Posted by Shyam Moondra
Republicans are in complete disarray. They have followed a policy of "No" on cooperating with Democrats on major issues such as health care and financial regulations, but their negative policy approach has backfired. Rather than gaining popular support, the Republicans have actually lost ground. The scandalous behavior of the staff at RNC, where they went partying at strip joints and charged their RNC expense accounts, has made things worse for the party. Republicans, who take pride in family values, look like hypocrites. Campaign donors feel betrayed and that has negatively affected the in-flow of campaign contributions. Republicans also have no front-runner, who could challenge President Obama in 2012. The lack of leadership and focus within the Republican Party has splintered the party and driven many Republicans to join the ranks of the Tea Party. This division will siphon off the votes and further weaken the Republican Party. All of these Republican problems are mainly due to the absence of strong leaders in the Congress and at the RNC. It's time they replace Senate Minority Leader McConnell, House Minority Leader Boehner, and RNC Chairman Steele. Republicans also need to adopt a policy of constructive engagement and focus on solving people's problems rather than be seen as obstructionist.
Republicans have been counting on Obama's failure on major issues, but so far luck has not favored them. Obama is in fact on a roll. He got health care reform done, something that many presidents before him tried and failed to do. Obama also got TARP approved (a program initiated by President Bush), which did stabilize the banking system, in spite of the fact that American people were not in favor of using tax-payer's money to save the rouge banks. Obama got $700 bi stimulus program passed by Congress in spite of the strong Republican opposition. By most accounts, the stimulus program has worked in stopping the economic slide (cover story of Business Week, April 19, 2010). Obama successfully concluded a new SALT treaty with Russia. Some of Obama's other accomplishments include:
· Reformed the student loan program.
· Financial reforms are on their way to becoming a law.
· His aggressive Afghanistan policy is working with the Taliban and Al Qaeda on the run.
· Iraq exit strategy seems to be on track following the recent successful elections there.
· Got the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, Sandra Sotomayor, confirmed by the Congress. Now that Justice Stevens is retiring, Obama has an opportunity to appoint another woman on the Supreme Court.
· Proposed a plan for offshore drilling, strongly favored by the Republicans. He has also provided billions of dollars in research grants for the development of alternative energy technologies.
· Initiated the work on completely reshaping the tax code by eliminating the loopholes that many rich individuals and corporations use to escape from paying their fair share of taxes. The Board led by Paul Volcker will issue recommendations by the end of the year.
· Reversed Bush's ban on stem cell research.
· Made it easier for women to sue for job discrimination.
· Extended health care to millions of children.
· Extended the National Service program.
· Set aside huge tracts of wilderness for federal protection.
· Proposed a nationwide super-speed train system.
· Provided strong leadership at the U.N. climate change conference in formulating a consensus.
· He took a small step towards Cuba by allowing family visits and remittances of money from the U.S. to Cuba. Cuba is a small and impoverished country and it is no threat to the U.S. Obama must take further steps such as dropping the trade embargo leading up to establishing full diplomatic relationship with Cuba.
· Obama gave the orders to shoot the Somali pirates and free the American hostage, dispelling many Republicans' fear that Obama is weak and he lacks resolve to deal with the evil people in the world.
· He seems to be succeeding in getting a consensus on imposing a new round of sanctions on Iran on the nuclear weapon issue. As a result of Obama's tough stance, North Korea is inching towards resuming the six-party talks on nuclear disarmament.
· Obama is showing strong leadership on the issue of eradication of nuclear weapons throughout the world by organizing a conference in Washington, DC which is expected to be attended by the heads of state of 46 countries.
· Obama has been successful in improving the image of the United States around the world, especially in the Islamic countries.
President Obama, who was initially aloof from the bill writing process, has begun to show leadership and has racked up an impressive long list of accomplishments in spite of Republican's total lack of support in a short period of just one year. The American people reward hard work and accomplishments. Even though some people may have reservations about his approach to health care reforms, but they are also mindful that we needed to take the first step on the health care issue. Republicans are miscalculating that their non-cooperation will somehow win them votes. At the end of the day, the people would want their problems solved, so it's very unlikely that they would reward those who are doing nothing. It's time Republicans stop praying for Obama's bad luck and start contributing constructively to solve nation's problems.
