President Obama needs to maintain his forceful, proactive leadership approach that he only too recently adopted.It took him more than a year to discard the fantasy of bipartisanship on health care reform, even though the Republicans obstructed him every step of the way and showed no interest in meaningful compromise. Their goal, all along, has been to make him fail.
Finally, he's woken up to this reality. Finally, he's asserting himself, engaging in a nationwide campaign-style speaking tour to push health-care reform through.
The bill is still not strong enough, and the lack of a public option remains a major flaw. But at least the president recognizes the need to get tough with his opponents. He should apply this lesson to other issues now, including creating more jobs, re-regulating Wall Street and fixing our flawed immigration system.
On these issues, too, he'll face lockstep opposition from Republicans. They seem to believe that by preventing Obama from sufficiently helping working people in this country, they can achieve their main objective: to regain control of Congress and the White House.
It's all about power.
But we had a democratic election in 2008 to decide who should have that power, and Obama and the Democrats won. Now they should wield the power. He should use the congressional tool of reconciliation to get his crucial bills passed. His predecessor, President Bush, did the same several times, including on passing tax cuts for his "base," as Bush once called the wealthy.
Obama should reward his base, too: working people.
In order to create real change for them, we need New Deal- type legislation to create jobs and pump some life into the moribund economy. In an era where the gap between the rich and the working people has increased, it's time for more government spending on policies and programs aimed at addressing the needs of those who feel the impacts of the recession most severely.
In 2008, part of Obama's base was also made up of Latinos, who overwhelmingly voted in favor of him. Obama needs to take the lead and persuade Democrats in Congress to produce a comprehensive immigration bill. We no longer should rely on the same enforcement-only practices that punish vulnerable individuals whose only crime is to provide for themselves and their families by taking low-paying, dead-end jobs that Americans reject.
Obama has a choice. He can do what he did his first year in office and extend the hand of bipartisanship, only to have Republicans repeatedly slap it. This approach will yield no important legislative victories, and the vast majority of Americans will continue to suffer.
Or he can take the mandate he was elected on and govern with strength and purpose, thereby improving the lives of the American people and reducing the inequalities that afflict us.
The second option is the way to go.
The first option is a recipe for a one-term president.
By Alvaro Huerta, PhD student in the Department of City & Regional Planning at UC Berkeley and visiting scholar at the Chicano Studies Research Center at UCLA. Originally published at mcclatchydc.com.
Credits: Photo of Barack Obama from cleavelandleader.com.
maybe. i agree with these initiatives but this seems a simplistic reading.
ReplyDeletei mean, "the democrats" is not a unified political entity (nor should it be). i don't think just because "bush did it" means that obama can exercise top-down power constantly meanwhile overtly antagonizing anyone who disagrees. the fact that discussion is happening is healthy in some respect, even if nasty.
i think obama is smart. it's tough to say authoritatively what he should do. it is important to remember that while policy affects people's lives (and those changes you suggest would be great for many) it is not a panacea. civitas is at least as big a part in affecting change.
that said, when confronted with a political entity such as the republicans have formed, perhaps the only recourse is what you suggest.
at any rate, it doesn't all rely on obama. he is talked up so much as the figurehead, which to some degree is a way of absolving ourselves. not that that is what you do.
I agree. Things are more complicated than what I wrote in this brief essay. When writing short essays, however, it's best to be clear and take a position. This way, there's no ambiguity and people can either agree or disagree with your position.
ReplyDeleteGenerally speaking, I actually don't have too much faith on politicians since big money usually drives their agenda. That being said, I agree that we all have a responsibility to act and not wait for Obama or anyone else to do what's best for society.