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The US economy bouncing back?

Over the past months the economy of the United States has taken a beating; the stock market was plummeting to remarkable depths and much of the country having lost confidence that the problems would or could be cured. The far right core of the Republican Party was quick to blame Barack Obama, notwithstanding the fact that he has been in office less than two months and the banking, housing, mortgage foreclosure and unemployment debacle started during the Bush administration. Moreover, in the opinion of most economists the crises are a result of massive expenditures on the Iraq war and an insistence of enacting equally massive tax cuts: in short, political dogma leading to irrational policies. But there is no need to rehash the past and assign blame to the Bush/43 regime.

There is no question that the rampant pessimistic view of the nation’s ability to recover was a major cause for the drop in the market. The GOP core gloated and seemed to welcome vindication of their belief that Barack Obama was the Devil, a scheming socialist or worse, a man who would destroy all of our institutions. Just a few weeks ago, the current GOP self-appointed spokesperson, Rush Limbaugh, looked with great glee for the failure of President Obama – even if it meant harm to the country.

The radio talk show hosts, especially the second tier of Hugh Hewitt, Michael Savage, Dennis Prager, but also Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and, of course, Rush were full of self praise, “I told you so.”

The voices were unanimous; it was all Obama’s fault.

Over the past week, Chase, Citicorp and Bank of America reported the financial bleeding had been at least partially stopped. The stock market has had a modest, but substantial bounce upward. Many areas of the country are showing a renewal of the real estate market.

There is no question that our fiscal house has a leaking roof, ill-fitting windows and is greatly run down. On the other hand, while unemployment is still rampant and the states are reducing services in the light of budget deficits, the turnaround in the stock market reflects a glimmer of optimism in the land.

And that is due to Barack Obama, his outlook on government and policy, his determination to do whatever it takes to restore our nation to that which it once was, strong, sturdy, moral and a positive influence in the world. The tasks before him (and us) are huge and will require sacrifice, investment, perhaps tax increases. They will also require a stopping of whining and carping from the far right. The country needs an opposition party willing to introduce new and different ideas; it does not need a party devoted to just opposing and nothing more.

No one knows for certain if Barack Obama has all, or even some, of the answers. But he deserves a chance.

And it appears that the majority of people here and abroad are willing to do just that.