Editor 's note : Michael Steele is chairman of the Republican National Committee . Michael Steele says it 's becoming clear that the Obama administration is spending money recklessly . -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Friday marks President Obama 's 200th day in office , and in most respects , his second hundred days as president have been worse than the first 100 . Obama campaigned on bringing `` change '' to America , and during his first 200 days as president , his real definition of change is becoming absolutely clear to Americans . Obama and congressional Democrats are determined to conduct their reckless and costly liberal experiments on the American people without any regard to the consequences . Whether a $ 787 billion stimulus bill , a `` cap-and-trade '' scheme that is nothing more than a huge national energy tax on every American family and business , or a $ 1.6 trillion government-run health care plan , more and more Americans are rightfully concerned about Obama 's change for this country . Since Obama and Democrats rushed through Congress a $ 787 billion stimulus package , unemployment in America has risen close to 9.5 percent , and every indication is that it will climb even higher when July 's unemployment report is released Friday . In total , more than 2.6 million jobs have been lost since Obama took office . But what has the president 's stimulus bill brought us , if not the jobs he promised ? Wasteful spending , such as $ 18 million to redesign Recovery.gov , the very government Web site used to monitor stimulus spending , or $ 3.4 million for an `` eco tunnel '' in Florida designed to provide safe passage for turtles looking to cross the street . This is not the economic stimulus that the American people expected . The second of Obama 's grand experiments on America was his massive so-called cap-and-trade bill that was rammed through the House of Representatives this past June so fast that congressmen were n't given the chance to read it . This bill is nothing more than a national energy tax , plain and simple . Its sole purpose is to increase the cost of energy so that Americans might use less . The Heritage Foundation estimated that it would end up costing the average American family up to $ 1,870 per year and decrease the national GDP by $ 161 billion in the year 2020 . The foundation also determined that during the 2012-2035 timeline , job losses would average more than 1.1 million . Add in the fact that it would do almost nothing to prevent `` climate change , '' and all that is left is a national energy tax on environmentally friendly clothing . Obama 's third and final experiment of his first 200 days as president -- and arguably his most dangerous -- is the fundamental transformation of our health care system . Obama is correct about one thing : Our health care system needs reform . Health care today costs too much for families and small businesses , preventing too many Americans from accessing the affordable quality care they need , when they need it . However , the president 's prescription to rein in these costs has little to do with real-world dollars and cents and everything to do with the complete government takeover and control of one-sixth of the U.S. economy . The president claims that more government involvement in health care will promote competition . However , creating such a government-run entity would result in a massive government health care monopoly . Private insurers would soon be put out of business , unable to compete with the subsidized government-run plan the president and liberals want . More than 88 million Americans could be forced out of their current private insurance plans and into the government-run plan , according to a study by the Lewin Group . Obama claims that if you like your current health care , you can keep it , but this is simply not true . Then there is the issue of cost . Despite what the president says , his government-run plan wo n't make health care more affordable . Quite the opposite . Nothing ever becomes cheaper by being more expensive , and the Democrats ' plan would cost at least $ 1.6 trillion , according to an analysis by Roll Call . The Congressional Budget Office determined one of the House Democrats ' plans would add more than $ 200 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years . The president is also planning to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid to help pay for his government-run health care scheme . This is the epitome of robbing Peter to pay Paul . The president and his Democratic allies have looked to raise taxes on many small businesses to help pay for his government-run health care scheme , a foolish proposition even during the best of times , let alone during a recession . Many small businesses would be hit with a penalty equal to 8 percent of their payroll for failing to provide insurance for their employees . Punishing small-business owners with punitive tax legislation such as this will only increase the unemployment rate and extend the recession . Obama 's first 200 days in office should be seen for exactly what they are : a clear indication of where he intends to direct America during his presidency . It is a direction that places less emphasis on individual entrepreneurs and private creativity and instead places power in the hands of a massive federal bureaucracy . It is a direction that rams massive spending bills through Congress in the name of economic stimulus and job creation , it is a direction that masks a costly job-killing national energy tax in environmentalism , and it is a direction that looks to put federal bureaucracy between patients and their doctors all in the guise of reducing costs and expanding coverage . America simply ca n't afford the president 's experiments . The president has done all this in just 200 days , and there are still more than 1,200 days left in his administration . That 's a frightening thought . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Steele .