“Government can do nothing right.” Republicans have said this for so long, we hardly blame them for getting elected into office and proving it. They run on the promise that government is ineffective, sluggish to respond, and unholy expensive, and then don’t even attempt to govern once they get elected. Instead, trying as hard as they can to reduce or eliminate the size of government and sell off the pieces to the (lowest) bidder in sweetheart contracts.
After George W. Bush made a mess of everything from national security to education (in the form of No Child Left Behind), many of us might have bought into the cynicism of the Bush era that democratic government–which is after all made up of people–is hopeless. Now Obama is attempting to restore our faith.
In one week he showed us his birth certificate, organized a quick, effective response to the Alabama tornadoes (the same thing Bush royally boned in the Katrina aftermath), and finally, finally killed Osama Bin Laden. Not bad for a foreign born, Muslim socialist right?
Also, as much as some people hate it, “Obamacare” is effective and will lower the nation’s debt longterm. And this week he’s taking on immigration reform, something long sought after by the 11 million immigrants living in limbo. It would, again, save America a ton of money by bringing those immigrants into the taxpayer fold and out of the underground America that costs us so much more.
The long debate has been that conservatives see the government as evil or incompetent and want to reduce it while liberals think the government can do good work. So I pop the question, now that Obama is finally turning the page on Bush-era sloth and bumbling, has your general mood on government brightened?
I think he’s on a roll. Some people hate him because they will always hate him, but the majority of Americans are starting to wake up to what a good president he is.