Republicans: Beware of Obama

As the title suggests, this entry will be a bit different from the ones before it; it will focus not on Russia, but on my home country, the United States.  For those of you who do not know me, I am a government major at Colby College, and am particularly interested in domestic policy.

My favorite president is, without question, Abraham Lincoln.  His genius was equaled only by his own skill with a pen, the eloquence of his writing flowing from what is perhaps the most enigmatic personality of any president our nation has ever had.  Lincoln's writings are pure poetry, and are oft-quoted (I will not bore you by quoting him here - that said, I do encourage everybody, American or not, to read The Portable Abraham Lincoln, a collection of his letters and speeches).

Following Lincoln, I have a soft spot for Lyndon Johnson.  There is no question that the Vietnam War was a tragedy in every sense of the word.  58,000 American troops lost their lives fighting for something completely intangible, completely incomprehensible.  Lets not forget that upwards of 4,000,000 Vietnamese civilians on both sides were killed in the conflict - this war was twenty years of bloodshed, and the deaths of those people is no less tragic and unnecessary than those of the American soldiers.  Much of this blood is on Johnson's hands, and for that his legacy will forever be blemished.

But to dismiss Johnson is to dismiss one of the greatest legislators in American history.  Never before have we had such a consummate politician in the Oval Office (please, Jed Bartlett doesn't count).  Johnson pushed the broadest legislative package the country had seen since the New Deal through Congress during the momentous years of 1964-1965 - a period aptly dubbed by one of my professors as the "liberal hour."  Medicaid, Medicare, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Voting Rights Act, and perhaps the most important of all, the Civil Rights Act, all were signed into law, forever changing the nation.  Johnson did more than perhaps any president, other than FDR, to improve the quality of life in the nation.  We have yet to have another president quite like LBJ.

Or have we?  Barack Obama has been in office for less than two full years.  Considerably less actually - he was sworn in on January 20th, 2009, and today is September 9th, 2010.  Let's take at the major legislation written while Obama has been president.

1. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - a $787 billion package aimed to help the nation recover from a crippling recession.  Whether or not passing it was the right thing or not is not even a question.  The question should be whether or not $787 billion was enough.  I think not, but that Congress refused to give Obama the sum he initially wanted.

2. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 - a comprehensive reform of the nation's broken healthcare system.  Under the bill, all Americans will be required by law to have health insurance and will receive added protection from HMOs.  Additionally, the it is believed the bill will eventually have a positive impact on the federal deficit, lowering it by as much as $143 billion in the first 10 years.

3. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - a sweeping reform of the American banking industry, it totally changes the face of American finance.  The government now has a much bigger role in the private sector and is granted greater regulatory powers in an attempt to prevent another sub-prime mortgage crisis (or similar type of disaster)

This is tremendous.  Three major bills with enormous implications passed in just about a year is incredible.  Obama's legislative output already equals that of many other presidents, despite his relatively young presidency.  And today, Obama announced a plan to put $50 billion into the roads, bridges, tunnels, and airports of the nation.  My initial reaction is that this is not enough money.

Anybody driving in America can tell that the roads have decayed.  The interstate system was the crown jewel of the Eisenhower years, and it is now sadly outdated.  It is quite simply incapable of handling the modern traffic loads, as bridges, tunnels, and even flat, straight freeways become parking lots during rush hour.  For a country that prides itself on mobility, this is unacceptable.

The last several years have seen a number of bridges simply fail.  The bridges of the nation are old and neglected, and many need to be replaced outright (see the Tappan-Zee Bridge close to my home).  Airports are also old, especially when compared to many of the new ones being built around the world.  American infrastructure is dying, and it needs a jump-start.

Obama's bill just might be that jump-start.  It is too soon to tell whether or not Congress will approve it.  If they do I truly believe this might be the most important bill of the Obama presidency.  The economic, social, and cultural impact of a nation's infrastructure cannot be understated.

Should the bill pass, or even if it doesn't, Republicans need to beware of Barack Obama.  They should be scared of him.  Despite their best efforts to oppose him, despite him being president in an era when party discipline has no meaning, despite him presiding over the most intensely partisan period in memory, Obama has been remarkable successful in pushing his agenda.  He has demonstrated a political savvy that few thought he possessed, and shown that he is worthy of office that he inhabits.  America elected the right man.  Now it's time to let him do the job we all know he is capable of doing.