Okay, so I voted for Obama.

I definitely agreed with him on some issues, and I definitely disagreed with him on others.  But I truly thought he would at least come through on his whole thing about change, and I felt that was a good thing.  And here we are some 10 days into it and I can't believe how angry I feel--about what's going on economically (an ongoing anger) and now about how Obama is going about dealing with it.  I could see the rationale in some seemingly strange proposals if they were designed to create jobs for the unemployed, but I'm finding it hard to see that in the plan.  And what happened to the whole eliminate government spending on stupid or wasteful items?  I'm hearing a lot of items in the media that surely fall into those categories.  And where did the bipartisan thing go?  Even I, a pretty dedicated Democrat, can see the value of tax cuts.  Let's at least listen to what the other side has to propose before we decide they're wrong.  The current situation demands examining any and every idea, regardless of party affiliation.

This whole sense of hope thing:  I cried when Clinton was inaugurated the first time.  I grew up in an era that, in retrospect, seemed to have the last of the 'statesmen'--people who felt called to the job, who had a vision for the country.  And with Clinton I felt there was the possibility that he might just bring that back; that he would take the country in a positive direction.  We all know how that turned out.  (And as the husband, a devout Republican, keeps reminding me, it was under Clinton that the current economic mess actually began and was permitted to grow unchecked.)  This time around I am more cautious.  I still hope that Obama will be able to take us as a nation in a more positive direction, but I never suspected that he might only be able to do that internationally.  Wasn't the domestic front supposed to be his strength?

The reality is finally hitting the city where we live as well as the husband's company.  The company started with a separation package.  Now they are doing mandatory budget cuts.  They have announced they will be eliminating a significant number of jobs.  There are rumors of pay cuts after that.  And it's only the end of January.  If anyone thinks this is as bad as it's going to get, I hate to preach doom and gloom, but I think we haven't hit bottom yet.  The question is, how do we the people get our elected officials to actually do what we feel needs to be done--not for one party or the other, not to support or protest a particular politician, but because it is the right thing to do and will help.  This is not the time to be playing politics, especially when this new administration was supposed to be changing that.  Or so we were led to believe...