President Barack Obama has begun his “second year” as president!
Does it seem a year has passed? Or does it seem longer than that? Three years of his presidency are yet to come.
President Obama was sworn in as our 44th president on Jan. 20, 2009.
There have been some substantial events since then.
He has issued an executive order to close the prison for enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but it hasn’t been closed yet.
He has signed a $787 billion economic “stimulus” bill. The economy hasn’t been “stimulated.”
He has made several international trips, including to Iraq, and has had meetings with foreign leaders, as presidents usually do.
He has named Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.
He has called on Congress to enact a sweeping, trillion-dollar-plus, socialized medical plan, ObamaCare. It is still pending.
He has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
He has ordered an additional 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan.
He has attended an international “climate change” conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
And, of course, there have been many other significant actions, statements and initiatives.
President Obama has had a busy “first year” — and surely will experience a very busy “second year” in 2010.
There are huge challenges.
Well over 100,000 American troops are deployed in two wars.
Unemployment is at 10 percent.
Taxes are high, and spending is higher, with trillion-dollar-plus deficits in prospect.
There are many other problems.
The president’s “job approval” rating is indicated by polls as close to “half-and-half” approval and disapproval.
And so President Obama — along with the American people, the American economy, the American involvement in two wars, and many other challenges — faces his second year.
Being president of the greatest nation in the world isn’t an easy job, is it?