About Barack Obama
Proud to have voted for him twice
Thank you, Mr. President
Radio and TV legend Art Linkletter, whose heirs live in Laguna, used to say, “Kids say the darndest things.” After hearing what some Donald Trump supporters recently have said about Barack and Michelle Obama (i.e., “I hope he dies in 2017” and “She is an ape in heels”), I wonder what the late talk-show pioneer would have said about these disgusting comments?
Now that Barack Obama is down to a handful of days left in office, I have a few things I’d like to say about the way he has conducted himself as president. I know many people wanted him to disappear years ago, but not yours truly.
The first time I met then-Senator Obama was in June, 2007. He was attending a breakfast meeting with Orange County Democrats, and I was picked to be his wing man for the morning. For 45 minutes, I whispered into his ear little tidbits about each person he was about to meet. He was all business, but I could tell there was something special about the man. Months later, when he gave his breakthrough speech in Iowa during that state’s first-in-the-nation caucus in 2008, I knew I was backing a winner.
Just before he went to Denver to accept my party’s nomination for president, Obama made another stop in Orange County. This time it was at the Balboa Bay Club. Having been one of a handful of supporters who helped raise $1.2 million that day, I was anxious to see him again. When it was my turn to have my picture taken with Obama, he greeted me with that big smile of his and said, “Hey, I remember you. You helped me a year ago.” I was floored. About the only thing I could say was, “I remember you, too.” We both laughed as the cameras zoomed in on us.
As I stepped away, I turned back and said, “We’re counting on you.” Obama looked at me and replied, “I won’t let you down.” And you know what, he didn’t. I have voted in every presidential election since 1972. I was happy when Jimmy Carter won four years later. I was thrilled when Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, and reelected in 1996. But I was proud to have voted for Barack Obama twice.
It’s not every day you get to stand next to a truly remarkable person. I always will cherish the two times I stood, literally, inches from Barack Obama. The night 300 of us gathered at Seven-Degrees in town to celebrate his 2009 inauguration, I read my letter to the crowd that Newsweek magazine had published weeks before. I don’t know if Art Linkletter would have agreed, but here is what I said:
“Barack Obama’s victory was as significant as George Washington becoming America’s first president, Abraham Lincoln holding the country together during the Civil War or Franklin D. Roosevelt taking office during the depths of the Great Depression. The lasting legacy of Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt is that they governed wisely. I have every expectation that a soon-to-be President Obama will do the same.”
He did. I am hopeful the nation will forever be grateful as well. I know I always will be.
-DF
The Obama Economy
A year ago this month, Forbes contributing writer Adam Hartung asked this provocative question: “Economically, could Obama be America’s best president?"
In his essay Hartung compared the usual indicators of 2013 (i.e., unemployment, consumer confidence, national debt and the stock market) to previous administration numbers — mostly during the Reagan years of the 1980s, but some as far back as Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. By all accounts, President Barack Obama’s rescue of the auto industry, his deficit-reduction programs and, yes, Obamacare, have all contributed to lower unemployment, higher consumer confidence and a record-breaking stock market.
Here’s what Hartung reported: “The auto rescue plan worked. American car manufacturers still are dominant and employ millions of Americans directly and indirectly” (that is to say supplier companies).
When Obama took office, 800,000 people per month were losing their jobs. Despite what free-market economists were saying at the time, adding millions of auto workers to the unemployment lines simply was not an option. Wall Street reform has been painful but just what the doctor ordered for investors. The markets are more predictable than they were when Obama took office.
Hartung added, “Even for people whose investments are limited to their 401(k) or IRA, the average annual compound return on stocks under President Obama has been more than 24 percent since the lows of March, 2009. This is a better result than presidents [Bill] Clinton, [Ronald] Reagan or [Franklin D.] Roosevelt compiled during their terms in office.”
Considering how fragile the economy was when he assumed office in 2009, compared to its health and vitality today, I think it is safe to say President Obama could go down as one of this country’s greatest leaders.
-DF
Celebrating Barack Obama
Seven years ago this week, a group of my Laguna friends and I hosted a black tie inaugural event the evening Barack Obama first was sworn into office.
While there was deep concern at the time about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the overall health of the U.S. economy, 300 people came to Seven-Degrees that night to celebrate the new president.
Over the years, much has been said about President Obama’s goals and leadership style. Some have even questioned his citizenship and loyalty. What’s most distressing to me, as an American first and a Democrat second, is the nonstop bashing Obama has endured since his first days in office.
One of the attack lines that has been repeated most often, from partisan opponents in Congress to FOX News, is, “He’s a divider-in-chief, not a commander-in-chief.” Really?
Now that the president has delivered his last State of the Union address, I think it’s time to review just a few of the “divider’s” most recent accomplishments. For the record, they include:
– The U.S. economy adding 292,000 jobs in December, capping off the second best year of gains since 1999.
– The Labor Department reporting the unemployment rate holding steady at 5 percent, the lowest since early 2008.
– The 5.75 million jobs created in the past two years representing the best streak for the labor market since the late 1990s.
– The economy adding jobs for 63 straight months. Some economists expect full employment will be reached by mid-year.
If you don’t believe me, read what conservative columnist David Brooks wrote in the New York Times: “The Obama administration has done things people like me strongly disagree with. But America is in better economic shape than any other major nation on earth. Crime is down. Abortion rates are down. Fourteen million new jobs have been created in five years.
“Obama has championed a liberal agenda, but he hasn’t made the country unrecognizable. In 2008, federal spending accounted for about 20.3 percent of gross domestic product. In 2015, it accounted for about 20.9 percent.”
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump likes to say he is going to make America great again. Well, here’s a bulletin for The Donald: Thanks to Barack Obama, America already is great.
As the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”
I’m glad my Laguna friends and I joined forces to help usher in a new president and a new beginning for our nation.
-DF
The $400,000 Question
I find it curious at best and disingenuous at worst that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, wants to re-examine the amount former presidents are charging for speaking events.
It’s suspicious that the congressman is targeting Barack Obama for agreeing to speak at a health care conference in September for $400,000.
Would have Chaffetz done that to former president Ronald Reagan? Lest anyone forgets, Reagan was paid $2 million for speeches in Japan less than a year after he left office in 1989. Not to be outdone, George W. Bush has been paid more than $15 million in speaking fees since leaving office.
I don’t have a problem with Chaffetz’s call to review the fees former presidents receive. I do have an issue with his focusing on Obama.
Wouldn’t it be fairer to apply any changes to future presidents, not past ones?
-DF