(Image: Thinkstock)

At 4:39 a.m. Saturday morning, House Republicans passed a $1.2 trillion budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, approving $60 billion package in spending cuts targeted primarily at domestic programs. After five days of fierce debate between Republicans and Democrats over shrinking the size and scope of federal government, the 235-189 vote was along partisan lines: Not a single Democrat cast a voted for the bill and only three Republicans voted against it. The GOP, which gained control of the House after last November’s mid-term elections, will use the budget vote in their latest power play as an opportunity to dismantle the agenda of President Obama piece by piece. “It’s democracy in action,” the exultant House Speaker John Boehner told the press during the course of the marathon session.

It’s clearly evident that the budget battle will grow in ferocity as Republicans and Democrats gear up for the 2012 presidential election. The standoff with Republicans and ongoing budget negotiations will prove to be a big test Obama’s political resolve and dexterity as the nation faces a possible government shutdown.

The Republicans’ proposal would quickly impose steep spending reductions in nearly every quarter of government for the fiscal year that ends on Sept. 30. The GOP used the process, in part, as a referendum on Obama’s healthcare reform legislation and expansive financial industry makeover. Lawmakers pushed for nearly a dozen amendments to restrict funds going toward implementation of the landmark healthcare law and sought to limit the budget of agencies that would initiate financial reform, including the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Moreover, the Republican’s aggressive plan seeks to  eliminate dozens of federal programs like the Corporation for National Service, which operates Americorps, and Corporation for Public Broadcasting; wipe out new funding for food aid for poor pregnant women and local employment assistance programs under the Workforce Investment Act; cut financing for non-profit organizations like Planned Parenthood; and hack federal agency budgets by as much as 40%, targeting entities such as the Environmental Protection Agency and Social Security Administration.

Despite House passage, the bill has little or no chance of becoming law.  The Democratic-controlled Senate, which wants spending to stay at 2010 levels for the remainder of the year,  will review its version in two weeks, just days before the March 4 deadline when the current funding resolution expires. Even if the Senate approves the measure — an extremely unlikely move — Obama has maintained that the proposed cuts would wreck an already fragile economic recovery and threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

As Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) told BlackEnterprise.com, the battle over the president’s spending request for fiscal years 2011 and the $3.7 trillion blueprint the administration unveiled this week for fiscal 2012 represent a “political chess game” for Obama. The Republicans are using Saturday’s predawn budget vote to claim a much-publicized victory, jam the administration’s program and communicate to constituents that the newly-empowered GOP deficit hawks will hold to their campaign pledge to reduce spending levels to pre-2008 levels. Obama continues to argue he was forced to initiate stimulus spending to stabilize an economy that was placed in crisis by Republicans but will exercise “fiscal responsibility” through a more reasonable approach to cost containment: a five-year domestic spending freeze. Moreover, the president’s fiscal 2012 budget proposal promotes  his vision to “win the future” by creating jobs and bolstering American competitiveness through investments in industrial innovation, education, infrastructure and clean energy. It’s important to note Obama’s proposal, which calls for elimination of tax cuts he agreed to extend in his December compromise with Republicans as well as restructuring Democrat-backed programs like Pell Grants and low-income heating aid, was met with disdain from legislators on both sides of aisle.

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The current political showdown has severe consequences, however. The stopgap funding measure is set to expire expires on March 4 unless Congress approves a short-term extension — a move vehemently opposed by Boehner & Co.  If action is not taken then the federal government will shutdown. Most government operations would cease. Large numbers of federal workers  — except those related to national security, public health and safety, and law enforcement and prison control — would be furloughed. Veterans, individuals applying for Social Security benefits and others in need of such government assistance would be forced to fend for themselves.

It’s been 16 years since the last government shutdown when another Democratic president engaged in a fiscal face-off with a different ultra-conservative, Republican-controlled Congress. During that standoff, Bill Clinton proved extremely effective in swaying public sentiment. They blamed an intractable GOP for the nation’s budgetary mess. Clinton significantly raised his political capital and used the incident to win re-election in 1996. Since Republicans today have shown a similar unwillingness to compromise, Obama may be betting that this put-the-nation-first posture will further solidify his centrist credentials and strengthen support among independent voters.

In interviews with White House officials, congressional legislators and economists this week, one thing is clear: More than any other group. low-income African Americans will feel the brunt of blows from these budget battles. Even though the Obama Administration and Senate Democrats may be able to keep House Republicans from using a “double meat axe” on the remainder of the 2011 budget and the administration’s 2012 proposal, any compromise will mean millions, if not billions, in cuts to safety-net programs. As Cleaver told BE earlier this week: “While there’s a great deal of talk about proportional cuts, it feels like the poor are taking a much heavier hit than the middle and upper classes.”

Many of our questions about the budget will be surely be answered come March 4 or sooner — and we probably will not like the response.

House Republicans wasted no time during their first week in charge laying the groundwork for one of two priorities they say helped them win back the majority: repealing the Affordable Care Act. In his first press conference as House speaker, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio said repeatedly that ObamaCare would destroy the best healthcare system in the world and job creation.

“With 10% unemployment and massive debt, the American people want us to focus on cutting spending and growing our economy. That’s what repealing the healthcare law is all about,” Boehner told reporters last Thursday.

This battle between the GOP and Democrats over the issue is heating up as the US Labor Department’s recently-released jobs reports revealed that the overall unemployment rate dropped from 9.7% to 9.4%, which President Obama maintains represents 12 consecutive months of private sector job growth. The unemployment rate for African Americans, which fell from 16% to 15.8%, has fluctuated during the past year, however.

Despite the report, Boehner still views healthcare as a drag on the economy and dismissed an analysis of the Republicans’ proposal released earlier in the day by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, indicating that repeal of the law would result in a $230 billion deficit increase over the next 10 years and boost the number of uninsured by 32 million people. The CBO is “entitled to their own opinion,” Boehner said, and distributed a GOP report citing how the law would lead to a bigger deficit and job losses.

“For those in both parties who care about the deficit and our future fiscal course, the repeal of the ACA should concern them deeply,” says Jack Lew, director of the Office of Management and Budget. “Rising healthcare costs are the biggest driver of our long-term deficits, and getting them under control is crucial for the fiscal health of the nation and to keep our economy growing, creating jobs, and competing in the world economy.”

House Democrats condemned the effort as “political theater,” mostly because the Senate will not consider such a measure and Obama would veto any repeal bill if one reached his desk. “They don’t have the votes to get it through the Senate so they just want to create a spectacle here in the House,” says Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) “What they need to do is start working with us in trying to create jobs. That’s the challenge and that’s what the American people [need] right now.”

Rep. Allen West (R-Florida), an African American legislator who gained his seat with Tea Party support, says he’s following the mandate of his constituents. “I don’t think [a repeal] is symbolic, and if the Senate does try to stymie it then we have to look, piece by piece, at the measures we have to repeal.” Allen supports, however, key provisions such as coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and healthcare pools for small businesses. “Those are the things you definitely keep, but when you look at [the law] in the aggregate, that’s maybe five to 10 pages. It’s the other 2,490 pages that are definitely questionable,” West says. He also maintains that many employers have fired workers or converted them to part-time employees due to concerns about the bill’s costs.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) noted that 36,000 of the 103,000 jobs added in December were in healthcare fields. “We have created the need for doctors, nurses and others to serve the 35 million Americans who will be insured thanks to this reform. Now these opportunities have led to the job creation we need so badly,” he said in a statement. “To stop healthcare reform, to explode our deficit in a time of economic instability and to destroy both the need for jobs and the healthcare those workers will provide, is unthinkable to me.”

President Obama speaks about health insurance reform at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., March 8, 2010. (Source: White House)

When President Barack Obama today signed into law legislation that will enable millions of Americans to gain access to health care insurance, he delivered on the promise he held since launching his audacious journey to the White House: Change we can believe in. With the 219-212 House vote late Sunday night, he achieved a historic milestone that eluded seven previous presidents—Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter and Clinton—over a span of more than 60 years. In doing so, he demonstrated that his brand of intelligent, can-do leadership can defeat the forces of resistance no matter how pernicious. Nothing will hold him back in his mission of remaking our nation into one that offers parity and prosperity.

President Obama has created a nation with insurance for all. In fact, after the House vote, Democratic Whip James Clyburn (D-South Carolina), the highest-ranking African American in Congress, said he considered “this to be the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century”—an array of federal policies that would dramatically restructure health care delivery for generations to come. The ground-breaking legislation requires most American citizens and legal residents to purchase health insurance as well as covers an additional 32 million people through Medicaid, subsidies to families and tax credits to small businesses. Among other initiatives, the package also creates a health care exchange in which uninsured individuals and small businesses can comparison shop for insurance policies; decreases out-of-pocket prescription costs for seniors on Medicare; and prohibits insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. Now millions of Americans do not have to watch as loved ones suffer from or succumb to catastrophic illnesses because they can’t afford insurance or their carriers discontinued their policies.

As President Obama has often asserted, however, change does not come easy. To gain passage of his 10-year, $940 billion plan, he faced relentless opposition, scurrilous accusations and rancorous debate. Over the past 13 months, he had to contend with everything from heated summer protests from Tea Party members that decried “ObamaCare” as a representative form of socialism to jousting with recalcitrant Republicans at chilly summit meetings. As recently as his January 27th State of the Union address, political pundits, naysayers and even members of his own party believed his health care reform bill would be D.O.A. when it arrived for a vote in Congress. Despite the odds, he persevered, taking his message to town halls, continuing to reach across the aisle and inspiring thousands to knock on doors and man phone banks.

A member of the audience holds a "Thank You" sign during President Obama's speech on health care reform at St. Charles High School in St. Charles, Mo., March 10, 2010. (Source: White House)

To achieve what was seemingly impossible, he knew throwing in the towel was not an option. He best expressed his mission in remarks after the House vote: “For most Americans, this debate has never been about abstractions, the fight between right and left, Republican and Democrat—it’s always been about something far more personal.  It’s about every American who knows the shock of opening an envelope to see that their premiums just shot up again when times are already tough enough.  It’s about every parent who knows the desperation of trying to cover a child with a chronic illness only to be told “no” again and again and again.  It’s about every small business owner forced to choose between insuring employees and staying open for business.  They are why we committed ourselves to this cause.”

As a member of the civil rights generation, I beamed with pride as I saw the collection of yea votes in the Obama column and heard the chants “Yes We Can! Yes We Can!” in the House Chamber. As expected, he did not receive one Republican vote. President Obama’s Republican foes will seek to undermine progress. After the second House vote of 220-211 to approve a package of changes of the bill, the Republicans were unsuccessful in its attempts to kill the bill through a motion that would have sent it back to committee. Despite beating the odds, the president will also continue to face fresh battles as the GOP seeks to repeal the bill through lawsuits and other measures as well as use health care reform as an issue to gain Congressional seats in the House and Senate during the midterm elections.

The passage of health care reform legislation was a momentous occasion not only because I want our nation’s chief executive to succeed and make this nation better and more bountiful. It represented a triumphant moment for one of “the children of the dream”—the realization that the generation we spawned and mentored has, indeed, become transformative leaders who perform at the highest levels. Barack Obama has been superb is his role as the nation’s commander-in-chief. Arriving to office with greater challenges than any president since FDR, he has saved our nation from financial ruin and passed the biggest economic stimulus bill ever, saving and creating more than 2 million jobs in the process. Now, he has passed landmark healthcare legislation and I am fully confident he will tackle the issues of unemployment and job creation with the same political pragmatism and executive skill. That’s change I believe in.

Earl G. Graves Sr. is the Chairman and Publisher of Black Enterprise.

In a Rose Garden ceremony attended by lawmakers and business owners, Obama warned that the HIRE Act was just a first step and that greater participation from the private sector would be required. “Government can’t create all the jobs we need or repair all the damage that’s been done by this recession,” he said. “We can help to provide an impetus for America’s businesses to start hiring again. We can nurture the conditions that allow companies to succeed and to grow.”

The $17.5 billion act, which the Senate passed on Wednesday with the support of 11 Republicans, has been criticized for focusing more on tax breaks than job creation. “I think they’re right, but I’m not against anything that could get more people working,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), who attended the bill signing ceremony. “It’s a good thing, but not nearly enough.” Ellison added that the Local Jobs Act, of which he is a primary sponsor, “is the right bill.”

Other critics have said that the provision to exempt payroll taxes through the end of 2010 for employers who hire workers who’ve been out of work for at least two months is not a big enough incentive to hire. Not so, says Charles Baker, president and CEO, MCB Lighting & Electrical in Owings, Maryland. He is preparing to hire 80 employees who will earn $76 per hour for an upcoming project in California.

“The payroll tax burden for that is a significant dollar amount for me. Multiply it by 80 and that’s a lot of money a week. But this almost allows me to hire another five people for the same dollar amount,” said Baker. “It’s a tremendous incentive, and since I do government contracting, it also gives me a competitive edge.”

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Minnesota), who co-chairs the Congressional Black Caucus jobs taskforce, said the CBC is not ready to relent on its push for legislation that more closely targets the communities many represent. “Issues for the minority community always seem to be a step down the line. When will we be the first step?” he asked.

White House Begins Education Reform
The Obama administration sent to Congress this week a blueprint for reform of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). It essentially would overhaul the controversial No Child Left Behind, the ESEA legislation that former President George W. Bush touted as a significant contribution by his administration to education reform. But NCLB was roundly criticized by lawmakers, educators and states for being punitive and focusing too narrowly on testing.

In testimony this week before both House and Senate education panels, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that the Obama administration’s blueprint centers on three primary goals: raising standards; rewarding excellence and growth, and increasing local control and flexibility while maintaining the focus on equity and closing achievement gaps. It also aims to ensure that by 2020, all high school students graduate prepared to compete and succeed in college and/or the workplace. Under the Obama proposal, schools that are making the most progress will be rewarded. Underachieving schools that improve student performance will receive credit if they still missed their targets. In addition, teacher and principal performance will be measured and held accountable to certain standards.

Rep. Robert Scott (D-Virginia), a member of the House Education Committee, said that Congress must work with the administration to not only identify problems but also prescribe solutions. For African American communities, the most important goal is closing the chronic achievement gap between white and black students through such measures as equitable funding, qualified teachers, and equal access to the same resources that enable high-performing schools to soar. In fact, Scott says, denying minority students an equal educational opportunity and allowing the achievement gap to continue for so long is a constitutional violation of Brown v. Board of Education. “When people say it costs a little more [to close the gap], well, we’ve been there before. Special needs students are [legally] entitled to a ‘free and appropriate education,’ and ‘we can’t afford it’ is not a defense.”

HHS Secretary Discusses Impact of Healthcare Reform for Blacks and Small Businesses

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

By most accounts, the healthcare reform bill that Congress is expected to pass in the next few days is by no means a panacea. There’s no public option, it doesn’t sufficiently rein in costs, and its impact on the deficit will be felt for years. But if Congress fails to pass a bill, warns Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the implications for minorities—already overrepresented among the nation’s uninsured–could be even costlier.

First, she noted in a roundtable discussion with black reporters at the White House this week, prohibitive rate increases are forcing more and more people out of the market. In the past 10 years, premiums have doubled, and Sebelius estimates that at the end of the next 10 years, the average policy could cost as much as $30,000. She recounted an insurance company representative telling a congressional panel that profitability trumps keeping customers. African Americans, she added, also disproportionately suffer from chronic diseases and other health conditions that push them into a high-risk pool. “So a larger percentage of minorities are going to be on the wrong end of the puzzle in a market that is unattainable or unaffordable and there’s, frankly, nothing that stops that,” Sebelius said.

Small business owners also often feel squeezed in the marketplace, she added. Without the bargaining power of larger firms, they face the highest rates from providers, doctors, and drug companies. If even one of their employees becomes seriously ill, their rates will jump up.

Reform legislation will enable small businesses to become part of an exchange that will enable them to negotiate competitive rates, and their lower wage employees will get direct subsidies to help pay for coverage. Sebelius also said that there’s a new provision under the bill being considered that will require insurance companies in the small-group market to adhere to a medical loss ratio that, with the exchange, would prevent end-of-year surprise rate increases.

“They’ll have to spend at least 80% of what they take in on health benefits and only allow 20% to go to profit, overhead, and administrative costs,” said Sebelius. “If they don’t make that medical-loss ration, they’ll have to rebate money, which will prevent this extraordinary differential we see in the market with jacked up rates.”

Getting to Yes
With less than 48 hours to go before the U.S. House of Representatives votes on the Senate healthcare bill, Democratic leadership was still furiously whipping up votes to get the 216 needed for passage.

According to Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina), a designated vote counter, members were wavering for a variety of reasons. They included the abortion language in the bill and the employer mandate, which some lawmakers are arguing is too stringent and will affect employers’ profitability. “I don’t buy the argument but it’s one some moderates are making,” Butterfield said. “At the end of the day, leadership is going to be able to reconcile all of these concerns and get a bill. Right now we’re right on the mark, but I’m confident that by Sunday afternoon we’ll have maybe two or three more than the 216.”

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Illinois) is one Democrat who’s leaning no because a provision in the Senate bill that would have extended an outpatient prescription drug discount program to hospital inpatients has “disappeared” from the version being considered by the House. Rush said it would save $1.7 billion over 10 years and help millions of people struggling to pay for prescription medicine. His stand has caught the attention of President Obama, who Rush said called him this morning. “The president called me this morning and said he’s going to look into it and get back to me,” said Rush. “It’s the only thing holding me back.”

Butterfield said that some carrots are being given out in exchange for much-needed votes, but leadership is also wielding a few sticks when necessary. “This is about more than one member’s particular interests. It’s about fixing a broken healthcare system that disproportionately affects African Americans, poor people, and working families,” Butterfield said. “I know that Speaker Pelosi has explained to members, particularly those from safe districts, that they need to step up to the plate and join Barack Obama and the Democratic majority.”

But as Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), an undecided member from a pretty safe Texas district, told a scrum of reporters today, “At the end of the day, when we take a vote, Obama is not going to be out there supporting and running my election. It’s going to be up to me to decide on my own if this is in the best interest of my district.”

Derek T. Dingle

As we enter the final quarter of a historic but tumultuous year, I can’t think of a better time to review the complexities and challenges of the Obama Presidency. I know it seems like every week, one pundit or another reviews the 100-day mark of one of the administration’s initiatives or the president’s popularity rating. But there is much agreement among most analysts, regardless of the political persuasion, that the recent confluence of events will prove to be telling.

His inauguration nine months ago ushered in a spirit of enthusiastic promise yet restless anticipation. His brand of executive leadership, marked by cool-headed pragmatism, focused engagement and continuous communication, has given comfort to many quarters of American society. Depending on your financial standing, personal situation or political allegiance, however, his transformation of government into an activist tool has been met with a wide range of responses—wholehearted praise, cautious optimism, head-scratching pessimism and vitriolic rage.

As we look at the myriad of issues confronting President Obama—a number of which need to be fully addressed before year’s end—it’s important to assess what the administration has accomplished. The facts barely match the latest Saturday Night Live skit that Obama has nada to show for his efforts. He led his economic team to develop a series of policies that snatched America, as Secretary Timothy Geithner asserted, from “the edge of the abyss.” There’s no argument that the popping of the housing and debt asset bubbles last year had nearly led to the implosion of the global financial system and came close to plunging the world into Depression 2.0. In fact, David Axelrod, the president’s senior advisor, told veteran broadcast anchor Charlie Gibson at The Atlantic Monthly‘s First Draft of History Conference I attended last week that “we didn’t know how bad things truly were” until the very first presidential economic briefing.

The Administration’s use of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, stabilized many of the nation’s “too-big-to-fail” banks as well as steered GM and Chrysler clear from joining a heap of wrecked leviathans—a massive business failure that would have taken millions of jobs, auto dealers and suppliers with it. The $787 billion American Reinvestment Recovery and Reinvestment Act served as a lifeline to large numbers of the unemployed in danger of losing benefits as well as created a number of jobs and opportunities through weatherization projects, public school renovations and other such programs. Over the past few months, Obama has signed legislation, among others, that seeks to enforce equal pay among workers and reauthorize children’s health insurance. Moreover, he has elevated America’s stature within the world community.

There have been issues that the President continues to grapple with though. His administration has yet to find the right military solution in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Despite across-the-aisle overtures, he has not been able to change Washington and turn it into a civil, bi-partisan forum where policy is placed above politics. Even though administration officials will seek to further its ecological agenda at the Copenhagen Energy Summit this December, Energy Czar Carolyn Browner concedes that passage of a comprehensive climate change bill is unlikely this year.

So in the months ahead, he must confront a number of major challenges that many have opined as “the defining moments” of his presidency.  Whether the next few months will fully characterize his first term is still anyone’s guess but supporters and critics alike correctly note their enormity and scope. Here’s what he faces:

The Economy. With Friday’s unemployment figures, the President admitted that economic recovery will come in “fits and starts.” The jobless rate has jumped to 9.8%—15.4% for African Americans—with 15.1 million people looking for work. In fact, Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, at the First Draft of History Conference maintained that “we’re looking at a period of several months before we start seeing employment creation.”

Among the most challenged segments of the economy is small business. I asked Obama’s economic guru why financial institutions continue to be skittish in providing companies with much-needed financing when guarantees for the Small Business Administration’s 7(a) loans had been increased to 90%. His response: “It will continue to take time for banks to become confident about lending to any of their customers.” As for America’s Recovery Capital program, he maintains that only time will determine its impact on giving small businesses an extra cushion.

The Obama administration continues to struggle with the employment issue. Summers has characterized “second stimulus” and “double-dip recession” as “Washington talk.” But Obama is considering additional stimulative measures including giving employers a tax break for hiring employees.

Healthcare reform. It continues to be among the most contentious issues within and outside Washington. The heart of the issue is whether Obama’s plan will reduce health-care costs or cause the deficits to balloon to unfathomable levels. The president argues that health care reform is not only a moral issue but a fiscal one. He maintains his administration can wring out savings by making Medicare and Medicaid more efficient and apply such measures as taxing large insurers on expensive “Cadillac” health plans. One of the biggest fights between conservatives and progressives has been over the public option—government-sponsored insurance that liberal Democrats assert will be the only way to ensure that insurance companies offer competitive rates while congressional conservatives maintain will wreck the insurance industry and push the nation into “a single-payer system.” Thus far, the public option has been rejected by the Senate.

Over the past few months, Obama has allowed five congressional committees to draft bills based on his guiding principles. All parties agree that some measure of health care reform will become law this year but he must play an even greater role in pushing the debate, shaping legislation and reducing the type of congressional horse-trading that can water down his initiative.

Financial stability. The panelists of a Congressional Black Caucus panel I served on a few weeks ago summed up the state of the financial industry as “a time of transition.” As many financial institutions are reimbursing TARP money that was used to keep them buoyant last year, the U.S. Treasury Department is seeking to gain billions from healthy banks to replenish the FDIC’s fund that insures up to $250,000 of deposits from their customers. Also, Obama faces another legislative battle in passing a mammoth financial reform package that seeks to increase capital reserves of institutions; expand the Federal Reserve’s powers to avert “systemic risk”; and form the Consumer Financial Protection Agency to ensure individuals don’t fall prey to “exotic” financial products, creative mortgages and derivative investments. Critics maintain that the measure over-regulates the financial industry, curbs innovation and diminishes the profitability of financial institutions through higher capital ratios. Obama appears vigilant in making sure consumers gain maximum protection and the nation avoids the same type of crisis it faced in 2008.

Foreign policy. The next several weeks will make an even more fine distinction between the Bush-era doctrine of unilateralism and Obama’s policy of engagement. At the conference, United States Central Command Chief Gen. David Petraeus reviewed the administration’s biggest military challenges: unwinding military presence in Iraq;  the decision on whether to deploy 40,000 troops to Afghanistan as Americans grow weary of a war entering its ninth year; and diffusing a possible nuclear threat from Iran. In fact, the administration today received increased pressure from Congress to impose sanctions on Iran in response to last week’s discovery of a secret uranium enrichment facility within the country. Obama has yet to endorse a new set of sanctions from Congress, opting to push Iran’s compliance with United Nations’ resolutions and multilateral support, including the country’s chief trading partners Russia and China.

As you can see, Obama faces most critical challenges as the year winds down. As he once told the White House Press Corps in an earlier news conference, while some presidential administrations have face two to three daunting tests, he has confronted almost thrice that many. But true to form, he says his administration will need to “stick to it and keep working at it.”

His critics will continue to pounce—that’s evident from the reaction of his failed pitch to bring the 2016 Olympics to his adopted hometown of Chicago last week. But 2010 will be a critical year for the administration—and the country. Congressional decisions will grow more political as members eye re-election bids.

If it’s true as Axelrod says that Obama will continue to not govern by the latest poll then the president will continue to manage the nation’s affairs from the head instead of the hip. From the outset, he asserted that there were no quick fixes to America’s problems. So as the administration continues to work with persistence, the nation will be forced to exercise patience to wait and see whether Obama’s policies will have a lasting, positive impact—despite the pain felt by many in the short term. That more than anything will define the Obama Presidency.

Derek T. Dingle is the editor-in-chief of Black Enterprise Magazine

Then, just hours before President Obama’s prime-time speech on health care last week, members of the CBC held a press conference to announce that they were publicly supporting the measure.

Well, it’s about time.

After making headlines earlier in the year for a high-profile visit to Cuba and criticizing the president for opting out of a UN conference, the group is finally wielding its power and influence on an issue that holds some significance for its constituents.

Health care reform could have been the black lawmakers’ defining issue had they not been so late to the party. And here’s why.

Members of the CBC represent voters who make up a disproportionate number of the uninsured and underinsured in this country. That alone should have made them early backers of a public option plan. In their districts, the emergency room has become the doctor’s office for many.

And yet the group’s announcement prior to the president’s speech was a safe move disguised as something more. The CBC’s public relations machine fired off a generic e-mail about the press conference, titled “African Americans to Make Announcement on Healthcare Reform,” days before the televised event.

Too bad it came weeks after the fire-and-brimstone town hall meetings and fear-mongering by conservatives already set the tone for the discussion.

Even more palpable, the move played itself out as black politicians coming to the aide of the black president as he’s abandoned by disillusioned, and possibly racist, whites.

The fact that the CBC waited so long to publicly defend the plan is puzzling. In June, black Congressional members, along with Latino and Asian politicians, introduced the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2009, which outlines the need to increase access to care among minority populations. And just last year, the CBC Foundation held its second annual conference on health disparities. Among its findings: blacks are twice as likely as white to be diagnosed at the advanced stages of most diseases.

The organization also has a health brain trust, headed up by Rep. Donna Christensen (D-VI), which touts itself as the authority on minority health policy.

In fact, on Christensen’s website, she claims that the CBC continues “to be on the front lines of … supporting legislation that will ensure health equity and justice across all populations.”

The front lines? It seems more like the CBC waited for the battle to rage before making its move. But better late than never, right?

As the health care debate continues, the CBC would do well to read up on all those disparity studies it sponsored. They lay out a pretty good case for why black lawmakers need to be visible and vocal when it comes to health care reform. Later for the politics and the publicity stunts. Their voters’ lives depend on it.

Chana Garcia is a journalist, blogger, and ovarian cancer survivor who lives in New York City. On her blog, black gyrl cancer slayer, she documents her battle with cancer and writes about health care reform with humor and irreverence — and a bit of sass. Her story is featured in the September 2009 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.

Describe the conditions in the poorer African countries for a woman during childbirth.
Every time I go there and I see it, it still shocks me how bad it is. It’s very difficult to imagine what its like, even though I’m from there. I believe about 70% or 80% don’t give birth in a hospital; they deliver at home. And when I say at home, they are in a place with no running water. The hygiene issue is just drastic. The woman could get an infection or have a hemorrhage and die from that. Or the baby’s too big, so she would be in labor for days until the baby eventually dies. They don’t have anyone there trained to help deliver the baby.

What about the medical care available after the birth?
Even once she has the baby, its survival rate is so small. The baby could die from malaria, diarrhea, or pneumonia. And it’s just so sad because all these things are completely preventable. It’s just that they’re not getting the money and they’re not getting the priority–that’s what the whole problem is.

Why not?
In Africa, unfortunately, there are so many crises. But women’s health is really important; it needs to be a priority. The woman is the core of the family, she really needs to be helped so she can take care of her family and we can have better generations and children who can take care of themselves, who are educated and healthy and can then take Africa forward.

You’ve successfully used your fame to boost your humanitarian efforts.
It’s very helpful. It brings the awareness to a much a wider audience worldwide. The thing with causes is that the problem is happening in a place that is so far away, so you never hear of it. You need somebody to bring it to the front and talk about it.

There’s been a lot of celebrity interest lately in Africa. Do you think it works?
All the help for Africa is just incredible. It’s changing people’s perceptions of the world and each person’s responsibility to the world, and it’s making even younger and younger people feel concerned more than ever.

With so many aid campaigns, why aren’t the resources getting into these places quicker?
These things take time. We’re talking about solving an incredible amount of problems. These are really difficult and very fundamental issues. And it’s very expensive. Just in Ethiopia alone, you have 75 million people. So it’s a very difficult job.

What’s your ultimate vision for assisting countries in Africa?
I really support the whole idea of aid in the business sense, like partnerships with companies. We have to create jobs and generate money. It’s that whole thing about teaching them how to fish instead of giving them fish. It’s a brilliant idea because you’re not just donating money, you’re giving them a business, a tool, a trade so they can support themselves, give a boost to the economy, and help Africa sustain itself.