Unrealistic Expectations

The inauguration of America’s first African-American President will soon be upon us. No one can argue that this is a historic event in our country’s history. Who knows? Some day we may even elect a woman as President.

I’m not here to talk about gender or race though. What I do want to discuss is the unbelievably vast amount of things that many people are expecting President-Elect Obama to be able to accomplish when he gets in to office. I fear that there are going to be a great many disappointed people when they discover that our new President will not be able to wave a magic wand and make everything that they want instantly appear.

Our country is in the midst of an economic and social crisis. The official types have finally admitted that we’ve been in a recession for almost a year. Will we continue to fall and wind up in a depression? The rate of job losses and home foreclosures shows no sign of slowing. At this rate we stand a good chance of falling into a depression.

With a massive national dept, several wars, job losses, and all the other problems facing us our soon to be inaugurated President is going to have his hands full.

History is an excellent teacher. Let’s take a look back to see what happened to other President’s faced with national crises during office:

• Franklin D. Roosevelt took office during the Great Depression when unemployment stood around 25%. I find it interesting that he blamed the depression on bankers and financiers, the quest for profit, and the self-interest basis of capitalism, a situation very similar to the one we are in now. While he was able to pass much legislation during his first 100 days in office, there were many who opposed him. This opposition followed him into his second term where he was unable to pass much legislation through Congress. Roosevelt was elected to a historic 4 terms in office, but what really brought this country back to its feet was World War II. Personally, I don’t think we need any more wars.
• Jimmy Carter had his share of economic problems while he served in office. When he took office in 1977 America was suffering rising economic inflation and an energy crisis. He accomplished a great deal of good while he was in office: creation of the Departments of Energy and Education, establishment of a national energy policy, the famous Camp David accord, and the establishment of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. However, he had many problems with Congress and was unable to get much of the legislation that he wanted passed by Congress. Very few people think of him as a good president.

So, what does this say for our next President? We need to be realistic about what he will be able to accomplish. Cities, counties, states, and even the Federal Government are getting fewer tax revenues to use to pay for all the services and support that the people need. With little funds to draw upon, there is only so much that anyone can do. We’re in a big mess. We did not get here overnight. We will not get out of this mess overnight either.

I’m not the only one thinking this way either. Check out this political cartoon by Chris Jurek. It was selected as one of the top 10 political cartoons by Time magazine.