Name 1 thing Obama Has Accomplished So Far

[Titanic]

- He prevented the economic collapse from turning into a depression
- He stopped another term of Republican presidency
- HE STOPPED SARAH PALIN FROM BECOMING VP
- His attitude towards the Middle East has already helped, and talks are under way to slowly bring back a real peace map
- He made politics interesting again, shown by the large turnout for the election (large by US standards anyway)
- He has a real plan to help solve the US public debt in the long term
- He has outlawed torture, and is trying to stop the inhumane treatment to POW's in US camps worldwide
- At the G20, he brought about international cooperation on financial issues (tax havens, stimulus's, reglation etc..)

I could ring off a much larger list if you want, and don't think I'm single minded because I believe he has also made some horrible decisions as well (not releasing 2000 torture photos).

@Nobunago: How about finding a source from somewhere which is so heavily biased?

Finally your asking what he has done already, and critising him on many fronts? By this time what had Bush done? 9/11 is still over a fortnight away, and Republicans always say that Bush can't be criticised for 9/11 as it was too early into him administration, so why such criticism for Obama?

Just for the record I firmly believe 9/11 was Bush's fault, his administration had so many warnings of an impending attack that his arrogance/gross negligence led to the loss of almost 3000 people that day, and thousands more since. Not on topic, but just wanted to make my earlier point clear.

[Rustovitch]

Just by virtue of being elected he has destroyed all arguments for affirmative action.

[bedub1]

- He prevented the economic collapse from turning into a depression
- He stopped another term of Republican presidency
- HE STOPPED SARAH PALIN FROM BECOMING VP
- His attitude towards the Middle East has already helped, and talks are under way to slowly bring back a real peace map
- He made politics interesting again, shown by the large turnout for the election (large by US standards anyway)
- He has a real plan to help solve the US public debt in the long term
- He has outlawed torture, and is trying to stop the inhumane treatment to POW's in US camps worldwide
- At the G20, he brought about international cooperation on financial issues (tax havens, stimulus's, reglation etc..)

I could ring off a much larger list if you want, and don't think I'm single minded because I believe he has also made some horrible decisions as well (not releasing 2000 torture photos).

@Nobunago: How about finding a source from somewhere which is so heavily biased?

Finally your asking what he has done already, and critising him on many fronts? By this time what had Bush done? 9/11 is still over a fortnight away, and Republicans always say that Bush can't be criticised for 9/11 as it was too early into him administration, so why such criticism for Obama?

Just for the record I firmly believe 9/11 was Bush's fault, his administration had so many warnings of an impending attack that his arrogance/gross negligence led to the loss of almost 3000 people that day, and thousands more since. Not on topic, but just wanted to make my earlier point clear.

He hasn't done any of those things, because none of those things have actually happened.

Here are three off the top of my head:

The shovel ready infrastructure projects have made great improvements in road quality, at least near where I live. This makes driving safer and more efficient.

Increased spending on maintenance of the infrastructure has also led to more bridge inspections. I feel safer knowing that the government actually gives a flying fart about the infrastructure and integrity of our bridges (remember how under W, that bridge collapsed in the midwest? remember Katrina? I have confidence our current president will not repeat such arrogant errors of neglect, based upon his already under-way initiatives).

The Cash-For-Clunkers program was a resounding success, to the point where there's a huge backlog of applications for the rebate (and unfortunately an awful lot of fraudulent applications)

The shovel ready hasn't occurred yet, the bridge collapsing has nothing to do with the president, the levee's breaking had nothing to do with the president...I like cash for clunkers though so there is the only 1 thing he has done good.

[Titanic]

He hasn't done any of those things, because none of those things have actually happened.

- He prevented the economic collapse from turning into a depression
- He stopped another term of Republican presidency
- HE STOPPED SARAH PALIN FROM BECOMING VP
- He made politics interesting again, shown by the large turnout for the election (large by US standards anyway)
- He has a real plan to help solve the US public debt in the long term
- He has outlawed torture, and is trying to stop the inhumane treatment to POW's in US camps worldwide
- At the G20, he brought about international cooperation on financial issues (tax havens, stimulus's, reglation etc..)

How have none of these things happened?

[bedub1]

He hasn't done any of those things, because none of those things have actually happened.

- He prevented the economic collapse from turning into a depression
- He stopped another term of Republican presidency
- HE STOPPED SARAH PALIN FROM BECOMING VP
- He made politics interesting again, shown by the large turnout for the election (large by US standards anyway)
- He has a real plan to help solve the US public debt in the long term
- He has outlawed torture, and is trying to stop the inhumane treatment to POW's in US camps worldwide
- At the G20, he brought about international cooperation on financial issues (tax havens, stimulus's, reglation etc..)

How have none of these things happened?

The economic collapse hasn't stopped collapsing, and it is a depression.
Sarah stopped there from being another republican term.
Sarah stopped sarah from being VP.
Sarah made politics interesting.
His plan for US debt is to make it bigger.
He hasn't outlawed torture, because there never was torture. Torture is making you eat your fingers, torture is chopping your body parts off and cauterising the wounds so you don't bleed out, keeping you alive with blood donations. Torture isn't not telling somebody which direction is north. Torture isn't showing guys boobs.
He didn't do any of that crap at the G20...there is no international cooperation...

[bspride]

Under his presidency the stock market hasnt bottomed out...thats quite impressive considering the direction it was headed

[Phatscotty]

- He prevented the economic collapse from turning into a depression
- He stopped another term of Republican presidency
- HE STOPPED SARAH PALIN FROM BECOMING VP
- His attitude towards the Middle East has already helped, and talks are under way to slowly bring back a real peace map
- He made politics interesting again, shown by the large turnout for the election (large by US standards anyway)
- He has a real plan to help solve the US public debt in the long term
- He has outlawed torture, and is trying to stop the inhumane treatment to POW's in US camps worldwide
- At the G20, he brought about international cooperation on financial issues (tax havens, stimulus's, reglation etc..)

I could ring off a much larger list if you want, and don't think I'm single minded because I believe he has also made some horrible decisions as well (not releasing 2000 torture photos).

@Nobunago: How about finding a source from somewhere which is so heavily biased?

Finally your asking what he has done already, and critising him on many fronts? By this time what had Bush done? 9/11 is still over a fortnight away, and Republicans always say that Bush can't be criticised for 9/11 as it was too early into him administration, so why such criticism for Obama?

Just for the record I firmly believe 9/11 was Bush's fault, his administration had so many warnings of an impending attack that his arrogance/gross negligence led to the loss of almost 3000 people that day, and thousands more since. Not on topic, but just wanted to make my earlier point clear.

hmm ok titanic, I will agree with #4, the Middle East attitude. and the torture, although it's still in progress, he is hitting the right tones, and the G20, to a certain extent. However 2 and 3 are the same, i think 1 has way too much politically riding and has yet to materialize. I think he just pro-longed the recovery. I hear almost everyone BUT the USA is in recovery. and FOR THE RECORD, REPUBLICANS AND PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT AND THE SMART PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND ECONOMICS HAVE ALWAYS SAID OBAMAS PLAN WILL PROLONG THE RECESSION AND PROBABLY DOUBLE DIP. WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THIS SINCE BEFORE HIS MASSIVE SPENDING-ORGY. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PROVEN RIGHT. I would never call "being the last one to get up" a victory, just the most behind the curve that we are in the process of giving up control over. Hope you enjoy living with and buying what China sends you

[Titanic]

The economic collapse hasn't stopped collapsing, and it is a depression.
Sarah stopped there from being another republican term.
Sarah stopped sarah from being VP.
Sarah made politics interesting.
His plan for US debt is to make it bigger.
He hasn't outlawed torture, because there never was torture. Torture is making you eat your fingers, torture is chopping your body parts off and cauterising the wounds so you don't bleed out, keeping you alive with blood donations. Torture isn't not telling somebody which direction is north. Torture isn't showing guys boobs.
He didn't do any of that crap at the G20...there is no international cooperation...

- It is not a depression, it is a recession and even some conservative commentators have given him credit for stabilising the economy (Bill O'Reilly for instance).
- Obama beat McCain/Palin and won the presidency, he stopped them from coming to power.
- Obama increased the turnout considerable. From 2004, democrats recieved 10m more votes, republicans recieved 3m less. Also, Obama generated more grassroots movements and community support, and also encouraged more young and black people to vote (2 worst groups for voting attendance).
- If you look at his long term plan, debt will reduce. Compare his plan now to Clintons, it takes time to sort out the mess they both inherited, but by sorting out healthcare hes sorting out a future deficit nightmare.
- Bush did authorise torture. The "EIT" are torture, if you want a full debate about it, go to the many other topics.
- He did do that at the G20, there was lots of cooperation (France, Germany, China all made stimulus packages after he agreed to have stricter financial regulation [thats called international cooperation])

[Titanic]

I hear almost everyone BUT the USA is in recovery. and FOR THE RECORD, REPUBLICANS AND PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT AND THE SMART PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND ECONOMICS HAVE ALWAYS SAID OBAMAS PLAN WILL PROLONG THE RECESSION AND PROBABLY DOUBLE DIP. WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THIS SINCE BEFORE HIS MASSIVE SPENDING-ORGY. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PROVEN RIGHT. I would never call "being the last one to get up" a victory, just the most behind the curve that we are in the process of giving up control over. Hope you enjoy living with and buying what China sends you

The reason the USA is recovering the slowest is because the USA was the worst hit. Look at the housing crisis, bank failures, car company failures, govt bailouts etc.. Almost all of them happened in the USA. relatively few happened elsewhere. Most other countries only went into recession because of the USA.

As for the economics of it, you can pull up experts from both sides with conflicting views and both say they have economic evidence which proves them right. However, on this occasion it was the right wing economists who got us into the mess, so why should I start believing them now?

[Nobunaga]

... Biased? What did I post that was biased? (in this thread - I realize I post outlandishly biased articles on occasion). That WSJ article? It's an op-ed manner of thing.

... I suppose the NYT would have been unbiased?

...

[targetman377]

Here are three off the top of my head:

The shovel ready infrastructure projects have made great improvements in road quality, at least near where I live. This makes driving safer and more efficient.

Increased spending on maintenance of the infrastructure has also led to more bridge inspections. I feel safer knowing that the government actually gives a flying fart about the infrastructure and integrity of our bridges (remember how under W, that bridge collapsed in the midwest? remember Katrina? I have confidence our current president will not repeat such arrogant errors of neglect, based upon his already under-way initiatives).

The Cash-For-Clunkers program was a resounding success, to the point where there's a huge backlog of applications for the rebate (and unfortunately an awful lot of fraudulent applications)

oh god this post cracks me up

lol cash for clunkers good idea right?? well u obviously do not work at a charity. do you? oh wait and for fixing the roads i cant even stop laughing to tell you how wrong you are.

best part is my favorite BUSH!!! ATROCITY lol like no president screwed up lol. or it was all his fault i mean all presidents should go around and personal suspect every bridge in the us. god bush how could you not do that i mean what where you doing??? oh yeah running our country.

[pimpdave]

... I suppose the NYT would have been unbiased?

Seriously dude, shut up.

Please just shut up.

The only area in which the nytimes is completely biased is in their reporting of Google. I think there's a conflict of interest there somewhere, but when it comes to the Presidency? They really are equal opportunity haters.

Please, stop listening to the liars on the radio and make up your own goddamn mind.

[targetman377]

The economic collapse hasn't stopped collapsing, and it is a depression.
Sarah stopped there from being another republican term.
Sarah stopped sarah from being VP.
Sarah made politics interesting.
His plan for US debt is to make it bigger.
He hasn't outlawed torture, because there never was torture. Torture is making you eat your fingers, torture is chopping your body parts off and cauterising the wounds so you don't bleed out, keeping you alive with blood donations. Torture isn't not telling somebody which direction is north. Torture isn't showing guys boobs.
He didn't do any of that crap at the G20...there is no international cooperation...

- It is not a depression, it is a recession and even some conservative commentators have given him credit for stabilising the economy (Bill O'Reilly for instance).
- Obama beat McCain/Palin and won the presidency, he stopped them from coming to power.
- Obama increased the turnout considerable. From 2004, democrats recieved 10m more votes, republicans recieved 3m less. Also, Obama generated more grassroots movements and community support, and also encouraged more young and black people to vote (2 worst groups for voting attendance).
- If you look at his long term plan, debt will reduce. Compare his plan now to Clintons, it takes time to sort out the mess they both inherited, but by sorting out healthcare hes sorting out a future deficit nightmare.
- Bush did authorise torture. The "EIT" are torture, if you want a full debate about it, go to the many other topics.
- He did do that at the G20, there was lots of cooperation (France, Germany, China all made stimulus packages after he agreed to have stricter financial regulation [thats called international cooperation])

but if it was bush or McCain it would be a recession ok right cause i herd this before somewhere oh yeah don't call the cattle black.

[Timminz]

i herd this before somewhere oh yeah don't call the cattle black.

Herd?

Cattle?

I think I love you.

[Titanic]

but if it was bush or McCain it would be a recession ok right cause i herd this before somewhere oh yeah don't call the cattle black.

If they stabilised the economy, yes. The differences between recessions and depressions can be easily identified.

[MeDeFe]

The world is headed for an economic fall. A really long fall down a pit with slippery walls and spikes at the bottom.

[Phatscotty]

I hear almost everyone BUT the USA is in recovery. and FOR THE RECORD, REPUBLICANS AND PEOPLE ON THE RIGHT AND THE SMART PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND ECONOMICS HAVE ALWAYS SAID OBAMAS PLAN WILL PROLONG THE RECESSION AND PROBABLY DOUBLE DIP. WE HAVE ALWAYS SAID THIS SINCE BEFORE HIS MASSIVE SPENDING-ORGY. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PROVEN RIGHT. I would never call "being the last one to get up" a victory, just the most behind the curve that we are in the process of giving up control over. Hope you enjoy living with and buying what China sends you

The reason the USA is recovering the slowest is because the USA was the worst hit. Look at the housing crisis, bank failures, car company failures, govt bailouts etc.. Almost all of them happened in the USA. relatively few happened elsewhere. Most other countries only went into recession because of the USA.

As for the economics of it, you can pull up experts from both sides with conflicting views and both say they have economic evidence which proves them right. However, on this occasion it was the right wing economists who got us into the mess, so why should I start believing them now?

So.....If we did nothing....the rest of the world would have pulled out of it on their own(since for it to show up now in their economies things took a turn for the better at least 7 months ago) and we'd be in a depression. something about that does not add up.

[hwhrhett]

obama expanded the rights of gun owners.

http://theruraldemocrat.typepad.com/the ... ights.html

now they can brandish their killing-devices in national parks.

[thegreekdog]

The shovel ready infrastructure projects have made great improvements in road quality, at least near where I live. This makes driving safer and more efficient.

Not to pick on this one, but you live in Philadelphia and you're really going to say that there are great road improvements in the Philadelphia area? If anything, it's worse than ever. Freaking Philadelphia roads... goddammit... rabble, rabble, etc.

[thegreekdog]

He is working to close Guantanamo and has revised definitions of torture back to be consistant with US standards prior to Bush.

He did the first. I'm not aware that he did the second; highly underpublicized if he did. Can you send a link playa?

[xelabale]

He done loads good

He done nothin good

He done loads good, really

Oh reallys, like what?

He done blah, blah and blah really good

No he never

Yes he did

No he never

Yes he did

No he never so ner ner ner

Yes he did so ner ner ner

Repeat for 7 - 10 pages then start new thread.
Repeat for term then see who gets elected.
Repeat as before but possibly change positions.

Gotta love the 2 party system.

[thegreekdog]

I'm less than supportive of the president's economic policies, but he has accomplished a shitload in just about 6 or 8 months.

(1) The US government has purchased General Motors. (Which should have been permitted to fail).
(2) The US government has bailed out a number of financial institutions. (Ensuring that they will continue to fail).
(3) The US government has spent record amounts of money on various programs, including stimulus. (Which has not been effective, but may be effective in the future).
(4) The US government has close Guantanomo. (Good). But the US government has not made any decisions on the prisoners (Bad).
(5) The US government passed the cash for clunkers program. (Looks good).

My overall criticism of the president has less to do with the actual programs and more to do with the rampant spending. I also have a major problem with hypocrisy, which is apparently what the president and his supporters are about, at least regarding spending and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other than those criticisms, he seems to be doing a good job. I don't think it's fair to offer a critique yet though, he's not even a year into the thing.

[jsholty4690]

I'm going to start off with I'm not a supporter of his, I just want you to know how you feel about Obama job performance (as they say 'know thy enemy'). I know it's a little early to judge him on his presidency, I'm just wondering for those who voted for Obama, whether or not you like what he has been doing over the past 7 months. I would like you to answer the following questions:

What do you like that he has done?

What don't you like what he has done?

What do you want him to do in the future?

[PLAYER57832]

I I also have a major problem with hypocrisy, which is apparently what the president and his supporters are about, at least regarding spending and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Explain?

[mpjh]

He has spent quality time with his kids and wife. I do like that about him.