Happy Birthday Mr. President

As President Obama celebrates his 50th birthday today, our nation celebrates the many successes of his administration.

1. The Stimulus Package
After the Bush Administration took President Clinton's $200 billion surplus and turned it into a $1 trillion deficit, our economy at the end of 2008 was losing over 700,000 jobs a month.

To prevent another Great Depression, President Obama's first action in office was to relieve the economy and focus on job creation. Therefore, his stiumulus package included:

-investments in Infrastructure (long term job growth; immediate employment)
-the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act (tax cuts and lending approval for businesses)
-the Emergency Jobs Bill (gave states relief to keep 150K teachers and government employees on payroll)
-the Emergency Homeowner Loan (helped millions avoid foreclosure)
-the US Auto-Industry Bailout (saving an entire industry and saving American jobs from being outsourced)
-extending Unemployment benefits (providing relief for those who were forced out of work due to the corporate greed on Wall Street)
-Credit Card Reform (protecting Americans from unfair and misleading credit card practices)
-Student Loan Reform (making college more affordable for students and families)

2. Wall Street Reform
By holding Wall Street accountable and ending "too big to fail" bailouts, this reform enacts the strongest consumer protections in history.

3. The new START Treaty
By setting aside important national interests to achieve shared international ones, Obama was able to find a compromise with Russia and other nations to reduce the world supply of nuclear weapons and increase our global security.

4. Supreme Court Justices
Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor (the First Latina justice)

5. Repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Moving one step toward "Liberty and Justice for All".

6. Capturing Osama bin Laden

7. Ending combat operations in Iraq
Bringing our brave men and women home from a war that began on false pretenses.

8. the Affordable Care Act
Provides uninsured Americans with coverage, under-insured Americans with fairer insurance practices, and insured Americans with better care, all while strengthening the American medical industry and reducing health-care costs.

9. the Debt Ceiling Compromise
By putting aside partisan bickering, Obama showed true leadership by bringing together both sides of the aisle to find a common solution to our nation's debt ceiling crisis and preventing an economic collapse.

Due to his persistance and perserverance, Obama recently signed a debt-ceiling compromise that did not place a greater burden on Americans while continuing to give relief to the wealthiest.

This was all in the first 3 years of his presidency. Happy Birthday Mr. President and a job well done!

The Spirit of America

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

As my family and I visited the Statue of Liberty this weekend, Emma Lazarus’s words inscribed at the base of the Statue continue to have great importance today.

My parents, both immigrants from India, came to this country to make a better life for themselves. They understood the great plethora of opportunities available only in America and appreciated the American mantra that when you work hard and honestly, the average citizen can accomplish anything.

With the recent debate over the debt ceiling, our leaders in Congress should remember the United States of over a century ago—where we greeted millions of immigrants who traveled thousands of miles for a dream called Freedom; where we provided solace for those that wanted to work hard; and where “people who are least able to protect themselves, who don’t have lobbyists in this town, who don’t have lawyers working on the tax code for them — working stiffs out there, ordinary folks who are struggling every day,” could make a better life for themselves,” (President Obama).

Today, however, Lady Liberty’s torch seems to have dimmed. Although the most recent Republican plan that’s been put forward includes "serious spending cuts", it fails to invest in long-term job growth factors such as infrastructure, education, research, and development and energy. Furthermore, it places a greater burden on the middle class while asking nothing from corporate jet owners, oil and gas companies, and the wealthiest two percent.

The best way to avoid this situation is by increasing the debt ceiling to give America the ability to pay bills that Congress has already accrued. If the debt ceiling isn’t raised by August 2, America will default on its debts for the first time in history.

This means that we will not have enough money to pay all our bills – that includes providing over 55 million seniors with their monthly Social Security checks and paying Medicare costs for over 30 million Americans, of which 8 million are children.

Additionally, for the first time in history, America’s Triple A credit rating would be downgraded. If this happens, investors around the world would be less willing to finance our economy, causing rates for mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards to skyrocket.

And although Obama has taken heat from the Democrats for “giving in too much” to the Republicans, GOP leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are refusing to budge on their willingness to compromise because it “ruins the Republican brand”. In other words, those on the right care more about politics than helping the nation get out of a mess that was created by the previous Republican administration in the first place.

What about compromise? According to House Majority Leaders Eric Cantor, the mere fact that his party is even considering raising the debt ceiling is proof enough of their willingness to strike a deal with Obama. But agreeing to discuss the possibility of doing something that every President since the 1950s has argued for; and something that President Reagan did 18 times and George W. Bush did seven times does not sound very compromising to me.

As Obama explained his a recent town hall, what Republicans need to understand is that if you only cut spending without raising any revenues, “it means more of a burden on seniors, more drastic cuts to education, more drastic cuts to research, a bigger burden on services that are going to middle-class families all across the country. And it asks nothing from folks like me who’ve done extremely well and can afford to do a little bit more,”.

On August 2, we need our leaders to act in the spirit of an America that Emma Lazarus envisioned and millions of immigrants traveled thousands of miles for.

Republican Debate

Yesterday, several candidates battling for the Republican presidential nomination competed in the first of many debates in this election cycle. Here’s the breakdown:

Michele Bachmann:
When asked about the debate, she said that, “I wasn't thinking about performance. I was really just thinking about President Obama and what we can do to make sure that he is a one-term president, because frankly, he hasn't done a great job serving the interests of the American people.”

I agree--she wasn’t thinking about performance. While criticizing Obama for extending unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who are out of work (instead of passing tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans); or ending the Iraq War and bringing out troops home; ending the discriminatory policy of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell; or passing comprehensive health-insurance reform that focused on making Americans healthier; she did not mention that she supported the proposal from the Republican Study Committee to cut Medicare benefits for millions of senior citizens. She also stated that she wants to repeal “ObamaCare”, even though the Congressional Budget Office estimated that repealing the Affordable Care Act would “probably increase federal budget deficits over the 2012–2019 period by a total of roughly $145 billion…and through 2021 brings the projected increase in deficits to something in the vicinity of $230 billion,” (Congressional Budget Office, 1/6/2011).

Herman Cain:
Apparently ALL Muslim-Americans are terrorists. More specifically, he thinks, “a lot of Muslims are not totally dedicated to this country," and that he'd refuse to appoint a Muslim to his cabinet. That’s exactly what we need!

Ron Paul:
According to him, Social Security is unconstitutional; the Federal Reserve is useless; and military spending is a waste.

Rick Santorum:
The former Senator from Pennsylvania supports privatizing Social Security. But as a major source of income for most of the elderly, we cannot afford to take a risk with the nearly 55 million Americans who receive monthly Social Security checks.

He also opposed Obama’s auto-industry bailout, which has now proved to have saved millions of American jobs as GM and Chrysler have repaid their debts and have turned out profits.

Newt Gingrich:
Almost all of his campaign staff quit last week and he only recently paid off his $500,000 bill to a jewelry company. Further, prior to the debate, he claimed he was against the Republican Medicare plan that would impose “radical change.” (Great!) But he later reversed himself and said that he “made a mistake” and that the plan was actually a good idea.

He also said that Obama’s extension of unemployment benefits was “fundamentally wrong to give people money for 99 weeks to do nothing.” Apparently giving added assistance to those who were forced out of work (and looking for new jobs) due to the corporate greed on Wall Street and Republican insistence on outsourcing jobs to “lower costs” is a bad thing. Clearly, it makes more sense to give that money to the top-earners.

Tim Pawlenty:
During his tenure as Minnesota governor, taxes decreased for the wealthiest 10 percent and increased for 90 percent of middle and lower-income families. And although he aggressively opposed the Recovery Act, “nearly one-third of Tim Pawlenty’s budget fix would rely on $387 million in federal stimulus money.” (Minnesota Star Tribune, 2/16/2010)

Also, he recently had tied Obama's health care law to Romney's health care law in Massachusetts, using the word "Obamneycare," but, he refused to say so again at the debate. Talk about aggressive leadership.

Mitt Romney:
Last, but certainly not least, is the great Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney. Of all the GOP candidates eyeing for the presidency, Mr. Romney would probably win my vote. After all, during his tenure as governor, he successfully passed a law requiring every citizen in his state to buy health insurance (no, this isn’t the “ObamaCare” bill everyone keeps referring to). By passing universal healthcare in Massachusetts, he had accomplished a longtime Democratic goal (even before Obama could!).And he’s not too bad on the eyes, either.

During the debate, he called for American troops to return from Afghanistan as soon as possible, declaring that “Our troops shouldn’t go off and try to fight a war of independence for another nation.” And even though he has consistently supported the Bush Administration's Iraq decisions back in 2008, I couldn’t agree more with his recent flip-flop.

But no GOP candidate is without their flaws. During the debate, he questioned, “why isn't the president leading? He isn't leading on balancing our budget, and he's not leading on jobs. He's failed the American people both in job creation and in the scale of government, and that's why he's not going to be reelected."

Here’s 2 reasons why Obama has failed--

-When elected, he immediately passed a $700 billion stimulus which invested in every major sector of economy. Specifically, this focused on improving our infrastructure, thus providing immediate employment to a struggling workforce; the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act, providing tax cuts and lending approval for small businesses; the Emergency Jobs Bill, giving states relief to keep over 150,000 teachers and police officers employed; and the Emergency Homeowner Loan Bill that helped millions avoid foreclosure.

-The unemployment rate (at 9.1%) is a full percentage point lower than what it was just a few months ago (November showed a nearly 10% unemployment rate). And although this rate increased from the 8.8% in March, reports show that the reason for the increase was that discouraged workers who had previously stopped looking for jobs had actually returned to the labor force. A recent report by the Labor Department showed that the number of people who had been out of work for more than 6 months fell by 280,000 and that small businesses had added over 800,000 jobs this year (14 consecutive months of private growth)

On the other hand, as governor of Massachusetts, Romney had one of the worst job-creation records in the country, ranked 47th out of 50 states in job creation –gaining only 1 percent in payroll jobs during his term, compared to the 5.3 percent national average. (Factcheck.org, 1/11/2008).

Although these candidates can’t run on their own records, they are certainly uniting in their efforts to bash President Obama’s successes and move our country backwards. 2012 here we come!

Justice Has Been Served

Think back to where you were on 9/11/2001. I was in the 7th grade, walking to my math class, when I heard rumors of a bomb going off in the capital. When I got to class, my teacher turned on the television only to inform us that the situation was far worse than we could ever expect.

For the years since 9/11, I was slightly relieved to hear that the terrorist behind those attacks had been on the run, living in small and isolated caves awaiting his fatal destiny. However, we soon learned that he has, instead, been living openly in an expensive and luxurious mansion just miles away from an elite Pakistani military academy and the country’s capital city. The mass murderer who was responsible for the largest and most devastating attack on U.S. soil was living in relative comfort.

But just as I will never forget that gloomy morning, I will always remember that glorious night on 5/1/2011—the evening that President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden was dead.

Although I do not believe in celebrating anyone’s demise, a good friend of mine (Robert Parrish) reminded me that we Americans are celebrating not the death of a human being, but rather the elimination of the face of terrorism that put Americans on edge for the past 10 years and that started one (arguably two) wars which have yielded few victories.

For those still uncomfortable with the death of bin Laden, I ask you to think of the thousands of innocent men, women, and children who were taken from us that sad morning. I ask you to think of our brave men and women in uniform who risk their lives every day so that we can enjoy freedoms that other nations can only dream of. The death of this terrorist provides the American people with some sense of cloture and provides us with “liberty and justice for all.”

The news of bin Laden’s death brought back that sense of unity and pride that we, as a nation, have not felt since the aftermath of the attacks. It has certainly been a refreshing, yet bittersweet, reflection of the spirit of America. For a brief moment, we gave strength to those famous words on the back of the dollar bill: E pluribus unum—“Out of many, one.”

But now I hear some Republicans, the same ones who have been scorning the president as weak and ineffectual in foreign policy, arguing that the capture of bin Laden is a result of continuing the policies established by President George W. Bush. I disagree.

I am a strong believer in giving credit where it is due. And both presidents do deserve credit. The kind of covert operation that ensued Sunday night is a result of cumulated information that we started gathering after invading Afghanistan under President Bush’s leadership. However, the war in Iraq shifted much of the needed resources from Afghanistan and lost focus on the real target.

When President Obama took office, however, he insisted that we end the Iraq War and refocus on Afghanistan and Pakistan to hunt down the man who had become an international symbol of terrorism and American weakness. As a result, Obama was able to accomplish a great victory and a “Mission Accomplished” in two years that Bush could not do in eight. And as far as I am concerned, if the economy is completely under Obama’s control, so is everything else—including this mission.

So for those that questioned President Obama’s leadership, or have any doubts about his ability to be tough or decisive, Sunday night should have proven you wrong.

However, as I mentioned before, the real credit goes to all of our brave military members. This should NOT be a time of partisan politics and bickering. Instead, we should pay respect to the thousands who have been negatively affected by bin Laden’s torturous tenure. Justice has been served, and that should be the end of it.

As Obama mentioned in his announcement, bin Laden’s death reminded everyone of the pride shared by Americans in "what this nation stands for and what we can achieve that runs far deeper than party, far deeper than politics…It is my fervent hope that we can harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges we still face.”

Even Steven Colbert understands: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/383525/may-03-2011/obama-takes-credit-for-bin-laden-s-assassination

Mission Accomplished!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Today, I am proud of President George W. Bush.
Today, I am proud of President Obama.
Today, I am proud of our amazing men and women of the armed forces!
Today, I am so proud to be an American!

On September 11, 2001, four U.S. planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. The attack killed nearly 3,000 brave men, women, and children in a matter of hours. Soon after, President Bush launched a full scale war against Al-Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. Although we have had many successes, the war in Afghanistan has cost us an additional 2,000 of our bravest service men and women.

By the leadership of President Bush; the perseverance of President Obama; and the incredible work of our military forces, we can now declare that Osama bin Laden is dead!

Although Al-Qaeda is still at large and will stop at nothing to deteriorate the foundations of democracy and the values we hold so dearly, it is a great victory and re-assures our military, our citizens, and the world that we can and will prevail.

Tonight should not be a night of partisan politics. It should be a night of celebration, relief, and reflection. With more than 5,000 American lives lost as a direct result of the devastating attacks on 9/11, justice has been served!

As President Obama said in his speech tonight:

“Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are.

And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror--Justice has been done.”

My Heart Surgery

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act.

Some provisions have already taken effect. Most notably, I am now able to stay under my parents’ insurance policy until I am 26 years old. However, it is not until 2014 that insurance companies will be entirely prohibited from refusing to sell coverage or renew policies because of an individual’s pre-existing condition.

I was reminded of this current discriminatory policy still in place after I underwent minor heart surgery last Friday. Although I eat very healthy and stay very active, my annual visit to my primary care physician revealed I was born with something called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

According to the American Heart Association , “WPW” is a heart condition in which there is an extra electrical pathway in the heart, resulting in episodes of rapid heart rate and, ultimately, can lead to cardiac arrest. Where a normal heart rate is 60-100 beats per minute, it was not uncommon for mine to escalate to 250 beats per minute or greater.

On Friday, I underwent a surgical procedure known as a catheter ablation, which involves inserting a tube (catheter) into an artery through a small cut near the groin up to the heart area. When the tip reaches the heart, the small area that is causing the fast heart rate is destroyed using a special type of energy called radiofrequency. Although there were a few complications, I did not need open heart surgery which is a true blessing!

Soon after my surgery, however, we received a “friendly” call from our health insurance provider stating that I now have a pre-existing condition (here we go again). This means that, aside from our inability to change insurance companies, we cannot even change insurance plans WITHIN the same company. Luckily, we did not mention that I am also a cancer survivor; otherwise they would have dropped our coverage soon after dropping our call!

With the 2012 presidential election unfolding, Republican leaders are reigniting the debate over healthcare reform, threatening to undo whatever progress we have made thus far. But if there is one thing that I have learned through my experience with cancer and my heart condition, it is this:

We can debate politics. We can debate immigration, energy, the economy, and even war. But what we cannot, and should not, debate over is people’s lives.

My family and I have suffered enough! Yet, instead of focusing on my recovery, we are only able to focus (and worry) about the exorbitant, and continually rising, costs of healthcare because I, once again, have another pre-existing condition.

Although we are fortunate enough to be able to pay our medical bills, how long will this last? What will happen if doctors find yet another thing wrong with me? And what of the millions in this country who are not as lucky, financially or medically, as I am? What will become of them?

So here’s to hoping that the Affordable Care Act isn’t repealed and is allowed to run its full course.

But until then, we better hope no one gets sick.

Got Leadership?

The Republican leadership is holding the government hostage. With control over the House, it is the Speaker and his party’s responsibility to propose and implement a budget that will keep the government functioning, while keeping our economy on track. Yet with the recent talks of a government shutdown, leadership in Congress has proven weak.

The current spending bill expires at the end of tomorrow. According to the Labor Department, if the government shuts down, the IRS will stop processing paper tax returns; the Small Business Administration will stop making loans; federal home loan guarantees will be put on hold; and over 800,000 government employees will be put on furlough. That means almost a million Americans won’t get a paycheck!

Some of the government's biggest jobs, like defense and medical research, would also take a hit. The Department of Defense says that U.S. troops would be paid through April 8, but after that, paychecks to members of the military, including those in war zones, would stop. The National Institutes of Health will stop accepting new patients, and put clinical trials on hold. The Environmental Protection Agency would stop reviewing environmental impact statements, which will slow crucial energy related projects. E-Verify, the Department of Homeland Security program that helps businesses determine the eligibility of employees, would be suspended, which could lead to hiring delays.

These are real impacts that will affect real people. We cannot afford a government shutdown.

Leaders on the right are blaming President Obama and the Democrats for not taking action sooner and, instead, focusing their efforts on “wasteful spending practices.” But when Democrats agreed to cut $33 billion from current spending levels, Republicans wanted more.

Yes we need to keep our budget in control, but at what cost? Even in these touch budget times, we must not take actions that will hurt our economy and halt whatever progress we have made.

"Don't believe that somehow the argument is about whether we should cut spending or not," Obama said. “Instead, the question is what to cut. We must target waste and unneeded programs while continuing to spend on innovation, education and rebuilding America's roads, bridges and other infrastructure.”

According to Republicans, focusing on clean energy issues, including wind and solar power, electric cars and energy efficient buildings; or educating our children by investing in education and innovation is “wasteful”. Yet these are essential factors that keep America prospering.

Last week, a report by the U.S. Labor Department says the economy is on the right track:

“Today’s employment report shows that private sector payrolls increased by 230,000 in March, marking 13 consecutive months of private employment growth. Private sector employers added 1.8 million jobs over that period, including more than half a million jobs in the last three months. The unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month to 8.8 percent. The full percentage point drop in the unemployment rate over the past four months is the largest such decline since 1984.” This proves, most importantly, that the continued decrease in the unemployment rate is due to an increase in employment, rather than people leaving the labor force.

President Obama and his administration, whether through saving the U.S. auto-industry; holding Wall Street firms accountable for their actions; creating more college graduates with student loan reform; extending unemployment benefits for millions who lost their jobs with no fault of their own; ensuring tax cuts for 98% of working families; providing various incentives for small businesses who hire domestically; increasing investments in cleaner and more sustainable energy; or strengthening our infrastructure, is showing true leadership.

However, it is essential that we continue adding on to the progress we have made, thus far. This means that we should stop focusing on the political jargon used by many in Congress, and start focusing more on concrete actions.

Republicans now have control of the House. But where is the leadership?