There is a part of our past that can be used to judge if our country has the capacity to turn around the economy, create new jobs and put our financial and fiscal house in order. We the people have had some bad times and some really bad, bad times like the great depression and the situation George Bush left the country in. WWII was a bad time but was not created by our own hand.
We were taught in school that the Dark Ages could best be described as that period "when learning seemed to stop." That could also apply when our leaders fail to learn from the past. We now find ourselves in a position where action has to be taken that is out of the norm for our usual problems. We don't usually have to bail out our financial institutions at a cost or $700 billion or spend $787 billion to stimulate the economy. That is not the norm for our country.
Learning from the past is the key to the future, so is precedent and that is where President Obama and his administration comes into play. If you are asking yourself why is that, the answer is because he is a democrat. Now before anyones nose gets out of joint let me offer an explaination. It is true that some of both democratic and republican Presidents of the past had administrations where the country and its people did not do so well. However, every piece of major legislation that advanced the quality of life for the people came out of a democratic administration.
Keep in mind that the best economy, best job creation, lowest unemployment, lowest crime rates, record budget surpluses, lowest drop in the poverty levels, the best stock market gains and largest increase in the average workers salary all took place on a democratic President's watch. The only two Presidents to balance the federal budget in the last 48 years were democrats. Medicare and Social Security are democratic programs, where would our seniors be today if that were not available? And yes, the democrats were also better at controlling federal spending. That fact was pointed out in a previous article.
So there is a precedent for President Obama to follow in dealing with the situation the country is faced with. That and learning from the past is Obama's road map to once again move the country and its people forward to new prosperity. With leadership, courage and the wisdom to understand and correct the mistakes of the past all can be accomplished.
