Challenges of Obama's Presidency - Essay Example

In America, domestic political affairs rarely attract debate unless these affairs have some strong influence on international affairs. Nevertheless, the political affairs of America merit consideration due to the impact they have on the international plane. The incumbent president Barack Obama is on the verge of clearing his last term. Comparing Obama’s tenure with the preceding presidents since World War II, one can see failure as a common. This judgment leans on both the presidency and the political environment surrounding and within the presidency. Midterm elections just ended. However, the president and the Congress are not in good working terms. A situation such as this has little significance, arguing from the angle of the once popular presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower, who found themselves in a similar situation (Obama 5). The real problem in America sets in due to the division in institutions and growing public opinion against the president. The Challenges Jobs top the list of challenges. The old industrial economy is almost doing away with all idle class jobs. In addition, the manufacturing economy is completely dead as it can only afford one third of Americans middle-class incomes and job security. If America fails to create more jobs in the manufacturing industry to replace the old jobs, more people will be unemployed and incomes will keep dwindling. The next challenge is collapse in service provision. There is increased demand for healthcare and education services. However, the capacity to provide these services is quite low. Systems in place for service delivery are dysfunctional. Consequently, ravaging inflation has developed, with costs of essential services rocketing. The problems have to be sorted out as soon as possible. The increasing costs of healthcare will drive the country bankrupt while higher costs of education will thwart the ambitions of the younger generation. America needs responsive governance that does not cost citizens too much (Gordon 1). The third challenge is the demographic transition. The current pension and social insurance system was established on the premise that higher birth rates would be progressive, and each generation will have more people than the preceding generation. It was assumed that the country would provide for the old without violating the needs of the younger generation. However, despite the position of the US in comparison with other countries, its entitlement programs and pension systems face numerous challenges such as growing competition between retirees and the remaining population. Employment Obama took over office when the employment situation was at its worst. The Great Depression caused ripples in the job sector, which have never ben calmed adequately. Americans thought he could make a change during his tenure. However, Obama has turned out to be a great disappointment. He has never had a job plan for America. Surprisingly, however, Americans did not put Obama to task during his presidential campaign for the second term (Obama 6). This was so ridiculous arguing from the point that Obama did not even attempt to create jobs. Presently, Obama still does not have any actionable job plan. The fact that Obama was reelected after having ignored the unemployment situation in America meant that he could not tackle the problem in his second term. Americans indeed wanted him to tackle the problem. Most Americans admit that the problem of unemployment is the biggest in America. In prioritizing their needs for the president, a good number of Americans mentioned job creation during Obama’s campaign for the second term. His challenger – Mitt Romney – accused him of slowing down the fight against unemployment. However, Romney did not take advantage of the situation to discredit Obama’s reelection. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in America is somewhere around 12.6% (Economist 1). It is common for governments to assume that low rates of unemployment steer economic success. Obama seems to be subscribing to this school of thought. However, this theory has not yet been proven. According to reliable studies, only fewer economies have succeeded with abundant middle-class jobs. The higher skilled jobs boost productivity, innovation, and efficiency. The European economy recovered fast after the World War II because it maximized and strategically leveraged its experienced workforce. Human knowledge is not similar to machines – it strengthens and increases in value when used more and developed. Obama should create jobs for Americans especially the low class to achieve equal economic growth. Obama’s Presidency The presidencies above failed over scandal, economy, and wars respectively. It is hard to fit Obama’s case in any of these scenarios. The 40% making up the opposition challenged Obama because of several reasons. Moreover, complex reasons explain why Obama lost his center (Indyk and Kenneth 1). In the light of the timing of Obama’s decline, one can see that the growth of the Islamic State was an intruding factor that neither Obama nor his party was prepared to tackle. Historically, wars that caught the president off guard without clear response strategies often harmed the presidency greatly (Bacevich 1). World War I that was fought during the tenure of Woodrow Wilson was short and successful. On the other hand, World War II fought during Franklin Roosevelt’s tenure was longer. This war failed in the beginning, but one could smell a successful ending as indeed happened. On the contrary, the Vietnam, Korean, and Iraq wars did not fail due to the length, but the lack of proper strategy on the part of the presidency. It is apparent that Obama was drowned in the political abyss because he took part in the war for 6 years, but he seemed to know very little on how to subdue it. Much of the failure is also evident in the domestic policy. Despite the fact that the legislature (controlled by the Republicans) can pass any form of legislation, veto power rests with the president. To overcome the veto power, both houses will need to vote it out by at least two-thirds majority. A serious problem lies in this dispensation. The president is unpopular. In addition, a large number of the Senate and House of Representatives will seek re-election. This is reason enough for the president’s allies in the Congress to be cautious enough not to be held responsible for supporting the president’s vetoes. In the same way, as few Democrats needed Obama to campaign for them, few Democrats wish to be part of the president’s vetoes. Truman, Nixon, and Johnson broke down when their representatives in Congress wanted them out of office. Service provision Education occasionally finds its way into Obama’s public agenda. Of late, America’s education system is faced by one major challenge – access. Funding and poverty levels contribute to poor access to education. There have been huge budget cuts for public schools throughout Obama’s tenure. When funding is inadequate, the schools suffer from staff shortage, fewer resources, which bring down the quality of service to students. Obama should ensure that public schools receive more funds to improve education quality and accommodate more students. Close to 22% of US students cannot access education because they live below poverty level. Poverty means a family whose annual income is $23,050 and has four members. Across 17 states in America, low-income students form the majority of students attending public schools. In the near future, the poverty levels in some states will be well above 25% (Martin & Jeremy 1). Students from such families tend to drop out from school in most cases. Without enough food and sleep, students cannot perform better at school. The government should solve the poverty situation, which revolves around job creation as discussed in the preceding paragraphs. Demographic Transition The US security system is facing financial challenges due to the demographic transition. The increase in life expectancy and decrease in fertility rates are slowly turning the US to an aging population. Presently, 12% of the population is above 65 years. This figure could shoot to 23% in 2080. In addition, the working-age population could decrease from 60% to 54% in 2080 (Korb 162). This shows that America’s social security system is having a decreased worker-to-beneficiary ratio. Policymakers have a huge task to make things straight. The first policy option could be to make the social security system solvent. This will lower retirement benefits by indexing the life expectancy or raising the normal age of retirement. This move will create the impression that people live longer. On the contrary, reducing retirement benefits could potentially harm economically viable retirees. The policymakers could also use progressive price indexing as well as protecting the benefits of lifetime earners with low income. In addition, the policymakers can raise additional revenue to sustain the social security system. The Challenge to Presidential Aspirants Aspiring presidential candidates to succeed Obama should capitalize on the foregoing weaknesses in their campaigns. Obama has put much attention on foreign policy issues. He has concentrated much on wars with the Middle East nations while ignoring some of the most pertinent problems facing Americans as discussed in this paper. The incoming presidents should make the lives of Americans better (Haas 74) by killing poverty through creation of more jobs while also ensuring that social security is top notch. Americans should not be suffering several centuries after independence. All Americans should realize the American Dream in entirety. Works Cited Bacevich, Andrew J. "The Tyranny of Defense Inc." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 04 Jan. 2011. Web. Brennan, Rick. "Withdrawal Symptoms." Foreign Affairs 93.6 (2014): 25- 36. Academic Search Complete. Web. Gordon, Noah. "Does America Need an Organizing Principle?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 14 Aug. 2014. Web. Haass, Richard N. "The Unraveling." Foreign Affairs 93.6 (2014): 70-79. Academic Search Complete. Web. Hartmann, Margaret. "The Complete Guide to 2016 Presidential Candidates Updated." Daily Intelligencer. New York Magazine, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. Hunt, Albert R. "Obamas Final Legacy to Be Set by Foreign Policy." BloombergView. N.p., 8 Feb. 2015. 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