Why Americans Cannot Be Thankful Under Obama, Essay Example

Introduction

As Thanksgiving is approaching each year, the media tells us that we, as Americans should be thankful for the achievements of politicians, and for living in a democratic country. However, some argue that one should not be thankful for being American under the presidency of Barack Obama. Indeed, some social and economic trends are worrying, and analysts say that the growth of the nation cannot be sustained any longer. From apocalyptic visions depicted by authors to logical reasoning of economists and political scientists: many argue that the current course of actions will destroy the country. The below essay is designed to review the various arguments and evaluate their validity. Some of the arguments will be created based on political traits of the Obama Administration, while others will cover the economic trends within the United States that make the country’s development unsustainable.

Argument Analysis

Argument One: Obama does not qualify as a natural born citizen

According to some authors (Skidmore, 2012), President Obama does not pass the natural born citizenship test. That stated, he should never have been elected as the leader of the country, under the rules of the Constitution. As at the time when he was born, not both of his parents were U.S. citizens, he cannot be classed as a natural born citizen. According to the author (Skidmore, 2012), this is clearly indicated in his birth certificate. That stated, the legacy  of the current U.S. president is questionable, according to many authors. As his father was a “British subject” at the time when he was born, he should never have passed the natural born citizenship test, and never have been elected as a president. Still, the legacy of a president and any leader of any country depends not only on their origins, but their actions, and some authors argue that his political decisions made the United States of America worse place to live than it was before his  administration started. The argument questions the legacy of the president, but does not state that he is not a good leader, therefore, it is important to look further for reasons why Americans should not be thankful for the Obama administration.

Disregard for the Oath of Office

Some authors (West, 2014) state that the president violated his Oath and should be removed. As many say, he lied about important issues that affected the citizens of the United States, such as the Benghazi terrorist attack. However, it is problematic to prove that President Obama had knowledge about the issues before making a statement, and this means that there is no way of legally removing him from the seat. While it is likely that he knowingly told untrue stories to calm the public, without recordings and documents confirming his knowledge, it is impossible to remove him. Indeed, the Oath of the Office is one of the most important securities of the United States, that allows citizens to maintain democracy, after the Constitution. When an elected president does not take that oath seriously, it can be argued that he or she is not worthy of the people’s trust, Still, it can also be argued that President Obama was legally elected, therefore, he can only be legally removed from the office, should the higher court finds proof that he acted unlawfully, and breached his oath. Alternatively, the public will have a chance to remove him during the next election, should people consider his actions to be not in line with the Presidential Oath.

Constitutional issues

In 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit  found that the president’s appointments violated the Constitution, therefore, he should be removed from office. While there were other claims related to his unconstitutional decisions, this one was confirmed by the Court of the United States, which protects and oversees the Constitution. The Forbes Magazine (Flows, 2013) created a full list of the president’s 2013 constitutional violations. Some of them were related to the legislation of Obamacare, and the delay regarding the introduced caps, employer mandates, and insurance requirements. Some argue that while the president is supposed to be the overseer of lawful legislation, it does not mean that they do not have to adhere to the laws set by the administration. By delaying some important features’ introduction to Obamacare, the president violated the rules of legislation. Other violations listed in the article include the political profiling of the IRS, and recess appointments. Considering that the American public expects its president to know and respect the Constitution, these are serious enough violations to question the president’s legacy. Americans should certainly not be thankful for electing a president who is unable to carry out legislation without violating the Constitution.

Not embracing American values

According to the Daily Caller (Thomas, 2014), D’Souza said that Barack Obama believes in American exceptionalism. He stated in an interview: “. I believe America’s exceptionally good and he believes America’s exceptionally bad.”. The president, indeed, had a different, almost revolutionary view on American people and values, however, all cultures and societies are open to interpretation. Just because a president does not agree with the majority of the people on the future, strengths, and weaknesses of the country, that does not make them bad leaders. It might make them unpopular, however, given that the Constitution provides each and every citizen of the United States with the freedom of speech, it would be unreasonable to expect Obama to say what everyone wants to hear. It might make him a populist leader, but not a forward-thinking one. There is room for disagreement whether or not exceptionism is an American value or something that holds development back. If President Obama clearly stated that he did not agree with the Constitution, the freedom of speech, or principle of equality, there would be a reason for making him leave office.

Scandals

 As the subheading suggests, scandals are unconfirmed connections between the actions of the President and an unfortunate outcome. The Daily Surge (Schuck, 2014) lists several scandals related to the Obama administration, and some of these will be analyzed below. One of the most important scandals that are related to the presidency are connected with drone strikes. However, Obama is not the only president who has been criticized over the military actions abroad, and –  possibly –  not the last, either. The only problem is that it is hard to identify how much responsibility a president has to take on when making military decisions, and how we judge the decision. In times of war and military conflict, it is almost impossible to make a good decision: most of the time leaders have to choose the lesser bad. One of the issues covered by the scandal, however,  – indirectly  – affects the majority of the population living in the United States. According to Schuck (2014), during his presidential campaign, Barack Obama stood up against Monsanto for pollution and introducing GMO-s. Still, recently he elected the head of Monsanto to lead the Food and Drug Administration Agency. This step can easily be interpreted as a two-faced action, and breaking up with values, promises.

One of the most debated legislation that Obama brought in was Obamacare, previously mentioned. According to critics, the set up of the system cost taxpayers of America billions of dollars, still the newly created website, Healthcare.gov failed to work, even though the government spent a lot of money setting it up.

One of the most upsetting scandals related to the Obama administration was the VA scandal, when investigative journalists revealed how injured veterans were dying while waiting for treatment. Other scandals, such as the Fast and Furious operation, and the NSA, IRS issues have clearly left a large proportion of the American public outraged. It might be true that all the above scandals were results of “honest mistakes”, however, this is open to interpretation. Some argue that if a government makes that many mistakes and lets so many problems escalate in a short period of time, they might not be worthy of the power. While the above argument can be viewed as valid, it is also important to note that scandals are hard to prove, and it is the Constitution and the government’s legislation that allows politicians to “get away” with making mistakes or turning their backs to their promises made before they got elected. It is the system that allows politicians to abuse their power and use it to carry out their plans without seeking a consensus. This leads us to another important question: if this is possible under the U.S. Constitution, the United States of America might be a less democratic country than many would have imagined. That stated, it might be fair to say that Americans do not have much  to say thanks to the Obama Administration about.

Racism within the police

This argument is one of the weakest, in my opinion. For the mistakes of individuals and police forces, it is impossible to make the country’s leadership responsible. While racism is definitely an issue in the United States, and it is becoming more prevalent than it was in the 1990-s, the trend cannot be blamed on the government. It is also not very likely that the processes that led to institutional racism within the police, and racial profiling, resulting in the death of innocent suspects started exactly at the same time as the Obama Administration took power. While Americans cannot be thankful for living in a country where the police using racial profiling and prejudice is a common theme within institutions, this social problem cannot entirely be blamed on the government. The question is whether or not a government and a legal system has the power to stop individuals from having prejudice against minorities, or is it a personal choice? Would the police officers have acted the same way if there was a police rule against the same behavior? It is likely that they would have, as their actions were motivated by personal judgment. The fact that one particular police officer can get away with showing racist traits until he kills an innocent man, however, is alarming. Blaming it on the system would possibly be right, and making the government responsible for failing to deal with the issue is right, but removing the government would not be the right approach. In this particular situation, individuals, as well as human rights groups and government agencies all have a role to negotiate policies, protect human rights, and help policymakers create legislation that would prevent the same unfortunate events from happening.

Deficit expansion

To put a start date to the expansion of the deficit would be hard, however, it is certainly something that Americans should not be grateful for. The reason for the expansion of government deficit, however, is not easy to define. It has social, economic, and political factors as well. As the population of the United States is aging, healthcare is becoming more expensive, and there are not enough people at work to pay in the Federal Budget. While budgeting issues have previously been identified by several authors, and it is possible to drive down deficit, some groups will certainly suffer more than others. The only way to eliminate deficit expansion is to either raise taxes or reduce benefits. Some social groups will suffer; it is up to the government policies to decide which one. In today’s America, it is extremely hard to increase the income of the government, as the export competitiveness of the country has been decreasing for long years. This means that the country has started increasing its imports while exports decreased. This puts every government in a difficult situation, and makes the economic growth almost impossible to sustain. War, of course, costs the government a lot of money, however, without military and defense systems in place, the safety of the country could not be guaranteed. As one of the main roles of the government is to provide safety for the citizens, military and defense is necessary.

Globalization has certainly hit American companies hard, and their productivity does not measure up to some of the international companies’. This has reduced the government’s tax income, and therefore, created a greater budget deficit. At the same time, it can be argued that the American government did not do enough to help American companies become more efficient and competitive, and create more jobs within the country.

Second Amendment attacks

One of the main reasons why  some claim that Americans should not be thankful for living in this country, under the Obama Administration is because –  according to some authors – the President has openly attacked the 2^ndAmendment of the Constitution. The conflict between political parties, triggered by gun law and legislation has gained huge media  attention recently. The WND website (2015) quotes Luke O’Dell: “It’s clear President Obama is beginning his final assault on our Second Amendment rights by forcing his anti-gun agenda on honest law-abiding citizens through executive force”. Some authors also claim that the president did not only attack the Second Amendment, but also the First, as well. The defenders of the Bill of  Rights claim that the actions and Executive Orders initiated by the administration are open attacks against the political system of the United States.

Lack of success in Syria and Libya

The foreign policy of the United States today is still a question of interpretation, and many opposing parties clearly state that the government has failed to stop the spread of terrorism, and simply stirred up the conflict, instead of resolving it. The practices of the military, and the human lives lost are also in the attention of the public. From the perspective of war and peace, it can be claimed that too many American soldiers died on foreign land, without achieving the military goal. This might be due to the lack of support from other countries, the inability of the military leaders to plan the attacks and identify risks. No matter what the truth is: Americans can certainly not be thankful to live in a country which does not have a war on its territory, but loses soldiers abroad, without being able to achieve relative success. Looking at the defense budget of America, it is certain that most Americans would have the right to expect more results from campaigns. Living in a country that is in war is not something to be thankful for. If that war costs billions of dollars and thousands of lives, it is even less the case. The foreign  policy of the current administration has failed to address security threats,  and show progress on the Syrian and Libyan front. The war on these fronts is often labeled as one without an end and one that cannot be won, even though it costs taxpayers a significant amount of money. The participation of the United States in the military actions in the region can be definitely criticized. People should never be thankful for war.

Not protecting U.S. values and islamization of the country

Some authors argue that American values are starting to disappear, while the country is becoming more tolerant towards Islam. Indeed, the country has been built upon the foundation of tolerance, and many Jewish, Irish, and other ethnic refugees have settled down, integrating in the society. Islam immigration is not likely to be a result of the Obama Administration’s policies , however, it does worry some conservative authors and citizens who believe that the values and traditions of America should be protected from outside influence. While America is at war with Islam countries, and has declared missions against ISIS, by banning Islam  migrants from the country, it would certainly send out the wrong message, appearing racist and intolerant. There is place for everyone in the United States of America, provided they are ready to obey the social norms already accepted by the majority of the population, and obey the law. According to the Billion Bibles website (2014) the Sharia  law is spreading in the United States, and provided that the above claim is founded, there is a reason for caution. Some authors also claim that the media of the country is slowly being taken over by Islam sympathizers, and the culture is being shaped by the number of influential Muslims living in the U.S. Outside influences (cultural or religious) can be either good or bad for a country. Islamization of the United States can mean that the country is remaining a tolerant place that is ready to accept diversity. On the other hand, the immigration policy of the government can be criticized for not providing enough protection for people already living in the country to exclude radical Islamists from entering the U.S.

Immigration policies and their economic consequences

Related to the above highlighted issue, the immigration policy of the Obama Administration is often criticized.  By the President proposing to legalize a large number of undocumented immigrants, many citizens felt like law had no significance in the United States any more. From the social point of view, it can be argued that the United States of America needs young, qualified immigrants in order to provide for the elderly population’s needs. Latin American nurses and doctors are needed in the health care system, as there is a great shortage of staff, and this causes hospitals to operate ineffectively. The social and demographic changes of recent decades brought forward some important challenges, which can be either tackled or worsened by immigration. According to some,  the liberalization of immigration brings forward more challenges than benefits, such as increased levels of crime, and greater resource use in schools and social services.

Lies and promises not kept

According to Human Events (2013), the President lied to the public in order to convince people about the feasibility of his program, such as claiming that 80 percent of Americans wanted higher taxes, while research shows the number being only 34 percent. Likewise, according to some authors, he falsely claimed that his mother was denied health insurance, and used the statement to gain support from the public for his Affordable Care Act. Related to the same legislation, the president allegedly stated that Americans would be able to keep their doctor, even though this is not possible under Obamacare. Whether or not this is something that people feel strongly about, they can certainly not be thankful for the above controversies of the Obama administration.

Poverty

One issue that affects the entire American society is poverty, and it is certainly not being tackled successfully by the government. There are indeed, today more Americans relying on food stamps than any other time before. Unemployment is also a great issue, and this has a negative impact on recovery. One of the main achievements of America was its ability to grow through people, however, many companies have now decided to outsource their operations to countries where labor is cheaper, or simply move out completely. This can or cannot be blamed on the economic policies of the current administration, however, increased poverty is likely to lead to budget cuts, increased level of crime, and more budget deficits. As such, unemployment and the increase of poverty among Americans is one of the most significant reasons why citizens should not be thankful for the Obama Administration.

Public debt issues

Another of the most worrying issues related to the U.S. economy is the increasing public debt. The country is in an international debt burden, and the majority of households are still not saving enough money, while they get into debt at an increasing rate. The lack of government planning for finances shows in household debt as well, and this means that the country’s development is no longer sustainable. With less support for families, increased immigration creating a huge burden for the budget, through increased need for public services, and the number of unproductive people living in the country (students, retired people, and illegal immigrants) means that the income of the government is limited, and it cannot be increased unless unemployment is reduced through focused policies. Getting people back to work, however, is not easy. First of all, there are many companies that no longer hire domestic workers, due to the expenses related to health care that needs to be provided for them and their families based on the new legislation. At the same time, many families are now facing a higher than ever health insurance cost, despite the claims of the creators of Obamacare to make health care more affordable for all citizens of the United States. Likewise, the provisions that are included in the Affordable Care Act are providing free and low cost access to millions of Americans without insurance. The only problem is that the price of these services is paid by low-paid workers, who can currently barely afford to take on health insurance. Employers are penalized for not providing health insurance, however, small and medium sized American businesses have already been forced to let people go, as they could not make up for the increased cost of health insurance for workers. Other employers simply decided to move their operations abroad, or outsource some processes, and this further increased unemployment rates. That sated, the U.S. economy is in a downward spiral, and it does not seem that there is a way out without public consultation and expert review of economic revival policies. If America carries on the route it has taken (arguably after the Obama administration took office), it is doomed to lose its foundations, and the economy will further lose its competitiveness on a global scale. Therefore, Americans cannot be thankful for the Obama Administration, and clearly cannot look forward to the future, either.

Unsustainable social, economic, and political development

One of the most comprehensive reviews that highlights the issues the United States is facing today is created by Heffner (2015). The author states that America no longer produces enough goods and energy to sustain the country’s population. This leads to higher need for import, and eventually a huge export deficit that would hurt the economy, the companies operating in the United States, as well as the entire population. As the author (Heffner, 2015, para 1) states: “while we persist in our superpower mentality, we have quietly become a second-class country in many respects”. Another important issue that is highlighted by the article is that the foreign currency practices of countries are designed to hurt the U.S. economy and make it less competitive. In particular, the undervaluing of the Chinese and Japanese currencies can result in the loss of millions of American jobs, and international companies completely moving their operations overseas. Trade deficits, according to the author, need to be reversed by a comprehensive currency and trade policy, the introduction of new international agreements, and taxation changes. As the article states, $1 billion trade deficit can translate to the loss of 9000 jobs. Further, the article calls for the revision of policies that are related to providing access to American markets.

A recent book by Castells (2012) highlights some further economic and social challenges that America is facing today. As the author argues: “we are living in an economic crisis caused by a general process of social disruption in most advanced capitalist societies which has called into question the structure of social relationships underlying the pattern of capital accumulation” (p. 5), The above statement confirms that social, economic, and political changes are needed to address the problems the country we call America is facing, and the reason why citizens of the country cannot be grateful to the Obama administration.

The demographic challenges need to be addressed first: how would the country’s limited budget provide for the increasing elderly population? How would the policies help unproductive citizens become taxpayers and look after their families, instead of relying on government help? Once the above questions are answered, and the issues highlighted are addressed, Americans might have something to say thanks to the Obama Administration for.

Conclusion

The above review focusing on the issues of the American society, economy, and politics has highlighted some fundamental problems that has not been successfully tackled by the Obama Administration. While some of the claims related to the role of the President are not fully founded, and it is impossible to blame all of the social and economic problem on one government, it is clear that the current administration has not been successful in making people’s life better. The main problems identified are related to trade deficits, the lack of economic sustainability, and the high rate of unemployment. The policies initiated by the government, such as Obamacare seem to have failed to serve their purpose: social justice. America is becoming less tolerant towards minorities, and this is alarming because the trend can lead to the destruction of American values, such as democracy and accepting differences. The international policies of the current government have also been judged unsuccessful, and unnecessary loss of life was caused by the wrong strategy applied in Syria and Libya, while no real results (such as peace) have been achieved. One of the main problems that many authors highlighted regarding the policies and legislative processes of the Obama Administration is the threat the government is posing on the foundations of the country: the Constitution. While America has been considered the land of freedom for many centuries now, it might soon be known as a former economic and military power that lost its prominent position on the international scale due to the wrong selection of economic and global policies.

References

Capital Flows (2013) President Obama’s top 10 constitutional violations Of 2013. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/12/23/president-obamas-top-10-constitutional-violations-of-2013/

Castells, M. (2014). The economic crisis and American society. Princeton University Press.

Heffner, T. (2015) Economic Problems Facing the U.S. Economy in Crisis. Retrieved from http://economyincrisis.org/content/major-economic-problems-facing-united-states

Human Events. (2011) Top 10 Obama lies. Retrieved from http://humanevents.com/2011/07/23/top-10-obama-lies/

Schuck, M. (2014) From A-Z: The Complete Guide To Obama’s Scandals, Lies, And Blunders. Daily Surge. Retrieved from http://dailysurge.com/2014/07/obamas-scandals-lies-          blunders-z/#

Skidmore, R. (2012) Does Obama Really Meet The Constitutional Definition Of A ‘Natural Born Citizen?’ Freedom Outposts. Retrieved from http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/12/does-obama-really-meet-the-constitutional-definition-of-a-natural-born-citizen/#UI6WFjAirEX0MgYl.99

Thomas, G. (2014) Dinesh D’Souza: Obama Mobilizes Resentment Toward America To Grow His Power. Daily Caller. Retrieved from http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/15/dinesh-dsouza-obama-mobilizes-resentment-towards-america-to-grow-his-          power/#ixzz3lvtgI7gm

West, A. (2014) Allen West: Obama Has Violated His Oath and Should Be Impeached. Conservative Tribune. Retrieved from http://conservativetribune.com/allen-west-obama-   impeached/