Thursday, January 29, 2009
Who'd have thought being proven wrong could be so sweet
Most readers probably know I've been quite cynical towards Barack Obama. Viewing him as an African-American version of Bill Clinton, and not without reason as he did things during the campeign such as telling Canadian officials that criticisms of NAFTA were just election posturing, I have held little hope of him doing much of anything positive for average Americans.
Well, even though we are very, very early in the game there sure do seem to be some positive developments.
First, in the recently passed stimulus bill there is a provision mandating that all workers who lose their jobs automatically qualify for Medicaid coverage. No, that doesn't constitute universal medical coverage which is what the U.S. really needs. Still it is a HUGE step in the right direction and far more than I expected of him.
Then today he signed key equal pay legislation giving workers (and particularly women) the right to sue employers when they discover they have been paid less for doing the exact same job as co-workers. This has been a LONG time coming and suffice it to say its good that Obama did this in little more than one week (while Bill didn't manage it in 8 long years!!).
So while we would all be wise to still be very cautious with respect to Obama I also think that we may also allow ourselves at least a little optomism.
And to Obama; just keep proving my cynicism wrong. I like it. In fact I REALLY like it!!
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Well, even though we are very, very early in the game there sure do seem to be some positive developments.
First, in the recently passed stimulus bill there is a provision mandating that all workers who lose their jobs automatically qualify for Medicaid coverage. No, that doesn't constitute universal medical coverage which is what the U.S. really needs. Still it is a HUGE step in the right direction and far more than I expected of him.
Then today he signed key equal pay legislation giving workers (and particularly women) the right to sue employers when they discover they have been paid less for doing the exact same job as co-workers. This has been a LONG time coming and suffice it to say its good that Obama did this in little more than one week (while Bill didn't manage it in 8 long years!!).
So while we would all be wise to still be very cautious with respect to Obama I also think that we may also allow ourselves at least a little optomism.
And to Obama; just keep proving my cynicism wrong. I like it. In fact I REALLY like it!!
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