Well, I would argue the problem is not a 4 year problem, but a problem that goes all the way back to the 1930s when the welfare state was created.
The problem is not entirely Obama, but American liberalism, in general.
And the welfare state is not just limited to cash payments to the poor, but extends to every area of life, which includes Food Stamps, the entitlement programs, corporate subsidies and bail-outs, agricultural subsidies, etc.
These problems existed before Obama and they will exist after Obama.
Teddy Roosevelt, the Progressive in Republican Clothing, started the welfare state in America. He gave us imperialism, nascent environmentalism and the “Square Deal”. He was a political invention, just like Obama.