New US era begins as Obama hands over power to Trump

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) -- President Barack Obama left the White House on Friday and handed over power Donald Trump.

Before leaving, Obama and his family had a final breakfast with White House staff and was presented with a gift of the American flags that flew above the White House when he took office in 2009 and on his last day as president.

On Obama’s final full day in office Thursday, four detainees at the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba were transferred to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. That left 41 detainees at the prison.

In one of his first pledges after taking office in 2009, Obama promised to close the prison within one year but failed to meet that goal as he faced stiff opposition from his own Democratic Party and Republicans.

Also on Thursday, notorious Mexican drug cartel leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was extradited to the U.S. to face a host of charges in different jurisdictions. The charges include murder, drug trafficking and money laundering and could result in Guzman spending the rest of his life prison.

Some have speculated the timing of the extradition is political as it came just hours before Trump becomes president. Trump has criticized U.S. trade deals with Mexico and promised to build a wall along America’s border with Mexico and force Mexico to pay for it.

After eight years, Obama is sure to be remembered for bringing the U.S. economy out of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression while implementing a new health care system called the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.

Approximately 9 million Americans lost their jobs during the financial crisis that pushed the nation’s unemployment rate to a whopping 10 percent by the end of 2009.

The American economy is currently at near maximum employment and added more than 15 million jobs. The unemployment rate has fallen below 5 percent and new regulations have been placed on Wall Street in an effort to prevent another crisis.

An estimated 23 million Americans who did not have health insurance are now covered under Obamacare but the law has been heavily criticized for being too expensive, not proving enough care while forcing consumers to purchase coverage.

Trump campaigned on a promise to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare but after meeting with Obama following the election, he said he would consider keeping at least some provisions in the law, including not allowing insurance companies to remove customers because of pre-existing conditions and keeping children on their parent’s heath care plan until the age of 26.