Spring Break
What has Obama done for you?
Frank Yonkof
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Opinion
To be perfectly honest, the question had caught me off guard.
"What has Barack Obama done for you?" asked a middle-aged co-worker recently.
Truth be told, I had never really thought about it before. It's not as if President Obama hasn't done anything, but I guess I'm not looking for Obama's presidency to benefit me personally.
&bull The CIA no longer tortures people, but I guess that never really affected me.
&bull International relations, especially with Muslim countries, have been greatly improved, but I don't plan on traveling internationally anytime soon.
&bull Cash for clunkers helped stimulate auto dealerships, but I didn't get a new car out of it.
&bull The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is working to provide equal pay, but I have never been the victim of pay discrimination.
&bull GM didn't collapse, but I don't have any family members that work there.
&bull My hometown elementary school just received stimulus money from the government to build a new school, but I will never use it.
&bull The president is fending off health care attacks from the right so that Americans can afford health insurance, but I have no costly illnesses or medical debt.
So there was no way I could truthfully answer the question. President Obama has not done a thing for me personally (unless we take into account his administration's investment in the Federal Pell grant, but we will just forget about that one for now…).
What is interesting is a growing trend in this nation of unreasonably high expectations of government. Everyone is looking for his or her piece of the pie, so to speak.
Don't get me wrong, President Obama should be held accountable for everything he promised during the campaign, but unreasonably high expectations are placed on all levels of government across both party lines.
Over the weekend, I read a letter to the editor from a local man who was upset that Republican Rep. William Batchelder has not personally returned any of his phone calls. The man then went on to write about how he would not financially support Batchelder's campaign.
I wanted to ask the man why he felt entitled to a phone call from the congressman and why our tax dollars pay for congressional support staff? I also wanted to ask why anyone should care about who he supports?
These kind of high expectations are nothing new at the local level.
For years, people have complained about the state of our roads and of our schools, yet many operating levies are voted down because people don't want to pay additional taxes. Average citizens get fed up with police officers for enforcing laws, but are outraged when police are not around to prevent something bad from happening.
More recently, Obama and Democratic congressional leaders have become the poster children of this failed-government sentiment. As Michael Steele points out, Americans want government out of their lives, but still expect premium services at little to no cost…
"All across our country, most Americans oppose government intrusion in their lives…They are tired of being taxed too much for a government that delivers too little," wrote the RNC Chairman on his blog Tuesday.
Contrary to popular belief, this past week was not the one-year anniversary of Obama's presidency; that will not come for another two months. So why is everyone outraged that all of his goals have not yet been accomplished?
After all, what is the purpose of a four-year presidency when the person should be able to accomplish everything in less than a year?
Frank Yonkof is a sophomore newspaper journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at fyonkof@kent.edu.
"What has Barack Obama done for you?" asked a middle-aged co-worker recently.
Truth be told, I had never really thought about it before. It's not as if President Obama hasn't done anything, but I guess I'm not looking for Obama's presidency to benefit me personally.
&bull The CIA no longer tortures people, but I guess that never really affected me.
&bull International relations, especially with Muslim countries, have been greatly improved, but I don't plan on traveling internationally anytime soon.
&bull Cash for clunkers helped stimulate auto dealerships, but I didn't get a new car out of it.
&bull The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is working to provide equal pay, but I have never been the victim of pay discrimination.
&bull GM didn't collapse, but I don't have any family members that work there.
&bull My hometown elementary school just received stimulus money from the government to build a new school, but I will never use it.
&bull The president is fending off health care attacks from the right so that Americans can afford health insurance, but I have no costly illnesses or medical debt.
So there was no way I could truthfully answer the question. President Obama has not done a thing for me personally (unless we take into account his administration's investment in the Federal Pell grant, but we will just forget about that one for now…).
What is interesting is a growing trend in this nation of unreasonably high expectations of government. Everyone is looking for his or her piece of the pie, so to speak.
Don't get me wrong, President Obama should be held accountable for everything he promised during the campaign, but unreasonably high expectations are placed on all levels of government across both party lines.
Over the weekend, I read a letter to the editor from a local man who was upset that Republican Rep. William Batchelder has not personally returned any of his phone calls. The man then went on to write about how he would not financially support Batchelder's campaign.
I wanted to ask the man why he felt entitled to a phone call from the congressman and why our tax dollars pay for congressional support staff? I also wanted to ask why anyone should care about who he supports?
These kind of high expectations are nothing new at the local level.
For years, people have complained about the state of our roads and of our schools, yet many operating levies are voted down because people don't want to pay additional taxes. Average citizens get fed up with police officers for enforcing laws, but are outraged when police are not around to prevent something bad from happening.
More recently, Obama and Democratic congressional leaders have become the poster children of this failed-government sentiment. As Michael Steele points out, Americans want government out of their lives, but still expect premium services at little to no cost…
"All across our country, most Americans oppose government intrusion in their lives…They are tired of being taxed too much for a government that delivers too little," wrote the RNC Chairman on his blog Tuesday.
Contrary to popular belief, this past week was not the one-year anniversary of Obama's presidency; that will not come for another two months. So why is everyone outraged that all of his goals have not yet been accomplished?
After all, what is the purpose of a four-year presidency when the person should be able to accomplish everything in less than a year?
Frank Yonkof is a sophomore newspaper journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at fyonkof@kent.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 22
Yoko
posted 11/06/09 @ 12:31 AM EST
I got more money for school. That's enough. If health care passes, I'll be even happier.
SERETHIA TUFTS
posted 11/06/09 @ 9:11 AM EST
Why are so many people expecting President, Obama to fix all the debts and problems in which he inherit? Get real people and stop looking to find everyhting wrong with the president's efforts merely because the shock of a black president has not warn off yet!
POR Economy: Tanks a Lot!
posted 11/06/09 @ 9:58 AM EST
I you read the news today, oh boy.
10.2% UNEMPLOYMENT... welcome back to Carter's "misery index"-- courtesy of the Pelosi-Obama-Reid (POR) triumverate. (Continued…)
Say What??
posted 11/06/09 @ 11:06 AM EST
• The CIA no longer tortures people, but I guess that never really affected me.
(Great but every other country uses these techniques and it was how we got the information we needed to keep this country safe)
• International relations, especially with Muslim countries, have been greatly improved, but I don't plan on traveling internationally anytime soon. (Continued…)
James Here
posted 11/06/09 @ 12:06 PM EST
What has Obama done for me? Absolutely nothing.
Thanks for the "stimulus" check last year. I, or my children, will one day look forward to paying you back tenfold for the $600. (Continued…)
ben
posted 11/06/09 @ 2:46 PM EST
What has Obama done for me? He has made me not so ashamed to be an American. I was mortified that George W. Bush was our national spokesperson for so long. (Continued…)
The Descendants Of Can
posted 11/06/09 @ 3:13 PM EST
1) He has taken a big fat reality bite out of the gullible asses that put him in the White House for change.
2) He has outed himself as a pathetic ceremonial clown heading a puppet government that sucks up to the industries that dress them. (Continued…)
Gdogg Bush
posted 11/06/09 @ 3:44 PM EST
I did a waaaaay better job. Me and my homeys all think so. Peace ya'll.
Mk
posted 11/07/09 @ 10:55 AM EST
Obama is doing a lot for us and around the world. Before Obama we had a Vice President who hid in a closet and did his best to piss off virtually every single country on the face of the earth, compare that to Joe Biden who is going around the world acting as a good will ambassador. (Continued…)
mimi
posted 11/07/09 @ 12:21 PM EST
What has he done for us?
He has given us more debt in 9 months than GW did in 8 years. And he wants to continue to increase that number...anything to have the people dependant on government, that's his motto. (Continued…)
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