The State of the Nation

The other day a friend asked me to give him my impression “of the state of the nation, President and overall feelings of where we are headed.”

OK, let’s start with the state of the nation. The U.S. faces obstacles that could not have been imagined a decade ago. That being said, I have great confidence in our capacity as a people to prevail. Our hope and our very successes lie in our ability to debate openly, to disagree when we must and, most important, to unify as a country to move forward.

It has been nearly eight years since 9/11. These acts of terrorism brought us real war on two fronts, incalculable economic costs and effects, and forever altered our relations in the world community. The pullback of troops in Iraq has begun, but as this week’s increased violence there demonstrates, this country will be a source of concern and will cost us dearly for many years to come. Afghanistan is increasingly violent and appears as far away from a peaceful resolution as it ever was. The Taliban’s capture and unlawful holding of an American serviceman there is evidence that the Taliban threat is real and alive.

The events of 2001 changed the course of our country. I am not interested in a political parlor game of whether the Bush Administration made matters better or worse by the actions they took and/or how they lead. In looking to the future, pointing fingers at the players of the past or comparing them to the current players is not productive. The fact is the economy was in a nosedive and the US faced an unprecedented international crisis when the new President took the Oath of Office on January 20. I am sure we agree it would have been unreasonable to expect any of these problems (war, terrorism, or the economy) were going to be dispensed of within six months time.

President Reagan took office during dark economic times. Depending on how you measure such factors, the country hit an economic low point a full year after Reagan became President. Fans of the “Gipper” will tell you it took time for Reaganomics to have an effect. The timing of his lowest public approval numbers were impacted for a period by the economy and situation he inherited. He needed time to lead and Americans needed time to evaluate his performance. Six months or a year are only a snapshot of a presidency.

But, that serves as an excellent segue to providing my opinion of where we are headed. I believe we are headed toward brighter days. However, I think the country will emerge remarkably different economically. Further, I think the United States’ place and influence in the world will be altered in ways good and bad as well.

The financial bailouts provided to corporations have placed the federal government in the position of what I would have once described as hyper-involvement in the marketplace. Few of us could have imagined the collapse of a giant international entity like AIG, the potential crash of a once thriving U.S. banking industry, and an economic slowdown of the magnitude we were facing in 2008. Fewer still could have calculated that all this would have occurred while we were pouring billions (dare I say, trillions) into a far flung military offensive.

If the majority of bailout dollars are repaid to the government (we will never recoup all of it) and if that recovered money is not re-spent (which is government’s usual inclination), we may come out of the bailout mess ahead of the game. If this money remains unpaid, or is repaid and spent on other government programs, the bailout will serve to drive up our national debt over the long term and we will find ourselves in a deeper hole than when we began. Members of Congress and the Administration need to continue to redefine, monitor and work with those corporations who received bailout funds to ensure the money is repaid.

Did the bailouts work? We may never know. Wells Fargo Bank, in example, received $25 billion in bailout money and reported a $3 billion profit last quarter, up some 80% from a year ago and nearly 30% from last quarter. I am not sure how we taxpayers calculate our payback on our “loan” to Wells Fargo, but few of us ever see a profit increase like that in tough times. Either the taxpayers won a huge gamble, or we got snookered by a company who just made a huge gain based on our largess. Maybe the jobs at the new GM will be worth it, but I doubt many of the former GM investors and car dealers feel too ‘stimulated’ today. Only time will tell.

The political maneuvering on healthcare has reached a fever pitch. Most of what is left is posturing and gamesmanship that has less to do with fixing a problem(s) than it does with scoring political points against the other team. Truthfully, I do not think we have even come to an agreement as to what the problem is. As a small business owner who pays 100% of his health insurance premium, I can tell you the current system is too costly and is stifling economic growth. Let me buy into a bigger pool and put some controls on skyrocketing costs and you make a difference for me. I would like to see the GOP and the Dems dial back the rhetoric and start over. First, let’s agree on what we are trying to fix and then let’s work on a solution. This talk of “breaking” the other guy or “winning this fight” is harming all of us, because all it produces is hot air.

This leads to my assessment of the President. As stated earlier, President Obama has been in office for six months, a little more than 10% of his term. He has delivered on some things and has yet to deliver on others. On those where he has yet to act, I am willing to give him time. If he fails to keep his word; I, like most voters, will judge him for it. But, that comes later. For now, Americans are well served to vigorously debate how to move forward and stop trying to label the President and/or those with whom he disagrees just for the sake of winning the next election.

Arguably, the challenges our country confronts are unlike any new president has ever faced (some have tackled worse, like Lincoln and a nation headed toward Civil War; others, like Eisenhower, came to power during peace and a bright economic picture). The President has been accessible to the public – he holds his fifth news conference today. And, he has been forthright about his agenda (whether you agree with him or not). He has also, however, chosen to withhold action on some items in an effort to prioritize a full agenda. I am partly and, in a few cases, significantly disappointed in this prioritization. But, as a leader, the President has the right and responsibility to do much of this on his terms.

In example, like many Americans I supported President George W. Bush’s decision to enter into war with Iraq. I trusted and had faith that we needed to face the evil that had wrought terror and posed an imminent threat to our country. I had a responsibility as an American to learn what I could about this threat and to form an opinion about what my country should do. I did not support President Bush’s decision because the 2004 election loomed. I did so because I believed he was leading us well and making informed decisions. Time may or may not prove that this war was a good decision and my opinion in 2009 as I write this is not pertinent to an answer about this President. As we look to the obstacles that stand in our way, we must learn from the past and demand that our leaders provide us with the facts and make decisions in the open. In many ways, the Obama Administration is doing well on this front. In others, they have made unfortunate and harmful decisions to continue business as usual.

The United States faces limitless opportunity and daunting impediments to reaching the shining city on a hill that has been envisioned in varying forms since John Winthrop spoke of it to his Puritan followers not long before their arrival in New England in 1630. Ronald Reagan evoked these words to describe his vision for America in the 1980’s and today you and I may see yet another gleaming city for which we should strive. But, now as in times past, Americans must do what we have always done. We must find a way to get past partisan, selfish and petty goals to ensure the country as a whole survives and thrives.

President Obama has some 40 months to go before he stands for election. We must give him time to do the job he was elected to do. We must give those elected officials who oppose this policy or that the opportunity to debate and swing public opinion to their point of view. However, if we allow our American political process to resemble a sporting match where we each select a team and victory is only achieved when one party scores the most points, America will have lost.

I believe President Obama is a person of great integrity who is interested in serving his country. I may disagree with him on some issues, but in these few short months of his term, I have never seen anything to make me question his ability to lead his countrymen in the direction of that shining city on the hill.