TIM'S POST REGARDING PRESIDENT OBAMA

On January 20th, 2009, Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the United States of America. After running against Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Barack Obama successfully won 365 out of 538 electoral votes. During his first few months as President he has set a date to close Guantanamo Bay, produced a plan to end the war in Iraq, passed a major economic stimulus plan, lifted bans on funding abortion and stem cell research, banned torture, and has deployed thousands of extra soldiers to Afghanistan. Most of these actions have a minimal impact on my life but are nevertheless very significant on the world stage.

A lot of people are suffering these days due to the financial crisis; President Obama plays a key role in ensuring that the economy gets back on track. The United States of America has to end its own financial woes in order to help the rest of the world recover from this particular recession. The US is a huge consumer of goods from all corners of the world, it employs a huge workforce (both domestic and foreign), it is a major manufacturer/exporter, and it holds a vast amount of the world's wealth. If President Obama doesn't get America's financial system back to normal it could have a very negative impact on me and on the rest of the world. Imagine if the Royal Bank of Canada or the Bank of Montreal or any other bank filed for bankruptcy. That's all my mom ever talks about now. We could lose all our money overnight if something like that happened. Furthermore, when I graduate from university, the recession is not going to help with my job search. This is why President Obama's actions mean so much people like me. On a different note, his decision to lift bans on stem cell research will very likely have a positive impact on my life. The medical breakthroughs that will very likely come from this decision could only benefit me and the human race. In conclusion, most of President Obama's actions will not affect me drastically, but some of his more important decisions will.