President Barack Obama celebrated the anniversary of his inauguration Jan. 20, and many people have been left to question when the “change” they were promised a year ago will come about.
Obama’s ticket to the White House was his promise to revise the system at a time when it was desperately needed.
But looking back, nothing has really changed from the way things were before.
Obama’s promises of change inspired people to hope for bigger and better things from their government.
One year later, some have awakened from that dream only to realize that this nation’s problems have not been fully resolved.
Many people have gotten worked up over the controversial health care reform proposed by Obama.
With Republican Scott Brown winning the vacant Senate seat from Massachusetts, effectively quashing the Democrats’ filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, the future for the proposed health care reform looks grim.
In an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, Obama said Brown was elected for the same reasons he had been — because people want change.
If that is the case, then the people of Massachusetts apparently want a kind of change different from what Obama is striving for.
In the interview, Obama said he supported health care reform because problems with the health care system contributed to the economic recession.
But health care is only a small portion of the nation’s economic woes.
Unemployment is still high, and the banking industry, which received federal stimulus funds that Obama is unapologetic for, has not yet weathered the financial storm.
Obama also said he had been concerned with the economy since his inauguration, but his year in office does not reflect that.
One year of a presidency may not be enough time to tell whether things will get better, but with Obama putting most of his efforts into health care reform, what will happen if it does not pass?
In the middle of a crisis, time is precious; one year can be crucial to the country’s future.
Certain polls show that a majority of the country does not agree with the health care reform as currently constituted, but Obama said that Americans are unaware of certain provisions the bill contains and that those provisions will benefit a great deal of people.
Americans don’t have time for that kind of political double-talk.
Obama seems to be just as optimistic as he was around this time last year, but for how long will he remain so?
It is too soon to say what will come about in 2010, but after last year, we’re still hoping for some much-needed change.
Karen Ramirez is a psychology junior and may be reached at [email protected]
