Report Card for President Obama
Election time is nearer and nearer. It is time now for President's Obama assessment. What grade you give President Obama so far? Please detail what grade you would give and why?
I would give Obama an A. Despite problems from the House, he did the best he could to follow through on what he said he would do for the people. I can't really give the Congress much credit, especially the House who spend more time trying to make Obama look bad then actually working.They wasted the tax payers money.
It doesn't matter that Congress disapproved or didn't cooperate with Obammo- he's just runs right over the constitution and illegally implements "executive order". So, if you think "the House" is bad now, wait until they have NO power over the dictator in charge! Then, my friend, you will be totally bereft of all your rights to bitch. Have fun with your Commander in Chief and your new shackles.
He might get a U
For unqualified
Hey, if he can make up his own definitions of everything, I can make up my own system of grading. And a U is far worse than an A, B, C, D, or even an F.So his healthcare is wrong to? One where everyone has the same medical advantages?
As usual we disagree. I just wasn't aware you weren't a Christain?
Disagree with the Supreme Court. I didn't know you weren't Christian.
When you hide behind the words of the Constitution over the health and well being of a fellow American, you can't be a Christian. Unless you misinterpreted that part of the Christain faith? That's also directed at both you and Brenda Durham! Unless of course money is more important to you? Or the sense of power of playing God over other peoples lives, because of their inability to afford health insurance.
The Constitution was written by some Christians. Your lack of logic is showing. Charity towards others is never forced in the Bible. Try to say away from things you have no knowlege of.
Thank you for your Godlike knowledge! Your convenient interpretation of both the bible and the constitution, never ceases to amaze me! lol Try to stay away from things you have no knowledge of!
)Bet the Supreme Courts interpretation amazes you too. You will get over it.
And someday, I can hope, you will understand the real meaning of the bible and constitution. Not the interpretation of convenience and your unwillingness to have compassion for your fellow man.
They were both written to be accepted literaly. No interpretation was necessary when written or now. What part of the Bible confuses you so much?
Would you like me to send you a copy of "The Bible for Dummies" and "The Constitution for Dummies". Both were written to be accepted literally, but you seem to be having a hard time understanding that.
You are gravely mistaken if you think that for one minute that the writers of the Constitution had any inkling of devotion to the true teachers of Christ. If they did the constitution would have abolished slavery.
The basic points of that "universal health care" idea might not be bad.
But it was intentionally rolled out as, and baked into, a tyrannical piece of legislation that focused on making Barack Obama a legend. The man doesn't really care about the poor, whether they're black or white! He has consistently shown that he cares only about pushing his agenda of changing America into something it was never meant to be. It's like putting a loaded gun in the wrong person's hands; what could be used for good is extremely dangerous in the hands of a tyrant.So it would be better to let people die then to, as you say, allow President Obama leave a legend? I don't think our founding fathers would want fellow Americans to die? I believe just the opposite, they would strive to make healthcare available to all Americans, regardless of cost!
ID
I would suggest that you read the Affordable Healthcare Act. I did when it first came out. I told everyone then what was coming down the road and everyone jumped me for it. But now people say to me how did you know that was coming. Thing is even to this day Democrats and Republicans alike have no clue was coming down the road in January 2013 2014 and 2015. And what I said then was the net result would be less people insured, receiving less coverage, and higher premiums. All three predictions came to fruition, and it's not over yet. The Supreme Court will rule is unconstitutional on several levels, not the and higher act as unconstitutional. But the parts that they will rule as unconstitutional are the main support of that built and without it it will collapse. Universal healthcare system is a great idea whose time has come and can be achieved. But it will take all parties on all sides including the medical professions input to create the perfect system, with better coverage, at affordable rates. I wrote up one such proposal and had submitted several members of Congress. Unfortunately with the elections coming it will not get any traction or perhaps after the Supreme Court rules and when the elections are over when I restart to promote it maybe somebody will listen.
"They can't run against policy, because Republicans have spent the entire Obama presidency doing nothing. Any run on policies will reveal that, so expect them to do avoid it whenever possible.
Except, of course, expect them to trot out their "failed economic policies" talking point, which they are never asked to expand upon."
Please some Republican: Expand!Actually, I've changed my mind. Whatever the lowest conceivable grade is, Obama deserves whatever's underneath that.
@Brenda Durham That would have to be an A+. Being a Christian you couldn't possibly judge another, or be anything less then compassionate for your fellow man!
The fact that the "leader of the free world" has such an influence on the attitude of people to make them think it's okay to accuse Christians like that is just one more reason Obama should get the grade of.....whatever's UNDER the grade that's under the grade that I mentioned before!
Wonder how low he can go? hmm....he already has said it's okay to tell his kids that they have the option of killing their unborn babies if they "make a mistake"; now he supposedly asked them (KIDS!) about homosexuality before he was audacious enough to come out for immorality. And against the advice of the Pastor he supposedly sought counsel for! Actually, he should be either put into a mental institution (if he's really that immature and ignorant) or else put in prison for using kids, including his own, to get votes for his political career. All those things are equally unconscienable.Ahhhh, I get so much pleasure out of seeing you this angry, angry because gay people just got one step closer to equality, angry because the president had the audacity to treat his children like mature people and ask their opinion. You are of a rapidly disappearing kind, thankfully.
Were you there when Obama "allegedly" asked his children what they tought?
As for the gay thing -- Obama holds the same position as Dick Cheney. Obama's "evolution" did NOT change anything though you would like it too. As for Brenda being angry -- simply having a substantively different point of view doesn't make her angry.
Christian bigotry at it's best? lol Oh that's right, you never read treat thy fellow man as you would treat yourself. Scary to think you would treat yourself like this! And let's not forget the Constitution. All men shall be treated equally. Does equally mean when it falls into your opinion? Did the Constitution mean only to treat people equally if they agree with you? Just curious.
What facts of life, parts of right and wrong, and/or Constitutional concepts do you not understand? I'm sure I can help, if you want help. Otherwise, it's useless for me to debate with someone who can't understand those concepts.
As a Christian, I've seen and read so much hate on this site, it's scary to think we are all Americans. It's a no wonder this country is in the mess it's in! Don't worry about debating me anymore, closing this account and looking for a more Christian site to participate on. Good luck to you!
Brenda
Obama gets F minus times infinity.
A big 'F".
He failed on the required course of fixing the issues like the economy, unemployment, and preventing another economic collapse, while he chose none matriculated subjects like DADT, Obamacare, while avoiding doing something about foreign oil dependency and illegal immigration.
He increased the size and scope of the federal government which only increases the budget deficit, while lowering the GDP.
Obama has not met the exam requirements, and therefore will not receive a grade.
As much of a Wall Street stooge as Bush, Obama has failed as a so called 'representative of the people'. In his administration, he has asserted himself as a dictator, extended the militarism all over the world, extended the police state, done nothing to fix the economy, done nothing but support the criminal Federal Reserve, supported draconian regulation . . . should I continue?
On everything important, congress has agreed and passed everything Obama wants. What the Republicans bicker about is inconsequential in comparison to the great crimes he has committed.- idratherbeposted 11 years ago
0A case of too much Hannity, Rush and Beck for sure! You need to do a bit more research on your descriptions of President Obama's accomplishments.
Right, this is the problem that every Obama apologist has - they believe that the only people capable of criticising that nice man are people who listen to those inane talk show hosts. Breaking news: people from all over the political spectrum agree with me. Even raging liberal John Cusack found Obama's extension of executive powers 'disturbing'.
Your list of failures are at best ridiculous. And to refer to him as a dictator shows disrespect for the office of the Presidency. Again, research his accomplishments then post.
Well, even if I were to believe that the office of the President has any value over any other person on Earth, it would be Obama who has disrespected the office by asserting himself as a dictator.
I don't really have time to go through all of the evidence I have amassed, but I think this article would be a good starting off point:
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/if- … pa-or.htmlI believe I'll pass any debate with anyone who takes merit in activist post dot com and calls the President a dictator. I just consider the source! Have a good day!
I take merit in the information and ideas presented, regardless of the source. That is the rational view.
idratherbe: Regardless of what anyone position is on Limbaugh or Beck -- all they do is read the statements from and play video clips of what politicians say. There isn't anything to debate when Obama says he thinks it is "good to spread the wealth around". Illustrating a persons own statements in not stating an "opinion", it is stating a fact. As for claiming Obama is a "dictator" what is the definition of a dictator? One definition is -- "a person invested with supreme authority during a crisis, the regular magistracy being subordinated to him until the crisis was met." Things are what they are regardless of your desire to change that reality. Obama is a Marxist. Marxists are dictatorial by definition of the political ideology.
- FPackposted 11 years ago0
I'd probably give President Obama a C grade, and that's based off what I think he averaged from his domestic policy (C-) and foreign policy (B-).
At home, he was able to squeak out a moderate healthcare bill that will do some good in the coming years, but is nowhere near its potential. I agree with some of the previous statements about Congress; when a majority of a congressional system has more interest in campaigning and the president is always seeking a moderate "consensus", more time is spent arguing and blaming than legislating.
Overseas, I think the administration has taken a more pragmatic approach to tackling affairs like poverty, terrorism, and social issues than did the previous administration, although there is room for more improvement. - Gusserposted 11 years ago0
Considering he had 2 years with Democratic control of both the Senate and House, and only 1 year of opposition control of the House only. And only got an unconstitutional healthcare passed. An F grade would be more than he earned.
This is all fine and dandy but this looks more like a place for republicans to gather and poke the president. People, wake up - George Bush, Jr, a republican, made this mess. Apparently most of you have been asleep most of these 8 years.
And Bush should be delighted that Obama has changed essentially nothing of importance.
(Not a Republican)Grow up, Kid—life isn't as simple (or as simplistic) as you believe it is!
The whole basis for my argument comes from what I have found out. In fact it is simplistic to believe that there is anything of substance that is different between both 'sides' of the political spectrum. From my point of view, the fact that Dems like abortion and Reps don't, for example, is completely inconsequential and frankly trivial in comparison to the great tyranny that both parties support, i.e. the ever expanding state power and violation of basic civil liberties.
The "whole premise" of your argument, that both parties are to blame because "they both support tyranny," is naive and ridiculous! If you had any awareness, you would realize that money and power always wins when the general population becomes complacent, fat, lazy and self-occupired wrt their civic responsibility and being watchful that those liberties would not be lost.
And that is exactly the way the Republican Party with Rupport Murdoch and the corporations who rule them, want it—only in England, they're called The Tories.
Ejucate yourself!
Money, Power & Wall Street
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline … ll-street/It is frankly naive and ridiculous to believe that money and power has no effect on anybody left of centre. The Democrats do it under the banner of 'progressivism' but in reality serve Wall Street as much as the Republicans. I probably wouldn't argue with much on that site, nor your argument that the general public is complacent, but the debate is shaped on a false paradigm between left and right, which is very dangerous. If you tune out of the media's spin on things (including MSNBC, CNN and the Soros owned networks) and observe actual policy, you will see consistency of agenda through the governments of the past 100 years. You have to be watchful of those who claim to be on your side the most - Obama and the Democrats are not your friends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWDJEc92d38Yeah sure, youtube is equivalent to Frontline, Obama is equivalent to Romney and you are equivalent to yet another callow and foolish fanatic. This is my last response to you because you're an obvious waste of time and effort.
You are NOT debating points—you're spouting an extremist position without any facts or rational argumentation to support your specious opinion.
This is what good argument looks and sounds like . . .
Are you still blaming Bush? What about France, Greece, Italy, Japan etc. It's a worldwide recession. Now what do all these countries have in common?
This country does in fact have a serious problem, but Mr Sanders makes the critical mistake in believing that government revenue actually benefits the economy. It's not simply tax breaks and 'greed' that created the recession, it was the combined efforts of the big banks (including the Bank of Rothschild, thank you LMC) and the Federal Reserve to create an artificial housing bubble, of which the public were only too happy to take advantage of. Bubbles burst as all bubbles do - it even seems intentional considering all of the times it has happened in the past, but the statists still blame capitalism, and greed, expand the state and fudge the interest rates on the dollar, creating massive inflation. The population is walking around with worthless money, but the ones with the most assets benefit the most in a top-down fashion. And guess what? Obama is continuing the exact same policies - borrowing, inflation, massive spending and illegal bail outs.
Stealing some money from rich people won't even pay for a day's worth of spending or debt - even if you took all of the fortune 500's money it wouldn't pay for 2 months! It has been the consistently bad economic policy that benefits the rich that has destroyed the economy, and both the Democrats and Republicans are to blame for it.
Apparently it's an extreme position to see beyond the controlled leftist media's position that if simply greed was disappeared through taxes, everything would be dandy. The fact remains that both parties support the corporate state, whilst one side whines about rich people more than the other. Your position is a moralising position rather than a rational one, otherwise you would not have had such a violent reaction to what I'm saying. Severe cognitive dissonance.'This country' I mean every country in the west really.
. From my point of view, the fact that Dems like abortion and Reps don't, for example, is completely inconsequential and frankly trivial
That's not what you were arguing a few weeks ago, in fact, you were fully supportive of the Republicans who were supporting Doctors in the US who did not want to perform abortions- on grounds of conscience. Now you state it is inconsequential and frankly trivial? Make your mind up.I was arguing for freedom of choice and conscience, which encompasses a whole lot, not the morality of how much I 'like' abortion. That's another issue altogether and irrelevant. I will protect the right for people to do things that I think are immoral, because that's liberty.
innersmiff: you are absolutely correct and please stand tall an continue to engage in analytical thought and reasoning. And if you support the Doctor's right to NOT perform abortions that is completely consistent with a freedom of choice and individual rights position.
He sure did. Obama has did his best at trying to clean-up a horrific mess that was left to him. Jobs cannot come back overnight and if he didn't bailout the banks than millions of Americans would have been broke, they would have lost every dime.
He also demanded that those same banks pay the money back to the Country so it wasn't a free loan.
He has stabilized the economy, slowed down the foreclosure and has definitely tried to provide every American healthcare. Nobody else in the World who has free healthcare complains except for us Americans. Apparently millions of Americans believe that a majority of us have very deep pockets and can afford to pay for healthcare. After seeing what comes out of my paycheck and what isn't covered under our healthcare program, I am just another middle-class American surviving. I would rather have a little more on my paycheck so that I to can afford to take a vacation once in awhile.
I am not Republican nor Democrat; but I believe Obama has really worked hard on trying to please the Country and on a personal note it isn't the President everyone in Congress should be voted out and we should start all over, there is to much mud-slinging, we are overpaying them for doing a job and nothing is being accomplished; I looks like they are in grade school!
I give Obama an "A" for thoroughly researching and reaching goals. I am giving an 'F' to George Bush Jr. for this mess that was left behind and ignoring the cries for help from our military when the WTC's collapsed. I hope many of us have not forgotten about that. Another Republican in the White House? Not this time, I am still not over 09/11. I lost friends due to stupidity in the White House. My friends lost husbands, wives and children in memory of them I am not voting Republican for a very long time.Yeah, I'm not a HUGE Obama fan or anything, but he gets points for using Keynesian economics correctly. It's worked in the past, and it worked fairly well this time around as well.
Yeah I suppose it has worked for the political classes, not so much for your average joe. I was under the impression that Keynesian economics was discredited. Well, there are still creationists I guess, except Keynesians are far more dangerous.
Um... you don't know the first thing about economics do you? Keynes is probably the most influential economic thinker in modern economics and is far from discredited though of course he does have detractors, take it from me (a former economist) and the poster of the original comment who is studying economics.
Your absolutely right Innersmith, we should all oppose Keynsesians and aim for no growth, like our very own omni -shambles government that has led us in to a no growth, double dip recession. Now there's something to aim for.
Right, I think this calls for another thread, specifically about economics.
Sort of a broad topic, I think you need to be more precise.
Keynsians are jumping on the British government's back for making cuts when it has done nothing of the sort. I back neither their policy nor Keynes.
Did you make this forum post? I was at a meeting. To your earlier comment the crisis was caused by laissez-faire economic models of which Austrian Economics is one.
No I haven't yet. I have a deadline so I'll get to it next week some time.
In short, various governments of the world created the economic environment, the artificial housing bubble, which inevitably led to the collapse. To call that laissez-faire is incorrect.Josak: under all available emperical evidence your thesis is wrong. The reason the economy is in its current state of decline and the cause of the financial crisis was the LACK of laissez-faire capitalism based on Austrian Economics. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FD … -5409.aspx Hence, socialist crony corporatism is what created the current economic situation. Had free market capitalism existed the situation most likely would not have occurred, because "competition" would have ensured that such a few companies would not have been in control of a majority of the assets, coupled with a disproportionate level of political influence. And Obama has made these very problems worse.
"Firstly socialist crony corporatism" is a sentence that makes no sense at all, socialism does not allow for corporations to exist.
Secondly, can you provide any evidence that the government prevented the creation of other large companies to produce competition?
Thirdly. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission the fault for the economic crisis lies squarely at the feet of the relaxation of the debt maximum on investment banks done in 2004 by Republicans under the Laissez faire economic model (obviously to reduce government intervention in the economy) so actually no according to the body responsible for determining the causes and expert in the field the blame lies on the Laissez Faire model.Josak: Provide me proof that socialism doesn't permit corporations. In my quest to ensure you don't strain yourself in your search allow me to prove you wrong - under the National Socialist Party (Nazi Germany) there existed corporations. France currently has a socialist president.
Yes, current regulations and high barriers to entry prevent competition against large multinationals. 5 banks control 80 percent of financial assets and have special benefits. None of the local banks received billions in bailout money, like $25 billion to JP Morgan Chase.
As for the SEC they are a bunch of incompetent fools -- is that the same government regulatory agency that investigated Bernard Madoff 2 separate times and gave Madoff a clean bill of health? Your claim that relaxation of debt levels as the cause of the financial crisis is inaccurate. The government created, fostered were responsible for creating the housing bubble --- which was one of the primary causes of the banking collapse. The facts indicate the banking industry is the most highly regulated, hence the very incompetence of the regulators, interference by government bureaucrats and unsound banking practices (which were condoned by regulators), coupled with the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 Under Clinton, permitted commercial banks and investment banks to merge, caused the collapse of the financial system in 2008. Had the government not intervened in the first place the housing bubble most likely would not have happened. However, once the banks did begin to fail they should have been allowed to fail and the crisis would have corrected itself instead of remaining a problem still in 2012.
So get your facts together and develop a logical, factual substantive argument. Basing an argument on political bias simply weakens and most often contradicts the point you are attempting to make.
Shanna11: There is no "correct" usage of Keynesian economic principles. In fact, if you actually understood Keynes he would disagree with Obamanomics and his misuse of Keynesian economic principles. In fact a white paper written by economists at UCLA have proven that FDR's use of Keynesian economic principles based on government spending -- deepened and extended the duration of the Great Depression. Therefore, as I've argued -- Obama's economic policies have done precisely the same thing -- extend and deepen the economic problem. I've taken the time to provide you the link so that you can expand your intellectual knowledge of the reality of Keynesian economic principles. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/FD … -5409.aspx
In candor, Obama has been a disappointment to me personally, but I would never "grade" the man on what reality has become—it's absurd. Every POTUS has a tiger by the tail; but this I do know—Obama's grade would always be better than those of the fools who preceded him or are now running against him.
Romney is dope and clueless and the thought of giving him the presidency when Obama now has all of the experience of a first term would only hurt this country even more.
For those who were asleep during the 4 years Obama has served as President...
from
http://3chicspolitico.com/president-oba … lishments/
President Obama’s Accomplishments
3 Chics Politico gives mad props to President Obama on his accomplishments since being in office. It’s pretty impressive!
Hat-tip: Political Carnival
1. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
2. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
3. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
4. Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
5. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
6 Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
7. Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier’s family
8. The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
9. Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
10. Limits on lobbyist’s access to the White House
11. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
12. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
13. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren’t even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
14. Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
15. Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
16. New federal funding for science and research labs
17. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
18. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
19. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
20. New funds for school construction
21 The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
22. US Auto industry rescue plan
23. Housing rescue plan
24. $789 billion economic stimulus plan
25. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
26. US financial and banking rescue plan
27. The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
28. Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with theGeneva Convention standards
29. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops
30. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
31. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
32. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
33. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
34. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
35. Successful release of US captain held bySomali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
36. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
37. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
38. Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales
39. Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government
40. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
41. Signed national service legislation; expandednational youth service program
42. Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones
43. Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
44. Expanding vaccination programs
45. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
46. Closed offshore tax safe havens
47. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
48. Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back
49.. Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry’s predatory practices
50. Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
51. Lower drug costs for seniors
52. Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings
53. Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel
54. Improved housing for military personnel
55. Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses
56. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals
57 Increasing student loans
58. Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program
59. Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy
60. Established a new cyber security office
61. Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.
62. Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts
63. Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness
64. Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient
65. Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans refinanced
66. Improving benefits for veterans
67. Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration
68. Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud
69. The FDA is now regulating tobacco
70. Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules
71. Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports
72. Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons
73. Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive
74. Making more loans available to small businesses
75. Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare
76. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court
77. Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans
78. Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000
79. Renewed loan guarantees for Israel
80. Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan
81. Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan
82. New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid, development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans
83. Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production
84. Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters
85. Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket
86. Held first Seder in White House
87. Attempting to reform the nation’s healthcare system which is the most expensive in the world yet leaves almost 50 million without health insurance and millions more under insured
88. Has put the ball in play for comprehensive immigration reform
89. Has announced his intention to push for energy reform
90. Has announced his intention to push for education reform
Oh, and he built a swing set for the girls outside the Oval Office.
Did I mention he passed health care reform ?
There are policies that many of us disagree with or wish he would improve or facilitate more quickly, but come on, this is a pretty sweet list.@Cassandra, well done. I can't wait to see what some will try to do with this list. SHould be interesting!
Romney will try to take the credit for all of them. You know, everything on the list of Obama's accomplishmens were origionally his idea. LOL
Thank you for that Cassandra! It's the things that get no notice that I appreciate, too.
Like way in the beginning of his term....there was a town in the hills that had been decimated by some fossil fuel plant. The water was poisoned, the people were getting sick, etc. The Obama admn declared it a disaster area, and had it cleaned up......after years of pleading with the Bush admn to do the same.
I like what he did for the Native Americans and the African American farmers, who had been waging a fight for equal pay for decades.
I like that he put a bust of Martin Luther King in the White House.
And I like that he has 2 daughters and a strong wife....I think his respect for women is real: I think the same of Bush, btw.
I like that he recognizes that people are struggling here in America--that we're not all doing just fine---and that we're not lazy no-good bums because of it.
Just keep smiling Obama...the poison darts can't hit you with that great spirit of yours as a shield.Firstly, I would like to point out how silly it is to praise Obama on 'making plans to cut spending' whilst simultaneously praising him for spending trillions of dollars. Nothing has been cut.
There are also many things in there that are violations of the constitution and if not, excessive invasions into private life, excessive interfering in consumer practices or downright tyrannical. 'Expanding vaccination programs', an absolute disaster for civil liberties and public health, especially with all of the seizures they are causing. We definitely don't want FDA, in bed with big pharma, getting into our lives MORE. 'Cash for clunkers' is a terrible piece of legislation that has done nothing to help the motor industry (going by the same logic, I may as well destroy my TV so I can go get a new one and 'revitalise' the TV industry. These idiots forget that the car destroyed is taken away from the economy, so there has been a NET loss when factoring in the cost of the bureaucracy that is required. Basic economics really). Obamacare is an unconstitutional waste of stolen money, legally tying people into the terribly expensive system that we all hate so much. It's hardly reform, it's tyranny, and is driving up prices all over the country. Obama has done pretty much all he can to make sure no jobs are created with his administration's regulation fetish and ill-advised spending.
Anybody familiar with real economics realises that the bail out of the banks and the auto industry was a bad idea for everybody in the country. The short term retention of jobs is in no way a substitute for rewarding bad businesses with stolen money and therefore contributing to the rigged corporate state.
All of the minor things such as 'phasing out Guantanamo' is insignificant compared to the great violations of civil liberties Obama has supported, such as NDAA - the legislation that gives the government ability to assassinate suspected American citizens. Obama has also extended Bush's militarism, manifested in the invasion of Libya, Syria and soon to be Iran, deployed more in Afghanistan and has NOT left Iraq (explain the remaining thousands of troops and bases, and again, LESS in Iraq is good but somehow MORE in Afghanistan is? Make your mind up).
To be honest, most of that list is trivial.Cash for Klunkers has been around for a long-time in the United States and vaccinations are necessary for our children to be enrolled and attend School. With any pharmaceutical there are always side effects; so that cannot be blamed on the Obama administration.
If you are a part of the millionaire club then you don't need healthcare; but for millions of us who are not and paying for healthcare, it puts a nice dent in our paychecks and if you can't afford it than you are not insured. So either you will have mounting bills or die from lack of healthcare. I believe many would rather live longer than die and millions of us are one of them.
I have been following the performances of presidents ever since the 1960s when Lyndon B. Johnson held that office.
And one thing I have learned is that when it comes to lists of their accomplishments, all presidents and their supporters come up with very, very long and impressive ones, especially during election years.I agree, I started back when Reagan was President thru today. All had their lists. Unfortunately President Reagan started us on this downward spin, followed by the both President Bushs, President Clinton and in many aspects, President Obama as well. Both parties are to blame for the mess we're in!
Do you live here in America?
All I can tell you is this: When Republicans are in power, I feel like there are steel claws around my neck.
I actually feel RELIEF when Dems are there.....maybe it's because I'm female, maybe because I'm struggling to make ends meet, maybe it's because I hate sadism.
Whatever the reason......for anyone to say they are all the same shows the naivete. IMOThe fact that you're basing your argument on simply 'feeling' is telling - you seem to be very susceptible to liberal moralising and pulling on heart strings. You could be a conservative if not for your mushy insides. The facts demonstrate that the reason you're struggling to make ends meet is not simply Bush, or rich people . . . it's the combined efforts of both sides of the political spectrum to completely destroy the economy.
At least we both recognise that there's something wrong, but I'm afraid that turning to the obvious 'saviour' Obama is not going to help you. I'm even more afraid that when nothing changes, the cycle will only continue due to post-rationalisation.
'Obama couldn't do that . . . not MY Obama'
A minus. Not perfect, but his effort on women, education, students, children and economy (domestic) makes that! Good in foreign relations and security!
Obama Administration’s Achievements (Thus Far)
Arts and Culture
Increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to the highest level since 1992. ref, ref, ref
Created an artist corps for public schools. ref
Championed the importance of arts education. ref
Promoted cultural diplomacy. ref
Banking and Financial Reform
BROAD POLICY:
Established the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. ref
Established President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. ref, ref , ref
Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. ref, ref
Dodd-Frank (DF) Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the biggest financial reform law since the Great Depression. ref
Managed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) ref
Assigned a Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Act of 2009. ref
Pension relief Act of 2010. ref
Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. ref, ref
Played a lead role in G-20 Summit re: financial crisis. ref
Reformed deferral rules to curb tax advantages for investing overseas. ref
Established new offshore investment policy that promotes in-sourcing. ref, ref
FUNDING:
Cut salaries for 65 bailout executives (Pay Czar). ref
Banks have repaid 75% of TARP funds, bringing the cost down to $89B as of June 2010. ref
Closed offshore tax safe havens, tax credit loopholes. ref , ref , ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Created the Financial Stability Oversight Council to monitor stability of the financial system and individual firms (DF). ref
New requirements for reporting financial data (DF). ref
Created self-funded Office of Financial Research (OFR) to collect information from financial firms (DF). ref
OFR employees must wait a year before working for certain financial firms. ref
Provided for orderly liquidation of financial companies (DF). ref
Limited trading activities of banks (Volcker Rule) beginning 2 yrs after passage (DF). ref
Swaps Pushout Rule prevented federal assistance to swaps (including derivatives) traders (DF). ref
Derivatives must be traded transparently through a clearing house (DF). ref
Defined the amount and nature of assets required to meet capital requirements (DF). ref
Originators of asset-backed securities must retain 5% ownership/risk (DF). ref
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (DF). ref
Stronger client fiduciary duty for broker-dealers (DF). ref
Higher standards for securities advertising and disclosures (DF). ref
Expanded “insider loans” (DF). ref
Higher standards for sytemically important ($50 billion assets+) institutions, including annual stress tests and restrictions on bank acquisitions (DF). ref
Executive compensation must be determined by an independent committee (DF). ref
Issued compensation guidelines for bank executive salary and bonuses. ref , ref
Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women and Minorities to promote more diverse hiring (DF). ref
Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act. ref, ref
Credit CARD Technical Corrections Act of 2009. ref
Established a credit card bill of rights. ref
Reformed credit card swipe fees. ref
Created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud. ref
Congress pursued Goldman Sachs for securities violations. ref
Permanently extended Research and Experimentation Tax Credit for domestic investments. ref
RESULTS:
(Treasury) Sold 1.5 billion shares of Citigroup at a profit. ref
G-20 summit produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. ref
Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals. ref
Financial reform has ‘strongest consumer financial protections in history.’ ref
Section curator:
Civil Rights
FUNDING:
Provided $12.2 billion in new funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Act though the American Recovery and investment Act. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; Instituted equal pay for women. ref, ref, ref
Presidential Memorandum extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. ref , ref , ref , ref
Presidential Memorandum protecting gay and lesbian partners’ visitation/healthcare decision-making rights (4/15/2010). ref
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include gender, sexual orientation and disability. ref
Supported the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). ref
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. ref
Established White House Council on Women and Girls (Executive Order 13506 ). ref
Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women and Minorities to promote more diverse hiring.
Increased minority access to capital. ref
Pushing through settlement in the black farmers lawsuit against USDA. ref, ref
Signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ref
Increased Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities (Exec Order)(celebrating 20th anniversary of the ADA). ref, ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Commerce, Trade and technology
BROAD POLICY:
Promoted internet freedom as part of U.S. foreign policy. ref, ref , ref
Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009. ref
Satellite Television Extension Act of 2010. ref
FUNDING:
Expanded loan programs for small businesses. ref
TARGETED ACTION:
Small Business Act. ref
Small Business Investment Act. ref
Proposed tougher meat industry antitrust rules. ref , ref
Denied federal contracts to tax delinquents. ref
Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer. ref
Established Federal IT Dashboard. ref
Modernized the USA.gov portal to connect people to the services they require. ref
Launched the National Export Initiative, with the goal of doubling US exports by 2015. ref , ref
Provided National Export Initiative/Progress report and named President’s Export Council. ref, ref
Launched piracy crackdown. ref
Section curators:
Conservation
BROAD POLICY:
Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Amendments Act of 2009. ref
Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. ref
North American Wetlands Conservation Act. ref
Stewardship of the Ocean (established National Ocean Council ), our Coasts and the Great Lakes (Executive Order). ref
Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance (Executive Order). ref, ref
Established partnerships to share environmental technology with other countries. ref
FUNDING:
Increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. ref
Increased funding for national parks and forests. ref
$175 million of ARRA allocated for water conservation, $135 million of that in the West. ref
TARGETED AREAS:
Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic. ref, ref
Expanded access to places to hunt and fish. ref
Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration (Executive Order). ref, ref
Led effort to phase out whaling. ref
Pursued a wildfire management plan. ref
Encouraged more controlled burns to reduce wildfires. ref
Ordered removal of more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires. ref
Section curator: ^pash
Economy
BROAD POLICY:
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA): a $789 billion economic stimulus plan. ref
US auto industry rescue plan. ref, ref
Start-Up activity now higher than it was during the dotcom boom. ref
Created task force to fight deficit. ref
Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009. ref
Temporary extension of programs under the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. ref
FUNDING:
Increased minority access to capital. ref
$26 billion aid to states package (Aug 2010). ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Raised the small business investment limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009. ref
Created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes. ref
Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act – establishes a Federal “Do Not Pay” list. ref
Extended and indexed the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch. ref
Adopted Economic Substance tax doctrine. ref
Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits. ref ref
Economy grew 5.9% in 4th quarter. ref
U.S. Economy: Manufacturing grew by most since 2004. ref
U.S. GDP up 3.2% in first quarter. ref
Consumer spending showed biggest rise in 3 years. ref
Orders for most durable goods rose. ref
Wholesale inventories and sales rose in March. ref
$26 billion state aid bill triggered a surge of private municipal investment. ref
EXHIBITS – THE STIMULUS ONE YEAR LATER:
Success of the stimulus–how do you illustrate ‘could have been worse’? ref
Distribution of ARRA funds by year. ref
Need for financial education: Investors who act on their own do worse than T-bills; market timers earn negative returns. ref
Consumer debt patterns (revolving and non-revolving) through end of 2009. ref
Growth of the national debt from 2000-2009. ref
Bar chart showing increases in national debt by President (since Carter). ref
Pie chart: 2009 annual deficit contrasting large Bush tax cuts and relatively small ARRA. ref
THE LEGACY: AUGUST 2010
The Economy Has Been Growing – seasonally adjusted change in GDP by quarter 2007-2010. ref
The Private Sector Has Begun to Add Jobs – Monthly change in nonfarm employment 2008-2010. ref
GDP would have been lower without the Recovery Act (2007-2013 projection) (scroll down to Part III to see chart). ref
Unemployment would have been higher without ARRA (2008-2010). ref
The gap between actual and full-employment GDP would have been much larger without TARP and ARRA (2008-2010). ref
MISCELLANEOUS EXHIBITS:
Public Sector Lost 316,000 jobs October 09-July 10 (state aid negotiated out of ARRA by GOP). ref
Section curator ^roytoric
Education: College
BROAD POLICY:
Enacted largest reform of student aid in 40 years. ref, ref
Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010. ref
Established President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. ref, ref, ref
FUNDING:
Increased funding for land-grant college. ref
Provided means for students struggling to make college loan payments to refinance. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Expanded Pell grants for low-income students. ref
Expanded Pell grant pool by eliminating private lender subsidies for student loans. ref
Section curators: ^ejoyce ^Kroth
Education: Health of Children
BROAD POLICY:
Created the Race to the Top Fund ($4.35 billion) to reward States that create comprehensive education reform plans. ref
Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 . ref
FUNDING:
Provided funding for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools. ref
Established State Equalization Fund; new funds for school construction (ARRA). ref
Provided $77 Billion for reforms to to strengthen Elementary and Secondary education. ref
Fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). ref
Provided $12.2 billion in new funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Act through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ref
$26 billion state aid package saved 160,000 teacher jobs (Aug 2010) ref
Provided over $2.3 billion in additional funding to Head Start and Early Head Start programs in 2009. ref
Provided $5 billion dollars for Early Learning Programs under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. ref
Roughly doubled the amount available in Federal Child Care Block Grants. ref
Established “Promise Neighborhood” Grants (modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone). ref , ref
Eliminated abstinence-only funding in budget. ref, ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Helped rebuild schools in New Orleans. ref
Established school programs to highlight space and science achievements. ref
Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession. ref
Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers . ref
Provided affordable, high-quality child care. ref
Unveiled initiatives to help men be better fathers. ref
Section curators: ^ejoyce ^Kroth
Employment: Jobs
BROAD POLICY:
Jobs for Main Street Act (2010). ref
American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. ref
National Export Initiative ref
FUNDING:
(DOL) Dedicated $100 million in Energy Training Partnership green jobs training grants. ref
(DOL) Dedicated $150 million for Pathways Out of Poverty green jobs training grants. ref
$33 billion-dollar jobs package (March 2010). ref , ref
$26 billion aid to states package (Aug 2010). ref
$5,000 tax credit for every new worker. ref
New Health IT Workforce Grants (ARRA). ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Job training programs in clean technologies for displaced workers. ref
Green Vet Initiative to promote environmental jobs for veterans. ref
Financial agencies must establish Offices of Women and Minorities to promote more diverse hiring (DF).
Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession. ref
Initiated a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses. ref, ref
Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliations or contributions. ref, ref
RESULTS:
CBO found 3.7 Million jobs created by stimulus (May 2010). ref
Job loss exploded under Bush, improves under Obama. ref
682,370 jobs created under the Recovery Act Between January 1 — March 31,2010. ref, ref, ref
New jobless claims tumble. ref
March payrolls surge by 162,000 US says . ref
March jobs data showed biggest growth in three years .ref
U.S. economy added 90000 jobs in April . ref
Jobless rates dropped in 34 states and DC (AP). ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Energy: Green
BROAD POLICY:
Established an Energy Partnership for the Americas. ref
Established the Biofuels Working Group to develop a comprehensive approach to alternative fuels. ref
Additional measures to advance clean energy/solar investments and job creation (ARRA). ref
Launched new Climate Service. ref
Worked toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system. ref
Implemented renewable fuels mandate of 36 billion gallons by 2022. ref
FUNDING:
More than doubled federal spending for research on clean fuels. ref
$60 billion in spending and tax incentives for renewable and clean energy. ref
Invested in all types of alternative energy. ref
Increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency. ref
Invested $2 billion in solar power, hailed new jobs. ref, ref, ref
Established consumer tax credit for plug-in hybrid cars. ref, ref
Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes. ref
Doubled funding for bicycling, walking projects ref, ref
(DOL) Dedicated $100 million in Energy Training Partnership green jobs training grants. ref
(DOL) Dedicated $150 million for Pathways Out of Poverty green jobs training grants. ref
$8 billion combined public/pvt funding committed to develop Smart Power Grid (part of ARRA). ref
Incentivized farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Purchased fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government. ref
Ordered 5,000 hybrids for federal fleet. ref
(NIST) Completed first release of Smart Grid framework. ref
Created job training programs in clean technologies for displaced workers. ref
Created Green Vet Initiative to promote environmental jobs for veterans. ref
Established program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders. ref
RESULTS:
First President to create detailed vision for clean energy economy. ref
Wind power growth up 39% due to government stimulus. ref
Study: Almost 5 million charging stations by 2015. ref
Section curator: ^pash
Energy: Old
BROAD POLICY:
Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions. ref
Created Interagency Task Force on Carbon Capture and Storage. ref
Set national standards for fuel economy and first ever greenhouse gas emission levels for passenger cars and light trucks. ref
Set smog limit: new strict proposal to replace Bush-era rule (EPA). ref ref
Regulated greenhouse gases for large industrial sources (EPA). ref
Raised fuel economy standards. ref
Required states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption. ref
Allowed states to enact tougher fuel efficiency standards than federal standards. ref
Established Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. ref
FUNDING:
Pledged more than $8 billion for new nuclear reactors. ref
Tax breaks to promote public transit. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, cutting ties between industry and government. ref , ref
Reengaged in global warming and greenhouse gas emissions talks. ref, ref
Offered 17% U.S. emissions cuts at climate summit. ref
Pledged 28% cut in federal greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. ref
Expanded greenhouse gas reduction targets for Federal operations -13% reduction from indirect sources by 2020. ref
(FTC) Toughened anti-greenwashing rules. ref
Instituted “Cash for Clunkers” to spur auto sales and promote fuel efficiency . ref, ref
Ordered inspections of mines with poor safety records. ref
Closed loophole that allowed drilling in Rockies without environmental review. ref
(EPA) Sharply limited mountaintop mining. ref
(EPA) Announced historic plans to regulate coal ash. ref
Required electric utilities to produce 20% of their electricity demand from renewable energy sources by 2020. ref
(EPA) Limited mercury emissions. ref ref
Section curator: ^pash
Energy: Oil
BROAD POLICY:
Introduced Oil Spill Recovery Bill to remove oil company liability cap. ref ref
Created offshore drilling safety review board. ref
Created new drilling agency with investigative arm. ref
Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations and reports. ref
FUNDING:
Ordered $20 billion escrow fund by BP to reimburse lost incomes in Gulf. ref
Ordered $100 million to compensate those hurt by drilling moratorium. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, cutting ties between industry and government. ref , ref
Mandated new safety rules for offshore drilling. ref
Opened civil and criminal investigations into Gulf oil spill. ref, ref
(Congress) Launched investigation into gas drilling practices. ref
Established the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. ref
Amended Oil Pollution Act of 1990 authorizing advances from Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. ref
Expanded oil rig workers’ families abilities to sue and recover. ref
Fined BP subsidiary $5.2 million for false reporting. ref
(EPA) Barred Texas’ authority to issue refinery operating permits. ref
Section curator: ^pash
Foreign Affairs and International Relations
BROAD POLICY:
Re-established the United States standing in the world. ref, ref, ref
Poll: World’s opinion of U.S. has “improved sharply” under Obama. ref
47 nations rise to Obama’s challenge at US nuke summit and agree to four years of non-proliferation efforts. ref
Visited more countries and world leaders than any first year president. ref
G-20 Summit produced a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. ref
Launched an international Add Value to Agriculture initiative (AVTA). ref
Created a rapid response fund for emerging democracies. ref
Bolstered the military’s ability to speak different languages. ref
BY REGION:
West Hem: Returned the rights of Americans to visit and assist their families in Cuba. ref , ref , ref
Middle East: Appointed envoys to the Middle East and AFPAK affirming the power of American diplomacy. ref
Middle East: Renewed loan guarantees for Israel. ref
Middle East: Pledged $400 million in aid to Gaza civillians. ref
Middle East: Pressured Israel to end Gaza blockade. ref
Middle East: Refused to give Israel a “green light” to strike Iran, augmenting Mid-East stability. ref
Middle East: Iran Sanctions Act. ref
Asia: Authorized President Bill Clinton’s mission to secure the release of two Americans held in North Korea. ref
Asia: Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Webb to secure the release of an American held captive. ref
Asia: Renewed import restrictions under Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003. ref
Asia: Nuclear arms agreements with India (5/4/2010). ref
Africa: Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009. ref
Africa: Helped stabilize Somalia (Exec Order). ref
Aus: Nuclear arms agreements with Australia (5/5/2010). ref
Europe: Nuclear arms agreement with Russia. ref , ref, ref, ref
Europe: Agreed with Switzerland to bolster tax information exchange ref, ref
Government Efficiency
BROAD POLICY:
Established the President’s Management Advisory Board. ref
Streamlined and modernized government to save taxpayer dollars. ref
Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations and reports. ref
SPECIFIC CUTS:
Cut salaries of senior White House aides. ref
Made $20 Billion in budget cuts. ref
Provided that Members of Congress shall not receive a cost of living adjustment in pay during fiscal year 2011. ref, ref, ref
Eliminated F-22 fighter jet program after lobbying Senate vote to strip financing for more jets from a defense funding authorization bill. ref, ref, ref
Canceled contract for new Presidential helicopter fleet (28 helicopters, $11.2 billion). ref
OTHER TARGETED ACTIONS:
Enhanced payment accuracy through a “Do Not Pay” list. ref
Cracked down on tax cheats (Exec Order). ref
Returned taxpayer monies for refurbishment of White House offices and living quarters. ref , ref
Established the USA.gov portal connecting people to the services they require. ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Health and Wellness
BROAD POLICY:
Established HealthCare.gov, a web portal for determining and comparing all consumer health insurance and health care options ref, ref
Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information. ref
Established the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council . ref, ref
Established President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. ref
Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules. ref
Implemented a National HIV/AIDS Strategy 7/13/10 ref
FUNDING:
Provided $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. ref
Provided $500 million in expanded funding for Health Professions Training Programs. ref, ref
Provided funding to strengthen hospital preparedness and emergency response ref
Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners. ref
Increased funding to expand community based prevention prog: rams. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off anti-obesity effort. ref
Established a New Patient’s Bill of Rights. ref
Established Patient Safety and Medical Liability Demonstration Projects. ref , ref
Questioned Prestigious Hospitals in Electronic Health Records Probe (DHHS). ref
Established Standards For Accessible Medical Diagnostic Equipment ref
Expanded vaccination programs. ref , ref
Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009. ref
Engaged global efforts on HIV/AIDS issues. ref
(FDA) Now regulating tobacco. ref, ref
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. ref
(FDA) Ordered Tobacco Companies to Disclose Cigarette Ingredients. ref , ref , ref
Banned sale of “light” cigarettes. ref
Increased Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities (Exec Order)(celebrating 20th anniversary of the ADA). ref, ref
(FDA) to discuss stricter guidelines for tanning beds due to skin cancer. ref
(FDA) Issued new guidance limiting antibiotic use in cattle to preserve efficacy in humans (6/28/2010). ref
FDA) Reconsidered safety of Bisphenol A, initiates study. ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Health Care Reform (See also Taxes)
BROAD POLICY:
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act // Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (March 2010). ref , ref
Required large employers to contribute to a national health plan. ref
Required insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. ref , ref
Required health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care. ref
Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information. ref
Provided minimum essential health care coverage by Veteran’s Affairs. ref
Expanded eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP). ref, ref
Prevented children from being refused health insurance coverage. ref
Established Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. ref
Increased regulation of drug manufacturers. ref, ref
Cut prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients by 50% and began eliminating the plan’s gap (“donut hole”) in coverage. ref
TRICARE Affirmation Act. ref
Extended COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) to provide for a continuation of health care. ref, ref, ref
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. ref , ref , ref, ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Housing
BROAD POLICY:
Unveiled $275 billion dollar housing plan ref
Established “Opening Doors” – a federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. ref , ref
FUNDING:
Provided $510 Million for the rehabilitation of Native American housing. ref
Provided $2 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization Program . ref
Provided $5 billion for Weatherization Assistance Program for low income families. ref
Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes. Ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. ref
Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, helping millions avoid foreclosure . ref, ref
Established the Making Home Affordable Plan, which will provide for the refinance or loan modification for 9 Million homeowners. ref
RESULTS:
New-home sales saw biggest jump in 47 years. ref, ref
Foreclosures fall 2%. ref
Humanitarianism
BROAD POLICY:
Supported the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). ref
Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009. ref, ref
FUNDING:
Accelerated tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for Haiti earthquake relief. ref
Made Haiti donations tax deductible for 2009. ref
$60 million for flood victims in Pakistan (8/19/10).
TARGETED ACTIONS:
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; instituted equal pay for women. ref, ref, ref
Presidential Memorandum extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. ref, ref, ref, ref
Increased federal employment of individuals with disabilities (Exec Order)(celebrating 20th anniversary of the ADA). ref ref
Presidential Memorandum extending benefits to Same-Sex Partners of Federal Employees. ref, ref, ref, ref
Presidential Memorandum protecting gay and lesbian partners’ visitation/healthcare decision-making rights (4/15/2010). ref
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. ref
Awarded the Presidential Medal of freedom to Harvey Milk and Billie Jean King. ref
The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act, advancing press freedom and safety for journalists. ref, ref,
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include gender, sexual orientation and disability. ref
Established White House Council on Women and Girls (Executive Order 13506 ). ref
Awarded 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. ref
Signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ref
The Native American Heritage Day Act of 2009. ref
Appointed an American Indian policy adviser. ref
(EPA) Reversed Controversial “Human Guinea Pig” Rule. ref
Immigration
Requested emergency funding of $600 million for Border Security. ref
Deployed more drones on Mexico border (Homeland Security). ref
Deported higher numbers of Illegal Immigrants. ref
Infrastructure
BROAD POLICY:
Introduced plan to expand broadband Internet across U.S. ref, ref
FUNDING:
$8 billion combined public/private funding committed to develop Smart Power Grid (ARRA.) ref
$800 million to fund rapid rollout of rural broadband expansion (7/2010). ref
Provided funding for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools. ref
Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect. ref
$290 million in funding for 53 grants to “fund new streetcars, buses, and transit facilities.” ref ref
Invested $13 Billion (ARRA: $8B + $1B 5-year federal budget) in high speed rail projects in 13 major corridors ref, ref, ref
Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes. ref
Created a social investment fund network. ref
Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
(NIST) Completed first release of Smart Grid framework. ref
Opened 500 MHz of wireless spectrum over next 10 years to expand wireless/mobile broadband use. ref
Commenced 10,000th road project, Columbus, OH (part of ARRA); June 2010. ref , ref
Airport and Airway Extension Act. ref
Initiated modification to Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) regulations. ref, ref
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which expands the volunteer program. ref, ref ref
RESULTS:
Study: Almost 5 million charging stations by 2015. ref
10,000th highway project (ARRA). ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Labor
Established POWER Initiative – protects government workers, ensures reemployment, reduces worker’s comp claims and payments. ref
Restored funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. ref
Law and Justice
BROAD POLICY:
Outlined new federal drug control policy. ref ref
Ordered review of mandatory minimum sentences. ref
FUNDING:
Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court. ref, ref
Appointed first black Attorney General, Eric Holder. ref
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act to include gender, sexual orientation and disability. ref
Established crimes programs for the new Orleans area. ref
Brought greter alignment to sentencing guidelines for powdered versus crack cocaine. ref
Denounced SCOTUS ruling in Citizens United. ref
Pushing through settlement in the Black Farmers Lawsuit against USDA . ref, ref
DTV Delay Act. ref
Criminal History Background Checks Pilot Extension Act of 2009. ref
Tribal Law and Order Act. ref, ref, ref, ref
RESULTS:
U.S. jail population declined for first time in decades. ref
Section curators:
Medicaid/Medicare/Social Security
BROAD POLICY:
Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare. ref
Social Security Disability Applicant Access to Professional Representation Act of 2010. ref
FUNDING:
Eliminated higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 2009. ref, ref, ref, ref
Cut prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients by 50% and began eliminating the plan’s gap (“donut hole”) in coverage. ref
Preserved access to care for Medicare beneficiaries ref
Expanded eligibility for Medicaid. ref
Military and National Security
BROAD POLICY:
Began restructuring the military to reflect present day threats and technology. ref
Recommitted the U.S. to a policy of “no torture” and full compliance with the Geneva Conventions. ref
All servicepeople receive education in a region’s culture and language before deployment there (a soldier said this on Maddow).
Supported the Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). ref , ref
Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date. ref
Established new cyber security office. ref, ref
Defense Production Act Reauthorization of 2009. ref
Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act. ref
Nuclear Forensics and Attribution Act. ref
FUNDING:
Cut the missile defense program by $1.4 billion in 2010. ref
Eliminated F-22 fighter jet program after lobbying Senate vote to strip financing for more jets from a defense funding authorization bill. ref, ref, ref
Canceled contract for new Presidential helicopter fleet (28 helicopters, $11.2 billion). ref
$1.1 Billion for improving airport security. ref
Increased pay and benefits for military personnel. ref
BY REGION/THEATER:
AF Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan. ref, ref
AF Set troop pullout in Afghanistan to begin in summer 2011. ref , ref
AF Established Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing, prioritizes aid
AF infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices. ref
AF Ordered military to withdraw fast food establishments from Afghan bases. ref
IQ Ended combat mission (remaining personnel are nonagressive) 8/18/10
SOM Increased US Navy patrols off Somali coast. ref
SOM Ordered SEAL operation that resulted in killing of three terrorists and the release of US captain held by Somali pirates. ref
Closed secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. ref , ref
Opened door to space arms treaty. ref, ref
Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks, building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols. ref
Executive Order Optimizing the Security of Biological Select Agents and Toxins in the US. ref
Caught more Taliban Leaders in one month than Bush/Cheney did in six years. ref
Negotiated nuclear arms agreements with Australia (5/5/2010), India (5/4/2010), and Russia (5/10/2010). ref, ref, ref, ref
New START treaty and protocol with Medvedev. ref
Section curators:
Military Veterans and Families
BROAD POLICY:
Initiated a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses. ref, ref
Improved benefits for veterans. ref, ref, ref, ref
Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development . ref
Worked to clear the backlog of veterans claims and streamline benefits to those who served. ref
FUNDING:
Provided for the expenses of families of to be at Dover AFB when fallen soldiers arrive.ref
Donated 250K of Nobel prize money to Fisher House. ref
Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009. ref
Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin Act of 2009. ref
Promoted a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (“WASP”). ref
Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information. ref , ref, ref , ref
Military Spouses Residency Relief Act. ref
Improved basic housing allowance for military personnel. ref
Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010. ref
Provided minimum essential health care coverage by Veteran’s Affairs. ref
Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans. ref
Korean War Veterans Recognition Act. ref
Blinded Veterans Association. ref
Major Charles R. Soltes, Jr., O.D. Department of Veterans Affairs Blind Rehabilitation Center. ref
Improved access for Veterans to receive PTSD treatment. ref
Green Vet Initiative to promote environmental jobs for veterans. ref
Section curators: ^roytoric
National Disasters and Emergencies
BROAD POLICY:
Ordered an extensive review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness. ref, ref
Memorandum on the Long-Term Gulf Coast Restoration Support Plan ref
FUNDING:
Provided $210 Million for building and upgrading fire stations. ref
Ordered $20 billion escrow fund by BP to reimburse lost incomes in Gulf. ref
Ordered $100 million to compensate those hurt by drilling moratorium. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010. ref
Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act of 2010. ref
Emergency Aid to American Survivors of the Haiti Earthquake Act. ref
National Service
The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act — Expands the national volunteer program. ref ref, ref ref
Created a Social Investment Fund Network. ref
Section curators: ^roytoric
Scientific and Medical Research
BROAD POLICY:
Removed restrictions and provided support for embryonic stem-cell research and new biomedical research. ref, ref, ref ref
Extended the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. ref, ref
Supported Landsat Data Continuity Mission to enhance earth mapping. ref
FUNDING:
Provided new federal funding for science and research labs. ref
Provided grants to early-career researchers. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy. ref
Optimized the Security of Biological Select Agents and Toxins in the United States ref
Optimized the Security of Biological Select Agents and Toxins in the United States ref
Space Exploration and Space Station
BROAD POLICY:
Worked with international allies on International Space Station ref
Opened door to space arms treaty. ref, ref
Used the private sector to improve spaceflight ref
Supported commercial access to outer space ref
FUNDING:
Increased spending to prepare for longer space missions ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Added another Space Shuttle flight ref
Partnered to enhance the potential of the International Space Station ref
Used the International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical research ref
Determined whether International Space Station can operate after 2016 ref
Conducted robust research and development on future space missions ref
DOD opened access to social media sites (Air Force News). ref
DOD will film all interrogations. ref
Cracked down on tax cheats (exec order). ref
Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, cutting ties between industry and government. ref , ref
Established the USA.gov portal connecting people to the services they require ref
Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. ref, ref
White House voluntary disclosure policy – visitor access records/450,000 records to date ref ref
Taxes
BROAD POLICY:
Adopted Economic Substance tax doctrine. ref
Cracked down on tax cheats (Exec Order). ref
TARGETED ACTIONS: TAX CREDITS/REDUCTIONS:
Temporarily suspended taxes on unemployment benefits. ref ref
Established consumer tax credit for plug-in hybrid cars. ref, ref
$60 billion in spending and tax incentives for renewable and clean energy. ref
Tax breaks to promote public transit. ref
Extended and indexed the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch. ref
Small business teax credits for the cost of health insurance for employees beginning 1/1/10 (HCR).
2-year temporary tax credit up to $1 billion to encourage investment in new disease prevention and treatment therapies (HCR).
Income floor for medical expense deductions for individuals age 65 and older (and their spouses) remains at 7.5% through 2016; Raise 7.5% floor to 10% for all others (1/1/13) (HCR) ref
Health insurance premium tax credits and subsidies available for those with income up to 4x the federal poverty level (1/1/14) (HCR) ref ref
Accelerated tax benefits for charitable cash contributions for Haiti earthquake relief. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS: TAX ASSESSMENTS/INCREASES:
Made Haiti donations tax deductible for 2009. ref
ncreased penalty tax of 20% on nonqual distributions from HSA and MSA (1/1/11) (HCR) ref
Income tax rates for the highest earners will change from 35 to 39.6 percent. (1/1/11) (HCR) ref
Capital gains tax for the highest earners will change from 15 to 20 percent. (1/1/11) (HCR) ref
2.3% excise tax on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices (1/1/13) (HCR) ref
For high earners the capital gains tax will rise from 20 to 23.8 percent. (1/1/13) (HCR) ref
A 2.35 percent Medicare payroll tax only on wages over the threshold (an increase of 0.9 percent) (1/1/13) (HCR) ref
Tax increase for corporations with assets of at least $1 billion (1/1/14) (HCR) ref
40% Excise tax on Cadillac health plans (2018) (HCR) ref
TARGETED ACTIONS: TAX ENFORCEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:
Closed offshore tax safe havens, tax credit loopholes . ref , ref , ref
Employers will report the value of health benefits on W-2s (1/1/11) (HCR) ref
RESULTS:
Tax bills hit lowest level since 1950. ref
Tax refunds up 10 percent due to stimulus. ref
Section curator: ^roytoric
Transparency and Accountability
BROAD POLICY:
Mandate to follow the standards of the Freedom of Information Act (exec order). ref
Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible. ref
Unveiled “open government” plans. ref
Federal IT Dashboard, “a website enabling federal agencies & the public to view details of information technology”. ref
TARGETED ACTIONS:
Released presidential records. ref
Imposed limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House. ref ref
Imposed limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration. ref
Closed lobbyist loopholes with respect to the Recovery Act ref
Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees. ref
Provided more town halls and media access than previous administration. ref, ref
Required health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care. ref
Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information. ref
Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliations or contributions. ref, ref
Established a uniform standard for declassifying, safeguarding and classifying national security information (12/29/2009). ref
Created a national declassification center. ref
DOD opened access to social media sites (Air Force News). ref
DOD will film all interrogations. ref
Cracked down on tax cheats (exec order). ref
Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, cutting ties between industry and government. ref , ref
Established the USA.gov portal connecting people to the services they require ref
Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act. ref, ref
RESULTS:
White House voluntary disclosure policy – visitor access records/450,000 records to date ref ref
Recovery, Progress and Change
Federal deficit shrank 8% year-on-year.
Financial reform has ‘strongest consumer financial protections in history.’ ref
Wall St reform designed to end taxpayer bailouts. ref
Six-month report card: exports in the first four months of 2010 were 17 percent higher than in the first four months of 2009 . ref
Job loss exploded under Bush, improves under Obama. ref
682,370 jobs created under the Recovery Act Between January 1 — March 31,2010. ref, ref, ref
New jobless claims tumble. ref
March payrolls surge by 162,000. ref
March jobs data showed biggest growth in three years .ref
U.S. economy added 90,000 jobs in April . ref
Jobless rates dropped in 34 states and DC (AP). ref
New-home sales saw biggest jump in 47 years. ref, ref
Foreclosures fall 2%. ref
U.S. Economy: Manufacturing grew by most since 2004. ref
U.S. GDP up 3.2% in first quarter, consumer spending showed biggest rise in 3 years . ref
Orders for most durable goods rose. ref
Wholesale inventories and sales rose in March. ref
Consumer confidence highest in 2 years. ref
Start-Up activity now higher than it was during the dotcom boom. ref
Study: almost 5 million charging stations by 2015. ref
Wind power growth up 39% due to government stimulus. ref
Poll: world’s opinion of U.S. has “improved sharply” under Obama.ref
47 nations rise to Obama’s challenge at US nuke summit and agree to four years of non-proliferation efforts. ref
U.S. jail population declined for first time in decades. ref
Miscellaneous
Got his daughters a puppy! ref
Held first Seder in White House. ref, ref
Appointed at least one Republican to the cabinet. ref
Section curator:This is an interesting debate strategy - see who can copy and paste the longest list of facts. I frankly don't have the patience to go through all of that. You can try and refute my arguments if you like, I will respond to that.
Impressive list indeed, it's a shame a lot of what's on their was just an extension of what already was, a good number of other policies have already gone by the wayside for failure, and some of what you listed as not even come to fruition it sitting in the Congress.
But I do like your one accomplishment that you gave to the President, got his daughters a puppy. Then again he didn't go to the store to buy them, it was done by White House aides.
Do we need to really say anything else when the left has to stretch so far as to say buying a puppy his accomplishment. Oy Vay!!!AV, your presumptuous label of yourself is comically ironic because your view isn't American—it's always knee-jerk Republican.
Lot of that going around here.
Many so-calld "Independents" who do nothing but spout the Republican party line!
Debates are useless unless they are based on facts. Other than that you are coming up with useless non-essential rants based on nothing.
They are useless if you don't use facts to actually contextualise with general principles and your opinion on whether he's a good President or not. You could have at least cherry-picked certain facts that pertained to my argument but you seem to be content with overwhelming me with text. It demonstrates to me that you either didn't understand what I was saying or don't understand your own opinion. I've provided videos and articles that summarise my points more succinctly and eloquently than I can, but I at least understand them.
No one needs that type of opinion. It rather sounds like you are name calling.
Innersmiff would be more happy if Romney or a Republican took the credit for your lists of accomplishments. Like I mentioned previously, I'm sure he'll attempt to try. Obama 2012!
Voting is a lot like driving. If you want to go in reverse, you select R (Republican). If you want to move forward, you select D (Democrat).
You have to be a trolling. Romney is indistinguishable from Obama in anything that matters, and whether he takes credit for those 'accomplishments' doesn't matter to me in the slightest. My point is that those 'accomplishments' are either not true, not actually accomplishments but steps backwards, or completely irrelevant.
...now we are getting somewhere, when true dialogue comes to the fore, minds and hearts show their strengths and challenges...remember Truth is based in reason and heart...it is ok to change or even just to agree on some points and not others...no name calling, or flaming blaming....speak with clarity on issues
That is the problem with the question of what grade would you give President. I saw too many flame throwers when I first opened the question to begin with. All these people talk about how bad of a president Obama is. All I see is a bunch of people who love to throw stones.
Amen. I have seen this on every single political forum lately. It's disgusting.
I see a bunch of people on both sides (and those without the traditional 'sides') throwing stones. Everyone's guilty...
'Obama couldn't do that . . . not MY Obama'
--I consider that flaming, not honest dialogue. And it's ridiculing me.
So how that is getting anywhere is beyond me....same old same old.
Around here, support for Obama is always ridiculed as adoration.
There is no honest debate. It always boils down to insults.If you really want an honest debate, and not insults, it could help if you adhered to that idea yourself-- I see you using plenty of deriding words (see "republibaggers" etc)... be the change you wish to see in the world and all that jazz.
Yeah...but who am I deriding? The people in Congress...not a fellow hubber.
I have derided people by calling Bush their "hero" and "St. Paul"....but not very often.
EVERY time I like Obama---someone has to chime in with a personal attack.Oh, not every time! Not considering your post count. I'd say you do as much sniping as people do at you.
Or you could actually debate my points?
Proper debate required facts, plus interpretation of the facts, and why it actually matters. If you've only provided one of those things, you're not participating in a debate. This is yet another 'discussion' of Obama intended for one side to vehemently to agree with each other and accuse the other side of flaming. I present the facts, interpretation and why it actually matters, and in response I get a billion meaningless facts and whining about 'disrespect to the office' and 'flaming'.
I've concluded that this debate does not exist so I refuse to participate in whatever this is - I guess you can only have an opinion if you moderately criticise Obama whilst admitting he's had a tough time with congress and those mean old conservatives. Calling him out as a tyrant and dictator, and the irrationality of supporting him is not permitted. If anybody actually wants to debate, you can message me.
I don't know too much of what Obama has done compared to past presidents, and it hardly matters. I don't want to be graded based on what the students before me got in a class. I want only my work to count.
If I graded his wife, I'd give her a B+/A- for her important work involving childhood obesity and health. Most first lady's take up a cause when their husband's become POTUS, and her cause was very befitting of a First Lady. Her grade was lowered, somewhat, by all her appearances on talk shows like Ellen. I love Ellen, I do. But somehow them having a push-up competition didn't seem very befitting of a First Lady. But she won and I guess it shows she's human, so not too many points docked off.
As for her husband.... C+. I frankly was far too overwhelmed by the ridiculous list of "accomplishments" that have been posted here. I hardly count "has announced his intention" as an accomplishment. When he actually goes through with it, then you can add it. I also think too many successes of Congress have been attributed to him. Congress is the lawmaker/bill passer. What they write, debate, re-write and pass is mostly their accomplishment. Obama may have suggested many things to them, but as he is not allowed to introduce legislation, I see him more as dancing around the edges of Congress, tossing ideas their way. So he gets points for ideas, but not terribly many because he did not do the bulk of the work. He gets points for managing to ram through health care, but he loses points for raising national debt (any president would lose points for that-- I'm trying not to be partisan like a lot of users here are).
He loses points for not getting the troops out as fast as he said he would.
He gets points for spearheading the Osama raid. Yes, the SEAL's carried it out, but it would never have happened without Obama's gutsy approval.
He gains points for his emphasis on education. One of his speeches (I forget which) he wondered why we celebrate athletes more than we do scientists and teachers, which I think is an excellent point/quote.
He loses points for his increase in government control. Some would say he gains points for that, but I personally don't feel comfortable with government mandating very much when it comes to my personal choices.
He gains a point or two for Bo.
Overall, he'll be remembered for healthcare, so his grade is really weighted toward the future success/failure of the bill.You make some good points here, but here's what I really think. I don't think any of us really knows what goes on in Washington. The issues we discuss here are complex and there are many details we just don't know about. To grade someone's work, criticize or praise, is a waste of time, really. It's like anything else, you can't possibly understand a job until you are the person charged with doing it. All of this stuff seems simple, but it really is not.
That's very true-- and if I made it out to seem like I understood anything, I apologize. I completely agree that most of what goes on in Washington is hugely complex. There's so much I don't understand or know about, which is why the things I mentioned were pretty basic and well known.
I cannot truly critique Obama's performance unless I have been in his shoes, which I would never want to do.
I give him a B.
He was too soft at first on a juvenile, intractable Tea Party-crazy Congress. It cost him and it cost the United States its credit rating.
I like him better now that he's grown a pair.
I feel he is really hitting his stride in the job and we would be insane not to vote him in for another 4 years.
However, I'm not real happy with today's PR fiasco over gay marriage.
He is being so cagey.
I'm actually liking Joe Biden's candor more and more!Same here Grade = B. Obama has always believed that gays and lesbians should have the same rights as everyone else. I agree with that. He has the balls to stand up to the bigoted and ignorant right and take a stand on same sex marriage.
Republibagger Congress policy:
Wall Stret Journal study shows government cuts have boosted jobless rate 12% http://bit.ly/ICWXns
"Yesterday the 83rd cloture motion was filed by 112th congress making it third highest year ever for motions. 111th & 110-1st&2"
I would LOOOVE to know how these policies are good economic policies.LOL.
MM's take-away from this page of posts.
Obama rates an "L" for "Legend."
Me likes.I'll look forward to you confronting the next one who insults me. Won't take long.
Here--I'll show you...me: "I support president Obama, and I'm pro-choice."
them: "You hate America and like killing babies."
That's where you come in to admonish them, ok?Sounds good. I'll also admonish you when you get out of hand.
Already done that.....you have yet to admonish them. I'll wait.....
In fact--you could have done it right here on this thread.
I keep wondering when it's going to be traitorous to be independent like I am.
Just think...both parties can get you on that one!
But somehow I think you will hold your ground.
...there is no pure economic system...because humans are involved
Austrian economics appears to be run closer to the natural laws of of supply and demand, instead of fiat and unreal money mechanisms as in Keynesian...there really is a great deal of reading needed to talk in depth about economics systems...but it is basically as I said, what is closest to the natural laws of supply and demand, and when is corruption creating problems (rather, when do corrupt people create problems in the economic system)...
this is the issue that needs to be dealt with...people don't have a sense of what is honest and honorable anymoreWhy Obama gets an A . . .
http://youtu.be/G-VRk_8OPL4Exactly. People over Profits. Corporations are not people, and the bottom line is not someone you love like your daughter.
He also gets an A for dealing with Bone Heads everyday and not loosng his cool.The only safe way to attempt to understand any bill put into law by the US congress these days is to assume it does exactly the opposite of what the title says. The 'Patriot' act, is anti-American, for example. 'The Affordable Care Act', when looking at the economics of it for say 5 minutes, will clearly INCREASE prices in the long run, and have even started to do so already, average premiums going up from around $12,000 to $15,000 in 2 years. To argue that this bill is for people, and not for profits, is extremely naive. Think about it. This act was created because healthcare is expensive. Yeah, we can all agree that the previous system was convoluted and pandered to big pharma and the insurance companies. However, the response to this was not to do the sane thing and promote competition by legalising cross-state coverage and cutting bureaucracy, but to FORCE everybody to participate in the current system. In what way is this benefitting the people? Now insurers can charge basically whatever they want and give whatever kind of service they want because there is nothing compelling them to change. Obamacare is a DREAM for big pharma and big insurance! If your aim is to get cheap healthcare for everybody you have to promote competition. Healthcare is one of those markets that people think ignores the rules of every other market in the world, and increased competition will actually increase prices. Come on.
It really is amazing people can't see past the surface of this. What is that video saying exactly? It's basically arguing that since that girl is a cancer survivor under Obamacare, then she would just die without it. Oh right, I remember when NOBODY survived cancer before Obamacare, those were the days. The statist lie: if the state didn't do it, it just wouldn't get done. I imagine if the state built cars, it would argue that no cars would be built at all if it disappeared. See above for a way to decrease prices without enforcing a fascistic system. The video adds nothing, but people would rather get swept up with emotion and 'people before profits' fervour before rationally analysing the facts surrounding the bill put forward.
Erm, no....what the video says is that before ACA...insurance companies could deny you coverage if you had a pre-existing condition, and your care would be too expensive.
NOW--you must be cared for, no matter the cost. And after all---what is the life of your beloved daughter worth?
A 52 million dollar paycheck for insurance company ceo's?Forcing insurance companies to cover those conditions will force them to increase prices I'm afraid, and a bigger paycheck for the CEO is the logical outcome. Choice for the consumer doesn't really seem to matter in this bill, and for markets to work there HAS to be choice for the consumer! I feel for the plight of this girl, I really do, but ultimately Obamacare is not going to help her or anybody else for that matter. The system needs reform, not further convolution.
I'm so sick of that cop out!
They DO NOT need to raise cost onto consumers. They can cut some of their outrageous salaries, perks and bennies.--garnered at the expense OF customers!
And SHE JUST TOLD YOU!!! ACA has helped her.
Or is she lying? Dis-Ingenuous because she believes in Obama?
Only Ron Paul can be believed in, is that it? The rest of us are just fools, is that how it goes?Okay, calm down.
They are raising costs on to consumers because consumers have the least amount of freedom in this association. You are asking for companies to go against their own self interest and wilfully reduce their salaries when they have no incentive to do so. Compulsion is not going to make the profit incentive disappear, so we have to create an environment in which it is profitable for companies to serve the consumer. That means we need to increase competition and consumer freedom - this means less regulation and less taxes.
I don't think she's lying, I think she's misinformed. I don't think it would be difficult to find someone like this who benefitted in some way from every stupid piece of legislation ever made to do a bit of teary-eyed story-telling. The point is that a sentimental video does not substitute for fact.
Ron Paul at least has an understanding of economics and liberty. It passes by most people, but we're getting there
I see another Ron Paul supporter who says he's honest and caring.....but for those of us who think that of Obama...we have to put up with endless posts of his/hers with Obama-Bashing crap.
Birther stuff....World Net Daily.....
arrgggghhhSo--when gvt spends, it's evil. But when corporations raise prices on the consumer so they can make more profit, it's the American way? I reject that. Totally.
We need to rail in corporate greed, is what we need to do. They need more freedom like Madoff needs a get out of jail free card.
Point is--you will not believe anything you don't want to--whether she's telling you the truth or not.
Once again....you cannot speak to me about liberty, when your man wants to have a lock on mine.
In his mind, a fertilized egg takes precedent over a grown woman. That is not liberty...that is religious imprisonment, imo. Back to the Dark Ages.You don't understand. We need to create an environment that makes greed an undesirable trait. You can't control greed because you can't control human behaviour (much like how I can't control your opinion, har har), and any attempt to do so sends us down the slippery slope to totalitarianism. I'm not saying that corporations raising prices on consumers is good, I'm saying that it is inevitable when you incentivise it. Even if we accept that we need to reign in greed, we have to agree that ACA does not do this, evidenced by the increase in prices.
She's telling the truth as she sees it, sure, but she's only seeing the immediate benefit to herself and not the long term drawbacks.
*sigh*
A libertarian against abortion is not inconsistent if he believes that life begins at conception. 'Right to life' comes before 'right to your body' in his eyes, and it is not wise to so easily dismiss life.except that is what he would do once they are born!!
Need help with food, housing?....Not my problem. Need healthcare for your kid?.....if you can't afford it....not my problem. Need public transportation, a school for you kid?...not my problem. Clean air? baby formula free from poison?...Trust big business...they would never do you wrong.
Seems to me that the only time he doesn't dismiss life is when it's being conceived. After that--It's not his problem.
So, if it's not his problem once it's here...who is he to force me to bring it into being?
and PSSSSSS: there is no longterm drawback for saving the life of your kid!!It's not a politicians problem what you do voluntarily unless he is directly creating the environment in which it can happen. People without food and housing are society's problem, not the government's problem. Considering the vast government failures in giving people what they need, one might think we'd try a different solution, yet the state expands.
You have a right to your life, your property and freedom of speech and association. You can not have a right to housing or food, because somebody else must be compelled to give it to you. Since in Paul's mind, abortion violates right to life, he is against it. It's perfectly consistent with thousands of years of sound philosophy. If you disagree with it, that's fine, but it is consistent.
In regards to your last comment - you're equating any alternative to Obamacare as certain death for that girl, which is just plain wrong. The answer is not 'let's steal from people so we can heal that girl!' but 'let's create a healthcare system that can benefit everybody in the long term!'. Look at the facts: Obamacare fails at its objective.... Firstly it is the governments place to protect and serve the people it represents in any way that it's people support (democratically) since most people support free housing and unemployment etc. that is what happens, that is society fixing the problem by the way, it's society dictating to it's government how it wants the problem dealt with rather than doing it haphazardly as individuals. As for the failures you are quite welcome to test this yourself but there is a strong tie between government that offers social protection and lower poverty rates so I would cal that consistent success.
Obamacare will save money over the next ten years according to every professional economic report as well as the treasury report, it will do this by shifting the cost of caring for uncovered people onto the insurance companies instead of he government by ensuring everyone is covered, people who cannot afford coverage will be covered by the government through the insurance companies while their prices will be lowered by the mandate as a result both the state and the people get a better deal.
Lastly you do not understand the laws of sovereignty it is not wrong for a sovereign state to dictate taxes and expenses to it's citizens for two reasons one the validity of the state itself and two the validity of democratic review of the government, the first power gives the sovereign state the right to dictate the social contract to it's citizens in exchange for he protections it provides the second allows the citizens to change the contract through the democratic process, therefore any sovereign state can declare that housing is a right and claim those things necessary without infringing on the rights of others because the action is taken under the contract of sovereignty.A government, democratic or not, can not dictate to a population the definition of a right, in the same way it can not dictate that 2 + 2 = 5. We have a right to our life and liberty because they are inherent by our existence, a negative - rights can not be a positive. One is simply factually incorrect if they believe housing to be a right.
I find it baffling that you basically posit that any action taken by a democracy is valid, or moral, even if it decided that all people of a particular race must be killed, for example. By having no understanding of what a right is, you basically give free reign to politicians to do what they like. Since the tyrant can justify his actions based on the fact that he was elected, him killing all of those people would be 'valid'. This is why specific limitations are put on government through constitutions so as to guard against the tyranny of democracy. I am very disturbed by what you are suggesting.
To call this a 'contract' is to be very disingenuous indeed. The word 'contract' denotes voluntarism, of which there is none. It's not my fault that I was born here, so there is no reason at all why I should have to participate in your 'democratic' game, and even if I did, the likelihood of electing the person I want into office, and then getting him to give me exactly what I want is slim to none. I'd rather keep all of my property and pay for the roads and the police as and when I need them. What is wrong with that exactly? Who am I hurting?
You don't buy your cable subscription by having the company come over and steal your money. You voluntarily give up your money in exchange for the service the company provides.
Unregulated capitalism would be like a soccer or ice hockey game without rules or a referee. Regulations and regulators are necessary to make sure that markets deliver fairly in the public interest on their promise of efficient allocation of resources.
I don't buy that analogy. I more accurate one would be that society is a one-team game, and in a free game (market) everybody has a vested interest in scoring as many goals as possible, so it is mutually beneficial to cooperate with the best team players. If people want the goals, they have to cooperate. However, they could simply bribe some big guy to beat up the most successful teams of players unless they shared some of the goals with the others (taxes), and then these big guys become 'referees' (government). This is all done with 'fair allocation of resources' rhetoric of course, never revealing the violent nature of the scheme. These second group of players who don't want to cooperate can be previously successful and don't want to give up their crown (big corporations) or not successful at all and just want a pay out (scroungers), but of course the big corporations have more resources to bribe people with, and actually like forcing people to give to the scroungers because it means less incentive to compete with them. Eventually though with all of this violence, global incentive to score goals decreases, and the whole team score less and less as time goes by, to a point where the team isn't even playing together anymore (the not too distant future). Now the 'referees' intervene and force the players to participate, spying on them to make sure they play properly, and banning certain styles of play (the police state). Everything was going so well until the referee got involved!
You should really really study economics it would do you a world of good.
The free market is anything but a lot of people trying to collectively get as many goals as possible rather it is a group of individuals each trying to score as many goals as they can for themselves (individual profit motivation), then what happens is the biggest meanest player or a coalition of those start forcing the weaker players to simply pass them the ball to where they are in front of the goal and thus they effortlessly score again and again in return they occasionally are allowed to score a goal themselves. Anyone who speaks out against this is rapidly body checked (harassed, beaten or murdered by company goons) eventually the strongest group develops an excess of goals while the weaker members suffer goal starvation, until this reaches a breaking point and the weaker members band together as a representative government to get rid of the plutocracy that is making their lives terrible, after this has been done that government is left in place to ensure a level playing field for all players and is in turn kept in check by the rules and the periodic elections.
(this metaphor is horrible guys seriously)
I agree that it is kind getting kind of ridiculous, and all down to the initial false analogy to begin with, but I'm getting a kick out of it (pun intended).
In order to score as many goals for yourself it is beneficial to help those who can help you as you need someone to pass it to you (even Messi would fail if he didn't have his teammates), and those smaller ones can band together and refuse to pass to the big mean one if they like as long as no one is compelling them to cooperate with them (Obamacare). If nobody passes to him, the big mean one is going to have a lot of trouble scoring goals all by himself so will have to patch it up with the smaller ones. There is also not a limit on the number of goals one can score, so there can be no such thing as an excess of goals. Some may score more than others but it is their prerogative how many they want to score. Some may miss and get unlucky, and the rate of opportunities may fluctuate, but the general curve would be: the more cooperation, the more goals. This works absolutely fine unless violence appears - which is exactly the function of government.Violence appears either way, you can look at any one of the areas that were run for company profit in South America, Africa or for a grand example the East India Trading Company which ran India, government uses violence sure but as constrained and dictated by a constitution and a democratic review.
Actually, perfect capitalism requires very little. It needs some sort of government who can ensure private property and ensure that force is not used in trading, because TRUE capitalism revolves around anonymous, willing trade. You are correct in saying that laws need to be in place so both parties deliver.
Other than that though, capitalism regulates itself perfectly via the economic concept of the 'invisible hand'. You should read some Adam Smith or check out an econ textbook. Efficient allocation comes naturally to a TRUE free market, however because of more government intervention than required and the human idea of fairness (fairness is NOT an economic concept) true capitalism is hard to achieve and does not currently exist today anywhere in the world.
All of this is according to my economics 101 textbook, so I'm not making it up.+1 also thank god you abandoned that metaphor it was really stretching
I haven't yet scrolled down to read Mr. Deeds' reply to this, but I'm laughing out loud at your attempt to school Ralph Deeds on economics.
"People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."
– Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Book I, Ch. 10, ¶ 82)Yes, that's true, but depending on the good or service, they can't raise prices too far or else demand will simply cease for the good altogether right? I can see where that would definitely be true where the demand for a good is inelastic, but it can't always work though, right?
Wrong. The effect would depend on the availability of workable alternatives. For example, if car companies were allowed to fix prices, demand would not disappear because most people have to have cars. The same goes for other products such as medicine, food, gasoline. That's why we need anti-trust laws enforced by the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. Adam Smith's "invisible hand of the market" works fine only so long as the producers and sellers are not monopolies and are playing by the rules (i.e., not fixing prices). Adam Smith was correct that the market is more efficient at allocating resources than the government.
An inelastic demand curve implies that there are no workable alternatives...
When the demand curve is perfectly elastic (or close) firms really can't fix the prices, unless they get together with the firms that create workable substitutes as well.
The question is, how much of the market is inelastic versus elastic and how much regulation is needed to ensure price fixing and true monopolies don't happen? I don't know the answer to that, and I don't think anyone really can provide a concrete answer off the top of their head.
- cottageindustryposted 11 years ago0
I would give him a B- because he inherited the worst economic condition in our lifetime. How quickly we Americans forget what Bush left him with.
Continuing financial meltdown
Job losses in the millions
Panic on wall street
On that basis alone, I think he should be re-elected. I hope we Americans are not that ignorant of facts, to put the same policies that got us in the mess we're in.
Mitt Romney is very uncomfortable in his own skin and he strangely dislikes the poor or middle class (go look at his record).
Wish we had better choices, but between both of them Obama would get my vote again. - screamingposted 11 years ago0
I would have to give him a B. I honestly believe he has the health and well being of the average American in every decision he's made even if it was contraversial. Example would be his personal opinion of gay marriage. Or his attempt to provide healthcare for all. Or bailing out the auto industry. I see Romney going back to the trickle down approach. And to be honest, I believed that when I voted for President Bush. But did it trickle down? No.
He's so right about taxing the wealthy.....watch this video!
A rich businessman speaks truth to the lie: Tax cuts do not create jobs! Rich people do not create jobs...consumers and workers do!
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/0 … ?mobile=ncThe gentleman is right in that tax cuts by themselves do not create jobs, but misses the point in that under the Bush era, government spending and expansion went way up, which naturally reduces jobs anyway. Tax cuts in tandem with spending cuts would garner a huge boost in the economy in general, as well as cutting huge swathes of regulation.
Well, Democrats are more than willing to cut spending... but the Republicans refuse any tax increases whatsoever...in fact, they want to increase Bush cuts and make them permanent.--and these are BILLIONAIRES we are talking about.
Increase the deficit.
Force higher taxes on those with less.
Or starve gvt to death, and only they are left with any semblance of a pursuit of happiness.
Money is their God, and the rest of us are burning in the flames of their unrelenting greed...to borrow an image from Mittens the Kittens RMoney-Bags.Really? The Obama administration's only 'cuts' are cuts to proposed increases in spending anyway. Suck a teardrop out of the sea why don't you?
The monetary policy at the moment is classically Keynesian: increase the deficit to stimulate the economy, which will only compound the struggle of the less fortunate in the long term. 'Tax the rich!' is a red herring. Taxing will not even pay for a day's worth of spending. They just keep borrowing. It's not going to last for very long, and it will be a spectacular mess. I just worry about what happens afterwards.Ok lets do this another way how about this, name high functioning economies that are succeeding under the Laizes faire model. Then we will compare them to to countries using the Keynesian or socialized method and see in general which is doing better.
Bulloney. They had cuts ready to go....and a deal with the Bagtards.We cut domestic, and we cut military.
Then the Baglicans re-nigged.
They said no way to cutting military---MORE cuts in domestic.
They are not level players. They break their word, and think nothing of it.
They are not Bush tax cuts. Obie owns them now since HE continues to resign them into law. Blame him.
No way. He was forced into it to get unemployemnt payments out. And he wants to end them now, as he did then.
What will they use for blackmail this time?
Nope--I blame all of it on the Baglicans. And no one can show me different. I have eyes and ears and a mind to think.So you admit you're close minded. No surprise there. The brain dead are too.
Nope, open-minded enough to see what's going on. And standing up for what I believe in.
After all, if you fall for everything you stand for nothing.
I do not fall for the Bagtard Bulloney, never have, and never will.Every time you say bagtard, I just picture bagpipes. Same with baglicans and all your other names for what I'm assuming is the tea party.
Sorry Shanna--no civility from me, as I receive none. If you don't like what I say: skip over my posts...I do it plenty around here.
I guess you missed it again...*sigh*.....did you not see me called stupid, brain-dead and told I live in a basement?
Maybe you should focus your dislike on them?
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