What has Barack Obama accomplished in his first year as President?
I am not asking this to be sarcastic or anything, I just need a list of the policies and bills and other things Barack Obama has passed in his first year as President. I am writing a paper. I am a sophomore in high school and have not kept up to date with what is going on in politics, though I should be.
If you can please tell me your perspective on how you think the President has done in his first year.
Thanks:)
On the environment:
* Included funding for "green" jobs in the stimulus bill
* Initiated first steps to develop a legally-binding treaty to reduce mercury emissions worldwide
* Dedicated more than $60 billion for clean energy
* Instituted "cash for clunkers," getting more fuel efficient cars on the street
* Acknowledges reality of climate change and his desire to work on an international policy like Kyoto
* Emphasized the value of science (not political opinion) within the EPA
* Allocated $2 billion in stimulus cash for advanced batteries systems (for automobiles)
* Declared (via EPA) carbon dioxide a threat to health, the first step towards regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act
* Funded Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, which gives $2.8 billion to cities
* Put over 2 million acres of wilderness, thousands of miles of river and a host of national trails and parks under federal protection, the largest conservation effort in 15 years
* Funding a $475 million initiative to restore and clean the Great Lakes
On healthcare:
* Overturned the federal funding ban for stem cell research
* Instituted better standards for comparative research in medicine and an agency to handle this
* Added staff to the FDA and brought back emphasis on science
* Allocated over $1 billion to the National Institutes of Health, whose budget Bush let stagnate
* Eliminated funding for abstinence-only education
* Signed an executive order repealing the "Mexico City policy" or "global gag rule" that withheld U.S. funds from organizations that discuss or provide family planning services abroad
* Announced US would resume contributions to the UN population fund for family planning and more than double the previous contribution made in 2001
* Appropriated $19 billion in the stimulus package to help implement an electronic medical record system
* Set aside billions in budget to overhaul the health care system
* Enacted Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization, providing healthcare to 11 million children
* Established 65% COBRA subsidy for 7 million unemployed Americans
* Allocated $1 billion for prevention and wellness programs
* Provided $87 billion to states to bolster their Medicaid programs during the downturn
* Increased funding for urban HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness
On Education, Equality, Public Safety, Families, etc.:
* Expressed a desire to overturn Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
* Described the Defense of Marriage Act as "unfair" and "discriminatory" and said they supported it being overturned
* Includes atheists in his definition of Americans
* Extended tax credits for mothers to return to college, for tuition, and for college textbook purchases
* Has agreed to make the visitors’ lists to the White House public
* Signed executive order requiring Guantanamo to be closed within 1 year and allocated funds/personnel for that purpose
* Included provision in stimulus legislation that, for the first time, supported the ideas of Net Neutrality-like non-discrimination and openness for the Internet
* The administration demonstrated a new commitment to fighting for change on the UN Human Rights Council by announcing it will run for a seat next year, reversing the Bush administration boycott
* Announced that the U.S. will support a United Nations declaration urging nations to decriminalize homosexuality
* Created office of Urban Policy
* Gave Department of Justice $2 billion for Byrne Grants, which funds anti-gang and anti-gun task forces (cut during Bush years)
* Allocated $5 billion for early learning programs, including Head Start, Early Head Start, child care, and programs for children with special needs
* Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act to protect Americans from unfair and deceptive credit card practices
* Enacted the Making Homes Affordable Program
* Boosted credit flow to small businesses
* Increased focus on funding for high speed rail
* Funded the Community Oriented Police program (COPS)
* Appointed first Hispanic justice to the Supreme Court and most qualified Supreme Court candidate in decades
On foreign affairs (see link for more complete list):
* Secured $5 billion in aid commitments "to bolster [Pakistan's] economy and help it fight terror and Islamic radicalism"
* Foreign affairs experts insist that Obama’s engagement with the Muslim world has been at once remarkable and under-appreciated…"He has been able to dramatically change America’s image in that region"
* Led global response to the economic crisis through the G20, obtaining commitments of $1.1 trillion to safeguard the world’s most vulnerable economies
* Esta
Racial strife.
he has succeeded in getting over 100 million ppl to ask this question
He has convinced the entire world that he hates the USA. He even went to their countries to make sure they understood.
He has increased the national debt by 3 trillion dollars, he actually did that in his first three months. On a more positive note he is campaigning for his liberal sidekicks and his support has been the kiss of death for them allowing more competent candidates to be elected. Keep up the good work Barry!!
He paid off his Union puppet masters.
He supplied the ACORN thugs with Obama’s Stash cash in exchange for illegal votes.
He made himself and the USA look like morons bowing to foreign kings.
He proved Clinton is not the most corrupt scumbag President we’ve ever had.
He lied about being open and honest.
_____
He passed (with help) the Lily Ledbetter Act. The Lily Ledbetter Act is one of the reasons I voted against Senator McCain.
Caused a lot of racial division with his racist ass. Spent more money than all the other presidents put together with nothing but debt to show for it. Lied about a million times. That’s about it.
1) Dividing the country along party lines
2) Diving the country racially
3) Raising the deficit, saving the bill for our grandkids
sparked a new movement, the 9/12 project
made billions of people realize the complete disregard of the Constitution in the previous (and current) Presidencies
increased the national debt more than any other President… ever
lol, the list goes on and ooooon.
Hey Little I am sorry that I will not list accomplishments that you are looking for BUT,There is something that he has done that most will not give him credit for, and here goes………
Barack Obama has done something that is really great that no other recent president has been able to do. WHAT he has done is he has genuinely pissed off and scared more people than he will ever imagine.. And the good thing….Republicans, independents, democrats people with no political care or opinion at all before, all of a sudden they realize government is out of control, they no longer are serving the people but it has become us who must be servants to them. So
So I give him thanks for that***He has woke the sleeping giant, the AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the best part about that HEADS WILL ROLL!!
And hope you don’t mind a lil THOMAS JEFFERSON QUOTE :}
A government big enough to give you all you want, is a government big enough to take all you have.
Thanks for asking,
RANDY
Barack Obama has completed his first year as our President. In almost every regard, his actions and the actions of his administration have been disastrous for the long-term future of this country. The things he’s done correctly can be counted on one hand:
• He set up a commission to cut $100 million from the federal budget. It was a small amount, but the effort was worthy and should be repeated, albeit with much larger numbers.
• He went to Dover Air Force Base to witness the return of some of our soldiers killed in action. Whether you believe it was a photo-op or not, he did it and deserves credit.
• Obama has effectively used drone technology to attack Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists – even though he refuses to call them terrorists.
• On two occasions, he sent additional troops to Afghanistan. In the second instance, he dithered in a seemingly clueless manner and unnecessarily questioned his own commanders, but he made the correct decision and hopefully will now allow them to run the war as they need to do.
In almost every other decision, Obama was misguided and – in utter contrast to his campaign promises – materially misled the American people regarding his intentions as President. The most significant events of this voluminous list are detailed below:
• Disregard for Primary Concerns of Voters – A President has to strike a balance between leading the country and listening to his constituents. It is always difficult, but rarely has a President been so out of touch with the people of this nation. While Americans are overwhelmingly concerned about high unemployment numbers and enormous government deficits, Obama has ignored the basic economic issues, instead choosing to focus upon his own political agenda.
• Transparency – The President promised that his Administration would be the most transparent in history. This promise appears to be just as accurate as the Clinton Administration’s commitment to be the most ethical in history. Obama repeatedly stated during the campaign that bills would be posted on the Internet for all of us to review. Well, neither the Americans citizens nor their elected representatives and senators got the opportunity to review the bills – at least before the votes were taken. Congressional meetings were supposed to be held with C-SPAN cameras turned on, but that never occurred. The Health Care Bill was originally discussed in committees, but then completely rewritten in back rooms and now will be finalized in secret conferences between Obama and senior Democrats. On this point, Mr. Obama has seriously misled the American people.
• Cap and Trade – A bill that would give the federal government near-complete control of the American economy passed the House by the slimmest of majorities. It has been stalled in the Senate, but that hasn’t deterred the Obama Administration’s attempt to use the environment as an excuse to control all aspects of our activities. The EPA has stepped in saying we are going to do what Congress appears unwilling to do – establish federal control over all decisions made by manufacturers and most other businesses. Of course, the Administration will then be shocked – shocked! – at the loss of thousands of jobs to foreign countries.
• Security – We’re being told that the Obama Administration bears no responsibility for the rash of recent incidents that challenge our national security. For seven years after 9/11, the Bush Administration kept us safe, but now all hell is breaking loose. Don’t underestimate how much of this has been caused by the tone of appeasement set at the top and disseminated throughout the Administration. Obama has learned to talk softly, but forgot to carry the big stick.
• Bi-partisanship – Mr. Obama promised us a new bi-partisan era. At least George W. Bush made a legitimate effort at the beginning of his term by negotiating with Ted Kennedy and other Democrats on important bills (such as No Child Left Behind). Obama abandoned any pretense of bi-partisanship the day he hired hyper-partisan Rahm Emanuel as his chief of staff. Since then, he has made little effort to work with Republicans, and in fact went more than six months without meeting with Republican leaders on his most important legislation – health care. In this regard, Obama again seriously misled the American people, and it has severely harmed his performance as President.
• Deficits – There’s no doubt that Mr. Obama inherited a significant budget deficit that was growing because of necessary expenditures and reduced tax collections. Nevertheless, the President intentionally misled the American people by including his $800 billion Stimulus Bill with President Bush’s prior year numbers and then blaming it on Bush. Looking ahead, the deficit will be staggering. Fortunately, there are fewer earmarks in the current budget bills, but there are still 5,000 of them! Another failed Obama promise.
There is so much more but I have reached max words allowed. o_O
I cant answer your question without giving you the truth .Obama has done far more damage than he has done good. One thing he had done is made millions of Americans realize this is the "peoples" government and not either political parties cash cow .People who once voted parties are now voting policies and they want action on so many issues. The majority of legal Americans dont want Obamacare,Amnesty for illegal aliens or excuses. They want our tax money spent on Americans
and America. Obama has brought shame to this nation by his genuflecting to the leaders of the world and made America seem weak. We are a super power,a first world nation and I want a president that loves this country and respects its Constitution..Not someone that wants to nationalize our corporations and bring us to our knees. America first then we help other countries.
The idiot has accomplished nothing good in his first year as president.
His Hope and Change turned out to be Hoax and Chains.
He’s managed to tick off pretty much the entire country and a good
part of our Allies, for one, and set racial relations back 40 years in
the process.
can’t we all just get along? i mean, Obama is an OK guy, but as a president he pretty much sucks, in fact, i think we should elect one of those chess playing robots to do the job, it couldn’t be any worse right?
You just want the positive stuff — not the 1000 horribles on the negative side, so to save time I’ll give you my top three in descending order of importance:
#1 The Bank Bailouts — If they hadn’t happened it would be 1929 breadlines and soup kitchens and tent cities and bodies in the streets. Are the banks bad? Yes, they are horrible, greedy thieves, monsters. Was Washington bad in over-seeing them during the Bush years? Yes, criminally negligent, impeachable dereliction of duty, utterly asleep at the switch, worse than the Captain of the Exxon Valdez.
So were the bank bailouts right? Yes, they were necessary to stave off even greater evils, hardship, amd loss of life. We would have seen cities burning, and the Army (not the National Guard) out in the streets — I’ve seen that so I know it can happen.
Is everything that’s necessary right? Yes, pretty much.
Do I mean that necessity justifies terrible recourses? Yes, I do mean that. Bailing out the banks was better than the alternatives that would have ensured. The bailout will eventually be reversible. The harm from a 1929 style crash in modern America would not have been reversible. Harm from which we would NEVER have recovered.
#2 Predator strikes in Pakistan have gone well, as Biden said they would. Also, to a lesser extent in Afghanistan, and Yemen. Using this weapon is extremely smart compared to sending ground troops in to tiny mountain villages packed with Islamist Militants. That would have been the Way of True Stupidity (The G.W. Bush Way). Obama saved a lot of American lives by finding a smarter way. Being smart is good. Obama is no Einstein, but he got this one right (because Biden was there, everytone else was telling him to send in the ground troops.)
#3 The Cash for Clunker Program was moderately successful. It was extremely uneconomic — cost about $43,000 per clunker, but that does not matter — the whole idea of stimulus money is to get it out there. Keynes said bury wads of cash and pay people to dig them up. The Clunker program may be followed by another decent program Cash for Caulkers (pay people to insulate their homes, windows etc). Any part of getting any of that Stimulus Bill money out there to anybody except more ACORN people and more state bureaucrats, Obama should get credit for. This means he should not get credit for how 3/4 of the money has been spent so far but Clunkers and Caulking is at least ethically sound and gives the middle class guy a shot at some of the money (his only ones so far).
Short Answer: Bailout, Predators, and Clunkers/Caulkers
[Personal note to you: You should notice that your teacher's question is one-sided brainwashing agitprop that is being done on you in lieu of educating you. Please write an essay on how wonderful Obama has been and the good things he has done --- that is brainwashing agitprop -- it should be illegal for teachers to abuse their positions by indoctrinating students into their PC political world views and leftie notions. Do not mention this in your essay. Anybody that's ready to brainwash you is also ready to give you a D minus if you cross them. Lefties are tyrannical fascists, and whatever power the teacher has will surely come down on you if you are so bold as to point out the bias inherently built in to the question and the indoctrinational motive for making you write a paper that way. Please write a paper on the wonderfulness of dolphin314etc and how thankful you feel for all the amazing things he has taught you. You get it, right? OK it's a personal note, keep your mouth shut, just graduate and get out of there, OK?]