In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama ran his campaign on a message of hope and change. Today, as America nears its next presidential election this is exactly what America is in dire need of.

With an anemic economy, a crushing national debt, a $1.5 trillion budget deficit, a decade-long war and a president that seems to have no definite solutions, Americans are frustrated and discouraged. The president seems to be inept at dealing with the current issues. The White House never has a plan until the last minute and is failing to show the leadership that citizens expect of their president. The only thing that seems to be missing from the current picture is a Jimmy Carter-style malaise speech.

After being crushed in the 2010 midterm elections because of his overzealous progressive agenda and failed economic policies, Obama has not changed course. So far this year, he has produced a budget that explodes the national debt and would spend more than $45 trillion during the next 10 years; another stimulus package that proposes spending another $400 billion, paid for by raising taxes in the midst of a recession; and recklessly pushed to include zero budget cuts to raise the nation’s debt ceiling or in the continuing budget resolutions.

It took the president months to produce a speech about decreasing the budget deficit. It then took him the rest of the spring and the whole summer to come out with a formal plan that trimmed a stingy $3 trillion off of the proposed 2012 budget baseline of more $45 trillion over 10 years. The White House’s $3 trillion number is a farce at best since it is filled with budget gimmicks that insult the intelligence of all Americans.

The Obama administration isn’t going anywhere and not only because Republicans are staunch opponents of his big-government policies, but also because the vast majority of Americans oppose them. For example, the president’s multitrillion-dollar health care reforms were signed into law in 2010 while the majority of the county was opposed to them; and since their passage, a majority of Americans have consistently been in favor of repeal.

The country needs to change course, one not forged out of government dependency and a heavy-handed federal government (in fact, this is the same direction America has been going for the better part of 100 years), but one based on our Constitution, economic and political freedom, and centered around the individual.

Unfortunately, the administration feels that the best way for our country is the former. While I have respect for Obama as an individual, his position is not a respectable one. The latter course is needed and would change the direction in which the country is headed, bringing hope and optimism back to America.

Patrick Mocete is senior political science and policy studies major. His column appears occasionally. He can be reached at pdmocete@syr.edu or on Twitter @patrickmocete.

Published on October 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm