Will Obama Be Able To Meet His Goals?

Immediately upon arriving at cnn.com I saw an article entitled "Will Obama Be Able to Meet His Goals?" Its an interesting question because although I am a big supporter of Obama, I wonder sometimes how realistic it is to think that he can pull us out of the hole that the Bush Administration dug for our country. Its undeniable that Obama has inspired the American people on a level that we haven't seen since JFK, but making massive overhauls of the government internally is a completely different story. Some promises are easier to keep than others, but is it really realistic to believe that he can turn around the economy by the end of his first year? I like to think so, but that doesn't necessarily make it true and even if he plays his cards right 100% of the time he is in office and creates the most effective stimulus bill possible, his goals could still be out of reach. From what I learned in intro econ, generally economies go in cycles that take time to improve. Although the dollar is weak right now, that just means its going to be circulated less globally and the less people that have it means its going to be worth more so its value will go up. But the point is that this process takes time and it might stretch into year #2 of Obama's term or even into the next term altogether. The general consensus of analysts in the article was that Obama is taking all the right steps to fix the economy but the American people need to see proof of it. He just passed a massive stimulus bill and has a housing and banking reform bill in the works, so I think it wont be long before we start to see Obama fulfilling his promises.

Speaking of bills being passed, there was another little article talking about the house passing a $410 billion spending bill for the rest of 2009. It was pretty much passed down the party line, with most Democrats in full support and most Republicans opposing it. House GOP leaders criticized the bill saying its spending increases are too large. They also criticized the addition of several BILLION dollars in earmarks attached to the bill in order to support pet projects of certain lawmakers. Democrats defended the bill saying that it was necessary to help our country in this struggling economy. President Obama plans on revealing his 2010 budget plans on Thursday.

Finally I looked at an article talking about Obama's address to Congress last night which I regrettably missed but this piece summarized it pretty well. What was really interesting about the article was that they compared it to "Morning in America" which is what Ronald Reagan's 1984 reelection campaign was called. The article said Obama struck "a defiantly optimistic tone that belied the nation's sour mood and rebutted critics who have accused him of intentionally talking down the economy for short-term political gain." With a depressing economic backdrop accompanied by an overwhelming majority of Americans under the impression that the country is going in the wrong direction, Obama's first address to Congress was a "tour de force," promising to completely overhaul the economy right down to the foundation. He ripped apart his conservative predecessors for their wasteful s long term  pending and for giving "wealth to the wealthy" by making a quick dollar in exchange for thedestruction of our countries economic infastructure. Obama did all of this while using Reagan's rhetoric tools of promoting change while enforcing inborn American ideals like hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Overall from what I can tell it was a successful speech and really cleared the air as far as his opposition is concerned.