One year since the election of Obama: Illusion and reality

In voting for Barack Obama on November 4, 2008, millions of people sought a change from the previous eight years of the Bush administration.

One year later, a balance sheet can be drawn.

Far from “change,” Obama is deepening the right-wing policies of his predecessor—including handing out trillions of dollars to bail out the banks; expanding war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, continuing the occupation of Iraq and issuing new threats against Iran; and pushing through a health care overhaul aimed at cutting costs and care for millions of Americans.

While the bankers who created the crisis are now doing better than ever, the social crisis affecting masses of people is getting worse, as unemployment soars and wages fall.

Joseph Kishore, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party will present a detailed analysis of the policies of the Obama administration and will explain the basis for an independent socialist movement of the international working class.