MCJ Editorial: President Obama’s Summer of Action

“While a vacation may be in the cards for many of us, President Obama has been forced to stay in the White House and burn the midnight oil as he wrestles to ‘clean his plate’ of our national problems and make room for the inevitable ‘second-helping.’”

The doldrums of summer certainly have not visited President Barack Obama.

His plate continues to be full with a variety of challenges, from the oil spill in the Gulf, passage of the Financial Reform Act, increasing aggression by the Taliban in Afghanistan that has resulted in higher troop deaths, and the on-going efforts to remain on top of the upcoming Congressional elections, not to mention recent national polls showing the people’s frustration with the economic recovery.

While a vacation may be in the cards for many of us, President Obama has been forced to stay in the White House and burn the midnight oil as he wrestles to “clean his plate” of these national problems and make room for the inevitable “second-helping.”

Several of these issues are being unfairly used against the president to tarnish his image, reelectability and the electability of Democratic incumbents and candidates. Who could have predicted that the BP oil spill would go on 75 days? The president, in our humble opinion, has done everything in his power to deal with the oil spill and has told BP in no uncertain terms that they WILL pay for and clean up their mess.

President Obama’s efforts to avert a deeper recession and the total destruction of Wall Street and many corporate giants is being spun by his opponents as the first steps towards Socialism.

Yet what gets swept under the rug is the simple fact that deregulation of the financial and housing industry by previous Republican administrations and a previously controlled Republican Congress created the crisis the president had to deal with even before the echoes of his inauguration speech faded into the atmosphere.

The “Nabobs of political negativism” should focus their ire on the institutions the president has tried to help, the banks and corporations whose top officers paid themselves bonuses off the top of the bailout money while laying-off its employees who are struggling to pay their mortgages, health care costs and other items.

We have often said when the nation gets a cold, the Black community gets pneumonia.  The old adage remains true even in the “Era of Obama.”

The healing of Wall Street has not made it to Main Street and until it gets to Martin Luther King Drive, our community will be negatively affected. But change is inevitable. When that change comes, we must be prepared for the change by learning how economics work and how it can work for us.

For current high school and college students, it requires more classes and stronger credentials so when things turn around their resumes are strong and extremely viable.

For the unemployed, it is time to volunteer, create little home businesses that help to sustain the family like yard-work, baking cakes, sewing clothes and doing alterations; teaching neighborhood children how to use the internet, helping our seniors or the disabled. You’d be surprised how marketable volunteerism is. How you spend your time says much about one’s ability to be productive even in unproductive times.

We applaud President Obama and encourage him to capture every opportunity to solidify his voting base. He has made many strides; strides that will have greater meaning in the years to come.

He has to continue to “check-mate” the things on his watch…international affairs, the national economy, our troops and small business. Financial reform, when passed, will be a big step in turning the economic trickle into a steady stream to those below.

No, this is not a summer of doldrums for the Commander and Chief. It is his summer of action!