Frank Watson: Obama’s Legacy

Back in 2008 when Obama and McCain were getting into their campaigns I wrote an identical letter to each of them.

I explained that although I considered these United States to be the greatest country in the history of the universe I had some concerns.

My letter said that my top concern was our national debt.

We were borrowing to fund our routine expenses.

It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that this cannot be continued forever.

The interest on the debt was our largest single expense.

Sooner or later we will run out of borrowing power.

To make matters even worse, we were borrowing from countries that were not our friends.

I don’t think the Chinese would be very understanding if we would default on our loans.

My second concern was the rate at which we were exporting wealth. Our factories were shutting down across the country. We were even considering foreign sources to supply arms for our military. There was a serious proposal to outsource development of new planes for our Air Force. The biggest corporation in America was a retail store chain that bought much of its merchandise from China.

My third concern was our increasing dependence on fossil fuels. The nation runs on gasoline, and its sources are finite. I read the estimates that said we had 400 years supply of coal, and advances in oil production would push the problem well beyond my life time, but the supply is still finite. Should I be concerned about my grandchildren, or their grandchildren? So–I sent the letter to both candidates and asked how their administration would address my concerns. I received no response from McCain. I got a note from Obama asking for money.

Obama has had eight years to address my concerns. It is time to see how he has done. When I prioritized my concerns in 2008, health care was not in my top 20. I thought we had the best health care system in the world. People came from around the globe to consult with our doctors about difficult and unusual problems. Health care, however, was at the top of the new president’s list. He ramrodded a package that most Americans didn’t want, and few lawmakers took the time to read. The result left the country with more problems than we had before.

He took office just when the housing bubble hit the markets with full force. He deftly blamed the crises on lack of regulation in the market place and ran up the national debt to fund questionable projects. The Spokane VA hospital got a multi million dollar fence but no change in the quality of care for our veterans. The added requirements for mortgage loans are absurd.

Under Obama’s administration, companies continued to relocate overseas. He addressed my concerns about our dependence on fossil fuels by subsidizing fuels from grain. Then someone finally told him that it took more fuel to produce the grain the we got back, and those projects were abandoned. There is no economic forecast in which oil is not still king.

If I were to list the three biggest challenges facing America today, it would be different than it was eight years ago. The growing national debt would be number three. Number two would be an increasingly aggressive Russia on the world stage. China has scared me for a long time now, but recently, Russia scares me even more, and we seem to have no answer.

My number one concern for our country today is race relations. Obama had a unique opportunity to be a positive role model. He was there at the perfect time to usher in a new era of integration. Instead he pandered to a black constituency. He promoted the myth that those Americans of African descent have less opportunity than those of European descent. He promoted the myth that police officers nationwide target young black males. The result is that we now have routine occurrences where police are being shot by those they are sworn to serve.

I would not want that as my legacy.

(Frank Watson is a retired school teacher and long-time resident of St. John.)