Need answer quick! What has Obama done right so far?

[Phoonzang]

Not a critical question or trolling or anything. Someone just asked me this and I want to be able to give them a good list. So have his accomplishments been so far?

[BlooInBloo]

1. You truly can't come up with ANY on your own?

[Phoonzang]

8. Not that would sound impressive to this guy.

[salguine]

54. He doesn't sound like someone worth going to the trouble to impress. Why bother?

[polichick]

2. He has reversed a bunch of Bush's anti-environment measures.

[rcrush]

3. He told the DEA to stop raiding pot pharmacies in CA

Appointed a 'friendly' drug czar.

[otohara]

4. We're Not Being Lied To

every dang day.

[truedelphi]

5. Actions taken to close Gitmo. Seriously commited to wirthdrawing the troops in Iraq

Though leaving 50,000 troops there is not to everyone's liking.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. Very active foreign policy engagement across the board

[terisan]

7. Reversed Global Gag Rule. nt

[Bobbieo]

27. Yes, theGlobal Gag Rule - My No 1 priority,

[AzDar]

9. Lifted Stem Cell Research Ban.

[givemebackmycountry]

10. Check this out...

Watch CNN or MSNBC on TV tomorrow morning.

You will see something HUGH he has done and will do with a stroke of a pen.

[Phoonzang]

17. Why be an ass about it? Oh right...this is DU.

It was a simple fucking question. I didn't ask for insults.

[givemebackmycountry]

22. Sorry man - your right

I'll take care of it.

[Phoonzang]

25. Ok....

[Aloha Spirit]

33. oops

wrong spot

[glowing]

11. SCHIP program became law and the Lilly Ledbetter act was signed,

along with a couple of other pro-women initiatives.. If you go to the WhiteHouse.gov.. there's a list of things they do everyday. There is a ton of stuff there.. you decide whether you like it or not.

[geckosfeet]

12. Just about everything he has done has been right in my book. Can't say that

I am particularly happy with the stimulus legislation that gives billions to failing banks and financial institutions. That money should go to failing mortgages and directly to the American people. Let the American people decide what banks fail with their collective spending, saving and investing.

[Zen Democrat]

28. That wasn't the stimulus. That was Paulsen's TARP. n/t

[geckosfeet]

52. Well then he is batting 1000.

[lapfog_1]

13. Already he has done dozens of things that he promised to do.

Just yesterday he lifted the ban on federal funding for stem cell research and removed the restriction
of using the frozen (but discarded) embryos.

He has reversed dozens of executive orders on the environment.

He (and Congress) passed the $800B economic stimulus package.

He shamed Citigroup into abandoning plans to acquire a new corporate jet.

You can check this out for yourself:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

[Fire1]

14. You must be on a freeper site. If so, you're wasting your time.

[Phoonzang]

18. Nope. It's a Swedish video game message board. Don't ask... nr

[roseBudd]

15. Abolished 4 accountibg tricks that make the deficit appear smaller

[NYC_SKP]

16. Here's a few:

Short list, not a great list or the best list, there are many more many more accomplishments.

Civil Rights
Jan. 29 2009 - Obama signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Reducing disgrimination based on gender, age, religion, or race. (source)

Environmental
Feb. 21 2009 - Obama signs a mercury reduction pact with 140 other nations. The policy reverses roles with George Bush and sets mandatory requirements by the United States. (source)

Government Reform
Jan. 27 2009 - Admisistration tells Citigroup bank it is “unacceptable” to pay for a $42 million dollar luxury jet when they have received $45 billion in bailouts from taxpayers. (source)

Feb. 19 2009 - Bans the exception of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from accounting the deficit. This results in a 2.5 trillion dollar increase in calculated deficit to the United States. (source)

Feb. 23 2009 - Announces Earl Devaney to oversee the oversight of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Mr. Devaney worked as a Secret Service agent who exposed lobbist corruption in the Department of the Interior. (source)

Humanitarian
Jan. 23 2009 - Obama orders the close of Guantanamo Bay facility (source)

[Phoonzang]

19. THANK YOU!

That's what I needed. Just a few good examples.

[NYC_SKP]

29. The link I used, with sources.

In case you're asked to prove it.

I copied and pasted from a Jeremy Entwistle post: http://www.bunnydomination.com/blog/archives/59

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/a_wonderful_day/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/20/AR2009022003378.html

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/27/news/companies/citigroup_jet/?postversion=2009012716

http://http//www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/us/politics/20budget.html?_r=1

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/STIMULUS_OVERSIGHT?SITE=AP

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/22/guantanamo.order/index.html

:patriot

[Phoonzang]

43. Thanks again. I think the current battle is over, but I could use these for the future. nt

[liberalmuse]

20. After two whole months in office?

Are you fucking serious??? Ask the person if he believes in torture and unnecessary war first, to gauge whether or not he's even capable of discerning right from wrong. If he says, 'Yes', don't waste your breath.

[FrenchieCat]

21. Passed a stimulus package that includes money for Education at all levels!

Also, about $30 billion in new funds would flow to students and their families in 2009 and 2010, about $17 billion in the form of increased Pell Grants and $13 billion in expanded higher education tax credits that would, for the first time, be available to some students from lower-income families that do not pay taxes.

and Universities and academics benefit from roughly $16 billion to several federal agencies for research grants and facilities over two years, most of which will eventually flow to academic institutions. That includes $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health ($8.5 billion for research grants and $1.5 billion to renovate university facilities), $3 billion for the National Science Foundation, and $2 billion for science and research programs at the Energy Department.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/02/13/stimulus


Final recovery package is good news for children
In addition to significant investments in education, workforce development, safety net programs and other important areas, the final American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes substantial funding to support young children.

The final agreement that came out of conference between the House and Senate includes:

$2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant(CCDBG). These are federal funds that do not require a state match. The conference adopted the Senate language, which targets $255 million of these funds for quality improvement, of which $93.6 million are targeted for activities to improve the quality of care for infants and toddlers. In addition the CCDBG requirement to spend a minimum of 4 percent of funds on quality improvement activities also applies. (See a state-by-state breakdown of the new funds.)
$2.1 billion for Head Start, to be split as $1 billion for Head Start and $1.1 billion for Early Head Start.
$500 million for the IDEA infant and toddler program (Part C)
$400 million for the IDEA preschool program (Part B)
$13 billion for Title I of No Child Left Behind for disadvantaged students, of which spending on early childhood programs for children from birth through the age of school entry is a permitted use of funds. The Senate language that would have required local educational agencies to spend 15 percent of their funds on early childhood programs was not adopted.
http://childcareandearlyed.clasp.org/2009/02/final-recovery-package-invests-in-children.html

[BarackTheVote]

36. FrenchieCat!

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but this stuff about the increased pell grants and such really rocks my socks off--my girlfriend is sadly afraid she'll be forced out of the college we're both attending because she can't get the money together... how can she get in on these increases in pell grants and so forth?

Please note, I'm an art school student with an independently-wealthy father who takes care of all this for me, hence, I know nothing of these things... /:

[kestrel91316]

23. Is there some silly RW scheme to post this exact question every hour on the hour.

'Cause I see this exact same sort of post evey frickin' time I come on DU.....

[FrenchieCat]

24. He has made Rush Limbaugh look like the giant Ass that he is......

and the GOP be seen as the Pitiful Party of Nope!

[Jiradog]

42. The republicans did that quite well

by themselves.

[Phoonzang]

26. Ok, I posted a bunch of the things listed. Should be interesting.

I don't know why I'm bothering but I've been on that board too long to just walk away. Oh...why am I wasting my life? :nopity:

[leftofthedial]

30. appointing Solis

removing the ban on stem cell research

[elizm]

31. So far...he seems to have followed through on every campaign promise he made...

THAT is pretty remarkable.

[rocktivity]

32. In exchange, have your friend list

what he's doing wrong.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Jiradog]

44. I can help you out here

Maintaining our presence in Iraq, increasing our presence in Afganistan, taking pork barrel spending to a new level, not immediately shutting down the department of homeland security, bailing out bankers with our money, not abolishing the federal reserve, continueing to allow our currency to be worthless fiat, increasing the size and scope of the federal government, threating to effectively eviserate the 2nd ammendment, violating the Constitution, and not reducing the size of the federal government to less than 1/2 its curent size.

[rocktivity]

45. Those aren't things he's done wrong

those are things BUSH did wrong and he has yet to correct!

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Jiradog]

48. Can't argue with you there

I hope president Obama does fix these things.

[tabasco]

46. "Taking pork barrel spending to a new level."

PROVE IT.

The republicans were the kings of pork when they ran the country.

Your assertion is false.

WHY ARE YOU A LIAR?

[Jiradog]

49. That's pretty harsh calling someone a liar.

You don't think there is any pork in the stimulus package? Do you really want me to prove it?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

64. Yes.

Please detail the pork in the stimulus package, or shut the fuck up.

[Jiradog]

50. I do agree the republicans went crazy with pork

I won't defend them. They were terrible. But I am afraid President Obama is going way beyond that.

[uberllama42]

57. I keep hearing the "He's gonna take our guns" bullshit

No one ever shows me any evidence that Obama wants to take our guns away. They said the same thing about Clinton, and my parents owned way more guns at the end of Clinton's presidency than they did when he got in.

Where is this bill in Congress that's going to take our guns away? How can anyone pretend that the Supreme Court would not strike a bill like that down?

Also, the gold standard is a really stupid idea. A Fed in 1930 that could print fiat money would have been a lot more successful in averting the Depression than the historical Fed, which was bound by the gold standard.

[Jiradog]

59. He has personally said that he wants to ban all guns

except those that can be use only for hunting. All I can go by is what he said.

On the money issue. Do you think printing money is going to get us out of this? That is what has caused it. If printing money worked Zimbabue would be the richest place on earth. Suggest you study Austrian economics.

[uberllama42]

63. So you don't actually have any evidence?

No link? Just your bald assertion? Forgive me if I remain skeptical.

To hear the freepers talk, you'd think the ATF was about to come around knocking on people's doors and taking away their .22s. I've never heard Obama come out in favor of any kind of federal gun ban. Evidence of such a statement is clearly not forthcoming.

The Austrian school's explanation for the Great Depression is that the Fed overinflated the money supply and thereby overheated the economy. The gold standard was supposed to be a check on how much money they could issue. By the Austrian school's account, it was a failure. Once the economy tanked in 1929 and 1930, the money supply was already as large as the Fed could make it. The money supply actually tightened as people turned in their cash for gold. The gold standard didn't constrain the Fed when caution was necessary, but it did keep the Fed from being aggressive when it needed to be.

Your reference to Zimbabwe is an oversimplification of what's going on there. Zimbabwean dollars are being printed in order to pay the government's debts. By printing ZDs by the trillions, they are taxing the population and transferring that wealth to their foreign creditors. That's not at all the same as what the Fed does. The Fed manipulates the money supply on a much smaller scale, and they don't use seigniorage as a form of taxation.

With all of that said, the Fed has basically expended its usefulness at this point. Monetary policy is usually the most important tool in staving off a recession, but there are special circumstances at work right now which make fiscal stimulus necessary.

[Jiradog]

60. Quote from Thomas Jefferson

The federal reserve and government mistakes caused and prolonged the great depression just like they have done and are doing in this present situation. The Federal Reserve is the problem, not the solution.


I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)

[benEzra]

62. He is speaking of the "assault weapon" fraud, primarily...

"Assault weapon" is scare-speak for the most popular civilian target rifles and defensive carbines in the United States, and more Americans lawfully own them than hunt.

Thankfully, it looks to me as if President Obama and the party leadership are now seeing the light on that issue. Witness the way AG Holder's dumb comments last week on the AWB and "cop-killer bullets" (already banned 23 years ago) were censured, although the MSM and some DLC'ers are still pushing for it. And I guarantee an "assault weapons ban" will be introduced again this year, as it was in 2007 and every session before that going back to the original 1994 debacle.


----------------------
Dems and the Gun Issue - Now What? (written in '04, largely vindicated in '06, IMO)

The Conservative Roots of U.S. Gun Control

[Doremus]

34. He is rescuing the middle class.

His budget proposal is a major shift from 'let them eat cake' to making the government work for THE PEOPLE again.

[LWolf]

53. Is there a middle class, any longer?

How is he rescuing me?

I'm not seeing any rescue in sight.

[Doremus]

58. .

1. Yes.
2. If you are that far behind in your reading, I can't help you.
3. See #2.

[LWolf]

61. .

1. Where is that help?
2. I'm always "behind" in my reading, lol. My reading list is larger than most. You, though, don't decide what's on the list.
3. Addressing environmental concerns are good. Please tell me how that helps the "middle class." Do you see it as economic stimulus?

[Aloha Spirit]

35. obamameter: 16 campaign promises fulfilled so far

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-kept/

[BlooInBloo]

39. hahah! They nailed bush too....

[MadMaddie]

37. His DOJ has actually implemented some transparency

We are seeing the Yoo documents and the craziness that was the * admin.

[polichick]

38. He has brought dignity and legitimacy back to the White House...

...which is important to Americans and to the rest of the world.

[Beaverhausen]

40. pronounced "nuclear" correctly and has spoken in complete sentences

sometimes using three-syllable words.

[CakeGrrl]

41. Ehh, forget it all. That tacky DVD gift to PM Brown has cast a dark shadow

over all his accomplishments.

:rofl:





:sarcasm:

[rcrush]

56. HEADS WILL ROLLLLL!

Have heads rolled yet?

[MrSlayer]

47. Flipped Chimp's anti-Union executive orders.

That's certainly a good thing.

[Thickasabrick]

51. He showed us the "real" budget instead of hiding the actual number

like his predecessors.

[renegade000]

55. He got the AFI to compile a list

Of the top 25 American films to give as gifts

:evilgrin: