Tiger Times January 2017
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Tiger Times Staff Paper Editors-In-Chief Jaeha Kim Ariel Lee Website Editors-in-Chief Claire Kim Eric Song Paper Managing Editor Andrew Ham
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The Obama Legacy: From healthcare to environmental reform
E
ight years is half a lifetime to some, but a blink of an eye to others. Just eight years ago, it was unprecedented and unusual for people of minority races to hold powerful positions, like the President of the United States. Initially, many people voiced concern about how ‘different’ Barak Obama was from Presidents of the past: usually, rich white men born and raised in the mainland of the US. Now, such differences are only minor concerns that people bring up for dispute only to undermine Obama’s political status and social standing. However, ranging from ridiculously referring to Obama’s fist bump with his wife a “terrorist fist jab” to overlooking Obama’s achievements that addressed pressing issues, the 44th President of the United States’ term has generally been underrated. In the spirit of bidding farewell on a more positive note, let us take a look—what have been the significant achievements of the Obama administration, and why are so many afraid that they will be overturned immediately by the next one in power? Health Care President Obama has definitely made significant changes in terms of health care throughout his two terms. Healthcare, or the lack thereof, was a primary concern in the 2008 election, and played an important role in Obama’s presidential campaign. Obama advocated for universal health insurance, emphasizing his vision of passing a single-payer option. Though not carried out exactly the way Obama had envisioned it to, Congress eventually agreed to implement a system in which people would be required to buy health insurance, without lifetime benefit caps or any patients denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions. Through improvements in healthcare, President Obama was able to address all levels of the population—the government expanded Medicaid, for the poor, and
strengthened Medicare, for the elderly. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, successfully increased health insurance quality and affordability: something not readily attempted in previous presidential terms. As a result, according to the Guardian, now more people are signing up for insurance than ever before. Despite skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs and loopholes in the law that may result in corporations putting economic burdens on consumers, such advancements have made significant progress in making healthcare more widespread in the nation as a whole.
Recovering from Economic Recessions When Obama was inaugurated in 2009, he was met with avid supporters and a hopeful future of “yes we can”—but also the arguably worst economic recession since the Great Depression. According to NBC News, over 600,000 Americans lost their jobs in January of 2009 alone, the month that Obama began to take office, and unemployment rates reached 10 percent by October the same year. Now, as he nears the end of his term, the jobs report released on Jan. 6 indicates that unemployment rates have dropped to 4.7 percent (lowest since August of 2007), and 156,000 jobs have been created in December. This is a report that represents the Obama administration’s success in improving the economy long term. If anything, he deserves applause and credit for pulling the nation out of a potential second Great Depression. Not everything was as perfect as it sounds on paper. Of course, there have been peaks and troughs in the business cycle throughout the eight years, an inevitable, natural fluctuation. The Dodd-Frank Act, signed into federal law in 2010, implemented a system of more stringent regulations on Wall Street that theoretically would break up big banks and powerful organizations. The effects of this financial reform did not go nearly as far, as banks still main-
tained their political clout in Washington and strangled homeowners. Law enforcement agencies refused to go after leaders of powerful banks for mortgage fraud, letting them go with small fines and civil suits.
The Environment Despite the fact that climate change has only been a significant issue to the Obama administration toward the latter half of the presidency, measures taken have yielded effective results. President Obama himself actively urged China to tackle their environmental issues, and only then did the Paris climate accord, an agreement to lower emissions across 196 nations, become feasible. Domestic efforts have been relatively successful as well: regulation of coal-fired power plants became tighter, methane leaks have been limited, and electric vehicle efficiencies have significantly improved. Eventually, the prices of solar and wind energy have dropped rapidly, promising a more sustainable future in terms of energy consumption for the country. However, problems regarding the environment are impossible to address through a handful of legislations and a few years of effort. Many towns and cities, especially in rural areas, are suffering storms, floods, and droughts every year as a result of climate change. Yet the government seems to be unaware of the roots of this problem, or even that it even exists. Only so much of this can be blamed on the Obama administration, as climate change has resulted from a culmination of years of neglect. We must hope for future administrations to follow the ‘green’ path that President Obama has set, but many experts have been alarmed by the fact that president-elect Trump has expressed direct opposition to many of Obama’s policies to combat climate change. Constitutional Rights Of course, one of the biggest events in Obama’s presidency was when the United
States Supreme Court upheld and ruled in favor of same-sex marriage. President Obama was the first president to ever publicly endorse the right of gay and lesbian couples to get married under US law. With the huge boost in LGBT rights came an equally as significant increase in women’s rights. With Obamacare, women are no longer charged more than men for insurance, and have access to more methods of contraception with no extra cost. As such, in terms of women’s and sexual minorities’ rights, the Obama administration made tangible improvements that can be tracked. On the other hand, while imposing stricter gun control laws has been one of Obama’s personal and political priorities, he has failed to bring about significant change. After the mas shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school that left the nation traumatized, Obama has been making attempts to expand federal requirements for background checks during weapon sales, and even proposed a renewed ban on assault weapons. However, Congress has rejected every such proposal, leaving Obama’s efforts to be more symbolic than substantial. No president is perfect, and no administration is capable of solving all the problems that require attention. Time and attention are, unfortunately, finite resources, but passion and a determination to make a change are not. Barack Obama has created multiple legacies throughout his two terms, whether they were through legislations or by shifting the priorities and values of the presidential office. And as is the case for many Presidents, for his efforts to create lasting legacies, it is essential that powerful figures in the future continue to fight for and support ideologies in line with Obama’s. Perhaps it is time to take a step back to look at what he has done for the nation, not what he could have done better. By Sarah Kim Senior, Reporter