At what point will we hold Barack

Obama accountable for the many issues we are facing in our country

today? As an Obama voter, I must admit I have been a tad bit

unsatisfied with the progress the country is making right

now.

At what point

will we hold Barack Obama accountable for the many issues we are

facing in our country today? As an Obama voter, I must admit I have

been a tad bit unsatisfied with the progress the country is making

right now.

I voted to

elect him into office, not because he’s black, but because I felt

he was the best man for the job. However, I feel that the black

community is supporting a man because of his race, not his quality

of work. Because in all honesty, if we stepped back and looked, we

are probably in worst shape now than we were in 2008 when he was

elected.

Before I am

called an Obama hater let me explain myself. I acknowledge that he

has come into office after eight years of one of the worst

presidencies in our country’s history. In addition to that, he has

adopted the problems of a country that has been piling on debt for

years that precede even the Bush administration. However, after

three years in office, I have seen no visible, or invisible for

that matter, signs of progress abroad or at home.

I feel that the

excitement of our first black president has come and gone. Now it

is time for him to do the job we elected him to do. And for the

ladies and gentlemen who will be quick to accuse me being a sellout

or trader I challenge you to ask yourself, what major moves has our

president made since being in office?

If the man

makes mistakes we must hold him accountable to them. Every time

George W. Bush dropped the ball the black community were the first

people to say what a terrible president he is. For every mistake he

made, we held him personally responsible for the mistake and told

him he needs to fix it.

Now, in 2011,

if the Obama administration fails to do what has been promised to

the American people, we sit back and declare that the problems with

the Obama administration is the fault of his predecessor and this

task will take more than four years to fix. And although I agree

with that statement to an extent, what positive moves forward have

we made as a country that would show that our president is making

strong visible strides?

For starters,

last week, new census data showed the nation’s poverty rate rose to

more than 15%, the highest level since 1993. More than 46 million

Americans are now considered in poverty, 2.6 million more than last

year.

In an attempt

to save us from an economic crisis, the Obama administration put

into place the stimulus package. However, many economists have

proven that this program was a failure in terms of saving us from

the economic crisis we were trying to avoid.

Need more

evidence to the struggles of his presidency? Well let’s not forget

about the debt ceiling and how it is basically non-existent now.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said “Never again will any

president, from either party, be allowed to raise the debt ceiling

without being held accountable for it by the American people and

without having to engage in the kind of debate we’ve just come

through.”

In addition to

that, our relations abroad have not improved. What significant

things have we seen done to improve our relations with countries in

the Middle East and Africa? Many, if not all, of the same issues we

faced abroad during the Bush years are still here.

The Obama

administration can hang their hat on the assassination of Osama Bin

Laden and seemingly calming issues in Iran and Iraq. However with

the exception of that, the war on terror is still a very likely

threat.

The Obama

administration has had quite a few accomplishments in these last

three years. However, in terms of the major issues (economy,

education, issues overseas, etc.) the Obama administration has

failed to meet the standards many Americans would like for him to

meet.

His approval

rating is at an all time low right now. Although I do not feel that

he should lose the election in 2012, I do believe the Obama

administration needs to step up to the plate and take care of the

issues we have been facing during his entire term.

I do believe

the Obama administration when they say they are working around the

clock to help our country. However, I also believe what people do

more than what people say. And thus far, I do not see much

doing.

We have so many

people of color who are still on this high of having our first

black president, that we forget that all of the issues we voted him

into office for in 2008 are not only still here, but are

significantly getting worse by the day. I support our president,

but it would be nice for that change he promised the American

people to come sooner than later.

• Trumaine McCaskill, Opinion Editor