Commentary

How We Changed As A Nation Over The Past 8 Years

by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, January 13, 2017

As President Barack Obama bids farewell to the nation and President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take his oath of office next week, it seems appropriate to reflect at how the country has changed over the past eight years.

In the technological, societal and political spheres, we have experienced a vibrant and fast-evolving public life.

Apple released its first iPhone during then Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential primary campaign in 2007; candidate Obama announced his pick for Vice President on a 2-year-old social-media platform called Twitter.

Today, smartphones are the norm, while Twitter has become a central player in our democratic process.

The makeup of the American electorate has also experienced drastic shifts over eight years.

According to a Pew Research paper, Millennials have quickly surpassed Boomers as the largest generation, equaling them in percentage of eligible voters by age group. In 2013, for the first time in American history, a majority of newborn babies were ethnic or racial minorities.

That trend has been developing for some time; last November’s electorate was the most diverse in history. One in three eligible voters were either black, Hispanic, Asian or another minority group.

Americans have also become steadily more politically divided.

Education has played a significant role here, as voters with higher-education credentials have systematically become more Democratic and those without college degrees identify increasingly as Republican.

Compared to any point in that past six decades, Barack Obama has been our most politically divisive president. On average, only 14% of Republicans approving of his performance, compared to 81% of Democrats.

Economically, however, Obama’s tenure saved the nation from disaster. He has presented the incoming president with a growing economy, consistent job growth and soaring stock market. (When Obama entered office, the stock market was at 6,000; on leaving, it's over 19,000.)

President Obama’s economic policies halved the unemployment rate from over 10% to under 5% and helped the Dow gain more than 100%.

America’s image around the world also improved drastically after taking a hit during George W. Bush’s unilateral presidency.

Our nation is by many measures a stronger and more prosperous nation than it was eight years ago. Incoming president Trump will have a powerful economy, a vibrant employment market and sturdy alliances around the world.

Let’s hope that four years from now, he has improved on those gains.

demographics, economy, international, politics, technology

2 comments about "How We Changed As A Nation Over The Past 8 Years".

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Mike Kight from Kight Enterprises, January 13, 2017 at 1:52 p.m.
90+ million Americans and 62.6% Labor Participation rate which is the lowest since the 70's tells us that Obama was great for the 1% but horrid for everyone else. Federal debt has increased more during the past 8 years than in the history of the USA. The Obama economic recovery is the most anemic in the pos WW2 era. The number of household below the poverty line is the hightest since 1959.

The US military is now operating in 5 wars which is 3 more than when Obama took office. The Chinese are militarizing the South China Sea, the Russians have taken the lead role in the Mideast, run amok in the Crimea and the Ukraine. Turkey and now France are moving toward Russia. The Russians and Chinese have been hacking the US government at will for the past 8 yrs. The Syrian red line in the sand has caused mass migration that has caused incredible human suffering. The North Korean nuclear program and ICBM program has continued unabated.

The Obama administration asserted the right to execute Americans without due process until publicly shamed. The intelligence agencies missed te rise of ISIS even though they are spying at will on American citizens. The Obama adminstration attempted to influence the Russian election in 2012, bugged German chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone and spied on our allies.

If you want to assert that Obama has been great for the US standing in the world then why are we fighting in more places than anytime since WW2?

If the economy for the 99% is so great then why are so many below the poverty line? Why is the labor participation the lowest since the 70's?
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Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, January 13, 2017 at 6:21 p.m.

Republican aka fascist obstruction has stimied more improvement. Our debt to the Obama administration for everything they have done for this country will never be able to paid back.