President Obama has opened up the White House website to take questions from American citizens and he may answer some of them later in the week. Here is my question in video form.
Please vote for my question by first clicking here, sign up, and then search for “changing rates on existing balances” in the search box. This should only bring up my video. However, if it doesn’t I am (of course) Daniel Z from New Orleans.
I liked Obama’s start, by linking all issues to the economy.
I like that Obama emphasized that regulations were put aside for a quick profit. View this video to see how the banks need regulation, especially if they receive our tax dollars.
I love that Obama brought up the credit crisis, as I (like many Americans) have had to deal with banks who accept stimulus funding and then turn around eliminating available credit and increasing interest rates to usurious levels for no reason other than they felt like it. At this point Obama has not dealt with credit cards specifically, but I can only hope that they are in his sights.
I like that his mortgage plan will not help speculators, but instead will help regular families who are working hard to survive and are suffering from the bursting of the housing bubble.
I like that Obama brought up how Government has not supplanted ingenuity, but has been the catalyst to promote it. The economy should be stimulated by providing funds to promote the research that will fuel future jobs.
One of the main policy positions I supported Obama on was healthcare reform. He pushes for more preventive care (which is cheaper than emergency care). If healthcare costs overburden American spenders, they will not be able to support their families. Providing preventive care to people who traditionally cannot access it is not only morally right, but it makes financial sense (since you cannot reject people in an emergency).
I REALLY like that he will eliminate no bid contracts. And I really like that he will eliminate tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas.
I am sure that the Republicans will harp on the words “none of this will come without cost”, as well as many other comments that President Obama made. However, I think it was an overall good speech and I really don’t have any major criticisms of anything that Obama said.
Many times politicians will try and come up with some catchy slogan in order to get people behind them. That slogan will have nothing to do with who they are or what they bring to the table. It is typically just a cheap trick, a tactic, used to try and get as many voters as possible. President Clinton wanted to “build a bridge to the 21st century”. George H. W. Bush wanted a “kinder, gentler nation”. “Reagan said it was morning again in America”. Kerry said “I have a plan” (but never mentioned what it was).
However, this time the slogan is more than just a trick. Hope is real. It is not just because the last 8 years were so bad. With someone else, the next 4 years could have been just as bad, if not worse. With Barack Obama, people (like myself) really believe that our nation will be turned around. We know it wont be easy and we know it might take some sacrifice to accomplish great things for the future. But we really believe that after these next 4 years, we will actually be better off than we are today.
I am so proud of my country. And in less than an hour, we will be able to say “Yes He Is”… and then we can turn the page to the next chapter of the great story that is the United States of America.
Update: I found it very fitting that, to mark the fact that the Bush Administration was over, Aretha Franklin (the fat lady) sung.
