to shape policy for the better good, to leave a better world for our future generations, Obama is the man to do it.