As President Obama’s second term in office progresses, the United States has, unfortunately, regressed in several ways. Sure, the Administration has had some beneficial things come of this Presidency; however, scandal after scandal, gaffe after gaffe, the state of our union and the world is not looking so bright.

Domestic Policy

    The domestic policy of President Obama has been omitted in the past several months. Engrossed in the unstable and precarious events happening around the world, the Administration has seemingly forgotten that the United States needs leadership, too. And because of the little attention the Homeland has gotten in the past few months, the White House’s domestic policy has been a blunder. The President outlines his domestic policy by the following subcategories: economy, education, immigration and healthcare. Lamentably, each category has deteriorated in the past months.

    The economy continues to be a complex issue that has not lived up to its expected recovery. The middle class continues to shrink as more people are pushed into poverty. As a testament in the past few years, 40% of personnel expenditures have been purchased by the top 5% of income earners. In laymen terms, people cannot afford to dine out, stay at hotels or even purchase household appliances like they used to. The game plan of the Obama Administration is to raise the minimum wage to put more money in the pockets of the middle class; however, experts at various economic organizations including the American Enterprise Institute say that in doing so more jobs will be lost than income gained. By allocating more capital to paying employees higher wages, companies can only afford to pay a select number of people and will have to lay workers off. As consumers struggle, so do businesses.  If an employer decides to keep the employees, there will be an unprecedented rise in prices. The President’s focus on raising the minimum wage does not take into account the ever growing wage gap crisis. The president’s focus should be on it making easier for companies to grow and hire Americans, instead of adding a burden that restricts economic growth.

    Furthermore, President Obama’s education policy, specifically the Common Core, has also been an utter disaster. The President along with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have grossly miscalculated the core’s standards and speculated support. The government has jumped the gun by thinking educational standards in the United States can improve by making standards more rigorous and more extensive for students. By not recognizing that the problem in American education is the quality of teaching and many students’ unwillingness to learn, the future of education in the U.S. has gotten worse. If students are unwilling to participate now, what will drive them to challenge themselves more with this new curriculum? Surprisingly, those who once supported the Common Core, such as the State of Oklahoma, have now discontinued its implementation. Teachers and parents, alike, have also criticized the core for not being a viable option in their students’ educational life.

    Miserably, the biggest deficiency in the Obama domestic policy has been immigration. Vowing to use his phone and pen to reform immigration before the summer’s end but now waiting until after the November elections to touch any immigration deal, President Obama has once again misled the American people. Playing partisan politics as usual, he blamed republicans in congress for not acting on the border, but now he has delayed his possible executive action ironically citing the crisis as a reason. The country continues to be infiltrated by thousands of illegals, most not immunized or background checked, and the White House refuses to take action because it may affect democrats negatively in November. Unbeknownst to the country’s security threats, the United States government has chosen to enact political strategy instead of defending the border. This decision makes the country look weak and the Administration look indecisive. With the influx of illegals, some have proven to be reckless and dangerous. In one case, illegal immigrant Cynthia Garcia-Cisneros killed two young girls in a hit-and-run. Because she is an illegal immigrant and not a greencard holder, immigration attorney Francisco Hernandez said it is difficult for the government to deport her. Because of the administration’s leniency towards illegal immigrants, including the release of over 60,000 illegals with criminal records, this country can no longer logically protect itself from those who do not have citizenship in the United States.

    Finally, health care continues to be an embarrassment for this country. The Affordable Care Act continues to defy the promises made by President Obama and has been unaffordable for many of its recipients. Because the law uses the method of redistribution, many employees are left with less health care options to cover the costs of others. More importantly, the website healthcare.gov continues to be a substantial liability. For example, many cases of fraudulent activity and difficulty verifying users’ identities have been made public by news organizations. Back in July, the independent watchdog Government Accountability Office had investigators make fake applications; five out of the six attempts successfully breached the site . They also investigated the usefulness of the Obamacare counselors who were little to no use at all. This proved that fraud and wasteful spending continue to be rampant in the Affordable Care Act. Most significantly, the website was breached by hackers earlier this summer. Warnings of inept security and cyber threats have gone ignored by the Obama Administration. Negligence by the White House has seemed to be a common occurrence so that they can serve their political agenda, an agenda that disregarded the realities that everyday American face.

How to Improve

    Improving from such horrific domestic conditions is a multistep and complex process. The general idea in improving the economy should be rolling back the extreme regulations and taxation against corporations.

    All too many times we see big companies move out of the United States because of this issue. By promoting growth through necessary deregulation, companies will be able to employ more people which will help bring more income to even more people.

    Education also needs to be addressed. Instead of data driven education, a more qualitative view should be taken. The politicians need to put educators in charge of reforming education, not government bureaucrats. These educators would have knowledge of the struggles that teachers and students face on a daily basis. By working to improve the quality of education, students will naturally follow suit. But buy rampantly ratcheting up academic expectations, a student’s real learning experience is lost.

    With immigration the answer is simple. Put our border patrol to work instead of babysitting illegals in homemade prisons. By sending the aliens back promptly, the United States does not have to worry about housing and caring for these individuals who broke the law. The biggest way to solve this problem is to enforce our already written immigration statutes. The United States must maintain a strong presence to deter these people from attempting to cross into our country.

    And finally with healthcare, the government needs to get its act straight. The Affordable Care Act is too large to simply repeal; therefore, steps need to be taken to understand the law and reform that sections that violate our American principles and represent socialism. Our country can be strong again, but without significant reform the state of our union will continue to be in despair.