Despite The Dominance Of Foreclosures And Unemployment The First Year Of Obama Has Noted Progress

A year ago Barack Obama became the 44th President of America – the first Black president in the history of America. In retrospection many positive points can be noted about this year although it was dominated by continuing foreclosures and unemployment.

Immediately after taking over the reins his main concern was tackling the recession that had started from 2007 December. He did so by initiating the stimulus package of $787 billion. He also started the cash-for-clunkers scheme last summer that made it possible for the people to exchange their old cars for more energy-friendly new models.

The time is not yet ripe to comment on how much the majority of the people have been helped by these. The pundits think that it would take another year to see the results. But in 2009 the unemployment increased by 2% and it is these figures together with that of persisting foreclosures that will point to failures.
The Obama government has also given priority to healthcare reform and is putting pressure on the Congress to pass the bill. The response of the Congress and the Senate was to pass their version of the health-care legislation. It has fallen short of the wishes of the President.

In matters of foreign policy Obama has kept his promise of sending more troops to Afghanistan. He announced that an extra 30,000 troops would be sent in keeping with the ultimate plan of total removal that would kick off from the summer months of 2011. He is still trying to remove combat troopers from Iraq in 2011 and is not strengthening his position by building more permanent bases in the area. This is one of the major steps he took to mend fences with the Muslim world. In Cairo he gave a speech dubbed as “New Beginning”. It was an important move in opening dialogues with the Islamic world and the Middle East. Relations had reached a breaking point at the time of Bush presidency.

Obama’s efforts in foreign affairs culminated in his being honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize.
This one year has not been without his critics. Many felt he has been too soft with the banks and the handling of the bailout money has been improperly done. Some say that the tried to do too much too early and in the end the effect was too thin.

About the Author

Julie Thompson, has been working on governmentrepohomes.com studying the foreclosures market, helping buyers on the finer points of Repossessed Homes search.

Barack Obama on Current Unemployment statistics in America