100 Days. That's all, just 100 days. Why is it that the first 100 days is so important? It's only slightly less than 7% of the overall time a president spends in office for his first term. It is often said that the first 100 days of a new presidency sets the tone for the rest of the time spent in office. While this may be the typical case, I'm not sure it's such a good metric. I think there's a lot more to a presidency than the first 100 days. Hell, look at Bush... 9/11 happened long after Bush's first 100, even 200 days. There's no telling what would have happened had 9/11 been averted.
Regardless, let's take a quick look at what Obama has done:
And he continues to do more. These are just a few of the "high visibility" changes he has made, but there's much more to this presidency.
How about his approach to diplomacy? Shaking hands, bowing, etc. In other words, showing proper respect to other world leaders. It's pretty much common sense that if you show respect to someone else, they're much more likely to show respect to you.
What about hope? Obama ran on a campaign of hope and change and he's bringing both, in force. For the first time in years I'm happy to be an American. I'm eager to see what Obama does and how we can move forward as a country. He has inspired me to do more, get involved, and speak my mind. He welcomes differing opinions, without belittling or outright ignoring people.
And leadership! Let's not forget leadership! He is truly leading this country, rather than playing a game of let's hide the truth. He's acting like a real leader should, making decisions when he needs to, but keeping an open mind and asking for advice when he needs it. It's amazing to finally see a president who can admit that he doesn't know something and is reluctant to speak about it until he learns more.
So how has he done in his first 100 days? A hell of a lot better than some of his predecessors, and that's all that counts. No grade needed, I just want him to keep it up!
Initially, I found this teabagging thing to be pretty funny. I mean, far be it from me to say you don't have the right to protest. Hell, if you want to get out there and protest wearing white socks, or jump up and down about having to obey gravity, then by all means, don't let me stop you. So while I may ridicule the movement, I definitely believe in their right to have an opinion.
I did no, however, expect to drive home this afternoon and see them throwing one of these tea parties, right here in my town. Though, after thinking about it, maybe it isn't quite as surprising. Let me explain.
I live in a relatively small town. It's a nice area, moderately decent housing, low crime, and decent proximity to local markets. We even have a Walmart, go us. However, I wouldn't exactly categorize the area as high class. Middle class, maybe, definitely leaning towards lower middle class. Incomes are on the low end, with many residents on welfare and receiving food stamps. While some of the people in this area are educated, I'd wager that less than 50% have a college education. Overall, it's a typical small town in rural America.
After looking at what kind of town I live in, you may also find yourself amazed that people are out there protesting raised taxes. The only taxes raised at this point are taxes on those making $250,000 or more per year. And those aren't tax raises, but rather an expiration of the tax cuts that Bush put in place. There are very few people around here who can claim to have been able to take advantage of those cuts, and I doubt very much that they'll be out there protesting, especially in the rain. In fact, if you look out across the country at all of the protestors, the only ones who are possibly making that much will be the news people covering the news, and even then, only if they're the high powered anchors. So why are these people out protesting?
I'll hazard a guess as to why. Fear. The economy is in a tailspin, jobs are scarce, and people are looking for someone to blame. Blaming Wall Street has quelled them for a time, but now they want more. Wall Street is more of an abstract idea and it's tough to stay focused on. Obama, though, is a single person, and in the most powerful office in America. Obviously he has the power to fix things, and since he hasn't done it already, then he's obviously planning to make it worse. He's out to tax everyone to death so that only the rich are left! Obviously!
Seriously, though, taxes suck. They do! I hate taxes. I hate paying taxes over and over and over again. I pay sales tax, local tax, county tax, state tax, federal tax, school tax, school real estate tax, county real estate tax, and there are probably others I'm missing. At the end of the day, I spend more time paying taxes than anything else! I'd much rather keep all my money and spend it the way I want to. However, I'm also well aware that the government needs money to function. They provide the roads I drive my car on, the schools I send my kids to, the protection to live in a country like the USA, and more. To do all this they need staff, who like to get paid too. In short, they need to collect taxes in order to have the money to function.
So what's with all of this tax talk? Is there a legitimate reason to be upset? Are we missing something that the tea baggers aren't? Well, yes and no. Obama has a fairly large agenda, detailing healthcare reform, clean energy, tax reform, and more. These things all cost money, and that money has to come from somewhere. So, in a way, these people could be protesting what's to come, rather than what has already happened. Though, I'm not sure they see it that way.
One thing can be said, though. Times have obviously changed. When, in the last 8 years, have you seen a demonstration of this size, or any real size at all. Especially a demonstration against the government? You can bet that any such demonstration would have been declared illegal, or a threat to security, or some other nonsense. People would be arrested and gatherings would be disbanded. Need examples? How about allthosepeoplearrested at the Bush rallies when he was running for re-election? Now, go read Little Brother.. Yeah. That's where we were headed under Bush. I'm happy Obama's here, and while I don't always agree with what he's doing, overall, I support him. How about we demonstrate against something that actually affects us, rather than being lackies for the upper class.
As the saying goes, there are only two certainties in life. Death, and taxes. There's not much you can do about the former, but you can fight, somewhat, against the latter. Apparently that's exactly what the Citizens for a Sound Economy is doing. They're calling it ... er... tea-bagging.. Yes, I said tea-bagging. No, please don't google it, unless you want to see both graphic and explicit examples.
Graphic and explicit? Yes. Tea-bagging has been a sexual term for a number of years. I'm not entirely sure why a conservative group such as the CSE is using the term. I find it hard to believe that they would willingly associate themselves with a term for a sexual act, so I can only guess it was an accident. What makes it even funnier is that Republicans, who seem to be embracing this movement, are "generally" religious, so I would expect them to find such an act offensive.
While it makes really good fodder for commentary, what's really going on here? Why is Senator Vitter trying to make this a national holiday? Well, to start, the protest is being compared to that of the Boston Tea Party, which protested taxation without representation. The difference here is that this "tea party" is to protest higher taxes. However, the CSE, while claiming to represent consumers, actuallygets most of its funding from major corporations. In fact, it was originally formed by parties associated with Koch Industries, a massive private corporation dealing in oil, fibers, paper products, and more. It appears, at least to me, that the CSE has the corporate interest at heart, rather than the consumer.
But what about the movement itself? What are these guys fighting against? Big spending? Bailouts? High taxes? These are all things worth fighting, and I agree that something needs to be done about them. You have to remember, however, that we are currently going through a unique period in history. Banks are failing, industries are falling, and the world economy is in turmoil. Blame for the current crisis is being bandied about, falling on both the current and former presidents. Personally, I believe that while a lot of the blame falls on our former president, it goes back even further than him. I can't say there's a lot of blame for the current situation that should fall on Obama, though. And before you label me a liberal socialist, let me explain.
First of all, this crisis started before Obama was elected. Once it started, it gained momentum and the economy continued to crumble after Obama took office. If you remember, Bush really didn't do much beyond the bailout to help the situation. In fact, it appears that the bailout itself was a joke. Regardless, since Obama has been in office, things have gotten progressively worse, as expected. Since he's been in office, he has made some missteps, but overall, I think he's done one hell of a job of getting things under control. There's still a lot more to be done, but I think we're generally headed in a positive direction now. The economy will not fix itself overnight, though. We're in this for the long haul and I don't expect things to get better for at least another year or two.
In the meantime, we need to keep an eye on what's happening. Protests are, to be sure, a great way of making lawmakers and citizens aware of the issues. I'm not sure that these "tea parties" are all that useful, though. For starters, the only tax increases I've see thus far are on businesses and people who make a lot more money than I do. I don't make $250,000+ a year, but I'd be willing to pay higher taxes if I did. Of course, I'm sure those that do will be quick to point out that I'm only saying that because I make less. Regardless, I don't see a problem with higher tax rates for those with a higher income. It only seems fair to me.
So before you start sendingteabags to the white house, or protesting in the street, make sure you know who you're helping out if you do.
EDIT: Rachel Maddow barely held it together reporting on this.. I have to provide video:
