Obama’s Neoliberal Legacy
When Obama first ran for president in 2008, he represented a hope for the American people as the nation entered the worst recession since the Great Depression. As a relatively unknown senator, he offered a break from the economic and political status quo. However, as we reflect upon the past eight years, we reflect on numerous deceptions and broken promises, culminating in the perpetual strengthening of the ruling class.
Entering his first term, Obama had the support of Democratic majorities throughout branches of government. However, as the Great Recession worsened, Obama showed his true allegiance. Most of us are old emough to remember the impact of the recession on our communities. Many lost their homes, and unemployment seemed to rise by the day. We then saw Obama show his loyalty to the ruling class. Instead of aiding the millions of floundering middle-class and working-class Americans, Obama’s government bailed out that banks, under the neoliberal premise that stabilizing the banks would solve the economic slump. Obama promised hope and change, yet only continued the elitist direction the Democratic Party had been undertaking since the first implementation of Neoliberal policies.
Obama’s neoliberal ideology shows through his proposition and championing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. While free trade agreements do increase the profits of the ruling class, as well as reduce cost in some scenarios, this comes at the cost of the working class, usually in underdeveloped countries, especially in Southeast Asia. These people work for long hours for low wages, often in extremely poor working conditions. The ruling classes utilize free trade deals to outsource labor to these underdeveloped, exploited countries, devastating communities that suddenly must become post-industrial, such as America’s Rust Belt. Stagnating wages also factor in to the sustainment of neoliberalism, as wages are kept stagnant in order to stabilize the falling rate of profit.
The Democrats in 2008 ran on an anti-war platform, promising to bring light to war crimes committed under the Bush Administration. However, Obama massively expanded the US drone program, and seemingly indiscriminately targeted civilians, while counting them as “enemy casualties” [1]. Estimates from the US government range from the hundreds to thousands, with other independent sources estimating much higher numbers. As well, under the Obama presidency, reports claim that 26,171 bombs were dropped, with the majority of these falling in Syria and Iraq, followed by Afghanistan and Libya. As well, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan also received minor bombing. Despite decrying Cuba and Venezuela for their “treatment of political dissidents”, and Obama’s own campaign promise to “strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government” [2], The Obama Administration has been unprecedentedly harsh with their treatment of whistleblowers. Edward Snowden, who released information about an unconstitutional surveillance program being conducted by the NSA, has had to flee the country to avoid the same torture suffered by other whistleblowers such as Chelsea Manning. Chelsea Manning has been imprisoned for the past six years out of her 35 year sentence, longer than any other whistleblower in US history [3]. The information she released documented US airstrikes on civilian targets. Since these actions were ordered by her superiors, Manning had no one to report these crimes to but the general public. Manning, a transgender woman, has spent her entire sentence in a men’s prison. She has endured months of solitary confinement and emotional abuse, leading to several suicide attempts. While Obama has commuted Manning’s sentence, this was only due to the pressure from activists advocating for her release. To add insult to injury, Obama’s first campaign promise to close Guantanamo Bay remains unfulfilled. Historically, the State has no qualms with imprisoning activists and suppressing popular movements if they cannot be adapted to serve the interests of the ruling class.
Regarding incoming President Donald J. Trump, Obama said, “If he deports thousands of kids, I don’t know that I can sit on the sidelines.” The painful irony in this statement is in the fact that Obama has deported more people than any other president [4], having deported 2.5 million people during his time as president. In fact, Obama has deported more people during his two terms than were deported by all Presidents combined during the entire 20th Century. Obama deserves condemnation for every single family deported, split up, or detained by the ICE. Obama has deported Honduran children fleeing the far-right government installed by the US, one of many attempts to reverse the “Pink Tide” that had swept South and Central America, resulting in the deposing of many soft-left leaders. Obama has done nothing to defend immigrants from the growing nativist sentiments in the United States, nor has he attempted any reforms on the American immigration system.
As Obama entered his 1st term, he had the benefit of majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Democrats had previously campaigned on a promise to enact a single-payer health care system. Democratic supermajorities could have resulted in a healthcare system that was truly open to all Americans, rather than the gift to insurance companies that Obama presented with the ACA. By granting healthcare to all Americans, Obama could have made a system difficult and incredibly politically damaging to repeal. This further proves Obama’s loyalty to the ruling class transcends the perpetuation of his own party. The ACA still allows for price gouging and for potentially unpayable medical debts for working class families.
Finally, Obama failed to support the “Obama Coalition” that won him consecutive elections. His promises to improve relations between the US and Native American groups were abandoned as he looked upon the Dakota Access Pipeline struggle and refused to act. When cases of startling police brutality came into the public eye, he refused to act. Throughout his presidency, Obama was characterized by his refusal to act when it counted the most. His charismatic personality and oratory skills covered up his anti-populist neoliberal policies. Obama cannot be idolized due to his predecessor and successor. We must recognize the unity of the state in their support of the ruling class, and their role in the upholding of Capital. Obama’s legacy is one of deceptions and broken promises , and we must not forget it.
1. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/the-obama-administrations-drone-strike-dissembling/473541/
2. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/426/increase-protections-for-whistleblowers/
3. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/01/seven-years-enough-obama-commutes-chelsea-mannings-prison-sentence
4. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obamas-deportation-policy-numbers/story?id=41715661
