Obama 2012

[ProSense]

President Obama did not, I repeat, did not cause the decades of decline suffered by the low-income and middle-class Americans. Nor did he trigger the severe downward spiral this country has been on since the end of 2007. It's easy to sit back and take the facts about state of the country and lay the blame at the President's feet. This is the America Obama inherited as President.

Joseph Stiglitz (December 2007, before the full breadth and consequences of the economic crisis were known.)

<...>

Whoever moves into the White House in January 2009 will face an unenviable set of economic circumstances. Extricating the country from Iraq will be the bloodier task, but putting America’s economic house in order will be wrenching and take years.

The most immediate challenge will be simply to get the economy’s metabolism back into the normal range. That will mean moving from a savings rate of zero (or less) to a more typical savings rate of, say, 4 percent. While such an increase would be good for the long-term health of America’s economy, the short-term consequences would be painful. Money saved is money not spent. If people don’t spend money, the economic engine stalls. If households curtail their spending quickly—as they may be forced to do as a result of the meltdown in the mortgage market—this could mean a recession; if done in a more measured way, it would still mean a protracted slowdown. The problems of foreclosure and bankruptcy posed by excessive household debt are likely to get worse before they get better. And the federal government is in a bind: any quick restoration of fiscal sanity will only aggravate both problems.

And in any case there’s more to be done. What is required is in some ways simple to describe: it amounts to ceasing our current behavior and doing exactly the opposite. It means not spending money that we don’t have, increasing taxes on the rich, reducing corporate welfare, strengthening the safety net for the less well off, and making greater investment in education, technology, and infrastructure.

<...>

Some portion of the damage done by the Bush administration could be rectified quickly. A large portion will take decades to fix—and that’s assuming the political will to do so exists both in the White House and in Congress. Think of the interest we are paying, year after year, on the almost $4 trillion of increased debt burden—even at 5 percent, that’s an annual payment of $200 billion, two Iraq wars a year forever. Think of the taxes that future governments will have to levy to repay even a fraction of the debt we have accumulated. And think of the widening divide between rich and poor in America, a phenomenon that goes beyond economics and speaks to the very future of the American Dream.

<...>

The President inherited a mess and he is responsible for doing everything he can to help to fix. Everything from ending wars to saving industries and strengthening America's social contract.

Affordable Care Act Saves $260 Million This Year

Medicare Is Not “Bankrupt” - Health Reform Has Improved Program’s Financing

How Obama is shoring up federal authority over Medicaid

Medicare says competitive pricing will save $28B

HHS announces free birth control for women in the U.S.

Govt announces plan to reduce health disparities

HHS announces first national strategy for HIV/AIDS.

VA is making it easier for veterans to get help for PTSD.

Federal Medical Leave Act extended by Department of Labor to include same-sex relationships.

Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (President's remarks)

"first major federal antipoverty effort in decades" (poverty in the U.S. spiked between 2000 and 2009)

Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (President Obama’s anti-poverty initiative, PDF; California Promise Neighborhoods Initiative Passes)

A Progress Report on the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness

Report: Wall Street’s Opposition to Dodd-Frank Reforms Echoes Its Resistance to New Deal Financial Safeguards

The CFPB is a Win for the Unbanked

Using Clawbacks to Punish Bank Executives

New Housing Program Is Aimed at the Unemployed

DADT Repeal Has Been Certified

Breaking: President Endorses DOMA Repeal Bill on Eve of Senate Hearings.

DOJ comes out swinging against DOMA

Obama administration sides with Edie Windsor in lawsuit against DOMA

Obama Names Openly Gay Veteran to West Point Advisory Board

JUST IN: Obama Recognizing Military Suicides w/ Condolence Letters, Reversing a Longstanding Policy

WH: Partnership for Sustainable Communities Marks Two Trailblazing Years

Statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Transportation Security Officers' Vote for AFGE

NLRB Rule: A Positive Step forward for all Workers

NLRB Orders Reinstatement Of Santa Barbara News-Press Journalists

Board Orders a Repeat of a California Union Election

Second Chance Act

ACLU: Justice Is Served (Fair Sentencing Act made retroactive)

Rep. Gutierrez: DHS deportation announcement "an important victory for sensible immigration policy"

Infographic: President Obama's Judicial Nominees

Prosecuting financial fraud

Strong Fuel Efficiency and Pollution Standards Put Country on Right Track

First Ever Fuel Economy Standards for Commercial Vehicles

New rules to regulate coal air pollution, which may result in utilities shutting down smaller, dirtier plants.

New sulfur dioxide emissions limits, which is the first change in 40 years.

New rules to limit water pollution from mining

EPA Proposes First National Standard for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants / Mercury and air toxics standards represent one of strongest health protections from air pollution since passage of Clean Air Act

EPA mercury rules hailed as help for NY lakes (EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards: Cleaner Air AND Reliable Electricity)

Obama EPA Revokes Largest Mountaintop Removal Permit in US History

Pictures: Six New Natural Landmarks Named

Conservation Wins A Big One At The Grand Canyon

LANDMARK AGREEMENT MOVES 757 SPECIES TOWARD FEDERAL PROTECTION

FDA: Regulatory science plan positions agency to foster innovation through better science

Why the Government Is Regulating Gluten-Free Foods

Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act

Banning antibiotics in livestock production

Saving the auto industry

Preventing another Great Depression

Through the first seven months of 2011, the economy has added 930,000 total non-farm jobs or just 133 thousand per month. This is a better pace of payroll job creation than last year, but the economy still has 6.8 million fewer payroll jobs than at the beginning of the 2007 recession.

link

source

Krugman:

<...>

So about half of the rise in the ratio is due to a fall in the denominator rather than a rise in the numerator.

That still leaves a significant rise in spending. What’s that about? Here’s one way to look at the federal budget; I compare growth rates in spending from 2000 to 2007 and from 2007 to 2010:



“Income security” is unemployment insurance, food stamps, SSI, refundable tax credits — in short, the social safety net. Medicaid is a means-tested program that also serves as part of the safety net. Yes, spending in these areas has surged — because the economy is depressed, and lots of people are unemployed.

What we’re seeing isn’t some drastic expansion of Big Government; we’re seeing the government we already had, responding to a terrible economic slump.

<...>

Dear Republicans and Republican enablers, this is much more good than harm.

Ending wars:

- In June 2009, U.S. Forces occupied 357 bases. U.S. Forces currently occupy 121 bases, and are expected to reduce that number to 94 bases by the end of August.

link

Operation New Dawn began with 94 military sites in Iraq, in September 2010. Today, that's down to 48 sites. Seven more sites will shut down in August, Richardson said.

more

On June 22, 2011 the President addressed the American people about the way forward in Afghanistan. We have made substantial progress on the objectives the President laid out at West Point in 2009, and he made clear that we will begin the drawdown of U.S. troops from a position of strength. We have exceeded our expectations on our core goal of defeating al-Qa’ida – killing 20 of its top 30 leaders, including Osama bin Laden. We have broken the Taliban’s momentum, and trained over 100,000 Afghan National Security Forces. The U.S. will withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011, and the 33,000 “surge” troops he approved in December 2009 will leave Afghanistan by the end of summer 2012.

link

The package of major legislative accomplishments during the Obama Presidency's first two years:

• January 29, 2009: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-2
  
  
• February 4, 2009: Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (SCHIP), Pub.L. 111-3
  
  
• February 17, 2009: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Pub.L. 111-5
  
  
• March 11, 2009: Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, Pub.L. 111-8
  
  
• March 30, 2009: Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-11
  
  
• April 21, 2009: Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, Pub.L. 111-13
  
  
• May 20, 2009: Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-21
  
  
• May 20, 2009: Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-22
  
  
• May 22, 2009: Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-23
  
  
• May 22, 2009: Credit CARD Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-24
  
  
• June 22, 2009: Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, as Division A of Pub.L. 111-31
  
  
• June 24, 2009: Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 including the Car Allowance Rebate System (Cash for Clunkers), Pub.L. 111-32
  
  
• October 28, 2009: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Pub.L. 111-84
  
  
• November 6, 2009: Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, Pub.L. 111-92
  
  
• December 16, 2009: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, Pub.L. 111-117
  
  
• February 12, 2010: Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act, as Title I of Pub.L. 111-139
  
  
• March 4, 2010: Travel Promotion Act of 2009, as Section 9 of Pub.L. 111-145
  
  
• March 18, 2010: Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, Pub.L. 111-147
  
  
• March 23, 2010: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub.L. 111-148
  
  
• March 30, 2010: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, including the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, Pub.L. 111-152
  
  
• May 5, 2010: Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-163
  
  
• July 1, 2010: Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-195
  
  
• July 21, 2010: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub.L. 111-203
  
  
• August 3, 2010: Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-220
  
  
• August 10, 2010: SPEECH Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-223
  
  
• September 27, 2010: Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-240
  
  
• December 8, 2010: Claims Resolution Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-291, H.R. 4783
  
  
• December 13, 2010: Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-296, S. 3307
  
  
• December 17, 2010: Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-312, H.R. 4853
  
  
• December 22, 2010: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-321, H.R. 2965
  
  
• January 2, 2011: James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, Pub.L. 111-347, H.R. 847
  
  
• January 4, 2011: Shark Conservation Act, Pub.L. 111-348, H.R. 81
  
  
• January 4, 2011: Food Safety and Modernization Act, Pub.L. 111-353, H.R. 2751

Rachel Maddow (December 2010)

MADDOW: If the Senate ratifies the START Treaty tomorrow, it caps an astonishing period in American political history.

For the last two years, Democrats have held the White House as well as big majorities in both the House and the Senate. Their record of achievement in that time, even in the face of unified, at times totally random Republican opposition, Republican opposition even do things Republicans had proposed in the first place, unified Republican opposition even to their own ideas—their track record even in the face of that is historic.

Whether you agree or disagree with what Democrats have done in the first two years of President Obama‘s presidency, they have freaking done it. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act for women, expanding children‘s health insurance, new hate crimes legislation that they said could not be done, tobacco regulation, credit card reform, student loan reform, the stimulus - which in addition to helping pull this country back from the brink of a Great Depression was also the largest tax cut ever, the largest investment in clean energy ever, the single largest investment in education in our country ever.

There was also a little thing you may have heard of called health reform. Also, Wall Street reform, the improvements to the new G.I. bill, the most expansive food safety bill since the 1930s.

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Edited spelling of "Maddow."

[panader0]

1. Thank you. I will bookmark this page. KandR

[Cal33]

28. The vast majority of Americans don't even know this. The problem is how to spread this info

far and wide, and keep on spreading it. Not letting the American
people know is certainly of no help to Obama.

[panader0]

2. Getting unrecced already.

Some people hate facts.

[shellgame26]

3. Great job..as usual

Bookmarked.

[Historic NY]

4. How soon people forget...

we live in a short attention span nation now that gets its information via sound bites & 140 character messaging. It seems no one is is either able or willing to do any research beyond what they get from their TUBES or PODS anymore. Its sad.

[MBS]

5. Excellent. Thanks. I've also bookmarked this. n/t

[great white snark]

6. Can I get a hell yes? K & R & bookmarked.

I am soooo thankful you're on our side ProSense. And after reading this, how can anyone think the President isn't also?

Thank you.

[PatSeg]

7. K&R

Thanks for posting this.

[jefferson_dem]

8. Awesome post.

Thanks!

[jaxx]

9. Big K & R

This needs to be kept out front to stop the crap about nothing getting done.

[CakeGrrl]

10. Lists. Links. FACTS! K/R

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. K&R

[Fearless]

12. Are you happy with the current socio-economic situation?

[ProSense]

15. No,

and that's why I voted for Obama, and will vote for him again in 2012.

[Fearless]

29. I would assume that it has gotten better in your opinion since 2008?

[YvonneCa]

36. So will I...

...even though I have some differences of opinion with our President.

[uponit7771]

24. No, I understand how it can get better and also understand conservatives are standing in the way

[lamp_shade]

13. Thank you, ProSense. Bookmarked.

[pnorman]

14. K&R for bookmarking purposes

n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

16. K&R for the facts!!!

[Lifelong Protester]

17. K & R and Bookmarked

This is the message that MUST be continuously shared with the short attention span folks.

[Tx4obama]

18. K&R. This should be posted 'every week' until the next election :)

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

21. Hmmm?

"I wanna know what it would take for you to stop with the blind support of him."

About the same as what it would take for you to give him credit for anything.

Don't hate the player, hate the game!

[Scurrilous]

20. K & R

[usregimechange]

22. Kicking because I think we get a bit too carried away in anti-Obama groupthink

though some of it is justified.

[BlueMTexpat]

23. Thank you so much for keeping the facts straight here..

There is too much hysteria from people who should know better and stealth Rethugs seem to be everywhere on DU lately.

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[politicasista]

26. A banging Kick

[treestar]

27. Kick

Great summary.

[one_voice]

30. How the hell do you put all this shit together?

Great job...can't rec but I can kick....

[ProSense]

33. .

Wheaties!

Seriously, thanks!

[Inuca]

38. Maybe I should give

Wheaties a try then .

[TrainToCry]

31. No stopping us!

[grantcart]

32. Yeah but

what has he done for ME since breakfast?

[FrenchieCat]

34. That is the question!

[Tarheel_Dem]

35. Thank You. K&R. (nt)

[Tx4obama]

37. Kick! n/t

[Tarheel_Dem]

39. Ditto!

[Top Cat]

40. K&R

[Tx4obama]

41. Bump.

[LatteLibertine]

42. Folks might want to investigate what is happening to Dodd-Frank

[DCBob]

43. The media ignores all this and focuses on meaningless day to day "controversies".

Hopefully these facts will be presented to voters at some point.

Thanks for posting.

[Tanelorn]

44. Only just saw this post . Unfortunately I'm out of the 24 hr period so can't rec.

What great charts. How about blowing them up to billboard size
and putting them on the freeways?

[Bake]

45. "Obama 2012: I won't fuck it up as bad as they will!"

"I'll still fuck it up, of course, but not as bad."

Yeah, that'll work.

Bake