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What’s up for Obama’s next 1,360 days?
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In case you are wondering about my arithmetic, the figure of 1,360 is the approximate number of days left in the President’s first term. But before pursuing that agenda, there are several accomplishments to be noted for these historic first 100 days that have culminated in having to address the swine flu pandemic. .jpg)
Perhaps foremost, Mr. Obama successfully pushed through the $787 billion economic stimulus plan that is supposed to stimulate the U.S. economy, along with those of other countries throughout the world.
Other achievements include signing into law the expanded State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Ledbetter law, getting Congress to approve a congressional budget resolution for dealing with major health care reform in 2009, and establishing new ethics guidelines for lobbyists. He has also reversed direction on former Bush administration policies such as climate change and the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, as well as ordering closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and lifting travel restrictions with Cuba. But there is still much more to do.
Priority will no doubt be given to controlling the swine flu virus and helping our neighbors in Mexico to do the same. There’s the perpetual problem of dealing with the Middle East and North Korea. Re. Israel, its new right-wing Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, seems bent on opposing a Palestinian state. Afghanistan grows worse, and Pakistan is already at the critical stage. Domestically, something must be done about the American educational system and soon. These are all at the top of President Obama’s list as they should be.
So, what’s left? The number of potential issues is probably endless, and if you polled the U.S. population, most everyone would have their own pet project. But that’s what this country is all about, which brings me to a particular concern of my own: individual privacy, particularly when it concerns our names and personal information. It is a subject I come to with a depth of experience, having spent 35 years as a junk mail data broker and database consultant.
We have abdicated the right to control our sensitive data. The number of databases out there which lay bare all the ingredients of our private lives number in the thousands, many of which are not secure. According to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, there have been over 260 million personal records lost by business, government, education and healthcare providers since January 2005. Javelin Strategy and Research reports that identity fraud victims increased 22 percent in 2008 to 9.9 million.
For years the Democratic Party was the party of the people, protecting important rights such as individual privacy, but that is a thing of the past. During the 2008 election, a Ponemon Institute survey revealed that 40 percent of the public said that protection of their privacy rights was either important or very important in deciding their choice for president. As a senator, Obama introduced no privacy legislation, but in his presidential bid he did attack the Patriot Act, and commented that a person’s privacy must be balanced with the protection of the nation’s security.
The time has come for concerned citizens to stand up and demand that Congress pass, and President Obama support, federal legislation to return control of consumers’ names and personal data to the individual. And they should find the time to do this early in the next 1,360 days.
Please let me know how you feel about this issue through your comments, or e-mail me at: jack.dundiv@cox.net.
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