Farewell to Rose Colored Glasses

Obama is officially gone. However, his term ended with a farewell address that espoused a rosy (and rather factless) view of his “accomplishments” over the last 8 years.

Life is about perspective. So allow me to take each “accomplishment” and provide an alternate perspective. It will quickly become apparent that there are two very different versions of the last 8 years of history.

Reversing the Great Recession, Rebooting the Auto Industry, Longest Stretch of Job Creation

The reasons behind the Great Recession and any recovery that has taken place are far too complicated to get into in a short article like this.

But even with the conflicting explanations, one thing we do know is that the stimulus bill that was designed to fix everything gave over $200 billion in tax credits to individuals, however since this money was so spread out, few people even realized anything had happened. Billions went to “infrastructure”, however high speed rail projects and many other infrastructure projects either stalled or were never even started.

As far as the auto industry goes, “The federal government took over GM and Chrysler in March 2009. It fired GM CEO Rick Wagoner and required Chrysler to merge with Italy's Fiat SpA.  The Obama Administration...set new auto efficiency standard to force the companies to be more competitive...” (Kimberly Amadeo)

Job creation is not as easy as the politicians make it sound. During the depths of the recession, the “real unemployment rate” was at a staggering 16.7%, and in 2016 was still as high as 9.9%.

But whether the policies of Obama and the Democrats succeeded or failed, what Americans need to realize is that the government overstepped its Constitutional limits when it acted to “solve” these problem. It is not within the purview of the federal government to take over ownership of a car manufacturer, fire its CEO, and force company mergers. It is not within the purview of the federal government to bail out individuals or businesses by providing “stimulus checks”. It is not within the purview of the federal government to “create jobs” out of thin air.

The free market works and it works beautifully. However, if politicians get in the way you end with over $19 trillion in debt.

New Chapter with Cuba, Shut down Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program, and Take Out the Mastermind of 9/11

Raul Castro is a communist dictator with a horrendous record of denying basic human rights to the people of Cuba. Cuba’s government regularly denies its citizens their rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly, movement, the press, and due process.

When Obama reopened relations with Cuba, he had the opportunity to demand significant changes in Cuba’s policies. Instead Obama gave the Cuban government what they wanted and nothing has changed for the people of Cuba.

Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism. The US sanctions placed on Iran were doing what they were designed to do. Until Obama and John Kerry decided it would be a good idea to give Iran $150 billion and allow them to move forward in their development of nuclear technology. And that’s not even to mention the humiliation of our US Navy by Iran and the $400 million in cash given to Iran by Obama.

Bin Laden is dead, it is true. However, Obama can hardly take credit for the heroic work of American servicemen and women who made it possible. And yet he does.

Marriage Equality and Obamacare

Marriage, like most other words has an actual definition. The Supreme Court cannot arbitrarily redefine the meaning of a word. Yet that is exactly what they have attempted to do.

And yes, Obamacare. The hallmark, the capstone, the masterpiece of Barack Obama’s tenure as President. The disaster, the failure, the inability to keep your plan or your doctor if you liked them, “health care exchanges” continuing to fail across the country, the hostile government takeover of a gigantic part of the US economy.

You really want to hang your hat on that, Obama?

The last 8 years are now behind us. However, will we have to live with the consequences of Obama's actions for a long time. The most important thing now is to view our past with honesty.

Jonathan Paine

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