make us tighten our belts on child nutrition programs while the girth of the nation grows. The government spends $1 million per soldier in Afghanistan, yet barely spends $1 on the food in a school lunch.
via Debra Eschmeyer: State of the Union’s School Lunch: Nutrition as National Defense and Fiscal Health.
Obama’s spending freeze is big, awful news lately. Debra Eschmeyer’s article lamenting the effect of the freeze on school lunch programs brings up the kind of disappointment a lot of us feel about a lot of programs that would suffer from such a freeze. It hardly needs to be repeated, but it is becoming increasingly clear that Obama’s priorities are not what the voting public thought they would be. I specifically remember heading to the polls, dreaming of a president who would pull us out of two needless wars, repair the deteriorating financial laws that could no longer hold up the economy, and begin an era of government in which the health and education of the nation (children and adults) would be a national priority. A year and a few months later, that president is talking about a spending freeze with the continuation of the wars an explicit goal, and has done little more than ask banks to pay back the money he gave them. I’m frustrated, we’re all frustrated. Where is the guy we voted for? What the hell happened?
Internet, this is my (limited) understanding of the situation: all that stuff Obama promised to do during the campaign is, in truth, impossible. First of all, most of the big sweeping changes he promised are illegal. Take closing Guantanamo Bay, for example. The president does not have the authority to do that. All the president can actually do is veto laws that have already gone through congress (not very useful, actually) make appointments, and command the armed forces. Actually, Obama doesn’t actually have the authority to freeze domestic spending, so I guess that’s good news. As much as we would like to depend on Obama to change our country for us, all he can really do is suggest things for congress to do, and we’ve seen how well health care reform has been going.
My theory is that Obama thinks a spending freeze is what we want. He’s done what we all do from time to time: he got used to praise and support during the campaign and now he can only see the criticism he faces. It’s incredible after the image of boldness and change he presented, but it Obama has caved. A year ago, I saw in Obama a president who might have the courage pursue a progressive agenda. I think a lot of people saw him as dedicated to a theory of government which prioritized the well-being of its citizens. Maybe I set my hopes too high, but the Obama of the campaign seemed ready to enact major change in this country, despite adversity and opposition, for the good it would eventually bring, but the Obama of a year later is all too ready to fold in the face of political opposition.
In light of all this, I have one major point: Obama is not the legislative Mary Poppins we all thought he would be. Some things he simply can’t do, some things he might not want to do, but many things are still possible. If we want the Child Nutrition Act reauthorized, if we want schools to be better funded, and school lunches to be local, healthy, and delicious, and if we want this country to care for its children, we’ve got to work for it. Spread the word, make it known that America wants better school lunches. And don’t depend on Obama to make the laws you want because that’s not his job. Write to your senator, vote for people that share your views, and get other people to do the same (I’m looking at you, Massachusetts). The reason we’re looking at two foreign wars and a three-year spending freeze is that the people in power (Obama included) think we want them. I know it’s easy to despair, to give it up as a lost cause, but please don’t. I still have hope that if Obama and congress know that people want health and education to be national priorities (and not just city people with blogs) they will act accordingly. Politicians pay attention, and the spending freeze is probably a reaction to high-profile conservative groups like the tea-partiers. Getting politicians to pay attention to a cause is difficult, but at some level, they work for us. Don’t give up, internet, get louder.
