Part 1: The Year in Review 2009, Part 1: New Governments

Part 2: The Economy and Healthcare

With a new president, Barack Obama, Congress set out to tackle the president’s two biggest goals: to repair the economy and pass healthcare reform. A year later, new healthcare bills have been passed and the economy is on its way to recovery. But all these changes happened with no shortage of fanfare. 2009 was marked by raucous healthcare debate, media controversies, and economic turmoil.

The Economy

After the economic collapse which began in 2008, Obama’s administration as well as Congress spent early 2009 assessing the damage and devising a plan to soften the fall and eventually place the United States back on a path toward economic growth.

Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner inherited the $700 billion bailout package from the Bush administration. President Obama took a more hard-line approach to administering bailout funds. President Bush had often been more lenient, providing General Motors with bailout funding and giving it a flexible timeline in which to become profitable. President Obama refused to offer GM more money or more time and recommended Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Even after billions were poured into two of the three major American automakers in an effort to stave off bankruptcy, General Motors and Chrysler both filed for Chapter 11 in 2009. Despite their pleas that bankruptcy would erode consumer confidence in warranties, both companies emerged from bankruptcy with relative ease and have already begun restructuring.

A.I.G was the most hated company of 2009, according to The Consumerist and 24/7 Wall Street. A.I.G. topped the list of banks who received bailout funds, a list which includes Bank of America, Citigroup, and other large financial institutions. 2009 will be remembered for years for the rather unfavorable public image banks created for themselves. After accepting hundreds of billions in taxpayer aid, banks posted record profits in 2009 and bonus payouts were higher than ever before. Some banks, including Bank of America and Citigroup, have begun to pay back loans to TARP, the regulatory program designed to appropriate bailout funds. This however came just weeks before the bonus payments would be made. Most banks holding TARP were prevented from paying large bonuses by the terms of the loan; once the money had been returned, they were free to pay bonuses as large as they’d like. This led to widespread media speculation that the money was only being returned so executives could pay themselves bonuses. Angry Americans have protested corporate indulgence, sometimes violently. Numerous people sent emails to A.I.G. executives promising to kill the bankers’ children. While 2009 may have seen turmoil on Wall Street, there was certainly no drastic changes in its operation. Self indulgence on Wall Street is here to stay, and Americans are increasingly unhappy about it. After all, unemployment peaked at just over 10% in October, the first time it reached that level since 1983. With 1 in 10 Americans out of work and many more underemployed, it came as no surprise that Americans reacted angrily to billions of dollars in bonuses.

Healthcare

While debate over the economy dominated the first half of 2009, Americans focused their attention on healthcare reform in the later months of ‘09. Democrats were eager to pass healthcare reform and President Obama had made it one of his top priorities.

Even Democrats couldn’t agree whether the controversial public option should be included. But debate about the actual provisions of the bill was overshadowed by partisan skirmishes and fear-mongering The sheer complexity of the bill made it easy to make generalizations or spread half-truths; so few people actually understood what the many versions entailed, allowing politicians and media to insert whatever they chose.

President Obama addresses Joe Wilson's comment

Sarah Palin famously claimed that Obama’s plan would create “death panels” which would decide the fate of her baby who has Down syndrome. This idea was originally introduced by former Lieutenant Governor of New York Betsy McCaughey, who equated end-of-life planning to government sponsored euthanasia. After President Obama assured America that his plan would not cover illegal immigrants in a speech before Congress, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) called out “You lie!” “That’s not true,” responded President Obama, as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi looked to her left in less-than-subtle amazement.

Flagrant irresponsibility was not limited to politicians or media outlets either. At a town hall meeting in California, a man’s finger was partially bitten off by an opposing protestor. There were cries of socialism, communism, fascism, and any other forms of government we despise ending in -ism. Debate over the bill itself was drown out by sensationalists. After many of the most controversial pieces of the bill were dropped (including a public option), it became clear that a partisan vote would be enough to pass healthcare reform.

After months of controversy, the Democratic Senate finally passed the healthcare bill on December 24, 2009. Republicans unanimously rejected the bill. The late senator Ted Kennedy, who died in late August of 2009, missed the vote on the issue he had spent his tenure in the Senate fighting for. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-VA) called out, “This is for my friend, Ted Kennedy — Aye!” in honor of Kennedy. The $871 billion bill will now have to be merged with the $1 trillion House bill. Congress hopes to have a bill on Obama’s desk before his next State of the Union address. The Senate’s bill will extend health coverage to an estimated 30 million Americans. Most of 2009 was marked by partisan debates and ludicrous accusations. Nevertheless, on Christmas Eve, America took another step forward by approving healthcare reform and repairing the ailing American healthcare system.

Continued Soon: The Year in Review 2009, Part 3.

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