Top 50 Things Accomplished by President Barack Obama

[White Eagle]

I found a list of accomplishments by President Obama. Let's see how many y'all will disagree with. I feel it's about time someone came up with a list, now we can look over it and find differences.

http://www.alternet.org/story/154840...ma?page=entire

Washington Monthly / By Paul Glastris and Ryan Cooper and Siyu Hu

Top 50 Things Accomplished by President Barack Obama
A look back at Obama's first term.
April 4, 2012 |

1. Passed Health Care Reform: After five presidents over a century failed to create universal health insurance, signed the Affordable Care Act (2010). It will cover 32 million uninsured Americans beginning in 2014 and mandates a suite of experimental measures to cut health care cost growth, the number one cause of America’s long-term fiscal problems.

[CowboyBob]

That's a great list. Unfortunately the sore losers won't even read it much less agree with anything on it. All they do it criticize and complain.

President Obama had a lot of mess to clean up from the previous administration.

[loki81]

I can't help but shake my head when people credit Obama with withdrawing all US forces from Iraq.

Iraq kicked us out. if the President had his way, we'd still have thousands of boots on the ground in the country.

[Stardreamer]

I can't help but shake my head when people credit Obama with withdrawing all US forces from Iraq.

Iraq kicked us out. if the President had his way, we'd still have thousands of boots on the ground in the country.

Essentially correct, he got us out of Iraq by failing to achieve a negotiated agreement THAT BOTH SIDES WANTED. That takes talent.

[GiancarloC]

Some will try to deflect his achievement in any way possible, even by blaming certain events on other circumstances.

[Jack Springer]

You forgot that he stopped the oceans from rising.

[White Eagle]

I can't help but shake my head when people credit Obama with withdrawing all US forces from Iraq.

Iraq kicked us out. if the President had his way, we'd still have thousands of boots on the ground in the country.

Ok I'll agree. 1 out of 50 ain't bad.

[White Eagle]

This week, the President signed the STOCK Act into law, making members of Congress play by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to investing.

[loki81]

This week, the President signed the STOCK Act into law, making members of Congress play by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to investing.

it begs the question, do we credit the President with everything he signs?

much like ending Don't Ask/Don't Tell, if I remember correctly it was Joe Lieberman who did a lot of the hard work to actually make it happen (as opposed to just signing your name on the dotted line once it's all done)

[JayHawk]

I have Eleven as Fails or not solely his accomplishment. Still a very impressive record for four years of maligned service with a hostile congress.

Fails in red. Falsely attributed Obama accomplishments are in green and Obama accomplishments in blue... to fit with the color scheme ...

1. Passed Health Care Reform:

Bottom line is even if it is changed massively by the courts there is no doubt healthcare will remain around.

2. Passed the Stimulus:

This had a lot of Bush fingers in the pie if you read or watch stories of the timeline. Many of these things were on the block but Obama Accomplished it so yup.. oh and guess what? It worked.

3. Passed Wall Street Reform

This one is passed but not enforced so i will give it a Meh.... i would like to see a lot more accountability from past sins and regulation on future market schemes.


4. Ended the War in Iraq

First this was Bush's timeline and we WERE to remain in that country to train and support. This is a failure and effectively wasted the blood of the thousands of Americans who died in Iraq. They now did so for NOTHING.

5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan

This was the goal of the surge and he has allowed the military command follow through on their plans.

6. Eliminated Osama bin laden:

Much credit for ignoring Pakistan's sovereignty on this issue however to be fair the intelligence used to DO this was garnered via the torture methods that are listed below.

7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry

Solid. Republicans were against this and were against it foolishly. We need an auto industry. Period. Oh and it worked.

8. Recapitalized Banks:

This was genius way to reestablish confidence in banks.

9. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”:

I no longer have any fear and I am legally accepted. Not that I had fear before but I am very strightforward and if some of my political enemies knew I was gay prior to then it could have been dicey ... all of that is past me now.

10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi

Time will tell. Gaddafi was a class A piece of shit but we will see as time goes by if this was good or bad in the long run. We have a histroy of doing the wrong thing or experiencing unintended consequences when we work to topple governments.

11. Told Mubarak to Go

At that point he was simply chiming in but credit for not standing pat.

12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies:

He sure did publicly.

13. Improved America’s Image Abroad

After Bush anyone would have a nd his true genius was appointing Hillary Clinton to go make our case abroad.

14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending

We couldn't possibly do more of this type of spending. Yet it needs to include things like welding certification and technical trades. Everyone should have the ability to learn a skill and have a career.

15. Created Race to the Top

Cool idea... we will see if it removes our educational system from the pit of ineptitude where it is currently emperor.

16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards

Yay

17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis

Solid

18. Passed Mini Stimuli

Good

19. Began Asia “Pivot”

I dont know how to take this... perhaps Announced Asia pivot would be more apt a description?? We have been increasing resources and diplomacy among ASEAN countries for the last fifteen years.

20. Increased Support for Veterans

As much as republicans wave flags the democrats actually put their money where their mouth is.... what more can you say.

21. Tightened Sanctions on Iran:

As every President has since Jimmy Carter. This is Hillary and renewed ally love with Obama as well but it is par for the course.

22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants:

Awesome. Although Bush started this when he authorized the DOE to commission 25 new Nuclear power plants.

23. Passed Credit Card Reforms

Sorely needed. It is an unfair fight when ivy league trained bankers are creating products that the typical retarded american doesnt understand will destroy you (in regards to finance)

24. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws:

Cool some of the best i have worked for had tits.

25. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court

Which is key for a fair and impartial Third branch of government

26. Improved Food Safety System: In 2011

Well it is something yet we monitor WAY too few of our food sources for the FDA to be adequately doing their job. this is a step in the right direction.

27. Achieved New START Treaty

Excellent. We could do with about 1/10 of the nuclear weapons we have. And we could still blow up the world fifty times.

28. Expanded National Service

Awesome. Now if we could pass a mandatory service requirement and then put that labor to work on the infrastructure....

29. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection

Most excellent since I plan on retiring to work in the national Land Mgt Areas....

30. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco

Shrug

31. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders:

Cool

32. Passed Fair Sentencing Act

Cool but what needs to be done is to stop the war on drugs. It is killing us.

33. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense:

This is cool as well. We can seel the weapons to those other countries and then watch the larger players in the are make undue influence on those governments. We will regret not establishing control and connection in part sof the former eastern block

34. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown

Sorely Needed

35. Let Space Shuttle Die and Killed Planned Moon Mission

This is a sad loss. We should be ever further exploring space. Innovation will only happen if we are doing it not sitting back waiting for someone else to take the lead.

36. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology:

This will be a huge black eye in this election campaign. Too many poor choices were made in pursuing. We should invest heavily but must have a critical eye at what we fund.

37. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests

Okay

38. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges

Good. Remove the chaff.

39. Improved School Nutrition

This is much maligned but the porblem is we are an obese bunch of overweight yoyos and this needs to be done.

40. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections:

Solid

41. Avoided Scandal:

LOL - now they are grasping to reach fifty

42. Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill

Unfortunately this was like taking the first offer in a lawsuit. Woefully underfunded for the damage taken and this leaves the parties with no other recourse under our law.

43. Created Recovery.gov:

Could be viewed as open government. But so many other things are closed that it doesn't make his transparent government promise a reality.

44. Pushed Broadband Coverage

Very nice. Technology is always a plus

45. Expanded Health Coverage for Children

I like the little bastards and if they aren't diseased then all the better.

46. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide:

Key for the move forward to eliminate the gas as an emission.

47. Expanded Stem Cell Research

This was held up by the religious nutters. If there is a God then why couldn't he have put that doctor their to discover cures with stem cells?

48. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers:

Making it right. I like it.

49. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence

This was sorely needed and hopefully will result in more stability.

50. Killed the F-22:

Bad idea. We exist as a power primarily because we are light years ahead of everyone else. Stopping that advantage is ignorant and doesnt further us as a country in ANY way.

[T-Rexx]

Obama has had a number of surprising successes, especially considering the vehemence of his opposition.

But his opposition to gay marriage is inexplicable, his willingness to compromise with Republicans has hindered his effectiveness in advancing both health care reform and economic recovery, and his support for some of the anti-Constitutional surveillance techniques of GWB is troubling. His inability to implement badly needed tax reform over Republican opposition may not be his own failure, but it remains a problem for America and for the economy.

I give him a "B". Possibly a "B+". He is so phenomenally better than GWB that he deserves that Nobel Prize. But, it is arguably not that difficult to look good when your predecessor was the worst president in American history.

[JayHawk]

Keys to success in foreign policy...

[csb999]

Perhaps I am just agreeing with T-Rexx . As far as I am concerned Obama has done one thing that totally blows all other 49 things out of the water :
1 ) Not being George Bush .
Granted most people are not but still I would give him the Nobel Prize for that .

[GiancarloC]

Jay, isn't the F-35 going to be made instead of the F-22? Still a great deal of a waste of money.

And as far as Osama Bin Laden... I find it hard to believe that the Pakistanis didn't know he was in that compound. They were hiding him... or at least doing nothing. I mean how far was he from the Pakistani military compound? If I recall 20~ km... correct me if I'm wrong.

And frankly I may only rate Obama a B- or B perhaps, but that's far better then the Bart Simpson-esque F- I'd give republicans... especially in their present state. Could you imagine one of them in the White House? Ugghhhhh...

[archive]

Jay, isn't the F-35 going to be made instead of the F-22? Still a great deal of a waste of money.

..

From a mechanics' point of view, I don't see why the f-35 was not just shelved. It is so many things going on in the background (air force wise) with the f 15 and 16, it just gave everyone a headache. Besides they made me leave beautiful Eglin to test the f-35. I'm still angry lol.

[JayHawk]

Jay, isn't the F-35 going to be made instead of the F-22? Still a great deal of a waste of money.

And as far as Osama Bin Laden... I find it hard to believe that the Pakistanis didn't know he was in that compound. They were hiding him... or at least doing nothing. I mean how far was he from the Pakistani military compound? If I recall 20~ km... correct me if I'm wrong.

And frankly I may only rate Obama a B- or B perhaps, but that's far better then the Bart Simpson-esque F- I'd give republicans... especially in their present state. Could you imagine one of them in the White House? Ugghhhhh...

They are different aircraft with different caps and lims. Plus I believe in massive R&D for military development because ALL of it usually ends up commercialized at a huge profit to the US businesses. Name a technology and i will tell you how it started in the US Military.

The Paki's knew he was there all day long. We should be cutting them fucktards off but the tentative tie we have is considered best with the nuclear options pakistan has at its disposal.

I have said multiple times that Obama is the best moderate conservative option. Check that he is the only conservative option.

[GiancarloC]

Meh I don't have much knowledge about jet fighters, but I think both the F-22 and F-35 should be cancelled or remain so. The military needs to be drastically reduced, probably by 1/3rd.

And as far as Pakistan, just improve ties to India. I think Obama was doing that anyways.

[JayHawk]

The military is being reduced. The biggest expense that outpaces every other expense is the cost of manpower. That is 70% of the budget for the military. That isnt even including the VA benefits portion.

They will cut manpower and keep the tools. You can't create technology overnight. You can however rehire skilled fighters with very little retraining required.

They will cut drastically. Cutting the tech edge is ignorant and will lead to a bad outcome for this country. It ALWAYS has resulted in massive loss for this country when we allow politicians to reduce equipment efficacy.

[Kulindahr]

I basically say ditto to Jayhawk's commentary. I do think they cut off the F-22 so early; we may regret that. The F-35 has many similar capabilities, but they're designed for different tasks. Of course we can't cancel the F-35 out of the blue like that; it's a program shared with allies.

OTOH, a dozen F-22s could take on the combined air forces of all the Arab countries and be back for supper while two dozen F-35s neutralized the rest of their militaries, so we don't exactly need a thousand of the things.

[Kulindahr]

This week, the President signed the STOCK Act into law, making members of Congress play by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to investing.

The military is being reduced. The biggest expense that outpaces every other expense is the cost of manpower. That is 70% of the budget for the military. That isnt even including the VA benefits portion.

They will cut manpower and keep the tools. You can't create technology overnight. You can however rehire skilled fighters with very little retraining required.

They will cut drastically. Cutting the tech edge is ignorant and will lead to a bad outcome for this country. It ALWAYS has resulted in massive loss for this country when we allow politicians to reduce equipment efficacy.

As Churchill noted while still at the Admiralty, being prepared is expensive -- but not being prepared is more expensive still.