As critics of last night’s Obama speech try to draw connections between the current president and former president Ronald Reagan, the rest of the nation awakes with a newly invigorated sense of hope, and a drive to do better. Something Reagan wished he could have done for sure, but missed the mark by a long shot.
President Obama challenged an entire generation to stay in school last night, saying that dropping out “was no longer an option”, and receiving a long ovation from members of both major parties for doing so.
“You’re not only letting yourself down, but your letting you’re letting your country down.”
Obama then went on to set a 2020 deadline on lawmakers, parents, and educators for making the US the world leader in college graduates once more, the largest challenge since Kennedy promising a man on the moon, and equally as daunting.
The president used this speech to expand on the ideas he campaigned on. Sighting changes before the end of the year in health care, freeing up the credit market, expanding renewable energy programs, and ending the war in Iraq swiftly. They were goals requiring a high approval rating and a majority congress, both of which this president has.
Thee speech was also a “no nonsense” affair. The president spelled it out in real terms, and then handed it off to lawmakers, and the American people to see the hard work done.
Critics say that the goals are too lofty and the promises were empty. “How can he plan to do all of this and cut the budget?” Pat Buchanan asked after the speech on The Rachel Maddow show. “It’s just too much,” he added.
Well, there is room for cutting spending, as the president stated last night. “We have begun going though he budget line by line, a daunting task that will take some time as you can imagine. But we have already made cuts that will save $5 trillion over the next 5 years.”
This is where Obama differs from Reagan. Obama inspires and drives us to do better. We want to sacrifice for the greater good. Reagan, he promised much, but expected it just to come to the American people even though they had to do nothing to get it. Hard work yields results, and the president’s critics seem to have forgotten this.
- Miller
Tags: barack, obama, president, reagan
