Obama brought change, but did he bring hope?

Lots of change in 6 short years. Sweeping immigration reform, historic health care legislation, pulling troops from Iraq and a booming economy fueled by almost $8 trillion of new debt for many future generations to sort out.

Blaming Bush for National Debt

President Obama passed historic health care reform, immigration reform, stimulus package and "ended" the Iraq War. He had a lot of power in the past 6-7 years. But he claims he didn't have any power to balance the budget. So the national debt is now over $18 trillion, and it was $10.6 trillion when he was elected. These are by far the biggest debt gains of any president in history. 

Bush hasn't been in power since 2008 and the Middle East wars have been over for a few years now. He should not be blamed for any new bad budgets. 

Democrat or Republican, whoever is our next president needs to take responsibility for balancing the budget.

Reagan's Amnesty vs. Obama's Amnesty

In 1986, Ronald Reagan passed a sweeping Congressional amnesty bill. Rather than being an Act of Congress, Obama's amnesty mandate completely bypassed congress, and was therefore not legal. Personally, I'm pro amnesty for good families who abide by the law. But amnesty should be, and has always been, an act of congress. 

One argument that is often made by Democrats to justify Obama's use of executive action here is that Bush and Reagan used executive action to pass their own amnesty. Yet there are major flaws in this argument. As one article points out, "These Reagan and Bush 41 executive actions were obviously different than what Obama is doing now. They were trying to implement a complicated amnesty that Congress had already passed. Congress’ action was a form of immigration relief that obviously fit within our constitutional system. Moreover, Congress left a gap when it came to immediate family members, including minor children, of individuals who qualified for the amnesty. Presidents Reagan and Bush 41 forbore from deporting people in that select group."

Gridlock isn't unique to Obama. Every president has to deal with being blocked, some more than others. Actually, many of Obama's bills have been passed, especially in his first two years when Democrats controlled the house and senate. Checks and balances are actually a strength of our system - not a weakness, as Obama seems to suggest. 

When I went to China, I had to pay a lot of money for a Visa and go through customs. I've seen friends fined and even deported for not following specific customs regulations in China  This isn't unique to America, and we shouldn't be so quick to assume that all immigration law is based in racism. 

What are your thoughts?

Iraq: Obama's Biggest Failure

In the following video, President Obama announced the end of war in Iraq, stating that "Iraq will forge its own future." Unfortunately, that didn't pan out so well, as ISIS is now enslaving women in Iraq (Link). Was it really a good idea for America to leave Iraq as abruptly as we did?

Did Obama Abandon Iraq?

This past week, the UN has reported that there are almost 1,000,000 new refugees fleeing violence in Iraq and thousands of Iraqi citizens are being butchered by the radical jihadist group ISIS. This week, Obama is sending hundreds of US troops back to Iraq. Was it a good idea to let Iraq fend for itself in 2011?

Obama's Biggest Failure

In the below video, President Obama pledged to cut the national debt in half by the end of his first term. He cited the fact that interest on our national debt was more than we spent on education and veteran's health, combined. When Obama became president, the national debt was at $10.6 trillion, and the budget deficit was at $458 billion. Today, the deficit is over $17 trillion, and the budget deficit is at $1.1 trillion. Not only has Obama not kept his promise to "cut the deficit in half." He is on target for doubling it. This is the biggest financial crisis America has ever seen, and it dramatically weakens our country.

African Americans Should Be Proud in an African American President

While I disagree with many of President Obama's policies, I do understand the pride that African Americans feel in having an African American President. And because of generations of atrocities that African Americans have endured in America's short history, I understand why race is such an important issue to African Americans. Personally, I am excited to see an increase in African American Republican politicians such as Tim Scott, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Michael Steele, Herman Cain, Alan Keyes and Clarence Thomas. I would love to vote for an African American president if I generally agreed with his or her politics. While I didn't vote for Obama, because I disagreed with his policies, I can appreciate the pride that African Americans feel in having an African American president.