I've been hearing (and watching on Gather) some people whine about what a poor job they think that Obama has done in the seven months he has been in office and how little he has accomplished. But the facts are that this man has faced enormous challenges--more so than any other President coming into office, and he has accomplished much more than you're probably aware of. Check out this list compiled by Sam Stein of the Huffington Post:
1. Health Care: The Obama White House cleared an important hurdle in the health care reform debate when it appropriated $19 billion in the stimulus package to help implement an electronic medical record system. The money is paltry compared to the hundreds of billions set aside for an overhaul of the health care system in the budget. But officials inside and out of the White House say its significance is hard to overstate.
"We need to have health IT so we have a better idea both of what works but also... so people can share information," Zeke Emanuel, Obama's health care adviser told the Huffington Post in mid-March. "We are on our way in a way that we have never committed ourselves before."
2. Communications: A presidential campaign built on innovative messaging and advanced technology has, naturally, become a White House defined by similar characteristics. As such, the reach of the administration's new media efforts - from hosting online question-and-answer sessions with the president to publishing the first White House blog - has been as expected as appreciated. It's unfortunate, said one tech savvy Democrat, because the new policies have had tangible impacts. "The White House streams every event with the president on its website, even press events," he said. "It's remarkable because, this Sunday they held a swine flu press conference that ordinary people [including many who may have been personally nervous about the topic] were able to watch online... Before you had to wait for a readout or hope that CSPAN would cover it. This is one of those things that people don't quite understand the significance of."
3. Transportation: Since the passage of the economic stimulus package in mid-February, the Obama Department of Transportation has approved 2,500 highway projects. The movement of stimulus money out the door has been as swift as it has been effective: $9.3 billion has been spent in all 50 states. Touting its impact, DOT officials say 260,000 jobs are expected from this investment. And with competition for contracts fierce, the department is set to approve even more projects than previously envisioned. "There will be more money for additional transportation projects," said the official.
4. Education: Maligned for its handling of the financial and banking crises, the Obama Treasury Department has nevertheless implemented policies with real qualitative and quantitative impact on debt-burdened families. Chief among those was a $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of tuition (among other expenses) for those seeking a college education. Nearly five million families are expected to save $9 billion, according to Treasury officials.
5. Cars: The automobile industry at the White House and Congress's behest has undergone seismic structural changes, managerial reorganization, and massive cuts in employment. But for all the tough love, the president has put in place the framework for an industry recovery. Perhaps the most significant of steps was to allocate $2 billion in stimulus cash for advanced batteries systems. One high-ranking Hill aide called battery technology "the next big frontier" in the automotive world, adding that if the U.S. could dominate this market it would reclaim its perch as the world's premier car manufacturer.
6. Pakistan: Cognizant of a destabilizing situation in Pakistan, the administration's diplomatic team, with a major assist from Japan, secured $5 billion in aid commitments "to bolster the country's economy and help it fight terror and Islamic radicalism" within the country. The money, as Pakistan observers -- notably Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry - note, will prove instrumental in bringing the nation away from the brink of failure and increased Taliban control.
7. Cities: More than any prior president, Obama has put a spotlight on America's struggling cities, even creating an office of Urban Policy in the White House. It is the Justice Department, however, that lays claim to one of the most consequential of urban affairs achievements. Through the Recovery Act, DOJ secured $2 billion for Byrne Grants, which funds anti-gang and anti-gun task forces. The money, cut during the Bush years, is expected to have massive ramifications on inner-city crime and violence.
8. Engaging the Muslim World: While certainly discussed, foreign affairs experts insist that Obama's engagement with the Muslim world has been at once remarkable and under-appreciated. From the first interview with Al Arabiya to his Nowruz address to the Iranian people, to his proclamation that "American is not at war with Islam" during an appearance in Turkey, seasoned observers have been routinely impressed. "Through these [statements and interviews]," said one Democratic foreign policy hand, "He has been able to dramatically change America's image in that region."
9. Forests: Since taking office, the White House has put under federal protection more than two million acres of wilderness, thousands of miles of river and a host of national trails and parks. The conservation effort - the largest in the last 15 years - came with the stroke of a pen when Obama signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 in late March.
10. Tone: Leaving a meeting at the White House on Tuesday a progressive member of the House of Representatives commented to the Huffington Post just how impressed she was with the president's manner. "He is so calm," said the member, "and has a great ability to make you feel like you're being respected and listened to."
It is not, necessarily, a unique observation. But among many Democrats and even casual observers, Obama's tone is cited as one of the chief catalysts for his outstanding early poll numbers. "Despite record job loss," said one Democratic aide, "there's still hope in America." Indeed, from the beginning of his presidency the percentage of people who believe the nation is headed in the right direction has risen from 19 percent to 42 percent, according to a recent ABC News-Washington Post Poll. Minus that calming influence, these numbers don't exist and neither does the Obama agenda as we know it.
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Comments: 47
I firmly believe that the President, in time, will be recognized as the great president he is. He has only just begun!
I do hope that he gets tougher with Republicans.
Thanks for posting this to Obama YES! Palin ~ NO!
1. Surround himself with centrists
2-10. Listen to them
Meanwhile, the so called independent conservative capitalist libertarians.
Are running around gather trying to recruit us LIBERALS.
What a screaming Joke. .
more more more !!!
2) Demonstrated himself to be the Socialist and left wing radical we thought that he was (but which he denied during the campaign).
3) Selected Robert Gibbs as press secretary which gives us laughs every day.
4) Reaffirmed our understanding that Harvard lawyers have no idea what "telling the truth" means.
5) Perfected the art of spending money that you do not have.
6) Developed the best "stimulus" scheme to pay back your supporters using public funds ever devised.
7) Best bow to a Foreign leader ever executed by a sitting (I mean 'bowing') US president.
8) Demonstrated a willingness to ignore the input of half the country and at the same ignore the Constitution.
9) Figured out that if he and his cabal can create enough 'crises' of one sort or another perhaps he can just seize power and be President for life.
10) Had the pirates taken out.
One of the conservative/independent/libertarian/capitalist recruiters.
Amusing isn't it he lies just like a Republican
Seems like it was the Republican party that walked out of the Health Care talks.
STOP ALL HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION.
But, never mind, you just can't help yourself. You see us as stupid.
We actually want something good,
Your goal is truly Evil oppression of every working class middle class citizen in the U. S. A,
HATE HIM SO MUCH!
EM JAY, Ken wants to recruit some liberals to the conservative agenda, do you think he has a chance?
Same for the president. No matter how he comes in, what challenges he faces, or how popular he is from the start... the only thing that will matter is how he went out.
He's got three more years to prove what he's made of.
Money equals power.
Never in all my years of following politics, have I seen such a weak president.
Obama has lost control of his agenda. Obama optioned out his policy visions to the Congress, he allowed Pelosi-Reid and other left-wing socialist write his bills.
Obama was a community organizer and he is governing exactly like one , he allows the fringe groups like Move-on. org, ACORN, Unions, Soros and his Marxist Communist friends like van jones give him advice.
As a leader Obama is lost, for poll numbers to drop as rapidly as they have is disastrous for him. Independent voters are running as fast as they can from Obama, a fact.
Obama is the "Pitch-Man"President. One who travels about selling his "wares"{Obamacare- need for trillions of dollar debt- nationalize- banks-auto-insurance-Internet-doctors etc.}
Obama is the quintessential Pitch-Man- He uses a fast line "Hope and Change" of talk to sell something- Big Government-Hope and Change.After someone writes the bill The "Pitch-Man" is sent out to sell it.
Obama is not even a good Pitch-Man anymore. AMERICAN PEOPLE- have turned him off, not because he is Black-Carla!!-----But keep playing the Race Card- please.
I continued to read your article and noticed that you left out some facts like:
1) President Clinton was the first to implement "an electronic medical record system"
2) So what; so now he can spread his lies faster than anyone else before him?
3) Great, more bridges to nowhere. However, this is something I will hope works out, especially since this IS the type of thing governments are supposed to do.
4) offset $2,500 in tuition...are you nuts? do you know what I am paying?
5) 87% of the cars sold using our money went to foreign auto makers. Oh yea, real good.
6) Thank God for our Military. However, credit needs to go to the State Department, the group that worked with George W Bush.
7) Great, so now we can arrest more people and put them where?
8) So far, NOONE has done a better job of working the Muslim world than the team of James Baker and George H Bush.
9) Whatever. I for one ride my bike/bus daily to work and hike on the weekends so don't tell me I don't care about the environment. However, If signing away a bunch of forest land so that in the future the Chinese can have virgin forests to clearcut makes you feel good....
10) Of course he is calm.....his health care is paid for, he has job security for the next couple years, he gets lots of vacation time, a great pension plan (not to mention that he is already a millionaire) and since he obviously isn't in charge, why wouldn't he be calm?
Call me names if you'd like; it just shows that facts go over your head.
2) answering "so what" and not giving a proper rebuttal is as childish as sticking out your tongue in petulance;
4) Its a very big deal to some families and students struggling to pay for their own. If you don't want the assistance, no one's twisting your arm to take it;
5) Did you want the President to allow on US-built cars? I can just hear the new screaming now: "Obama is trying to control how we spend our money! More rights taken away!" The buyers were free to choose. If you don't like the choices, blame your fellow Americans, not Obama.
By this time, I'm really fighting hard not to use an epithet--
7) It is to prevent crimes by generating new ways of pointing our youth in directions better to assist them in furthering their education.. not build new jails.
9) How do you see forest preservation as "signing it away"? Your answers are getting stranger and more erratic and whiny..
10) The nation witnessed him taking less vacation time than his predecessor, and Bush didn't have a bunch of white people chasing him with nooses. This man is constantly under fire yet didn't take advantage of the opportunity to bask in his presidency in two months of idleness. I'd love to see how his detractors would handle the same rabid, injudicious attacks every day since inauguration.
Those I skipped over, I either didn't understand your point or don't have an honest answer since it isn't a field I'm familiar with.
My point is that the Prez does not deserve a special place in history for coming into office at this point in time.
I don't understand your comment "Truman handling a major war? " Well, President Truman handled three wars: The end of World War II, The beginning of the Cold war, and he committed us into the Korean War. That trumps President Obama, who is lucky enough to have the best military in the world (Truman had an up and coming version {no offense to our WWII and Korean War veterans, it is the technology factor I am talking about here})
As for "dealing" with the "almost depression"...President Obama merely followed the lead from President Bush. I am glad to hear that someone sees good in an idea President George W Bush had. So if you believe that spending Trillions of Dollars saved our economy, thank President Bush, not Obama. President Obama will get the credit for Borrowing three times as much from the Chinese and other foreign creditors which is going to do wonders for our economy (did you see the latest unemployment rates?). Just wait til Inflation hits, then you will be able to say "President Obama had to deal with the highest Inflation rates of any president" . I'm sure Jimmy Carter will be proud.
As for a rebuttal to #2, I honestly didn't want to bore you with a rebuttal for such a flimsy accolade. I wasn't sticking my tongue out at anyone, I was just dismissing the "fluff". But here are some facts:
President Rosevelt (the socialist one....Franklin Delano) used a new medium to communicate with the masses and was very tech savvy....Yep, he used the Radio to connect with people. I'm sure if he was privy to a blackberry....
President Kennedy used the latest polling data and TV to get his message across....
President Carter used TV to saturate the public, President Reagan used Satellites for live broadcasts overseas, President Bush used the internet, Clinton...My point here is that the next president will probably have the use of some new technology not yet invented. The best part is this; There is current candidate for Governor in California who hails from Silicon Valley....want to see his technology in Action? Maybe one day he will become President and if he does, I'll see if you post the same accolade for him. And no, he is not a Democrat, and yes, he is every way a community organizer - he even spent a year teaching in a low income school for fun (he was already a millionaire).
4) Look, the $2,500 is for the rich. Plain and simple. It is one of those feel good things that President Clinton started (stealing the idea from Carter) that don't amount to anything if you are "families and students struggling to pay for their own" which I am. The way the trap works is if you borrow, you get $$. But what if you pay? Guess what...nothing. It would have been better spent Giving the money in scholarships and grants.... but no. they do it this way so that people who can't or won't look into it will simply repeat the tag-line and perpetuate the myth that the "Government is here to help".
5) I understand the administration couldn't just allow only US-built cars; you know why? It would have started a trade war. As for waiting for the news to start "screaming... "Obama is trying to control how we spend our money! More rights taken away!" I doubt it. The news doesn't like reporting things that Tarnish the Golden boy. However, I do see some irony in your remark "The buyers were free to choose." because so many people Hate WalMart; they hate people who buy SUVs; Hate those who shop at box stores, and want to take other choices away from us. I don't blame Obama because the idea belonged to Pelosi; they shouldn't of done it. mark my words...the purchases were made by people who were already in the market to buy. Local charities lost Millions. What you are going to see now is charities getting more desperate, and sales of autos going flat.
It was an ill run program, please don't embarrass yourself taking pride in it. What would have made more sense is an outright purchase of clunkers. Any car, older than 1980...less than 15 mpg....$3k.
Ever wonder what happened to the crushed cars? Yep, they will be on their way to China or India and become an imported item (I'm not bashing China, I just see the reality of where our money is going and you can blame Bush, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama for this upcoming tragedy).
6) here we can agree...but the best prevention is fought by liberals tooth and nail. Look, I grew up in gang plagued streets and the police were not allowed to do their job. I was involved with a youth program to get kids off the streets (as a kid and an adult) and let me tell you...more money doesn't help. why? because there are bad people that mess things up. I was at a church function as a kid and saw a rival gang break into our room, knife a couple guys and run out. We called the police, ya da ya da ya da and guess what? Because the guys that did it had no priors and were involved with some "intervention program" they walked. They Walked, and guess what? The rest of us never attended that function again out of FEAR. Again, tell me, what programs have you been involved with and tell me about some of your successes. The only successes I saw was when people LEAVE the blight, and leave it behind because the bad people stay and ruin everything.
8) Thank you for not trying to rebuttal the Baker - Bush team. Most of my middle eastern friends don't have very many nice things to say about the current administration.
9) whiny? ha ha ha. erratic? well, only because I am not taking the time to develop a thesis. The opening post was very large and I had to cut corners. So here is the reality check...
Every time the government takes out a chunk of land from development, it makes the resources in other areas more expensive. Even today, we are getting more and more of our natural resources from outside the USA. Let me put it to you this way. If you owned 25 properties for rentals, but only allowed yourself to rent out ten parcels, you would need to charge quite a bit of money to those renters so that you can keep up all 25. Eventually they will move out for a better deal. Eventually, you might be able to save your real estate by taking out a loan, say the "Bank of China". Over time, you will owe much more than you can pay and will eventually go bankrupt; who gets the property? The Bank...all 25, maybe leaving you one.
Well that is what is happening. We are giving away all of our wealth and pretending that we are so rich we can just set aside tracts of land. However, when the bill comes due, what are we going to Pay? Oh, still think I'm whining? Ask Brazil why it sold millions of acres of virgin forests to .....Japan and China? You may feel good about all these 'set asides" but I think it is a mistake.
10) Sorry, but you don't have to go very far back to see that President Bush had it much harder; he was attacked before the inauguration. From the beginning I heard many who said "he stole the election" and that "he took down the towers". I think the focus on the nuts who can't get over the President's skin color are just that...nuts and I mean that from both sides. I think this President's policies stink. I think the former Presidents polices smelled bad and I don't really think skin color matters.
I appreciate the time you have spent reading this and all I ask is this; check facts. Don't just read one newspaper or watch one news show. That stuff works great for religion, but when it comes to the government you need to see both sides. Tell me, name one thing you Don't like about President Obama. Pick a president and I'll tell you the god and the bad. Need to know who my favs are? Everyday I learn something new and I try to see things logically and emotionally and fuse the two.
Lastly, thanks for not calling me names Carla. And Catt, what did "By this time, I'm really fighting hard not to use an epithet--" mean?
However, your argument has merit. I can't say that I agree with a lot of Obama's actions, but very few can say they like everything about any candidate or incumbent.
I do freely admit I 'm one of the 'nuts' who cannot get over Obama's skin color-- I will defend to the death his right to be President.
The issue of his skin color would never come up if it weren't for the constant 'pickaninny' jokes, especially from those holding public office. I will let it go when they let it go. I have yet to view a townhall meeting or Teaparty video and see any Obama opposition sporting anything even close to my own skin color. Note that the outrage over his school speech was of the same parity.
You are perfectly welcome to prove me wrong in any point here. As a matter of fact, a friend has invited me to a 9/12 whoop this Saturday. My blog on that will be honest, even if it proves me wrong.
The forest 'set asides' for other countries: I know that Clinton did that in his time, but I hesitate to believe it of Obama. I shall have to check into that, but a link would be helpful.
Bush/Baker: I try not to argue from a position of ignorance. Sometimes I actually achieve this lofty goal....
Bush Admin: I'm also one of the one's that smelled a rat after 9/11. If you knew history was going to record your whereabouts and actions as President on the day the U.S. was attacked, how would you set the scene?
I can't say I believe it wholeheartedly, but it's still fishy...
The rampant yanking of citizens' rights of privacy, especially the wholesale wire-tapping, was too much. And granting communication companies like Verizon, Turner Networks and others immunity from lawsuits if they allowed feds liberal access to your accounts and transmissions, all without ever notifying you? I say the drubbing Bush got was highly deserved. He sold us out. I was working at Verizon then and noticed the fine print and was privy to a lot of "not for customers' eyes" data, so I know its true.
If you have further evidence/links of these things you speak of, I eagerly await them. Just, please- none of that right-winger "things you won't see in liberal/conservative mainstream media" nonsense.
(I really hate when I submit such long replies...)
I kinda think he started the fight subconsciously because he knows I'm right and didn't want me to prove it with him as witness. Fathead.
None of what you mention has anything to do with measurable reality. It is however in the perception of his supporters I suppose important to make the claims. Lots of claims but again nothing measurable but money spent.
get your facts straight:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_obama_job_approval-1044.html
Obama's numbers are way above that of Republicans in Congress