PRESIDENT OBAMA SO FAR

Since I invested my precious vote in President Barack Obama, I feel I have every right to judge his progress and see if he has met my expectations of him. I was going to wait until his one year anniversary, but so much has happened and so much of his agenda has been put forth that I think it may be time to do an earlier assessment.

First, let me be clear on one thing so that any of you Barack fans out there don't have to bruise your little typing fingers hammering out an angry reply. I know that he can't fix all the problems created by the past administrations in just 10 months. In fact, I give him a full year to start his agenda and then another year for the actions to show results- but by the mid-term elections, the excuses had better end. That is the exact position I take on all politicians. They don't get elected by promising they can't fix things and I'm not about to give any one of them a free pass because they're good at making excuses. We have one of those politicians for a Governor here in Michigan and it wore thin 5 years ago. I also feel the need to remind those of you leaning right that it took Ronald Reagan 2 full years to reverse the damage of Jimmy Carter and since Ron is your "Great President", you should give Obama at least that long to show some of the same results. Now, with that in mind, let's see how Barack is doing so far.

*Foreign Policy*

This was on the list of reasons I voted for Obama. I had hoped for better relations overseas and so far I got it. Admittedly, they may even like him too much, for instance, by giving him a Nobel Peace Prize. But it is nice to see a little positive attitude overseas. On his dealing with dictators though I would give him a "D-". From North Korea's Kim Jong Il to Iran's Supreme Leader, the dictators of the world are playing us like fools. I believe Iran will be nuclear by the end of his first term and any one that thinks otherwise is as naive as Obama's Foreign Policy Team. Sanctions will not work and neither will diplomacy or world condemnation. The Dems have the bad habit of trusting dictators.

*The Economy*

I keep hearing that the economy is "turning around", mostly from the MSM (Main Stream Media) that desperately wants Obama's Administration to succeed. Most all of my economic professors, however, are quietly telling me that the current upswing in the markets is the result of artificial stimulation and an adjustment for the overselling during the crash. I agree with that assessment. Despite what most Liberals believe, you can't just keep printing money and handing it out. Inflation is looming and the Dollar is shrinking. Unemployment is still rising and way too much "stimulus" money is being spent to patch holes in state budgets. Sooner or later that money is going to run out and then the real work will start.

*The War in Iraq*

The MSM seems to have a serious memory problem when it comes to Iraq. Every liberal writer for every liberal newspaper is now gushing over our victory. Events like the recent bombing in Baghdad are no longer proof positive that we can't win. If G.W. were still in office Cindy Sheehan would be on every station, Code Pink would be demonstrating and every news station minus FOX would be talking about how hopeless the situation is. The fact is, things are bad there but stabilizing. The best credit I can give Prez Obama on Iraq is that he continued the plans of his generals and didn't follow the "grab defeat from the jaws of victory" plan of John Kerry and the rest of the Californication Crowd.

*The Afghan War*

The MSM also seems to have a serious memory problem when it comes to Afghanistan. The "Unwinnable War" now seems winnable to them with little else changing beyond the name of our President. This War has gotten considerably worse since Obama took over. Fanatics are encouraged by Barack's passive tones and the Democrat Party looks ready to cut and run. We only have two real choices in Afghanistan; an all-out effort and continuing presence or withdraw to attack installations and training camps when the situation allows. I'm sorry to say this but, I don't see a good option here. Perhaps after the first nuclear weapon goes off we will realize (with the rest of the world) that extreme measures are the only answer in an extreme land. Until then, the world won't tolerate what needs to be done and Obama's hands are tied. I don't fault Barack for this one, but his mouth made promises that his ass can't keep.

*Bipartisanship*

Don't make me laugh. Isolating Fox? Attacking Right Wing Radio? The only villains the Democrats ever recognize is on the other side of the aisle. Maybe if we could get the terrorists of the world to join the Republican Party, Fox News, Talk Radio or the Sarah Palin Fan Club they would finally understand that "evil" exists outside the U.S. borders. My advice to Barrack? Get some thicker skin and accept that not everyone that disagrees with you is an idiot or worse.

*Health Care*

I'm going withhold judgment until the final bill passes. So far it looks just like everything else that was created by government in committee-a complete mess with something for everyone to hate. I have one question though. Whatever happened to the "Repeal the Bush's Tax Cuts for the wealthy to pay for health care."? Suddenly that's off the table and taxing my plan is on. Remember, simply buying Catastrophic Coverage for 25 million people from the existing Health Care Providers would only cost about $75 billion a year (and that's the high figure) and wouldn't change anyone's present coverage.

*Domestic Policy*

O.K., a quick run-down. Let's see. No gun legislation on tap-good (In fact, so far our rights have expanded.) Leaving Medical Marijuana up to the states-also good. More corporate regulation-only good if it comes with a bureaucracy willing to enforce it. Nation Debt-Very, very, bad. Assorted suck-ups to the Gay Community-mostly don't care.

Overall, I would advise President Obama to focus more on the real issues and avoid things like campaigning for the Olympics. His Presidency will be defined by the Economy, the Wars and Health Care. It's always better to do a few things well than several things badly. I feel good about Barack's growing understanding of the complexities of the world but I would caution him to listen more to the Republicans when dealing with dictators and save his fellow Dem's opinions for dealing with Wall Street. Ten months isn't long enough to make much of an impact, but already Obama is worrying me on the financial front. The good news is, he does seem to be learning. Let's hope President Obama is as good student as he is a politician. H.C.