2013 is drawing to a close.
It has been one helluva year.
If you happen to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, you have to be glad it’s over.
The president started the year poised to aggressively move forward on his very progressive agenda. Buoyed by a sound electoral thumping of his political opponents, the president believed that he had a mandate to implement his vision for the country. He made his intentions clear in his State of the Union address. “Elections matter” he said.
But no sooner had those words left his lips than a series of events occurred that tore those best laid plans to shreds.
- It is discovered that government agencies are tapping the phones of AP reporters.
- The IRS is found to be targeting conservative non-profit organizations.
- Erik Snowden reveals that the NSA is data mining Americans phone calls and internet activity.
- The Benghazi Mission is overrun by terrorists and the Libyan Ambassador is killed.
- The critical rollout of the Affordable Care Act is a disaster when the website crashes.
- The president ways in personally to pass legislation requiring background checks on all gun sales. The measure fails to win congressional approval.
- The president pushes for a major jobs bill. The measure gains no traction in congress.
- The president pushes for a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The measure dies in congress.
- The Boston Marathon falls victim to a terrorist attack.
- Tea Party conservatives succeed in shutting down the government.
- The president presides over the first budget compromise in a decade. But it fails to extend unemployment benefits for 1.3 million Americans.
In the midst of all this negativity, 2013 has held some positive moments for the president. Twelve more consecutive months of positive job growth run his string to 45 and counting. The economy continues to grow. The GDP grew by 4.1% last quarter…the largest growth in the last five years. Housing starts are up. The auto industry is booming. The DOW posts record highs seemingly every other day. The rich ARE getting richer. But it is the poor and the middle class that returned this president to office. They are not fairing so well.
The president has one more year to get something done; one more year to break through the gridlock, the obstruction, the obfuscation and yes the racism that plagued his administration throughout 2013. Then all thoughts will shift to Hillary and Christie… and this president will become the lamest of ducks.
We have always believed that rightly or wrongly a sitting president gets the credit and the blame for everything that happens on his watch. Overall we would consider 2013 a loss on the political scoreboard. Presidential losses don’t bode well for the country.
Let’s hope he can put a win on the board in 2014…for the country’s sake.
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