Obama- "Yes We Can!"- but should we have?

During the last presidential race, Barack Obama issued a lot of promises. Things that we, as a country had wanted not only hear but see in action. Among his promises were to bring the troops back home from Iraq, allow five days of public comment before signing a bill, to end income tax on seniors making less than 50,000, and to urge states to give same-sex couples equality, just to name a few.

Ok, so let's break this all down, piece by piece.

1) Bringing the troops back home from Iraq.
On January 5, 2008, Obama clearly stated on a Chicago radio broadcast interview with Roland Martin that his first act as President would be to gather with the joint Chiefs of Staff and make efforts needed to bring home all troops home and have no occupation in Iraq by 2013. The first mention on his intention to bring all the troops home was on October 27, 2007 while campaigning. He said we could "take that to the bank." Considering it's already been proven that he lied about what his first act as president would be (instead, he was very busy announcing freezes on salaries of White House employees, had aids circulate a draft executive order to close Guantanamo Bay, and placed new limits on the amount of access lobbyists would have to the White House), one can't help but wonder WHEN exactly this promise of his could be cashed. However, Obama recently announced his plans to send MORE troops over to Iraq- about 1,000 more to be exact. Although, it was mentioned that these troops would be what the military calls "combat enablers", soldiers trained in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and medical and mental health. So, in essence, these troops are there to enable other troops to fight more efficiently. Now, why would we need troops to fight more efficiently in Iraq if we are pulling out in just a few short years?

2) Allowing 5 days of public comment before signing a bill.
Well, let's start this topic off by clarifying a major point. Obama promised not to sign any non-emergency bill without giving American citizens five days to comment on the website of the White House. Ok, fair enough. In fact, that's a point I can agree on. However, I do not agree that the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (CARD) that he signed two days after the bill was finalized in Congress was an emergency bill. Emergency legislation would not take a full calender year to go into effect.
But this was not the last time Obama would rush to sign a bill. Hours after our Congress passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program, on February 4, 2009 Barack Obama signed the bill. Again, this was not an emergence bill. Not only that, but this bill wasn't going into effect until April 1 of that same year. One would assume the White House would have the technical abilities necessary to post these important matters online in a timely fashion. However, they apparently have no directive nor motivation to do so.
Yet another example is the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This bill wasn't even posted online, yet it was signed into law on January 29, two days after it was passed in the House Of Representatives, and seven days after it was passed in the Senate (five if you exclude the weekend). It was only AFTER Obama signed it that it was posted online for commenting. But at that point, it was already too late. Regardless of what the people said, the bill was signed.
One of Obama's biggest campaigning points was to include the public in the legislative process. As of right now though, it has yet to happen.


3)End of income tax on seniors making less than 50,000 dollars a year.
Now this is a wonderful promise. One that, if kept, could save nearly 7 million American seniors 1,400 dollars a year that could be spent on necessary medicines and other health-prolonging expenses.
In the blink of an eye, it was another important campaign point swept under the rug. There was no mention of this in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It wasn't in Obama's first budget outline, released February 26, 2009.
Now this isn't to say Obama hasn't done anything at all to benefit seniors. Seniors in the Stimulus care package received 250 dollars in May. For the millions of Americans waiting for Obama to fulfill this campaign pledge, they'll have to wait a little longer. This doesn't seem to be as important to Obama as it was when he was still trying to earn votes.

4)Urging States to give same-sex couples equality when it comes to family and adoption laws.
Same-sex adoption has been a hot topic for a while. A numerous amount of opportunities had risen for Obama to support equality for same-sex couples but he has yet to take advantage of any. The only times he did do so was during a speech to the Human Right Campaign on October 10,2009, October 30, 2009 during a proclamation celebrating National Adoption Month. and again during a speech on Family Day, September 28,2009. Despite the same-sex marriage debates going on in Vermont, California, New York, Nevada, Maine, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire and Washington D.C, Obama has yet to speak out in defense of gay marriage. Although on their own, all the states except California, New York, and California passed the marriage equality bill. Do three mentions really merit the keeping of a pledge to promote equality for same-sex couples? I would have expected more, and I know I'm not the only American who feels this way.


With Obama, all things seemed possible. Our nation was facing record debt, unemployment, and general dissatisfaction with our nation's elected leaders. Obama seemed an easy answer, a quick fix to the problems facing modern day America. He made promises we wanted to hear, needed to hear. We put our trust in this man to keep his word and improve all our lives. Now we are disappointed yet again in another political figure who turned out just to be a talking head for the people surrounding him. We are in a time of great awakening, where our nation's problems are well known and publicized. There are so many problems, and the hope that we had for fixing our country in the here and now is dwindling. The "change we can believe in" may never come. Let's hope for a little longer that it does.