We are a year down the road into the Obama Administration and the failures, disillusionments, disgusts and defeats continue to pile up. In spite of relentless rhetoric, soaring speeches and the media pouring on syrupy praise President Obama and his administration have managed to squander overwhelming poll numbers in his favor and make all the wrong moves in spite of historical precedents showing the way out of our economic disaster – which he and his people have managed to make considerably worse than it was when he took the reins. At the same time the Obama Administration seems to be working overtime to find ways to diminish the prestige of the United States.
In the Carter years we were treated to the “Misery Index” to reflect the pain the country was feeling at the failures the Carter Administration inflicted on us. It is about time to roll out our own version of the Misery Index – the Obama Dissatisfaction Index or ODI – to reflect the pain we are feeling now under the Obama Administration. Instead of simply measuring the economic malaise we are in, we need to have a more sweeping index to include his failures on his multiple levels. Though I have no idea how to quantify this index to make it into a rolling number we can track, I think these are some of the areas we need to include in our ODI.
· Economy: The economy has been on the minds of Americans for over eight years now. When the Democrats decided to make the economy into an issue when it was roaring they chose to tell Americans that what we were seeing – what the economic indicators were telling us was a good economy – was not the true picture. Eventually their negativity fulfilled itself, yet they thought it was an easy fix. During the 2008 campaign Americans were promised that if elected Obama would fix the economy. He and his cohorts knew where the economy stood – though they later tried to make us believe it was worse than they were told – yet they promised they had the answers to fix it if only we would elect them. It turns out all they have are a litany of excuses and a lot of whining about what they inherited. This category includes unemployment, the growing deficit, government spending and eventually runaway inflation. The failures of this administration are going to be devastating to the United States if Obama continues as he is.
· National Security: The total lack of understanding of the threat of terrorists against the American people is chilling. The first year of the Obama Administration has been aimed at convincing the American people there is no terror threat against the United States – until there was an attack against us. The White House went so far as to issue a list of words such as ‘terrorist’ which are no longer to be used. That does not solve the problem of terror attacks against the United States as we were shown on Christmas Day. Nor does closing Guantanamo Bay and bringing the inmates to U.S. soil. Then there is the idiotic decision to bring five terrorists to New York to stand trial just blocks from where they destroyed the World Trade Center. Already some of the evidence has been tossed by one of the judges hearing the trial. Every move of this administration appears to place our security in more and more peril.
· International Relations: We were promised ‘a new era’ of international relations in which the United States would be respected. The opposite has been the result of the Obama ‘Apology Tour’ around the world. Our friends and enemies alike now understand that our leader despises his country and will not stand up to protect our allies. Nothing could be more devastating in the international arena. That is perceived as weakness. In his attempt to gain the friendship of such countries as Iran, Venezuela and Cuba Obama has sold out old allies like Israel and after only a year has shown that he is not formidable at all – and has lost the respect of all those he sought to win over. The United States is no longer respected nor is our leader feared in the dens of terror. Our leader is a joke and we are seen as lacking the resolve to finish the job – even by our closest allies.
· Domestic Respect: This should be simply a factor of looking at the nose-diving Obama poll numbers and saying we need to figure out a simple equation to attach to his poll numbers versus where he should be – say against the average presidential approval rating at this point in their administrations. The Obama Administration is lower at this point than any previous president. To get the true measure of the Obama Administration we also have to add his policies and his ability to throw his support to others to get them elected. When he goes out to campaign for candidates he has not been able to push ANY over the goal line. His policies are polling in the thirties and he is 0 for 3 in campaigning. Even though his personal approval is still in the mid-40’s, the policies he is pushing are doing worse.
There are several other areas that could be tracked which would indicate how far out of step Obama and his administration are with the American people, but I find the less complicated a formula the better. The Obama Administration has lost its magic and with it they have lost the approval of the American people – and the world. Now we need to track how far down Obama is taking us and hopefully turn back the tide before he destroys our country.
In the Carter years we were treated to the “Misery Index” to reflect the pain the country was feeling at the failures the Carter Administration inflicted on us. It is about time to roll out our own version of the Misery Index – the Obama Dissatisfaction Index or ODI – to reflect the pain we are feeling now under the Obama Administration. Instead of simply measuring the economic malaise we are in, we need to have a more sweeping index to include his failures on his multiple levels. Though I have no idea how to quantify this index to make it into a rolling number we can track, I think these are some of the areas we need to include in our ODI.
· Economy: The economy has been on the minds of Americans for over eight years now. When the Democrats decided to make the economy into an issue when it was roaring they chose to tell Americans that what we were seeing – what the economic indicators were telling us was a good economy – was not the true picture. Eventually their negativity fulfilled itself, yet they thought it was an easy fix. During the 2008 campaign Americans were promised that if elected Obama would fix the economy. He and his cohorts knew where the economy stood – though they later tried to make us believe it was worse than they were told – yet they promised they had the answers to fix it if only we would elect them. It turns out all they have are a litany of excuses and a lot of whining about what they inherited. This category includes unemployment, the growing deficit, government spending and eventually runaway inflation. The failures of this administration are going to be devastating to the United States if Obama continues as he is.
· National Security: The total lack of understanding of the threat of terrorists against the American people is chilling. The first year of the Obama Administration has been aimed at convincing the American people there is no terror threat against the United States – until there was an attack against us. The White House went so far as to issue a list of words such as ‘terrorist’ which are no longer to be used. That does not solve the problem of terror attacks against the United States as we were shown on Christmas Day. Nor does closing Guantanamo Bay and bringing the inmates to U.S. soil. Then there is the idiotic decision to bring five terrorists to New York to stand trial just blocks from where they destroyed the World Trade Center. Already some of the evidence has been tossed by one of the judges hearing the trial. Every move of this administration appears to place our security in more and more peril.
· International Relations: We were promised ‘a new era’ of international relations in which the United States would be respected. The opposite has been the result of the Obama ‘Apology Tour’ around the world. Our friends and enemies alike now understand that our leader despises his country and will not stand up to protect our allies. Nothing could be more devastating in the international arena. That is perceived as weakness. In his attempt to gain the friendship of such countries as Iran, Venezuela and Cuba Obama has sold out old allies like Israel and after only a year has shown that he is not formidable at all – and has lost the respect of all those he sought to win over. The United States is no longer respected nor is our leader feared in the dens of terror. Our leader is a joke and we are seen as lacking the resolve to finish the job – even by our closest allies.
· Domestic Respect: This should be simply a factor of looking at the nose-diving Obama poll numbers and saying we need to figure out a simple equation to attach to his poll numbers versus where he should be – say against the average presidential approval rating at this point in their administrations. The Obama Administration is lower at this point than any previous president. To get the true measure of the Obama Administration we also have to add his policies and his ability to throw his support to others to get them elected. When he goes out to campaign for candidates he has not been able to push ANY over the goal line. His policies are polling in the thirties and he is 0 for 3 in campaigning. Even though his personal approval is still in the mid-40’s, the policies he is pushing are doing worse.
There are several other areas that could be tracked which would indicate how far out of step Obama and his administration are with the American people, but I find the less complicated a formula the better. The Obama Administration has lost its magic and with it they have lost the approval of the American people – and the world. Now we need to track how far down Obama is taking us and hopefully turn back the tide before he destroys our country.
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