9 Ways Obama Has Ruined the Millennial Generation

Impact

I’m sure millenials dream about having a cozy home with a white picket fence and earnings that will enable them to send their children to college and save enough money to retire comfortably. These and many other aspirations have been dashed during the administration of Barack Obama. In his crusade to change the values of the country, he has wreaked havoc on our financial system and many of the ideals that have served our country so well since its inception.

Here is a list of problems that Obama has created for millenials. This group is particularly important to examine because they will ultimately feel the greatest amount of pain from Obama’s missteps.

1. It is now more difficult than almost any time in American history (except for the Great Depression) to find a job that is commensurate with one’s education and previous experiences. Highly educated millenials are taking jobs just to make ends meet because the economy is still anemic. America is losing high-paying opportunities every day. The faux job increases lauded by the administration are mostly temporary, underpaying and campaign-related. College graduates are scrambling to find any work to feed themselves. The jobs available afford very little long-term potential or advancement.

The president has not found the answer to this dilemma even though the solution is staring him in the face. He needs to create a more accommodative business environment, in which, burdensome regulation, demonization of job creators and high taxes are moderated.

2. Health care costs will be burdensome under Obamacare. Many millenials cannot afford to pay for medical insurance, and yet, the new law will force them to do so. Sadly, the whole basis of Obamacare is to have those who do not need insurance pay for those who do need it. Many millenials would rather use these funds for lifestyle purposes and risk the possibility that they may become seriously ill. It is a matter of personal choice that should not be taken away by government fiat.

3. Social Security payments by millenials are subsidizing older Americans. This entitlement, if reform does not happen soon, may not be available to millenials even after they pay into the system over their entire working careers. Kicking reform down the road will only serve to exacerbate the problem. Obama has not proposed changes to Social Security to insure entitlements for future generations.

4. Education is burdensome for millenials. They have been saddled with huge amounts of debt reflecting the escalation of the cost of education during their lives. College education debt needs to be restructured given the current economic crisis. The administration has done nothing substantive to alleviate this problem.

5. Millenials will receive less service from state and local governments during their lives. Municipal labor unions have negotiated egregious contracts with incompetent officials, who are more concerned with avoiding strikes than anything else. Now, many of these municipalities are bankrupt, or close to it. Either the unions accept concessions or officials will have to cut services. Millenials are next up in terms of being the principal beneficiaries of services. The Obama administration has been loathe to efforts by some leaders to deal with local financial crises arising because of costly union deals. The political power of the unions over the president is too huge to ignore.

6. A prolonged economic crisis will negatively impact retirement accounts of millenials. Ironically, a sustained period of low interest rates is dramatically affecting the earnings of pension funds and all other retirement accounts, as interest rates have been artificially depressed to stimulate the economy. Seniors have experienced this phenomenon for only a few years, and it has seriously decreased the earnings potential of their savings. The Obama administration has done very little fiscally to improve the economy, so that the Federal Reserve was forced to flex its monetary muscle to take up the slack. The resultant low rates over a long time will also foster inflation that millenials will have to sustain.

7. Capitalism and the desire to be successful have been diminished. Maybe the worst thing Obama has done to hurt millenials is to improperly discount the implications of success. The president has spent so much time talking about the income gap, paying one’s fair share and fat cats that some young people now believe it is “uncool” or socially repugnant to compete for positions that are important to our economy, and are higher paying. Is it fashionable to live in a substandard manner like hippies in my youth? Are millenials embarrassed to say they are investment bankers and attorneys?

8. The perception of government has never been worse. Millenials, possibly more than any other class despise the government and the political system. The Obama administration has acted in a way that maximizes partisanship and government paralysis. Current leaders have not been sensitive to civil liberty issues that are so important to young people. And, political power has been relegated to some of the most unworthy and unqualified individuals.

9. The continuation of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has taken a huge toll on millenials. They make up a large percentage of soldiers who have been fighting for 10 years or more. The president promised to end the conflicts when he campaigned in 2008. The reality is that he continued each of them for years spending too much blood and treasure so he could strut his stuff as a military leader. The benefits of these activities are negligible, as proven by escalating violence in the aforementioned countries.

Yes, millenials should be angry and resentful. The current state of affairs is not conducive to the lives that our young people should enjoy. To know why this is happening, millenials should first examine the actions of the current president beyond all of the political hype. He promised so much and has provided so little. As he battles with Wall Street, Main Street deteriorates. Obama was supposed to end partisanship and bring hope to many who had none; he did neither. His administration has spent excessively, and the people have little to show for it.