What happened to Change?

In November 2008 the American people elected Barack Obama to office on a platform of hope and change. It's now almost September of 2009 and little has changed and people are losing hope(at least they should be).

One of the key points of Obama's campaign was the issue of fixing America's broken health care system. The mixed public-private health care system that we use in this country is the single most expensive in the world, medical debt is the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States. The cost of health care for a single person is higher than any other nation in the world.

When confronting the issues facing health care reform in the 2008 elections Barack Obama campaigned with a platform of Universal Health Care. If you were to believe the promises made during the campaign, Obama wanted to create a system in which, through the creation of the National Health Insurance Exchange, both private insurance plans and a government run option. People would have health care regardless of the status of their health, and premiums would not vary based on that health status. Adults would not be required to have health insurance, but parents would be required to provide health insurance for their children. Obama's proposal included implementing guaranteed eligibility for affordable health care for all Americans, paid for by insurance reform, reducing costs, and requiring employers to either furnish meaningful coverage or contribute to a new public plan. In July 2008 while campaigning Obama promised to "bring down premiums by $2,500 for the typical family." Sounds great, but is Obama doing what he promised?

Well, not really. As of August 2009 our President has seemed to totally forgotten about his earlier promises. The bill currently on the congressional floor, supported by President Obama, would require all employers and individuals to buy health insurance or pay a penalty as well as removing the option for a public health care system from insurance choices. This doesn't exactly sound like what Obama was talking about on the campaign trail.

Now, I may get jumped for saying this, but it's times like this that I wish Barack Obama was more like George W. Bush. Now hold on a second before storming out and never reading this blog again. There wasn't anyone who was more anti-Bush than me in those dark, dark years. The man was an imbecile, war mongering coke head who believed that he was on a mission from god. These are not the qualities that one should look for in a leader. Obama is pretty much the exact opposite of Bush in almost every way possible. Obama is intelligent, thoughtful and well spoken. He's someone who takes his time and ways his options carefully. But he's also kind of a pussy.

If George W. Bush had one quality that can be respected it's the fact that he stuck to his guns. He never wavered, always pushed his agenda (or Cheney's agenda, or whatever corporate agenda) forward without doubt that he was right. We could use a little more of that attitude from Obama right about now. The compromises that Obama has made in regards to health care reform are gigantic, from promising us all Universal Health Care while campaigning to now basically more of the same bullshit that we've always had in this country. It's times like these that require strong leadership, but instead we've been left with a weak-willed president who doesn't want to offend anyone.

Alright Barack, I see through you now. You're not the bastion of hope and change that you promised in the election. You're just another politician who's unwilling to take a strong stand when it's important. You've broken promises, you've waffled and flip-flopped and shown your true colors. I'm sick of politicians. At the very least George W. Bush never gave a fuck what anyone thought about him or his actions. Not congress, not the voters or the rest of the world. Take a page from his book and grow a pair.

That's all.

-Jon J