Four years ago after I watched President Obama’s inaugural
address, I wondered if the president could do what was needed for American
consumers. Special interests were so strong during the George W. Bush
presidency and did so much damage, I wondered if Obama would be successful in
fighting for consumer interest.
As we now know, the results of Obama’s first four years were
mixed for consumers.
What can consumers expect from Obama’s second term?
In his inaugural address Monday, the president gave a clear
message about the need for people, especially political parties, to work
together to move America forward.
He talked about the need to improve economic conditions, the importance
of equality, and the value of a rising middle class:
We know that America thrives when every person can find
independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate
families from the brink of hardship.
Interestingly in relation to the growing anger of younger
generations against aging baby boomers, Obama referred to meeting the needs of
both older Americans, which includes boomers, and young people. He said:
But we reject the belief that America must choose between
caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the
generation that will build its future.
On programs for older adults, he said, “The commitments we
make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these
things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us.”
On helping those in need, Obama said: “Together, we resolved
that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from
life’s worst hazards and misfortune.”
The president also mentioned:
- Regulating the business sector: “Together, we discovered
that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and
fair play.”
- Climate change: “We will respond to the threat of climate
change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future
generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none
can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more
powerful storms.”
The president also spoke at length about equality:
We, the people, declare today that the most evident of
truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still;
just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall;
just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints
along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone…
It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.
Obama said our journey isn’t complete until:
- Our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal
to their efforts.
- Our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else
under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we
commit to one another must be equal as well.
- No citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right
to vote.
- We find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful
immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity – until bright young
students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from
our country.
- All our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills
of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and
cherished and always safe from harm.
The president said to make the rights of life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness real for everyone doesn’t require us to define liberty
in exactly the same way or compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the
role of government for all time. But, he said, “It does require us to act in
our time.”
He urged others who take oaths and serve in the capital to
faithfully execute their pledge.
Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome
joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with
passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an
uncertain future that precious light of freedom.
We’ll see how the president’s second term turns out.
Politics has been called the art of compromise. Let’s hope
that lawmakers will be willing to make decisions that will move the country
forward, and that most of their actions will be in the interests of consumers,
not corporations.
