Much of the new American president's time and media coverage has been devoted thus far to the economic crisis. Rightfully so. But if you have been paying attention to the items buried behind the headlines of economic Armageddon, you know that the Obama administration has quietly been remaking the US socio-political landscape.
Among the steps taken in his first five weeks in office: passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, giving notice that he planned to rescind in 30 days a last-minute Bush administration rule that expanded the federal protection for, and scope of, the so-called "conscience clause" for healthcare providers, lifting the federal funding ban for international family planning groups that provide abortion services, expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance program, to name but a few. White House advisor David Axelrod has said Obama will soon lift the federal funding ban on stem-cell research. His 2010 budget includes substantial increases for student loan assistance (in fact, it proposes a complete reform the system by cutting out the private lenders who distribute federal loans) and $634 bn over the next decade for health care reform, to name just two provisions. This list doesn't even begin to include his actions on the foreign policy front (for instance, Iraq withdrawal date or interrogation and detention guidelines) or his intention to let the Bush tax cuts expire in a year's time.
Paul Krugman summed up Obama's actions in his NYT column,
"President Obama’s new budget represents a huge break, not just with the policies of the past eight years, but with policy trends over the past 30 years. If he can get anything like the plan he announced on Thursday through Congress, he will set America on a fundamentally new course."
We are all grabbed by the headlines on the economy, banking system and foreign policy challenges facing his administration. But the US president has quietly implemented an agenda that will transform the US social contract. The so-called Reagan revolution is being drawn back, and I would say, somewhat surprisingly, the majority of the American people are on board. The relationship between Americans and their government is changing; a fundamental sea change is upon us.
Now if only he could figure out how to pay for it all...
