Barack on the Slope

-Andy Santana

Over a year ago President Barack Obama took the oath of office on the steps of Capitol Hill. The nation was reenergized and the political tide had brought a fresh perspective to Washington. Meanwhile, back here on the slope, the Cornell community was overwhelmingly optimistic about the four years to come. Students and faculty alike were confident that Obama’s cerebral, thoughtful, and reflective approach to politics would help fulfill the young President’s ambitious agenda. On the campaign trail he advocated policy change on issues ranging from nuclear proliferation to skyrocketing health insurance premiums to shrinking polar ice caps. Although his stump-speech packed a powerful policy punch, the oval office is a legislative pressure cooker, and every President must yield to a myriad of political roadblocks and setbacks.

We all know D.C. can be an exhausting environment for any politician, but how would performance in the White House stack up in White Hall.

Obama did more than make the cut at Columbia and then at Harvard Law, he excelled. However, it’s time for the President to log on to student center, view his Cornellian Grade Report, and see if it’s up to par.

Econ 4190: “Economic Decisions Under Uncertainty”: A-

President Obama came into office during one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history. Unemployment lingered at 8.5%, American banks were thoroughly shell-shocked, and the DOW had sunk bellow 7000. The President elect and his economic team had already been strategizing for months by the time they took the reigns of the economy. Together Obama, Geithner, and Bernanke adopted a Keynesian approach to economic recovery and within a month of the inauguration Congress passed the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Nearly $300 billion in tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses along with an additional $250 billion for federal grants, contracts and loans ‘stopped the bleeding’ and improved market confidence. Furthermore, as difficult as it was for the nation to accept such government intervention in the economy, the Obama administration didn’t allow the economy to crumble under the weight of the banks’ toxic assets and stood firm as a lender of last resort. Although the economy is still wading through the waters of recession and the ramifications and benefits of the stimulus are yet to be fully understood, the bottom line is the that President took assertive action in times of uncertainty and helped America regain a sense of economic stability.

GOVT 3857: “American Foreign Policy”: B+

Just as with economic policy, Obama was inaugurated under the shadow of deepening international dilemmas. Two wars in the Middle East, nuclear threats in Iran and North Korea, China’s advent as an economic and political juggernaut, and a revitalized Russian state were stuffed into the President’s foreign policy binder. Most notably, the Commander in Chief has improved U.S. relations with Russia. Recently Dimitry Medvedev and Obama agreed to reduce Cold War nuclear stockpiles. Although this gesture might be seen as little more than a diplomatic photo-op, at the very least it symbolizes a greater degree of mutual respect between the two nations. However, Iraq and Afghanistan remain loosely defined boondoggles for the American military. A troop increase in Afghanistan will hopefully lead to the capture of Osama Bin Laden and a more stable region, but complete success is doubtful given the mission’s broad objectives and the political history of the area. Iran’s nuclear future remains questionable even though the White House has denounced Tehran’s uranium enrichment program. However, Obama’s response has not heightened conflict and for the most part the international community appreciates Obama’s amicable and more hands-off approach to world politics. In the words of Cornell’s Professor Peter Katzenstein, “The edge is off [of anti-Americanism]” now that Obama is President.

PAM 2350: “The US Health Care System”: A-

After a century of legislative struggle the President was finally able to sign health care reform into law. The battle waged on in the halls of Congress for more than a year, Republicans slung patently untrue accusations at Democratic leadership, and the President’s first year hinged on a few Senators and Congressmen. Although the bill was not passed under the best of circumstances, it protects Americans from health coverage termination for trivial unaccounted health conditions (Rescission), prevents Health insurers from denying Americans with preexisting conditions, gives the middle class and small businesses health insurance tax breaks, and brings down prescription drug costs for senior citizens. Although these are all steps in the right direction, health insurers still maintain their anti-trust exemption. It will interesting to see how the implementation of Obamacare weathers the health insurers’ backlash.

EAS 2680: “Climate and Global Warming”: B

Many expected the new Green minded President to hit the ground running on environmental issues. However, in Copenhagen, little if anything new was decided and the conference came and went like a blip on Obama’s scheduling radar. Climate-Gate hackers roused anti-global warming advocates with misconstrued emails. Granted, the White House was occupied with other legislative issues, but President Obama still has the ability to regulate greenhouse gases through the EPA. Although green jobs were created in conjunction with the stimulus package, after his first year in office the President seems to lack aggressiveness on this pressing issue.

Overall GPA: 3.43

Not bad given the circumstances of your first year, Mr. President. Prelims and papers are nothing compared to Teabaggers and Tehran. Running the country might harder than going to Cornell, but there is always room for improvement.