Obama?An efficient president?

[nalasimba83]

I am here to discuss President Obama's reactions and actions about the outrageous events that are happening as we are talking. What has he been doing to stop this nonsense? Is he efficient?

[DGFone]

Okay... I don't think this topic is a good one to have here on MLK. Political topics can get crazy enough as is already, and a topic like this one... eyeyeyeyeyeyeye

[nalasimba83]

Im srry, i just wanted to know.....

[FlipMode]

He sure is a president.

[Tora]

Well that depends on what you mean by efficient. Obama has done some good things as president, and some bad things too. No President is perfect. Over his years as president we can see that he has made some progress. Here are just fifty things Obama has done. You decide if they are good or bad.

1. Passed Health Care Reform
2. Passed the Stimulus
3. Passed Wall Street Reform
4. Ended the War in Iraq
5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan
6. Eliminated Osama bin laden
7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry
8. Recapitalized Banks
9. Repealed “Donʼt Ask, Don't Tell”
10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi
11. Told Mubarak to Leave Egypt
12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies
13. Improved Americaʼs Image Abroad
14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending
15. Created Race to the Top
16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards
17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis
18. Passed Several Mini Stimuli Packages
19. Began Diplomatic and Military “Pivot” in Asia
20. Increased Support for Veterans
21. Tightened Sanctions on Iran
22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants
23. Passed Credit Card Reforms
24. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws (Lilly Ledbetter Act)
25. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court
26. Improved Food Safety System
27. Achieved New START Treaty
28. Expanded National Service
29. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection
30. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco
31. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders
32. Passed Fair Sentencing Act
33. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense
34. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown
35. Allowed Expensive Space Shuttle Program To Die and Killed Problem-Plagued Moon Mission Plan
36. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology
37. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests
38. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges
39. Improved School Nutrition
40. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections
41. Avoided Scandal
42.Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill
43. Created Recovery.gov Website
44. Pushed Broadband Coverage for Rural and Low-Income Families
45. Expanded Health Coverage for Children (CHIP)
46. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide (EPA Regulation of Carbon Dioxide)
47. Expanded Stem Cell Research
48. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers
49. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence
50. Killed the F-22; Saved $4 billion.

Source

[Alethia]

Obama has done some good things as president, and some bad things too. No President is perfect. I agree with you, but if Siria situation generated WW3 Obama lost very much! I refer at his reputation.

[DGFone]

I smell plenty of bias in this list, and if you actually read the article on the link, it's not "50 things Obama has done" (good or bad), but the actual title is "Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments". So I don't think I need to explain why this list might be biased. But one thing really stood out to me:

[quote="Tora"]
41. Avoided Scandal
Source[/quote]

How does the article define "scandal"?
[quote] As of November 2011, served longer than any president in decades without a scandal, as measured by the appearance of the word “scandal” (or lack thereof) on the front page of the Washington Post.[/quote]

Who wrote the article? The Washington Post.

[Tora]

[quote="DGFone"]I smell plenty of bias in this list, and if you actually read the article on the link, it's not "50 things Obama has done" (good or bad), but the actual title is "Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments". So I don't think I need to explain why this list might be biased. But one thing really stood out to me:

[quote="Tora"]
41. Avoided Scandal
Source[/quote]

How does the article define "scandal"?
[quote] As of November 2011, served longer than any president in decades without a scandal, as measured by the appearance of the word “scandal” (or lack thereof) on the front page of the Washington Post.[/quote]

Who wrote the article? The Washington Post.[/quote]
I find it odd you smell bias. There clearly is a bias. Which is why I said good or bad. You decide.

[TheLionPrince]

I've been meaning to get around to fact-checking some points on the list, no matter how biased it may be.

[quote="Tora"]7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry[/quote]

According to PoliticFact, while the auto industry did recover during the Obama administration, his administration can't receive all the credit. In fact, when President Bush enacted the TARP bailout program, $17.6 billion in TARP money in December 2008 was directed to keep General Motors and Chrysler afloat.

[quote="Tora"]10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi[/quote]

By sending in U.S. military support without constitutional authorization from Congress. By the 60th day according to the War Powers Resolution, President Obama still did not seek authorization from Congress stating all US support went into NATO.

[quote="Tora"]36. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology[/quote]

Which turned to a huge failure since Solyndra among other renewable technology companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

[quote="Tora"]41. Avoided Scandal[/quote]

I find this rather ironic the list would say that in March/April 2012 when the "Operation Fast and Furious" scandal occurred from 2009 to 2011. Also, it's rather outdated given that the Benghazi cover-up scandal occurred on his watch, and stated numerous times that a homemade Muhammad short film created the uprising on the embassy when the initial CIA papers (before they were edited) later on proved otherwise.

[quote="Tora"]43. Created Recovery.gov Website[/quote]

If the list credits a website's creation to Obama, it's only fair to attribute the current failure of heathcare.gov (which has experienced "glitches") for up to 4 weeks to Obama, though it's more at fault with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her team.


Overall, it's best to wait about a decade from now to see how truly effective Obama is. As of now, I find President Obama not that much of an effective president. I actually find his foreign policy slightly more successful than his domestic policy given that he has ended the Iraq War, established a deadline on the War in Afghanistan (if it turns out successful), and no U.S. causalities in the Libyan civil war, though it's tarred by his failure to follow up on his decree for military intervention in Syria among other things. As for his domestic polices, the major ones will be that he has passed health care reform, though it's still somewhat unpopular among American people as of October 2013, and despite some economic growth over the years he's been in office, 11.3 million Americans are still unemployed.

All of this is soon to change by the time he vacates office in January 2017, which is why it's best to judge from the long-term than the short-term fallout.

[Woeler]

[quote]13. Improved Americaʼs Image Abroad[/quote]

Wait, what? European newspapers were today, again completely filled with articles about the US secretly recording and listening to the cellphones of our leaders! The image has not improved here, people are pretty disappointed.