Yesterday's New York Times included an op-ed by Bob Herbert that looked at the growing erosion of belief in Obama among those who vocally supported him and helped put him in office. I was such a supporter, but on LGBT issues, Obama has delivered nothing whatsoever. As for health care reform - which I believe is critical for most Americans, Obama seems to be pissing away a historic opportunity to reform the system so that only the wealthy are guaranteed the availability of coverage. Increasingly, employers are reducing plan coverage as costs soar and between the erosion of coverage and lost coverage for those now unemployed, it is nothing less than a national embarrassment. Here are some highlights from Herbert's column:*
The president may be sanguine, but the same cannot be said of the general public, including some of Mr. Obama’s most ardent supporters. The American people are worried sick over the economy, which may be sprouting green shoots from Ben Bernanke’s lofty perspective but not from the humble standpoint of the many millions who are unemployed, or those who are still working but barely able to pay their bills and hold onto their homes.
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This is the reality that underlies the anxiety over the president’s ragged effort to achieve health care reform. Forget the certifiables who are scrawling Hitler mustaches on pictures of the president. Many sane and intelligent people who voted for Mr. Obama and sincerely want him to succeed have legitimate concerns about the timing of this health reform initiative and the way it is unfolding.
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Men and women who once felt themselves to be securely rooted in the middle or upper middle classes are now struggling with pay cuts, job losses and home foreclosures — and they don’t feel, despite the rhetoric about the recession winding down, that their prospects are good. People worried about holding on to their standard of living need to be assured, unambiguously, that an expensive new government program is in their — and the country’s — best interest. They need to know exactly how the program will work, and they need to be confident that it’s affordable.
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It’s still early, but people are starting to lose faith in the president. I hear almost daily from men and women who voted enthusiastically for Mr. Obama but are feeling disappointed. They feel that the banks made out like bandits in the bailouts, and that the health care initiative could become a boondoggle. Their biggest worry is that Mr. Obama is soft, that he is unwilling or incapable of fighting hard enough to counter the forces responsible for the sorry state the country is in. People want more from Mr. Obama. They want him to be their champion. But they don’t feel that he is speaking to them in a language that they understand.
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As for claims that the economy is turning around, I have yet to see any sign of it in the Hampton Roads area - an area that is normally cushioned in a stormy economy by the huge military personnel presence and military related spending. One of today's local headlines was as follows: Personal Bankruptcy Filings Soar 42% Locally. Meanwhile foreclosures remain at near record highs. Obama and the Congressional Democrats need to act and regain the public confidence. If not, I predict a clean GOP sweep in Virginia's statewide races in November which will put far right extremists in the Governor's office and the office of Attorney General. Here's more on the bankruptcy story:
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Prompted by mounting job losses and cutbacks in work hours, more Hampton Roads residents are resorting to bankruptcy this year. Through July, the number of individuals seeking to wipe out all or most of their debt through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing jumped 42 percent to 2,910, according to data compiled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. That was up from 2,049 filings in the January-through-July period last year.
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While higher unemployment accounts for part of the increase in personal Chapter 7 filings, more workers in Hampton Roads are resorting to bankruptcy because their job hours have been cut back sharply, said Thomas B. Dickenson, a Norfolk bankruptcy lawyer.
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As the recession drags on, more out-of-work individuals have exhausted their savings and lack the access to credit, such as home equity lines of credit, that they once had, said Robert V. Roussos, a Norfolk bankruptcy lawyer. Roussos expressed surprise that the increase in personal bankruptcies through July wasn't higher. The 42 percent rise in personal Chapter 7 filings for Hampton Roads was less than a nationwide increase of 47 percent for the six months ended June 30, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. . .
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People need to feel that Washington is doing something to change things for the better. That is not happening and time and opportunities are being squandered as Obama foolishly looks for bipartisanship that will never happen.
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